#character weapon thoughts

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

There were probably other reasons for giving Vaggie a spear VS Lute with her sword, but it still makes me so very very very happy, from a character angle

Spears get called the king of the battlefield for pretty good reason- when you’re on a battlefield specifically, a long pointy stick is VERY good at killing people without letting them get close enough to kill YOU (extra useful if you’re not tall and don’t have much built-in reach). It’s also great for formations, a weapon that that becomes TERRIFYING when it’s a in a group. If a row of spears holds their ground, keeps their nerve, and TRUSTS each other, then they can break a cavalry charge (and WHERE did Vaggie learn to trust people...?)

Spears aren’t infallible tho, obliviously. Get past the pointy part and you’re pretty much golden… if the spear person isn’t holding a shield in their other hand

(Charlie with her shield covering for Vaggie in the finale battle my beloved…!)

Swords, they’re a more diverse group. Lute’s falls into the Versatile category- it can do many things fairly well, but not as good as something specifically dedicated to the task would be, while being easy to carry around. It’s even got a nice bit of hand protection! For dueling or personal everyday defense Lute’s sword is a great pick.

But for the battlefield? It would normally be a back-up weapon. Normally, getting that close to your opponent while carrying NOTHING ELSE would be a bad idea if, say, your opponent might be carrying a spear, or a longer sword, or any combo of side arm + shield. If on the other hand you don’t expect your target to put up much of a fight- because they’re terrified and running from you- or armed with weapons that can’t hurt you- If, in effect, you treat this like a HUNTING trip, and all you need to do is deal the killing blow… then a sword like Lute’s makes perfect sense.

What I’m trying to say is:

Vaggie uses a weapon that says she took fighting alongside her fellow exorcists SERIOUSLY, as a GROUP activity, and she was focused on being as effective as possible. (one of Adams best girls, out there in front where a spear belongs, killing thousands)

And Lute? Lute’s weapon only makes sense in a fight that’s PERSONAL- or in a battle that’s already tilted in her favor.

(bonus: in terms of metal needed and skill required, a sword of Lute’s type will generally be Much More expensive to make than a spear would be. In that sense, it’s a more ‘elite’ weapon, while a spear is more… shall we say.... Replaceable.)

[crashetc]

i bring you another figure drawing project because my classes are obliterating me but at least I get to draw jrwi fanart for school. i tried to make him look closer to canon but sorta gave up on that towards the end.

[sweetberry-roebuck]

There's something to be said about Mouthwashing's weaponization of the video game medium. The game is very easily comparable to a movie, between its runtime and cinematic framing and focus on narrative, but the fact that it is a video game, that we play as Jimmy for much of it and take on his actions ourselves, is I think really effective in its usage.

You are the one given the all caps RESPONSIBILITY, the disproportionate power of the captain, and you are the one failing miserably to use it well. You have to scan the codes, you have to give Curly his medicine, the first action you're presented with is to turn the ship in the wrong direction. No other option available. The experience it gives you of realizing again and again that you, that Jimmy, is not doing the most sensible thing, that he's being stupid and cruel and spiteful, is really effective in forcing you to contend with the excellently written character study on a personal level.

Waking up in the middle of the night and hearing Curly groaning in pain, and then going to bother Anya about giving Curly his meds only for Jimmy to INSIST on doing it himself, I thought to myself "c'mon man why wouldn't you just give him the meds to begin with," only to realize over the rest of the game exactly why he didn't do that. By putting the player in the role of this character, carrying out his actions step by step without choice in the matter, the irrationality of his decisions is made personally exasperating. You notice the patterns.

[gravygranola]

I interrupt my regularly scheduled program for this. hello jason todd community

[lightnersdream]

i've been thinking about exactly why people portraying one of the other crew members successfully killing Jimmy as a "for what you did to Anya" kind of thing rubs me the wrong way a bit and it's because like..... this is just another form of taking agency away from Anya, in a way. it's kind of framing her as some meek, shivery woman-thing who's entirely at the mercy of the men around her, either to hurt her or save her.

