#Analysis post

[efverse]

the saddest thing to me about eon knowing that garchomp wouldnt hurt him even all these years later. no matter how much they might get on each others nerves now..

even after their fall out. even tho he subconsciously avoids garchomps touch and yet somehow still feels safer from everything else in his presence....

is that eon would probably feel more comfortable w garchomp physically touching him in current day if he had actually hurt him/hated him...

[rationaliity]

dr ratio vs. the genius society | an analysis

this'll also be a comparison between ruan mei and dr. ratio so warning for that one too, just in case.

i saw this post by @chronical-lover

and firstly, i just want to say thank you, especially about mentioning how aeons don't care about humans because youre so right. i wanna expand a little bit on the comparison between his character and the genius' that we've met this far.

ratio ultimately failed to be recognized not because he wasn't smart enough, but because he was too human. he's human first, scientist second. he'll always be human first, he doesn't have it in him to act without emotions no matter how much he wants logic to dictate his every move. his entire character is that he believes every one has a human right to be alive, to learn and to grow. he's there to guide them, not necessarily in the nicest way, but still.

i think contrasting him with ruan mei in the story quest was a perfect idea. when you meet ruan mei, she's kind. she makes the trailblazer feel comfortable, even for just a little bit. she offers companionship, tea, and a conversation. but she does not care about the trailblazer or her creations, something painfully obvious in her actions. when the trailblazer was facing up against ruan mei's failed attempt to make a replica of the emanator of propagation, ruan mei was no where to be found. but you know who was, just in case he had to step in ? veritas ratio. even though both knew that the replica wasn't likely to hurt the trailblazer, ratio was there.

" since you're here, i won't intercede. but should you fail, i will be forced to prevent some avoidable misfortunes "

( i hate this man so much )

but he was there. he witnessed the fight, and once the threat was over, it was time to get going ( his words, not mine ). he was there to witness you fight, and should he had needed to, he would've stepped in to prevent us from any actual danger. however, when we approach ruan mei after the fight, and we look reasonably upset from her, we don't get an actual apology. she says she regrets her actions, but her words aren't actually about putting us in danger. she was upset that her experiment fell short, that she had made another predictable outcome.

" you look.. upset, correct ? i regret my actions. there's no defending what i've done. time and again, my experiments have fallen short, and they've always yielded predictable results. i made a clone but it.. doesn't hold a candle to the emanator. "

she did say that she would be there if the danger proved to be too great, but she was not. veritas, however, was. both of them said that they would step in if needed, but only one of them was actually in a position to do so. only one of them took preventative measures to make sure that you were safe from harm. and that is not the genius ruan mei, no matter what her words say.

ruan mei has a flowery way of speaking. not to say that she necessarily minces her words, she's upfront about a lot of things. but she lures the trailblazer into a false sense of security. she's introspective, and questions her own actions a lot. but she's never apologetic about the way that her actions put other people in danger, just that they don't yield the results she wants.

ratio, however, is curt. we meet him originally as a brooding, mysterious figure. he's mean, he doesn't use a lot of words to get his point across. he says what he means, and he's a fan of effective communication. he doesn't have to worry about himself, he knows who he is and how is actions affect himself and the people around him, and that leads to people assuming that he's egotistical ( which he might be , a little bit. as a treat ) but the reality is that ratio cares more about the people around him that he'll ever let on.

and that's where he fails. that's the fundamental difference between him and those within the genius society. ruan mei, herta, screwllum, and the other geniuses do not care about anything other than results. and yet ratio is kind. he's inherently kind, his actions are all for other people. he's saved a dozen worlds with his inventions. he's a scholar within the intelligentsia guild, and a doctor saving his patient's lives every single day. he wants to guide people from the shadows towards the right answer, he wants to make them use their brains and think.

he does not act without considering other people. he can't be a genius first, and a human second. and that's where he fails to gain nous' recognition. it's not that he's not not intelligent enough to be a genius, it's that even in his pursuit of knowledge, he has not forgone his humanity.

and perhaps, in nous' eyes, that's the difference between the mediocre and the genius. to erase every part of you, your emotions, your empathy, your humanity, in the pursuit of knowledge is what separates a genius from the masses. not having those barriers allows you to really dig deep into subjects that would otherwise be considered taboo or dangerous, because you don't care about how the outcome affects people as long as you can study it. as long as you can get answers out of what you're studying, it doesn't really matter what the test subjects are feeling.

ratio is too human, too caring, to ever be considered a genius in nous' eyes.

[sharksandjays]

This is sort of going off my recent artwork but I really wanted to take a moment to talk about Jay's adaptability. Specifically weapons. With the other ninjas, they seem to stick to one thing. Kai seems to always stick to a sword, Zane a long distance weapon, Cole an impact-based weapon, and Nya a spear-type weapon. (Lloyd still has the same sword he's had since season 11.) And while Jay does stick to chained weapons, he shows a lot of comfort with continously changing weapons in situations of need.

Personally, I think it's to make up for his element. Lightning is an incredibly powerful element that is likely very difficult to control. He probably doesn't WANT to use it much outside of his usual shocks and power outages. Unlike Lloyd, he doesnt need that much power because he's usually not fighting The Big Bad.

So he makes up for it with variety. With hand to hand combat, agility, speed, adaptability of weapons.

I mean, just look at all of them.

