#god i love thinking about them so much
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aesolerin · 7 months ago
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So, a dd2 class guide (of all things) ended up bringing me to some really fascinating realizations when it comes to how Baldwin and Sarmenti are foils to each other, so of course I can't help but share it with you.
Short Version: Leper and Jester as characters contrast themselves in terms of personalities compared to skills. These seemingly in-built contradictions are the exact opposite of one another, which is likely why they synergize so well from both a narrative and game mechanics perspective. The makes them a duo of complimentarily contrasting contradictory characters. (yeah, try saying that five times fast)
Long Version: As we both know/adore about him, a key feature of Baldwin as a character is his selflessness, this key desire he has to help and serve others, while his own personal happiness instead comes from the simple joys of life. In his backstory he went out of his way to comfort his sick citizens, killed off his advisors to keep his kingdom safe before abdicating, and even now the reason he wants to die fighting is to help others succeed in their goals with all the skills he has available.
It's super interesting, then, to look at what said skills actually do - heal himself, mitigate his own inaccuracy, protect himself from shuffling via immobility - all things prioritizing self-reliance first and foremost. Out of his ten DD2 moves, only two can be said to have some level of 'party support' mixed in - Purge to clear corpses, and Intimidate to weaken enemies (and remove stealth when upgraded). And even they exist first and foremost to mitigate the blindspots in his own fighting style. Altogether, even as this seems to contradict his actual values as a person, it wouldn't be wrong to frame his entire kit as selfish in nature.
To put it another way, Baldwin personally goes out of his way to help others by prioritizing himself first.
Compare this, in turn, to Sarmenti - a character narratively defined by selfishness (eg; his desires, his ignited ambitions, his prolonged suffering, his current suicidal death wish, plus any other impulse or whim he has at any given moment). And yet, his skills are almost entirely support-focused, with even a lot of the damage-dealing ones being less about the damage and more about applying debuffs and combo tokens to the benefit of the team. It's such a selfless prioritization of others that he has barely anything left in his toolkit that focuses on either his own survivability or his damage-dealing capabilities. (His main exception being Finale, which one could still argue is selfless in how it leaves him immediately vulnerable and slow after he's likely nuked an enemy from any possible rank - meaning the ideal is for other people to take advantage of this.)
As such, Sarmenti's selfish desires and goals lead him to greatly prioritizing the group's benefit over himself as an individual.
And it's this nature as foils, this reversal/mirroring of each other's innate contradictory natures, that make Jester and Leper such a complementary duo both in terms of personality and combat synergy.
idk, that's just how I came to look at 'em in my pretentious academic perspective on the ship, lol. you got any thoughts brought up by it??
oh man, this is such a fantastic analysis, i feel like there's nothing more i really need to add! i do have some thoughts though:
looking at this and thinking about it, yeah isn't it just a bit odd that the selfless Leper barely aids his team, and if anything eats up a lot of the resources they put out? man eats combos like he needs them to live because he kinda does. but oh man, if you take care of Leper he will take care of you tenfold. he rewards selflessness with his strength.
i think his skills could also be viewed not as entirely selfish, but as self-reliant. gently turning down Vestal, Occultist, Plague Doctor's, any sort of healing and simply fortifying himself, allowing them to heal someone not as strong as him or attack with their own skills. using Purge to both strike down a foe and clear corpses so someone else doesn't have to nor can their enemies take advantage of it. let him weaken a foe and draw their ire with Intimidate, he has the strength to take it.
and Jester is such a fun contrast to think about, his top-tier supportive skills vs his snarky and biting personality. all that setting up and dancing he does, the grand orchestra he plays, why doesn't he make himself the star? i think he'd insist it's because he's a twig in a clown costume, why should he be drawing the enemy formation's attention? the faster the warm bodies between him and those bastards cut said bastards down, the better. hence, a selfless skillset for selfish reasons. there is probably some element of fun/humor to it, too. man's Silly.
and together, they work perfectly in sync. Jester wants those bastards dead before they hit him, Leper will smite them out of existence if given the opportunity. Jester will give him those opportunities, Leper will strike down their enemies. also they kiss. nature is beautiful.
