#style retrospective/analysis

[viveela]

I'm not rlly hating on Style or your opinion, just like cuz Stan isn't good in a relationship(seen with Stendy), and Stan and Kyle appear to have a 'good' friend relationship, so what makes you think that Stan wouldn't treat Kyle the same if they were dating?/gen

That’s a good question. Why would Stan be any different in a relationship with Kyle? How do I know it wouldn’t be a rinse and repeat? Well, looking at their dynamic in the overall show is a big part in getting the answer to why it would be different.

There’s a lot of uniqueness in their friendship especially when it comes to what Stan does. Stan used to seek out Kyle when he’s emotional, seeing him as someone to go to. He didn't and still doesn’t really do that with anyone else. He’s also readily willing to sacrifice for Kyle, doing everything he can for him whether it be him almost dying or because he felt insecure about his looks due to a tier list. He would value Kyle’s word a lot too, often going along with what he says because of this. Stan doesn’t really do any of this with anyone else, further highlighting their dynamic as something that stands out.

When you compare this to the relationship that Stan has with Wendy, it’s notable the care and effort Stan puts in isn’t nearly on the same level. (Even more when you think about the chat gpt episode). So with all this in mind, logically it would make sense that if he was placed in a relationship with Kyle, it would probably go better.

Honestly, though, despite all this I don’t think that’s exactly the case either though. I can explain why (but it's gonna be very long and a deep dive into style's dynamic):

Hot take, but I think when it comes to Stan being in a relationship, I see it always starting off rough no matter the person involved with him due to his mental health. The obvious reasoning is his depression that's untreated, but I believe there's even more to it than this.

I mentioned this briefly, but I see Stan as a very accidentally bpd (borderline personality disorder) coded character. A lot of the behaviors that he exhibits with Kyle feel reminiscent of how one would act with their favorite person. This is most seen with how he acts when he loses Kyle, he goes through an extremely rough withdrawal period. Stan also gets sensitive easily, possessive, can switch emotions quickly, behave irrationally, prone to addictive substances, makes impulsive choices, and tried to shove Kyle out of his life before he could when his depression got severe, etc. It would explain the way he acts out whenever anything concerning Kyle happens.

Then, stay with me, Kyle strikes me as very npd (narcissistic personality disorder) coded, albeit, again, by accident. Despite Stan being his most important relationship and someone he cares for, he constantly dismisses his feelings, pokes fun at him, and tends to try manipulating him into backing him up in strange circumstances even when he's not in the right. Then look at his other consistent traits like his need for attention and adoration, strong refusal to accept when he's wrong, fearing being ostracized/abandoned, thinking himself morally superior at all times, and behaves manipulative often, etc. I feel like these traits get overlooked a lot because he's framed as the good/right one by the show, but when you really think about it, it feels like a strange line up for him until that coding is considered.

I’m no professional, but I’ve looked into this a good amount and know people with these things and it feels like it aligns pretty well the more you look into it. I won’t ramble on explaining this further, but I could if asked. It’s really interesting to think about. 

So if they got together um...it's gonna be complicated, especially with an fp involved. These kind of pairs in relationships are notorious for going bad, terrible even. The start is always sunshine and rainbows though...but then it sort of explodes. But I mean, their friendship has kinda already gone bad in modern day. Their actions with each other have left wounds. They don't seem as cheery with each other as they once were nor do they even talk much, but they do still go to each other. Even when looking at early seasons, they kept going through ‘break up’ arcs due to setting each other off. Yet they come back to each other still each time.

So my point is…yes it would be different, Stan would behave different for sure. Would it be better? Not for a long time, in fact it’d be worse for a while. Here’s the thing though, I think that’s not necessarily what matters. I think what really matters is whether it stays rough or if they manage to break out of it. I think style can and will manage to get better. Especially if Kyle gets a psychology degree, awareness goes a long way.

And as I was saying, they have this inner want to go back to each other no matter what happens. They’re only truly happiest when together and we see a clear example of this with the two pc timelines. But we also see how complicated this can be for them within the same specials. This is why I like them. They’re complicated and messy, but really do care for each other a lot and at the end of the day prefer to try mending their bond then leaving it to die out. They just need more support and communication with each other.

[mercuryislove]

it truly is cuckoo bananas to me that mister thorhighheels doesn't have like. three billion subscribers for real. he makes AMAZING videos and has such good editing and script writing and composing skills!!!!

[not-terezi-pyrope]

There's a recurring issue that keeps happening in fantasy discourse that keeps happening to creators where including monsters in your worldbuilding gets distorted into a sort of fascist intent as people get gradually lore desensitised to said monsters and they become more and more a "mundane" or "natural" part of the fictional world in people's minds.

Here's how it works, from my observation.

The monster, as a concept, is an ancient mainstay of all fiction as it is a mainstay of the human psyche, representing primal fears and the abstract (unrealistic!) horror of the other. It has carved out an important role in media as an element that is broadly understood to be a thrilling antagonistic force that is removed from anything in the real world.

An author wants to write a story about heroes who regularly encounter and fight multiple monsters, because this is mechanically important for the type of media or narrative (maybe a video game world needs many creatures to fight, the high fantasy protagonist needs a "monster force" to threaten the world, the ghost hunter type hero needs various ghosts and ghouls to fight off each week.

The story gets released into the world and people become used to the monsters existing, to the extent that they begin to lose the narrative lens of the monster in their minds. They begin to treat the otherworldly monster as an element of the world, and then the idea of the monster as a purely antagonistic or evil force begins to sound absurd, as it is for any type of being in the real world, especially if the monster is intelligent. People get interested in subverting these elements of the monster, and derivative works including the type of monster begin to explore stories in which the monsters are actually neutral/good, but misunderstood, actors, due to their monstrous appearance or similar.

This interpretation of the monster as another kind of person, or benign animal, becomes widespread, with the monster solidified as a concrete part of the world in a way that is divorced from their conception as an unrealistic, otherworldly threat.

People look back at the original source work, and go, "hey! Why was the author so intent on displaying this group of creature as inherently gruesome and evil? This sounds like fascism!" And it makes sense why they think that, except that they have forgotten that said author was writing about a type of monster instead of an analogy for a human group or race. As such, with enough time and reinterpretation, people can find grounds to accuse authors of fascism for the crime of merely writing about monsters, which kind of sucks as a thing to do, in my opinion.

I think the Tolkien/D&D style Orc is the prototypical example of this, although there are many others, really it happens to some extent with any sort of "monster species" where there is more than one horror creature in your world. This is not to say that you can't interrogate issues with how certain monsters are portrayed - why evil orcs are portrayed with darker skin colours sometimes, for example, or... Pretty much everything going on with a lot of goblin-esque creatures, but I think it's important to remember that this is a different sort of criticism from, for instance, "Tolkien and the D&D people believe that certain types of being are inherent evil and need to be wiped out".

Because we can't forget that they were not writing a real type of person or creature, but a type of monster, and monsters are understood to be an unrealistic, otherworldly narrative contrivance. You have problems making them fit into the real world with a just mindset because they do not exist in the real world, they exist as monsters, and were written with this understanding that there is a common understanding of what that means and how it should be understood.

I feel like people need to keep that in mind in their analysis, else pretty much any creative can be smeared retrospectively for writing about monsters whatsoever. I think monsters are pretty cool in fiction and important to the human psyche, and think that they have a crucial place, as long as we remember the lens through which they should be considered in their conception, which is inherently outside of material reality.

That's also not to say we shouldn't subvert and interrogate and adapt monster tropes either, but doing so doesn't mean throwing out the original ideas as having gone rotten.