(And dont get me STARTED on how insane it is that he reguarly uses kusarigamas. That's RIDICULOUSLY DIFFICULT TO MASTER. I think this guy needs a ton of respect just for using chained weapons.)

But the coolest thing, to me at least, is that it looks like he specifically trained in the other ninjas weapons. (Maybe the others did too? But i dont really see it as much with them.)

This scene in crystallized is what got me.

Cole literally just threw his weapon to Jay, trusting him to know how to use it. And Jay kicks butt.

I wonder if a little 15 yo Jay trained in the training yard for hours, frustratedly hacking at something with a katana, then training with a hammer, switching to a spear, then to a bostaff, then to sai, and just keeps going and going until he's comfortable with all of them. He cant be the weak man on the team. If his power isnt going to cut it, then he needs to master weapons. Master combat. He wont be the weak link. He refuses to.

Anyways sharkanalysis is back

[sabo-torao]

Small disclaimer before you head in: this whole post will be referencing the TCB translation. I know VIZ handled the exchange I'm discussing differently, but I couldn't find anyone who talked about the original version and as a result I don't really know who is closer to the original meaning. In any case, the "analysis" should still stand. Whether Dragon was commenting Sabo's firmness or admiring his resolution, Sabo's still putting on a mask, and that's the point I'm trying to break down. Enjoy!

This very specific interaction between Dragon and Sabo in chapter 1083 has always stuck out to me.

"My, you really are unshakeable."

which is an appropriate response to what Sabo said, of course. What kind of sensitive person reacts that way to the death of an innocent, right?

Even so, I can't help but compare the thing Sabo said to his actual, genuine reaction to King Kobra's death.

He's devastated.

Sabo brokenly screams Kobra's name, and his expression is one of full despair; he never thought about killing Kobra, let alone letting him die. On the contrary, he actively tried to save him.

Kobra told him to just let him go, that he was dead weight and he shouldn't be concerned about him, but Sabo straight up refused. In fact, Kobra's actions read way more as a sacrifice than an inevitable death; the king let himself die, knowing that this way Sabo could flee and reach Vivi and Luffy safely.

On the Lulusian ship, we see Sabo think about Kobra's last words to him and actively trying not to cry (and failing).

That's not an unshakable man. He's suffering, he's grieving. He realizes he failed his very own mission of saving the king and lets the meaning behind Kobra's actions and words sink in.

It really puts his former reaction into perspective.

Sabo's firmness, seriousness and coldness in front of Dragon and Ivankov are nothing but a façade. He acknowledges that what he's about to say might come off as harsh, and that, even if he does feel sorry for Kobra, the tragedy doesn't weigh him down thanks to the results it brought, but it all sounds like he's reassuring himself more than actually showing his indifference.

Hell, he even drinks his glass of wine right after having said that "he doesn't really care". How can anyone take his words seriously?

And we've been knowing Sabo is inclined to do this sort of thing since Dressrosa; he acted all cool and composed in front of Luffy but the second Koala called him on the Den Den Mushi he was weeping, having a hard time believing that his little brother didn't punch him or hate him for being alive all along. He even denied he was crying!

All because Sabo hates being seen as vulnerable, especially in front of the people he thinks he has to be strong for (Luffy, Dragon, etc). It's something I think goes back to how his parents treated him, since they scolded him for, y'know, having emotions and being a normal kid in need of love, but i digress.

I once saw someone describing Sabo as a very cold person in comparison to his brothers, even going as far as to say that Sabo doesn't care if people die if it means achieving the Revolutionary Army's goals (using this very interaction as proof), which couldn't be further away from the truth.

Bonney even says outright that it's weird seeing a "radical revolutionary" act so friendly when Sabo helps her out. Why would he do this if all he ever did was for "The Cause"?

Yes, Sabo is ruthless, rude, violent at times, and his friendly demeanor could be seen as a little more volatile than that of his brothers', but he's not heartless. He's not a "meanings to an end" guy, he proves it time and time and time again, and it's disheartening seeing people label him as such.

Sabo is kind. He may not be as warm as Ace and Luffy, but he is fundamentally a good person. A generous, kind, caring, sensitive person.

No matter how hard he tries to hide it.

[fogwitchoftheevermore]

ok so. forgive me for a second but i've been abnormal about skizz and ren since the hiatus between third life and last life and holy shit this season is already not helping.

let's talk about skizz, ren, undying loyalty, and golden apples, shall we?

so the thing that you need to understand about skizz is that he is loyal to a fault. impulse literally says this exact thing about him in limited life, and skizz himself says himself: "you know me and my factions, i never turn." the second thing is that the first person their loyalty manifests for in third life is ren. he and ren run into each other on the second night when ren is getting accosted by mobs outside skizz's door and skizz gives him a place to stay the night. ren decides to trade skizz for his leather, for the upcoming enchanting buisness, and gives skizz a golden apple in exchange. skizz thinks this is wildly more than he deserves but is very thankful. skizz doesn't say it here, but this is the moment he swears his loyalty to ren.

throughout third life, he is willing to do or get basically anything for ren. the two of them literally die together to the tnt trap. when ren dies on the alter and everyone thinks martyn betrayed him, skizz is the first person to get there in the morning. he's in half broken gold armor and borrowed tools from bigb and he still tells ren "get behind me", still tries to protect him from martyn. when skizz is on red, he goes a bit crazy, but he channels that bloodlust into protecting ren. he kills jimmy in the red desert, he kills cleo when she tries to attack ren, he chases down impulse when he betrays dogwarts and dies trying to kill him.