(i understand these are mostly for wish fulfillment on the audience's behalf because everyone would like to see Jimmy pay for his crimes. whether or not this is the intention of the person writing it isn't really relevant, characterization happens with or without intent. i feel like it misses the point by portraying it as an 'ideal ending'.)

because... Anya is a capable person. she takes things into her own hands when she can. it was partially(?) her idea to get into the cargo,

(before he interrupts her.. remember when she interrupted Curly in the dead pixel segment?)

it was her idea to get the code scanner from the cockpit,

it was her idea to get the medication from behind the foam.

(the chance to do these things herself is not given to her.)

she'd been keeping Curly alive for months in a critical state somehow, her psych evaluations at the start are only so useless because Jimmy refuses to take it/her seriously and Curly is obviously biased when he puts it into his own hands. he's known him a long time, like he said. "I'll just put good for that one."

there's not a lot of material to work with because of how the game is framed, but it's there. we are working with two very biased perspectives and neither one lends Anya what she deserves

there's significant changes in how she speaks post- and pre- crash, and depending on who she happens to be talking to. i recommend re-reading her dialogue, because the difference is drastic

she acts the way she does around Jimmy because he has tangibly done horrible things to her, is actively hostile, and physically could not escape him by any means. she can't take away Curly's agency herself, in my eyes. you have to remember that Especially in the post-crash segments of the game, it's entirely from Jimmy's POV, and he obviously does not (and has never) thought very highly of her or treated her with a shred of respect

i've seen a general idea that she can't bear to hurt other people for any reason, but that doesn't really track to me. this is the real point of the post by the way

it seems based on the parts where she says she struggles to give Curly medication. "It just hurts him so much, I can't stand the noise." "It makes me nauseous."

it's not really the same thing as, say, hurting someone in self defense

this sounds like she did want the gun itself. this never felt worded like someone who would refuse to, at very least, threaten Jimmy with a gun, with violence. if she had been given the agency to make that decision on her own. she wasn't though

she still tries to reclaim some of it even as she's denied it

by the end she's still trying to keep that gun out of his hands

i think some people overly soften her, for similar reasons the game itself is trying to comment on. she's not a tender victim who couldn't cause pain to another out of the softness of her soul, she's a person who's had every last bit of agency ripped from her repeatedly until she couldn't take it anymore. that's the point. that's why framing her that way, "needing" someone to save her, is odd to me

she didn't need Curly to save her, she needed him to take responsibility

she didn't want to escalate things, but she's not an idiot. self defense was absolutely on her mind

but who knows im just saying shit *smiles serenely*

[calciumcryptid]

Kinn would use pet names because he is the type of dork who would find them genuinely romantic.

Kim would use pet names because he thinks it gets him a good grade in boyfriend, a normal and possible thing to want to achieve.

Vegas would use pet names because he is trying to exert ownership in the ways deemed socially acceptable, but he has to be pretentious about it.

[thatneoncrisis]

harrows a sped kid but gideon is a girl who should by all accounts at LEAST have a 504 plan but all adults dismiss her as merely combative and disruptive, at Best theyll throw in a "not utilizing her potential to the fullest." multiple teachers have vaguely alluded to her having ODD rather than think for a second about why she might be acting like that

[spacewombatty]

okay but i love the anakin skywalker who’s the hopeless romantic. he’s the boy who fell in love as easily as breathing, with the first woman who’d enamored him. he’s the boy who craves acceptance and love and hoards the people who give it to them. he’s the knight with a stony, grim, off-putting expression hiding a heart of gold, the knight who stores torn up paperback romance novels under his pillow. he’s the general who loves the droids he’s destroying, who finds them fascinating enough to love and trade them as vows. he romanticizes violence into protecting the ones he loves at any cost. he loved so much and it was the thing that damned him and saved him.

[maxaroniiiii]

squid mode

[onefortherose]

* Kris...Let's go back there tomorrow, alright?

@pscentral event 30: friendship ↳ Kris and Susie: Deltarune Chapters 1 & 2

insp

[myymi]

something ive noticed about tails that a lot of the fandom don't seem to see (or, at the very least, people don't talk about is as far as i've seen) is that he is like. the perfect combination of every main character in the franchise

obviously he's got sonic's speed and eggman's brains, but he's also got knuckles' strength and amy's compassion. he's got shadow's moral compass&knowledge of weaponry and rouge's ability to fly.

if he was in a bigger spotlight i feel like villains in the sonic universe would target him more than the other characters. of course he's not the strongest or fastest out of everyone, but he can fill everyone's roll which can't be said for other characters. jack of all trades, master of one.

his solo arc could've been so amazing. im so upset there aren't any plans to expand on it.

one day ill write a fic on it

[fatedroses]

Zenos viator Galvus and him trying to deal with actually feeling things for once (Even if he doesn't really understand how to handle the comfort he receives from others for it)

I am also giving this man a dad that actually cares, because this brainworm have gotten me and there is no saving me from them.

