#but more of a curious fascination

[xstarlightxstarbrightx]

thoughts on how the Liyue Archon quest went [5]

Bolai: so what kinda silk flowers u guys want Paimon: uh. the good kind? Bolai: Zhongli: lists the flowers Bolai: oh i see, u three must be this fine gentlemen's servants then! please refrain from contributing further! Kaeya: Lumi: ???? bro. Bolai: anyway!

i love how, immediately after, Zhongli just,,, yaps about flowers. he's so silly, and he yaps so much. and also Kaeya and Lumine are just like "oh,,, he's so knowledgeable,,,, and also his voice pretty,,,,,,,,"

and then immediately it's followed up with "oh do you have any mora to pay for these flowers?"

anyway, the Traveler Trio go off to get the flowers turned into perfume after the whole thing, while Zhongli goes and waits by the Statue of the Seven. while i am focusing mainly on Lumine and Kaeya rn, i do think that currently, Zhongli's just,,, burdened by such a heavy weight? he's probably still thinking about this decision he's made, and is probably consistently thinking of the outcome it'll have. he's a God of Contracts currently thinking heavily about this Big Ass Contract(tm) that he's got rn. so it makes sense that he kinda just,,, stops to stare at this Statue of his Divinity.

meanwhile, with the Traveler Trio goes off to like,,, talk to women abt perfume.

Paimon: [in reference to some NPC i forgot] Paimon remembers she smells pretty good! Lumi: Lumi: we barely spoke to her when we first arrived here, why are you SNIFFING PEOPLE, PAIMON Kaeya: even by Lumi's standards, that's weird.

anyway, Lumine gets a Weird Vibe(tm) from Ying'er and Kaeya, meanwhile, is personally very concerned and disturbed by the,,, innuendos that Ying'er uses when chatting with them.

on the way back to Zhongli, I like to imagine that Lumi tells Kaeya about her theory while Paimon is charging ahead. she's incredibly adamant about him being the Geo Archon, but Kaeya's not convinced. the current belief he holds is that Zhongli is more likely an adeptus of some kind—because Zhongli's DEFINITELY not human. but the God of Commerce not knowing about Mora??? pleaaaase.

and while Lumi's like 100% sure, Kaeya makes the joke that 'maybe Zhongli was just a simp for Rex Lapis before he died or something, lmao'.

and then they walk in on Zhongli staring at the Statue and kind of being Zoned Out(tm) and Kaeya's just like "hmmmmmmmmmmm"

[clumsypuppy]

whatever. go my scarab

ive been watching scruffys pikmin 4 playthrough (go check it out!!!!)

[the-astronome]

There are two voice lines Pathologic 3 Quarantine which really caught my attention, a funny one and another one that I find rather interesting

Please note that these voice lines are from Russian dub, and I’m providing my own approximate translations here (since I didn’t play the demo in English and honestly not planning to).

1. Starting with a funny one, one of the possible things Seraphima can say is “You should reread your own early academic works, chief. That is if you were the one who wrote them.” I don’t know what kind of beef these two have going on, but roast him Seraphima, keep the prickly prick in line

2. Switching to a more serious voice line, a phrase the Inspector can say upon starting a conversation with him: “Вы убили-с”.

It’s a bit difficult to translate it into English without loosing the original subtext, but overall it can be translated as “You killed [someone], good sir”. Note that at the and of убили there is an additional letter -с, which is a словоерс (no idea what linguists call it in English). Словоерс is an archaic (is now and was so already by the beginning of 1900s) form of showing respect to the person you’re speaking to (as if singular Вы wasn’t enough already). And even though it was used occasionally in P1, I don’t remember it being used in P2 or P3 (talking about the demo obviously). That’s why when the Inspector used it in his replica it immediately grabbed my attention.

There was something familiar about the phrase as well, like if I’ve heard it somewhere already…. Well, I tell you, apparently it’s a quote from Crime and Punishment (by Dostoevsky, obviously) said by Porfiriy Petrovich: “Вы и убили-с”.

