#I'll do a part 2 later

[nondescriptrock]

Omg queers

I'm the queerest out of all of us

VEGA IS GETTING A MAKEOVER

[sforzesco]

I got. thoughts. about valens and voices in imperial roman history. but I also got a lot of thoughts about uhhhhhh choosing your brother for co ruling the Fratricide Foundation Story Empire. many thoughts about themistius' oration too

Brotherly Love, Themistius (trans. Peter Heather & David Moncur)

⭐ places I’m at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app / insta

[sailorstarr-chan4]

Anime Titles Summarized (Poorly)

Vampire Knight: *insert Twilight joke here* Ouran High School Host Club: *small child voice* There's debauchery here! Sailor Moon: Everyone's bi. No, I mean it. EVERYONE. Clannad: I'm not crying yOU'RE CRYING Your Lie in April: Mommy Issues & Lots of Tissues Fruits Basket: MOMMY ISSUES ON STEROIDS Yuri on Ice: Sexy gay figure skating Sk8 the Infinity: Sexy gay skate-boarding Blue Exorcist: "[Satan] may have been your father, but he wasn't your daddy." FullMetal Alchemist: Family is your best ally Trigun: Family is your worst enemy Kaguya-sama Love is War: Idiots to Lovers the anime The Ancient Magus Bride: What if a monsterfucker romance was also Ace? Violet Evergarden: Gorgeously animated ✨TRAUMA✨ Made in Abyss: Adorably animated ✨TRAUMA✨ Madoka Magica: *Admiral Ackbar voice* IT'S A TRAP! My Hero Academia: X-Men alternative universe where mutants are the majority of the population Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And he's all out of bubble gum. Inuyasha: Time travel, youkai, and jewel shards, oh my! Ranma 1/2: The original bisexual harem Urusei Yatsura: Crack. Just pure, unadulterated alien crack. MAO: Feral Catgirl x Tired Catboy Tokyo Mew Mew: Cute girl fursonas are named after food Shugo Chara!: His Dark Materials magical girl!AU Kamisama Kiss: The How to Train Your Dragon of shoujo Noragami: Girl adopts homeless god Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: Eat your heart out, Doctor Who Skip-Beat!: Eat your heart out, slow burn fanfiction Kiss Him Not Me: Losing weight = gaining a harem Baccano!: Murders on the Immortal Mafia Express Cowboy Bebop: Bounty hunters need therapy Attack on Titan: EVERYONE NEEDS THERAPY Alice in the Country of Hearts: The sexiest and unhealthiest escapism Cardcaptor Sakura: Beautiful gay representation, terrible Elephant in the Room Fushigi Yuugi: Look, when I said falling in love with a fictional character, I didn't mean that LITERALLY-- Angel Sanctuary: Mutual incest destroys the world as we know it Guilty Crown: Unrequited incest destroys the world as we know it Zombie Land Saga: The undead as cutesy idols. That's it. That's the show. Yurikuma Arashi: Lesbian bears Princess Tutu: Duck becomes ballerina

Part 2 Here!

[accirax]

last night i had a dream that it was Friday, and i was watching Chapter 2 Episode 15. it was nearing the end of the episode, and Teruko had accused Ace in the Closing Argument. however, Ace was nonstop arguing with MonoTV that he didn't do it and that everyone had it all wrong. MonoTV laughed cryptically, and the episode ended on the cliffhanger...

...that MonoTV was about to introduce Ada Tobisa, Eden's secret twin sister, as the seventeenth student in the killing game.

no, i don't know what role Ada would have had in the murder.

earlier in the dream episode, we had seen the left photo as its own CG, and were led to believe that it was a photo of Eden as a baby (i have no idea how this came up in the Trial). however, the end stinger was showing the CG with the two of them, and that the left picture was actually Ada all along.

anyways, call me the Ultimate Fortune Teller, because i'm pretty sure i've foreseen exactly what's going to happen in Friday's episode drop 😎

[cdelphiki]

going through my drafts, I realized I had some dialogue that didn't make it into the final draft of chapter 53 and im SO SAD ABOUT IT. It was such a fun exchange between Clark and Jason, but it literally doesn't fit. So here have it:

-

"You just heard Perry," Clark said, "You impress him again? He’s promoting you to reporter. Jason. That’s what I am.

"Good. Fuck you," Jason huffed, "You’re so lame a sixteen year old can do your job."

Clark laughed. "No. You’re so brilliant you can do anything you set your mind to, and Perry sees that."

[squishosaur]

first year heart stickers !!!

[eddiezpaghetti]

Your perspective on Byler is super interesting, thank you for these posts! I agree that Byler isn't queerbaiting, but what if it's still an accident in the sense that they intended to tell a story of unrequited love from Will's pov (like Steve/Nancy, or Dustin/Max in season 2), and this is what those shots of Will between Mike and El are for, and didn't realize that Mike could be seen by a part of the audience as queer and possibly loving Will back?

Okay, for the most part, I'd just be reiterating the post I already made. So let's narrow this down to something more specific. Why is it not like Steve and Nancy or Max and Dustin?

Let's look at Max and Dustin first. I'll make a post about Steve and Nancy later because this wound up being longer than I meant for it to be.

What first comes to mind with Max and Dustin is the moment it really ended. When Dustin saw Lucas and Max together in the junkyard. If Dustin and Max were similar to Mike and Will, parallel to them, then the moment Dustin saw Lucas and Max together in the junkyard would be the same beat in their stories to the moment Mike and El reunited in the desert.

However, take a look at how they're shot.

This, versus

This.

And, just as important...

This scene.

AND this scene.

As I said in my first post, the reunion scene is shot that way--with Will making direct fucking contact with the camera--because he's supposed to be the one you're paying attention to in that scene. Not El and Mike.

Likewise, you're supposed to be paying attention to Dustin's feelings in the shot where he's watching Lucas and Max, but you'll notice some key differences.

One, Lucas and Max arriving together is shot as significant, as the focus, before it shifts to Dustin's reaction, instead of Dustin's reaction being shoved INTO their arrival. There's an over-the-shoulder shot to show that he (and Steve) have noticed Lucas and Max arriving, but the focus is still on Lucas and Max, reiterating what the audience already knew, that they're blatantly going to be The Couple, as was made pretty clear by their previous scenes, which brings me to the next point.

Their previous scenes. Their previous scenes. Lucas and Max had previous scenes leading up to that moment in the junkyard. THOSE--Lucas filling Max in, showing up at her house, convincing her to sneak out so that he can prove that everything he's been telling her is true and winning her trust, and Max giving him at least that much benefit of the doubt--were the real equivalent to El and Mike reuniting in the desert (isolated from Will). You want the audience to care about a couple? This is what you do. You give them private moments. And I was truly remiss in my first post not to point out that...Jonathan and Argyle were also there. So was fucking Brenner. Why didn't we see them? Why was the scene shot in such a way that you briefly forgot their existence but Will Byers was staring into your soul? You know why.

