#she just slays in every way

[godsworth]

[thefriendoforatioisdead]

I truly admire how much Pin has been fighting back the rule of her aunt. She's a very obedient person, so her rebellion is not as firery as Anin's, but I found the scene of her bowing down to beg her aunt extremely powerful. I felt it very strongly. Even if it's not anger, or bold, upfront resistance, it's not passive or weak either. She IS standing up for their relationship, by showing the extent of her devotion not to her aunt but to Anin and their love. She is showing what she's ready to do. I am honestly not familiar with the weight of such a deep bow culturally, but I would assume that it means A LOT since we've never seen any character of this social status doing it before in the show (except her aunt when she met her sadly dead girlfriend, but it was to indicate subordination since she was going to work for her. And frankly, the parallel is parallelling). This moment of confrontation between them might be my favorite of the episode frankly, except Anin's declaration at the end OF COURSE

Pin resisted as much as she could in all the ways she could, and I'm not blaming her for breaking in the next episode and accepting the mariage. She does respect and love her aunt, and she is also very aware of her social status. She will do her duty because she's been raised to know her place and I would never blame her for that. It's just heartbreaking and unfair, but it's also very understandable.

[strixcattus]

I really enjoy looking at this still from Slay the Princess:

In the midst of all the weird imagery from the first part of the Stranger route, you see for a moment—and it is cut off at the end, so I had to be quick with my screenshot—every route laid out in front of you, paired up as the game does elsewhere, and described, interestingly enough, from what I can only believe is the Voices' perspectives, or perhaps the relationship between the Princess and the Voice of a given route.

Consumption: The Beast (Hunted), the ribcages in the bottom right. Being eaten, alive or half so, is one way or another the outcome you face in the Beast. This one seems to be the least connected to its route's Voice, though I can still see it in a relational sort of way. Betrayal: The Witch (Opportunist), the nail-studded... I can't tell what it is, but it's at the top left. Betrayal on your part is the cause of the Witch's route, and it too is inevitable in some form once you're on that route—the Opportunist is very vocal about it.

Skepticism: The Prisoner (Skeptic), the chains at the bottom. Pretty clear analogue given the name of the Voice, but not to neglect—you reach the Prisoner by taking the blade (distrust of the Princess) but ultimately using it to free the Princess (you take the time to think critically about what you're being asked to do, and decide the Narrator is less trustworthy). Blind devotion: The Damsel (Smitten), the... I can only imagine locks of hair at the top. You reach the Damsel by immediately and wholly assuming she has no ill intentions, an attitude made manifest in the Smitten.

Rivalry: The Adversary (Stubborn), the spikes to the left. The Adversary route is, so long as you embrace it, about your probably-a-metaphor-for-sex-I-mean-the-Eye of the Needle-isn't-even-trying-to-veil-it eternal fight with the Adversary, with the Stubborn in strong support. Submission: The Tower (Broken), the stone columns to the right. One of the most clear-cut "this is about the Voice" examples—the Broken has completely submitted to the Tower's will, even though the player still has a few chances to resist her.

Terror: The Nightmare (Paranoid), the eyes in the upper right. Of course, the Nightmare is all about fear, and the Paranoid is the embodiment of your fear of the Princess—the fear that made you lock her in the basement and the fear that stopped your heart when she broke free. Longing: The Spectre (Cold), the wisps in the bottom left. This one is interesting, and almost made me second-guess my "Voices" reading, as the Spectre herself is clearly a creature of longing—but then what about "Submission?" The Tower is not "submitting" to anything. That's her whole deal. Perhaps this one is connected to your desire for something other than what the Narrator calls the "Good Ending..." or perhaps it has something to do with the Cold's interest in feeling something, which he expresses in a few routes (the Greys being the most obvious).