(Small note: here an и in between is used, which gives the phrase slightly different vibe, id est I would translate the phrase as “It was you, who killed [that person], wasn’t you, good sir?” It’s even more mocking and ironic than the first one. The detective knows perfectly you’re the killer, it’s just he enjoys mocking you as well. Tbh Inspector from P3 might have used that и in his replica, but I missed it - usual stuff for me.)

If you haven’t read the book, Porfiriy Petrovich is a police detective investigating Raskolnikov (who is a murderer but a rather lousy one. Not gonna explain the plot here, read the book), and he says that phrase when talking to Raskolnikov, trying to make him admit he’s indeed the killer. Inspector does indeed have many similarities with Porfiriy Petrovich in investigation style, for instance, they both say to the suspects that they’re not accusing them of anything (while actively doing so), they both ironise and taunt the person they’re interrogating. It’s basically about making the suspect to admit their guilt themselves. Technically the suspect was never accused of anything, but the interrogator pushed on their conscience just enough for the accused to come back with a sincere confession of their crimes.

Moreover, coming back to словоерс, in 1860s, when the novel was written, that -с already lost it’s original meaning (showing respect) and turned into ironic and mocking addition to otherwise neutral phrases. So the Inspector is practically scoffing and, well, bullying Daniil (and the Bachelor actually calls him out for that) throughout all the dialogue.

Finally, the phrase in question is a pretty well known quote among Russian-speaking people who’ve read Dostoevsky’s works, so this reference should be quite easy to recognise for native speakers.

Well, that’s it for now, I’ll come back if I find anything else catchy and curious.

[3416]

thoughts no one asked for on the mitch marner press conference: he seemed very happy to be there. relieved a little bit. the most tripped up he got was talking about how things have felt in toronto the last 2 years and how many rumors there were about him being traded, and i wouldn't be surprised if last summer is really when he started thinking about leaving being a real possibility based on how he talked..... he knew around the trade deadline this year that things might get real bc of the leafs approaching him about carolina. he said no bc he and steph wanted to move somewhere they knew theyd extend and she was heavily pregnant and they didn't want to commit. vegas got involved in a 3 way deal that didnt get very far but it was on the radar that that's a place mitch would want to go after that.

it also sounds like he's heavily prioritizing his family life and i can see why a more laidback place like vegas would be appealing. he said he talked to patches and reavo about getting set up and the help available in vegas, trying to establish roots and find a home there.

he also just heavily emphasized a winning culture and the mindset around vegas as being something that appealed to him.

[sympathytea]

mild s2 spoilers im mostly talking about how the diamond swords are characterized

Alright I keep having thoughts bro. these swords.

Ferre being characterized as quiet and preferring not to talk? semiverbal perhaps? Julie's whole infodump during the s1 finale makes me think shes probably knee deep into the lore of this world and is an immediate hazard for spontaneous rambles. love that for her Do I even need to explain MinuteTech? His whole thing in the animation where he doesn't really know what hes supposed to do with Evbo, and then the whole acting strategically rather than emotionally and not getting Evbo's joke (according to Evbo himself who. probably did that just to make himself feel better) also "This will cost me precisely 3.2 percent of my lifespan." SIR.

Wemmbu is..a bit trickier but in my heart probably has something similar to what Evbo is currently experiencing? Maybe? He goes through the video journal HQ searching frantically for Evbo but other than that not much for me to go off of? I have plans for him though. And Evbo! Dear god how does he keep getting more unwell the more we see him? First off the guy literally claims to hear voices offhandedly (or at the very least, implied) at one point along with the whole. Trauma avoidance shit that he expresses in bow civ. Like hes probably not doing so hot after not just the Tabi betrayal, not just the prison and whatever happened between episode 4 and 5, but the reveal that shes going to hunt down all the other eternal weapons and he's the only one that's gonna be stopping her? Because the other diamond swords are staying put to guard their home and he's probably feeling isolated? He mentions that he regards them as family and also notably asks MinuteTech to buy the water bucket for him when hes too low. Despite him being very capable of respawning still i would assume.... What happened offscreen for him to do this? "retail therapy" bro no you need. regular therapy. wholeheartedly. like dear god man im sorry that you bear these burdens please be with your family

