#catharsis meta

[runespoor7]

Can you explain more about the usages of "catharsis"? Wiki tells me "In dramaturgy, the term usually refers to arousing negative emotion in an audience, which then expels it, making them feel happier." which seems similar to my experience of fannish usage?

In fannish usage, it seems almost inevitably linked to the idea of a relief for the characters, or even comfort, or "good thing after bad". Promising catharsis in the next chapter; saying that you found a specific storyline cathartic (which tbh generally sounds like a healing thing to me. "it was so cathartic when character A came out to their grandma and Granny was supportive!"); "it was just bad things happening all the way down! where's the catharsis!"

That's not always definitionally antithetical to cartharsis in the dramaturgy sense, but it's not related to the concept (at least not the way it was taught to me back then).

Otoh catharsis is a... controversial concept even among classical authors (I use the term loosely), with a number of authors making fun of the concept or arguing that there's no real way to make a difference between the "expelling of negative emotions" of catharsis and the dreaded "emotions happening".

Simplifying horribly (it has been a while), in my experience the usage of catharsis in dramaturgy tended to occur more in cases of "terrible things happen to the characters! the audience feels better for witnessing these terrible things happening to fictional people and now will go in their life free of the negative urges." (I think mostly a XVIIIe century usage, but in practice that's when we pointed to catharsis happening. Even when talking about ancient plays we didn't mention catharsis at other points that when bad things happened/had been happening though. /again I'm simplifying)

Keep in mind I am not a classicist or an academic by any means and am going off of memories of literature courses that are roughly two decades old, so if you want more actually good explanations instead of "idk it's not used in the same moments which give the word completely different vibes" you'll have to ask people who actually really know their stuff or read up on theory. 😔

[vaguely-concerned]

severing the connection of the titans to themselves, each other and their children, to the world, and with it severing the connection of the dwarves to their true nature, the basic state of love and belonging that should be their birthright. ("our children, orphaned".) severing the connection between rook and the reality and true memory of varric, and thus from themselves and their own healing grief AND love. (do we spot the echo, perhaps?) severing (mostly accidentally this time, I'll give him that) the connection between the fade and the real world, dream and reality.

the scale we're operating on varies from the mythic, the cosmic and existential, to the individual and deeply, nauseatingly intimately personal, but it's the same pattern every time. solas keeps committing the same act of enforced dissociation, of creating orphaned pain that cannot even know itself, estranged from its own history, origins and coherence, unhealable in being impossible to recognize for what it is and thus unreachable. (hello lucanis in the minrathous saved route btw. this theme echoes everywhere when you look for it. I do love this game.) making others strangers to themselves for his own purposes and being surprised when it blows up in his face horrifically once more even when it's his same indelible original sin repeated, again and again and again. dissociation is a natural process the mind uses to protect itself from unbearable pain, but to knowingly cause that in someone, to play around with their connection to themselves and reality so fundamentally, to further your own cause... yeah, I'm not surprised the fabric of the world keeps tearing apart in protest in response to that, there's something so unspeakably insidiously wrong about it. forget snacking down on apples and knowing yourself to be naked or whatever, that sounds like a perfectly blameless if presumably slightly chilly afternoon to me -- force-feeding someone else their own fragmentation for your own gain, however ostensibly worthy your final goal, feels much closer to what real sin would be to me. and even worse because *buries face in hands* he just keeps doing it!!! he should know better, but he keeps doing it!!!!!!

I know I keep joking that solas only has the like three basic moves he keeps rearranging to invent new and spectacular ways of doubling down on making the same mistake yet again, but looking at it like this it's almost not even funny anymore haha. (almost. there is a hysterical amusement and affection that rises within me every time I see his smug little face, we cannot choose who we love only what we do about it.) and the worst thing is that I think he could learn! I do believe he has the capacity, the depth of empathy and soul and intellect, to learn from this, had he chosen to do so, had he let himself pause and truly listen at any point. but at the end of the day, even all these thousands of years later and with the mountains of guilt he lugs around, he chooses not to. and I suspect it's because he fundamentally does not actually understand what he did wrong. on his way to, ostensibly, fix one of these splits he caused, that of the veil, he basically goes and does to rook's mind what he did to the titans, and without the hand of mythal guiding it or anyone else culpable in it with him this time, as if to underline twice that in all these thousands of years he has learned absolutely nothing! almost to an impressive degree! does he even recognize that it's the same thing he's doing? does he even actually afford rook and their internal world that much thought to begin with, aside from what purpose they can serve for him? I'm not so sure. and to do it all with varric's face, with the person he took from them, making them feel complicit in it when they find out, the same way the dwarves will have to grapple with the fact that their whole economy is based in unwittingly selling the blood of like. god. their parents. themselves. solas. babe. what the fUCK. what the fuck. what the fuck.