[strandedcrow]

hi friend you're a video essay enjoyer i believe do you have any recommendations people and or videos? need somethin interestin to listen to while tryin to draw

HELLO FRIEND ok so skipping over the obvious popular ones (victorious, roblox oof, defunctland in general, my house.wad, etc) some of my favorites are:

The Downward Spiral of Watching Velma: one that i only found recently, a lengthy deep dive into the shitty hbo velma show so that u don’t have to watch it

How SunnyV2 Ruined Video Essays: also one i found recently, a shorter one which provides a meta analysis of video essays on youtube, also got me back into video essays tbh

How Sponegbob Explored Existential Nihilism: VERY short one (under 10 minutes) but actually neat

I Found Every OSHA Violation in FNAF Security Breach: there are so fucking many

The Biggest Cheater in Clone Hero History Was Finally Caught: honestly it’s been a rocky past couple weeks for the CH community bc just recently Multiple big name players have admitted to cheating so like calling this person the biggest cheater might not even be accurate anymore but like. still a rlly good watch

Bojack Horseman Full Series Retrospective: if you want lengthy here it is (almost 6 hour analysis of every season)

Disney Trash Can Tier List: not rlly a video essay at all however it’s such a random tier list to make and it’s delightful

Dream (Market) - The Infiltration of the Dark Net: literally an insane fucking story one of my absolute favorite barely sociable videos bc the whole story is just so fucking wild

The Dark Side of the Silk Road: one of my other favorites from barely sociable

Explaining: This House Has People In It: one of my favorite youtubers providing a complete analysis of my favorite arg/analog horror project HIGHLY recommend this one btw

DHMIS Explained: another from the same youtuber, but this time with defunctland style production (before defunctland started having these vibes. honestly maybe a little the other way around given this is 6 years old)

Fear of the Deep: nexpo is the third of my horror/unsettling internet history trifecta that i watch in this list (barely sociable, night mind, and nexpo my beloveds), this one was made just before oceangate, but talks about a few different projects that focus on. ig a fear of the deep really

[stillness-in-green]

Hi, are you still working on the AFO Retcon Essay? You mentioned a few times you are not sure if Horikoshi retconned AFO's original plan or if he always intended for AFO to take over Tomura, but made AFO act somewhat contradictory from the start regardless. Did this ever make you feel like there are too many possibilities in regards to Horikoshi's original intentions to take into account and could therefore make it harder to write the essay?

Hi there, and thanks for your interest! I did actually talk about this a good while back, towards the beginning of the year; you can find that post here. It says pretty much exactly what you did and goes a bit further--that I'm so distrustful of Horikoshi as a writer that I have no idea anymore what might have been retconned and what was his intention from the start, and further, that even if something was his intention from the start, I don't trust him to have laid the groundwork for those intentions with honesty or good faith.

Instead of the AFO Retcon Essay, what I've been poking at instead is some sort of massive retrospective of all the problems with BNHA's endgame. That's going to require a reread on my part, and some decisions about formatting--namely, do I want to do the reread privately, on my end, and then write the Mega Chonky Essay and post it when I'm finished, or do I do it publically, read-along liveblog style, documenting the problems as I go?

At the moment, I'm leaning towards the second. I have some tentative ideas about keeping a running list of (to use a witticism from the Twitter fen) Themes & Such, ideas and ideology the series sets out and how well it lives up to those ideas--or how it fails to. I'd also like to keep track of things like character arcs and foreshadowing, documenting things with an eye to where those arcs go, what the foreshadowing amounts to, whether the series keeps its implicit promises, and so on. I suspect it would wind up looking something like a cross between the heteromorphobia essay and my chapter thoughts posts.

On the other hand, a format that deals with one group of problems at a time could feel more focused, discussing all the evidence at once of any particular topic rather than having to keep many (many) plates spinning across a retrospective of the entire series. I also already have the broad outline for that, since it was my plan last time I was seriously poking at the idea. It would probably still end up being posted in multiple parts; the parts would just cover different groups of characters or aspects of the series per installment, rather than e.g. each installment covering an arc and everything in it.

I suppose there's nothing stopping me from doing first the former and then the latter? I'm planning to reread the whole series anyway, after all.

In any case, I like that kind of installment-based format not least because I'm also in the early stages of getting a Patreon set up aimed at supporting my meatier chunks of fandom writing and potentially giving people some ability to point me at this or that topic. A multi-part analysis of BNHA--something in a similar style as my documentations of heteromorphobia, the problems with the anime's adaptation of My Villain Academia, or even, to reach back to an older fandom, my episode-by-episode write-ups on Human Debris in Gundam IBO!--strikes me as a good way to get that off the ground.

I've got one or two things to finish getting off my plate before then, and I'd want to wait until the last volume of BNHA officially comes out (12/4) just in case of any thirteenth-hour surprises, but keep an eye out! I'm not inclined to paywall my writing, but maybe an early access sort of model? I'm also going to want to find a blogging site that's more aimed at hosting long-form writing than Tumblr is. We'll see!

In the meantime, to give everyone an example of the kinds of things I'm looking at tracking through the story, one of the things that most vexes me about the ending is how it not only fails to resolve its contradictory ideas of saving and heroism, it feels to even recognize those contradictions. Here's a chunk of my notes on that topic from the outline of The Mega Chonky Essay in its current form.

• Nana says saving isn’t just saving someone’s life, but also making sure they’re smiling in the end. But that means that saving their life is the prerequisite. If Eri died smiling, her smiling would not prevent everyone from recognizing her death as a tragedy.         • “Perfect Victory” is defined as both “winning” and “saving” flawlessly—that is, every fight is won, and no one is left unsaved. This is introduced first as an ideal for Deku and Bakugou to strive for, with both of them needing to work on different parts of the equation, and continues to be an aspect of Bakugou’s characterization, as it comes up again in Joint Training. But it doesn’t stay locked to them, as All Might says directly to the American pilots that they can’t be allowed to die because the kids are aiming for a Perfect Victory.         • A pivotal question for Toga and the larger series is, given that Heroes are supposed to save people, how do Heroes justify killing Villains? Do they not think of Villains as people?         With all three of these ideas in place, the challenge becomes how to navigate the endgame to a place where all three concepts are honored/resolved. The ending must demonstrate that Heroes do see Villains as people while also being able to achieve their desired Perfect Victory—they must win against the Villains while also saving them, where “saving” means that the Villains’ lives are saved and they’re smiling in the end.         Or must they? After the first war, the series introduces another concept of how to save people, albeit one that runs directly counter to Nana's definition of a saved person as someone both alive and smiling: Gran Torino says that killing someone can be a way of saving them. He and Nana can’t both be right, so to confront and resolve that discrepancy, the story will have to acknowledge one of them as wrong. (Spoilers: It does not.)         In the end, Toga dies, and Deku kills Shigaraki, and if both of them die smiling, well, you sure as hell can’t say the same for e.g. Gigantomachia or All For One or Dabi or any of the thousands of unhappy Villains who wound up in prison (many of them likely bound for the gallows!), alive but decidedly not smiling. Heck, All Might, in trying to console Deku, moves the goalposts even more by suggesting that all Deku needed to do to get the credit on “saving” Shigaraki was make sure his inner child wasn’t crying anymore. Not only does he not have to live, he doesn’t even have to be smiling! An absence of obvious grief is enough!         Thus, you wind up in this place where you have an unsolvable problem: somewhere along the line, either someone failed or someone was wrong, and the story, in being unwilling to confront that disharmony, winds up undermining other established themes and goals. Did the kids “lose” because they failed to meet the criteria for the Perfect Victory? Was the definition of “saving” wrong? Was Gran Torino wrong or was Nana? Was the definition of Perfect Victory wrong? Was Toga correct in her fear that Heroes don’t see Villains as people?         No matter what the answer is, it runs afoul of some previously established Theme in the story. Even if the idea is that the ending is downbeat and bittersweet because the kids failed (and the story is using All Might’s goalpost-moving to resolve the dissonant definitions of “saving” in Gran Torino’s favor), that still means yet another theme is violated: that of BNHA being a story of how Deku+his classmates become “the greatest Heroes.” After all, the story also defined “greatest Heroes” for us! The greatest Heroes are those who can achieve Perfect Victory.

Whatever form this essay winds up taking, these are the sorts of concepts I want to discuss in terms of how the series sets them up compared to how it winds up following them through.

Thanks for the ask!

[harveyguilleniconodelamoda]

Welcome to Harvey Guillén: Icono de la Moda!

A blog for celebrating the style journey and impact of queer, Latino, plus size actor, producer, and fashion icon Harvey Guillén.