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hinamie · 6 months ago
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i'm on an itafushi kick and i am making it everyone else's problem
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egophiliac · 23 days ago
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Hello ! I positively adore the running joke of Idia unknowingly finding Lilia to be the coolest guy ever whenever he doesn't know it's him, like when Silver described his father, or obviously with muscle red. I can't say what'd be funnier, Idia finding out his online best friend is actually Lilia, resident spooky hyper fairy; or them both never finding out, and it'd become even more ridiculous as time goes on. How do you think it'll play out ? You're always so on point
(Also, though it makes sense, I'm still devastated bat boy didn't get a ticket for the Halloween skeleton train : ( does anyone mentions him at some point ? Like how he'd have fit right in with all those Halloween town little freaks, and how he'd have impressed them with his spooks and scared techniques; after all he's been every Briar Valley's children worst fear on Halloween for centuries. I'm on the eng server and I didn't wanna spoil myself by watching the whole thing on youtube)
Have a nice day !
you and me both, Idia and Lilia being oblivious online BFFs (+ Idia being incredibly intimidated any time Silver brings up his jock gamer dad) is my favorite running joke/subplot. 🤝 it's SO good, to the point where I also am unsure if I actually want it to ever be resolved or not...maybe, like, as a post-canon stinger or something? everyone's standing around covered in overblot ink, and Idia and Lilia's phones go off at the same time...
(legit I do think this is part of why Idia couldn't be present for Lilia's dream, because for some reason Lilia decided he was going to just. embody his past self online. he probably quotes his own battle strategies or whatever in the middle of boss fights. Idia didn't pick up on the whole "oh how weird that we both live on a super remote island" thing, but he would spend thirty seconds listening to General Lilia describing siege warfare and be like "w-wait")
all that aside, however it does end up happening, I do see Lilia being very blasé and all "oh! cool!" about it. y'know, taking it very much in stride! and Idia...very much not.
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(can't tell if tumblr is going to chew this into illegibility or not, this will be a fun surprise ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ)
as for Lilia sadly missing out on Halloweentown shenanigans...he does get one little mention as part of an offhand reference to the light music club, but so far no one has brought up how this basically is just Lost In the Book of Liliatown (Sebek's been too busy yelling about not getting to be in the same group as Malleus). 😔 honestly though, it's probably for the best that he got left out, because he would just settle right in and refuse to ever leave. canon would shatter. we would miss out on all the delightful angst of episode 7 because Lilia is too busy eating poisonous shrubbery inbetween practicing his very best screams, and no one can pull him away from it.
(I can hope for a sequel next year though...)
#art#twisted wonderland#twisted wonderland spoilers#gentle spoilers but y'know. just in case#lost in the book with nightmare before christmas#hajimari no halloween#most of the kitchen scene was jade messing with the firsties and that was so delightful that i didn't think til after#that you'd think sebek would have made some kind of reference to lilia 'i lost my tastebuds in the war' vanrouge's quote-unquote cooking#ah well. jade being mean is more than entertaining enough#looking forward to more of it tomorrow!#god. lilia and idia though.#lilia is like. genuinely idia's best friend and neither of them have any idea#and idia keeps doing that 'ha ha what if we were friends out of game too? what if we met offline? jk jk jk uNLESS...👉👈'#and then he immediately chickens out because he's so convinced that crimson will hate him if they ever met irl#(meanwhile lilia is just like 'my online bestie is so cool :) la la la')#they are both so stupid and i love them so much#i've just realized that i actually do want them to find out each other's identities#because idia doesn't just go to school with his online bff#he ALSO goes to school with his online bff's extremely supportive and extremely socially-inept kids#idia is going to get invited to dinner at diasomnia and it's going to be SO awkward#silver is going to give a long formal speech thanking him for being a stalwart comrade and trusted warrior brother to his father#as sebek stews in jealousy that idia got to fight by lilia-sama's side >:(#while idia sits there like 'all i did was link him a video about lane control for his character class'#malleus will make such an effort to learn literally anything about online gaming and he won't understand a word of it#it will be SUCH a disaster and i very much do want it now
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anthyies · 1 year ago
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the thing about disco elysium is that it has women in it. what you see on the internet about it might lie to you about that but it has women, gay women even, very compelling women even, in it.
