#idk what counts as meta

[cryptidfang]

because i'm insane i like thinking about Hannibal characters and moral philosophy and the way Will's character fits in is actually really interesting

Basically, Will is a virtue ethicist.

Virtue ethics is different from both deontology and consequentialism because it fundamentally links your actions to who you are as a person. The goal of life in virtue ethics is to live the life of a 'virtuous person', this isn't just about doing the right thing in individual situations, its about the narrative of your life, having the proper ethical instincts and following through on them on every occasion. Doing the right/wrong thing isn't just about what you did, it reflects on who you are as a person, whether you are virtuous or vicious.

This is very reminiscent of Will to me, he is very concerned with what his actions and sense of morality says about who he is, Will's view of himself as either 'good' or 'bad' is like the main conflict of the show. He doesn't really seem to care what other people think of him, or about the effects his actions have on other people, just what they mean for him and the narrative he has in his head (he kisses Alana so he can feel normal, he continues working at the FBI so he can feel like a good guy etc.). He puts a lot of effort into convincing himself that he's normal and moral and basically no effort into convincing other people of that (at least in the beginning.)

Will also does try pretty hard to cultivate his moral instincts like a virtue ethicist would. Presumably the reason he 'couldn't pull the trigger' when he was a homicide detective was because he didn't want to let himself know what killing was like because he knew it would change him and how he thought about morality. (And yeah, this did happen and we see him pretty distressed and ambivalent about how his ideas of the 'right bthing to do' are getting confused and changing a lot from how we see him at the beginning of the series.)

When Will feels guilty over his actions it centers on him and what he's 'becoming' (all those nightmares of him growing horns etc.) Contrast this with Abigail, who's nightmares center on the people she killed and show her feeling guilty about the people that were harmed, this is much less self-centered than Will tends to be, he's the main character in his guilt and anxiety.

Even with Abigail, a lot of Will's actions (buying her fishing gear, asking to go on the hike with her that she was meant to do with her mother, ignoring her murder of nicholas boyle) are more for the sake of keeping together the narrative he has in his mind about Abigail and their relationship than for her as her own person.

(Philosophy is hard to explain but I think its interesting and thats all that matters) (Basically Will Graham is insane thank you good night)

[sentientsky]

i know this has been discussed ad nauseam, but i'm doing research for a meta, and i'm slowly realizing that i will never ever be over the Good Omens Lockdown dialogue. especially that line towards the end (begins at the 02:50 minute mark):

Crowley: [...] You know, I could hunker down at your place; slither over and watch you eat cake. I could bring a bottle—a case—of something...drinkable?

first, the unabashed expression of a desire to be near Aziraphale is so rarely evident (i mean, we have 1967 and other instances, but in the case of '67, an outsider could more easily—i guess??—interpret offering him a lift home as an expression of gratitude for the holy water). so, to witness his clear, unveiled desire for comfort and closeness (and to literally just watch Aziraphale eat cake) demonstrates the interpersonal progress made in the time after Armageddon't; he's not concealing the offer behind some flimsily-constructed reason (e.g., "I just didn't want to see you embarrass yourself"). in fact, he's implying that they'd be spending long lengths of time together ("hunker down", "a case of something drinkable"). and then Aziraphale's response is also really interesting, and kind of exists as a microcosm of their whole push-and-pull dynamic that has existed for literally thousands of years (begins at the 02:59 minute mark):

Aziraphale: No, I—I—I—I’m afraid that would be breaking all the rules! Out of the question! I’ll see you… when… this is over?

i'm sorry, but the sheer nervousness???? the grasping for excuses??? they're gay disasters, ur honour. breaks my fucking heart </3 i love them both, but also OUGH. azi, why?!?