perhaps part of the blind spot comes down to the way it's the inverse of his own trauma. solas knows exactly what happened to him because it's the endless ache at the center of his existence, the thing -- the first mistake -- he can't escape or undo or forget, nor bring himself to accept: he became real, one coherent set self, with no way back to what and who he was. and what he does with that pain, his one move, is to make others not-real. to himself, and more alarming still to themselves. he makes them forget, as he cannot forget. does he think it's mercy, in some way? does he realize how and why that makes it all so much worse??? and... not quite the same thing, but when mythal dies the structure of his own inner world falls apart catastrophically, and in his vengeance for that, even unintentionally, he imposes that same unravelling on the world. we've all heard the lines about spirits mirroring the real world and what you bring into your relationship with them being what you get in return, but how about the tragedy of the inverse -- the world being brought to mirror you, despite what your intentions might have been going in. no one should have that power, but you claimed that power yourself to do something else and now you have to look into that mirror forever. no such mercy as forgetting yourself for you. you are everywhere now, this broken mirror of a world will reflect yourself back to you no matter where you look. perhaps it would feel easier to simply close your eyes and walk on willfully blindly. AGH it's all so delicious and fucked up and makes me feel absolutely nuts

dissociation is something that's also central in iron bull's character and internal conflict, so presumably this is simply a deep theme trick weekes keeps returning to/is interested in exploring in their writing! and the elegance with which it's done and how inextricably yet subtly embedded in the narrative it is both with bull and overall in veilguard means it's not always engaged with or recognized as I feel it deserves, but to me personally it is Everything and gets at it in ways that feel weirdly real and authentic.

[mxtxfanatic]

Alright, last jc-centric post before the clock strikes midnight, but it actually pisses me off that Wei Wuxian and Jin Ling’s convo in the Iron Hook Extra is being recontextualized to say that either Jiang Cheng was never abusive or that Wei Wuxian is encouraging Jin Ling to stay in contact with his abusive guardian, because outside of the fact that Wei Wuxian only witnessed Jiang Cheng slapping Jin Ling once out of the myriad of times he does so in the story (in Guanyin Temple), the point of this scene is to reveal that even if Jiang Cheng has missed his chance to do right by any other character, he is finally doing right by Jin Ling!!!!!

Jiang Cheng spends the entire main story of the novel verbally abusing Jin Ling, ripping into him about how he disgraces his Jiang and Jin heritage by not being some kickass legendary cultivator by age 14, how Jin Ling needs to “know his place” by never questioning or talking back to Jiang Cheng (lest he be slapped), rigging nighthunts so that Jin Ling can get his ego stroked but never actually learn anything useful, and all around treating Jin Ling like a child he can keep pressed beneath his thumbs forever. And then Guanyin Temple happens, and Jiang Cheng walks out of the situation and decides against hitting Jin Ling for criticizing him. And then the Banquet Extra happens, and we hear that Jiang Cheng has taken a more passive role in Jin Ling’s nighthunts where he only exists as outside support if things go wrong but otherwise lets the boy figure things out on his own, rather than teaching him to cheat and harm others in the process. Then we get the Iron Hook Extra where we hear about how Jiang Cheng stormed Koi Tower to threaten the Jin elders into accepting Jin Ling’s rightful place as Jin leader, rather than just whisking Jin Ling away to continue to be treated like an incompetent child under his rule.

For once, Jiang Cheng is making steps to support someone else using his power and authority as a Great Clan leader instead of lording said authority over them to coerce them into subordination, but when your conception of Jiang Cheng’s character is “he did absolutely nothing wrong ever, and if he did, that means others let him and therefore it’s not his fault,” you ignore his growth! He’s finally learned how to have a healthy relationship with someone where the goal isn’t to keep them trapped in his sphere of influence! He has finally let go of his entitlement to “benefit” from his relationships! He is no longer treating Jin Ling like an unruly child but as a young clan leader who only needs a little bit of protection and support to truly come into his own! And that’s great!

If only his stans can see that.

