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alicent-vi-britannia · 10 months

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12 characters, 12 story arcs, 1 theme

A few days ago, I tried to synthesize in a single word the narrative arcs of the Code Geass characters (at least, the ones I know they have) with the intention of extracting the theme of each one. I will briefly explain my conclusions. Or, put another way, what each theme means for each character. I'll leave Lelouch for last because he's the main character and his theme is supposed to be that of the series. We go from bottom to top.

Self-fidelity / Milly: "the girl who learned to be in touch with her own desires and chose to be true to herself to bring out her best version." I think the phrase explains it perfectly. Milly found happiness and she became more mature once she decided to stop serving her family's wishes and focus on herself and what she wanted to be and do.

Confidence / Ohgi: "the man who learned to trust himself to become the leader his organization and his country needed." Ohgi's arc is inspiring, if you take off your toxic fandom glasses and take his journey seriously. It is true that he made certain mistakes, but he always thought of the welfare of his people and his comrades. That was his main motivation and what led him to overcome his personal insecurities. I was going to make a comparison, but you guys won't like it and you'll attack me.

Happiness / Euphemia: "the girl who dreamed of a world in which all people were happy." This is the only arc that was cut short and did not come to fruition for reasons that I don't need to detail. Euphemia was a selfless princess without a purpose until she met her brother again and wanted to restore happiness to him, Nunnally and the rest of the Japanese.

Truth / Nunnally: "the girl who had to discover the truth to grow up to become the empress who could rebuild a new Britannia." She is literally blind and cannot see the world as it is, but as it should be (hence her idealism). She also can't see through her brother's and her friend's lies, until her determination and her circumstances push her to do so. It doesn't seem strange to me that the breaking of the seal coincides with the moment in which she learns the truth and decides to face it.

Justice / Nina: "the girl who had to seek justice for the murder of her beloved and her own acts and thus be a better person." Nina's arc is a revenge arc. Obviously. But the anime gives it a negative treatment, as Nina only gets worse with each new chapter. It's not until she understands all the destruction that her revenge can cause (in a literal sense) that she stops and reconsiders. The Zero Requiem gives Nina the opportunity to redeem herself and give justice to her beloved since the culprit pays for her crime. It's at this point that she begins to heal.

Honor / Jeremiah: "the man who managed to win back his honor after offering his loyalty to his enemy." The entire arc of Jeremiah revolved around honor. He believed that he had failed his empress and his prince, made a fool of himself on a live broadcast, was demoted and fell to the bottom. From there, he only lived to seek revenge. But then again, it wasn't the way. He only redeemed himself by putting himself at the service of a lord worthy of his loyalty: his enemy.

Humanity / Rolo: "the murder weapon that regained humanity from him through love." Another phrase that explains itself. Rolo had been used and manipulated his entire life as a tool. But when he created good memories and a sincere bond with Lelouch, he started to make decisions, think and feel like a human being.

Forgiveness / Shirley: "the girl who learned to forgive thanks to love." We find another arc of revenge. Like Nina, Jeremiah, Suzaku, and Lelouch, Shirley lost someone important to her, was overcome with grief and rage, and was tempted by revenge until she discovered that the killer was the man she loved. In the end, her noble feelings prevail and her love gives her the strength she needs to forgive.

Freedom / Kallen: "the girl who embraced her freedom became a hero who fought to liberate her country and the world." This is going to sound strange, but I barely realized that Kallen is who she is because she is free due to a fanfic that featured an anti-Kallen who was in many ways trapped. Kallen is a free spirit and performs as an autonomous individual. She chooses the friends she wants (be it Britannian or Japanese), she loves the man she wants, she champions the cause she wants, she has the value system she wants. However, there can be no freedom without equality, and Kallen and her people live in a society that promotes inequality. The freedom of some (the Britannians) cannot coerce that of others (the Japanese and even half-blood like her). So Kallen works to change the world to a place where everyone has full freedom. That's her motivation to grow up and become the hero her people and the world need.

Love / CC: "the girl who only until she received love from others was able to love herself." CC's arc ties directly to Lelouch's because they both express a nihilistic philosophy. In short, CC wishes to end herself and the world (through the Ragnarök Connection) because she considers her immortal existence to be meaningless and thus unimportant. Worse still, an immortal life implies eternal pain. Something she can't live with. But she wants to be loved, because all human beings cannot live without love. It is in the nature of the human being to give and receive love. Therefore, love will always prevail in the darkest moments. So, when Lelouch offers his affection to CC, she becomes more human and renews her will to live (see how her arc connects to Rolo's arc). Let's say that she transitions from a negative nihilism to an agathonism (that philosophy that it proposes that you have to enjoy life and help to live a pleasant life).

Peace / Suzaku: "the boy who was able to find peace of mind by creating a peaceful world." Without going any further, the lever that moves Suzaku throughout the series is "guilt". Suzaku feels guilty that he killed his father, he feels guilty that the Japanese are oppressed by the Britannians, he feels guilty that he failed Euphemia in his duty as a knight, he feels guilty that he can't protect everyone… Guilt, guilt, guilt. What is the opposite of guilt? We may all think of different things, but I'm leaving for peace because Suzaku didn't make peace with himself until he got the punishment from him and when did that happen? When he made sure to create a new world with Lelouch with the Zero Requiem, in which all his loved ones could live. No wars, no racism, no terrorism, no hate. In peace.

Will / Lelouch: "the boy who twisted the will of others found the value of the will of the human being and began to dream of tomorrow." It's very ironic. Lelouch's Geass is described as the power capable of bending the wills of others to the mercy of his own. As he progresses on his journey and interacts with other characters, he realizes that human beings actively seek happiness and persist despite adversity. They doesn't give up when they falls, but gets up and continues to fight. That is what it is to be human. Arthur Schopenhauer, in fact, said that the will was the essence of the human being. But I think that the approach of Lelouch and Code Geass goes more for nihilism in its most positive aspect. The one who proposes the destruction of everything to establish new values that allow the übermensch to live in freedom. "Emperor Charles searched for the past, you search for the present. But I search for the future. […]. Because no matter how much time passes, people will continue to search for happiness. People who struggle with sadness, those who seek the future. How everyone keeps wishing for happiness. Human nature is the reason I chose Geass and wearing a mask." This is the key to human survival. This is the meaning of life and what this series wants to teach you.

If you start to examine each of the arcs, you will see that they are all connected in one way or another (after all, they are concepts that appeal to the human condition). And, if you reflect carefully, you'll realize that the arcs of our two main heroes (Lelouch and Suzaku) correlate with the extremist views of Charles and Schneizel respectively (this was something I was planning to address in a discussion on CG antagonistic figures).

I hope you have learned something or found something interesting in this post. If you liked it, don't forget to support me with a comment and/or a reaction. I would really appreciate it as that will help the algorithm.

PS: Don't ask me to come up with an exhaustive analysis of the philosophies raised in this series. Although it may not seem like it, I have a hard time handling philosophy (I don't mind going overboard like I did here).

#kallen kozuki #kallen stadtfeld #code geass: lelouch of the rebellion #lelouch lamperouge #code geass #kallen #lelouch #suzaku kururugi #lelouch vi britannia #code geass: hangyaku no lelouch #euphemia li britannia #c.c. (code geass)#rolo lamperouge #ohgi kaname #shirley fenette #nunnally vi britannia #nunnally lamperouge #nina einstein #jeremiah gottwald

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softieskywalker · 9 months

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To this day, I still think that the way George Lucas wrote Vader is SO cool

There’s something so darkly heartwarming and awesome about making Darth Vader, who morally speaking is an absolute monster that remorselessly hurts millions of innocent people and who is perhaps THE most feared person in the entire galaxy due to his visibility and feats, love his son Luke, the picture perfect definition of a pure hero who decides to operate on the power of love and optimism, so much

About making a huge chunk of his story in the OT revolve around him desperately trying to capture Luke because he just wants his son again

There is something so sweetly awful/awfully sweet about Darth Vader having 0 issues with brutally murdering other people’s sons but still having the audacity to go into an apoplectic rage if anyone dares do something as ~evil~ as even slightly harm HIS son

Terrifying villain dads loving their genuinely heroic protagonist sons is a trope that’s so awesome and yet so weirdly rare, and I LOVE how galaxy brained George Lucas was for making the Vader-Luke relationship like this

You know what this makes me remember in a real life example? In the Holocaust museum I saw a letter from a Nazi officer who was writing to his wife about how much he missed her and his children, how much he loved them, how he was going to bring them gifts when he went home. And he also described some of the horrendous atrocities he was doing, and it even said "killing so many (jews) is hard but you get used to it, you stop seeing them as people." I won't ever forget that phrase. Because it really struck me, how human it was. And how it's useless to see people who commit such crimes as monsters, because they are human, and humans are capable of these things.

Back to your point about Vader, he's such a force of evil for so long, he kills and tortures and destroys and yet he's still capable of loving his son and missing his late wife because fundamentally he's human, he never stopped being human. Humans are capable of horrendous things and it doesn't take away the capacity to love. It sounds so contradictory and yet it's true! And it's also an indicator of how selfish love can be. Because how can someone love so fiercely and also be a murderer, a torturer, a tyrant? Because love is not an inherently pure or absolute good thing, love can be selfish and destructive. That's Anakin's entire central conflict, how he loves so selfishly. And it's also amazing how Luke, someone who has so much selfless love to give, who never went without love, because Owen and Beru loved him, and Obi-Wan loved him, and Leia loved him, and Han, and everyone around him in some way loved him, he has love to spare. And he could somehow show Vader that he also could love in a way that wouldn't destroy him, but that it could heal him. And how, at the same time, Luke always craved that fatherly love, and Vader being so selfishly obsessed with him probably contributed to Luke forgiving his father for what he'd done to him and how much he had hurt him. Knowing Vader wasn't indifferent to him but rather wanted him, had wanted that child he thought he'd lost, that his existence in the universe wasn't unwanted, that probably meant so much to Luke. And it also proved to him, someone who never went without love, that he could be selfish about it too, and choose to forgive and try to redeem someone who did not deserve forgiveness nor redemption. In the eyes of the Galaxy Vader will always be a monster and a tyrant but for Luke, who allowed himself to love his father selfishly, he could be someone who in the end chose to save and protect him.

#i could talk for hours about the complexity of Vader and Luke's relationship #it fucks me up so much #darth vader #anakin skywalker #luke skywalker

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sugdenlovesdingle · 7 months

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I just hope that if they do bring back Seb that they actually don't talk about his vile mother at all. I stopped watching because of how Aaron was treated in that storyline and bringing back her child is like opening the gates to talking about her again.

