#dismas loves to yap

[lorepossum]

For me I use human as a blanket term. Not factually correct, but It doesn’t matter how many Huma-Alters, Aliens, and adjacent species we meet. Most behave (barring notable exceptions) in my mind at least as equivalents to humans for the purposes of thematic analysis.

The thrust of my “Saint Faithful” argument is more based on what she accomplishes throughout BW. In the face of a whole planet of cult adjacent religious fanatics and monsters Faith manages to, with little more violence (on her part at least) than a kick to the balls or two, spit in the face of an entire religion and deny it it’s power. She does it through the strength of her conviction and the people she manages to convert to her side; largely Albus and Devlin, who become utterly devoted to her. But to a larger extent most of the incidentals throughout BW (Joshua excluded) are, through limited interactions swayed to her cause— Knight Captain Bran from the “On trial” episode comes to mind, who seeks the solace and asks the forgiveness of a woman he called ‘Faithless’ mere hours previous. All thanks to the work of Faithful and her ‘acolytes’. In this way it’s perhaps more accurate to compare her to a Christ-like figure than a deity, disciples and all.

Lordy this is getting long…

My main fascination for the “Humans as Best (and worst) Gods” are the Star Captains. We get a lot of characters seen as Gods by various populations; Hades/Zeus/Poseidon, Rion, ect. Where most Star Captains Mostly take on the qualities of mythic heroes, mentor figures, angelic generals under Rion and the Mother-Queen. The Guardian specifically takes on the role of a capital G God for the people of Manas. And this is where is gets interesting for me!

Star Captain were human. Were people on or from the Landstar who were shoved willingly into Untempora. And most of these people are excessively damaged— they have lost people and are seeking anyway you change their situation. Being a Star Captain brings with it a massive amount of power and Knowledge, enough to the point that Raze (The Guardian) is viewed with the same level of reverence as someone like Hades. Star Captain Forks was seen as the only person who could or should rule Thunderhive.

But, charitably; both of these figures through the course of their series are shown to be fallible. To be unstable. To not be the trusted and ‘always right’ figureheads their ‘followers’ (Zed for The Guardian, Yargwynn for Forks) thought they were. The Guardian and Forks push their own emotions away to the detriment of themselves and the people who put their faith in them. Forks leaves the second he is able, leaving Thunderhive to flounder, it only takes a stint without their ability to repress their emotions to show just how unstable the Guardian really is.

Comparing that to someone like Rion, Hades, or even the one actual Universal God we actually meet in a full series; one of the Chrono Dragonis that we meet in SPS they are all powerful yes, but empathic, kind, and sometimes fallible.

So what then do we say makes a deity good? In a world where so many people are given the position of deity as opposed to being born one, how do they earn this honor? What should they value most? What should we? Is it power? Or is it the messy thing that makes people human? I’d argue that the reason The Guardian has to leave at the end of MotH is because they understand that they are not suited to be a God for their world. Manas needs to learn to manage without its distant, unstable God.

It’s why my thesis’ point is that Humans make the best and worst deities. Because in the context of GBA’s stories it seems that the closer to what we would consider “human” is the better choice of deity, the people who will actually rule with empathy as opposed to someone like a Star Captain. In becoming less human, the Guardian became less qualified to be a good deity. Looping back to my other thesis, I’d trust Faithful more than I’d ever trust Raze or Forks.

But yeah im just yappin. Rion himself could probably be a whole couple paragraphs more lmfao ^^’

How many thesis ideas will Dismas come up with based on the videos of Mr. Goodboyaudios dot youtube dot com? Only time will tell.

The newest ones are “There is always a Hopeful light— and it’s connection (it doesn’t matter if you’re human or not)” based on something said in the newest BvZ, and “Humans; the best (and worst) Gods” an extension on my “Faithful is basically a deity/saint figure” thesis.

Someone please talk to me about this shit, I’m loosing my damn mind /lh

[confusion-est]

hello let's have a friendly scholarly debate ala academic and protégé

i definitely feel some choices were rather weak, the beast bite could have been his own consequence due to actions he took, but there's definitely a more realistic (somehow, in our werewolf story) feeling to the "wrong place, wrong time", as that is, indeed, how most tragedies are, but an action and consequence would be far more satisfying narratively, and his scholar aspects were woefully underutilized by this narrative too, besides a concoction section that i don't even think is possible to fail, while sarmenti's second fight leaves you on 9 stress intentionally, so every move feels like a tense "oh no what if i did this wrong"