[t4t4tclethian]

anyone else ever think about how at the end of double life, pearl was fully ready and willing to kill scott. had her bow drawn and ready to shoot. but then when he lit the tnt under himself she screamed out in concern for him

[writing-for-life]

About Love As The Catalyst For Change

Okay, so while I was going through all the panels for March Mania, I also stumbled over these ones again:

And although I’ve read it all a million times and had all these feelings before, I just need to blurt them out:

Love Is What Changes Him

It’s such a central message of The Sandman, but I feel it often gets lost in a million other things. And they’re all important, but so is this one.

Because yes, Dream went with Delirium and found Destruction (and Despair found him btw), and his Destiny was Death. And that whole Desire thing… ‘nuff said. BUT… (major spoilers ahead)

Those panels above are basically the turning point in a nutshell. No, well, the turning point is actually the moment he kisses (and then kills) Orpheus, but those panels are the essence:

He set out with Delirium in hopes to find Thessaly (the pendant Nuala wears here used to be hers, and she gave it to her when she left the Dreaming and him. And I can’t even begin to tell you how I feel about him letting Nuala keep a gift of his ex, who betrays him later by protecting the woman he hurt, and then making it the item that holds the power with which Nuala can call in her boon. One could spin that very far in all sorts of different directions).

But when he comes back after killing Orpheus, it doesn’t really matter anymore. Thessaly was the usual romanticised dream that could never be real. But he finally did find love. For his son. The unconditional kind. The one that doesn’t need anything in return because it just is. And he was loved back, if for a brief moment. But it was real, not a dream. And that love stays real (that’s why it initiates the turn, 3rd act and all that).

I’m reminded again of the words of Frank McConnell in his intro to The Kindly Ones:

“And with [killing Orpheus], Dream has entered time, choice, guilt and regret—has entered the sphere of the human.”

(Side note at this point: With all of this in mind, read Dream Hunters [again], and look at all THREE main characters—that includes the onmyōji, not just the monk and the fox.)

And it would be so easy to say, “Well, love killed him then, what’s the fucking point?” Not just the love for his son, but also the love of a maiden who called in her boon (Nuala), the love of a mother for her child (Lyta), the love of a crone for no one but herself (Thessaly).

But we all know that “change or die” was never an “either or”, because it’s an “and both”. And it’s ultimately love, in all its shapes and forms, four times over, that changed him (while it was also part of the death knell, but that’s a complicated one. In any case, it also led to change: To be(come) a new, better, kinder Dream).

Yes, call me romantic or hopeless (although I think that’s the wrong word in this context, because I feel it’s the opposite), I don’t care.

Because that story is about catharsis. And that means Dream is a vessel for our feelings. And the feelings won’t be the same if we change any of this, for better, for worse. Because truthfully: That story is about me. And you. And you.

About allowing love, of whatever kind (this is very clearly not just about romantic love), to change us. And that ultimately means letting go (of control). Just like he did.

Bleurgh, I’m crying. Catharsis 🤣

[vitasexualiiis]

the tragedy of fukuzawa and ranpo's canon relationship is that i genuinely think that ranpo believes he loves fukuzawa more than fukuzawa loves him.

that's why he's so cranky when fukuzawa wants to find atsushi, even though it's illogical and atsushi is a liability. it's only fukuzawa saying that ranpo's reward will be his praise (read: appreciation) that makes him act.

it's why ranpo pictures fukuzawa like THIS when he thinks of his complicated relationship with his friends--that they need him, but as skill users, will always be better than him--during his confrontation with mushi.

note that this is right after fukuzawa tried to sacrifice himself for the greater good during the cannibalism arc, and that he's currently punishing ranpo for going against orders and trying to save him. (also of note is the fact that ranpo thinks that fukuzawa will be angry with him for trying to get kunikida out of jail.)

it's no coincidence that during this same confrontation, one where mushi is forced to admit that he did the unspeakable for a loved one, ranpo also admits that he would also do terrible things for the sake of his loved ones.

it's part of why he's so furious that fukuzawa won't listen to him at the start of the hunting dogs arc, which happens immediately after the above.

it's why he's so jealous of fukuchi, to the point where fukuchi can get ranpo to act in a way that atsushi has never seen before. fukuchi's taunting has ranpo literally trembling with rage during this scene in the anime.

