#forgetting gallagher is the funniest thing that could have happened

[sleepy-aletheas]

Sunday is a great representation of a Good Person =/= Good Result. In many ways it shows the flaw of believing that just because someone has good intentions, or is "morally correct", then they automatically know how to handle situations and solve problems.

Him being a concoction of idealism and pessimism with a side of defeatism, and sprinkled over with childhood trauma (and basically growing up in a cult), he was doomed by the narrative from the get-go.

Him trying to create the Perfect Dream (a utopian reality) is fundamentally impossible, not just because of, as you said, the lack of rewarding feelings of accomplishment, but because everyone's 'perfect life' is completely different that such a reality cannot coexist without changing someone's whole personhood from the core. Someone's ideal life can be locked alone in their room, reading and not interacting with anyone. Someone else seeks thrills and adventures and dramatic beauty. And then someone else sees it in fistfights in bars and getting away with crime. Individualism is the antithesis of Sunday's Perfect Dream, and him trying to change everyone to match it is also going against that dream.

(In a sense he became the new Clockie of reality; not just because he was under Gopher Wood's shadow and care, but because he himself got so lost in dreaming of better lives that he lost touch with the reason why it even matters to have a choice)

Just because he was the bad guy really doesn't mean he is a Bad Guy. Misguided for sure. Absolutely lost in delusions of grandeur and martyrdom. Hopelessly fighting against himself, because his idealism and pessimism inherently stood on opposing sides at all times. Hoyo cooked with this little winged scoundrel for sure; not because he's perfect or necessary likeable or because he's morally right, but because he's sympathetic in a very human way.

I love him so so much, I need to toss him into a washing machine to see him spin.

Sunday’s worldview sucks, his outlook and perception of himself and others sucks… and that’s why he’s so interesting

In honor of his drip marketing releasing tonight (or maybe yesterday for you depending on when I get this out), I’d like to talk about why I think Sunday’s beliefs and perspective is very, very flawed and how his own biases rather than the actions of those who oppose him are what led to his downfall.

Sunday is entirely responsible for his own failure, and that’s exactly why he’s incredible.

This contains mentions of leaks and spoilers for the Penacony quest line… you have been warned

To start with, oh my lord do Sunday’s preconceived notions kick him in the ass. 

I think the best example of this is his conversation with Dr. Ratio in which Ratio pretends to betray Aventurine, selling out his plan to Sunday. Now, what’s incredibly interesting about this exchange is that Ratio doesn’t fully lie to Sunday once in this exchange, rather he says half truths and makes vague statements which Sunday himself interprets as being in support of him. 

Take what Ratio said the whole, “A scholar knows their position and wouldn’t forsake it for the sake of petty pride.” In retrospect, we know this line is actually referring to Aventurine- aka Ratio is saying he’s not just going to sell him out to Sunday for the sake of information about the Stellaron (which he would get anyways if the IPC attained Penacony, plus Mr. Incredibly Dedicated Knowledge Spreader probably has other means of gaining it then through The Family). 

However, since Ratio answered the invitation Sunday gave him, Sunday assumes that Ratio is on his side, believes his cause is righteous, and that he won Ratio over with offering him information about the Stellaron, therefore making that previous statement of Ratio’s null, because Sunday interpreted it as, “convince me this is worth my time + prove to me you’re correct,” when it really meant, “there is no way in hell I’m about to sacrifice my friend to you, and there is nothing you could offer me to make me do so you crazed lunatic.”

But why did Sunday not weigh the options? Why did he unquestioningly believe his perception of the situation was the correct one?

Well- partly it’s because Ratio and Aventurine were doing their damndest to make it seem like they hate each other and that their plan was going off the rails.

But the more important part is that even without Ratio saying a word or even accepting the invitation, Sunday already believes he’d be on his side. 

Let me demonstrate this through Sunday's perspective:

I am a righteous person, I am doing the correct things, my worldview is the correct one. Dr. Ratio is also a righteous person who seems to be doing the correct things. Therefore, since we are both on the side of good, and Aventurine is clearly not on that side considering his status as Stoneheart and his negative relationship to Ratio, then Ratio will naturally want to be on my side. After all, the good guys work together, do they not?- and together will vanquish this evil villain.

This perspective is a simple one, but Sunday’s unshaking belief (up until the end of 2.2) that he is 100% in correct and in the right, that any and everyone who he also perceives to be in the right (like Ratio) would believe/side with him without truly needing to be convinced. Sunday doesn’t come out the gate offering the Stellaron information- he only keeps it as a backup just in case. 