when skizz dies in third life, he's got an unused golden apple in his hotbar. after he dies, he remembers the first time he met ren, etho, and martyn, and he spends quite a bit of time on his memory of ren and ren appears in his first memory of etho. after he dies, ren wields a blade named in his honor.

skizz spends third life loyal to ren- he dies for him and he dies with him.

in last life, ren and skizz end up on completely different sides, and it very quickly gets bad because when ren becomes boogey, he kills skizz. he lures him into a trap. he tells skizz he loves him. skizz literally says "i am broken hearted" when ren kills him. ren holds no regard for the relationship they used to have and yet skizz cannot help but compliment ren's skill with the trap, outright says he can't be mad at ren.

and then it only gets worse because skizz tries to storm ren's tower with impulse after they've gone red. and that! doesn't go well! and while skizz is retreating, while he is eating the golden apple in his hot bar, ren shoots him dead.

and that is the last time they've spoken. two years ago.

because skizz isn't in doublt life. and ren isn't in limited life.

and when skizz's time comes in limited life, he ensures he doesn't have a golden apple in his inventory this time. this time, he hands the apples off to his teammates, where he knows they will go to good use. and then he hands etho a diamond fucking axe (red winter is coming) and asks him to execute him for the sake of their alliance. ok! sure! fill ren's role more explicitly, why don't you!

and that first session of secret life genuinely only made it worse. when skizz is talking to tango and cleo about their alliance, skizz says he wants to give leadership over to someone else: "i want to be more of a soldier than a leader this time." cleo says she'll fill the roll of leader- she doesn't take orders well - and then seals their alliance by giving tango and skizz a golden apple each. because of course she does.

and well, we all know that didn't really work out, so that's one person off the list that skizz can fill the dogwarts shaped hole in him with, so then he goes to bdubs. he says he'll lay his sword at bdubs' feet. he says he'll win bdubs with his loyalty. he calls bdubs "my leige", jesus christ dude, you couldn't be less subtle unless you straight up called him ren's name.

skizz has been (whether accidentally or on purpose is up to you) trying to recreate the experience he had with dogwarts, and particularly what he had with ren, since the moment dogwarts fell. he can't have it with ren because he missed his only chance in last life, so he'll fill the void with whoever he can. his fellow soldier. ren's successor. ren's new kingmaker. anyone. and it's never gonna work. i need ren to come back for like, 900 reasons, but i especially need him to come back so skizz can have a shot at making it to spring.

[halluciniwaynia]

hakita dropping lore behind why Gabriel went ungendered in act 1 really puts into perspective how dehumanizing the council was towards him calling him an “it” instead of “he” after his defeat in gluttony. They were comparing him to the machines he lost to, those they deem as “it”, not close to god. they were making him an object they could control by taking something he needed to live away from him like a book is taken off the shelf.

[artemistorm]

Here is my late rambling analysis of the new LU update:

I love Wind's face and posture. He's just like "Challenge accepted!" Hyrule and Wild my beloveds <3

A lot of people saw this sequence and went "oh no something bad is going to happen to Epona!" but I took it to mean that Epona doesn't want to go in the dungeon and that Twilight knows that Epona will be just fine hanging out outside (tasty snack time ehehehe).

I can't put my finger on exactly what's changed about the coloring but WOW it is popping. So vibrant. I love it. Made my eyes happy.

Also I love it when Jojo draws the gang in lines like this. It makes me think that she's doing it for fun (just like when you draw your OCs in lineups a million times cuz it makes you happy), that she still loves and takes great pride in showing off her blorbos.

Also, Wild is taller than Legend (and Hyrule) >:)

I love that he spelled this out to the others. Makes so much sense. In Lord of the Rings terms, most of the other Links are like Frodo and Sam running around to secretly bring the ring to Mordor, while Warriors is like Aragorn who straight up charged the Black Gates of Mordor with an army.

It's so funny how all the other heroes automatically assumed that Warriors' Hyrule had dungeons and that he just didn't bother to go through them. XD

So this implies that A) that comic where Wild and Hyrule met the wallmaster happened recently and B) it was sometime when Wars wasn't there with them, which makes me think that the wallmaster comic happened at the same time as this comic:

And then there's this:

I can't remember where I read it but I seem to remember Jojo saying that Legend was the most likely to prank others and this is an example of that. This is a characterization that surprised me at first (I would have expected Wind or Hyrule to be more of a prankster) but if you think about Who Legend Is, it actually makes a lot of sense.

I was trying to figure out which game this skulltula is from and my conclusion is that I think it is most similar to skulltulas from OOT 3D / MM 3D. I wonder if that means that they are in or near Time's time. Either that or this is a case of monsters getting mixed up between Hyrules like we saw in the Threatening Shadows story arc.

Time is clearly very wound up still over what happened to Twilight. While all the other heroes have seemed to pretty much bounced back after that harrowing incident and are caught up in youthful optimism and the excitement of a new dungeon, Time hasn't forgotten and he wants to make sure the heroes don't forget the seriousness of their situation and their enemy. Just because the Shadow was defeated once doesn't mean that they can do it again so easily (not that it was easy before).

My writer brain immediately interpreted this as foreshadowing that they aren't going to even make it to the central chamber before the group gets involuntarily broken up (trap doors my beloved mwahaha). Of course that may not end up being the case, they may make it the central chamber without incident.