AND! STILL! after all of this--after fukuzawa repeatedly puts his desire for justice above his love and respect for ranpo, after ranpo's dealt with years of fukuzawa sticking up for fukuchi--someone ranpo REALLY doesn't like for both obvious and less obvious reasons--he still trusts fukuzawa and lets fukuzawa's desires guide him.

even when he knows fukuzawa is wrong.

how couldn't this shake ranpo's faith that he matters as much to fukuzawa as fukuzawa means to him? that fukuzawa's desire for justice and upholding the greater good--his need to forever atone for his past--will always mean more than his relationship with ranpo?

that maybe, one day, fukuzawa won't choose him in a way that takes him out of ranpo's life for good?

[saints-who-never-existed]

I love Dundy so so much but Christ, do I hate how fucking calm he seems in that Lawful Mutiny scene...!

Little is riled the fuck up. He's the most animated and impassioned we've perhaps ever seen him, using uncharacteristically expressive language too ("this coven of traitors", "that devil").

Le Vesconte, in sharp contrast, appears cool and collected, to the point of complete detachment and numbness (I say appears because of course he's suffering too). He speaks slowly and plainly, clearly having rehearsed, and chooses his words very very carefully indeed (those too ill to walk will not be left behind, for example, they'll just "stay").

It's almost like he's that arsehole in a disagreement who tries to convince you that they're right just because they're arguing in a calm, 'logical', grammatically-correct manner, and you're wrong just because you're getting passionate and emotional over the subject at hand.

Like, just imagine being Little in that situation!

You've been suppressing your emotions for god knows how long, keeping your anger and resentment simmering just below the surface for as long as you can remember for fear of what will happen if you let those emotions show, fear that it'll just make things worse.

But finally you can suppress no longer, something in you breaks. All that anger and resentment starts to boil over but you find that you were right - letting those emotions show didn't help at all, it made everything worse, just as you feared.

[postsforposting]

JESUS CHRIST IT'S THE PEANUT GALLERY

Heroes have a rogues gallery

But Wade sees the fourth wall, so he has a PEANUT GALLERY

We don't talk to him so he went and found himself one who talks back

We the gallery are who the universe revolves around because without us Wade's world ends. We're the anchor beings! Logan came from the peanut gallery, HE'S US.

He's god, the author of his universe.

The Worst god, because he didn't help his world, wouldn't tell anyone he cared, and a lot of kids didn't get to grow up because of his revenge spree for an attack on those he claimed were his people. His, but not enough that he'd help them, not enough he'd talk to them, not enough to stop him from doing the same thing that was done to him.

God absolutely deserves to be thrown out. He's a failure who ruined his own world.

But just like all of us, he could choose to change. To recognize he did wrong. It's the least he could do. Because it's necessary in order to change.

God wouldn't and then couldn't save his own world, because it was better off without him after what he did.

It was a hell of his own making.

But he's us. That hell is our world.

We're Wade looking for help in all the wrong places. Waiting for Jesus to fix it for us when it's up to us.

Are you there, god? It's me, Margaret. Papa can you hear me?--

--Conversations with people who aren't there. Him to us. Like a prayer.

Prayers go unanswered. We can't talk to him. We set the narrative and we won't save him.

He replies: Bye bye bye, I'm gonna do it myself, and if any version of you actually loved me like you say then you would be here with me. You wouldn't have done it in the first place.

Wade only has one world, and even if he doesn't matter to it he's still going to save it. Who matters when they just watch? When they're not there? When the Omega herself created the problem? That's the stuff of legend, but not in a good way. Some things are just beyond forgiveness until the next life.

But this world--our world--doesn't regenerate.

Who still thinks this movie was just a silly little fan service sex joke?

I mean, it IS... gay sex saved the world. Logan's abstinence let his world down. It would have destroyed Wade's too.

....

We're the peanut gallery that the world revolves around. Abstinence would destroy ours, too. Only by giving a fuck can we save each other. It takes someone who's hung with big balls to build a snowman that feels like home.

To see god in each other. To gain forever by fucking god, together. To finally find a god who'll answer your prayers.