I couldn't even enjoy any scenes with him in before because the entire time they were talking about Rebecca and it makes me feel so sad for my little fave Aaron. It's like Robert and Rebecca are the Main Couple and Aaron just the clinger on and it's horrible. Even if she's not in the show she's still there. Robert always put her feelings first because she's the mother of his child, even when she's being a complete vile person. I just want her wiped out and never mentioned again like the virus she is.

Losing Seb would be sad but at least it would draw a line under that horrible story and give Aaron and Robert a chance to have a family that they chose that can't be taken away from them, rather than having to work around her whims and demands.

I know you think he's the only good thing about that story but to a lot of us he is just a constant reminder, as the writers use him as an excuse to make scenes about her. "I can't he has to go back to his mums" "haha Rebecca said this when I dropped him home" "Rebecca doesn't want us doing this with him" etc etc etc even if it doesn't be to be said.

killing her off would be the bare minimum as long as she's not talked about. Aaron would'nt ever be a equal parent if she is alive, or even an equal husband in his own marriage. If Robert comes back with seb it would be exactly the same boring dad Robert who revolves around his son and his sons mother first. Which isn't robron. It's robecca featuring Aaron.

You don't have to respond to this by the way. Sorry.

I know I slept late today but did I wake up in 2017??

Sorry anon, I get what you mean, I used to feel that way too. Throughout rebecca's whole pregnancy I was like "how are they EVER going to fix this?? That baby will always be a reminder of The Incident." But then they showed Rob loving him and putting him first (instead of his schemes), and then AARON falling in love with him because he's Robert's and he loves Robert so he loves his son too.

And after she gave birth (which focused more on bringing Aaron back into the story than her having a baby) rebecca was an afterthought in her own kid's life. Seb was 'used' to bring robron closer together - with Aaron looking after him instead of spending time with his doctor boyfriend (🤣) - Aaron 'rescued' him when rebecca fucked off and nearly burnt Vic's house down, Aaron was the one to suggest Seb moved into the mill, and Aaron referred to himself as his stepdad/parent more than once ("This is about MY HUSBAND and MY STEPSON"). I'm willing to bet Aaron had more scenes with Seb (with or without Robert) than Rebecca did.

And after losing Rob, Seb was the only one who could put a smile on Aaron's face. He loves that little boy.

And even if they don't kill rebecca off off screen... That doesn't mean she'll get mentioned all the time. I mean Ross is supposedly very much alive in off screen land, yet Charity mentioned him maybe once the past year? Jai NEVER mentions Megan and Eliza - not when he and Laurel got married (you'd think he'd want his daughter there, right?), not when Rishi died (he was Eliza's granddad too), David never mentions Priya and Amba (and they left pretty recently), Gabby never talks about Jamie, Kim never talks about the demon child Millie. Vic never mentions Seb OR Robert. (There used to be a picture of Seb in Vic's house but it's gone now.)

So long story short, if they bring back Robert (🤡🤞) I really hope they'll let robron raise Seb AND let them have that football team of kids they talked about (Seb needs siblings!).

#Anonymous #robron

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helioleti · 2 years

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An analysis on Lumax & Melvin’s relationships in comparison

The difference between the Lumax breakup and the Melvin breakup was that when Max broke up with Lucas, she was grieving. She was pushing people away. Not just Lucas, but all her friends. There is a whole plotline in s4 revolving around Max’s coping mechanism to isolate herself, and how it was an understandable mistake on her part to do so, and a source of guilt for Lucas that he wasn’t there for her even if there was little he could’ve actually done.

When El dumped Mike, it was Mike’s fault. No matter how much you twist it, no matter how much Hopper meddled, Mike chose to lie to El instead of telling her about Hopper. Not to mention El needed time away from Mike. She needed to spend time with people who weren’t her first friend, first boyfriend, first ever person she trusted after coming out of the lab.

Similarly, Mike needed to recognize he was being neglectful of his friends and interests outside of El (leading up to his fight with Will). Not to mention he never really apologized to El, he only tried to slap a bandaid on the situation by saying “Yeah haha guess blank (love) made me go silly & crazy,” instead of saying something meaningful like Lucas did.

Here’s Mike’s whole apology speech for reference:

“I’ve been meaning to tell you something. It’s just, being broken up, it’s been hard. And… I like that you and Max are friends now. It’s just, I was jealous at first. And— and angry. And that’s why I said all that stupid stuff. And it’s like I wanted you all to myself. And now I realize how unfair that is. And selfish. And, like… I’m sorry. I just […], I’ve never felt like this […] with anyone before… and… (sighs) You know, they do say it makes you crazy.”

He essentially says “I was being shitty and acted out because I love you so much” which is,, Kind of manipulative, actually. I highly doubt he was aware of this. But it’s clear he missed the point. He doesn’t truly understand why the breakup was hard for him.

It wasn’t like he missed El so much and realized his mistakes. (I mean, he was quicker to ride all across town in the rain to apologize to Will than to give El a phone call to talk it out. Not to mention he shifts the blame to Hopper, and then to Max, saying she’s “corrupting her”). But rather, he didn’t know who he was outside of the relationship anymore. He’d abandoned his interests and his friends, essentially everything else that defined him. It’s almost as if he’s built his entire self worth and personality on having a girlfriend.

Call it a trauma response to hyperfixate on El, or his way of dealing with internalized Homophobia (if we look at it through Byler theory), but the way Mike behaves after getting together with El is a complete contrast to how Lucas does. Lucas openly makes fun of Mike’s fixation on El, showing how he recognizes that it’s ridiculous. He’s still a friend to the party outside of Max, (although you can argue he’s sidelined Will and Dustin too, just not to the extent Mike has).

Lumax’s Relationship problems vs Melvin’s

I’ve seen people argue that Max “dumping Lucas 5 times” is a red flag, but I feel like this just proves you haven’t understood Max’s character. Or Lucas’s. While I would like to know how serious these breakups actually were (and I doubt they were actual breakups more than just silly fights which Lucas could resolve by following his dad’s advice), I can imagine Max’s trauma holds her back from truly trusting that romantic relationships can go well. She probably overestimates little flaws in a partner and views them as a red flag, desperate to protect herself from the type of relationship her mom and stepdad lead.

And the Lucas we see in s4 has matured out of the one he was in previous seasons too, showing he’s learned more about himself by trying out new things in High School. And showing how he’s come to understand what his relationship with Max truly means to him. Despite not being at fault for Max pulling away, he realized what it means to love someone and be there for them when they need it most. He sees Max and all her trauma, and he’s willing to be with her through all of it. He sees her.

Unlike Mike, who well into s4 is still rigged with confusion and, again, tries to blame other people for his relationship problems with El. (“You can’t let these mouth breathers ruin us”). Again, in his monologue in the final episode, he hastily explains his inability to say “I love you” by saying he’s just (checks notes) afraid of… losing her. Afraid of her not needing him anymore, because her needing him in that first week when she was out of the lab was what they built their relationship on.

And now this dynamic has shifted, and in the time with her away in Cali he rediscovered himself too, reconnected with his interests, realizing he doesn’t need their relationship anymore to define who he is either. Not to mention he still calls El his “Superhero,” essentially undermining her desire to just be a person, aside from her powers. He doesn’t see her.

I don’t know the source, but I heard our King Caleb McLaughlin once said something along the lines of:

“I like Lucas and Max’s relationship. It’s not like Mike and El’s, it’s real.”

And I think that’s pretty well said.

#sorry for the long post i think i got carried away #anti m*leven #byler #tagging you guys bc you always appreciate analysis

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wine-dark-soup · 6 months

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thinking about the emperor. ultimately he only thinks about his own survival and is very selfish, but also, it couldn't have gone any other way.

throughout the entire game, no one expresses sympathy for illithid (except if you are nice to him in the astral prism, and even so, you can still betray him afterwards). they are to be destroyed no matter what. and yet, he is there, with his free will, and enjoying his existence as an illithid. something that's technically impossible. and because illithid are universally hated, he knows he wouldn't survive for even a minute if he chose to roam the world without any cover.

so OF COURSE he had to choose deception and domination. yes, he killed ansur - because he thought that, as a full sentient being, he deserved to live. yes, he manipulated us - because if we didn't, we would probably have killed him, and again, he wants to live. yes, he pulled the strings from the shadows in baldur's gate and yes his influence probably killed stelmane - but it's not like he could have popped in the upper city claiming he was balduran. yes, he kept orpheus prisoner - but like, with orpheus free, the emperor would die.

i think the reason - aside that he wants it for his own personal gain - he insists so much on us absorbing the tadpole is that he wants someone else to see how great it can be to live as an illithid. show someone else it's fine and that it grants you unlimited powers.

and you know, he DID keep us alive after all. aren't we just like him? we refused to die even if we were technically doomed to turn into mind flayers, even killing people to stay alive, just like he had to kill ansur. orpheus even tells us we should just have died - even as we stand in front of the dead netherbrain! that we just killed! ourselves! thus saving everyone from illithid enslavement!

oh of course the emperor isn't nice. he says it: we are his puppets. out of all the endings there's only one where he survives and accepts to kill the netherbrain and set us free. and even then, it means he will still be hunted by the githyanki, led by vlaakith. his life as a mind flayer is STILL not accepted. the other endings have him control us and the sword coast, or die after he joins with the absolute.

but again. between saving everyone but still being a target for mind flayers hunter OR get a chance to live, as an omnipotent ruler, of course he would choose the latter. and the fact he immediately turns coat for the absolute if we choose to free orpheus makes sense: once again, with orpheus free, he would die. the absolute is his only chance of survival.

and like, we often say that *he* betrays us in that moment, but from his point of view, *we* betrayed him. he brought us this far. he saved our lives countless times. his last intervention happened quite literally two minutes ago, before the netherbrain dominates us. and yet, we still don't trust him (or we do, but we'd still rather free orpheus). all of that, for nothing.

as balduran, he was a hero. and i do think he still believed himself one - as in he thought he was the main character and the world revolved around him. if he survives the rest of the world can fall, whatever. he's still a protagonist. and there's a difference between being a hero and being a protagonist. but it did work, you know, because well, without him as a pivotal narrative tool, we would have died immediately.

i find it interesting that the ex-hero (balduran/the emperor) keeps the fated hero (orpheus) prisoner. he can't respect heroes anymore. there's a huge friction between them. but also, what does that mean for the story?

if a party member chooses to become a mind flayer, they become the ambiguous figure of the hero that will soon be hated.

if none in the pary becomes a mindflayer, in any case, orpheus and the emperor both die/are assimilated/forced to live in hiding.

in all those cases there's no hero left (not even counting the ending where we control the brain. of course we're no hero in that case). at best there's the memory of balduran, the memory of orpheus (as a githyanki) and the memory of the party member's heroic deeds. that's all.

not saying i absolve the emperor of what he did, but i do understand where he's coming from, he and his desire not to just be the memory of someone he isn't anymore.