To explore what's already here, click or tap on the tags on this post! For some explanation on the purpose of the blog and how things are tagged, check under the cut!

About This Blog

Since the earliest days of his career, Harvey Guillén has been exceeding expectations and breaking down barriers in every avenue of the entertainment industry he has explored. After almost exclusively styling himself for years--in photoshoots, on screen, and even on the red carpet--Harvey blew up on the fashion scene in 2023 via multiple red carpet collaborations with luxury designer Christian Siriano.

From his iconic 20s-inspired suit for the Oscars to his statement-making Met Gala look both honoring and critiquing the legacy of designer Karl Lagerfeld, Harvey's red carpet looks have been covered by People, Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, and more. Since then he has continued to stand out, speak out, and create space for more diversity and inclusivity in the arts.

Here you'll find posts analyzing the costumes of Harvey's most iconic characters such as Guillermo de la Cruz from What We Do In The Shadows, Cousin Blobbin from The Thundermans, Eli from Companion, and others as his filmography continues to grow! You'll also find:

Retrospectives on Harvey's most iconic fashion moments.

Examinations of recurring motifs in Harvey's personal style.

Deep dives on Harvey's staple pieces, accessories, footwear, outerwear, and seasonal style.

Editorials and comparative analysis of specific looks.

Identification of specific pieces including price and sizing information.

Affordable (under $100) alternatives for those wishing to emulate Harvey's style.

Is there a costume, outfit, or staple piece from Harvey's style you'd like to know more about? Feel free to send a request via the ask box!

Tagging Method

All posts are tagged with Harvey's name, "fashion," "plus size fashion," a basic category for the occasion/purpose of the featured look(s), and the names of any key designers or brands mentioned within the post. Beyond that, I try to be consistent about tagging key types of clothing items (i.e. "jackets" or "shoes") and any other relevant topics (i.e. season, event, holiday, show/film, etc.). A categorized list of all current tags is below.

General Blog Tags:

harvey guillén

fashion

plus size fashion

blog update

poll

pinned post

ask box

interviews

style notes

to research

correction

gif

tumblrtop10

top 10 2024

Type of Outfit/Occasion:

menswear

gender neutral fashion

sustainable fashion

red carpet looks

media event looks

street style

photoshoots

character costumes

casual wear

tv appearances

work attire

Designers/Brands

christian siriano

zara

disney

disney store

gucci

asos

pansyass ceramics

only & sons

coogi

target

dr martens

tiffany and co

dangerfield

vesper obscura

goldderby

marni

chanel

demonia

demoniacult

wolf & badger

sleeves sold separately

unique vintage

christian dior

raen

nous etudions

privé revaux

lucy lu's boutique

alexander mcqueen

phix

gcds

club 33

ami paris

freya hartas

vitaly

simons le 31 collection

r13

adidas

la dodgers

Category of Clothing

accessories

jewelry

jackets

shoes

sweaters

staple pieces

formal wear

creative suiting

men's suits

outerwear

combat boots

platform sneakers

sportswear

swimwear

jumpsuit

overalls

cardigans

wide-leg pants

Characters

guillermo de la cruz

eli companion

andy cursed friends

andy leonard

TV Shows/Films

wwdits

wwdits cast

wwdits season 2

what we do in the shadows

companion movie

companion 2025

companion spoilers

garfield movie

garfield 2024

cursed friends

the view

drew barrymore show

helluva boss

pride across america

el tux

that friend

that friend bts

Events

2024

emmys 2024

new york fashion week

nyfw2025

imagen awards 2024

pride 2024

pride month

companion press tour

impact awards 2024

disney upfronts

disney upfronts 2024

wwdits fyc event 2024

galaxycon

galaxycon raleigh

galaxycon raleigh 2024

florida supercon

supercon 2024

emmys

vanity fair

astra awards

lacc 2024

la comic con

Seasons

summer

summer 2024

autumn

autumn style

spring style

Other

scavenger hunt

fair isle

donald duck

wwcits

wildfire relief

kayvan novak

boomerang

instagram

ai

hollywood creative alliance

teal

mosaic knitting

baseball

intarsia

photobook

magazine covers

queer art

samantha rei crossland

instagram live

youtube

millennial pink

samantha rei

amada sanchez

[kozachenko]

A Retrospective Analysis on Touhou 17

So it's finally here, and even though I know for a fact that I am not going to be able to get the Keiki drawing done by this time (I'm having trouble with the eyes, for some reason it's always that aspect of drawing her that's difficult for me, I can never really capture the essence of her character no matter what I do) I still wanted to post something about this game today since it's the game's 5 year anniversary. I have a lot of thoughts on it, and my views on the game have changed quite a lot throughout my time being a Touhou fan. This is going to be very long so I'll put the rest under the keep reading tag.

So for some background, Touhou 17 was the first Touhou game I ever played, I got into the series during 2021 shortly after my Hunter X Hunter phase ended (since the manga was still on hiatus at the time) and I remember playing 17 during that time as well. I'm pretty sure that the reason I played it was because of that one nitirushh animation where Keiki disses the animal spirits so hard that they die (still my favourite fan-depection of Keiki tbh, it's just really funny to me) and that set my interest in the game itself. It was also the newest Touhou game at the time and none of the other games interested me as much. Then I actually played the game and at the time I found it insanely fun. I remember feeling so excited playing the stage 1 of the game and thinking to myself "Holy shit I'm actually playing a Touhou game" and having a lot of fun with it. Even though the game itself is the easiest out of all the Touhou games, it was still a challenge for me at the time since I had never played a bullet Hell before. For this reason, the game as a whole struck a chord with me. Funny Touhou animation aside, I don't know if it was because I had only recently gotten out of my Hunter X Hunter phase after finishing the whole 2011 version of the anime and had caught up with the manga during 2020, but maybe some aspect of 17 kinda scratched a similar itch in my brain and it really stuck with me IDK.

As for what I think of the game itself now.... gameplay wise, it could be better, it's still fun but there was so much potential for the game to tell it's story through the medium it chose to present itself in. Why did we not have more similarities between Eika and Keiki's danmaku styles to show their connection? Why did we not have a moment similar to what happened in TD during the final boss fight where Mayumi comes back in to take over during the fight in a last ditch effort to protect Keiki? It's the final boss so go all out! The animal spirits could also be balanced a lot better as well, especially with Youmu becoming incredibly overpowered with the wolf spirit, and visibility is a bit of a problem in this game. Some of the tracks could use a bit more polish too, I commend ZUN for being experimental with his newer tracks but the stage 3 theme and staff roll theme are both kinda eh, and while the boss themes have a lot of good punch to them and can be really good, it still feels like some extra spice could've been added to really make them stand out (which is why I love the theme remixes Saki and Yachie got in Touhou 19). I also wish the Animal Realm got explained better within the lore of the series, mainly because it raises a lot of questions about how Hell was founded and it kinda needlessly complicates things. I would've rather it be introduced as it's own region of Hell rather than being a separate thing entirely that just so happens to be located next to it. I also wish that we got more stuff with this setting that explains how it connects to the rest of the worldbuilding a lot more, I definitely feel like actually having it explained more in the mangas would definitely help to make it feel less convuluted, but unfortunately the closest we're getting are cameos in Lotus Eaters and very brief mentions of the games themselves. I still like the game though, as I've mentioned I do love a lot of the music and I love all the characters we got introduced to in this game. I've been appreciating Eika a lot more recently, I do like Urumi but she's neat and I like her design a lot, Kutaka is a fucking shithead who kept FUCKING UP MY 1CCS IN BOTH 17 AND 17.5 THE FUCKING BITCH- who is very funny and I love seeing more insight into Hell's management. Yachie's great and I find her relationships to the other characters in this game very interesting, Mayumi is awesome and the more I think about her the more I like her, and I love how Saki contrasts Yachie in her strategies. That being she has no strategy and just goes "fuck it, we ball" with no hesitation lmao.