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Suddenly remembered something I wanted to say re:Akechi, because I think it's really core to his character (at least the way I interpreted him?) and I feel like it explains a lot of his contradictions. Essentially, he is incapable of seeing himself as just a person - he's either the greatest hero/detective ever, or he's some violent monster, and it's like there's no in-between. It's very in keeping with his obvious superiority-inferiority complex, but it goes deeper than that too; when he's in a role, it seems like his self-perception kind of changes too depending on how he is perceived by others. He really does get a confidence boost from being the Detective Prince. He really does shut down emotionally as the Black Mask.

They're masks that he's made, and it's not that aspects of them aren't based in truth to some extent, but I think it goes to show why he's not actually that fantastic a liar (imo, I found the outright lies pretty obvious), but he is a very good actor. He's either an angel or a demon, and never a person, but there are conditions to that. He is an angel when he is perfect - to society. He is a demon when he is vengeful - again, to society. He is never a person, because he never was seen as one - to society. He was disregarded. To be anything of value or notoriety, whether that's hero or villain, he has to be wildly more or less than who he actually is, and he's been building these masks up for so long that I really think he lost sight of the actual person behind it all. And I don't think he wanted to see that person anyways, because that person "wasn't good enough" and I do think he'd rather be anything other than himself. That trickery, that deflection from the person within, in itself brings him pride and satisfaction. He wants to be loved and needed instead of being cast aside, but I also think that if he can't have that then he'd much rather be hated than never have mattered at all. He weaponizes his own loneliness - if he can't ever be accepted then he'll build his own pedestal apart from everyone else.

It's so fascinating too, because I just wonder how much of this he was consciously aware of pre, during, and post engine room. There's this recurring thing with him where he goes "I can only be myself" etc but I just want to shake him because, well, who is that, Akechi??? Or, who do you think that is? Do you actually have an answer? Is it predicated on your actual feelings or solely on your success at fooling everyone around you? Is there any part of you that you actually like that isn't based on a painstakingly constructed mask? Isn't it all mostly lies to deflect from the truth? Isn't it all founded mostly on truth, nonetheless?

It drives me insane. And I think this is a big reason why he breaks so hard in the engine room, because so much of his mask requires his "audience" to perform in a particular way. And here he is, and the Thieves have beaten him, so there goes the first mask, because he's no longer "perfect". He swings wildly into the ugliest sides of him, but this mask is broken too, amidst him vehemently and desperately denying that he has any other emotions than hatred and rage, or any other needs or desires than vengeance. And after that, it's just him. And they should reject him, right? That's what happens. He's not useful, he's not needed or perfect, his hands are stained with blood. But the Thieves, again, don't play the role he expects them to. They, despite everything, relate to him - because he is in fact very similar in a lot of ways and they acknowledge him as a person - not a hero, or idol, or villain, or tool, or unwanted child - but as a damaged teen like the rest of them. And he does not know what to do with that. His identity is intrinsically dependent on getting the right reactions from other people as a form of ingratiating himself - if he does not get that reciprocal reaction he's looking for, his act falters, and, I really do believe that so does his self-perception. That's why you see different aspects of him seep out when he's spending time with Joker, because Joker does not react the way he expects, and Akechi both does and does not like this, because it leaves him feeling both intrigued and vulnerable.