#bg3 #bg3 spoilers

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zzdinde · 1 year

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i'm not in a current mindset where High Honor Arthur is better than Low Honor. To me they are both canon.

Here im talking about full on Low. Not helping John get his family we're talking about the hardcore Arthur.

I mean i love high honor for obvious reasons but the low option is actually pretty interesting in terms of how he deals with his own turmoils and emotions.

He's a man who openly calls out Dutch on his bullshit and hypocrisy while being aware of his own bad way and doing nothing to change that because he is dead on about him being unable to change and collect himself. The good in him is not sufficient to try harder and help from the bottom of his heart.

It feels like he tries to help himself coming to term with how cruel and unforgiving he is but i'd argue that it's not the case-- he's not helping himself, he is bringing himself down. TB didn't gave him a new outlook on life; it cruched him and made him bitter for being a fool and he feels like there is nothing he can do and he surely won't do it, because he don't want to do it.

I don't think it only comes from a place of apathy but more from fatalism

He doesn't see himself as a bit of good not only because he never done anything remotely selfless, but because Arthur is a man who values how poeple think about him to certain degree-- how people praise him or loath him. The low honor path ehance that fact in a unsane way: he was fucked over by the man he thought as his father, the man who praised him and called him son. And he is bitter. He is simmering in his own anger and foolishness that it dulls his own sense of justice. His own turmoil revolves around how love is intrinsect to loyalty. I'm sure he doesn't even believe people truly loves him. Why would they?

He doesn't even want to aknowledge that Tilly's going to miss him you know? He stops her short. Doesn't want to hear it.

He never had a chance to internalize what he felt and wanted cause he didn't see himself like that. Arthur being someone who cares for people is a core theme of his character but if you, as the player, chose not to dig deeper and try to end the cycle of violence, it won't end well. Each path is plausible with the life he had.

He had good in him, but somewhere along the way it gets buried and muddled.

So now i want to talk about returning to camp for the money in full Low Honor

He arrives, fights with Micah etc etc Dutch.

But one thing really clicked for me when he said "ive come back to get back what's mine"

Not only Arthur is selfish presented during a Low Honor route, but him getting back what's his can be read the obvious way-- Blackwater money, the only thing keeping them from getting back out West, the thing Dutch kept to himself with Micah's help. Arthur was betrayed by his father figure and even dying wanted to take it as a prize for how much he did for a man who deceived all of them and especially him.

So what about Micah? Well, all of the above is applied to it. Micah's the rat, he fucked the gang, fucked his entire life and fucked the rocky foundation of Dutch's way that possibly wasn't even real from the beginning.

So technically, it's not really a Redemption. He's not repenting for his sins as his last action is driven by selfishness and revenge.

He does not want Micah to die by his hand for the sake of the gang.

It's personal.

So, if the game is about Redemption-- and he wants to cope what''s his;

Where is it? Where is the beackon of light?

Well...Redemption is also a financial term for repayment.

That's the redemption of Arthur, killing the rat and taking the gold his is own Pony up to Dutch and Micah for allowing all that shit that happened.

But it never comes. Dutch's doesn't kill Micah when Arthur orders him to, and Micah gets to walk away after shiving the shit out of him in the heart and back.

Not only he doesn't get any personal Redemption but he doesn't get to give payback.

Ain't that tragically hilarious.

He thought he lived a sinful life, and he died a sinful death. There's no redemption. He's not allowed.

Don't get me started on the meaning of the stab wound, one in the heart for the love he had for Dutch who got crushed-- and one in the back by the betrayal of his father figure by the man whom he trusted more than his own son-- the real rat

#arthur morgan #low honor arthur morgan #rdr2 #im not crying i swear

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zylian · 1 year

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I can’t wrap my head around Vitalasys reasonings

At the end he wanted op right? Like that’s why he let Spoke do what he did?

Than why is he SO upset at Zam? I feel like Zams actions did utterly nothing to Vitalasys plans, it was only talk that could of been easily forgotten.

Why did he throw his entire reasoning onto Zam and than when Zam said “I don’t want to be your rock” Vitalasy proceeded to keep caring about every little thing Zam was doing

Even after all that he says how much he wants to repeatedly kill Zam over and over which just shows his ignorance to not remembering? Not knowing? That Zam was hunted by Mapicc, an old teammate, because he betrayed. Just why would Vitalasy claim to care so much about Zam yet say such things.

I just don’t understand it, cause it makes it look like Zam was being strung along the second he first meets Vitalasy but why would Vitalasy put himself through all that if his main goal was getting op

Why care so much when he knew the damage was done. Also the revenge plans?? He had way too much going on and he did not handle it well at all. How the hell did his fall out with Spoke even happen?? Since they apparently weren’t faking it

I just don’t get why he cared so much that Zam was working with Spoke when Spokes been the very thing he’s been half protecting and telling Zam is under his control. How was anyone supposed to know why he hated Spoke so much when he kept pulling 180s

I feel like him bringing up the “reporting to save all servers” should of never been brought up because it only added to suspicion and didn’t help convince anyone

Like I understand Zams perspective and Subz’s perspective of things and why they think like they did by the end of the season but why did Vitalasy contradict himself so often??

I just don’t get it, it’s like he had this huge thingy he was dealing with so he preplanned lore but didn’t like it when it didn’t go his way and chose to not adapt to the teammate/ppl he made it revolve around.

I can see him adapt in some places, sure, but his ignorance was crazy, he expected Zam to drop his character lore entirely until the next season???

Why doesn’t Vitalasys reasoning exist outside of Zam? That would be Spoke. But no one knows wtf is with them cause it’s behind the scenes! So because he couldn’t really bring it up he pushed his lore more towards Zam??? WHY?!?

Also him banning himself after knowing Zam almost banned himself twice “for his sake” just showed how he didn’t care about anyone. Only banning himself under that false pretence to shift their attention back on the server.

His character makes me so incredibly upset, felt so weird with how important his character was supposed to be yet he wants to stay in the sidelines

I feel like Zam and Subz both have their flaws yet they still tried to adapt in some way that fits themselves. Like knowing the other person well enough to do certain actions that work with it.

Vitalasy was shocked Zam knew that Subz would have died in the end and it felt like Vitalasy truly never saw his team as a whole.

Subz saw it, he saw Vitalasy and Zam struggling to interact and knew things would need to be dealt with but Vitalasy couldn’t see how well Subz and Zam worked together. He didn’t assume, he didn’t even notice how much those two cared for each other. Which also puts the question of his focus on “revenge” while his teammates were still getting hunted. Why did he have a moral crisis too??

Man this gives me a headache trying to think about, even if the videos come out with explanations, his character could of handled everything so much better without leaking ANYTHING than wtf actually happened

Vitalasys story is actually focused on Spoke and I really want to know wtf happened

((Sorry I just need to flesh out Vitalasys character so au’s I think of work better cause right now he’s giving wet cat energy))

#how does his character become so bad that I’m no longer a c!Zam anti #make it make sense #zy is confused #zy rants

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mojaves · 1 year

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could not/did not narrow it down so pick you favorites i guess but 9, 10, 15, 21, 29, 36, 42, 58 and 60 please and thank you (for xavier)

9. Do they cheat to win or play by the rules?

he wouldve played by the rules once but that as a concept has been pretty much beaten out of of him by this point, so he will do whatever it takes to succeed, if anyone has to die because of it then that's just the way it is 🤷 he can't argue with that

10. What do they fantasize about?

his whole life revolves around his work because, unfortunately, he is an arasaka bootlicker [for now] so he doesn't really have any. dreams or desires or whatever. he's too busy to get lost in thoughts like that. and if anything, theyd make him less capable of work, bc it's a distraction and that is the LAST thing both he and his bosses need. he has to be effective and lethal he isnt allowed to think about anything fun ):

15. How would they describe themselves?

honestly he doesnt really know who he is anymore, doesnt really recognise himself in the mirror bc of all the cyberware, and the fact that is brain is mostly soup when it comes to anything that isnt work related. he doesnt even think of himself as a person, he's simply property of arasaka and nothing more, so he wouldnt have anything to say about himself anyway <3

21. What’s one secret of theirs that could potentially ruin a relationship they have?

the fact he has a daughter 👍 not bc of like, ahh!! failed relationship!! kind of thing or whatever. but bc if anyone at arasaka found out [which they did, he just doesnt know that. yet] then she would be in Danger and he would not know what to do about it. he's in hell basically. not really a relationship but like. he doesnt have any friends he's just a machine at that point. what else does he have!!!

29. If they could change one thing about themselves, physical or otherwise, what would it be?

taller. stronger. faster. literally anything that would make him work better. he'd shut his brain off completely if he had the opportunity. he needs to be Effective and if theres anything that could even potentially negatively impact that, he wants it Gone. again. bootlicker. nothing else in his life so he is entirely dedicated to work.

36. What’s their favorite thing about themselves?

everything about him has been crafted/altered by arasaka in some way, and while he doesnt think about it most of the time, he will have a brief moment when having some downtime where he absolutely hates who he is and what he's become. he doesnt even know what parts of himnare actualy Him anymore. the only thing left untouched on his face is his nose and he is Very fixated on that. it's the only thing keeping him sane. also his unwillingness to back down when theres a problem. and the love he has for his daughter which no one could ever get rid of. when he has those brief moments of clarity, those are the few things that keep him going despite it all. and im very normal about it.