[erivroom]

The meaning of “The Untamed”

someone asked me to elaborate and who am i to say no? (i asked for it in the tags)

The Untamed isn’t a translation of 陈情令 (chén qíng líng) so when people discuss the title they typically toss out or brush off the english title entirely.

but that’s because it’s not a translation of 陈情令 it’s a translation of 无羁 (wú jī) the theme song of the series.

yippe explaination set up

i’d also like to make this post new fan and/or cql only fan friendly so i’m going to go in depth about the significance of 无羁 before explaining how it connects to the english title.

first the chinese characters for wwx and lwjs names

Wei Wuxian — 魏无羡

Lan Wangji — 蓝忘机

in the novels the song Wei Wuxian plays on the flute, that Lan Wangji played for him in the cave with the Xuanwu of Slaughter is expressly titled 忘羡 (wàng xiàn). the ship name we all know and love consisting of the first character of Wangji and last character of Wuxian.

so the track in cql is titled 无羁 the first character of Wuxian and the last sound of Wangji.

now the translation explanation

无羁 directly translates to unbridled, unfettered, or untamed

so The Untamed as the english version of the title is literally a mixed up version of their ship name in english! when you say “i’m watching The Untamed” in a way you’re kind of saying “i’m watching Wangxian”.

how does this relate to the name 陈情令？how did this become the english title?

i’d like to refer you to this post as it explains in depth better than i can the meaning of 陈情令.

directly translated 陈情令 means “a song from chén qíng”, being the name of Wei Wuxian’s flute. however, 陈情 itself has two translations. first being to reminisce past relationship. (referring from the linked post please check it out)

Wuji is a song both played literally on the chen qing flute, but is also a song reminiscent of a past relationship. ofc it’s of a present relationship now but throughout the series, you get what i mean.

so Wuji, or The Untamed, makes perfect sense to be the english title for the show.

ALSO!! felt i should include this

《 魔道祖师：无羁 》 or “Mo Dao Zu Shi : Wu Ji” is the official name for the books printed in mainland china afaik.

i got like maybe 2 hours of sleep last night and i’m running on 3 cups of coffee so far so this is what happens

if there’s any questions feel free to ask <3

post for @baby4012

[bottombaron]

So after staring into the middle distance for a couple days I'm ready to start discussing some theories I have before the season finale destroys us. They are all very wide-ranging in absurdity but I'll start with the one that I think has the most substance and therefore I think is most likely to happen. Also, I haven’t caught up with the tag yet so if someone already posted these theories, sorry! 

So here is Theory #1, known otherwise as,

Why (I think) I know how Laszlo is going to unfuck Guillermo

The solution, I believe, was stated at the very end of The Roast by Laszlo himself: 

FIRST THOUGHT, BEST THOUGHT

Laszlo has spent weeks deeply committed to solving a problem. He's wasted precious time trying to outthink his first (and probably best) solution – and I'm not just talking about his book sorting. Neither was Laszlo, not entirely at least. I actually do think he was focused at least a little bit on his books because that's kind of what happens when you're stuck on a problem. Your brain wanders to other much less taxing ordeals. Usually, as you solve that smaller problem, you find the solution to the thing you really want to solve. 

So what was Laszlo’s first idea?

All along Laszlo had the answer but Guillermo told him that he didn't think it would work, so Laszlo just didn't pursue it further. (We don't even know if Laszlo knows the circumstances of the test and why it didn't work. Just that Guillermo didn't approve that idea.) So then Laszlo wasted valuable time and energy trying to ~Science~ this problem instead of using his true best skill that was showcased in episode one of the season: his charm. His powers of persuasion (the classical art of bullshitting, as it were) is his true super power. (Sadly, it’s not science. He doesn't really have the patience for science tbh).

But, no, rly, he should bullshit his way thru this. That's what he does best. He can outthink Nandor easily. (well….maybe. with the time spent on his experiments, Nandor could have the advantage of several weeks, if not months, to figure things out beforehand, as dense as he is) He should concoct a bullshit so impenetrable that it unfucks Guillermo from Derek and refucks him to Nandor. 

Further foreshadowing of this you ask?

(this whole season is dedicated to ‘plans’ it’s crazy how much A Plan pops up. maybe i’ll dedicate a separate post to collecting them all)

But alas! The test that The Baron did proved this wouldn’t work, right!?