I'm pretty sure you all noticed the absence of one character in particular, that being Keiki. I've made it no secret on this blog that Keiki is my favourite Touhou character, and a lot of that is because of her role as an antagonist in Touhou 17. I always found it really fascinating how ZUN created her as an allegory for AI (I don't know if Apollo just randomly blessed him with the gift of prophecy because MAN does that statement hit harder now more than ever) and the fact that she's portrayed as a very morally grey character in the game itself and Reimu's reaction to her, stating that she can see an "evil aura" in Keiki. I've already talked a lot about Keiki on this blog and I don't know what there is that I haven't said, but I wanted to start off with her because it ties into a big part of why I still find this game's story interesting. That main aspect being it's parallels to Gensokyo and Touhou's overarching them of humanity's relationship with nature.

So to step back from 17 for a second, I feel like we should look at what the Youkai represent in the story. Youkai in Touhou are created from humanity's fear, and back before science was able to properly explain anything, this fear very often manifested into a fear of nature. Natural disasters would end up wiping out villages, dangerous animals would often lurk in forests and end up killing anyone who would go in them. Overall nature isn't very kind to humanity, and humanity knows this. This is why humanity would often try and find reasons as to why these things would happen. This brings us back to the Youkai in Touhou who are the embodiment of the unexplainable. In manga like Forbidden Scrollery and Lotus Eaters, we often see how the humans in the human village are at the mercy of these Youkai, the only reason that they aren't being slaughtered is entirely for their own benefit so they don't run out of resources. The only hope the humans in the village really have is to turn to the gods, another product of man's desire to explain the unexplainable, to potentially save them. The survival of the people in the human village will always be in the hands of beings beyond their comprehension. No matter what, humanity will always be at the mercy of nature.

Coming back to Touhou 17, we can see that the relationship between the human and beast spirits isn't exactly.... pleasant. The beast spirits all see the human spirits as slaves essentially and they gain strength from their torment. The only way that the human spirits are even able to stand a chance against them is to submit themselves to a god and pray for their protection. And even then there's no way in Hell that they're getting out of this situation since the god they're praying to views them the same way as the animal spirits (whether they are aware of it or not).

So if you haven't noticed by my word choice, there are quite a lot of similarities here with the dynamics of the Animal realm and Gensokyo. That's not even mentioning the fact that in both places we have at least 3 different parties fighting over control of the humans, whether it be animal spirits or Youkai. Hell, this race for power in Gensokyo is a plot point in Lotus Eaters and Forbidden Scrollery, so it's not like this is a new concept for the series to explore either.

There's also something to be said about how Keiki and the technology she brings with her are seen as a threat to the order of the animal realm. Throughout human history, humanity's creativity and ingenuity have always been major factors in our survival as a species. We created tools to use the nature around us and make it work to our advantage, we created weapons to more efficiently hunt and find food to survive, and we created art and literature to document our histories and make sense of the world. Going back to 17, Keiki is the epitome of humanity's evolution and creativity and she is the one who responded to the human's cries for salvation. Another thing to think about is that in Gensokyo, the best the villagers are going to get in terms of technology are old computers that are very limited in their use, and even then barely anyone will have any idea how to use them. The reason that Gensokyo even exists in the first place is to preserve the Youkai and Gods that would become forgotten by humanity's technological advancement. In both of these places, technological advancement is seen as a threat to the natural order and must be suppressed at all costs.

Of course in Gensokyo it isn't as extreme as the animal realm. The Kappa, the Tengu, and even gods like Kanako are all quite technologically advanced and/or are introducing new technologies to Gensokyo (those are just the ones I could list off the top of my head, but please tell me if there are more that I forgot). But here's the interesting thing, notice how none of the examples I listed there were humans. The only way for the humans of Gensokyo to have these technologies introduced to them is if the powers that be, nature, let them have those technologies. Going back to the animal realm, even after Keiki is defeated we can see that the beast spirits are still using the technologies she (most likely) introduced, i.e. that one chapter in Lotus Eaters where one of the otter spirits introduced what is essentially a GameBoy to the Kappa and Nitori saying stuff like, "oh yeah the animal realm is actually pretty technologically advanced nowadays" as well as that one story in CoLA where Ran and Yachie deal with the AI Sumireko made. Once again, the only times when the use of technology goes unprotested in this series are when it's kept out of the hands of humans and back into the hands of nature. Even when humans are able to fight back and create their own technology, nature will always win in the end, no matter how hard humanity tries to defeat it. The way Touhou 17 ends is indicative of this, with Keiki being defeated and the Animal Realm returning to it's status quo.

However, Gensokyo has never had this kind of issue before.... or so it may seem. Yes there's never been any technological uprising by the human villagers and with the way things are there most likely never will be, but when you take away the potential for technological advancement from humans then the next best thing would be magic. And when humans in Gensokyo use magic to find a way to gain power and be more than just fodder for the Youkai, they end up being punished. This is most prevalent in Forbidden Scrollery when Reimu kills the fortune teller. I don't think I need to go too in depth about this moment since I already did so in my Forbidden Scrollery review but this once again shows a parallel between Gensokyo and the Animal Realm.

So what am I trying to say with all of this? I've been bringing up a lot of the similarities that these two places have but similarities can just be chalked up to coincidences that don't mean anything. What I've been trying to say with this whole thing is that the Animal Realm represents an extreme version of Gensokyo, one where every ugly aspect of it is dialed up to 11 and the law of the strong eating the weak rules all. It's a Gensokyo without a spell card system to level the playing field. I do want to say that I don't believe Gensokyo is a grimdark setting, sure some parts about it are bleaker than others, but there are also many good aspects of Gensokyo that I feel like I should bring up. It's a safe-haven for the forgotten, and if we continue viewing the Youkai and Gods from the lens of both of them being allegories for nature, Gensokyo is a place where nature can fluorish outside of humanity's hands. Unlike the Animal Realm, Gensokyo was never established with the intentions of harming people. Nature is both beautiful and terrifying, and where Gensokyo displays the beautiful sides of nature, the Animal Realm displays all the ugly sides of it. Even then, there is some overlap between the two, Gensokyo does have a nastier side to it and the Animal Realm is a place where nature can exist unrestrained by humanity (even if the place is still a shitshow overall). Now that I think about it, this sort of duality between the two realms is kinda fitting for Touhou, and I can't stress enough that when I say that Gensokyo and the Animal Realm have some parallels I am not trying to say Gensokyo is a grimdark dystopia. Hell even going back into the Lotus Eaters manga, the otter spirit that escaped from the Animal Realm even said that Gensokyo was a better place to live.

So yeah, I don't really have any good way to end this aside from saying happy 5 year anniversary Touhou 17. You are a flawed game but god do I still love you. Oh yeah, and if there's anything I missed or any mistakes I made, please correct me/let me know.

[dr-demi-bee]

2024 Writing Retrospect

Thanks for the tags @marlowethebard and @galeorderbride 🥰

What's been your biggest learning point this past year?

I think the thing I've really learned the most about this year is collaborative creative writing. Getting into narrative style role-playing has informed it a lot - I've definitely learned a lot about how to 'yes, and' and to get into a character's skin. Not only that, but this year I found a community of other writers! And now I'm learning how to be brave and share my work more, how to discuss content without fear of judgement, and to enjoy the process more.

And I think the number one thing I really learned this year has been that there are people that like my work! Genuinely! They like it! They like my characters and my style and- 🥹🥹

How has your writing developed this past year?

This year was a bit of a wild ride. While I got back into writing in general in late '22, started writing fanfic in late '23, and started *posting* fic in even later '23 - I feel like I didn't hit my stride until this year. And that's not to say I wasn't writing well before now - I just feel like I've really started to find my voice (again) and get out of the academic headspace and into the creative.

Good writing habits?

I do it? Haha!

I think, honestly, other than letting myself write what I want and just generally spending time writing - my best good writing habit this year has been allowing myself to be motivated by the enthusiasm of my friends.

Bad writing habits?

Word vomit. Sometimes my stream of consciousness writing is Too Much™️ and I spend way too much time in my own head trying to edit it into something 'perfect'. I'm exceptionally bad at killing darlings.

Favorite thing you wrote?