Hey Ryan, are you there? i just wanna TALK--

[variousqueerthings]

the thing is that martha and the doctor are an interesting, complicated, eternally evolving in my head dynamic that completely change the game of the narrative, and I am so into them and I will think about them forever and ever

and on the other hand I suspect that at least a certain percent of it comes from my specific reading of the doctor-as-character, and from things that the writing brought up around martha, her position in her family, her history as a medical student, her later decision to join UNIT and Torchwood, her more-than-average complex feelings both during and after being a Companion about what that life meant for her, and what the doctor changed in her life, that I would say were intentional, but weren't brought up in a narrative that was given as much space and time (ha) as other companions, and so she is eternally left in character limbo where I can only ask questions (and read fanfic) and stipulate on what this story was all about for her, and where she went as consequence, and what her feelings are about having been within it, and of course the parts that aged more poorly related to a bunch of white people writing a black woman as a lead character who weren't so well-versed on nuance as one would wish... so it's also the most frustrating dynamic in nu!who, if not all of doctor who, for me, because there is no attempt at giving it a proper end from her side, in the way there has been for so many other companions, including of course lots and lots of classic!who companions

on the third hand you would really want that potential bringing-back to be interesting in a way that interacts with their past dynamic, and fun for freema to do, and you'd worry about the amount of racist backlash that might occur, because nobody was giving martha grace as a character in the first place, would this past complexity that seemed to go over a lot of peoples' heads be something that the show perhaps should be more explicit about, so that there is no ambiguity as to how this series of events affected her and why it's more complicated than with other companions, and how does it both honour her character's inherent strengths, while also not having to make her be so strong All The Damn Time

on the fourth hand... just wanna see her again. and she'd be fire opposite ncuti, you know she would

[cabeswaterdrowned]

Blue cut Adam to bring him back because she loves him! Parallel/anti-parallel to her giving Noah her energy again and again, bringing them back to themselves through creepy means she has to inflict some type of pain for (and then her soothing Gansey but also kiss him to death… not super well articulated but something there)

[shockersalvage]

Salvage Showcase - Korisu Kakitsubata

It's the horror season, and what better way to celebrate than by doing a Showcase on the main 'villain' of Danganronpa Kirigiri Volume 3, and Culprit of the Takeda Haunted Mansion Duel Noir: Korisu Kakitsubata!!!

(Korisu is the left silhouette behind Licorne)

Summary

Korisu was a detective registered in the Detective Library under the DSC of 488, specializing in animal welfare. Like all Victims, Korisu has a traumatic past that influenced her to take up the Duel Noir. Eight year prior to the Duel Noir, Korisu was with her family up on a mountain railway. However, a fire broke out and during Korisu's attempt to escape, she got seperated from her family. Her family, unfortunately, ended up being trapped behind closed emergency exit doors - doors that were shut by Suntetsu Shirasu. Shirasu closed the doors to prevent the smoke from killing more people, but as a result, 28 people (including Korisu's family) who were trapped behind the door, died in the blaze. Suntetsu was never identified or arrested for the incident, and Korisu was left traumatized to the point she heard voices of the victims in her head.

Korisu would be confronted by the Victims Catharsis Committee, and would take up their offer of competing in a Duel Noir. In her case, Korisu planned out the Takeda Haunted Mansion murder. The idea behind it was to lure in Shirasu with three other detectives: Sachi Mizuiyama (her scapegoat), Salvador Fukuro Yadorigi and Hajiki Yaki. Under the guise of the deceased Saiun Takeda, she lured them in with various tip-offs of crime at the manor. Once all five met, Korisu would eventually drug Shirasu to enact her scheme. Hoisting him between two armored warriors, she would set up her locked room case to have a bunch of rubber bands use a katana as a makeshift slingshot to kill her Target. The deed was done as Yui and Kyoko had arrived, with them being only moments away from saving Suntetsu before the blade plunged itself into his back.

During this exchange, Korisu tried to pose as just a vapid, party-gal, woman who didn't have a care in the world. Initially, she seen to have gotten away with her murder as Sachi was initially fingered as the culprit. But, to her downfall, this was a trap set up by Kyoko - catching Korisu back at the crime scene with the intent to destroy any remaining evidence of her misdeeds. Despite Korisu's attempts at trying to refute Kyoko's claims, not only did Kyoko figure out how Korisu's trick worked - she even had proof it was only Korisu that could have done it. The main piece being the fact that, during the murder, Korisu had used the armor sandals to walk outside since Salvador was too busy admiring art out in the hallway for her to safely get her stilleto's back. Unfortunately, given the size of the shoes was too big for the boys and too small for someone as short as Sachi, it was only her that could have used them, and when its clear they were used in the crime, Korisu was stuck as the sole candidate.

Korisu gives up, and admits to doing the Duel Noir to put the voices at rest. However, while initially coolheaded at her defeat, she panics once they saw she's in danger of being executed due to inability to pay the VCC back their earnings. Ultimately, she takes Kyoko's advice to go with the cops to be arrested, though the last shot of her from Yui's POV shows her to clearly still be struggling with the 'voices' returning. In the next volume, while she doesn't appear, she is mentioned by Salvador to be safe since Gekka has paid off her debt, but she'll still be tried for her crimes.