Pain: The Razor (Cheated,) the spikes at the top. She skewers you, and you die. Over and over again she skewers you, and you die, and it is painful over and over again. I'm not sure I have much to add to this one. Unfamiliarity: The Stranger (Contrarian), the abstract DNA-like strand at the bottom. You reach the Stranger by refusing to interact with the Princess, leaving her an unfamiliar blank slate whose actions you cannot predict and thus fracture into every possible image of her.

And at the heart of it all, an emotion that can only be described as—what? The Narrator doesn't get the chance to finish his sentence before you wake up in the Prisoner's basement, but I'd think the answer is obvious once you've finished the game.

After all, this is a love story.

[jexversea]

gatekeep, gaslight, girlboss but it's actually daji, jiang, and riga in the same exact order.

[coleramse]

win the fight, save your life.

[sewerfight]

Fuck your toxic yuri. is it even remotely like these two who were in the dyke trenches together during one of the biggest mafia alliance upheavals in Naples? Is one of them a wealthy boss who put her lot in with a female soldier serving the other side, a go-between who she wished to keep as a pet in a gilded cage, in her thirst for power? The other an orphan, soon to inherit the title of the old prince, with no one but the protection of the hated Savastanos to guide her wretched star? Did they ever talk of hyenas at one time, long ago, in a dress shop, under different circumstances? Did one of them speak with praise of hyenas clans, who's lives are structured around a hungry, devouring matriarchy that sheds the blood of males on a whim, while the other looked on, thinking of nothing but treachery? No? Then fuck your toxic yuri. Watch Gomorra

[metanarrates]

the adversary is such an interesting route because through most of the game routes, most actions you can take are not locked behind specific dialogue options, and the actions usually don't need to be "repeated" to achieve a specific path through the route. for example, the path to freeing the specter only requires that you tell her you want to free her, let her possess you, and that you not stab yourself with the knife, in order to achieve that.

but the adversary has a few unique and somewhat non-intuitive actions you can take with her (flipping her the bird and even having her allow you to stab her in order to prove she can't die) that are locked behind dialogue options, and those dialogue options don't even clearly point to you being able to unlock those actions. additionally, you have to repeatedly choose to fight her in the exact way she wants if you don't want her to evolve into the fury or the eye of the needle.

i guess it fits to have the route most defined by stubbornness and rivalry requring you to pick a course of action and stick to it, but the amount of unique actions allowed within this route (even leaving her in the basement can trigger some unique scenes!) makes me wonder if it was the first developed. most routes in video games have "convergence" points with very few subvariations in order to cut down on having to develop too many distinct outcomes. while it's true that slay the princess has an unusual amount of distinct variations in each route, it's still also got a lot of convergence points that reuse the same art pieces with just slightly different dialogue. it feels significant to me that the adversary has a lot of unique scenes and art compared to some of the other princesses

[kimmkitsuragi]

WEEEOOOWOOOWOOOEEEE

[hauntingblue]

Gear 5 luffy's laugh is so contagious I just hear the drums and go insane how does this work. What did he do to me

[pzyii]

Ahhhh cece, our favourite very problematic trans representation. But who cares cause at least she was funny and iconic!!!

[theweirdcobrakaifan]

Female terry is so miranda priestly coded

[homoeroticchess]

i cannot overstate how funny cordelia is as a character. absolute failgirl of all time like. her JOB is catering kosher food. her full time profession. she neither knows how to pronounce any of it nor makes it even edible. actually so obsessed with her in both concept and execution. she shows up, loves her wife and her friends and thats literally enough. go girl

[makorragal-312]

I just caught up with A Sign of Affection today and I just have a single question to ask for anyone who watches:

Is wanting to slap Oushi with a brick every time he speaks/signs a normal reaction when watching the show or am I just trippin?

Just wanna know.

[nomairuins]

had 2 take a break 2 think abt a different one of my princesses. back 2 it

[protectivenotparanoid]

Amanda's hair cut in Saw X is beautiful and you can't change my mind.

[allthethoughtsandstuff]

im not saying that the scene when alex comes out to his mom was my favorite part of the movie but I’m definitely saying that the scene when alex comes out to his mom was my favorite part of the movie