I know I haven't updated it recently (and I am this close to changing that, I swear) - but my favorite piece is my long fic. It's self-indulgent, but it feels so good to write. And I genuinely enjoy re-reading it every time someone comments on it

Service and Worship are not Love (e.g. the Primalweave story)

Favorite reads?

I've read so many exceptional things this year! It's so hard to pick! But here's a few that stand out:

to admit everything by meownotgood

Axioms of heavenly bodies; an intimate analysis of systems unknown and the pleasures contained therein by @12thhouse-sun

Deeply and Immovably So by @dutifullylazybread

if music by the food of love, play on series by @pouroverpaloma

literally any of the poetry written by @waterdeep-weavemoss

every brain chemistry altering galemance piece by @senualothbrok

Biggest win?

Finishing the October Blurbapalooza! How did I do that! Ah! That was a lot of fun. 🥰

(and secretly, giving myself permission to skip the last day felt really fucking good hehe)

Goals for the new year?

I'd love to finish my long fic. Or at least post a dozen of the WIPs I've got staring at me from the editing pile. (whoops)

What are you excited for in the new year?

To keep going. 🥰 To be in a space where I am comfortable, welcome, and loved - and where I am encouraged to be creative and can support others doing so!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Open boops for anyone interested in doing this yourself. Thanks for a good 2024 lovelies 💙🥰 Here's to a safe and comfy 2025.

[germanpostwarmodern]

Her life and art commands respect and recognition: despite personal blows of fate, the hardships of war and a life often lived on the breadline, Louise Rösler developed her work with incredible perseverance. Over 30 years after her last retrospective at Haus am Waldsee Berlin, the Museum Giersch up until 25 August shows a comprehensive exhibition with works from all of Rösler’s work phases, a long overdue appreciation of an often marginalized women artist.

Throughout much of her career Rösler dealt with the fascination of the metropolis, its dynamism and how its face changes with the passing seasons. But her first steps as an artist were deeply influenced by French art: after studying at the private Hans Hofmann school in Munich and the Vereinigte Staatsschulen in Berlin Rösler and her future husband Walter Kröhnke went to France, a sojourn during which she soaked in the art of Matisse, Cézanne, Derain and Seurat. Upon returning to Berlin in 1933 she again engaged with the metropolis just like she had done in Paris and found her very own style of portraying it: based on impressions collected during long walks around the city Rösler created emphatic cityscapes that were neither impressionist nor expressionist but uniquely individual spatial compositions. In the postwar years Rösler condensed these spatial constellations into fully abstract compositions that dealt with the light and pace of the city, first in collages of found materials and later in increasingly rhythmic paintings.

Her stringent artistic development and difficult personal life also come to life in the catalogue published alongside the exhibition by Wienand Verlag which features a broad chronological selection of artworks and four insightful essays. Of them Laura Domes’ stands out based on the emphatic analysis of Rösler’s transitory time in Königstein im Taunus, a time characterized by economic hardships but also great creativity and the artist’s leap towards abstraction.

With both exhibition and catalogue the Museum Giersch provides a great opportunity to discover a little-known yet exceptional protagonist of modern art in Germany whose art can easily compete with her male contemporaries.

[briarborealisart]

I legitimately could write so many essays or video essays on the dream SMP if I actually sat down to do it

- retrospective: dream smp's place in internet culture; how a very unique set of circumstances led to the explosion in popularity

- retrospective: rise and fall of the dream smp; something about how scheduling issues and various other things caused the actual story of the server to fall apart in many ways

- legitimately probably dozens of character studies and story analyses i could do especially about tommy dream and wilbur who are my favorites and have such a unique narrative dynamic

- i have this one fucking batshit theory/take from ages ago (just after tommy died in prison) in which pandora's vault is representative of the actual moral center of the dsmp and tbh i think i cooked with that one

- the impact of fanon on canon and my own personal experiences with Canon As A Suggestion

- the unique space the medium occupies: cc! and c! blurring the lines between actor and character, the weird half-lore segments, the fact that it started out as a bit and became something So Serious, the way that live-streamed minecraft roleplay actually works as a storytelling medium

- legitimately i could probably write really good literature reviews on certain subsections of fanfiction especially sbi tropes.

- subpoint: how the dream smp's specific boundaries and culture made gen fic far more popular than ship fic and how that is so nice to see as an aroace person specifically but also just in general

- just a personal essay on how important and impactful the dream smp was to me As A Person and how it's still a piece of media that is really really important to me, and how i balance that with the feeling of cringe and also The Controversy

- an exploration of fandom space and culture through the dsmp and my experiences in it autoethnography style

like i have So much to say all the time this doesn't even really cover it. exile's impact on the story. when the lore became actually serious. wilbur's entire character arc. tommy as an unwillingly willing protagonist. the discs. THE DISCS. the way that i would rewrite the story if it were me telling it. the way that since it was roleplay it was essentially a first draft and that should be taken into account when analyzing it. Literally Any Fandom Discourse. Literally Any Personal Essay. Literally Any Character Analysis. if i had the time and energy to actually do research for these things and put them together i would be so banger for real

[tenaciouschronicler]

April 14, 2024 2009

I stumbled upon a funny text adventure style webcomic called Homestuck yesterday. To my surprise, I'm not the only one! @homestuckreplay seems to have also found it and blogged their reaction to the first pages, I was hesitant but decided to do the same.

I'm not sure how long the comic will go or if it will even keep my attention for long but it will be fun to do regardless!

(edited 10.31.24: added link to taglist)

(edit 2.6.25)

Hello, I'm tenaciousChronicler (or Sam [follows from @sprinksmixcupcake]) and I'm joining @homestuckreplay in re-reading Homestuck. I'm using the Time Machine Mod so my posts wont always match the days update pages.

This blog deals with unreality. It is NOT currently tagged as such so please be warned. (thank you @homestuckagain for making me aware with your tags that this might be relevant)

I mulled over making this side blog yesterday but am only starting it today. I believe I started reading this comic in 2011 or 2012. I'm not sure how often I will post this style of reaction but regardless re-reading the comic is gonna be interesting.

This blog will contain liveblogs of 'current' Homestuck content over the next seven (!!) years, these will be tagged 'hsrp liveblog'. I'll also reblog fanart, with anything beyond 'current' content tagged 'hsrp spoilers' for an "authentic" experience.

Check out the web taglist!

Mobile Tags: (updated 11.3.24)

homestuck - every single post minus personal ones

homestuck replay - all content relevant to the experience

hsrp liveblog - all of my liveblog posts

other players - borrowed from @homestuckredo for any content/reactions reblogged from others that are joining in the endeavor

hsrp lore - posts that are/or have lore relevant content

hsrp retrospection - for any deepdives I happen to do about content

misattributed quotes - analysis of misattributed quotes

dictionary time - breaking down the words of homestuck

[now-notyet]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the symbolism in Did I Make You Up?

YEAH!!! SOMEONE TOOK MY BAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i will say this is an amalgamation of 6 pieces i've written for various things about this music video ( i love this) so sorry if it flips styles or is COMPLETELY unfocused but to be honest if i sat down to write this i would just be vomiting all this information in an unfocused way anyway. this might be the best you get..... (analysis under the cut)

DIMYU is a retrospective, we need to talk about the music, the video and the lyrics and how they work together to create a narrative. We'll start with the music, as it's a shorter section, and there's less to talk about than the others one of the other things i've noticed and that i personally believe to be the truth is that DIMYU is a slightly continuation of summerland, what with all the references to the summer becoming fall and such ("when you think you really know someone // when you're blinded by the summer sun" and "you were summer // i was fall" , as well as the fact that josh is wearing a school uniform now which can indicate a passage of time i think this can also be backed by the use of orange silhouettes particularly in circles which can convey the sun (i'll touch on orange lighting itself as a motif)

In the first verse, there's the piano overlaid with with a drum roll which is the main use of percussion in the song. The piano is soft and is consistent - plays through the entire song. The drum roll is indicative of something militaristic, regimented - the whole concept of marching to the beat of the drum is to be doing what is expected. So overlayed with a soft piano is the expectations of what a relationship is meant to be - this could potentially symbolise the relationship between the two of them.

Additionally, this could also be Josh's influence trying to control, or change the melody of his ex. She is the piano line, he is the drum. The drum drops out at the end of verse, into a different rhythm.