42. What’s the typical first impression after meeting this person?

unless you work at/with arasaka, your first meeting with him will also be your last bc the vast majority of the time, he's only let out in order to assassinate someone, or, at the very least, intimidate + torture in order to get information. which sometimes ends in death. and people Know this so of course theyre going to be terrified to see him. if it's someone at arasaka meeting him for the first time though, they usually think he's very polite, if not a little intimidating. but he's there to keep them all safe [for now] so that alone would ease any stress at least,,, For Now

58. If they could change one thing about their life, what would it be?

despite being the bootlicker that he is [for now] he sometimes gets a little bit lost in thought on quiet days and catches himself wishing he never chose to work for arasaka bc it is the Worst thing that ever happened to him. he immediately has to either get himself blackout drunk or kill someone to deal with that and then he's normal again

60. What are some of their simple pleasures?

all the man wants is a comfy bed, a nice cup of coffee, and a hug. thats all!!! and he's not getting any of that!!! he hasnt had anything like that in Years!!! please someone help him

#oc xavier #this is a long post i am so sorry. <3 i will Not shut up about him though. he's insane. i need to kiss him #also if i answered the wrong questions somehow i am Sorry im on mobile rn it is so hard to check #only now realised you said pick your favourites. oopsie <3 #WELL. I WOULDVE ANSWERED THEM ALL EITHER WAY EHFHVHDJDGJ

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avitus-ostrander · 11 months

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I like the implications of Reilly's relationships with his late adoptive father (does he feel resentment over being in his shadow? Or over the pressure he was possibly put under? He has a thing about being not loved which seemed to contribute to his insistence on convincing Knives that he is unloveable and a monster (he kind of is in terms of later even if crashing ships makes sense in terms of his reaction). And that inherently raises a question - how much of his research is truly his own? Collaboration and legacy are inherent parts of scientific progress but as a child of a scientist who becomes a scientist in the same field, if you continue your parent's legacy, does it truly feel like you have achieved something other than bringing to fruition something else has began? For someone as insecure as Reilly it must be an agony.

Next is the implication that he may actually have had little ability to actually act on his threats (regarding Vash), that Vash was in fact too much for Reilly to bite off. At least after a certain point. Which is probably why he quickly switches to threatening Legato's safety instead of Vash's once Knives and his brother reunite. Not that Knives knew.

Next is. Do you think Reilly is unhappy with the current direction the plant research has taken? In between his treatment of Knives, the place he chose to live in and his peculiar feelings about his discipline do you think he feels that things have taken wrong turn when humans began reducing their reliance on plants? Plus him being a plant researcher is the reason why according to him people tolerate him - his importance will inevitably be reduced if economics do not revolve around plants. Do you think he might try to ally with people upset about reduction of plant usage (since I do not think luxury products and that level of consumption can be so easily replicated without plant exploitation in such period of time)

I think I'll divide up each of your paragraphs as its own number (1, 2, 3) so it's clear which part I'm referencing as I respond.

1.) Reilly had an extremely complicated relationship with his adoptive father, for a variety of reasons. (some I will not go into yet)

Reilly has a huge complex about love and affection.

He was definitely under a lot of pressure to be the best he could possibly be. He was expected to not bring down the family name. There was definitely not a lot of love in that household either.

He desperately wants love, but is the sort of person who cannot accept that anyone could feel that way about him. He tends to 'test' people if they get too close, and inevitably he will keep pushing until he loses any closeness he had. (This is the reason he ultimately allowed other people to hurt Knives - to test Knives' loyalty to him)

As for how much of his research is inherited vs. how much he's done, I'd say a significant part of it is just what he's built on from his adoptive father's research. I don't think he has much he can claim is specifically entirely his. He has definitely made contributions, but nothing groundbreaking. He's acknowledged as an expert in his field, but his work is almost always presented as the obvious progression of his adoptive father's work.

He did however, develop Knives' collar almost entirely himself (which he cannot really openly claim credit for). It is probably not entirely dissimilar to a more cruel version of the neural blocking programs in independent plants like Chronica. They are probably based on similar foundational research, just taken in different directions.

2.) You are correct about Vash being too powerful for Reilly to handle by the time he gets there. That is indeed why he switched his threats to Legato. Knives doesn't know yet that Vash is beyond Reilly's ability to control, but Reilly is definitely the sort to make sure he has a backup plan for everything.

3.) I think Reilly is both upset about the idea of becoming irrelevant and determined to be involved in whatever change ends up taking place.

I am sure there are definitely people unhappy about the changes, since it would definitely be difficult to replace certain luxuries in such a short period without relying on plants. July is not 100% free of plant-produced goods, but their reliance is significantly reduced.

I think I cannot fully answer this question without venturing into spoiler territory a bit. Reilly's backstory won't be covered much in the course of the fic since he is not the focus, but things he is doing in the present or will do in the future are a bit harder to discuss without giving anything away.

PS. Maybe I already gave too much away? I'm so tired I don't have a filter right now.

#ins answers / asks

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jayktoralldaylong · 2 years

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I remember reading somewhere that Jayce doesn't stand alone as his own character and is dependent on his relationship with Mel and Viktor, but after much consideration I've realised that's not true (I can't remember if I read it here or not). The reason it seems that way though is because CARING IS JAYCE'S CHARACTER. His biggest weakness being that he CARES too much. That's why it seems like the entire summary of his being is dependent on his relationship with other people, because he as a person IS dependant on other people. He might not be as complex as Viktor or Vi but that's the beauty of Jayce.

He is one of the most selfless characters in Arcane and that is his achilles heel. People like to call Jayce selfish (the Jayce slander organisation), I don't even know where they got the idea that Jayce is selfish or arrogant.

Even this, what is called his most selfish scene wasn't a decision that he made himself. If Mel had made no moves on this man he'd have no idea that she liked him. He responded because she was kissing him.

You can tell the kiss took him completely by surprise. He summarised this is what she wants and he gave it to her without hesitation.

It's his same reaction to everyone else, which is why he's so easily manipulated. If Viktor asked for anything, Jayce would happily hand it over. Jayce was living a happy life when the only one he had to answer to was Viktor. Mel places him in a public space and suddenly he's thinking about what everyone wants.

What Heimerdinger wants, what Mel wants, what Piltover wants, what the Undercity wants. Always trying to make other people happy, willing to sacrifice his own happiness and well being. How often do we even see Jayce happy? He's always anxious. Always stressing. Always concerned, and it gets worse the more responsibility is heaped on him.

His personality wasn't designed to handle this much effort so we see him leaning on others in a plea for help. That's why he's dependant on them. That's why it seems like his character revolves around them.

Heck, if Caitlyn had been around more his character would have revolved around her as well. Which it did, even with her brief appearance. He became a Councillor for a day and Caitlyn wants to release a whole criminal from jail, and he lets her! He didn't even ask any questions. The reason he's stressing so much about Piltover Vs the Undercity is because EVERYONE he cares about lives in Piltover and he's been forced to watch them die thanks to Jinx and their shenanigans while they do nothing! It makes a person want to go mad. Viktor is in danger, Mel is in danger, his mother is in danger, Caitlyn who is risking her life in a place that he cannot reach...is in danger! How do people expect Jayce to sit still or think right in that kind of situation. Naturally he thinks taking action is the best cause despite Mel's warning because people are dying.

But then he SEES the Undercity for the first time. Actually sees them and realises that attacking them is homicide. That's all that it is. Just homicide. He doesn't push on even with Vi egging him on because there's another intriguing thing about Jayce it's his ability to chose.

He was given a choice the first time between Heimerdinger, Mel and Viktor. He chose Heimerdinger. The second time, when he realised Viktor was sick, he chose Viktor. Vi was asking him to chose murder and massacre, Jayce can't choose those things. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. How do people not understand that Jayce keeps trying not to hurt anyone and ends up hurting himself in the process.

He comes back and choses peace. He's able to coral everyone into choosing peace and now Jinx had put him in a very difficult situation.......

Because Jayce is in fact the most emotional character in Arcane. All his decisions are based on emotion, and if anything....anything at all, happens to Viktor or/and Mel because of Jinx. Jayce will NOT be choosing peace.

#jayce x viktor #arcane viktor #jayvik #jayvic #arcane jayce #hextech husbands #mel and jayce #mel x jayce #jayce x mel #jayce talis #is an amazing character #i wish other people could see that too #jaymelvik #meljayvik

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linkspooky · 3 years

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TOJI AND MAKI

The parallels between the two outcasts of the zenin clan have already been pointed out plenty of times in canon, for example they're both incredibly buff. However, I thought I would take a deeer look at both characters, as they share both a role as the abused child that destroys the system that created them, and the same fatal flaw.

1. The Child Who is Not Embraced by the Village Will Burn it Down to Feel its Warmth

"The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas" is a 1973 work of short philosophical fiction, about a summer festival in the utopian ity of OMelas, whose prosperity depends on the perpetual misery of a single child. The idea is written around the idea of the scapegoat, a reoccurring trope in stories where someone innocent is blamed, or outcast for the mistakes of other characters.

All of this to say that both Maki and Toji represent the archetype of the scapegoats of their generation. Just like the child of Omelas, all of the problems in the Zenin household are blamed on one child.

This is something Ogi does to Maki directly, and also Naoya recognizes that the other members of the clan did to Toji. They were unable to face their own inferiority, so they blamed it on a scapegoat. Ogi blames his failure to become the head of the clan on his children. The entire clan is unable to recognize Toji's strength, because it would make them question their traditionally held notions of strength, Toji requires the use of weapons and can fight without cursed techniques, which means the cursed techniques they were born with don't make them inherently better with other people.

This is also related to Gojo's criticisms of Jujutsu Society at large, of which the Zenin Household is a very toxic microcosm of. Gojo's critique is that the previous generation will sacrifice the lives of the younger generation, to maintain their power, and in the name of pointless tradition. In the Zenin family "tradition" is the idea that inherited curse technique determines a person's worth.

Their entire system is built around one, keeping cursed techniques in the clan, and two, passing down inherited curse techniques from father to child. Which would go farther to explain the treatment of women by the clan, but we're not getting into that this time. Basically, the "peace" and the "superiority" of the household are built on the idea of marking and scapegoating an outsider, that is anyone who doesn't fit in with the clan's traditions. "If you are not of the Zenin Clan you are not a sorcerer, and if you are not a sorcerer then you are not even Human". That quote alone should explain how Maki and Toji were both treated as subhuman 'monkeys' by everyone around them.

However, the story shows us by both Toji and Maki snapping how terrible these abusive power structures are. One person cannot handle all of that alone, so they snap. Of course they snap. It's not a sign of who Toji and Maki are as people, but rather how no one deserves to be treated that way. A major reocurring theme in Jujutsu Kaisen is no one person alone, can take responsibility for everything, not even Gojo who is the strongest can save everyone he wants to save or be responsible for all of society he needs allies too. Toji, and Maki without allies, they snap and lash out against the same abusive power structure that created them. They are so thoroughly othered by everyone around them, that they embrace their own inhumanity, Maki becomes a weapon bent on killing her family even murdering her own mother, and Toji outright calls himself a monkey.

