So, I’m assuming that most players (like me) thought that you *had* to pass the “channeling the weave” scene with Gale in order to begin his romance. Makes sense, right? Gale is a learned scholar, he tells you magic is his life, so it’s understandable that even he might hesitate to romance you if you are unable to follow his simple instructions and share a moment with him.
…but nope! Nope. Of course Gale is so wonderful that even if you fail the scene, he’s still down bad for you, and to top it off? His response is one of the sweetest lines in the whole damn game.
If you are a Galemancer and you haven’t seen this before, please stop whatever you are doing, sit down, view his expression + hear his line delivery, and try not to pass out:
Tav: It was a pity your lesson in the Weave ended so soon - I was enjoying our moment alone. Do you think about us being alone again?
Gale: Do you?
Tav: Yes.
Gale: So do I. You see, I'm not a big believer in fate, but I do believe in serendipity.
Gale: Life is a tempest of events that sometimes we brace against, and sometimes embrace.
Gale: You're one such event that one day soon perhaps, I'd like to embrace.
okay so I had to go have a big intense think after the finale on what the fucking fuck was going on in armand's head. mainly because we know he's an evil gremlin but I needed his motivations to line up, and I felt I wasn't given enough to settle on an answer.
so my thinking was if he wanted to get rid of claudia (think of me without the burden of her, oh he did, he wrote a thesis.) then it made no sense he also wanted to kill louis. I figured he was being outnumbered/pressured into the play, but happy for it to unfold if he got what he wanted out of it, and louis could live. but nope that wasn't it, it was his play all along.
i'm very firmly of the belief that this is an adaption, not a copy of the books. so the argument saying it's because he's just That Crazy (he is lol) I mean sure, but the show is about complications of motivation, of memory, of reasons why things unfold. if its just because lol he's a freak and cuts peoples hands off - well what was the point of giving all this armand backstory this season? all this complexity of his history? (btw he is a freak and he does cut peoples hands off)
the other argument was he was jealous of lestat and he wanted lestat back, and this was a revenge. which nah. I don't think he wants lestat back, but i do think he wants lestat to suffer, to burn. and bringing him to paris for the horrific trial of his lover and daughter would do that.
but I don't think he'd go to all that trouble just for revenge on lestat.
anyway I was going around in circles and all it took was this one post on twitter for the ball to drop (thanks user lesbian4milfs)
like i knew all the little cuts hurt, every time louis would not devote himself to armand. every time louis took a step back, drew away. but i wasn't thinking how much armand was keeping score of it. how he counted up every rebuff, let it churn up into his throat like a fire. and then the betrayal dinner, when he actually realizes he's had what he wanted all along. he loves you. you're about to kill him. armand you stupid bitch
He fought valiantly at her side, her dragons above them safeguarding their city. Never once did he stray from her side nor she from his. Even when dread gripped him, fearing his end was near, the fear subsided, comforted by the thought that his final moments would be spent with her. And he believed fervently that even in death, he would find a way to continue guarding her.
Okay, but you guys do realize that the reason Mephisto behaves the way he does is because he has been raised with the intent of only being beneficial to the future demon king and nothing else, right?
(Buckle up because this is going to be a loooonnngggg post)
Mephisto comes from a family that has been serving the royal family for ages. He mentions multiple times that his family has always acted as their knights, their advisors and their protectors to them, and it won't be any different with him. It shouldn't be any different with him. Being beneficial to Diavolo has literally been decided to be the very meaning of his life even before he was born. He's been forced into the role and he's following it to a T because he's never known anything else, and because he can't afford to lose that. Without it, what else is left of him? What worth does he hold other than being essentially a tool for Diavolo?