Getting back on topic, the final piece of the puzzle here is the scene that followed Dustin accepting that Max liked Lucas and not him. Once more, Lucas and Max have a private, tender scene. Emphasis on private. Once more, we get them alone. They talk, get everything they have to say out in the open, and only once the conversation comes to a lull does the story move on.

You know what the equivalent scene would be for Mike and El? Well, you've got one of two options, and neither is great for them.

First, you have Mike in that scene where he makes the glasses and he starts to say something to El but immediately gets interrupted by Argyle throwing pizza on the table, ker-splat.

And second, you have the infamous "I love you" scene. Which they are emphatically not alone in. Famously, Will starts that conversation in the first place, and his face is hovering over Mike's shoulder the whole damn time. (Again, this could have been shot in ways that made us forget he existed for a little while, and the show decided not to do that.) But, I really must impress the importance of this...

EL. AND MIKE. WERE NOT. EVEN. IN. THE SAME SCENE. AT ALL.

They weren't even in the same place! Not consciously, at least! Sometimes the camera would show El on the counter and it'd be, like, the tip of her nose and a little bit of her brow, but that does not count. That's like showing the phone in a phone call. Her body is basically an inanimate object that only allows verbal communication at this point. Then who was phone? EL WAS PHONE.

Okay, outdated memes aside, my point is that this is not how romantic scenes work. There are things missing, things wrong, and things very present in places where they should be absent. And the creators clearly know this because those are the rules they've laid out before and the path they've followed since. Mike and El never had any private, intimate, romantic scenes in season 4, despite having them earlier in the show. This is carving out the trajectory of their relationship moving forward. It is a vector, it has direction and force, and it is going straight toward the bitter end.

So I guess this is mostly about why El and Mike aren't happening than why Will and Mike are. Which is only part of the equation, true enough. To play devil's advocate here, maybe it's possible that the result is that El goes on to be happily single because there's so much more to life than stupid boys, Mike lets go, and Will pines for the rest of his days. Sure, whatever. Possibility, I guess.

One thing, though.

You wanna know who did have private, intimate scenes before and after the desert reunion?

Ya bois Michael Wheeler and William Byers, that's who.

Edit: I meant to say one more thing that I'm just realizing I forgot to mention. Dustin's face while he was watching Max and Lucas was clearly visible while Will's is not. We can see HIM, but not his FACE. This is like placing a wrapped box in the middle of the kitchen table and saying "Do Not Open Until Xmas". We're gonna unwrap that later.

[laugtherhyena]

Okay so maybe the wrinkly split head devil isn't the Aging devil itself, since it being called aging definitelly feels like a mistranslation and and public safety wanting to erase old age by sacrificing the younger generation fits the point the chapter is trying to get across much nicer than if the devil was aging itself (+ if you think about it for 2 seconds erasing aging as a whole is a terrible fucking idea since no one will be able to grow anything anymore and people will be stuck as babies and kids forever whereas erasing old age should just make people not age past adulthood and probably cause people who are already elderly to just dissapear on the spot)

But that doesn't mean i'm keeping Cherryboy the exact same because if old age specifically is enough to achieve primal fear level then aging as a whole has gotta be one too. So hooray! someone's getting a slight revamp in the future :)

[vulpinesaint]

mutuals will know that i have been losing my mind over this for weeks. i am proud to finally present my aromantic crowley fic :)

[notonlymice]

the best girls (my opinion) (movies only)

[hourlyeternaldiva]

I wanna take a bet how many frames (and therefore how many days) it'll take to get off of looking at just the wall LMAO like that first shot is a solid couple seconds

I did some very sketch calculations but if you still wanna bet then don't click read more;

So my movie file says it is 23.81 FPS and the movie's runtime (excluding credits and stuff) is around 130 minutes, that means;

23.81 x 60 = 1,428.6 frames per minute

And 1,428.6 x 130 is 185,718

There are 24 hours in a day and therefore 24 frames are posted per day

Which means (185,718 / 24) it'll take us AT MOST 7,738.25 days

Which is... About 21 years... Hrm

...

Yeah I think I'll start getting a bit more harsh about what frames I'll skip :sob: would people be happier if I just did a frame or two of each scene? (Kinda like keyframes if that makes sense) I wouldn't mind at all doing either option

[fragmentedblade]

I think I've become an official HI3 player. I check the HSR leaks hoping for iterations of HI3 characters now

[daddyplasmius]

hand on my stupid heart flashbacks

this is a No One Knows AU & Full Hazmat AU where Danny ended up in the Ghost Zone & didn't go back into the human world initially because he thought he was dead. by the time he realized he is, in fact, at least half alive, he'd already been missing for at least 2 weeks. will probs never finish homsh sorry. i wrote this a couple years ago in a haze & just haven't been able to finish it because i can't replicate the style, which i find is what i love about this fic the most. it wouldn't be the same without it. posting the flashback introsーwhich are meant to be read between chapters/the actual plot, starting after chapter 1ーcuz fuck it. excuse typos & shit, i never properly edited it, as i forgot it existed immediately after i wrote it original description of homsh: Danny Fenton has officially been missing for over a year. Maddie & Jack Fenton refuse to give up on their son. Sick and tired of the police running them in circles, and the case getting colder by the day, the Fentons turn to their last resortーPhantom. 800~ words (full unfinished fic is 20k~)

-

When Danny woke up surrounded by thick, green fog, and couldn’t breathe without swallowing heavy air that was more like water than anything, he was sure he was dead. The portal glowed behind him, illuminating the pitch darkness around him in soft, yellow, warm light.

He almost went back.

Almost.

He was dead. His parents were ghost hunters. They had drilled into his head from the moment he was born that he could never, ever panic in death. That he would accept it. That he would not be scared. So he would be prepared to be brave in the face of death and would not become a ghost.

He panicked. He did not accept it. He was terrified. And so he woke up in the Ghost Zone.

-

Danny went back through the portal when he saw some ectopuses acting… strange. Like they had an idea in their heads. Like they had a plan.

Which was weird, with animal ghosts. He had only been in the Ghost Zoneーmom and dad called it that, he rememberedーfor a couple weeks. Or, he had already been there for two weeks. Or maybe time worked differently and he was there five minutes, or four years orー

The ectopuses went through the portal and, despite everything, Danny went after them.