[welcometoteyvat]

things i personally would like for ga-ming because i'm biased:

him and yun jin as long distance friends/acquaintances; for one they're the two poster children of liyue traditional performing arts, and for another they both seem to like tea. i hope yun jin teaches him how to get more customers/paying clients bc OTL mans lion dance troupe is struggling. hc that gaming brings her new tea shipments fresh from yilong port/chenyu vale :3

him and chongyun. somehow fandom (ie at least 3 ppl) has collectively had the same delusion that he and cy will interact and im here for it. them vying for xiao's attention or being claymore training buddies or whatever i just need them to have voicelines together

on a similar note if gaming likes spicy food. HAHAHAHA another person who triggers chongyun's yang energy...........

but from what we know of xinyue kiosk's cuisine style + the fact that gaming's canto, it seems unlikely that he'll prefer spicy stuff (maybe a seafood special dish????). so maybe they'll be ok having dinner together

they already look like they're plugging gaming and xiao interaction but IT WILL COME TRUE. TRUST. the whole "donning/taking off a mask" parallel, lion dances bringing good luck vs xiao's task of subduing evil during lantern rite, and his concept art waving at xiao and calling him senior/adeptus or whatever, anyways I need this to be in game. it would be SO FUN because this means xiao is literally just collecting pyro kids (hu tao, xiangling, now gaming) who've simply decided to like him. he could bring a lantern rite performance to wangshu inn since he travels anyway and xiao doesn't like the crowds

xiangling gives him free food and guoba likes him. don't have much thought behind this one i just want the pyro users to hang out and idk lion dancers should get free things i think. she provides cabbages for him during his shows (she swears on this kind of thing for wanmin's good luck and growing fortunes)

idk what else. i just need him to get integrated into liyue 6ang (xinyan xiangling hu tao chongyun xingqiu yun jin group)

i'll be thoroughly shocked if any of these actually come true but i can daydream

[ajihaew]

she is a witch

[llamasofchaos]

So one thing they did in season three that I find so interesting is how they set up parallels between Mrs Jones and Julia Rothman. Because when you actually pay attention to their interactions with Alex you realize that it's actually Blunt that is similar to Julia and Yassen that is similar to Mrs Jones.

Rothman and Blunt were both so caught up in their own egos and obsessions that they didn't recognize how reckless their actions were when it came to how they ran their organizations and how they used Alex.

They both saw Alex as a piece on the board. Something they could use to get what they wanted, they both let their anger and pride get in the way of rational decisions when it came to certain decisions.

Then on the flip side you have Yassen and Mrs Jones. Mrs Jones was always concerned about Alex but until season three never really fought back for him or herself until she saw how easily Scorpia was able to get to Alex. Yassen tried to keep himself separated from Alex, he didn't want to help or see him, and then in season three he has no choice so he tries to teach Alex how to be like him.

It is so interesting because Mrs Jones is supposed to be the deputy of the department but we see in season one and two that Blunt keeps things from her that he doesn't from Crowley or Smithers because he knows she will question him about it.

This is similar to Yassen because when watching season three, at first it seems like Yassen is Julia's deputy but it becomes clear he isn't because he doesn't just follow blindly.

Season three was the turning point for three of these characters, both Yassen and Mrs Jones had to decide where they stood when it came to Alex and their respective bosses. In the end Mrs Jones chose to defend and support Alex and Yassen chose to hide in the shadows and offer protection.

Blunt had to choose to trust Alex and stop using his people like chess pieces in a game he didn't understand. This is why he is the actual parallel to Julia, because when it came down to it Julia chose to use Alex to get her own petty revenge and Blunt chose to put his revenge aside to help Alex and save innocent people.

[knuckleblaster]

via the ULTRAKILL discord