And then the brothers fall and suddenly his position is at risk. Lucifer and Diavolo have already gotten along fairly well back when Lucifer was still an angel. Both Diavolo and Lucifer (as well as several others) mention that they go way back in their Nightbringer homescreen dialogues, and we see them having mutual respect by the end of the 'The Glory Days' Devilgram in the original game. Mephisto and Diavolo meanwhile might be childhood friends, but here's the thing
Diavolo wants a friend. A real friend. Someone that genuinely appreciates him for who he is as a person instead of focusing on his status as the future demon king. And that's something Lucifer can give him. They often hang out for the sake of it (apparently even eating dinner at Ristorante Six together regularly), they regularly engage in lighthearted banter, and Lucifer isn't afraid to give Diavolo his honest opinion
But that's not really the case with Mephisto...? He was never meant to be on equal footing with Diavolo; Diavolo even calls him "mini-Barbatos" at one point. He is literally still calling him 'Lord Diavolo' all the time, requests to speak his honest opinion first and waits for Diavolo to allow him to do so before actually giving it. That's why Mephisto keeps pushing down his own feelings and keeps showering Diavolo in praise any opportunity he gets while he adjusts every aspect of life to be beneficial to Diavolo in a way. Sure, he might be popular, but as long as Diavolo doesn't want him to get married he doesn't even waste a thought about relationships. He might have no real interest in journalism, but of course he'll take over RAD's Newspaper Club. After all, Diavolo asked him to! He's part of the House of Lords because as the future king's right-hand man that just makes sense. He was always just meant to be a tool for the crown prince to use, so he doesn't know how to treat Diavolo as anything but. He was literally groomed to be dispensable, so he's obviously going to act like it
And that's also where Mephisto's dislike for Lucifer stems from—he can only watch as Lucifer slowly grows closer and closer to Diavolo, and threatens to take the role that was always made up to be his. And so Mephisto keeps challenging Lucifer over and over again, trying to sabotage their friendship any way he can in hopes of winning back his position as the crown prince's right-hand man
That obviously doesn't make the way he treats Lucifer (and the rest of the brothers!) right. Lucifer isn't responsible for any of this, and blaming him for it is misguided. But it still doesn't change the fact that Mephisto has the right to be hurt at the situation at hand. His entire purpose of existence is just being ripped away from him right before his eyes and all he can do is watch. That must hurt. Especially when your entire familiy's purpose has been to serve the royal family, and you are the first one to lose that
Also, I feel like something else we need to talk about is how his fight only ever really seems to be with the brothers, especially Lucifer? Again, part of the reason is the entire Diavolo situation, sure, but I feel like it also has to do with the situation in the Devildom at large? I already vaguely talked about this in a different context a few months back, but ever since the brothers have been cast out of the Celestial Realm and arrived in the Devildom, the entire situation has just been super unstable. We as a player have a unique perspective on the events because we only have a limited outsider view to on the actual politics going on the the Devildom, while also being aware how things will play out in the future. We know that ultimately letting the brothers stay is the right choice, but that's not the way a regular denizen who has to live through all this sees it. I mean, just the way Mephisto describes the brothers really puts things into perspective:
The entire realm is super destabilized, they just semi-lost their current king, and there have been multiple very real threats of war—first when the Devildom took the brothers in in the first place, then when "Raphael" showed up and told the brothers to return, and Lucifer rightfully points out to (a comatose) MC that they are bound to go to war should the Celestial Realm ever find out that Diavolo turned Lilith into a human. There's just a lot of tension in the air, and the brothers—extremly powerful as both angels and demons—seem to be at the root of most of it in one way or another. From a the House of Lords' perspective, it makes sense to want the brothers gone, same goes for a denizens perspective. And while it is a delicate situation all around that can't just be blamed on the brothers, it makes sense for Mephisto to also see them at the center of it all. Again, that doesn't make the brothers' treatment right, but it's at least understandable given the circumstances
On a side note, when discussing his beliefs, I think it's also important to remember that he to this day is incredibly sheltered. He just accepts all this as normal because to him it is normal, but as we've seen in lesson 31 hard mode Thirteen was so shocked by his views that she immediately decided to drop everything and play therapist for him (absolute Queen for not just blaming it on him btw 💖). I know this was just a throw-away line, but this paired with him basically excisting to serve Diavolo already says so much about his character:
And with everyone else he seems to be generally pleasent? I mean, he says he doesn't want anything to do with angels or humans, and yet he risks getting injured in order to save Luke from falling. Yet he actively seeks out MC to solve one of the 666 Mysteries of RAD together with them, and saves them from tumbling on the floor because "anyone else would have done the same" (they wouldn't have. The season 1 brothers would have laughed straight in MC's face). He literally complained to Thirteen about how he was just about to go home and how he doesn't have time for her, yet diligently carries all her things for her as rain is pouring down on him. His actions always end up betraying his words
Also he has a massive sweet tooth which alings perfectly with one of the headcanons I had for months and is RAD's local horse girl so we stan! <3
-> more character & relationship analyses
-> masterlist
I've decided the only reason Lloyd, known descendant of dragons, didn't tell this to Egalt, who refuses to train non-dragons, is for the same reason he never mentioned he's the First Spinjitsu Master's grandson. It just never came up. Nobody asked him directly about it. And besides, he's only like, one-fourth dragon, so does it really count? He doesn't look like a dragon, and he has never in his life considered himself a dragon. Mentioning his ancestry to Egalt probably would've just made him look like some hotshot, or make him more annoyed. There's no need to bring up such a silly little fact. He's sure it won't be important later.