I do think this particular aspect of his character is something a lot of the Thieves don't fully grasp - certainly, I think Joker "I need the mask" Persona 5 understands to a degree, but the sheer degree of reliance and the level of pride attached to it is something that confuses him a little, I think, especially in Mementos Mission. I think the thief that comes closest is actually Morgana, who has a similar superiority-inferiority complex and a desperate need to be seen as competent and useful lest he be discarded. (This is a big part of why the rather lackluster writing with Morgana's arc frustrates me so much because I really do feel it was meant to be contrasted with Akechi's, but I digress.) Morgana is the one to make that emotional appeal to Akechi, which makes a degree of sense - Morgana struggled all along with finding a place in the world. His form leads others to underestimate him; he visually doesn't fit in. He's acting out the role of a chivalrous and cool phantom thief but is more pragmatic with how he views relationships, at least at first. He wants a place to belong where he is appreciated more than anything but his pride won't let him spit it out. Accepting that he belongs and that he is loved even if he really did have nothing of value to provide is a big part of the resolution of his arc. He tries to offer that learned lesson to Akechi in turn ("Follow your true feelings. Even if you think people hate you, or don't want you around-"), but Akechi just wasn't in the right space to listen. There's also an important distinction between the two - Morgana envies humans and looks up to them. Akechi envies humans and looks down on them. Morgana is perfectly happy once he is assured a place amongst the group, but Akechi see-saws wildly between wanting to belong and wanting to be a step above the rest and separating himself further. So while Morgana actually really did cut to the core of the issue, his appeal would never have worked at this point because a) Akechi's pride is dependent on him maintaining his solo act, and b) he just got outed as not actually hating Joker in front of seven other people including Joker himself lmao.

So, uh, sorry, Morgana. Points for trying.

[sometimesanequine]

yeaaahhhh!!!! kerry bog ponies ily

[skitskatdacat63]

Kinda 😾 rn cause I realized the Senna show made the "can we be equal? 👉👈" scene SOOOO much less intimate/cute. Upon watching it, I was too distracted by "Oh! They're referencing dialog that actually happened!!" but now I'm peeved having rewatched the actual clip 😭

Why would they do this to me specifically

[nicholasmoorethetwittermigrant]

I’d very much like to know what’s on this notepad.

[kiwikyuuu]

SPOILERS FOR DOCTOR WHO REALITY WAR FINALE

THIS IS A MASSIVE RANT OF MINE WHICH lets be honest I didn’t realize was gonna be a rant until i finished writing lmao, but enjoy!!!

Okay what the HELL did I just watch LMAO, like I have loved Ncuti Gatwa this entire time as the doctor, but the finales have consistently made me so confused and felt so all over the place. I am desperately hoping they dont cancel the show after these two seasons cuz Disney is as we all know Disney, But i really think they need to get their act together.

I was so taken aback by seeing Jodie Whittaker show up out of nowhere, especially because It took me a minute to realize that the doctor was actually like 100% gonna regenerate (WHICH WE WILL GET TO). The precursor to this made it seem like Omega was gonna be so much worse of a threat than he was, and when he did get released the doctor faced NO THREAT really at all. He immediately stumbled into the solution for the problem and fixed instantly, which does not give good character development. Also can we talk about the exposition dump that happened throughout this episode cause GOD its a lot.

Moving on to the Rani, Archie Panjabi played such an intimidating villain but when all of her actions fell so flat the threat of her became very very- dull if that makes sense. Mrs Flood had been building this all up like it was meant to be some sort of massive crazy reveal and then boom literally 2 episodes after Archie-Rani gets introduced she gets merked, leaving Mrs Flood to run off and do Mrs Flood things. I had not really known about the Rani until this point in Doctor Who, so when I researched her I was surprise she ended up coming back. It would have made sense to have her be uniting WITH Omega or something along those lines rather than her just dying by him. It felt like a cop out of not knowing how to do deal with a ridiculously strong opponent that the doctor wouldn’t have known how to fight.

But as a writer, that’s your job. You need to figure out how that could work with what you set up, you can’t just throw everything together and hope it works.

If there is one thing that the New New Who (I guess???) gets really good, its this: Building Tension, and the Episodic Storytelling Style. I can for sure say I was enthralled by what was going on with Mrs Flood for both seasons as well as what the story was building to with both seasons. Both times however, I was left confused and frustrated.