Although subtle (and yes, I know I am spending way too much time thinking of this), that represents it all breaking apart, coming apart at the seams. This links to the theory of a retrospective because it is all happening in one, not in isolation. This shows us that he's thinking of the story in the past, not the story as it is occurring.

The chorus subverts the expectations set up by the intro and the first verse, most notably with a throughline of melody that subtly undercuts the rest of the song. It's very easy to lose it if you don't pay attention to it. As stated earlier, this melody is very much emblematic of a fleeting memory, floating in and out of the consciousness.

Furthermore, the second "verse" (glorified bridge) lets the piano shine. This could connote freedom for his ex, being able to act as her own person, away from the expectation of what Josh wants her to be. This on it's own does not support the retrospective theory, but then we return to the chorus and think about the composition of the song as a whole, the repetitiveness of the structure really symbolises a circular pattern of thought, getting stuck in the loop, being stuck *in the memory*.

When we come to look at the lyrics, it is so important to note the use of pre-chorus/hook - especially the creative use of it in Did I Make You Up.

It is a single line; "Lost in a daydream."

This line appears 3 times in the song, most often before a chorus. Most notably, it is the first line of the song, prefacing everything. 

This line could imply that everything the listener is about to hear is part of a daydream, not real, or fictionalised - supporting the theory that DIMYU is a retrospective. Alternatively, it can be said that this line is Josh being lost in the daydream that the relationship was. The use of hook supports the theory that DIMYU is written as a retrospective. By framing the narrative with a line, Josh sets the expectation of the song and the narrative: nothing is real here - it’s made up.

Furthermore, probably the most damning part of the lyrics that leads one to believe in the retrospective theory is the use of past-tense. “Was I wrong?” “I was summer, you were Fall, maybe I was naive.

This section is without a doubt self-explanatory in it’s relation to the argument.

Additionally, we must talk about the pre-chorus itself;

“Hit me all of a sudden, Shawty, you saw it coming. I was summer, you were fall, Maybe I was naive. Lost in a day dream.”

With the use of past tense; bolded for convenience, when we focus on the actual meaning of the section, it undoubtably screams some form of retrospective, particularly the line of having seen it coming.

If the story were to have been in the present - with a form of direct address, it would make more sense for the line to have taken the form of “Shawty, you’ve seen it coming.”

(i hate myself for the fact i’ve had to write the word shawty in a semi-serious academic context).

Finally, the chorus gives some of the most damning evidence of a retrospective;

“When you think you really know someone, And you’re blinded by the summer sun, Fall in love with who they won’t become, Was it ever real? Did I make you up?”

“Blinded by the summer sun”, a reference to summerland (which is the assumed song the relationship in question started in), implies the passage of time between then and now. Additionally, the summer sun being blinding and having gone away also implies a change of time.

A change in time (and season) continues to support the idea that Did I Make You Up happens in retrospect - a passage of time connotes the idea that relationship has already ended and we are now viewing a deeper inner contemplation of the relationship itself. Finally, the music video;

So I'm reaaaaaaaaallly into colour theory, but specifically only the colour theory used by half alive in the universe it all takes place in. What we know for sure is that; Orange - Daydream/The In-Between/Unreal Natural Lighting/white - Reality As showcased in the still feel. music videos, there are so many other unassigned states of conciousness, with different colours, but we know for sure that these two mean those things. The bit I'm so focused on is the orange because it is so PRESENT in the Did I Make You Up? music video, from the beginning.

It is undeniable to say that the music video for Did I Make You Up is one of the band’s most intense and meaning filled videos to date, and it would be no less true to say that interpreting the video itself is a challenge without the aid of established concepts.

One such established concept is the prominent use of warm orange lighting and motif to convey a sort of dreamlike environment - or, in the case of Now Not Yet, being stuck in the inbetween. Orange has been previously established to be symbolic of this concept, with references as far back as aawake at night and still feel, with the shipping crate lighting, and the vast majority of atmosphere in still feel. until the ending breaks and we’re back to the naturalistic lighting of real life.

It is apparent in videos like What’s Wrong (which I would love to talk about in future too because I love the way the orange and blue meld together into one and it's this dreamlike state of being lost) and Runaway in more naturalistic contexts, but with the same meaning: All of these examples show the same thing: not being real/not really being sure if it is real – and it is no less true for DIMYU. One of the things we begin with is Josh’s head being surrounded by a beam of orange light. Coupled with the line, “Lost in a daydream”, this could symbolise Josh’s head literally being lost somewhere not real - in the in between - being lost in a day dream. During the music video, Josh returns to the orange circle, before the first chorus, and after it.

This could symbolise Josh returning to the daydream, thinking it over, (in retrospect, as is the thesis) and it “playing [his] mind on repeat” (Beige), implying that it happened previously.

Finally, one of the most striking parts of the music video is the second “verse” (wasted potential - i think dodie should have been on this instead of Nobody). It is accompanied by a side pan of what can be assumed to be the relationship, all enshrouded by an orange light, implying that the progress of the relationship is playing back out in his mind, which supports the idea that it has already happened.

anway about the dancing

so like, probably intentionally, in addition to the main feature of the uniformed dancing, we've got other things going on (namely the cowboy) that don't take the focus of the scene. this is intentional, probably, because this is a set and if they wanted it to be focused only on the dancers then it would have been focused on the dancers everyone else is going on about their normal business, brett and j are recieving gifts of books, there's a guy just sweeping about, there's a cowboy, later on there's 2 people carrying a cooler etc. etc (basically what im saying is that life as usual is going on around them) but the focus on the camera is still locked firmly onto the dancers and away from whatever else is happening. now i consider, due to the fact that no-one else but josh is paying attention to the dancers, that the dancers are actually thoughts, and i solidify this via the idea that at the beginning just after when the floodlights come on and reveal the scene, they seem to dance erratically and somewhat in line we can also associate these dancer to josh as thoughts seeing as they follow the same clothing scheme (blue school-uniform) anyway, that's just what i think the uniform means now i can talk about other stuff so obviously there's this circular movement with the heads rolling. i dont have a gif for that yet but it's at about i think 34 seconds into the MV i personally think on no basis whatsoever that this is akin to thoughts going round and round in circles due to the very circular and repetitive movement, like how you get stuck thinking about this (ahah this is funny because i've only been able to think about this mv for the past 2 weeks) now onto the main part, josh fights his way through the "thoughts" and then they suddenly come through into a sort of marching formation

they've gone from out of control to very controlled, but they're only controlled for so long before falling apart now aside from the fact that this can be interpreted to be losing and fighting for control of your own mind (especially in a place of emotional turmoil) i find the precise movements of the company (as i will now refer to the dance troupe) to be akin to a weapon of some kind, especially with how josh moves his hands fist, open, slides something into position, aiming towards something, and then the travelling of the "bullet" (pointed finger) towards a "target" (the circle) i think there's a specific meaning to this, being that alongside this movement he sings "hit me all a sudden // shorty you saw it coming". this might be reaching towards a conclusion but i believe that this weapon movement is a bit like the physicality of how sudden the breakup hits finn francis but how carefully planned and meticulated it was for his ex

essentially, yeah. maybe i will revisit this later and reorganise my thoughts, as well as finish adding the rest but this is. this is most of them thanks for the ask!!

[anawkwardlady]

May I ask a veeeeeeeery naive question about Umineko? (So naive that I wouldn't dare ask it publicly)

I know that episodes 1 and 2 are basically the messages in the bottles by Sayo, and the other episodes are basically forgeries by Tohya. OK.

But I read analysis that talk about "a very different style of writing between" between these episodes, and... what are these differences? I must have missed them when I was reading Umineko, there are absolutly not obvious to me at all.

OK, more precision about my last ask: I don't fully get the meta-twist of Umineko. Why is there only two messages from Sayo? What do these messages tell about her (that the forgeries don't tell, or tell differently)? Why isn't it more messages from Sayo, are these two messages the only things that Sayo had to tell to the world? What did she exactly want to tell? (What Tohya wanted to tell through his forgeries seems to be clearer to me)

Okay so I need to preface this with the fact that I definitely don't have the level of most people developed essays and thoughts about Umineko (bc first of all I need a re-read like yesterday)

The reason given for the two message was that they're the only ones that were found, it's said she wrote a lot more.