This is also why Toji is referred to as the "destroyer of destinies" there are two reasons for this. One, Gege is making a thematic point here. The abusive system built on othering and excluding children among other things doesn't actually provide the stability it promises. The center does not hold. The abuse of the system perpetuates and only leads to more destruction. Toji's outcasting isn't something that just hurt Toji alone, everyone felt the consequences of it because the abusive system proliferates and only causes further destruction. The second reason is a Jungian idea on which the story is based on. Toji himself is much like a curse created by the actions of his entire family. If Mahito is created from the fear humans have for each other and acts as the shadow of humanity representing their dark side, Toji metaphorically represents the combined shadow and dark side of the zenin clan. In Watch Man, Rorsarch monologues about how the accumulated filth of all of the abuses that happen in the city will one day rise up and affect everyone.

"This city is afraid of me, I have seen it's true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will form up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout save us and I'll look down and whisper no."

This is expressing the same Jungian idea, a society that ignores these problems will only cause the muck to rise up further and further until it affects everyone. The Zenin clan was a microcosm for the abuses of Jujutsu Society as a whole, they weren't the only ones affected by their abuse because abuse perpetuates. They endured it until they snapped and then acted out that abuse. The Jungian idea put forth is that this sort of reckoning was always going to happen, as long as the Zenin clan continues to create these outcasts in order to hold themselves up as superior, another Toji will happen.

2. Love is the Worst Curse of Them All

Toji and Maki also share the same flaw as people. Their abuse revolved around the idea of outcasting them from the rest of the family, othering them, continually putting them down and also most likely not even doing the job of raising them as children or providing them with the help they needed. We don't see much of it, but in the databook apparently Toji regularly had cursed spirits sicked on him to mock him, and Maki was locked in the cursed spirit room as punishment.

This taught them not only do they need to be strong on their own, but also in order to prove themselves they both thought they needed to be stronger than anyone else in the clan. Toji left Jujutsu Society as a whole, whereas Maki just left the house, both of them with the motivation of proving themselves stronger than the people who looked down on them.

This strong sense of individualism is their greatest strength, and also their weakness, as the situation is more complicated than being stronger than a bully. Maki and Toji are made to feel alone because of their abuse, however, neither Maki nor Toji suffer their abuse alone.

Mai was abused right alongside Maki, they were both outcasts due to being twins. There's no point in arguing which one of them had it worse, because Ogi was perfectly willing to kill both daughters right alongside each other. Maki does and doesn't remember that Mai is right alongside her in her abuse, it's... a bit complicated.

I mention this because Makiaated reason why is that she would have hated herself if she stayed inside that household with Maki. She put pursuit of becoming a stronger sorcerer above her relationship with her sister.

Maki later states "I can't create a place where Mai would feel like she belongs". I don't believe that was always her intention from the start that she secretly left the household for Mai's sake, and wanted to get stronger to create a place where Mai belongs, because Maki's always been really clear she was doing it for her own sake. I think rather after the loss she suffered in Shibuya, and also the fight she had with her sister in the school met, that she came to change her mind and realized she wasn't just in this alone. She changed her mind, that she wanted to be together with Mai, but she didn't change it in time and tragedy struck.

I mention this because Maki and Toji both share the same tragic flaw. Both of them have no idea how to be close even to the people they love, so they end up pushing away the ones they love the most. Maki continually shows behavior of pushing away Mai, and in Toji's case he does everything he can to try to show himself he doesn't love his son.

Maki continually pushes away her sister Mai. Mai reacts to getting pushed away in a not-so-healthy way. Toji full on deadbeats his son. He doesn't raise him or participate in his life to the point where Megumi can't remember his face or name at all. Toji did everything he could to try to give Megumi to someone else, anyone else other than him and avoided his responsibility as a father.

It doesn't come from malice on Toji and Maki's part, but rather it's a less savory aspect of their abuse. Both Toji and Maki believe themselves to be worthless, and that they can't be accepted or loved. They've internalized the way the clan has treated them. They are so isolated that this comes out in how they treated their closest loved ones, their response is to always push them away and isolate themselves further. Toji narrates this, he chose to throw his son aside because he wanted to affirm himself and prove that he was better than Jujutsu Society. Maki says to Mai that she left the house and left Mai because staying would have meant hating herself.

They are both trying desperately to prove themselves as individually strong, to the point where loving anyone else, or even requiring that love from someone is a weakness. They prove they are strong by avoiding the vulnerability of loving someone else. Toji and Maki both try to separate themselves from their heart in order to become even more physically stronger. For Toji his heart was his son Megumi who he did everything to distance himself, forgetting his name, selling him to the Zenin clan, while at the same time paradoxically believing that he was somehow protecting Megumi and arranging for things that would have been better than Toji just stepping up as a father and taking care of him.

At the same time Maki pushes Mai away when Mai does not want that, and believes that also she can return to the clan and make it a safe place for her sister by being individually stronger than everyone else.

They both approach their loved ones this way, because they were taught that one, they are unworthy of love, and they choose to try to get stronger by throwing away anything that might make them vulnerable.

TWhich is why Maki breaks so hard, and lashes out at everyone when Mai is gone, because Maki believed that keeping Mai separate from herself and protecting her was her way of showing love.

However, Mai and Megumi are like... people. They're people entirely separate from Maki and Toji and also affected by their actions. Megumi was neglected his entire lives, whereas Mai didn't get to have a relationship with her sister and felt like she was worthless and only holding her sister back. This is the central idea of Toji and Maki's abuse narrative, that abuse is complicated, and abuse proliferates and hurts people you don't even intend for it to hurt. It has consequences. Megumi suffers the consequences of the Zenin family's abuse because it turned Toji into such an unfit and emotionally immature father. Mai was being abused alongside Maki, and even ended up dying from her abuser's hand as her father Ogi beat her half to death and locked her in a room. Now, as a consequence Maki is lashing out at everything around her. That's also why the connection between Toji and Maki is drawn, to show that as long as the abusive institution still stands, it's just going to keep creating more outcasts like Toji and Maki.

#toji zenin #maki zenin #jujutsu sorcerer #jjk meta #jujutsu kaisen meta #jujutsu kaisen theory #zenin maki #mai zenin #zenin mai #megumi fushigoro #fushigoro megumi

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shkspr · 3 years

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hi. on your post where you may or may not have ended on 'moffat is either your angel or your devil' did you have maybe an elaboration on that somewhere that i could possibly hear about. i'm very much a capaldi era stan and i've never tried to defend the matt smith era even though it had delightful moments sometimes so i wonder where that puts me. i'd love to hear your perspective on moffat as a person with your political perspective. -nicole

hi ok sorry i took so long to respond to this but i dont think you know how LOADED this question is for me but i am so happy to elaborate on that for you. first a few grains of salt to flavor your understanding of the whole situation: a. im unfairly biased against moffat bc im a davies stan and a tennant stan; b. i still very much enjoy and appreciate moffat era who for many reasons; and c. i hate moffat on a personal level far more than i could ever hate his work.

the thing is that its all always gonna be a bit mixed up bc i have to say a bunch of seemingly contradictory things in a row. for instance, a few moffat episodes are some of my absolute favorites of the rtd era, AND the show went way downhill when moffat took over, AND the really good episodes he wrote during the rtd era contained the seeds of his destruction.

like i made that post about the empty child/the doctor dances and it holds true for blink and thats about it bc the girl in the fireplace and silence in the library/forest of the dead are good but not nearly on the same level, and despite the fact that i like them at least nominally, they are also great examples of everything i hate about moffat and how he approached dw as a whole.

basically. doctor who is about people. there are many things about moffats tenure as showrunner that i think are a step up from rtd era who! actual gay people, for one! but i think that can likely be attributed mostly to an evolving Society as opposed to something inherent to him and his work, seeing as rtd is literally gay, and the existence of queer characters in moffats work doesnt mean the existence of good queer characters (ill give him bill but thats it!)

i have a few Primary Grievances with moffat and how he ran dw. all of them are things that got better with capaldi, but didnt go away. they are as follows:

moffat projects his own god complex onto the doctor

rtd era who had a doctor with a god complex. you cant ever be the doctor and not have a god complex. the problem with moffats era specifically is that the god complex was constant and unrepentant and was seen as a fundamental personality trait of the doctor rather than a demon he has to fight. he has the Momence where you feel bad for him, the Momence where he shows his humility or whatever and youre reminded that he doesnt want to be the lonely god, but those are just. moments. in a story where the doctor thinks hes the main character. rtd era doctor was aware that he wasnt the main character. he had to be an authority sometimes and he had to be the loner and he had to be sad about it, but he ultimately understood that he was expendable in a narrative sense.

this is how you get lines like “were the thin fat gay married anglican marines, why would we need names as well?” from the same show that gave you the gut punch moment at the end of midnight when they realize that nobody asked the hostess for her name. and on the one hand, thats a small sticking point, but on the other hand, its just one small example of the simple disregard that moffat has for humanity.

incidentally, this is a huge part of why sherlock sucked so bad: moffats main characters are special bc theyre so much bigger and better than all the normal people, and thats his downfall as a showrunner. he thinks that his audience wants fucking sheldon cooper when what they want is people.

like, ok. think of how many fantastic rtd era eps are based in the scenario “what if the doctor wasnt there? what if he was just out of commission for a bit?” and how those eps are the heart of the show!! bc theyre about people being people!! the thing is that all of the rtd era companions would have died for the doctor but he understood and the story understood that it wasnt about him.

this is like. nine sending rose home to save her life and sacrifice his own vs clara literally metaphysically entwining her existence w the doctor. ten also sending rose with her family to save her life vs river being raised from infancy to be obsessed w the doctor and then falling in love w him. martha leaving bc she values herself enough to make that decision vs amy being treated like a piece of meat.

and this is simultaneously a great callback to when i said that moffats episodes during the rtd era sometimes had the same problems as his show running (bc girl in the fireplace reeks of this), and a great segue into the next grievance.

moffat hates women

he hates women so fucking much. g-d, does steven moffat ever hate women. holy shit, he hates women. especially normal human women who prioritize their normal human lives on an equal or higher level than the doctor. moffat hated rose bc she wasnt special by his standards. the empty child/the doctor dances is the nicest he ever treated her, and she really didnt do much in those eps beyond a fuck ton of flirting.

girl in the fireplace is another shining example of this. youve got rose (who once again has another man to keep her busy, bc moffat doesnt think shes good enough for the doctor) sidelined for no reason only to be saved by the doctor at the last second or whatever. and then youve got reinette, who is pretty and powerful and special!