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evelynpr · 3 months ago
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Congratulations My Hero Academia for providing, possibly, the biggest and longest legit straightbaiting yet in shonen history.
Bonus points that their final chapter was released on yaoi day.
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xxplastic-cubexx · 11 days ago
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[right to left]
finally finished This Wip from Ever ago and so now i ask you ever look into another dudes eyes and suddenly want to do whatever he wants
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ruporas · 1 year ago
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green haired guy that has haunted my character types for 10+ years
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lazylittledragon · 4 months ago
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ok i swear i'm not going to talk about my breakup forever but the thing that just keeps bothering me:
i know that not getting what you need in a relationship is a COMPLETELY valid reason to end it but also. i feel like having a very vulnerable moment where i opened up about my struggles with intimacy and being relieved that i didn't have to keep doing things i wasn't comfortable with, then being dumped a YEAR later because of my lack of intimacy. is something i should be allowed to be very hurt by???
#ramble#sorry i'm currently in a phase of 'of course this happened' and 'oh i deserve this because i didn't give him what he wanted'#like he knew i was grey ace since the start. and he let it go on for SO long after i said i might be vaguely aro as well#if that's a dealbreaker for you bc of your love language then FINE but NIP IT IN THE BUD#he said he put it off because he didn't want to hurt my feelings but it only hurt me MORE#like you're an adult. grow the fuck up and communicate like one#holding your negative feelings in hoping somebody notices you're hiding them is what TEENAGERS do#and also i told him VERBATIM: i didn't think anyone would ever love me because i'm not comfortable with xyz. and he just confirmed that#idk i still feel like i'm being selfish because how could i expect someone to be in a relationship with me when i can't give them anything#also tmi but it's not like we did NOTHING. we still held hands/cuddled/were close. he just didn't have his tongue down my throat anymore#so obviously i'm assuming by 'missing affection' he just meant sex and as an ace person that just fucking sucks#also oh my god i HATED how much he would imply we were going to have sex. i would have to keep SAYING 'i don't like doing this'#he always spoke like it was inevitably going to happen and it didn't click how GROSS i felt about it until recently#also ALSO not to go there but i never told him WHY i struggle with it (it's sensory issues)#and like. what if something had happened to me that made it hard for me and i just wasn't ready to tell him. and then he did this#again sorry to overshare this is still just a lot for me and i have no idea if i'm being unreasonable#if you're ace and in a relationship please let me know bc i'm starting to think it'll end this way every single time
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justaz · 5 months ago
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merlin (immortal) giving arthur (pendragon) the only blade that could kill him
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bertoyana · 4 months ago
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charles and erik with each other: oh dear, oh dear. gorgeous 🥺👐 charles and erik with the villain of the week/the x-men: K1LL YOURSELF 🔥🔥🔥
X-Men: First Class (2011) | X-Men Apocalypse (2016)
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gentlenotes-moved · 1 year ago
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hey, you guys. life gets so much more fun when you let yourself enjoy the small pleasures of life, love your friends loudly and wholeheartedly, and let yourself be loved.
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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 1 year ago
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Parallel Lines and Brothers.