While Korisu acts like an airheaded, flashy, yet bubbly party girl - this is merely a facade. In truth, Korisu is pretty intelligent, lucid, and crafty to the point that she needed to be lured into a trap to expose her since her current set-up lacked real hard hitting evidence to expose her without it. Due to her trauma, Korisu hear the voices of those who perished in the fire's blaze, and was desperate enough to appease them by taking up a VCC. While not being a sore loser, she is terrified of being murdered herself and begs for the girls to save her as she realizes she's doomed to be executed.

Rundown

Being both a Detective and a Victim, Korisu has a few things going for her in regard to the DRK's theme - which I have already pinned as being about Justice & Corruption.

In this case, Korisu is on the side of Corruption, in this case Appeasement of her trauma and another aspect of criticizing the 'greater good' theme in Volume 3 on a whole. On the Greater Good theme first, while like the other Victims, she's motivated by vengeance - it's less hatred based and more so just trying to find some form of peace in her life. As stated before, Korisu had been severely traumatized from her family being roasted to death despite her protests because someone sacrificed them for their perceived 'greater good'. In turn, for the sake of finding closure for the voices, she's willing to not only slay Suntetsu, but also sacrificing someone else's peace for her own safety. In doing so, this puts her about as bad as Suntetsu himself. It also smacks into the Greater Good message that Gekka and Lico usually use to justify their own violent acts, since it shows such a line of thinking is both detrimental towards bystanders and those involved alike, but also winds up leaving new collateral to suffer down a path like Korisu's as well. Ergo sustaining the cycle further.

In terms of the Corruption theme (and her own Drive as a detective), namely Appeasement, Korisu's case is used to show why giving in to vengeance and bloody murder as means of clearing up mental issues, just doesn't work like how Gekka or the VCC think it works. She got her paybck on Suntetsu, yes, but in turn it didn't solve her problem with the voices in her head yelling at her and it certainly wasn't helped by her actual arrest. Even if she won, she was only confused, not satisfied with doing the deed - meaning that in spite of promising relief to the Victims they lure in, at best they only piled on new worries to give them. At worse, if they don't kill them outright, the Victims are left with new trauma and anguish on top of their old wounds. There's is no truly satisfaction to be gained by playing in a Duel Noir and looking for justice. Just tragedy.

In terms of character comparison and contrasts, the immediate one you would think of is Sachi, another Victim and Detective of the 12 Duel Noir Challenge. Both were willing to kill, and even harm innocents, not for their own sakes, but for the sakes of those who, really, couldn't have enjoyed such endeavors or approved of them, even if they really wanted to. Both Korisu's family and Gekka were dead by the time their Duel Noirs started. As such, their actions proved only to harm themselves in the long run with no real benefits. In terms of demeanor, they're kind of the polar opposite of each other in, even if their end goals are roughly the same. Korisu acts immature to hide the fact she's smarter than she appears, while Sachi portrays herself as a composed detective, to hide how much of a zealot she was for Gekka. In terms of scale, Korisu was hard focus on her own personal trauma, whilst Sachi's love for Gekka had her disregard even her own Catharsis for the sake of seeing him thrive in the VCC.

Of course, I'd also be remiss to not add in how much Korisu reflects on Junko Enoshima. Both being fashionista types that people would never suspect of masterminding intricate murders. Although the biggest difference between the two is that Korisu is ultimately doing her misdeeds as a form of closure, while Junko is working towards a goal of constant open despair.

Personal Thoughts

Korisu makes for a fine, 'final boss' of volume 3. Give the chaotic nature of the book in setting up the 12 Duel Noir Challenge, the battle at Meyura Station, Lico, one would think the actual Duel Noir Victim just wouldn't hit as well as Tadashi or Sae, but she's proved me wrong.

She's extremely entertaining play up the bratty fashion dive and love that the antagonist for this time around tried for the Junko Enoshima manner of villainess. It also helps her motivation is extremely compelling and makes her quite sympathetic as to why she'd work with the VCC. This is a high praise, especially when you consider how Vol. 4 and 5 treated the remainder of the Zodiac Victims.