Now, Poppy was weird to say the least. I get, I 100% get the sterile thing, it makes sense (HOWEVER PLEASE YOU COULD HAVE INTRODUCED THAT EARLIER ON IN THE SERIES), and Poppy being a brand New Child of the Timelords COULD HAVE MADE THINGS SO CRAZY, but you didn’t commit to that. I LOVED that the doctor had to fight with not only himself but Ruby about whether he had a daughter, but decisively making that moment the point where he says “PEACE IMMA GO FIND MY DAUGHTER” and then pulls some extremely risky behavior (LITERALLY UNIVERSE HOPPING), just to get her back, and then having her not be his actual daughter, feels like the doctor got handed such a bad hand.

Like, in reality yeah sure universe hopping and finding poppy but realizing she’s not your real daughter? Yeah sure that makes sense, but in terms of story writing, with everything having been built up this whole time, ESPECIALLY the abandoning everyone part, he just settles there and is like “Yep! :) That makes sense haha lemme just go become Billie Piper rq-“ LIKE SIR NO LMAO

Now. Billie Piper. GOD THATS SO COOL BUT SUCH A BAD TIMING FOR A REGENERATION. Dont get me wrong I adore 10s era just as much as the next who fan, but with where 15 (?i dont know what number ncuti is anymore) was in his story arc he was not done. He still had so much more potential he had to give, Ruby is still an engima that SHOULD BE EXPLORED MORE!!!! Belinda was honestly a tad annoying at times as a companion but ultimately I do respect her as a character because she is very grounded in reality. I think it would have made sense to give 15 one more companion if they could have (ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY HAD SO MANY PEOPLE TO PICK FROM LIKE HELLO??? ROGUE WAS RIGHT THEREEEEEE). I also want to point out that I’m worried about whats going to happen with Billie Piper being the doctor. It took away a role that usually gets handed to someone who has either played in doctor who before (WHICH DOES MAKE SENSE WITH PIPER AS THE DOCTOR) or its given to someone completely new. Im worried that bringing in Piper as the doctor will lure in the rest of the fans looking for their escapism as a new 10 era, and find the same faulty finales that have been consistent with the past two seasons, which I feel like would hurt the fan’s love of the show as well as their respect for the show.

I think Piper is such a cool concept because we HAVE had people the doctor has met before come back as other doctors (Peter Capaldi came back after the one pompeii episode for example), but I think that 15 deserved at least one more season to truly show just how fantastic he is because in all honesty he IS such a GOOD DOCTOR.

LONG WINDED RANT OVER. Excited for what comes next, but still extremely cautious as well.

[moxie-girl]

so uh milgram fans are we ready to talk about this yet?

the fact that the real subject of the “experiment” of milgram is Es, not the prisoners? and how beyond the story, the true subjects are actually us, the viewers?

[transingthoseformers]

we could get really fucked with it

Tarn requesting (demanding) for their next scene to have Pharma pretend to empurata him. could be all the way or Tarn "fighting back" and breaking free in a sort of "redo" from reality

The feelings? Mixed on both sides

WE ABSOLUTELY CAN I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT THAT😭😭😭

That's one of those scenes where there's Emotions and the aftercare has a complicated tint to it

Did Pharma know before this that Tarn was an empurata victim?? I need to know the conversation that lead to this.

[lionofstone]

something that sticks out to me about the mcr show is like. the black parade ends so bleakly. the government puppet becoming a suicide bomber after the death of gerard way and the mournful cello… but then‼️ the band regroups on a different stage and keeps playing!!! art lives on a continues to challenge us and continues to inspire us…anyway

[abyssal-ilk]

blackwall's heavy reliance on the belief that a good soldier can follow bad orders and still be a good man/the crimes of a soldier can entirely be blamed on their superior is going to cause so. so many problems with lucia. guy who projects his own failure of leadership onto everyone around him vs girl who was raised in a circle where templars killed children regularly by the orders of their superiors. this will end so badly

[infinitelyweary]

Has anyone endlessly dissected Armand's subtle Marius shade yet