I figure that ideally the group will split into 3 groups of 3, each group having at least one older Link (Time, Wars, Twi, Sky) and one younger Link (Four, Legend Hyrule, Wild, Wind). How much you wanna bet that Time wants Twi with him in order to keep an eye on him/protect him?

Anyways, that's all I got. Bye!

[mynonclicheblog]

Something about... THIS scene

And... ngngnfnds it's something about Lucy not being herself // Lockwood being TOO much of himself...

The words are coming from Lucy's mouth, but they aren't hers; those are Lucy's hands, but she isn't the one using them... an otherworldly force chose Lockwood to be her scene partner here, and once again it's about external voices seeing Lucy's feelings for him before she knows it herself...

And then there's something about how it's in direct contrast to Lockwood, who is PARTICULARLY aware of himself in that moment... this is one of the few times we get a full scene of Lockwood stripped down to a tshirt+hoodie instead of his usual suit+tie number (my brain is buzzing over this, since I presume the suit is sort of a costume for him, with the purpose of masking his inner self/vulnerability)... AND ALSO because this is arguably the first physical romantic scene they share, and while he is clearly concerned and confused about her behavior, the fact that he is having to reckon with Feeling Something Else Too is written all over his face...

I know this take isn't super book-accurate, but it feels almost allegorical to this idea that Lockwood is the one who is being caught off guard and having to realize his feelings early on... versus Lucy, who is there, and she's participating in the dance, but she's also being stopped from experiencing her feelings to the fullest by something within her...

Anyway, I'm sorry this is an absolute rambling MESS because my brain doesn't quite have its thoughts together, but I needed to post this right now immediately, hope you all understand 👋

[amorisastrum]

What if the Knox and Chris sub-plot had meaning?

WAIT NO GUYS IM SORRY PLEASE HEAR ME OUT I BEG PLE-

Okay I'm starting this post off by restating my downright hatred for Knox. I do not like his character, what he did was wrong, it's creepy and fucking disgusting. I will however like to talk about how his relationship with Chris could have potentially added to the story.

We all know (at least I hope) that practically everything in this film has meaning. I had spent ages wondering why they thought it was a good idea to include this frankly ridiculous sub plot to the story. And then I thought about it. Like really thought about it. I don't exactly remember what I was doing when I thought about it, but I do know that I had DPS playing in the background. (I initially thought about this on April 7th. It is May 29th when I am typing this up.)

So, here are all my reasons as to why I think they added the Knox and Chris sub-plot!

My first point is about this scene:

I believe that this line could be a form of foreshadowing. Yes, it is Knox being a dramatic and insufferable prick but it also feels like it could be more. Obviously it isn't Knox who dies in the end, but the idea of not being able to have something leading to suicide feels very important to the story.

Neil is unable to achieve a career in acting because of his father. As well as this, he is being taken away from his family. His real family. By not being able to have this thing that he so desperately wants, he feels like there is no other solution than death.

Knox says that if he can't have Chris he will kill himself, Neil has practically everything he loves stripped away from him- he cannot have it. So... He kills himself. There is a lot of foreshadowing in this film that hints to Neil's death at the end of the film and I do truly believe that this is a part of that foreshadowing.

My next point is that it is used as a form of contrast.

We see that Knox is extremely open about his attraction to Chris... In a multitude of ways, repeatedly throughout the film. Whether his actions that show his attraction are good or not is a different matter (Knox... God how I hate you.)

Arguably this is used as a juxtaposition. Knox (and Chris?) are relatively open about their attraction to one another- while Neil and Todd are very closed off about it. It is never explicitly stated that Neil and Todd like each other in that way, but through subtext it is heavily implied.

Why might this be? Well, considering the film is set in 1959, it could be because homosexuality simply wasn't legal at this point in time. Neil and Todd weren't allowed to be open about liking each other. Being open about it could put them in danger, they had no choice but to stay quiet.

However, as well as a contrast, it poses similarities between Knox and Chris and Neil and Todd. By setting up this contrast, it only brings to the surface some quite significant similarities.

Because let's be real.

How can THIS be a look of true love...

And THIS not be?

Or falling in love or admiring one's beauty or WHATEVER you want to call it. That's not the point. The point is, they're not that different.

You can see similarities between Knox's behaviour towards Chris and Todd's behaviour towards Neil (and vice versa). One of the main similarities is, well, how they look at one another. I personally don't see how the way Knox and Chris look at each other is true love but the way Todd and Neil look at one another is just... Them being roommates.

The juxtaposition between the two sets of people (I didn't know how else to say this) just doesn't seem accidental. The constant mention of Knox's feelings and love towards Chris just makes the way Neil and Todd interact more obviously... Romantic? Loving?

Their love is stated to allow the audience to see how similar they are to Todd and Neil, while still sticking to one of the key concepts of the film - conformity. Neil and Todd having to conform to societal standards, not being able to share their love for one another.

Knox's feelings for Chris are explicitly stated, repeatedly, because Todd's and Neil's can't. It makes it more noticeable. Neil and Todd's feelings can't really be stated due to the law. So they do it with Knox instead. The similarities can be seen throughout the film in how Knox treats Chris and how Neil and Todd treat one another.

Because again, how can Knox look at Chris like that and that show that he is in love, but Neil look at Todd like that and that just be... Them being friends?

The answer is, it can't. Not really.