While he was busy reeling at being home, the ectopuses immediately attacked dad. Danny was horrified. Jack was overwhelmed. Danny stepped in, in a moment fueled by sheer adrenaline and stupidity, snatching a Fenton Thermos™ off a shelf and releasing his shaky invisibility. The ectopuses didn’t stand a chance. And when they were safely in the Thermos, he slowly turned around to dad, ready for the confrontation. Ready for the “what happened to you?” and the “where have you been?” and the “we’ve missed you”.

Dad scrambled to shoot at him.

Danny fled.

His parents didn’t recognize him.

-

The Lunch Lady attacked when Danny was mourning Halloween.

He’d waited all year. He made a costume that summer. He wouldn’t get to go trick or treating with Sam and Tucker this year. Or any year. For the rest of his lifeーor existence. Whatever.

The Lunch Lady appeared in the school and demanded in straight fury, “Who changed the menu?”

Everyone pointed at Sam.

Danny hadn’t known just how powerful ghosts could be. His parents never told him the specifics. Just that they were dangerous.

This ghost grew and her aura hit him like a hurricane, almost physically pushing him back. It was so strong that the students in the Casper High cafeteria seemed to feel it too.

The Lunch Lady was a much harder opponent than the ectopuses. She levitated meat. She used it as a weapon, and seemed to bring it back to life. She created weird meat creatures that grew sharp teeth and claws out of bones. They were mindless, attacking everything that got too close to the ghost. Danny would have run away without hesitation, if Sam hadn’t been in the crossfire.

Danny fought the Lunch Lady. It was a long struggle, but he caught her in the thermos after over an hour. When he turned to Sam and Tuckerーboth of whom he had to save due to Tucker trying to jump into the fightーall three of them bloody and bruised, he cringed. But a part of him hoped. Desperately.

Surely they would know him on sight.

“Wh-what are you?” Sam gasped at him finally.

Danny flinched as if she had struck him. “J-just… your friendly neighbourhood phantom.”

-

Danny didn’t know what possessed him. Oh. Pun not intended.

He just barely caught the Fentons leaving in the GAV, dragging suitcases behind them. He couldn’t help himself. What on Earth were they doing?

They were going to Vlad Master’s mansion for their college reunion.

It was a whole thing. But something was off. Besides all the adults reminiscing about the 80’s.

Danny sensed ghosts immediately but he couldn’t see anything. Unfortunately for him, Vlad could also sense him. It was two days of Danny staying invisible, and Vladーthe halfa? Is that what Danny is?ーtrying to kill Jack. Somehow, Danny managed to fight off Vlad, not turn back, and without the Fentons getting hurt. His secret intact.

VladーPlasmius, also learned about Phantom. And Vlad hated him. The manーghostーwhatever, seemed to only care about one thingーpossession. Of money. Of things. Of people. He was more ghost than Danny had ever seen. Vlad’s obsession was overwhelming.

Danny couldn’t believe someone so much like himself could be so disturbing.

[unreadpoppy]

Gwen and Halsin modern AU based on this prompt by @inaconstantstateofchange

It's kinda like urban fantasy/magical realism, so basically magic but in our time. They both live in the same old ass bulding - Gwen, because it was the cheepest she could afford after moving out of her mom's house and Halsin because it's farther away from the center of the city. They have never met and are not aware of the other's existance, as they've never crossed the other.

Halsin works during the day, so he's always in his apartment at night. He's not one to really go out, so he stays home. When it gets late, he goes to his bed and, as an elf, enter that trance state. Everything's fine until he's awoken by the sound of his cellphone ringing, at aorund 3 am.

Weird. He doesn't get calls at this hour. With a sigh, he takes his phone from the nightstand and sees it that it's from the intercom.

Even weirder. Nobody ever uses the intercom, as it is such a pain in the ass to put your phone number in it. He decided to answer it and the person on the other side said "Hey, I ran out and forgot my keys. Please, let me in, I live in the -" Because of the intercom's poor quality, Halsin can barely understand what the persons, can't make out if they are male or female, and interference cuts the person saying their apartment number. It's quite cold outside, and it would be a cruelty to leave someone outside, so Halsin clicks on the button that opens the main entrance doors. He turns off his phone and goes back to his trance, thinking nothing of it.

Except that it happens again. And again. And again. Almost twice a week, the same person would call him through the intercom and ask to be let in. Halsin began wondering what the hell was going on. Why did they never have a key with them? Why did they always call him? He began wondering if they even lived in that building. Regardless, the elf can't bring himself to not allow them in every time.

One day, when he comes back from work, there's a little note outside his door. Next to it, was something smelling good, wrapped in aluminium foil.

'Hi! I'm the person always calling on the intercom. Times have been tough for me, so as a thank you for always opening the door, here's an apple pie I bake.

Best regards - Gwendolyn Gray, apartment 903'

Picking up the gift, he got inside his apartment, a smile forming on his face. As he ate the pie, he wondered: maybe I could pay this Gwendolyn a visit.

[oatmealdaydreams]

Ferns & Flowers

Guess who finally rewrote and revived a lost fic? Very excited to post this because it got yeeted into the Aether by Tumblr, but I revived it. Hurt/Comfort because I am weak. Enjoy!

This is also made for this year's @intrualityweek (2023)! Day 5, Gifts. The alternate used to combine with it is Flowers. I only wrote for one of the days because I have too many other projects to finish and get out.

Part 2 coming soon.

(a lil present for @rataticaisdreaming)

Pairing: platonic Intruality, gen

Trigger/Content Warning: intrusive thoughts, gory commentary, sexual humour, past domestic violence (mentioned), gun

Description: A florist and a botanist work in similar fields of study, yet they've never became acquainted. Who knew one little trade-off would begin such a strange friendship?

[Masterlist] | ao3 link | Next

[Read under the cut]

Remus never once thought he'd be so interested in plants, not until he learned about the poisonous ones and took up a career in Botany.

As a botanist, and as Remus, he'd named his own little shop after one of his favourite hyperfixations. Dahmer's Plant Hoard definitely attracts a variety of people, but who would Remus be to judge? Some come for the poisonous plants to study. Some come for the non-lethal ones to add to a gift for someone. There are even the times when Botany students will come in and ask to study a plant for a paper.

Supply usually outweighs demand in his field, but there's always outliers. A few of the more popular plants need to be restocked every now and then. Luckily, his shop is across the street from a florist, who seems to have every flower imaginable. He hadn't met them yet, though they work in similar fields. It's about time, anyway. Remus needs more moonflowers for an order due in a few weeks, and the florist would be the perfect person to buy them from.

This florist owns their own shop, and they tend to have lower prices than most places do. That, and customers always talk about how kind and generous they are. At least, from what Remus has heard.