its just. moffat thinks that the doctor is as shallow and selfish as he is. thats why he thinks the doctor would stay in one place with reinette and not with rose. bc moffat is shallow and sees himself in the doctor and doesnt think he should have to settle for someone boring and normal.

not to mention rose met the doctor as an adult and chose to stay with him whereas reinette is. hm. introduced to the doctor as a child and grows up obsessed with him.

does that sound familiar? it should! bc it is also true of amy and river. and all of them are treated as viable romantic pairings. bc the only women who deserve the doctor are the ones whose entire existence revolves around him. which includes clara as well.

genuinely i think that at least on some level, not even necessarily consciously, that bill was a lesbian in part bc capaldi was too old to appeal to mainstream shippers. like twelve/clara is still a thing but not as universally appealing as eleven/clara but i am just spitballing. but i think they weighed the pros and cons of appealing to the woke crowd over the het shippers and found that gay companion was more profitable. anyway the point is to segue into the next point, which is that moffat hates permanent consequences.

moffat hates permanent consequences

steven moffat does not know how to kill a character. honestly it feels like hes doing it on purpose after a certain point, like he knows he has this habit and hes trying to riff on it to meme his own shit, but it doesnt work. it isnt funny and it isnt harmless, its bad writing.

the end of the doctor dances is so poignant and so meaningful and so fucking good bc its just this once! everybody lives, just this once! and then he does p much the same thing in forest of the dead - this one i could forgive, bc i do think that preserving those peoples consciousnesses did something for the doctor as a character, it wasnt completely meaningless. but everything after that kinda was.

rory died so many times its like. get a hobby lol. amy died at least once iirc but it was all a dream or something. clara died and was erased from the doctors memory. river was in prison and also died. bill? died. all of them sugarcoated or undone or ignored by the narrative to the point of having effectively no impact on the story. the point of a major character death is that its supposed to have a point. and you could argue that a piece of art could be making a point with a pointless death, ie. to put perspective on it and remind you that bad shit just happens, but with moffat the underlying message is always “i can do whatever i want, nothing is permanent or has lasting impact ever.”

basically, with moffat, tragedy exists to be undone. and this was a really brilliant, really wonderful thing in the doctor dances specifically bc it was the doctor clearly having seen his fair share of tragedy that couldnt be helped, now looking on his One Win with pride and delight bc he doesnt get wins like this! and then moffat proceeded to give him the same win over and over and over and over. nobody is ever dead. nobody is ever unable to be saved. and if they are, really truly dead and/or gone, then thats okay bc moffat has decided that [insert mitigating factor here]*

*the mitigating factor is usually some sort of computerized database of souls.

i can hear the moffat stans falling over themselves to remind me that amy and rory definitely died, and they did - after a long and happy life together, they died of old age. i dont consider that a character death any more than any other character choosing to permanently leave the tardis.

and its not just character deaths either, its like, everything. the destruction of gallifrey? never mind lol! character development? scrapped! the same episode four times? lets give it a fifth try and hope nobody notices. bc he doesnt know how to not make the doctor either an omnipotent savior or a self-pitying failure.

it is in nature of doctor who, i believe, for the doctor to win most of the time. like, it wouldnt be a very good show if he didnt win most of the time. but it also wouldnt be a very good show if he won all of the time. my point is that moffats doctor wins too often, and when he doesnt win, it feels empty and hollow rather than genuinely humbling, and you know hes not gonna grow from it pretty much at all.

so like. again, i like all of doctor who i enjoy all of it very much. i just think that steven moffat is a bad show runner and a decent writer at times. and it is frustrating. and im not here to convince or convert anyone im just living my truth. thank you for listening.

#sorry if this is repetitive or makes no sense or if i got some details of the show wrong #i simply couldnt be bothered to put too much effort into this post #lest it become a research paper and take me several weeks to answer #anyway thats all my opinions #dw #ok to rb

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lovelytarou · 3 years

Text

“𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫”

character(s) — bokuto koutarou

genre — fluff, angst

word count — 2.2k

summary — bokuto has always been the center of your world. as you grew closer every day, you had decided that you'll confess to him one day or...he would confess to you. oh, how you were wrong.

note — today i woke up and chose violence >:) and also happy late birthday to my baby, my beloved, my starboy, bokuto koutarou! and with that, i chose to instead write angst for my fave. hope you all enjoy! hehe >:))

Bokuto Koutarou was used to the spotlights – the cheering fans, the people coming up to him for a photo and an autograph, the satisfaction that comes with winning matches in volleyball.

It felt great. Euphoric, even. He felt invincible during these moments, like he could do anything.

That's one of the reasons why you like him. No, love him. Your friend once joked that your admiration had transcended the level of an innocent crush and turned into a full blown obsession with the spiky haired boy.

That and his friendliness – his lips seeming to be in a permanent smile every time you see him. Always surrounded by a bunch of his friends, rotating around him like he's the sun. You feel for them, really. You should know, your entire world revolves around him.

It could have been boredom, it could have been the lack of students he knew, or it could have been because he's interested in you, but he approached you one day in class and tapped you on your shoulder.

“Hey, what class was this again?”

You were shocked to say the least. Partly from Bokuto not knowing what class he was in and for the most part because, well, he talked to you. This is, like, your luckiest day ever.

Stammering for a bit, you made sure to blink twice just so you know you weren't dreaming and that the man you've been pining for how many years now is talking to you.

“Um...History?” You softly mumbled.

Bokuto sat back in his seat, nodding with a huge 'O' forming on his lips.

“Thanks a lot!” He gave you one of his famous beams and you swear that your heart might have stopped beating at that moment.

“No problem!” You were about to face the front when he tapped you again.

“Sorry, but I don't think we've met. What did you say your name was again?”

“Y/N.”

His smile got even bigger at that and he chuckled, offering you his large hand. With wide eyes and an even rapidly beating heart, you clasped it carefully on your own before shaking it gently. His hand felt calloused, you supposed it was because of playing volleyball for years. They felt warm, and you wished you could've held it longer when he pulled back, feeling your heart sink a little.

“That's a beautiful name, I like it! I'm Bokuto!”

He introduced himself as if half of the campus didn't know him by now, but you played along telling him that it's nice to meet him.

Since then, you two were almost always inseparable. He would invite you to join him and his friends at lunch, even offering to study together or just simply hang out. You didn't mind it one bit. You figured it's a good way to get closer to Bokuto and get a glimpse at what his world looks like outside the spotlight.

Being with Bokuto is like riding a rollercoaster. Without the seatbelts. It's as wild and as crazy as you expected it to be and Bokuto himself is a whirlwind you can only manage to keep up with.

He's always busy talking to one person or a group of them, always with his clique and never alone. You guessed it was part of his charm. But it doesn't matter how many people he's with – when you're with him, it feels like you two are the only person in the room.

He sometimes shows you that he's not always the golden boy most people make him to be. He's just as imperfect and like any other normal guy out there.

You both clicked immediately with your same interests and even on some that you have no interest in, just so you could spend more time with Bokuto and get to know him.

Every class with him, you hoped you would get paired or even be groupmates. You realized it wasn't that hard to work with Bokuto, and instead it was fun. He kept you both motivated working with each other, even recommending you songs that were oddly composed of love songs. Nevertheless, you were thankful for those moments. They felt special to you, and you hold them very dear to your heart.

You just realized one day that, ‘oh shit, I'm in love with him.’

If he notices, he doesn't say anything about it. You became even closer to Bokuto, even talking til the late hours about anything and nothing at all.

Those hours felt religious to you – his groggy voice rumbling through the speakers as you stared at his sleepy face. Eyes crinkling when he smiles, his white hair soft and down as he laid on top of his bed.

“You'd come to our next match, right?” He asked, yawning afterwards.

Chuckling at how cute he is, you nodded.

“Of course, Bo. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” If only he knew that you've been to his games since day one. You never missed any games. Whether they win or lose, you're there.

“That's what I love about you, Y/N! You're always so supportive of me!” As he laughed boisterously, you ignored the fast thumping of your heart at his outburst. Surely, he doesn't mean that? He was just excited, right? Yet, a part of you wishes what he said was true.

“Haha yeah, that's what friends are for, right?”

Needless to say, you didn't get any sleep that night.

It only got stronger from there. You almost can't go a day without seeing Bokuto's beautiful face. It wouldn't be a great day without your starboy.

“Y/N!”

The familiar voice of Bokuto made you jump as he ran towards you in the hallway. He had a huge grin on his face, and you couldn't help but mirror it. His smiles are just contagious.

His arms are spread wide and he scooped you off your feet, spinning you around and setting you down but not legging go of you yet.

“Y/N! Y/N! We won! Did you see it?! It was awesome! My spike was like BAAAM! And the opponent was like WHAAAT?!” You laughed at his over dramatic retelling of the game. Although, that's not how it really went, you let him have his fun.

Your face heated up at the close proximity between you two. Staring up at him as he rambles off, his face is glistening with sweat but strangely enough, it didn't bother you. He's literally glowing with the aftermath of their victory and how can you not bask in it?

“Yeah, you were really great out there, Bo.” You hoped he didn't notice how lovesick you are for him.

His rambles stopped and stared down at you with big amber eyes. He blinked and for a while, you thought that you might have said something wrong, but then, he broke out into laughter and he hugged you tight once again.

“Let's go have dinner right now! My treat!”

“Wait, what about your teammates?” You slowly pushed off of him.

“Don't worry about them. We can call this a...date!” It's hard to refuse when he's got that look on his face. And really, how could you? This is the guy you're in love with and he just outright asked you out on a date. You're on cloud nine right now.

So you two walked off, his hand in yours into what you'd call the best night of your life.

Days have passed and your feelings for Bokuto have grown stronger and more overwhelming as you tried to not so subtly hide it from him. Your friends even thought you were dating already when you told them your plan.

Strangely, Akaashi, who's Bokuto's best friend has pulled you aside that same day with worry etched on his face. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth and he couldn't meet your gaze.

“Y/N, I have something to tell you…” He hesitated, heaving a sigh. “Maybe you should think deeply about what you're planning to do.”

“Why?” You see no problems in this, but Akaashi's reaction made you think that maybe he's right.

“Bokuto's not worth it. I know I'm his best friend and I shouldn't say these things about him but...you'll only hurt yourself if you do this. Trust me.”

Your brows furrowed in anger, “No, you listen to me, Akaashi! Bokuto wouldn't hurt me and I know he likes me, okay?”

You didn't give him any chance to speak as you walked off to where you thought Bokuto would be.

It might be weird to see Bokuto in a library but there he was, nose in a book – which you caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a romance novel. Next to him were piles of the same genre.