[First] Prev <–-> Next
#poorly drawn mdzs#mdzs#wei wuxian#jiang cheng#lan wangji#lan xichen#jin zixuan#Does anyone else think about the tragedy of the parallel lines? Of characters who are parallel lines?#Of running the same course as someone. Of echoing each other in perfect synchronicity.#It's more than being a foil. It's about being on the same path and being so near to each other.#and yet parallel lines never intersect. They cannot meet each other despite their existence being tied to another.#I think the brothers tragedy is just as much of a tragedy of parallel lines as is pre-resurrection wangxian.#Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian spend so much time running side by side and yet - they cant close this gap between them.#Even if their relationship never recovers - they are forever tied together through their past. The good and bad and ugly.#All the things that are left unsaid between them. All the love and sacrifices they made for each other that are never shared. Parallel line#I firmly believe any post-canon material that would have them be indifferent towards each other is just...really doing them a disservice.#And dear god the Lan brothers. They certainly love each other! Its a far fonder fraternal relationship than jiangxian (/platonic)#They fool you by having you think they have a good read on each other. Lan Xichen certainly wingmans + advocates for lwj!#But lets not forget - Lan Xichen by the end is in the reverse situation and headspace as Lan Wangji by the end of this story.#Lan Wangji is more free and open than he has ever been. He's in love. He's married. He and wwx are intersecting lines.#& LXC who grew up with and lived the same path as LWJ - who even is said to resemble him visually - his parallel line - shuts himself away#Despite all the love LWJ has for his brother I don't think he ever manages to reach him.
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kagoutiss · 8 months ago
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din’s champion
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egophiliac · 1 year ago
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How do you imagine Levan/Revan/ Mallenoa's husband?
Appearance, personality etc.
Revaan/Laverne/whatever-his-name-is's title sort of implies that he might be from a fantasy-Eastern country (they've established that in Twstland, 竜 = Eastern-style dragons, andドラゴン = Western-style dragons). and that's about as much as we know right now about...anything in regards to what he might look like. so I've been trying very hard not to form too much of a mental picture of him, because I'm still hoping we'll get to see him (or at least a silhouette)! ergo, in my head, he kind of looks like this:
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so handsome. surely Malenoa fell in love at first glance.
I do think the funniest thing about what we've learned so far is that Malleus being kind of quiet and reserved and dignified...absolutely did not come from the Draconias. and he sure as heck did not learn it from Lilia. so he probably got a lot of that from his dad! the vibe I get from how Lilia talks about him is that he could be a bit of a prim little fancyboy sometimes, but was (mostly) willing to go along with his wife's zany antics out of love. he sounds sweet, honestly! I'm sorry he (maybe) died. :(
my favorite thing about Mal's parents is that Malenoa and Lilia's dynamic was "long-suffering guard and princess who has long been the cause of said suffering":
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but then they would happily join forces in order to gang up on Revaan:
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tl;dr Revaan was the straightman in Malenoa and Lilia's comedy act until it all ended horribly whoops
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demaparbat-hp · 1 month ago
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Zuko looked up and locked eyes with his cousin, who was struck speechless. Then, ever so slowly, Lu Ten's lips twitched upwards. And then he smiled. And then he beamed. And then he nodded proudly once, just once, and vanished.
Lu Ten comes back in For the Spirits Chapter VII: Take Me South, only to leave Zuko with more questions than answers. Just how much is he truly aware of? When will he return? What is Zuko going to do now?
(What will the South bring?)
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siriusblackisdead · 1 year ago
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The way the first meeting between Neil and Andrew is the most underrated foreshadowing of Andreil is INSANE. Like, just think about it - Neil was running away again, from exy and his future and from being Neil already planning to throw everything behind his back and start over like he always did and then BANG a racquet in the stomack stopped him and GUESS WHO WAS THE ONE HOLDING THE RACQUET YES IT WAS ANDREW AND THE WAY HE MADE NEIL STAY NEIL EVEN BEFORE HE EVEN KNEW HIM IS JUST SO-
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