Remus closes up his shop. It's been a slow and boring day, and perhaps meeting this florist will give him some excitement. He goes through a last-minute mental list. All his plants are watered, his cash register is secured, and the spare gloves are put away in their respective space. Everything is locked up as he leaves his plant business, wondering how the florist will be. Maybe they'll be as eccentric as he is! Or they could be a murderer in disguise. That'd be funny. As long as they aren't boring.

Crossing the street, he swears he can almost hear a dolphin whistling in the distance. He dismisses it as the wind.

But there's hardly a breeze blowing by.

~~~

The flower shop is called Pawprint Florals, written in a pretty blue font on the sign.

Remus can see the pastel colours from outside through the display windows. Blue, green, and some other colours decorate the walls. There's puppies and baskets of all kinds of flowers painted neatly, giving the inside quite a kiddish look. It's bright and vibrant, almost to an annoying point. Still tolerable, though. I mean, Remus isn't one to shy away from obnoxious colours and things. He literally dyed his hair radioactive green during his entire high school career; he couldn't care less about 'annoying'. 

Walking in, a small bell chimes. A donation box sits on the counter, where the florist messes with a bouquet of ferns and forget-me-nots. The donation box is decorated with pawprints and tiny penciled hearts. It says something about a local animal shelter needing funds for maintenance and food upkeep. It smells like an assortment of flowers, Remus notes as he spots a glass door behind the counter. It reads 'employees only'. Probably leads to the greenhouse. Where else would you get all those flowers and flora? Shipments take forever, ya know. Better to grow and store what you've got. 

As soon as Remus comes up to the counter, the florist abandons the bouquet and sets it down somewhere safe behind the counter. They flash a cheerful smile, pushing up their round-framed glasses on their nose.

"Hi, and welcome to Pawprint Florals! How may I help you today, kiddo?" they say just as cheerfully as their smile.

Remus blinks for a second at how utterly joyful this person is. Of course, before he leans against the counter in his chaotic glory and flashes a toothy smirk.

"Did ya know if you made moonflowers into tea, it would kill anyone who drank it?" is Remus' response.

The florist pauses, a little hesitant with that kind of information, but keeps their smile on their face.

"Are... are you looking for moonflowers?" they ask.

Remus hums, nodding his head.

"Oh! Well, I may have a few in the back," the florist pulls out a pen and a notepad. "Who are they for? I can make you a note for them."

They look down briefly to scribble something- probably about the moonflowers- before looking back up and changing their smile to a softer kind one. It's less than their previous smile, but it captivates Remus nonetheless. This florist is very pretty. And cute, considering their outfit.

They wear light blue overalls with a white-greyish undershirt. There's a floral-themed sticker nametag right above where their heart is, the name Patton written in a fun font. The florist- Patton, Remus' brain corrects him- has freckles all over their face and what he can see of their arms. Sandy-blonde curls. Dirt smudged on one cheek. Their nametag has the italicized pronouns they/them right under their name. 

They are so adorable.

Remus must've been staring at this human version of a golden retriever because Patton makes a concerned head tilt at him.

"Are you okay, kiddo?"

They frown slightly, and Remus wishes the smile would come back.

"Absolutely! As okay as maggots eating a cadaver."

Remus' grin convinces Patton of the truth, though they cringe at the mental image of a bug-infested corpse.

"Uh, alright then... for your order, who do you want it dedicated to?"

"No one! I need it for my shop 'cross the street."

"Oh, you're the botanist! I've been meaning to run into you. This is perfect, actually."

Remus watches as Patton waves him to come behind the counter, following them over to the greenhouse's door. They unlock it, shoving the key into a hidden pocket on the inside of their overalls. The duo heads into the greenhouse.

There are shelves upon shelves of potted flora, ranging from common roses to even a few rare Chocolate Cosmoses. Fairylights hang across the ceiling, glowing with blue and green and white. They illuminate the entire greenhouse in pretty mood lighting. There's a hose near the back surrounded by a couple of watering cans. A brown door, labelled 'storage', sits at the end of the elongated space of nothing but flowers and occasional succulents.

"I don't have a lot of moonflowers right now, sorry about that. I do have a shipment from a friend coming in soon, though. Uh, but that could take about a week or two," Patton explains as they lead Remus towards the back.

Remus is only half-listening, however, gawking at the flowers and how many of them are poisonous.

They could kill me swiftly and horribly, omg.

This florist is starting to grow on him, quite a lot.

"Aside from that, I was hoping you could help me? There's a flower here... not that one. Um, somewhere in here that I'm a little stumped on."

Remus perks up at the sound of a challenge.

"What kinda flower are we talking? Poisonous? Toxic? So lethal ya can't even touch it?"

Patton just nods.

They end up in front of a singular potted flower, a couple pairs of gloves sit nearby the pot. Patton hands a pair to Remus before taking a pair themself, though Remus half considers tossing the gloves away. There've been plenty of times where he hadn't used gloves when he should've and still lived. A few times his friend had to call poison control and banned him from handling certain plants for a few months. But eh, he always survives.

But when he goes to just throw the gloves in a random direction, Patton gives him the most paternally safety-first look he's seen in a long while. He decides to just put on the gloves for now. He can f*ck with toxic plants later.

"Safety always, kiddo," they start, tugging on their gloves and gesturing to the flower. "This little guy keeps wilting and I don't know why."

Patton frowns. Remus takes a glance at it.

"That's because ya gotta keep 'em outta the Sun, duh," Remus playfully rolls his eyes at the florist.

"Oh."

Remus snorts at Patton, causing them to smile and chuckle at themself.

"Good to know, thanks."

"Eh. Now, moonflowers?"

"Oh, right. Like I said, not a lot- keep the gloves on, please."

Patton gives him another pointed look, and Remus scoffs but listens. They head a little further towards the back to the moonflowers. True to Patton's word, there isn't a lot. Just a few, looking lonely in their pot. 

Damn, they weren't kidding.

Eat the flowers.

Maybe later.

"Like I said, I'm getting a shipment of them in about two weeks. Sorry it's not sooner," Patton says. 

Remus hums. The moonflowers that are there, though few, are well taken care of. They reach for the sunlight flowing like a waterfall into the greenhouse. Their blossoms are full and vibrant. Patton is definitely a good florist, keeping these flowers healthy. 

"Welp, I got an order I need some for... but I'd need more. You said f*ckin', uh, two weeks? Right?" Remus asks. 

Patton gives him a frown at the cussing, but they nod anyway. 

"My order's in three weeks, so maybe... a trade?"

Patton considers it for a moment, admittedly not expecting to be offered a trade. 

"I don't think I have anything I'd need, though. I don't mind just giving you some of the flowers."

Remus raises an eyebrow but says nothing. They're pretty and kind and selfless? Not wanting or needing anything in return? He highly doubts that. No one is completely selfless. True Altruism is absolute bullsh*t.

"Oh, cum on. Nothing? Nothing at all? Not any more help with some toxic plants?" 

Patton hesitates. 

"Well... it feels weird to ask for something in return."

"Butt?"

Remus snickers to himself at his own joke. The florist doesn't even catch it, fidgeting with their gloves for a second. They sigh, stilling their hands. 

"I do need some help with a few other no-no flowers..."

"Then it's a deal! Give me some of your moonflowers in a couple weeks, and I'll help ya with your lethal poisons," Remus offers his hand to shake as he speaks delightfully. 

"Okay..."

Patton extends their hand and shake Remus'. They offer a smile, and Remus returns it with a cheeky smirk. 

"Neat! Now, how do ya think moonflowers taste?"

"...what?"