Well here's some free additional theories to how Laszlo could solve that hiccup:

1. Laszlo figures out (and solves) the reason why The Baron/Neighbor test didn't work in the first place.

There could be any number of factors of why The Baron's neighbor blew up. It could be that The Baron is all that more powerful than the average vampire and so his bite gives an extraordinary fill of uh...vampire-ness? and Derek, being so young and weak, doesn't do much at all. Maybe it has something to do with The Sire. If The Baron was turned by the first being ever affected by vampirism, then maybe that vampirism is slowly depleted the further down the line you go. Derek is probably very far removed from The Sire which means he cannot transfer much of that affliction onwards. Nandor, if he was turned by The Baron (one removed from The Sire) or someone similar, explains how he is so powerful, hopefully tho he wouldn’t have too much power to possibly overwhelm Guillermo's half-a-virgin body (and yes I did like how kinky that sounded when I wrote it). It doesn't really matter the exact reason as long as Laszlo can convince Guillermo to try it and he has a relatively decent chance of surviving it. (convincing Guillermo to go thru with this plan overall is probably going to be the most trouble actually. you don't easily forget a guy exploding in your face)

2. Something to do with the experiments. (or the Nadja’s bait-and-switch tactic she used to catch The Baron/Guillermo from The Roast)

I have a larger theory on the experiments and why I think there's still one in the house, but that's for later. During The Roast, Nandor is pretty convinced that the mutant Guillermo is the real one (despite one pretty big glaring error: he has no glasses. none of the experiments need glasses...), Laszlo might have been testing this theory by having The Baron bring his body to Nandor in the first place in order to see how convinced Nandor would be by it. This might be enough for Laszlo to try to use a duplicate of Guillermo for Nandor to bite. The duplicate will not explode (probably?) due to only being a hybrid of Guillermo's blood and an animal…or something(one) else pretending to be Guillermo… (and if it does, maybe Laszlo plans to shoo Nandor out of the line of sight in order for him not to see. And then you get the angst and drama of Guillermo literally using a scapegoat to take his 'sin' despite his reluctance to hurt innocent creatures)

But will the fake Guillermo actually convince Nandor? It's hard to say, and I love that threat of Nandor realizing that it's not the true Guillermo he bit and feeling even more betrayed. Maybe Laszlo concocts a whole ambiance to the event in order to sell the lie. It has to be special right?

So there's dim lights and candles and (fake) Guillermo is laid out in Nandor's coffin and there's this whole presentation element to it that was left out of Guillermo's turn with Derek. It's more like the fantasy that Guillermo probably always had of being turned by Nandor. It plays out like a romantic love scene. But Guillermo is asleep or has his eyes closed and won't talk or maybe only makes small noises and Nandor's very upset abt this. Laszlo is probably hovering too and Nandor doesn't like that either but Laszlo insists he must be there and it's now it's all awkward and wrong, kind of like how Guillermo felt before he was bit by Derek. (now it’s like Nandor is the bull cucking Laszlo in front of him) Nandor goes thru with it and bites Guillermo and is rushed by Laszlo so he doesn't get to drink or drink too much of his blood and there's fumbling with trying to get his own blood into Guillermo's unresponsive mouth.

Or maybe Nandor finds out because Guillermo's blood is disgusting and he either knows or had hoped it would be good tasting*. or that Guillermo just lays there and there's no reciprocation of desire. But maybe he just doesn't find out and once it's over he expects to be able to lay with Guillermo or otherwise be there for his turning but Laszlo quickly rushes him out of his own room and closes the door behind him.

So now Nandor feels all the same despondency that Guillermo had felt with his turn with Derek. Like this big special moment he's built up for years was a complete dud. Like he missed out on something truly magical and he doesn't know why. And Guillermo will feel like shit too, for tricking Nandor. Laszlo isn't happy either. But it worked and they all just have to live with it. Meanwhile this act that was meant to make Nandor's and Guillermo's bond stronger, only serves to create even greater distance between them. 

Re*: evidence that Guillermo's blood might taste 'different':

3. ANYWAYS. that was theory two. lets talk about theory 3.

WITCHES.