However, this is complicated because Sunday is also not an idiot, and he’s extremely paranoid, so he’s going to make sure that the way he views the world is 100% correct on the off chance he’s wrong which could foil his plans- which is why he invited Ratio in the first place. Nevertheless, this isn’t him hunting for new perspectives, but rather him desiring to prove himself right again, which is a bad thing because Sunday is very much not right. 

A perfect world is a perfect pris- *gets shot*

Reference that approximately 2 ½ people will get beside, Sunday’s ideology that he is fully confident in.. sucks. It sucks ass, it’s terrible, and let me explain.

I’m not going to try going over all the little intricacies to how the dreamscape works because I a) don’t know and b) don’t particularly care because they aren’t relevant to the argument I will be making- which is that Sunday’s ideology is inherently flawed and immediately falls apart under scrutiny.

Essentially, he desires to create the perfect fake reality, enveloping the whole galaxy in Ena’s dream and fulfilling their every desire and whim within it, with himself as the sacrifice to allow it to exist. The seven rest days, no illness, no pain, no challenge, you get the idea. 

And, this perfect world paradoxically sucks ass because of its perfectness.

Improving society is great, eliminating hardship is great, increasing quality of life is great.

But declawing reality itself- absolutely not.

I’m going to try to explain this through my favorite strangely specific anecdote- the process of obtaining diamonds in Minecraft.

Stay with me now.

You essentially have two options- go out and mine them yourselves the hard way, which takes hours, gives you less diamonds per the amount of time spent on it, and likely with you exhausting some of your resources like food, torches, and tools which you will need to replenish.

Or.

You can just.. get them from creative mode or commands, and you can get as many as your heart desires.

However, despite the fact that option one is harder, gives you less diamonds and takes significantly more time, I, as well as hopefully you, would pick it every time (at least in a survival world, although honestly idk why you would even need pure diamonds in creative).

And that’s because the first option is rewarding. 

You did not earn the diamonds you easily and magically summoned into your inventory, there is no struggle, no journey, no challenge to it, therefore it feels entirely unremarkable, as compared to the feeling you (hopefully) get from mining diamonds, which makes you happy because you earned it. Yeah, it was harder, but the process itself is fun- the anticipation of not knowing when you’re going to find them, if at all, the danger, the fighting and digging and mauvering you will have to do in the process.

And with this unconventional example, the fatal flaw with Sunday’s ideology is revealed- it’s boring. 

It’s boring as shit.

Yeah, for the first few months or even years it might be enjoyable- having everything you could ever want served on a silver platter. However, humans are a) inherently a bit greedy and b) desire challenge, and this scenario fulfilles neither of those things. Naturally having everything means your desire for more can never be fulfilled, leaving the wanter forever unsatisfied, whereas in the real world, things are truly out of your reach, meaning that even if you never end up getting them, they are still a tangible thing just out of reach… as strange at it sounds, we like being tantalilus-ed more than you think. After all, if what you want is so easy to get, you will never run out of things to want, and eventually that gets draining. 

Continually, if everything is easy, if everything is just right there whenever you want it- existence itself no longer has stakes. 

And that’s the problem, because much like how a story with no stakes is extremely hard to find compelling, a life with no stakes feels boring at best and downright pointless and meaningless at worst.

I’m just saying, there is a reason why the Nihility was such a strong presence and problem in Penacony.

Anyways, like with the diamond problem, a lack of stakes means that nothing you do feels rewarding, because you didn’t truly earn it. 

Which is where the Sunday’s idea of a “perfect” reality falls apart, because the most enjoyable reality for humans to live in is not one literally devoid of any possible flaw.

So why does he believe in it? When it’s so clearly flawed?

Well, it’s because Sunday doesn’t think a better alternative exists.

The world made you this way.. and you chose to continue what it started.

I’m sure I don’t need to repeat the story of the Charmony Dove all over again because trust me, we’ve all heard it before. Nonetheless, it reveals something important both about Sunday’s personality and his ideology- he’s fundamentally a defeatist.

He doesn’t believe that there is any alternative for the dove, that it could ever be able to fly again with its deformed nature, so instead of being “cruel” and letting it “inevitably fall to its death,” he’d rather keep it in a cage all its life where it has no freedom, but at least it would he alive and “happy”.