Although Knox is a lot more explicit with his feelings towards Chris than the other two are with one another, the feelings they have are the same. Whether it is portrayed in the same way or not, it's love.

[dekalko-mania]

One of the saddest dp scenes lowkey was in Kindred Spirits when Danny kept saying thank you over and over to Sam and Tucker for saving him when he thought he was really going to die.

They didn't even know exactly what they saved him from, just that he wouldn't stop thanking them. Like almost desperately.

It was played up as a wholesome moment and it was, but it's also kind of brutal when you think about it. David Kaufman did a really great job with this as well - you can HEAR the tremble in his voice at the beginning. Like despite his brave face and willingness to keep fighting, he was really terrified. The whole Vlad situation was really a wake up call - if he didn't have his friends to help him, then he might not even be half alive at all at this point.

It's also a bit of insight into what he's thinking during his brave/heroic moments. He hides the fact that he's often scared very well. Reminds me of that one quote - Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.

Scene attached for context but bro he would not STOP. Even they were like??? What is going on??

[lunixiscool]

The way some people talk about Neil and Todd's relationship make me think we didn't watch the same movie.

Todd didn't ruin Neil nor did Neil become unhappy by being friends with Todd. Todd wasn't a burden to Neil. The reason Neil was so unhappy was because of his father and the expectations of others on him.

Neil doesn't see Todd as "an experience" and I think that claim really undermines Neil as a character. I understand why some people believe that but Neil is a very genuine character and doesn't create bonds with any of the poets "for the hell of it". Neils the type of person to show up at your front door if he hasn't talked to you in 3 days. Watching their scenes together, watching the relationship these characters develop, even the way Todd reacts to Neils death. It shows there's a lot more than what the camera showed us, especially when Todd screams at Cameron about Neil loving acting. Although obviously everyone knows that Neil loves acting, that part alone just showed there's a whole lot more conversation that we missed betweens these characters and whole lot more than an "experience"

TLDR: People mischaracterize the hell out of Neil

[earthstellar]

Megatron: "Your defeat here was foreseen by the ancients. What was it they wrote? The weak shall perish?!"

Optimus Prime: "Do not believe everything you read."

Episode: TFP - One Shall Fall

---

This is such a great exchange, because Megatron is losing his composure in an effort to bring about a prophecy of devastation, while Optimus finally obtains clarity and comes to realise that Megatron in his current state of mind cannot be saved.

Optimus isn't just referring to the prophecy itself, but he is calling back to the early days of his communications with Megatronus, the messages they began to exchange with one another while speaking about the injustices playing out around them, their long letters to one another that eventually brought Orion to visit Kaon, the beginning of their shared initial dream.

Back then, he believed Megatron to be a prophet of sorts, a speaker of truth to the brutally corrupt powers maintaining the system of oppression that bogged down Cybertronian people for so long.

Megatron sees himself as the prophet destined to bring about a pre-determined destiny steeped in the power of Unicron, while Optimus is mourning the loss of his own hope in his friend to ever be the bringer of peace that he, once upon a time, hoped he could be. Or hoped they could be, together.

Optimus still sees Megatron as Megatronus, deep inside-- Or he had, up until this point.

But Raf has been poisoned by dark energon, Ratchet (while under the influence of synth-en) told Optimus directly to his face that he needs to take the shot already and end this war (and Megatron) for good, and it culminates in this exchange in this episode.

The specific choice of words here is possibly Optimus speaking as Orion, expressing his disappointment in what Megatronus has become, a figure of evil beyond redemption that he so hoped he could offer his friend.

But Megatronus no longer exists as he did, back in the messages they exchanged in their earlier days, back in the holovids of a gladiator seeking to utilise his fame to encourage a much overdue revolution.

Optimus has lost some hope here; He can no longer believe that Megatronus can be revived from underneath what Megatron has become.

He no longer has the hope that their letters and exchanges originally inspired; He can no longer revisit those words Megatronus so carefully and passionately sent him, encrypted ten times over to prevent a Senate raid in Kaon or Iacon, secret letters full of hope for a better future.

What better future is there, with their planet dead and now with Earth on the line as well?

Optimus-- or rather, Orion, from underneath the heavy weight of the Matrix-- is still speaking to Megatronus here. Even though he now understands that Megatronus is long lost.

He cannot believe the great desire for social justice that Megatronus expressed and once wrote to him about at great length, because look at what has become of it all. Look at what his friend has become.

Orion is an archivist; He places great value in what he reads. He placed such great trust in Megatronus, the fate of their world has indeed changed as a result of both of their actions, and Orion was directly inspired by Megatronus.

But that inspiration is now tainted; Those memories are marred by the realisation of how far from those ideals Megatron has strayed.

Is it possible to re-read those messages that are no doubt saved for an eternity in Optimus' databanks, possibly even part of the Matrix's own memory core now, without pangs of sorrow and guilt for where it all led?

Megatronus spoke of great, wonderful things that could have healed the wounds of their people.

But instead, their people are cast out among the stars, their homeworld dead and decaying, their diaspora left to battle an unending war.

He can no longer have faith in Megatronus, for Megatron has only one goal, and in this moment, that goal is to destroy.

What happened to all those words about justice, freedom, a fairer society, a better balance among all classes and castes, a shot at real opportunity for those left oppressed and abused under a Functionist system?

Deep down inside, Orion can no longer believe what he was told so long ago.