To really simplify and I apologize if I miss some stuff, I think when people mention these difference of writing it can refer to different perceptions and portrayal of characters + different tones of the games. Episode 2 might be the first actual game taking place during Beatrice and Battler and it might play into it but most and I'd say that that the tone was darker and a bit more bleak. You could say that Beatrice was crueler, especially to Shannon and Kanon in the early days and truly personified Sayo's torment, self hatred and to some extent power fantasy. Beginning Episode 3 ( and that continues post Episode 3 deception reveal) she is a bit more faceted, softer, has the silly sides. Some could also say that the ushiromiya siblings are at their most antagonistic at the beginning and being shown in a more "sympathetic" light through the forgeries.

The first games are a scream for help to be seen, to have Sayo's heart understood as who she is, what she is about to do and why and retrospectively hints a lot at everything we will discover after (Shannon and Kanon being "furniture" and therefore impossible to love relating to Sayo's view of her body and circumstances of birth, their respective role and relationships relating to her view of love and internalized gender roles (which is also seen through the adults), the hints to Battler's promise etc). As said earlier, only 2 bottles were found but she supposedly wrote all the possible way it could have ended and all are basically, a confession. So what is so different to the forgeries, well the forgeries were not replicas of the formula, they're also a response to this call, perpetuating the legend of witch and following Sayo's will since it's too late to save her too.

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

Arknights Analysis: Chapters 0-4

So I want to start this off by stating that I'm going to analyze these chapters in two separate fashions. The first will be analyzing the chapters as if I had booted the game on launch and experienced the story without any of the surrounding events and story chapters that give these chapters additional context. The second will be analyzing these chapters from a retrospective angle, looking at how further chapters and further events have provided new information that re-contextualizes a lot of what happens and is said in these four chapters.

One of my primary theses when it comes to Arknights is that the episodic storytelling often hurts Arknights more than it helps the game, and I want to illustrate that through these two styles of analysis.

So without ado:

Part One: The Bad and the Evil Time

Now, there's a relevant question that needs to be answered from the beginning of this analysis: why am I analyzing all four chapters together instead of splitting them into four separate posts? There's an argument to be made that splitting up the chapter discussion would allow for each chapter to breathe individually. But I want to explain my reasons for not doing that.

First, these chapters were not released individually. They were released all at once, and unlike say, the first four chapters of F/GO, they do not form four separate stories plot-wise that share some connecting themes. They directly relate to one another and are basically contiguous with one another. If you wanted to, you could play and get through the first four chapters of Arknights all at once. While newer players likely would have gotten stuck on a boss like Skullshatterer and not been able to progress, I want to emulate that experience of reading all four chapters at once.

Second, these chapters do not have a lot to them in terms of actual writing and I do not intend to merely summarize the events of each chapter ahead of time. You can read them here to get an idea of what I mean. They're short chapters all things told.

Third, they share pretty much all of the same themes and messaging between the three of them, and characters do not make a ton of meaningful progression through the story. These four chapters flow into each other really well, which suggests to me they were written roughly all in a row from each other, but this results in an initial four chapters that have a lot of overlap with each other.

So that's why this analysis is going to look at all four chapters together. To give a quick one sentence overview of the plots:

Chapters 0-1: Rhodes Island's extraction operation for the Doctor and their conflict with Reunion Chapters 2-3: Rhodes Island's pursuit of Misha and their confrontation with Skullshatterer Chapter 4: Rhodes Island's rescue operation and their meeting with Frostnova

Despite the fact that these chapters span between three different locations and concern themselves with three separate events, broadly speaking, they're very tonally consistent. There's no clear separation in terms of how these chapters meaningfully contrast with each other.

In terms of the major players, Rhodes Island is the protagonist and Reunion is the antagonist, and are written pretty diametrically opposed to each other. Rhodes Island is a pharmaceutical company that is looking for a cure to oripathy and generally condemns the violent measures that Reunion takes in these four chapters, which is often spoken quite strongly. In particular I want to note that Dobermann in particular is heavily critical of Reunion, and this sets the tone for how Reunion is portrayed and generally looked at in these chapters.

Reunion as the antagonists for these four chapters are basically not portrayed sympathetically at all, and this can be pretty easily seen from the antagonists that are initially introduced to the player: Mephisto, who delights in causing harm and toying with his opponents and is named after the fictional demon Mephistopheles; Crownslayer, who is ruthless and whose name invokes regicide; and W, who is enigmatic but mostly cruel and seemingly only let's Rhodes Island go on a whim.

This image does a lot to establish the tone of Reunion: they're draped in darkness and shadow, stand atop rubble and carnage, and their leader, Talulah, is associated with dramatic heat and consuming flame. It's a very strong message to send to the player.

Reunion's job in these four chapters, outside of being the antagonists, is to act as a critical foil for Rhodes Island. The prime question of Reunion towards Rhodes Island, time and time again, is "What do you do to deserve to fight for the Infected?". Reunion is repeatedly stated to embody the rage of the Infected, calling back to the idea that "Riots are the language of the oppressed", and they repeatedly criticize Amiya for not recognizing the anger the Infected feel.

This, at least in my opinion, is not actually a bad way for narrative tension to develop. Violent and non-violent movements do tend to have some tension between each other, and importantly, are both needed to compliment and keep each other in check. However, the problem here is that these chapters are not interested in interrogating these facts. These chapters are not interested in interrogating basically anything it puts in front of you.

Amiya never really has a response for why she's acting in the way she does, and as a result, neither does the narrative. But because Reunion needs to be the antagonist, their anger is not merely limited to the authority figures behind oppressive policies or the primary people who exploit them. Reunion oppresses and kills innocent people in Chernobog, using a Catastrophe that decimates the city and infects a large portion of its populace with Oripathy, using their anger as justification, and there is never a competing viewpoint shown in opposition with that. So when Reunion is marching on Lungmen, there is every reason to believe that a similar occurrence will happen there. This is reinforced in Chapter 4, where Mephisto has created a literal flaming display of Reunion's symbol at least partially fueled by civilian bodies.

Rhodes Island being the defacto protagonist means that their actions are given an inherent justification. It creates a lot of weak writing in the chapter where, for example, their cooperation with the L.G.D. is never given any kind of moral depth, despite Lungmen's own oppressive policies towards the Infected and the attitudes of L.G.D. officers towards the infected.

The only character we see some meaningful change in is Ch'en, and unfortunately, it's part of a chapter she's not really present in. Chapter 4 shows that Ch'en is capable of some humanity and connection with the Infected that the others in her psuedo police force weren't willing to show, but it's not made particularly clear why and Ch'en quickly exits the chapter.

If you came away from these four chapters feeling like this is a RWBY situation, I really wouldn't blame you. The chapters are weak and not particularly well-written. There are points of intrigue made for example in Chapter 2 with Kal'tsit and Wei Yenwu that do not really go anywhere. Probably most importantly, despite being the protagonists, Rhodes Island's, and consequently Amiya's, moral position is never really defined. You don't get a clear sense to know why Rhodes Island is taking the actions that it is.

Now, to a certain extent, a bit more of the moral backbone of RI is revealed in the character files for the launch operators. I do think it is worth discussing these for a bit here because most of them are very brief and not well detailed, but they help to highlight what is, in my opinion, one of the central conflicts and messages in this early part of the arc.

The difference between Rhodes Island and Reunion is identity. That is, what is expected out of the identity of the Infected underneath them. This can be seen in a couple of the operator files and, most importantly, with Misha. For Reunion, the Infected and Reunion are considered one and the same. When Rhodes Island kills Reunion rioters in Chernobog and hands over Reunion prisoners to the L.G.D., Reunion makes the criticism of what Rhodes Island is doing to the Infected. Misha remarks that what else can an Infected be but Reunion. It is a continual point that many of its members are whipped into fanaticism in part because Reunion presents itself as the only option.