the choice to use damian as the torturer is one im absolutely behind, we see one of the torturers escape in the original comic and i love the "oops! all damian!" aspect of where the story's going, even if it does loop back around into comedic rather than tragic, for me at least, and gives further reason for his discharge from the church if he's similar to the fanatic in his zealous violence (i.e. beyond the control of the church)

they definitely failed to utilize him being a scholar like alhazred or paracelsus and did go for the cheapest option (wrong place wrong time), but it's, technically, the most realistic. however, i think the reason it feels as weak as it does is entirely due to the lack of narrative curiosity on what the creature was, so we're not left strung along by subtle hints, it's just "it bit him and now he's a Beastie". there's also a failure to go into the nature of what he has, with how it appears that this is a transmissable disease rather than curse or concoction, especially with the academic's own trapped abomination in his study

they do, however, do very well with spectacle, and the cutscenes did absolutely get my heart pumping, plus the moment of being sure you failed only to see "RESIST" become your only option was absolutely wild in the moment, even if the initial fight leading up felt less polished than, say, either of dismas' fights. it seemed to be purely a buildup to that spectacle of the transformation, which is understandable in a way, but still, as a paid dlc, then i'd want even the less important segment (human segment) to be just as tense as sarmenti's and just as well done as dismas'

overall? i think it is of a decent quality, with high quality animations and fun barks and personality, but the story is, unfortunately, quite weak to get there, even if i did enjoy it for the most part.

what do you think?

(Hi, I just wanted to say thank you so much for sending me this ask, it made me really happy and excited, since it gave me the opportunity to yap a lot. I agree with a lot of you say and you did make me rethink a couple of matters so thank you for that! I still wanted to share some of my insights, so I'm sorry if this is a little disorganized/chaotic.)

True I would not mind The Beast manifesting due to bite if it was a consequence of something. Yes, one could argue him wandering into the moor with no safety precautions is the consequence, but that's about as brutal as telling a child they got ran over by a truck while riding their bike because they did not wear a helmet. Really, I feel The Beast gets introduced too fast. I know they've only got 5 chapters to cover important story aspects, but I feel the story would flow better if it started with an introduction of who Bigby is/what he does (like how Sarmenti's story introduces him as a busker, how Audrey's story introduces her as freshly wed into money and how Paracelsus is introduced as a daring student, etc.) I believe that would also lean better into wrong place, wrong time if we still went with "well he just got bit while gathering herbs", because then by chapter 2 he would be in grave danger already - like first chapter we get a serene introduction to his alchemical woes and such and second chapter you get a sudden catastrophe - which is also a common trope and something that does happen irl. It would still feel somewhat weak, but the realism would've been retained… Although I'm not sure his story needs realism of that sort? I mean, I think art is allowed to exaggerate events, feelings and personalities to create a more compelling, intense and mostly interesting story. Sure, him suddenly getting bitten is realistic, but it's just not compelling. It's not fun, it's not intriguing. People don't read tragedies (which Bigby's story is) to just say "aw damn that's kinda sad", they read those to engage with a character, to understand them and feel their sorrows. To connect and to go through a sort of catharsis by sheer empathy (at least that's what ancient tragedies were about and I think the sentiment is still mostly retained). Sure the bite being such a random event adds normalcy to the whole situation, but nothing else and imo weakens the entire story overall. It'd be much, MUCH more interesting if The Beast was effect of his experimentation, his pride, his curiosity. Would be even more interesting if The Beast was originally the "intended" effect - something similar to Jekyll and Hyde , where Hyde was originally created as an outlet for various socially unacceptable desires. Those could be interesting, because you could get themes of pride, dehumanization, lack of attachment and you could generally create a discussion on what makes one human and such.