I actually think there's good reason Laszlo has divorced Science and is now going to have an affair with Magic. It's exactly when Nadja says 'has this hex turned me into an uggo' that Laszlo comes to life and exclaims ‘that's it!’. If science wasn't the solution, maybe magic is. It's not like they don't know some witches, or that, at least to a degree, witches actually have some power. (specifically the power to look, vaguely, like someone else.) I'm not certain of the specifics but there's a chance Laszlo could be turning to magic to solve his problems. This would also bring Nadja's storyline more relevant and in focus for the season. The thing I like the most about this theory? Episode 9 describes being invited to a manor owned by someone named Morrigan. Morrigan is a Celtic goddess of war and fate that was probably the inspiration for Arthurian legendary sorceress, Morgan le Fay. (Laszlo's name may also be connected to Arthurian legend, Lancelot. but that probably doesn't mean anything.)

So! That's my three extra theories attached to this one big theory that Laszlo is going to go 'back to the beginning' and use his first thought to solve this. Go with his gut. His first solution was his best solution, all along.

…He simply needs to convince Nandor to turn Guillermo.

The, uh, details of this plan may be a lot more complicated than it suggests.

[littlepocketuniverse]

I saw someone talking about Charles and Edwin's hero colours, and how they symbolise each other's afterlife designations (Edwin in blue, Charles in red) which I thought was a cool concept.

Only now I'm thinking about how Charles' colour symbolises the light that takes people to Hell, and imagining Edwin's realisation, perhaps several years into their partnership, that when he thinks of the colour red, he now associates it with Charles too.

There are undoubtedly a million moments over those years where Edwin realises he is happy for the first time in his existence, and as close to safe as he possibly can be. But I think realising that Charles has managed to start redefining what the colour red means to him would really drive it home that somehow this boy's continued presence at his side is systematically overwriting seven decades of pain.

With every moment Charles chooses to stay - with every case, every smile, every laugh, every memory - he gives Edwin one more way to counterbalance the scales with something happy and warm and beautiful. That, no matter if Edwin is on the run for the rest of his existence, everytime he sees someone being taken to Hell, he will see the colour red and think of 70 years of torture - and then he will think of Charles, a constant reminder that he no longer has to face the fear alone.

And then, he wonders if perhaps one day, as the decades pass and they make more wonderful memories together, he might see the colour red and think of Charles first. If, finally, suffering and pain - Hell itself - might become nothing but a footnote to the life they have made together.

Over 3 decades later, Edwin can finally stop running, and knows it to be true - at last they have forever guaranteed, and maybe, just maybe, one day Hell won't need a footnote at all.

[weskie]

I wonder if there was ever something in wesker's childhood that he was incredibly attached to. did he have a blanket that he absolutely couldn't sleep without? a stuffed animal? a story that brought him comfort while he put himself to bed, alone, in whatever dark room was his back then? was there a texture that soothed him, or perhaps a sound or song that calmed the beating of his heart until he could relax and close his eyes?

and if there was, how badly did it shatter him when it was inevitably taken away?

[medebaki1]

Metamay day 15 backstory

So uh, I'll explain a bit of what this means, this is meta knights childhood, I like to think he looked like Kirby (cute and ye) but shit happened and turned into a creature, he didn't like people calling him or treating him like a little orb ball cute living being so he went and killed some monsters to prove that he is scary and shouldn't be messed with, he meets dedede and calms a little bit then dips to go on adventures, ye.

[yea-baiyi]

xie lian really is living the ultimate grey-ace fantasy though, because imagine you’ve gone 800 years not being attracted to anyone and you’ve been totally fine keeping a vow of abstinence you have no obligation to keep —

and then one day you run into this guy and your brain goes “he’d be a great husband” and suddenly you’re thinking about how he’s so tall and fixating on his hairline and his bone structure and wow his hands are so big, sure wouldn’t wanna be choked by him, and you’re a huge embarrassing mess around him. but turns out he is equally as embarrassing towards you and you end up liking him a lot and you guys flirt and joke around when you’re together and it’s great except you have massive walls up because of all of your centuries of trauma —

and THEN you find out that this guy has known you nearly your whole life, was actually the person beside you at all your lowest points, someone who has already been tested and come out fighting. he’s not nice and he’s seen some shit but he has literally crawled his way out from hell and proven himself to be good, and most of all already proven that he will stand with you and be by your side in every way that matters. all that before you guys even started dating, before you guys even MET in this lifetime. just the perfect alignment of a) attractiveness, b) compatibility, c) resilience as a life partner — and he came over and started talking to YOU.

maybe it’s just me but i’m chewing on the walls????