~~~

It's been about a week since their initial deal was made, and some sort of chaos-filled routine comes to be. 

Remus visits Patton and their greenhouse every evening, making obscene and mildly sexual jokes that the florist doesn't always catch. He tells them unsettling facts or just asks these off-hand questions that are completely unrelated to the duo's current discussion. It throws Patton off, which Remus finds all the funnier. As the week progresses, they slowly become mildly used to it.

They talk about many things during their visits. As Remus helps Patton with their poisons, the florist will start a random topic and they two go from there. It always goes in nonsensical directions. One minute they talk about some weird movie they've both seen, and suddenly it turns into epic tales of their youths or how they're coping with the Horrors™ (aka: life situations). They grow closer rather quickly, both liking this little agreement they've made.

Now it's a week since the deal, and Remus visits again in the evening. He welcomes himself in the closed shop, having a spare key Patton had lent him for the time being. He goes behind the counter, into the greenhouse. The fairylights are on as they always are. Only one problem.

Patton isn't there.

They're always there before he is, considering they own the shop. So them not being there, or even being first, is... well, a first.

Few things unsettle Remus. This is one of them. 

Where could they be? 

Dead in a fire? Buried under the ground? Imagine if they were crying out for help, no one there to hear them scream.

Remus winces at his thoughts, but he doesn't entertain them. The florist is probably just late, for whatever f*cking reason, and they'll be there soon. Yeah, they're fine. Definitely fine. 

A door opening and the bell chiming at someone's arrival startles the botanist out of his head. He tenses, freezing in his spot. Remus doesn't think he heard key, which means it can't be Patton. Who else could it be? An intruder?

A murderer, come to take you like they took Patton?

He grabs the closest object, a trowel, as he ignores his thoughts. Raising it to attack (if need be), Remus creeps out from the greenhouse and back into the storefront. He crouches behind the counter as he hears footsteps growing louder. His heart beats against his chest, his legs burning with anticipation of might-get-killed. As soon as the intruder is close enough to the counter, Remus pops up and aims the trowel at the mystery murderer. Said mystery murderer yelps in surprise, and Remus hears the pistol get cocked before he sees it. He immediately raises his arms up, not wanting to get shot. He processes who it actually is as they sigh in relief. 

"Oh god, I'm so sorry! Are you okay, Remus?"

It's Patton. With a gun. Patton has a f*cking pistol. 

Jesus, just when I thought I figured this motherf*cker out. 

Patton stares at him with very guilty and concerned eyes, uncocking their decorated pistol and taking the magazine out. They flip the safety on, pocketing the gun and the magazine in separate places under their trench coat. Remus lowers his arms and sets the trowel on the counter, exhaling from all the adrenaline. 

"...Remus?"

Remus looks at Patton, the pretty and lethal florist he hopes to never piss off, and cackles lightly at the situation. 

"I'm great! Most fun I've had in while," he grins. 

Patton's shoulders ease, and they exhale their own breath from the tense moment that just happened. 

"Good, good..." 

As Patton trails off, Remus takes a better look at them. Their trench coat is dotted with rain (their glasses the same), they have tired eyebags under beautiful eyes, and their face... their face holds tear streaks hidden amongst freckles. Actually, their eyes do look a little red and... oh. Oh, they've been crying. They're upset. 

"Pat-Pat, what's up?"

"What?"

"Who do I need to maim? Ya look like rainclouds."

"Oh."

Patton sighs deeply, sounding older for a moment. They hesitate, shifting their feet. Looking away from the botanist, they join him behind the counter. 

"I'll explain while we sort out some flowers," their voice sounds small and soft, and god.

It hurts to hear them like that. It hurts Remus' chest, and he wants to shove whoever hurt them into a woodchipper. 

He follows his friend into the greenhouse, the pretty fairylights making them look sadder instead of cheering them up. Usually, such colourful lighting brings a smile to their face. Tonight is different. 

Patton tugs on gloves absentmindedly, and so does Remus. He doesn't want to worry them right now. They both head towards the middle section of the long hallway of flora, stopping in front of a pot of many buds. Remus vaguely recognizes the type of flower, but he's mostly focused on the florist. 

"Um... so, I'm not sure what these ones do. I'm also not sure why they're taking so long to- to bloom," they speak softly still. 

Remus nods along, keeping an eye on his fellow plant enthusiast. They sigh again, putting their hands on the shelf by the pot and lean against it. They hang their head. 

"I don't know how to talk about this."

They're not referring to the poisonous flora in front of them. 

"Well, no one's forcing you if it's too much," Remus offers a chance to back out, to try distractions instead of conversation. 

"I know, kiddo. Thank you," Patton offers a sad smile as they turn their head to look up at him. "I just... I like to think there's a good side to everyone."

Remus stays there by their side, a steady presence. 

"Some people get mistreated and get angry at how they've been treated. It's not their fault that someone hurt them. And- and some people are wary because they're not sure who is genuine. Some people are good outright, some aren't. I don't want to judge what I don't know."

A fond gaze appears in Patton's eyes.

"Some people are unsettling or weird, but they remain just as good as everyone else."

Remus' heart feels warm. 

Patton turns to stare at the toxic flower, their gaze hardening.

"Some people prove me wrong. Not everyone is good, not really. My friend always says there's always outliers to every data collection, and he's right more times than I can count."

Remus raises a worried eyebrow, starting to catch on. 

"So, an outlier...?" he prompts.

Patton nods, glaring now at the damn plant in front of them. 

"My mom raised me and my siblings on her own, even though she was married. I'm the oldest, so I always helped her with the littles. She's the strongest person I know, and I love her more than anything." 

They grip the shelf.