And Megatron is so far gone that this may not even register to him; He sees Optimus as a separate entity, a perpetual enemy, the living embodiment of all that prevents him from achieving despotic control over whatever remains, a block in the path to potential restoration of their world and people-- Under his control, of course.

I just really love the specific phrasing, here.

"Do not believe everything you read."

Megatron, in his addled state of mind, may not have registered this statement for what it truly is.

And that makes it even more sad, because it proves Optimus/Orion completely right.

Those words they shared so genuinely so long ago may as well have been lies for all that has happened since.

It takes a hell of a lot to make Optimus/Orion lose hope or faith in even former allies.

And this scene, as quickly as it goes by, is Optimus directly declaring that he can no longer entertain Orion's hopes in regards to Megatronus' ultimate fate anymore.

Or at least, that's how I interpret this scene.

God, TFP had some really great, really subtle writing.

[mageknight14]

What It Means to be Friends: The Differences between Neku/Beat and Rindo/Fret 

I’m feeling in the mood for another TWEWY analysis post and for today’s topic of discussion, this will be centered around Beat and Neku’s friendship in comparison to Rindo and Fret’s own and how they contrast in very interesting ways that are reflective of their respective game's writing styles.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Neku and Beat didn’t exactly get off to the best start in the beginning of their relationship in the original. Hell, if anything, they flat out disliked each other. Beat saw Neku as nothing more than an emotionally distant asshole who made his little sister feel bad for trying to help him out and Neku saw Beat as nothing more than an overly emotional idiot who’s way too energetic for his own good and initially wants nothing to do with him.

There are little cracks that start to form in the walls between them, however, where their respective duos start coming together to help each other out in the Game and they start to form a little friendly rivalry between them. Mostly on Beat’s side since Neku could care less. However, that bit of bonding gets interrupted by a cruel twist of fate: Rhyme’s sacrifice and subsequent erasure. In which Beat, in a mix of grief and desperation to save his little sister, begs to and subsequently joins the Reapers, much to Neku and Shiki’s shock.

And then, Kitaniji asks Beat to do one task to show his dedication to the Reaper cause: kill Neku! (and Joshua). Initially, Beat tries to draw upon his dislike of Neku from the start of the game to motivate himself into completing his task but he just can’t go through with it no matter what, a feeling that only gets worse when Neku gives him Rhyme’s pendant that he dropped, thus invalidating Beat's previous resentment towards him. Seeing Neku go out of his way to return something precious to Beat even after he had antagonized him throughout the week causes Beat to drop his animosity completely and the next time we see him, he’s rescuing Neku from a unwinnable scenario by becoming his partner in Week 3.

From then on, we see Neku and Beat’s dynamic start to become more whole, opening up to each other more and helping the other through their struggles and ultimately culminating with them becoming genuine friends by the end. By the time W3 starts, they’re the only actual Players left in the Game, in the middle of a life-or-death situation, AND have the entirety of the UG after them due to Kitaniji activating Emergency Call. With circumstances like those, it’s no wonder they become as thick as thieves. Beat relies on Neku to help keep his head on straight and set him on the right path so that his temper and rash personality doesn’t end up screwing them over when things get rough, something Beat can't afford whatsoever when it comes to his mission of trying to save Rhyme.

Likewise, Neku relies on Beat to help keep his feet moving instead of allowing him to wallow in his own head when aspects such as Hanekoma potentially becoming the Composer becomes emotionally and be strong enough to catch him when he stumbles and falls. On top of that, he also trusts Beat’s emotional intelligence and honesty in matters such as when Beat convinces him to spare Uzuki and Kariya.

You see this dynamic persist in NEO as well even after all of the time they spent separated, in which Beat is heavily implied to have physically searched for Neku throughout all of Shibuya (remind you of anything?) and even take up some of his aspects, like the headphones, to honor his friend. And considering how Neku has helped him save his little sister and supported him when the chips were down, it's honestly no wonder.

Beat even flat out admits to Nagi that he was in some measure putting up a front to mask his fears and doubts and is quite calmer when Neku is around compared to NEO’s weeks 1-2. Not that his hot-blooded energy is gone but he notably isn’t as prone towards picking fights or shouting. Meanwhile, Neku is out of the loop after having been away for three years but Beat is again there to pick him up where he falters and help guide him around. The two of them are best friends through and through.

By contrast, we have Rindo and Fret, whose dynamic is quite different from Neku and Beat’s but is nonetheless just as well-written. I think the start of the game does an excellent job at setting up their relationship, where their early dynamic is fully on display in which Fret drags Rindo around and Rindo just casually goes with it despite internally bitching and moaning along the way. Like Beat and Neku, their friendship is mutually beneficial towards the other but in a much more casual and "shallow" way that’s very interesting.

They both want to be around one another in order to cover up for each other’s faults and their flaws feed into a loop that prevents the friendship advancing so that they don’t have to try but when it actually comes under serious strain, the flaws are exposed. Rindo being closed-off and content with just letting things stay on the surface level is perfect for Fret since he doesn't need to address his true feelings whatsoever and also fulfills his desire for someone to talk to because Fret is a pretty social guy and the class clown, letting him ignore his own problems. For Rindo, Fret allows him to also fulfill his desire for social companionship while not digging too deep and delude himself into thinking he’s autonomous and avoid the hurdles that comes with decision-making, which Fret is aware of and fine with because he’s more of a follower. The restaurant choice at the beginning of the game is a perfect example of this. At first glance, you think it’s just Rindo making a choice until you realize that it’s mainly Fret narrowing down the choices for Rindo without his input and he’s perfectly okay with that.