[aritimena]

So if this is an older Tonis, what I think would be interesting (but probably unlikely cause the kid isn’t going to suddenly be an adult in 2 years) is if Tonis became fake Vash.

The left arm resembles Vash’s prosthetic in 98 and Maximum, the jacket even resembles Vash’s Stampede jacket (hood, length, plate on the collar) with some modifications. If it weren’t for the freckles, I would have said this is just Vash but damp like he was towards the end of the fight against Leonof

Realistically, I don’t think we’re going to see this design show up in Stampede. With how well Tonis got along with Vash and how young he is, I think any resentment he would feel would be residual from Rosa- Idk, I can’t see this kid pretending to be Vash and wrecking havoc unless Orange really twists his character into something dark.

Now, @revenantghost made the connection between Tonis’ interest with worms and Roberto’s comment about humans controlling worms and while it’s easy to say these were a) zazie spyware foreshadowing and b) just a nod to 98, I raise you this:

we have 5 million worms in a trenchcoat Zazie in Stampede and Maximum

and actual human boy with a communing device Zazie in 98

I’m just saying, Orange set it up, they could double dip “Zazies” if they wanted to.

[cowardlybean]

How many Esper-related laws do you think Mob sparked into existence just by being Mob

like what the hell did worldwide governments do when a middle school kid got into a fight with the guy claiming he’s gonna take over the world ending in a giant fucking broccoli appearing in seasoning city japan. like what do you do about that.

[cryingpariah]

Absolutely sours my grapes when people say that Nami is money hungry and/or greedy and would sell out the crew for gold and they actually mean it?? Like they genuinely think that could happen?? All I’m hearing is that you can’t read or see like how do you consume One Piece and can you please stop?!

Nami, the same girl who grew up poor as shit and dreamed of having more just like anyone in the situation would?? Whose whole way of life was turned upside down and was quite literally made of revolve around money?? Who had no choice but to put her faith in money, of its power in this world and how it could set everyone she's ever loved free?? Who risked her life over and over and over again to pay off the debt of her mother's love??

“Yeah but even after Arlong Park she's still greedy though.” First of all who said you could talk to me and second of all, yeah NO SHIT. A habit and way of survival she cultivated for ten years doesn’t just go away overnight!! Shocker!! Her greed is never malicious nor does it overtake her heart or morals (like a certain Fishman we all know and hate). Nami has actively given up money and treasure multiple times: her not collecting money from Vivi after the events of Alabasta, her not caring about Usopp losing one of the briefcases during Water 7, her giving treasure to Lola post thriller Bark, she was going to give all their money to the damn slave ring just to Camie back who she met maybe yesterday!!

And even if you wanna maintain the narrative that Nami would sell out her crewmates for money, Oda quite literally creates this very scenario and shows you exactly how Nami reacts to it!! During Skypiea when she was presented with the opportunity to go with Enel to Fairy Vearth and get all the things one could ever want she said there was no point of having nice things if her friends weren’t there to enjoy it with her! Like HELLO?!?! AM I GOING INSANE HERE?!?!

In conclusion, keep shitting on my girl and watch me appear in your bathroom mirror like I’m Bloody Mary.

[sisterdivinium]

You know, the reason why I'm sceptical over communities on Tumblr is because I think the issue is not how it was lacking in a community feature but how there seems to be a lack of a community mindframe for a lot of the userbase. There's only so much you can do when a lot of people have devolved into only ever using likes rather than actually getting in touch with others -- and there's only so much conversation you can withstand when every new addition equates to reblogging a post in full and potentially annoying your followers with "walls of text" (since, let's be real, this isn't a text-forward website)...