"And he never stopped hurting her. It didn't- it didn't matter if we were there or not. He'd relish in the pain he caused her. Sometimes, it was like he wanted us to watch. A frickin' sick bastard."

Tears prick at Patton's eyes, angry. Remus stared in genuine shock at hearing the florist call someone a bastard. This b*tch sounds like a real piece of sh*t. He'd love to bury them alive on Patton's and their family's behalf. 

"I haven't seen him in years. No contact, per court order. Mom doesn't know, but... he called me. He has my frickin' number."

Angry tears fall and hands shake. Patton trembles with emotion as they speak, a sharp edge has taken to their voice. Their breathing picks up slightly. 

"He has no right to be in my life. He hurt my mom. I'm going to poison him and put him under the frickin'- frickin' ground. I just- he- god."

Patton stands up, no longer leaning on the shelf nor glaring at the poor plant. They hide their face in their hands as they cry quietly, taking in shaky breaths. Remus immediately gathers them in his arms, hugging them tight as cry out their distress. He's going to kill this motherf*cking jackass, but Patton needs him first. 

"If you're gonna poison someone, then you'd have to hide the body. It's too much effort. Do ya know how much dead bodies weigh? They're f*cking heavy," Remus says. 

Patton grips his hoodie with their gloved hands, trying to focus on breathing in. Remus smells like fresh soil and some odd concoction of flora. It's calming, and Patton takes another deep breath to take the smell greedily. 

They eventually sag in Remus' arms as they calm down, and the botanist holds his florist close. 

"D'aw, tired little florist. Do ya think if your flowers had legs, they'd pole-dance or something?"

Patton snorts at such an absurd image, causing Remus to smile. They both stare at each other for a moment before bursting out into laughter. It makes the fairylights seem cheerful again, basking them in pretty blue and green and white light. 

"I bet they'd have hairy human legs-"

Patton gasps, "That's worse."

They giggle at the thought of human legs attached to stems and flowers, imagining them in a cartoonish way. 

After a little bit, they both settle. Patton easing themself out of Remus' arms, and he lets them. They glance at the flowers they were supposed to sort out. 

"It's getting late, Pat-Pat." 

"Yeah, but the flowers..."

"-will be here in the morning. Cum on, why not tell me about this mom of yours. She sounds badass."

Remus offers his hand, and Patton smiles as they take it. 

They leave the greenhouse, completely forgetting that they're both still wearing the gloves. They forget about the trowel on the counter, the gun under Patton's trench coat. They leave Pawprint Florals, locking the door behind them. Patton makes a decision, since Remus hasn't seen their home before. 

"Come to mine? It's out of the rain," they offer as the rain persists. 

Remus lights up at the offer.

"F*ck yeah! Now maybe I can see where the f*ck you got a gun."

Patton chuckles at him as they get in their car, the florist in the driver's seat. 

"By the way, Pattie? If ya ever need someone to off your bastard," Patton glances at Remus as he speaks. "Well, it goes unsaid."

Patton knows what he means. They give a fond look.

"Thanks, Rem."

"Anytime, Patio." 