And this is where his defeatism reveals itself- Sunday doesn’t believe reality itself can get better because improving it when there are so many factors and things out of your control is hard at best and impossible at worst. Therefore, he resorts to creating an escapist, false version of it- a perfect golden cage, because constructing that is far, far easier than trying to help the dove fly again. 

The universe has endless possibilities, if Robin and Sunday had tried hard enough, they probably could have found a solution. Sure, they were both children, so the capabilities necessary to even attempt that were likely far out of their reach. However, it was still possible, but Sunday doesn’t believe in possibilities- he believes he’s right above all else, which is where that stubbornness and arrogance comes into play again.

Sunday doesn’t think better solutions than his exists, and he believes everyone would could possibly stand in his noble way are either villains, or horribly misguided; so it’s his job to show them the light.

This is why he lets the Express Crew + Firefly try to change his mind- Sunday wasn’t actually interesting in shifting his perspective, or really what they wanted to say. Rather, he just wanted to let them say there peace, because well, Sunday’s a good, righteous person (at least from his perspective), and good, righteous people listen to others. Good, righteous people will let these poor, ignorant souls offer their foolish words before exposing them to the harsh truth- or at least that’s how Sunday sees it. 

Moreover, this also explains his arrogance. If he believes his worldview is the sole correct one, then why listen to anyone else? He’s this world's savior, or at least he’s been raised to believe that- so why not relish in it? He enjoys punishing Aventurine, enjoys the bastard who stood in the way of Sunday’s plans, shrinks away in “defeat” and get what he “deserves.” Despite how miserable it sounds, Sunday also takes pride in having to be a martyr to bring about his beautiful dream. The belief that he is a selfless, good person is a selfish desire of his, even if a genuine one, and it’s what leads to his downfall.

Sunday could have actually listened. He could have reevaluated his loss to Aventurine and realized it was not through the others clever deception, but through his own biases. He could have actually taken the Express’s and Firefly’s advice. He could have looked for other avenues to help the people he truly does care about. 

Despite Gopher Wood’s manipulation- Sunday’s decision to go forward with the pain is entirely his own, because he truly believes- even with all the evidence for the contrary- that he is correct.

And that’s why he fails. Not because of the Express. Not because of Ratio. Not because of Aventurine. Not because of Gopher, or even the rest of The Family.

No, Sunday fails because he is flawed, and he is wrong, and he is the arrogant, selfish and biased one, and his worldview is wrong.

So what now?

This might have seemed like I think Sunday is pure evil and irredeemable, but I think it’s quite the opposite.

He has very good intentions, and he does genuinely care about it the well being of other people around him. He gives Aventurine a chance to prove his innocence, even if he never intended on changing, he does listen to what the Express + Firefly have to say. He pauses when Robin shows up, as she’s the one person (until the very end) he’s actually willing to accept the perspective of. The whole reason he ended up here in the first place is because Gopher Wood twisted Sunday’s good intentions into a fatal arrogance and utmost belief in a flawed worldview. 

However, what really sells me on Sunday’s goodness is when eyes widen at that final moment, the light draining from him as he realizes he is wrong. 

And once Sunday realizes he is wrong, those flaws that bind him can finally be examined and improved upon, as they all stem from that worldview he no longer believes in. 

His whole life, Sunday has been enacting out someone else’s plan for him, even if he’s come to internalize it over time, at the end of the day- it was never his, and without it, he’s empty.

Which is exactly why the only place he can go now is the Express, and the only thing left for him is redemption and growth.

Dan Heng is right- Sunday has a noble soul, and now that he has stopped believing in himself, he’s no longer shackled by the past either. Improvement or utter demise (in a likely nihility-flavored manner) are his only options remaining.

I understand a lot of people want to see him become a Stellaron Hunter, but imo, that just does nothing for him. He’d still be following someone else’s path/script, and Mr. I Will Sacrifice My Whole Existence To Become The Sun To Illuminate These Wandering Souls probably wouldn’t be so on board with the whole.. terrorism part of being a SH. Like yeah, they are our friends (kinda), but they absolutely kill innocent people and cause millions of dollars in property damage to people who don’t deserve it. 

Also, being on the Express Just Makes Sense. This is a game about choices, a game about accepting the mistakes of your past, but not letting them define you in order to move on and forge a better future for yourself and others- with the Astral Express + Trailblaze as a concept being the literal embodiment of it. There’s a reason when you switch to the Trailblazer’s POV in stories, it includes Kafka’s most important words to us- “When you have the chance to make a choice, make one you won’t regret.”