[devilsskettle]

i think some of the popularity that meta horror has garnered is a little bit disingenuous tbqh even though i do like some of the movies that have come out of the subgenre, people don’t realize that the foundation of the slasher genre was established in the 60s/70s and a lot of the 80s movies that have become so classic were already riffing off of the tropes established by those movies before full fledged meta took off. the idea to make friday the 13th was sparked by the commercial success of halloween. the original script for slumber party massacre was a parody of the genre and the movie retains much of that humor which is referential to past slashers by nature. + it intentionally uses typical slasher tropes around gender and sexuality to bring forward the concerns of teenage girls. is that not something that meta horror is frequently touted as doing? child’s play is like a slasher, “except —” which is what a lot of meta horror comedies do now (“slasher except it’s a possessed doll” is not that far off from “slasher except it’s freaky friday” and whatnot). this isn’t to say that scream isn’t foundational to what the slasher genre evolved into or that contemporary meta slashers aren’t doing something interesting but i also think they tend to lean towards cynicism towards the movies they’re deriving their themes from + they’re not even as different as they think they are from “classic” 80s movies that already are borrowing from classic slashers which in turn borrowed from even older horror (for example, in halloween, laurie is watching the thing from another world from the 50s which was adapted into the now classic john carpenter’s the thing in the 80s). and of course many of these older horror movies were adapted from literature which also inspired more literature. like the shelley/byron/polidori scary story writing contest is now legendary but also you don’t get the shining without the haunting of hill house (and you don’t get the haunting of hill house without turn of the screw, for example) and the shining is probably one of the most referenced movies by other media of all time. horror has always been an intertextual genre let’s stop pretending it didn’t become “self aware” until 1996

[adolin]

could you help explain something? when alecto surfaces in nona and scolds pyrrha for "playing mother and father" and insists that she should have eaten them - "i would have respected you much more for it" - what did she mean? as in, she shouldn't have gotten caught up in the sixth's business, and instead abandoned them to boe and go to the half-flipped moon by herself? or am i missing something??

OH I LOVE THAT PART. I also have no clue! It's such a punchy passage, but I have no idea of what it could possibly mean. "Eating someone" in TLT is mostly associated with Lyctorhood, in the sense of consumption, but I doubt that's what Alecto is referring to, since she's talking specifically to Pyrrha.

Or, like you suggest, she could simply be using "eating" as a shorthand for 'take advantage of' — it fits with whatever little we get of Alecto's vocabulary and thought patterns — and saying that she should've just looked after herself and left, instead of dedicating herself to a lost cause.

I also have no clue if when she says "US" she means Nona + Cam and Pal, or she means herself (Alecto + Nona and all her disjointed memories) or she means Alecto and whatever soul fragment is inside her (personally, I believe that a bit of Gideon's soul is inside Harrow's body.) Or she could even be saying "US" to mean herself and Varun as Resurrection Beasts, though that's less likely.

I think you're probably right and she's just using a very carnal metaphor to say that Pyrrha should have left, but like... I'm not ruling out that there's a more literal explanation that will introduce a new worldbuilding / "magical system" related element in AtN, just because I never know what to expect from this series. I'm once again so fascinated by the glimpses that we get of Alecto's personality because she's such an enigma.

For context, this is the full passage

(It also comes right after Nona telling Pyrrha that she shouldn't make Nona remember who she is, because Pyrrha "wouldn't like" what happens)

[sparring-spirals]

There is a universe in which i was caught up properly on CR whenever what the fuck went down and Imogen verbally and definitively declared that- after everything leading up to this and the back and forth and indecision- that she'd be willing to take down her mom if need be. and i would have been deeply insufferable and writing 20+ separate meta posts and liveblog yelling posts and shitposts. This is not that universe so instead we will put this post here where i can have wildly uninformed (aka 20 eps behind) Emotions about it until someday i actually catch up.

(I know. i accidentally wrote potentially wildly off base/deeply out of date meta again. what can i say. i like shaking the concept of An Imogen (even if it is Outdated Imogen) in a jar. sorry.)

Because i was watching long enough, I think, to see Imogen in the throes of the hope for something better, to understand that Imogen was viewing her mom was a figure and an idea and an answer, that would make things easier. Her mom was- gone, so early. And so her mom, in her mind, was not a person she was an idea, and there was so much hinged on that! Dogged determination and anger at her father and a deep seated dislike of the powers in her hands and head even as they gave her a guilty rush. There were promises there that maybe no one else had made, but Imogen believed. Things built up. Expectations made. Lore crafted, even unconsciously, around someone who was, yes, important to Imogen, but more importantly: Missing. Gone. A blank slate to be filled in. A promise of an answer guide to open questions.