You also see this pop up again when Fret makes Rindo the leader of the group ALSO without his input so that he doesn’t have to get emotionally invested in the role and put the spotlight on himself. And initially, both are content with this and continue this dynamic throughout the first week of the Game, that is until shit hits the fan in Week 2. With the stakes becoming far more apparent and serious than they initially thought, and having to start another Game after getting cheated out of their victory, along with Sho just flat out ditching them and leaving the team to fend for themselves, tensions start to rise high between Rindo and Fret, which this ends up putting a strain on their relationship and we see the flaws in the friendship get exposed.

They start becoming more casually dismissive of each other’s interests whereas before they were just cool with whatever with Rindo not giving any regard to Fret’s interest in fashion and Fret mocking Rindo’s friendship with Swallow out of frustration, where Fret is pushing for Rindo to do anything regarding them considering Swallow's obvious involvement in the Game, and Rindo doesn’t want them to get upset so he pushes the issue away for later. Whereas Rindo is getting frustrated with Fret's self-defeatist attitude while not doing anything to help out with the situation that they're in, thus having them go back-and-forth and arguing with one another.

What makes this hit harder in hindsight is that this aspect was always apparent when you look back at the beginning. They bicker, like, a lot and the most noticeable example in W1 is the Nagi argument, where Rindo doesn’t see how she can help, worried about being held down by strangers, while Fret pushes for recruiting her, worried about having to handle a tougher burden on his own.

The part where they were in the ramen shop at the start of the game also does a good job at setting up this kind of relationship. Fret didn't know that Rindo played FanGO or was friends with Swallow, which heavily implies that they don't know that much about each other before entering the Game and later on, you see how Rindo constantly keeps Fret at arm’s length and opens up mainly to Swallow while Fret didn’t even talk to Rindo about his best friend that committed suicide. And in Week 2, these aspects become far more pronounced and the two become far more prone to taking passive-aggressive shots towards one another, culminating in their argument at the end of W2D4. I think what Rindo says to Fret in particular here is pretty telling of how he doesn't think that Fret is taking the situation seriously in spite of him actually showing otherwise what with his constant prodding. It's also hilariously indicative of Rindo's hypocrisy considering how he's constantly relying on others' input before making any actual decisions on his own, such as with Swallow in the very next scene and the day after.

However, despite all of this, they still do genuinely care for each other. Rindo’s first use of Replay was spurred on via wanting to save Fret from getting flattened by a truck and Fret is always pushing Rindo towards becoming more and more decisive in small ways. Most notably, when everyone except for Rindo gets erased by Soul Pulvis and he’s the only one to make it back to the UG, who’s the first one he calls out and tries to look for? Fret.

I’ve seen some people complain about how Rindo and Fret’s friendship doesn’t feel especially deep when compared to some of the other relationships in the series when I’d argue that’s the entire point. They’re not childhood friends who know every single thing about each other from the start unlike some JRPGs out there or a duo who starts off hating one another before gradually becoming closer to one another due to the stakes of the situation they’re in. They’re really casual school friends who keep each other at arms’ length out of an attempt to keep themselves protected. Their relationship is interesting to analyze because it's layered, much like a real friendship would be, due to them dealing with their own personal issues. And yet it never feels like one can just call it shallow or deep and have either be a definite despcriptor, just a well developed bond. Fret is still reeling from his previous best friend’s suicide and Rindo has social anxiety out the ass so their bond makes perfect sense.

And on top of that, they do gradually become closer to one another. Fret starts taking Rindo’s interests more seriously, even becoming disgusted at Motoi on Rindo’s behalf and sad for him as well as showing understanding to him concerning his Swallow situation.

And Rindo starts taking Fret more seriously as a person, with W3D3 being a prime example. He brings up the possibility that Kanon is acting strangely and might be possessed, brings up calm, rational points that the others have no choice but to agree to and doesn’t try to force Fret to keep his feelings for her down, rationalizing that there might just be another way to save her and assuring him that it’s ultimately Fret’s choice because he respects his input. And when Fret shows up anyway to try and save Kanon, he doesn't hesitate to support his buddy in his endeavors and does his damndest to help. On top of that, he becomes far more supportive towards Fret’s interests, particularly with EleStra, and is happy for him.

I think that shift from the ingenuine to genuine is what NEO excels at with its character relationships and by the end, you can really see Rindo and Fret really coming together as friends that genuinely respect and trust one another.

Neku and Beat’s friendship is much more bombastic and in-your-face while Rindo’s and Fret’s friendship relies on the more little details and I think both work well for their respective game and themes. You have the story of a distant and hostile kid having developed into a more personable young man using his lessons to relate with a seemingly gruff and bullheaded guy only to find a shockingly self aware young man who hates himself and lost his only support become more sure of himself vs. the story of two seemingly close friends grinding against each other due to their underlying issues surfacing, deepening their bond through their honesty and growing self-awareness. The first is more conventionally written while the second is a bit more subtle and requires deeper inspection in order to get the full picture.

[halluciniwaynia]

I kind of wish there was some kind of language to describe the literary and narrative structure of ultrakill, because conventional ones such as “protagonists” and “main characters” only capture a very small picture of the wider story. ultrakill already spits in the face of those things by having the “main character” (the main driver of events in the narrative) being someone who is the “antagonist”, antagonist being the roughest and closest word to describe Gabriel.