I generally feel like The Beast is as painfully underutilized narratively as Bigby's background of an alchemist. Like yes, he gets bitten by what I assume is another abomination, survives, The Beasts hunger gets him in trouble and then gets him out of the same trouble. Sure it's there and Bigby practically does not exist without it (I'll get to that when I talk about barks), but…. It's hollow. There's nothing really, it's just kind of a shadow that lingers. And sure, that could be interesting if handled well, a cautionary tale of intense paranoia, but it's not even that, because The Beast can be a tangible being that causes havoc and destruction. It exists as less than an animal I dare say. In DD1, there was a bit of ambiguity around The Beast, a lot even. Bigby was an unreliable narrator when speaking of it, often contradicting himself (depending on an affliction he would claim a different amount of control over it - for example a Fearful Bigby would speak of how little control he has over it, while Abusive Bigby would claim to be able to bring it out any second he wants to). So basically we didn't know if it was part of him or a completely deattached entity, save for shared body. We didn't know if it was sentient or not, we didn't know if what Bigby mentioned of it's whispering was true or his own imagination/paranoia playing tricks. It was, by virtue of the unknown, eldritch monster, that unexplainably attached itself to Bigby. And that was compelling! That was interesting, because Bigby himself was a very flawed person with a lot of desires, wants and regrets! It was fun to look at these and wonder what is their problem. It was fun to think of their shared dynamic, if there was any and again questions about self, what is a 'me' and generally ego. DD2 doesn't offer any of that pondering because it very plainly explains - it's an infection caused by a bite of the animal. That's it. There's nothing to ponder, save for origins of The Beast, but considering the state the world's in, you can probably just say "corruption" and leave it at that. It's just. So plain and boring, it makes me mad honestly. A lot of DD2 stories attempt to expand the lore of preexisting characters, add them new depth and such, and while I can recognize this attempt despite some failures, in Bigby's case it's a total disaster, I feel the lore got shrinked, not elaborated on.

I cannot however agree on inclusion of Damien, I honestly think it was unnecessary, but it also comes from my issue of how I understood Damien in DD1 and how drastically he was changed from that in DD2. Frankly, any of his appearances in DD2 feels like a caricature and not in a self-aware way. Gonna go on a bit of a tangent here, but DD1 Damien feels like such a misunderstood character. Yes, he is a fanatic, he is absolutely delusional and deranged. But he doesn't do it out of pleasure of flesh, in fact quite the opposite. He often describes pain and suffering as a burden that only he can bare and that it's something he wants to take from others. He doesn't see pain as privilege or desire, but something necessary to get enlightened, to ascend, to essentially be a good person. He associated self-punishment STRONGLY with being good. It's also a matter of him being a beggar before the revelation, someone who kind of wasted away and did not contribute to society. Someone who was rejected by it and could only try to take a little, just enough to survive. In that context him becoming so frantic and insistent of only HIM being able to take all the beating and not sharing the suffering, it almost reads like shame. Like he needs to punish himself. Like he needs to give back and be useful. Yes, he's weird about it, but at core he seems to be struggling with just existing. The purpose is so important to him that losing it again means death essentially. And again, it's not that he physically enjoys pain.

"Must the burden weigh on my mind as well as my body?" "Clear this mind. Clear this mind. Clear this mind." (this specifically is said when damaging himself) "I hesitated upon the path. Let the blood soothe my faith!" "What I once feared, I have become!"

Like. He clearly is not exactly enjoying himself in the common sense, but feels the intense need to push through, because if he starts feeling any fear and chickens out of this life, he'll go back to being a beggar. A corpse. A nothing. He will become nothing. And that fear (ironically) of another fate awaiting him is so awful, he'd rather suffer over and over. Feeling something over nothingness. Another thing to note is that during Final Missions if you choose him as the sacrifice he says "I've waited long for this! DON'T TAKE IT FROM ME.". He doesn't even see value of his life as it is, but a death so noble, a pure sacrifice would free him from it. He would be complete, carrying the ultimate burden of death. Also yes I do understand he can hurt his teammates during affliction and criticizes those who deny pain, but that's why I say he's deranged. He at core is a good person, but he still does some uncharitable deeds, again, in belief he helps. Which adds another layer to him imo.

And going from that kind of character to what we see in DD2 just feels like a parody. He's cruel and does not see pain as purpose, as freedom and right to exist, but as punishment and only that. What's worse is that Torturer implies (as well as his SoR text) that he enjoyed slowly torturing people to death. What he once would've taken as his, as a very dear gift of existence, a proof that he's not rotten yet, he now does just inflict of others cheerfully. It's almost comical how evil they try to write him. His first shrine does also mention that he simply sees pain as power rather than something dear and I dare say intimate to him. They made him so hedonistic for no apparently good reason. Like I do not mind character retcons and changes in characterization if it's for the better (like the character was originally boring, so they retcon some details to add depth). In Damien's case I feel that completely backfires. Again I understand the desire to change character, but my question is why? Why change a character that was already well established and honestly beloved by many people. Of course, most didn't notice how tender Damien could be in his rants about Light, but I did and it feels frustrating to see the character so watered down. And to see him repeatedly appear in other characters backstories is just a strange choice. In vestal's case he should've backed out the moment he saw The Light and that's bypassing the fact that he would probably not beat the shit out of her, but start by a conversation. A manic and insane rambling of a conversation, but a try nonetheless. Same for Bigby, he wouldn't get instantly to beating, seeing he's already wounded, mistreated, malnourished and such, but again start with rambling. With hope. Not with lash. And about the church discharge, I honestly think it's a bit weird framing that church is the "timid" one as he explains. Churches kind of have a history of corruptions, don't they? I feel like him being expelled would not need a reasoning, but also I think there are a lot of interesting ways you could go about "they didn't want him here" that go beyond "he's a little too freaky".