Patton starts the car as Remus buckles up for once, heading down the road as they laugh to Remus' random comments. 

~~~

It's two weeks. Remus and Patton have grown a whole lot closer, especially after the thing with Patton's murderous intent. Amazing how fast you can get attached to new friends, huh?

It's their last visit, this time in mid-afternoon. Patton had apparently closed shop early, eager to finally give their friend the moonflowers. He'd been waiting a while for them. 

Well, 'eager' isn't exactly right...

There's that underlying worry of him disappearing after the trade is made. They're no stranger to friends leaving as soon as they aren't useful anymore. Patton's excited, they are! But it's just... what if Remus leaves after this? What if, deep down, all he wanted were the flowers?

A bell chime announces his arrival, and Patton puts a smile on their face. Though they're worried, it's a genuine smile. It always makes them smile to see Remus. 

"Hey, Pat-Attack! Ya got my poison?" Remus is cheerful as he walks in, lighting up as he spots the florist. 

"Yep! I brought the bouquet out already." 

Patton, with gloved hands, grabs a big bouquet of moonflowers and hands it to Remus. There are more than plenty of flora for what Remus needs. He looks up from the beautiful poison, catching a sad glint in his friend's eyes. They smile, but it seems to be the smallest bit sad. 

Well, that won't do.

"Oi, what's with the sad? I can f*ck someone up," Remus asks.

"What- no! Remus, I'm fine."

Remus instantly raises a doubtful eyebrow at them. 

"Try again, Patio."

Patton stammers for a second before closing their mouth. They huff. 

"It's nothing. I just... will you come back?"

Remus looks at them, confused.

"To your shop? Probably. You work here."

"No, not- that's not what I meant."

"If I'll come back... after the trade?"

Patton nods sheepishly. Remus' face softens. 

"Ya couldn't get rid of me if ya tried! And many have tried. They fail every time, heh."

That eases the florist and the sad glint goes away. 

"Now, wanna see my shop? Someone's gonna have to help me with these babies," Remus gestures to the moonflowers with his eyes.

Patton smiles wider, bouncing on their feet. 

"Yes! Omg, what kind of plants do you have?"

"Anything you could possibly imagine! C'mon."

The friends head out from the flower shop, crossing the street. The air is crisp, windless and pleasantly chilly. They both wear some form of warm layer to avoid getting cold. 

As they enter Dahmer's Plant Hoard and into Remus' greenhouse, they chatter excitedly between each other. The gifts of flowers and becoming friends bring them to smile fondly as they do so. 

[skrunksthatwunk]

yakuza: dead souls - american vibes, bigass guns, and why zombies are super weird to have in ryu ga gotoku thematically/ideologically speaking

so i've been playing dead souls recently (hell yeah hell yeah hell yeah) and although i'm having the time of my life with it, there was something about it that kinda felt off to me, and i think i've figured out what it was, but i'm gonna have to walk you through a bit of my thought process to get there.

my first instinct was that it felt... american? and upon further examination i think that boils down to a couple of things:

everyone suddenly has lots of guns and also way way bigger guns

high emphasis on individual heroism (this itself is quite typical for rgg, but it manifests differently here; more on that in a bit)

military/government incompetence, which must be solved by the right individuals having the biggest and bestest guns

[for the sake of transparency i will note that my experience with zombie media is pretty limited and skews american (and i myself am american), so that may create bias. however, the 'this feels american to me' instinct is a rare one for me even in genres where i have seen little/no non-american media, so i think the fact that it did occur to me is notable. what about dead souls triggered that response when little else has? that's why i examined it and, truthfully, i think there's merit in the idea itself.]

the first point is pretty self-explanatory. america's got more guns than it does people, and its gun worship is infamous. japan's ban on guns (aided by its being an island state) means there's far fewer guns in the country, as well as far fewer people with guns (and likely far fewer guns per gun owner, excepting arms dealers/smugglers) than somewhere without such a ban. obviously, there are guns anyway. due to their illegality they are clustered within the criminal population, which explains their presence within organized crime within the series. very few guns will be sitting around in the homes of otherwise law-abiding citizens.

and yet, when the zombie outbreak hits kamurocho, plenty of civilians suddenly have access to quite an arsenal. everyone has the knowledge they need to aim, fire, and reload smoothly and quickly; ammo is infinite for certain guns. characters we've never seen using firearms before suddenly have shotguns under their couches (looking at you, majima). it's not only very different from reality, it's very different from guns' place within the series up until this point, when they were limited weapons used primarily by the enemy.

and they're making a zombie shooter, so of course they would have to do this. it has to be unrealistic to be simultaneously in this setting and in this genre, in the same way that yakuza solving their problems with bareback fistfights instead of guns is itself both unrealistic and necessary to being the kinds of games rgg are.

my point is that this is a kind of focus on and valorization of gun ownership and competency unusual for the series and setting. further, it serves as an argument for why an armed, competent populace is crucial typical in american media.

which brings us to the third point (we'll get to 2 in a minute). guns are often marketed as self-defense weapons. the implication is that the government's defense of the individual (via law enforcement or the military, but particularly the former), are insufficient. this is objectively true. if someone pulls a gun on you at the gas station, will a cop manifest out of thin air to intercede? no. that's impossible. but if you have a gun, or if some bystander has a gun, you or they may be able to do something with that gun to stop the armed person. thus, there is an undeniable gap in the effective immediacy of such responses.

many gun advocates also point to the incompetence or insufficiency of law enforcement, even when they are present to stop an armed aggressor. the fact that law enforcement do not have a 100% success rate in protecting the citizenry is also objectively true.

so, when you are in danger, arming yourself increases your chances of being able to put down (or at least take armed action against) a present or potential threat. whether it is viewed it as a supplement to or a replacement for law enforcement, it is meant to make up for the shortcomings of the government's ability to completely protect all its citizens. it's a safety net for state failure.

back to dead souls. rgg has always centered political corruption in its stories, including politicians, the police, and sometimes even the military, though usually the former two. sometimes this is treated sympathetically (i.e. tanimura, a dirty cop, whose dirty-cop-ness allows him to work outside/against the law to help disadvantaged people, not unlike how kiryu views being a yakuza), and other times it's simply a matter of greed or lust for power (i.e. jingu).

however, something that's almost never touched on so clearly is government incompetence. when the government fails to help people or hurts them or does corrupt things, it's usually due to a competent, malicious bad apple who is removed from power by the end of the game. this implies holes in the system because it keeps happening all the time, but that's on a series-wide scale, a pattern ignored by the series in favor of the individual game solution of "this guy's gone now :) yay".

but in dead souls, the SDF's barracades fall, their men are killed, they are unable to help protect the people outside or inside the quarantine zone. they are weak in a way the government usually isn't in these games. and who is stronger than them? our individual good guys with guns. so we need to be armed because the government is weak and can't protect us. boom. america.

returning to point 2, i'd like to say that dead souls is not particularly more individualistic than any of the other games in the series (other than, perhaps, y7). rgg is an incredibly individualistic series, actually. its protagonists are usually men who defy, oppose, and skirt around the law as a way of helping others and doing what is truly right (with a few exceptions, like shinada and haruka). the romanticized view of the yakuza as a force for helping the community in the face of government incompetence is a real one, and one that tends to manifest itself most in kiryu and how the series treats him. it shows us yakuza who aren't willing to kill, yakuza who cry about honor and justice and humanity and brotherhood, yakuza who never dip their hands into less palatable crimes, or only do with intense regret (and only ever as part of their backstory). the beat-em-up style emphasizes this as well. i mean, what's more individualistic than a one-man army?

put more clearly, this series is about men defying legal and social laws and expectations to live in a way that feels right to them, and about making themselves strong enough to combat those who would get in their way. the individual is placed before the society in importance, (though generally in a way that benefits the community, because they are good guys who want to use that agency and power for good).

all of this is true in dead souls as well, technically. those who live on the outskirts of society are the ones who actually save the day, and the ones who go in there and save people rather than just walling them off and pretending like they don't exist. they have the guns, which are illegal and mark them as criminals, but this broken law is what gives them the power to save themselves when the government will not, and to save their community if they so choose.

where dead souls differs is in the nature of that strength.