Therefore, I hope the choices Sunday will make in 2.7 are ones he’s proud of, and I can’t wait to see how exactly they get him on board with the crew, because there still is a LOT of development he needs to do before then. 

Anyways, thank you so much for reading, and if you have any thoughts I’d love to hear them. This was a stream of consciousness mess, but I hope it was still valuable nonetheless! Also if you are reading this on the day it was written, I hope we don’t get disappointed by his drip marketing!

[king-belamy]

answer 11, ask 11, tag 11

I was tagged (forever ago) by @edwardalric​ and @maziqueensmith​ (thanks guys!!) 

Favorite childhood memory? I don’t really know.. i have a lot of really nice childhood memories - my two sisters teaching me to swim on holidays, going snorkelling at Ningaloo Reef for the first time, catching my first fish sitting on the front of our dinghy, laughing with my best friend so much we started crying, making ‘dirt cakes’ under our trampoline with my cousin, countless sleepovers..

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? I would love to be able to talk to animals. That would be amazing. 

What’s the worst adaptation of something you love you’ve ever seen?haha I can’t actually say that i’ve seen any really bad ones so probably the second divergent movie? 

Favorite dish from your country? ok I’m going to go with my dutch heritage here and say ‘potatoes, cauliflower, and meatballs’. It sounds super ordinary but it’s like boiled potato, boiled cauliflower with white sauce and nutmeg, panfried meatballs, and then jus from the butter the meatballs are cooked in drizzled all over. Its amazing :) 

If you could marry any fictional character, who would it be? REMUS LUPIN all the way. Or Fili. 

What’s the last book you read and disliked? Do my textbooks count because man this crime and society one is KILLING me. I generally like most fiction books I read though :) 

Favorite superhero? Steve Rogers. 

If you could be any fantasy or mythological creature, what would it be? I would love to be a dragon. Or a mermaid. Or a fairy like Maleficent. sorry i’m super indecisive haha

What fictional characters do you relate to the most and why? So many. Basically all the people who are withdrawn and quiet and find it hard to trust - actually the character i probably relate to most is Morgana. For all those reasons and the fact that she felt betrayed by the people she was closest to. 

What’s one book/show/anime that you think is great but underrated? FOREVER. Seriously I love that show so much and I will be forever pissed off that it got cancelled.

What’s one funny story about yourself you love to tell people? Ha well one time my family was all down in the town where my parents live and we did a bunch of things together that weekend and they managed to forget me 3 times. Like I had to start walking home - which was about 15 min away by car before they realised... turned out they all thought the other people were taking me and so none of them did haha. That’s about the funniest i’ve got. everything else i don’t really tell people haha. 

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If you could attend any fictional school/university, which one would it be? Ok so I don’t know how well known this is but there’s a book series called the Gallagher Girls and they go to Gallagher Academy and basically learn how to be spies so that would be absolutely amazing. That or Hogwarts. 

Do you prefer movies, TV shows, or books? It kinda depends on how i’m feeling? I love books. a lot. So they kinda take precedence whenever I’m actually reading one because I get really into it but apart from that just whatever I feel like. They all have their perks.  

Do you have a favorite season? Winter :)

Do you play Pokemon? If so which is your favorite? No sorry!

What is one thing you are looking forward to this year? Holidays. Anything outside of uni is kinda appealing :) but me and my sister were cautiously hoping to go to New Zealand at the end of the year. Probably won’t end up happening but I’m hoping it does!

What does your dream house look like? Large, open, clean and simple design. With a massive property. 

If you could hang out with any celebrity for a day, who would it be? I feel like Aidan Turner would be absolutely hilarious to hang out with, as would Karen Gillan. And Jennifer Morrison would be amazing. So any of those three I think. 

Do you have a favorite outfit? Skinny Jeans, my black ankle boots and an oversized sweater.

Would you rather travel the world with someone you hate or never travel at all but be with someone you love? Man this is hard. I guess not travel at all? Love kinda trumps everything right.. as long as they love you back :) 

What was your favorite movie as a kid? Me and my siblings watched ‘the King and I’ on repeat. We loved it a lot.

Do you have a favorite drink? Ice Tea. Either lemon or raspberry.

I’m not gonna make any questions or tag anyone cos I’ve done it a couple times before and I don’t really have time. And i’m lazy. Sorry!