I know this is a very subjective/personal preference, but because of this Bigby's shrine impact is much lessened to me.

I do absolutely agree about the RESIST! part tho. As much as this is my least favourite shrine, it did have the best (imo) moment. It's good, it's tense (especially that the fight can be failed) and it really does feel like a catharsis (something I earlier mentioned that's core to the genre of tragedies). It feels good to see it in action, it's a natural "breaking point" of the story and that animation is wonderful. Really, visually RH did a lovely job with the visuals and the peak. But yes the fights overall do feel a bit weak (earlier mentioned by you concotion "puzzle" honestly feels more like filler than anything…).

As for the barks I have mixed feelings. I feel like some of them are good and feel in character, while others seem to drill in very hard how pathetic and sad Bigby is. Which I guess is not that majorly different from how he is in the first game, I just feel he has a little less bite. Like first game didn't shy away from showing him as wanting and somewhat needy while still wounded, here it's just misery and wishing for suicide (which I admit could be interesting if pushed further, that having a paranoia of bad things happening so strong it ruins you). Mind you I have not seen all of them so I may be wrong on this.

Overall I can't agree on the DLC being decent, I would say it's rather mediocre, at least from the Abomination standpoint, with a bit of highlights that honestly kind of make the dlc.

[junespriince]

hello hellloooo my good buddy friend pal i would like to ask about [looks at notes bc i cant rmemebe numbrs]

2

8

and 25

RUUUUUU hi waves lol

,,,, long post ahead heh

2, Highwayman x Crusader from Darkest Dungeon based of a fight me and nebs did in multiplayer,,,,, where i lost

Dismas knew that damn Ringleader could not be trusted, and yet he ignored his gut for his husband need to do some good in the world. the lights on them were blinding in the arena, and his teammates were less than favorable, all falling for the same trick as his husband did... well, the necromancer and her wife the grave digger, and the jester seemed more in his elements waving his arms around and hyping up the crowds already deafening cheers. the game was simple, fight the next team, and the winners will leave. the highwayman was in his element shooting and stabbing his way to victory, and yet the horrible dread in the pit of his stomach persisted to fester as he hadn't seen his Reynauld in the weeks they've been entertainment for the crowd.

annnnnd that all i have,,,, lol they are doomed by me and nebs narrative lol

8 isssssss winged heart au lol which made me happy bec i swear if yall were playing battlefield all of ya hit my ships lol

"If Nightwing doesn't come alone, I'll hand him back Mr. West piece, by piece," Slade said over the phone that Wally could assume was to the bats, but he could have been talking to the damn Pope for all he cared as glared at the man. who the hell does he think he is! "Doc-tor, It's Doc-tor West, you idiot!" Wally exclaimed, not taking his eyes off the new villain of the week who kidnapped him to lure his pain-in-the-ass patient to them, "Is that really important right now, I have you tied up, Doc-tor." Slade teased, and he was right about having the upper hand over him, damn collar keeping him from vibrating out of the restraints, but the redhead didn't care, "I went through med school, top of my class, with honors! You'll address me as Dr. West, I earned it damn it!" he growled, not backing down from this. "Maybe i should start with your tongue, I hate yapping little pets." leaning down with a sinister smirk that should strike fear into the Doctor. "Maybe you should go back to second-grade grammar you fuck. It's not Mr. West, and it ain't pet. It's Dr. West!" Wally spat.

this is in the middle of it and rough, wally wants his respect god damnit

last issss 25, which isss,,, pfft not Ah, it mute trans Link and it old so all it has is,,, also damn predicited he would lose an arm lol nah I just love taking arms from blorbos man lol

He was tired, so fucking tired. Link never asked to be the hero his world needed, all he wanted was to live out his days as a royal knight, that it. Yet fate just dragged him along to save the world once again and bring back Zelda and for what? More work? Lack of credit this time? Having to redo what they had again

and that all,,,, might do something with it but i just love angst and botw and totk are my faves rn to play sooooooo might happen!

here a cookie for reading all this or scrolling past