“I didn't take you for the romantic type.” You teased as you sat beside him.

His head turned to your side twice before he realized it was really you beside him.

“Oh! It's you...aren't we all?” He replied coolly which you rolled your eyes at.

You took one of the books from his pile and eyed the cover. Soon enough, your curiosity won over.

“Why are you reading romance novels, Bo? It's not for someone specific, is it?” You joked, flipping through the pages and after about a beat, you turned to Bokuto to ask why he had gotten silent all of a sudden.

Bokuto put down the book he was reading a while ago and instead his hands are now wringing the hem of his shirt with a look that looks like fear on his face.

“What's wrong, Bo?”

“Let's say that I have this friend who likes someone and he wants to show them that they like them because he thinks they like him back. What do you think he should do?” When he blurts out his worries in one breath he glanced your way expectantly.

Your heart did somersaults inside your chest. Maybe you have a chance after all.

“Oh! Uh...if it were me, I'd say be honest. Be straight to the point and tell them how he really feels. It's better that way than beating around the bush, anyways.”

Bokuto nodded, exhaling. “Right. Be straight to the point. Be honest.”

And then, he turned to you with one of his winning smiles that you had grown to love.

“Thanks, Y/N! You're the best!” As he engulfed you into a hug, you can't stop feeling excited and hopeful that maybe, just maybe he returned your feelings.

You were at the edge of your seat and at the edge of your sanity that week. Waiting for something – anything – to happen. You haven't seen Bokuto in a few days, but you figured he might just be busy with practice, but even then he lets you tag along with him. You thought nothing of it and continued walking towards your next class when a familiar voice called you.

You almost didn't notice Bokuto standing near the lockers. You swore your heart stopped at the sight of him in front of you. He looked handsome. But if you're being honest, when is he not?

He walked towards you with a beautiful bouquet in hand. He was fidgety and nervous, but he still wore his wonderful smile.

Time seemed to have stopped and there were just the two of you again. Your eyes stayed locked on his and for a moment, you didn't blink. Fearing that you'll miss this important moment you've been waiting for.

“Y/N...I need to ask you something.” He said in a low voice, eyes looking sincere and searching yours.

“Yeah?”

Here it is, you thought. The big question. He'd drop on his knees, present the bouquet to you and ask you to be his. You'd wrap your arms around him, cry and tell him that you're all his.

But none of that happened.

“I got these for someone. Do you think the bouquet is perfect? I don't want to mess up my confession…” He fussed over his hair and tried to arrange the flowers even though they looked perfect. He looked perfect.

But he wasn't yours.

Your heart clenched painfully. You felt like you're running out of air to breathe. It's painful enough to look at Bokuto, but you couldn't keep your gaze away.

“O-of course, Bo! They're beautiful. I-I'm sure whoever that's meant for will l-love it.” You mentally cursed yourself for stumbling over your words in front of him.

He gave you a wobbly smile but this time, it hurt to look at him so happy like that for someone else. He gasped and his eyes widened, staring at something behind you.

“Oh, there they are! Wish me luck!” He stepped aside and walked behind you. Maybe you shouldn't have turned. Maybe you should have just gone inside your class as you should a few minutes ago.

But you cursed your curiosity and you cursed your stupid little heart as he took it with him. And there you watched as Bokuto beamed happily as he presented the bouquet to someone else. Someone that isn't you. Asking them to be his.

At that moment, only one thought remained in your mind. You wished you had listened to Akaashi.

#✏️ – signed by franz #🖤. bokuto koutarou #bokuto koutarou x reader #bokuto x reader #bokuto koutarou x reader angst #bokuto x reader angst #bokuto angst #hq #hq x reader #hq angst #is it obvious i listened to traitor by olivia rodrigo as i wrote this? dgsjsk

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ackerfics · 3 years

Note

levi who's fascinated with the way you apply makeup on yourself and watches you every time you do it, surprisingly does well when you tell him to do your makeup just for fun

i am one of those people who have no idea about applying makeup but i'm levi when somebody's doing it tho, especially if that someone is a close friend of mine snjdnwjnw i just stare at them while they continue doing their thing, it's so fricking satisfying <3

but this is levi we're talking about so here we go:

(pls don't attack me for what i write in this bc i absolutely have no idea abt doing makeup. my knowledge in this is very limited and revolves around watching youtube videos and watching my friends do it bdwjwbj)

if you're planning on going out, even if it's a natural makeup look since you're only hanging out with some old friends or preparing for your class (online or not), levi is ready to stop what he's doing to appreciate the colors you paint over your eyelids or how you blend them so well until they become this aesthetic levi associates you with. for him, you're already so pretty without makeup but when you dedicate your time in perfecting your craft, creating so many looks, levi thinks that it enhances your beauty because you look so adorable while working so hard.

he admires that about you.

you are rummaging in your pouch in your shared apartment's dining table, the morning sunlight filtering through the windows and the pink skies blanketing the waking-up city. the smell of french toast and tea covers the entire space, levi cooking breakfast for the day. you have an online class scheduled in about thirty minutes and after going out of the bathroom, you instantly start making yourself look presentable. you have your laptop opened to your camera app as your mirror, deciding that a change of scenery is perfect for your productivity. you pick up your vitamin c dropper and moisturizer and let the low music from levi's phone fill in the background, your hums mingling with the singer's voice. since all of your classes were announced to be set online for the whole year, you opt for a lighter look which still covers the blemishes that your camera can't hide.

you hear a plate click on the spot beside your laptop, a mug of your favorite brew of coffee on your cat coaster appearing soon after.

"what time is your first class?" levi asks you as he's settling in his chair adjacent to yours. he always chooses that seat wherever you two eat since as he claims it, i want you close to me.

you look up from rubbing the moisturizer on your skin. "oh, 7 a.m., i chose the worst time to take that class."

levi sips on his tea. "you have economics, right?"

you begrudgingly nodded. "i know it sucks but i can't do anything about it." you run your fingers over your eyes. "damn, i have dark eye circles." after putting on your primer, you start by putting on concealer on your under-eyes, dabbing on your skin gently. the whole day, you'll be lounging and doing work inside the comforts of your shared apartment with your boyfriend so going overboard with the makeup won't help and will be a lot of work to erase later after your classes. "what time is your class, levi?"

by now, levi's breakfast is forgotten as he leans on his chair, gray eyes following each of your movements. he always find himself captivated with how effortlessly you make yourself even prettier. even though he prefers your bare skin more (placing random kisses on your cheeks or the corners of your lips are more doable without the feeling of cream stuck on his lips), he still likes how makeup turns you into an artist that uses your face as a blank canvas. he watches with awed eyes how you daintily dab your cream blush over your cheeks and over you the bridge of your nose, blending it that levi thought it's a natural glow on your skin.

with a dazed tone, he answers, "nine."

you glance at him with the prettiest eyes he ever find on a person. you sigh when you realize that he woke up early to make breakfast. "i can cook breakfast, you know. you should've slept in today, levi."

levi shakes his head, sipping on his tea. "no, i'd rather wake up early and make breakfast every day than snuggle alone with our pillows." he then shrugs. "besides, watching you do your morning routine is a great way to start the day."

you only smile at him before cutting a piece of french toast and putting it in your mouth. a hum of satisfaction lights up your face. levi's way of cooking traditional breakfast dishes never fails to amaze you. he has these secrets that even you don't know of since he wants to cook for you with surprises sometimes. with half of your french toast consumed, you continue with your eyebrows and eye makeup, which only consists of applying one shade of eyeshadow and putting on mascara.

if levi has a favorite part of your routine, it's you curling your eyelashes and applying mascara on them to make your eyes more noticeable. and as he watches you create the illusion that your eyelashes longer than they are, he can't prevent the blissful sigh coming out of his lips. it catches your attention and the moment your eyes meet with his, levi's cheeks start to warm. that pretty smile that always take his breath away greets his vision, making him shy under your gaze.

"like what you see, babe?" you jokingly ask.

after staring on his untouched french toast like they're worth displaying in a museum, levi looks back to you with half-lidded eyes. "very much, baby."

now, you're the one with flaming cheeks. the little moment turns into something that induces a laugh from levi, with you huffing that your heart sometimes can't take his words. you go back to finishing your french toast before applying your flavored chapstick, levi's loving stare never faltering, lasting even when you have your first class of the day.

every once in a while, you hand levi your makeup pouch with an expectant stare. the first time you did this to him, he couldn't comprehend what your intention is at first until you tell him that you want him to be the one doing your makeup this time. he nearly backs out. he's scared of poking your eyes out but you reassure him that he will never do that.

for a person who never imagined himself in this position, the ending result becomes your favorite look. not because it's levi but because he did it so minimally that it appeals to you.

"this is for your face, right?" levi softly asks, lifting your moisturizer. he's sitting close to you, inches separating your faces. he's saying that it makes him see clearer but you know that he's being clingy without saying anything. "i just want to make sure i'm using the right products."

"levi, sweetheart," you laugh under your breath, "i already laid out everything on our bed. and in order. you got this."

he sighs. "you have another minute to think this through. we're meeting with the others in the club and i can't have you looking like my coloring book when i was three."

you place your hands over his cheeks. "relax, levi, you'll do fine!"

"fine."

opening the moisturizer, he keeps glancing at you to check if he's putting the right amount on your skin. once the small dots of cream are on your face, levi takes a deep breath and gently rubs it to cover your skin. despite having blemishes, levi thinks that your skin feels so soft underneath his calloused fingers. he'll caress your cheeks the whole day if not for your supposed call time which is in forty minutes. a sigh brushes on your face, levi cursing erwin for making them come on time. once he finishes rubbing your moisturizer on your face, he nods in approval, and kisses your lips quickly before moving on to the next step which is the primer.

you are admiring levi the whole time his face scrunches up in concentration. you're holding your laugh back when you see his lips curling in distaste, having applied more than your instructed amount. you're looking at him with a soft stare, your small smile fondly lifts up your lips. his eyes are a beautiful shade of silver, blue tones peeking through, and it makes your heart warm. his skin glows under the overhead lights of your shared bedroom, smooth to the touch. there are no words left to speak --- levi is simply the most beautiful person gracing your life, the definition of pretty and handsome combined together.

"okay, i'm starting your eyes now."

you didn't register that he's finished with applying concealer and blush on your cheeks.

levi turns to the opened palette sitting on the towel-covered duvet. "which shade are you feeling right now?"

with a cheeky grin, you answer, "how about you surprise me."