Of course, beyond that, it also makes me sad volume 3 would be her only real appearance, but I was at least glad that she fulfilled her role properly. Beyond that, I loved the Takeda Haunted Mansion she set up and how it filled well with the ideas of her being haunted by her own past, and using it to take vengeance on Suntetsu (even if trying to wrap my head around the murder method was a real killer X_X)

Ultimately, for what it's worth, Korisu was a nice stopping point to end Vol 3 out on (besides Yui visiting Kyoko's home of course) and remains a favored of mine among the DRK cast!

-

With this out of the way, up next is DR Togami!! Be a while until then so if you have anyone you'd like to see talked about before it gets posted, feel free to recommend!

[deancasforcutie]

something about the continued(!) motif of Dean’s body as a conduit for violence, from his first traumatic death to his last, but also how the difference between his damnation and salvation is his self-affirmation that “that’s not who I am” (no longer “a good soldier and nothing else, daddy’s blunt little instrument”) — and how he weaponizes the assurance that nothing will hurt him like that again

reclaiming agency over one’s life (and death) — that’s the deal with catharsis

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Ted going back to Kansas is still not my ideal outcome for this show, but I very much do like that he quit Richmond before they won the whole fucking thing. Never quitting, never giving up was such an integral part of Ted’s occasionally toxic positivity and by allowing himself not to stick things out just to stick them out and by doing what he felt he needed to do, irregardless of what ill-advised promises he may have made, he took a huge and important step away from that.

[littlenastieswewhispered]

i'm sorry justified was the wrong word to use!! i don't mean to pressure you i'm just curious about what you think about the scene and how it fits into both buffy and spike's stories, but you also obv don't have to answer if you'd rather not. either way thank you for your time :)

it’s not something easy to speak at length about in replies like this (even tho they let you type a lot, it’s just kinda off the cuff), but i appreciate that you’re coming from a genuine place so i’ll try.

basically i think it does mostly make sense as is BUT that it would make way more narrative sense for the story they had set up by that point for him to have a different catalyst to get his soul, or at least to want it. ultimately i think spike taking full accountability for his actions and wanting to change while soulless is the most important part of his story.

that said i wish buffy’s side was centered much more. we somehow get very little of spike’s actual pov all through s6, then this huge thing happens to buffy and we see almost none of how it affects her. at the same time it’s perfectly in character that she forgives him. forgiveness is such a central part of who she is going back to s3 with everything about angel and with giles after the cruciamentum (and even earlier than that but those two are major). that remains consistent. she’s forgiving at times to a fault, and she loves extremely hard. and yes she absolutely loves spike and that’s why she does it.

SR is devastating in many ways (and not something i look at too closely through a real world lens because of the supernatural element of soullessness) but season seven is about two people growing and healing both as separate individuals and as companions who strive to provide each other with strength and partnership. that’s why spuffy wasn’t only not ruined for me, but is an inspiring and enduring love story.

(eta please forgive any typos i am DYSLEXIC and proofreading only goes so far)

[dkniade]

Fontaine Battle Themes “Envoi of Coppelius” & “Lamentation et Triomphe” Reaction

For “Envoi of Coppelius” I focus more on the name’s literary allusions, and for “Lamentation et Triomphe” I focus more on the formal narrative aspect. If you wanna learn more about the actual instruments used in “Lamentation et Triomphe” I’d highly recommend MarcoMeatball’s reaction!

-

Envoi of Coppelius / 科培琉司的辞行

Impression

This is (one of) the Fontaine battle theme(s)?? So much is going on.

It doesn’t feel intimidating, and rather feels like a grand performance with elaborate dance moves.

Yet it’s multi-layered and surely beneath this grand movement there lies… something. I can’t discern it.

Rather, if you ask someone who doesn’t know the game whether this sounds like ballroom music or a battle theme, they would likely answer the former.

But if you imagine this in the context of a battle in Fontaine… If during a deadly battle in the fields of Fontaine, all you hear is music you’d find in a ballroom… then it downplays the dangerous nature of the situation.

So this also represents the culture of Fontainians seeing court trials as a theatrical performance

Something in the piano arpeggios (?) signify an undercurrent of danger

Name Significance: Literary Allusions

envoi (also envoy): “The brief stanza that ends French poetic forms such as the ballade or sestina. It usually serves as a summation or a dedication to a particular person.” (“Glossary of Poetic Terms”, Poetry Foundation)

Coppelius: “Coppelia and Coppelius are two characters that appear in the [real-life] ballet Coppélia, in which Dr. Coppelius creates Coppelia, a mechanical doll so lifelike that it is mistaken for a real woman.” (“Icewind Suite”, Genshin Impact wiki)

In the context of the Archon Quest, Dr. Coppelius might represent Focalors the Hydro Archon, and Coppelia represents… Furina, a human who plays the role of the Hydro Archon

But given the Icewind Suite’s—and its inspiration’s—mechanical nature, I wonder if the name brings any meaning to the Narzissenkreuz Ordo…

The track’s Chinese name, “科培琉司的辞行” is something like, “Coppelius’ Farewell to Family and Friends Before a Voyage”

科培琉司 (Kēpéiliúsī). The in-game transcription of the name Coppelius.