And then she meets her mom, and Liliana Temult goes from a figure to a person- with all the bells and whistles and rough edges. She meets her mom and her mom turns her away. Tells her to run. Tells her she should go. Tells her to leave.

And Imogen doesn't. In the same way she kept visiting libraries, keps asking, kept pushing for answers when it was just about her magic and her headaches and the voices. Imogen always, always wants to know. She keeps digging, she keeps trying, she reaches out, over and over and keeps trying to touch this figure in mist until she's real under her hands, and. Evidence piles up- of deeds gone wrong, blood on her hands, a figure standing next to Otohan (her friends bodies scattered, lifeless, around Otohan). She keeps reaching out, keeps trying, and is rebuffed, over and over. Things get worse and the skies get redder and magic goes dead and she's still- unsure, because what if there's a better reason, what if there's a better way, there has to be a reason, why. There has to be, right- maybe if- maybe. Maybe-

Its just like- a person as an idea. As a symbol. As a promise. One you build yourself up around and towards. One you talk about, not talk to.

And then the fog clears, and they are a human.

(And she's your mom, and she's not what you imagined. She's done you wrong. She's done your loved ones wrong. She's hurt you. She's hurt others. She's going to keep hurting you. She is going to keep hurting everyone. She is too far gone to reason with. She is not listening to you. She is flawed. She is. dangerous. She looks so much like you. You look just like her. You are so similar. You have always known you were similar. You always hoped. You.

Are not her. You are not hers. She is not yours. She is not who you thought she was. She was always someone else. So are you.)

Imogen walks through the bases pretending to be her mother. Liliana is a known face- a powerful one, a figure people fear. A well known silhouette. Imogen slips into the shadows of it, sometimes, when it serves her, but we know- she knows- its all an act. All a lie.

Liliana, after all, is alive, and well, making choices that she believes in and fighting for things with a dogged determination maybe only matched by her daughter.

Imogen knows this. I think. There's a part of her that maybe wishes that wasn't the case.

"There is no loyalty with this blood." And after all- only living people bleed.

[fabdante]

Hi I want to talk about this scrapped DmC reboot demon concept that seems to have an angel inside of it.

That’s it, that’s the whole post.

But like seriously, if this were implemented I’m interested on the ramifications of the lore here. Like, how is it using the angel? Is it a machine or is it organic or is it both? Why does it have the angel? Is that blood from this demon the angel?

The DmC reboot demons are really interesting to me because they mix the organic with the mechanical in an intriguing way. In the reboot, Limbo is like a body. Everything about it works like a body. However it is a body full of these inorganic materials that it treats as organic, as its defense systems against you (essentially a virus in it’s body system). The demons themselves reflect this, mixing bodies and goo and ooze with porcelain dolls and chain saws and all the metal bits built into their bodies. It isn’t traditionally biomechanical and how that has a mixture of inorganic and organic. It’s more like Limbo has Frakensteined little dolls out of this material that it then fills with some semblance of life.

I’d argue a lot of the designs reflect this. Many of them are intentionally modeled after porcelain dolls as stated above. More still have pseudo faces where faces should be, like masks. Even this unused concept art we can see a fashioned face where the demon has none. It’s face is more a door that traps the demon inside. Mask motifs themselves are also reoccurring with stuff like the Dreamrunners. 

Onto the angel in the design, it’s fascinating for a number of reasons. Firstly because this is like...really the only angel we see tied to the reboot at all. I love that it’s nothing but just light energy, that’s fun. But secondly, it’s interesting because we don’t know why the demon has it. Does it trap it there? Does it kill it that way? 

I personally like to think that it needs it to live, it needs the angels energy to operate. Like a car battery more or less. A lot is vaguely said in the game about how the demons need human energy to do things. Mundus is farming that energy in some way for a reason, after all. Which leaves one to wonder what happens when something saps on a much stronger energy source, like an angel like in this concept art. 

Long story short: this concept art is cool I wish this thing was in game it’d have been fun to punch.