NEVER STOP MAKING SUFIN AR T!!!! YOU DRAW THEM SO CUTE SJDJDKDSNFKDJWEIDWIO, MY H E A RT!!!! I WANT WHAT THEY HAVE
GWAAAGHHHHHH thank you so much anon! I’ve had this ask forever in my inbox and I’m sorry it took so long for a response!! THIS MESSAGE MAKES ME SO HAPPY I CRY TEARS OF JOY 🫶 I will never stop making SuFin art :3 they are so special to me I love them!! Even when I take some breaks and explore more characters, I always come back to them eventually!
I also want what they have!! They’re so sweet and their relationship is so good, I just RAAAHHHHHHH I love pure and soft relationships so much, but that isn’t to say they don’t have their own struggles! Why I think they work so well is because they can help each other and know that the other won’t fault them on bad days! I love a little angst here and there, but only if there’s a resolution and comfort in the end! Depending on how long you guys have followed me, you might already know that I’m a sucker for happy endings! I think the world can be too scary and chaotic sometimes and I like to make art and write things that make it a bit brighter! I don’t handle heavy angst well personally, so I prefer to give my favorite characters happy lives, with some hiccups once in a while of course! I love SuFin’s relationship and I’ll continue writing about them and drawing them probably forever!! 🥺🫶
Thank you so much for this message anon! It genuinely makes me so happy! And apologies again for taking so long to respond!! I just didn’t have any recent SuFin doodles to post with it! 😭🫶 I drew this real quick just so I could finally say thank you and do some rambling! :D THANK YOU ANON 💕💕💕
Saw a post the other day asking how P03 is able to see; my best guess is something like this.
I actually inspected P03′s 3D model for this which I don’t usually do (and then I proceeded to draw it off-model anyway. Whoops) but even outside of its hypothetical camera-vision, there’s a few other things of note:
P03 seems to have a lot of large vents (or at least things that look like some sort of ventilation/cooling). Two major ones on the chest, three on the top of the head (with potentially another on the side of its head), and one on the underside of its base (though that one might be for the hologram projection it uses to float). My best guess is that it’s because his factory is built right by the water where there would be a TON of moisture in the air. For that reason, some of them have got to be exhausts to make sure all of the air circulating in his torso is dry. That or he just overheats extremely easily I guess, but I’m leaning towards the humidity explanation (or it could be a combination of the two).
Its “eyes” are somewhere on the front of its face; whether it sees through a camera or just through the eyes on the screen via video game magic is up for debate, but it turns to face the player when they stand up so its vision probably isn’t on the sides of its head or something.
Similarly, P03 has some sort of sensitivity to touch (he reacts to Leshy’s hands gripping his monitor before Leshy says anything). I don’t think any “touch sensors” would be externally visible though.
Presumably (based on the ending to Act 3) P03′s head isn’t just a monitor, there’s vital systems in there as well (otherwise tearing its head off wouldn’t do anything to disrupt its upload/its ability to function). My best guess is that his power supply is in his chest so it would be the equivalent of just... unplugging your computer while it’s trying to preform updates.
The wire it uses to connect to the modules to update cards in Act 3 seems to come from either its neck or its torso, but in act 2 it’s very visibly on the side of the head. Granted the act 2 sprites are all pretty different from the Scrybes’ 3D models so that’s not an outlier.
The range of motion in P03′s arm seems pretty similar to a human arm; he has a ball-and-socket joint on the shoulder and a hinge joint on his elbow plus separate segments for the “wrist” and “hand”. The only thing it probably can’t do is twist its forearm.
I don’t have any idea what either of the cranks do. The head crank moves when it changes its expression so it might have something to do with its display, but the arm crank is only shown doing anything on the G0lly Uberbot hologram. My best guess is that P03 used to have a lot more built-in functions but ended up removing them in order to operate faster so a lot of the buttons and switches on it are just vestigial leftovers. (The idea of the arm crank being able to function as a hand-crank motor in a pinch is really funny though. Spin it a few times when P03 is out of power and you can generate just enough battery for it to tell you to fuck off then go back into sleep mode again).
I have no idea how the levitation works either. It’s cool and that’s why it works. No need to get more complicated than that.
For any Nevermoor fans that've ever been interested in getting their hands on the UK hardcover editions of the series, with the wonderful cover designs..... I think they might be out of print (which. makes sense with the gold foil) so. goodluck and godspeed for finding them secondhand, because it was surprisingly hard to do online.
MCPLURAL POSTING LETS GO. when yters reference their chat/comments, talking to the audience, etc. so plural to me
Rating: we used to pretend we were recording videos for youtube while playing games as a kid and would talk to ‘the viewers’ and after twitch took off we reffered to ‘chat’ and uh. uh well we’re quite plural. we just thought that was normal. anyways to get to my point yes thats plural.