"... if i hear one complain from you later, you can always catch a ride with four-eyes on the way back."

levi eyes a specific palette with oranges and browns and starts winging it. if someone looks from the sidelines, levi looks like he's ready to murder someone. his eyes are narrowed, bottom lip in between in teeth, and face scrunched in peak concentration. he starts with that shimmery dark peach eyeshadow he finds pretty on you, then continuing with something darker on the outside corners of your eyes. one eye lasts for ten minutes but you understand since this is levi's first time applying makeup on a person. you can feel his breath tickling your face since he has scooted closer to you to perfect this.

"okay, i'm done, what's next?"

"liquid eyeliner."

that alone makes levi stop.

"then it's the mascara. your favorite part."

"... you do the eyeliner. i don't want you going blind because of me."

in short, levi is phenomenal with makeup and he doesn't even know it.

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melohax · 3 years

Text

I’ve seen some people who finished Omori talking about how they don’t understand the game’s plot, what happens in the good ending or why the protagonist even decided to change his ways. So then, here’s my thoughts on Omori’s story.

Warning: SPOILERS AHOY. Only read this if you’ve already finished the game and seen the good or true ending. Or if you don’t plan on playing the game at all but still want to know the whole story.

I’ve seen some people around the internet talk about how Sunny’s character isn’t clear to them or how they feel Sunny doesn’t deserve a good ending. Here’s some thoughts I have on why I think Sunny’s growth was well depicted.

There’s two main routes you can go through in the game: the “Reality” route and the “Hikikomori” route.

In the “Hikikomori” route, Sunny stays in Headspace forever and we get to learn many additional details about him. Sunny’s parents are implied to have known what Sunny did to Mari all along. It’s also implied that Sunny’s mother covered the whole thing up and chose to present it as a suicide as well cus, in her own words, she can’t bear the thought of losing both of her kids.

Sunny’s mother insinuates her son isn’t a “good boy” even though she begs him to be good but she still sees him as her little boy (as seen by the overly-sweet and positive messages she leaves around the house and her voice mails) and needs him alive so she can survive her own grief. Sunny’s father is shown cutting down the hanging tree and telling Sunny he isn’t his son, presumably disowning Sunny. The father keeps being absent forever afterwards.

Fast forward to the present and the “Reality” route, Sunny’s moving in 3 days. He knows his time is up in the real world and the biggest catalyst for his personal growth is that he’s finally seeing his old friends in the REAL world after 4 years of only seeing their loving, idealized child version in dreams. For the first time, he gets to witness the collateral consequences of what he did to Mari in his now teenaged friends: Aubrey spirals into delinquency after feeling like she was thrown aside by everyone she loved. Hero is guilt ridden, can’t even go near Mari’s grave and gives up on his dreams of being a chef. Kel wants to make things better but feels powerless, useless and like a screwup. Basil lives in a miserable state of almost constant fear and psychosis.

Sunny finally gets to see the huge toll his lie took on his friends’ entire lives as they keep blaming themselves for not knowing about Mari’s supposed suicidal ideations. He’s finally forced to face reality and he still tries to hide in dreamworld but he can’t. The inhabitants of Headspace are all people or fictional characters he knows or likes in real life (that he changed in his dreams, like how Kim’s brother is a sweet gentle giant and Sweetheart looks just like the candy shop owner at the supermarket) and their quests end up leading him to events where he’s reminded over and over again his dreams will end soon (the end of the underwater highway, the tree near the whale, the shadows of Mari and Basil) and that he needs to delve into Blackspace.

This shows how his own subconscious mind knows well what needs to be done; he’s putting the mental and emotional effort of making himself face what he’s done, shown through the contrast between the whimsical nature of Headspace and the dark surrealism of Blackspace.

As this happens in Sunny’s psyche, in the real world he can try to “atone” a bit by doing good things for his little community like completing requests people around him have. He still has a lot of trouble being near Basil in the real world but considering his entire subconscious mainly revolves around finding and rescuing Basil, he wants and needs to face Basil sincerely before he runs out of time.

We’re shown through memories that Sunny’s personality was always quiet, wary, a bit distant and very bad at dealing with pressure. Some people even describe him as cowardly or mediocre but he was just a small kid who’s entire world ended when he was 12. Since then, he never left his house, spending most of his days asleep rather than awake. It’s no wonder his personality isn’t as developed as his friends. His friends, although they were also in immense pain, at least still continued to live beyond Mari’s death. Sunny didn’t. He only lived through sleep.

Subconsciously, it’s shown Sunny both loves and hates Basil. This is seen in Blackspace with the dialogue he has with the “strangers” walking in the void. They talk about how Sunny (as Omori) does horrible things to Basil in the darkness of Blackspace because he struggles with facing the truth of his own actions. It’s also revealed through datamine of Blackspace’s metaphorical photo album that Basil, in his attempts to save Sunny from the judgement of others and to get him to come out of catatonia, was the one who come up with the plan to hang Mari.

Sunny describes Mari as looking as if calmly asleep when he drags her up the stairs. Her eyes remained peacefully closed until Sunny and Basil hung her. Then, Sunny turned back to look at Mari’s corpse, her previously closed eyes were wide open. She might have even been still alive, might have opened her eyes during or after the noose was tied to her neck. Or the belief he saw her eyes open could have been a manifestation of Sunny’s guilt, instead.

Either way, the horrifying possibilities surrounding Mari’s death lead to Sunny handling his emotional pain by subconsciously taking it out on Basil. It’s why Basil in Blackspace is shown constantly suffering and dying in many different ways. It’s the only way Sunny has been able to deal with himself; by forcing Basil into the darkest corners of his mind, his perfect colorful dreamworld can’t be ruined by the ugly reality Basil’s mere presence represents. It’s less painful to try to forget Basil and to forever blame him for both of their sins.

Still, even with all these conflicted feelings, Sunny’s tried to come to terms with love he still feels for Basil many times before. The shadows point out how this isn’t the first time he’s tried to save the Flower Boy; how all the previous times before ended in Sunny failing to find redemption and so his mind turns back to torturing the Basil of his dreams instead.

However, one of the Blackspace shadows also mentions a very important detail that changes almost everything this time around: his time is almost up in the real world. Whether this means he’ll commit suicide or move away, it’s almost time for him to leave the friends he’s always loved so much behind.

Sunny is forced to do a lot of internal work and self-reflection in what little time he has left. It’s shown through his dream actions, the surreal imagery surrounding him and the characters with all the sub plots his subconscious makes up.

In the route to the good ending, he traverses Blackspace and manages to listen to every harsh truth Basil’s shadow has to tell him. His attempts to save Basil mean he’s fighting his own mind, forcing himself to accept the truth.

To achieve redemption for his greatest mistake, Sunny needs to start with accepting Basil entirely; he has to stop making Basil take the brunt of their combined regrets. It means being willing to finally face the REAL Basil instead of permanently burying him in the most painful place within Sunny’s mind.

So basically, it’s obvious to me that Sunny is forced out of his “comfortable” hikikomori misery the moment he opens the door to meet the REAL Kel.

Sunny and Basil have a confrontation in the real world. When Sunny entera Basil’s room, we see poor Basil suicidal and at his limit. He’s clearly in the throes of a psychotic episode and at the mercy of hallucinations and delusions he can’t escape from (“There’s no way out of this is there, Sunny?”). Basil attacks you in an attempt to save you by killing the “thing behind you” but as we know, there isn’t actually something behind you.

There was never any monster to take the blame for Basil’s regrets, nor yours. It’s always been just you.

Meanwhile, Sunny is trying his best not to completely lose his shit so he can save Basil and stop him from potentially killing the both of them. Sunny likely loses an eye in the fight, shown by the blood coming from your socket and the bandage over it in the hospital.

Incidentally, the eye you lose is on the same side as the eye that can be seen peeking through the hair of Mari’s face as she’s hanging from the tree.

In the good ending, the song at the end talks about how even after confessing the truth, Sunny is alone once again, so it’s not actually clear if Aubrey, Kel and Hero actually forgave him. I feel like this is deliberately left up to interpretation by the writers. The lyrics then continue on to say Sunny still finds it hard to wake up, still finds himself plagued some days with lingering regret, but that he still tries to take it all one step at a time to carry on living.

With the song’s lyrics in mind, the end scene that shows Basil and Sunny smiling at each other while Mari’s shadow leaves them doesn’t mean they’re completely fine all of a sudden. Whether their friends forgave them or not, they at least finally have the relief of honesty. The burden of their unbearable shared secret is now off their shoulders. It’s finally out in the open, which means they both can now start healing and working to find the redemption Sunny was looking for in Blackspace. It also means they can go back to loving each other again without the crushing pain they both felt in each other’s presence.

I agree that Aubrey and the gang get pretty left out in the good ending, though. I wish there was more of them and their reactions to the truth BUT I think it’s sadly a deliberate choice by the writers to leave their reaction up to the player’s interpretation. This can feel extremely unfulfilling to many people (me included, I hate when authors do that tbh) but also to many others that’s a good thing cus they get to apply their own personal meaning and feelings.

I personally feel like the friends forgiving Sunny and Basil right off the bat would be incredibly unrealistic. I think they would need a lot of time (especially Aubrey) for them to forgive the lie that wrecked their lives for years. Forgiveness isn’t impossible but it would probably come in the form of a slow, difficult, heartbreaking process. Bittersweet.

Redemption isn’t just about forgiveness, anyway.

Even if a person is never forgiven by the people they’ve hurt, they can still find redemption for their actions through doing good for the people around them and the world at large. An example of this is shown through what Sunny can do on his last days in his neighborhood. The gratitude and additional flowers he receives in the hospital from each person he’s helped are proof he can still do good for others even after something as horrible and unforgivable as accidental murder. In a way, it’s proof that his life is still worth living.

But ultimately that’s just my own interpretation of the ending and I understand other people would interpret it all differently. Some see forgiveness as a given in the story while there’s also others who think Sunny doesn’t deserve forgiveness or those who think Sunny is a sociopath/psychopath or that Basil is the true villain of the game. I think this is why the ending was left so open, to favor all the different interpretations people have of it.

ETA: Here’s a different take on Sunny’s parents. This post argues that, despite the initial implications, they actually didn’t know about the attempted coverup. It’s a really good writeup explaining the whys and hows and has me reconsidering that part of the story!

https://www.reddit.com/r/OMORI/comments/kr9nvx/major_spoilers_regarding_sunny_his_parents_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

#omori #omori game #omori sunny #omori basil #omori spoilers #spoilers #i said id wait before doing a post like this lol #but here i am #omori meta

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