rgg places a lot of emphasis on self-improvement, both of one's body and of one's character. do both of these, and you will be strong enough to back up your ambitions. what allows someone to carve their own path in life is the ability to put down ideological and physical resistance by having resolve and the ability to tiger drop whoever won't be swayed by your impassioned speeches. you make yourself a weapon. you make yourself strong. in dead souls, that strength comes from an external, material possession. strength is something you buy (or that you take from someone else). who is able to survive the apocalypse comes not from the heart, nor from rigorous training, but from who has the most, the biggest, and the most bestest guns. it's an intersection of capitalism, militarization, and individualism. simply, deeply american.

[when i was talking myself through this a few days ago, i spent a lot more time on the capitalism + individualism stuff, but i think i'll keep this moving. consider this aside the intermission]

dead souls also differs for a few other interlocking reasons. it can be described with this equation:

zombification of enemies + lethality of guns = loss of emphasis on redemption

if your best friend turned into a zombie, could you shoot them? or your child? or your lover? it's a common trope, but it's a damn good one. watching your family, your neighbors, your town, everyone turn into a husk of themselves, something that looks like them but cannot be reached, is deeply tragic. it's even more tragic when these husks are trying to kill you. unable to be reasoned with and unable to be cured, you must incapacitate them before someone innocent is hurt--or hurt, then themselves made dangerous; each loss adds to the number of threats surrounding you. your life is seen as more valuable than that of your zombified friend, not only because the zombie is attacking you and it's self defense, but because they are no longer a person to you. to be a zombie is to no longer be human; zombification is dehumanization.

and so in a series so focused on connection with one's community, on saving innocent civilians, often on saving kamurocho specifically, one would expect similar tropes to occur. even if one's friends aren't turned, perhaps the cashier at poppo you chat with sometimes is. it's the destruction of that community and of the members one has tertiary relationships with that i expect would occur most within a kamurocho zombie story, since they are likely unwilling to axe anyone more important than that, even if dead souls isn't canon. i'd especially expect to see that in the beginning, before the need to kill zombies rather than contain or redeem them becomes apparent.

this does not happen.

i cannot speak for the entire game, but i can speak of gameplay choices that affect this, and ones i think will not be subverted throughout, even if they are somewhat contradicted by plot events i am presently unaware of.

kamurocho is not a community to protect, nor is it filled with your fellows. it is a playground filled with infinitely respawning, infinitely mow-downable, infinitely disposable zombies. you are meant and encouraged to kill them by the thousands, and never to hesitate or consider whether they may be cured or who may be mourning them. who may be unable to identify their loved one because you were trying to reach a headshot goal from hasegawa. you are not meant to consider them as human, nor beings that were once human, nor beings that could be human again, in the eyes of the zombie shooter. they are merely bodies, targets, and obstacles.

the zombies are contrasted with the true humans, those barricading themselves within the quarantine zone or those living in ignorance outside it. humans are meant to be saved, zombies are meant to be killed. the player character is the only one who can truly help with either of these goals, because the other humans are cowardly, ignorant, or unarmed/helpless. you must be their savior. to be a savior is to eliminate zombies, who are less than human.

the black and white nature of this is also emphasized by another gameplay characteristic: the lack of street encounters. when you traverse the peaceful parts of kamurocho, you are never attacked. you are also never directly attacked by the humans within the quarantine zone. kamurocho feels very different without its muggers and hooligans, but it's because this is a zombie shooter, not a beat-em-up. in a normal rgg title, you'd subdue threats by punching, kicking, and throwing them. you'd use your body in (supposedly) nonlethal ways. dead souls does not have a combat system meant for civilians. you have your guns. you subdue threats by shooting them, preferably lethally. the game doesn't want you to do that to humans, so you never fight humans. this furthers the black and white divide between the salvation-worthy, noble humans and the death-worthy, worthless zombies. combat is only lethal, and only used against the inherent other.

this leads me to the part of dead souls i find most conflicting with the ethos of rgg broadly, and perhaps its greatest ideological/thematic failing.

because the enemy are incurable, dangerous, and inhuman, you must kill them to protect yourself and others, others who are still human. humanity is something that is lost or preserved, but never regained. once someone's gone, they're gone, and you not only must kill them, it is your duty and your right to kill them. you should kill them.

in dead souls, there is no redeeming the enemy.

and that's a big problem.

rgg is about a lot of things, but a key one is the ability of people to change for the better. its most memorable, beloved villains are those who see the light by the end and change their wicked ways (usually through some form of redemptive suicide, though that's another essay in itself). its pantheon of characters is full of those who come from questionable backgrounds struggling to be the best people they can be, to live as themselves authentically and compassionately. it's about the good and the love you can find in the moral and legal gray zones of life/society, and the potential/capacity for good all of us have, no matter how far we may have fallen. it is a hopeful series. it is a merciful series.

this is something bolstered by its gameplay. countless substories are resolved by punching a lesson into someone until they improve their behavior, either out of fear or genuine remorse/development. the games don't just discourage killing your enemies, they don't allow you to (yes, we've all seen the "kiryu hasn't killed anybody? umm. look at this heat action" stuff before, and while they've got a point, i believe it's the narrative's intent that none of this is actually lethal, based on how laxly it treats certain plot injuries (cough cough. y7 bartender) and the actual concept of taking a life, the gravity it is given by the text, particularly when it comes to characters crossing that threshold into someone who has killed. explicit killing is not an option open to you, even when you're being attacked by dozens and dozens of armed men. conflicts are resolved by simply beating up enough guys in this nonlethal manner.

but dead souls is a shooter. to avoid conflict with the series' moral qualms about letting its characters kill, the enemies cannot be human. furthermore, the zombie shooter genre can only fit within the series if its zombies are completely inhuman. this means their pasts as humans cannot be acknowledged, nor the possibility of a cure, nor the characters' own potential conflicts about killing them; or, at least, not in a way that impedes their or the player's ability to gun them down afterwards.

if you can't kill humans in your series, then it cannot be possible to save (in this case, rehumanize) zombies. this is especially true in a game where you are unable to fight humans, and thus human lives are universally more valuable than zombie lives. because if you kill a zombie that can be cured, you are, in a way, killing a human.

and so, in a series where you should always assume your enemies (and everyone, for that matter) are capable of reason, compassion, change, and redemption, and where they are always worth that effort, even if they reject it in the end, dead souls' enemies are irredeemable and only worth swift, stylish slaughter. there are only good guys and bad guys. good guys must be protected, lest they be turned irreversibly into bad guys. good guys are only protected by killing bad guys, and the only way to save good guys is to kill every last one of the bad guys. do not spare them, and do not ask whether or not it's right. only kill.

i love dead souls. it's a silly game. i like seeing daigo in decoy-drag and majima gleefully cartwheeling his way through zombies and ryuji with his giant gun arm prosthetic. it's fun. but when i was trying to figure out what felt off about it to me, one of the words that came to mind (besides american) was indulgent. that, too, felt odd, because i love indulgent media. i am not one to scorn decadent, hedonistic, beautiful high-calorie slop type media. if dead souls was just fan servicey, that wouldn't really bother me. i am a fan and boy do i feel serviced. it rocks. but i think my problem is in what dead souls is indulging.

i think dead souls indulges in the desire to cut loose, and to see these characters cut loose. thing is, they're cutting loose all over kamurocho, and all over the bodies of people they used to (at least in concept) care for. with lethal weapons. it is catharsis via bloodbath, not by pushing your body and mind to the limit in man to man combat, but by pulling a trigger before the other guy can hurt you, or even think about hurting you, for the crime of existing as the wrong kind of thing.

and i just don't think that's in line with rgg's beliefs.

yes, it's probably fair for dead souls' characters to kill zombies. i'm not against that. i'm also not against games letting you do purposeless violence. i spent a good amount of my elementary school years killing oblivion npcs for shits, like. that's not what bothers me about dead souls.

rgg as a series has always taken a hard stance in both its game design and narrative choices against killing and for the potential for redemption in its enemies. and i think the lengths to which it goes to promote that despite the probably-lethal moves you do and the improbability of a harmless do-gooder yakuza is one of the most endearing things about the games. so for this one entry to disregard that key theme for the sake of a genre shift that flopped super hard, well? i dunno. it feels weird i guess. it's out of place not just because it's a dramatic shift in gameplay and style and also zombies are only a thing here (and the supernatural/fantastical are thus only prominent here), but because of what those shifts imply.

so, uh. yeah. my pre-dead-souls thoughts that dead souls wasn't that out of pocket bc rgg's just kinda weird? turns out it was actually super weird to have a zombie shooter in there, but for way way deeper reasons than anyone gives it credit for.

(footnotes in tags)