But even that categorization falls short in the sense that the game’s story is not about you, but it involves you. V1’s importance in the story is that of someone who is involved in a larger piece of something else: mankind’s extinction and the quickly growing (and very chaotic) sentience of hell, something it interacts with purposefully in the game as part of the mechanics, but story wise, we do not see. The only events that matter which we are influencing is our encounters with Gabriel, and the terminals, because everything else is hell interacting with itself. Everything else is hell becoming some weird kind of massively intelligent superorganism, at odds with the ideals of God being a omnipotent and ever loving creator. That is the story which drives the events of Ultrakill, the story that actually explains and branches out why everything is happening the way that it is and the way that it does. It’s not about V1 except that you (and it) are the hemorrhagic consequences of these factors coming to a head. A massively powerful, easily influenceable (by blood) ant which crawls its way into hell and goes deeper and deeper enticed by the terminals grading, enticed by the constant momentum and unfettered carnage that take place.

If anything, Ultrakill is a story which can only be experienced in a video game. Ultrakill isn’t separating the gameplay from its story, but it is making the core mechanics (style meter, weapon freshness, the terminals feedback with the player being the former’s source of entertainment, etc) completely separate from what is propelling the plot forward, from what is changing the world around it. A story like this, where you experience a world as the consequence, and not the cause of the story’s progression is something that can really only reliably happen when the audience is forcibly interacting as a outsider, with some of input. You cannot achieve this affect in film or books because there is no underlying mechanical reasoning to interact with. What you are shown is what is happening on screen, and you are to make assumptions about those things within their inclusion or omission from a scene.

Ultrakill is playing you a scene completely separate from the main play. There’s probably two plays going on here actually, what happens in Heaven and what you see as V1. You are always playing the terminals’ games, always giving them the entertainment they want and led you into. But there is always something else happening, there is always something bigger than you. You are exploring a world in the past, present, and future tense simultaneously by interacting with it as not the catalyst of major everythings, but as the byproduct of it. It’s a really unique story-telling perspective.

[existencebringsonlypain]

I love the attention to detail in this show, down to even how everyone blushes differently.

We've got classic tomato face Amity who blushes with her whole face, and Luz who only blushes on her cheeks.

Willow also blushes on her cheeks. Hunter's blush is oddly inconsistent, but it's generally his cheeks and ears, though sometimes only on his cheeks when he's less flustered and more embarrassed. We never see Gus blush to my knowledge.

Rains blushes on their cheekbones and nose, Eda only on her cheeks.

We never see Masha blush, but Vee has a tendency to blush around her cheekbones.

Darius just has the anime lines as a blush. Alador, of course, is the source of Amity's tomato face.

So much diversity in something as ubiquitous as blushing, which you tend to think only has two kinds, lines and airbrush pink on the cheeks.

Now look back through at the eyes. Amity has heavy eyeliner but the same eye shape as Alador, formed by two curves and an angled curve connecting them on both sides. Hunter's is similar, but it's just two curves, one much larger than the other.

Luz, Gus, and Willow both have oval eyes, but Luz has two eyelashes on the lower curve of her eyes whilst Willow has one lash on the top. Gus has no eyelashes.

Raine's eyes are essentially a flipped version of Hunter's, a shallow curve on the bottom with a larger curve on the top.

Eda's are just tall "almond" shapes, wider toward the nose. Lilith's, though not pictured, are a mirror image- wider toward her ears. It's also worth noting that Eda's lower lip has visible lipstick, contrasting Lilith's upper lip- to drive home the similarities between them.

Masha's eyes are a lot more squinted and upward-tilting, wider toward the nose. Vee has near circles as eyes, though they look a bit down-tilted, and she has two lashes near the top.

Darius has nearly the same eye shape as Alador.

There's so much variety in the designs in this show. The eyes, the blushes, heck even the noses and eyebrows and chins if you go back and look. There was so much thought  put into the designs of these characters, I'm frankly astounded that more people don't recognize it.

[mynonclicheblog]

This isn't anything new, really, but I keep thinking about Jess in season 4. It's heartbreaking to watch him simmering in regret over everything that happened with Rory. It's clear how much he's reflected on his behavior and wants fix it, yet is still too stubborn and repressed to initiate those changes (at first).

Then Luke gives him the self-help book, he consumes it all in a matter of days, and... well, we know where that leads. The absolute train wreck that is him begging Rory to leave with him, without really considering how buckwild that sounds from her point of view, without having talked things out or made amends for his actions (only gathering a strategy for moving forward in his own mind). It's so hard to watch because he is drowning in despair, laser-focused on this "solution" for his misery and projecting it onto her. He's grasping at what he learned about healthy relationships and pleading for Rory to believe that he's changed, even though he's only learned these things cognitively, hasn't really put them into practice yet. And Rory has this entire new life about to start at college - she can't drop all that for a boy who abandoned her without so much as a goodbye.

The irony of Jess going, "Look at me, Rory, I know how to be a real man now!", as he implores her to run away together with no long-term plan before he's communicated a damn thing that she needs to hear. It's so sad. It's so manic and loving and remorseful and chock-full of yearning, of desperation to please let this be the way he can make it up to her. It's a cry for help.

Rory was right to turn him down here, but damn if the whole thing doesn't make my heart hurt.