The individual hanzi have significance, probably related to the boss’ mechanical nature.

科 = (academic) subject

培 = to train (people)

琉 = 琉璃 = coloured glaze, lazurite, coloured glass

司 = department

科培琉司 (Kēpéiliúsī) is written and pronounced differently from the name 葛蓓留斯 (Gébèiliúsī), which is the accepted transcription for Dr. Coppelius, the character from the real-life ballet, Coppélia. (“葛蓓莉亚”, Baidu)

辞行 (cíxíng), verb. To bid farewell towards family and friends before leaving for a long journey.

Hm. Just like the Fontaine Archon Quest. In a nation where trials were seen as theatrical performances or opera, of course the battle theme sounds like this.

-

Lamentation et Triomphe

Impression: Form & Narrative

0:05 - Staccato forte strings. Now that sounds Mondstadtian, but much more intense and grand. (Understandable.)

This sounds like a properly dangerous and tense theme.

0:15 - Oh, it goes back to sounding like a more casual dance again while still retaining the staccato forte strings… Of course, as expected of the Nation of Hydro. (Didn’t I hear this section in 4.2’s PV? No, that’s a different one…)

Thanks to the introduction, you cannot possibly ignore the danger beneath it all, yet the surface is still so grand as though it’s just a dance…

As though the soundtrack itself is trying to desperately cover up something tense through theatrics and grandeur.

That tiny calmness in the fingerstyle guitar sure fools you into thinking it’s calmed down.

0:37 - The intensity is back to the surface again…

0:47 - But it’s again submerged in the grandeur of the strings above…

1:01 - Piano and fingerstyle guitar… The guitar sounds personal and yet the deep piano chords underneath suggest the same thing as the strings previously.

Hmm… It’s desperately trying to cover up with a grand performance but it’s not working… hehe. You can’t fool me with that sort of intro.

1:13 - I see… everyone dancing with confident energy in their synchronized movements, yet beneath the elaborate costumes and wonderful music, they all hold daggers pointed at one another. A masquerade of…

1:22 - And then, with the bright brass sound, the spotlights focus on the primadonna, and they all turn to watch her performance. And they applaud…

This track is four minutes… We’re only halfway through, oh my… This proves the brilliance and thoughtfulness of this composition…

1:52 - Oh? Soft and graceful, yet playful… With the fingerstyle guitar back and quiet staccato strings in the background. Like honey-smooth water… Furina de Fontaine.

2:13 - This motif again. Where have I heard of it… The tensity is gone and there’s playfulness and confidence.

2:35 - I heard the first five or three notes of the Fontaine leitmotif quietly and briefly in the background… And then it’s gone.

2:47 - That grand performance is back again…

2:54 - And so is that deep tragedy, punctuated by the same forte staccato. (Or is it staccato forte)

2:59 - Oh? Peace with strings and guitar?

3:07 - There’s that sadness again.

3:10 - Hmm… Those two forces are showing their faces more and more frequently, huh.

3:21 - Hm? There’s a sense of pride and proper victory in the grandeur here.

3:42 - Hooh…. The intro is back. Or more accurately speaking, the overture got a finale…

Oh… This was perfect… This was such a wild ride with so many facets and contrasting forces struggling to take the spotlight or hide from it… I love it. Lamentation et Triomphe indeed.

[the-mechanica]

From a conversation with my partner about my relationship to fictional characters as an autistic adult:

Like, there's no emotional way for someone to be there for me 100% of the time in the ways that I prolly need them to, it's not possible. So I use a fictional character and kind of adapt that into "what would I want from them in this situation?" I use to just call this having "imaginary friends" when I was a kid, but there's a little more synthesis than that as I still do. When it's not too hard to exist inside of myself, then I get to have a convo in my head play out with said character and sometimes that resolves a lot for me. If it is too hard to exist as myself about something, then it becomes fanfic bc it's a convo btw two characters about something I need to work out.