Rhodes Island, on the other hand, allows its Infected personnel and Operators to take back their identity as people. The Operators of RI are all unique people with their own goals, wants, and dreams. They do not, fundamentally, become Rhodes Islanders. It's why there is such an eclectic group of people working for RI.

To summarize, these chapters are invested in portraying a very black and white board to the Infected struggles, with the correct Rhodes Island contrasted with the violent, arguably evil Reunion on the other hand, and does so without really performing the necessary labor to justify Rhodes Island as the protagonist. While there are interesting messages and ideas in these chapters, it's let down by overall very weak writing.

Part 2: Separated Hearts and Arcs

So you know what the fuck a Kaschey is at this point and you're looking back. Here's the thing that kind of fucks me up: these chapters don't read nearly as bad in a retrospective lens. There's a fair amount of reasonably subtle storytelling and foreshadowing going on that hints towards things revealed in later story chapters, and a lot of its awkwardness can be forgiven with the better writing down the road for pretty much all of the characters involved (except for Skullshatterer, who basically disappears from the narrative entirely, and doesn't even show up typically in flashbacks).

In truth, I think the writers knew these chapters weren't very good, and something very interesting happens from this point on which I will cheekily call "the Reunion Arc Redemption Arc". A number of things happen in fairly quick succession with each other: the first is the release of Chapter 5, which does a lot to add additional moral depth to Rhodes Island's relationship to the L.G.D. as well as to Ch'en herself. This is followed by Grani and the Knight's Treasure which gives us our first, sympathetic Reunion character in Big Bob, and then perhaps most importantly by maybe one of the single most important vignettes in the game.

The Anonymous One's War.

This Vignette is a much, MUCH needed stitching of the various problems with Reunion. Patriot, the disorganization of Reunion, and the condemnation of the acts against Azazel do a tremendous amount of work in redeeming a lot of the previous writing. It's arguably a retcon in many ways.

This REALLY highlights a big problem with the episodic approach. I think part of the reason Chapter 5 is often lumped in with Chapters 0-4 is for a while, you were stuck sitting and ruminating on Chapters 0-4, and then Chapter 5 releases and its a chapter whose primary POV is Ch'en and the L.G.D. With episodic writing, it's easy for writing flaws to sit and fester, and it's easy for a lot of fandom voices to get together and make things worse.

Chapters 0-4 just do not hold up on their own, and honestly they do not really hold up with additional context either. The additional context softens a lot of the blow and provides a lot of closure to the issues in these chapters, but the issues still remain. You didn't necessarily need more writing in order to make these chapters work. Chapter 5 isn't that much bigger than Chapter 4 is, but I felt like there had been a sudden shift towards stronger writing in Chapter 5.

This seems by and large to be a real problem with gacha game development. Early story chapters are neglected because the time and effort needed to actually make a gacha game seem to eclipse the desire to have a strong and functional story. It feels like Chapters 0-4 were pushed out the door to make sure the players had something.

But in comparison to other gachas I've played, the turn around on Arknights is very, very quick. F/GO notably takes four additional chapters until it finally hits a good, well-written chapter in Camelot, and it's events are still very lackluster. In comparison, the only dud event that happens at least imo is Grani and the Knights' Treasure, and the next three events (Operational Intelligence, Heart of Surging Flame, and Code of Brawl) are all quite good.

What the turn around at least tells me is that Arknights from the beginning had competent writers, but that they only really got to shine once the game got on the ground.

[goldenpinof]

1) I'm a different nonnie but I loved your analysis on the dnpg comeback, but it leads into 2) what I don't understand about Dan is how YouTube stresses him out /so/ much, but how other projects don't as much? I've read his book, and I know it has to do with judgement and how hard he feels he has to pretend to make people like him (side note, I want him to write another book. I'd love Dan is Not Okay as a book even. I like his writing style), but you would think that that anxiety would translate to any public projects. 3) mildly unrelated, but when they react to pinof 4, I wonder if they're going to talk about 2012 in depth (Dan's breakdown on Tumblr, how the fans harassed Adrian, the friends they publicly fell out with between 2012-2013, just all of it) or if they're going to just react to the Pinof itself. Personally I feel like PINOF 4's energy is generally fine, but since they're focusing on controlling the narrative now, it could be interesting to use it as a possible retrospective and a way to clearly define their boundaries.

i'm gonna follow your structure :)

1) thank you <3;

2) i think it can have something to do with the amount of things being made. if it's youtube it "has to be" many good quality and interesting videos (3-5 is already many) and youtube demands consistency if you view it as a job. youtube is also a more public place than venues or bookstores. anyone, and i mean ANYONE, can see Dan's videos on the internet for free and form an opinion, and comment, and start a discussion (good or bad). and not that many things can be erased from the internet. books also cannot be erased the moment you make it digital but it's harder to go through a book and form an actual opinion than to watch a 10-min video and form an opinion also based on Dan's face. videos are personal, it's about him. bigger projects feel more like a job and are perceived as a separate entity. it's not Dan, it's what Dan makes. also books have editors and publishers that have some kind of responsibility alongside the author. independent youtube videos? not really. switching to tours. Dan likes irl feedback a lot. maybe that thing makes it easier for him to dive into an enormous amount of physical and emotional work every tour requires. also, the tour is not Dan, it's what Dan makes and plays a role in. there is more detachment from his personality even though we know he puts his own thoughts into his shows (tatinof and ii included). Dan may also like conceptual things (i'm assuming here, i don't remember if he ever said it, he could). to build a whole world based on an idea and live in this world for a bit. like, creating a tv series or a show requires more time, more revisions, help from others, but it's also more fun to create something so big, i guess. it requires more than his youtube videos but it also gives more in return. it's like making a baby that you're so proud of and then presenting it to the world, time and time again to different people. youtube videos could also be viewed as babies but as he said, a lot of it was made to please the algorithm and to survive on youtube (paraphrasing here). he overthinks his content and because of the amount (again) it's harder with videos than 1 or 2 bigger projects that he can spend months on making. (i bet the pitching of his projects and communication in general stress him out as well. but luckily, he has managers for that). you mentioned dan is not okay as a book, and i would die to see the script of a show as it is. and the fact that it already exists blows my mind a little bit. like, give it to me!!;

3) no, they won't talk about 2012 uneasy times. honestly, i'm gonna be shocked if they acknowledge it in any way. Adrian is a public figure now, mentioning him is a risk. i think they will just react to pinof 4, maybe they will give a few looks @ the camera indicating that they know we know, but other than that, i really really doubt we will get any serious commentary.

[myrfing]

ancients arent fascists and are far too fantastical to fit into any real political system but people tend to view them in the story in a bubble (which, they kind of are portrayed as such in-universe so w/e) when I don’t think their position in the story can be extricable from garlemald. amaurot is dead and gone by the very beginning of the game and are introduced in shb as a means to examine why/how. what they represent is an ideal upon which garlemald’s purpose is built. what matters is not that they were good or evil but that their mythical perfection was upheld and used as justification for what came after 👍 not saying that this is ALL they are but imo it’s a big old chunk of it. the goal of extermination based on innate traits is not to kill people for fun forever (though you could argue it becomes entwined) it’s the idea that if the only people existed in the world were the most intelligent, most able, most “whole” that the world would be at peace and there would no longer be conflict or great suffering.

one neat thing about EW is its deconstruction of this “mythical fatherland” type of paradise and one of my favorite examples of this is their depiction of ultima thule. if you google “ultima thule” you’ll find…lol a boatload of controversies surrounding its usage in stuff like band names because of its heavy ties with nazi mythos/symbology. it refers to a place “beyond the borders of a known world”, a mythical grecoroman-styled land to the north from which the perfect people once hailed, were lost, and to which the “true” people who adhere to the ideology must return. blah blah blah a lot of parallels to christian ideas of an immortal paradise. i’d like to think that the developers were aware and deliberate with this context considering how easily accessible it is! Thule in the game, when you reach it on the edge of the universe after you go through elpis (a temporary veneer of paradise) is a dead and stagnant land built as a cobbled together amalgamation of a bunch of dead civilizations and peoples who did not make it through “the test” that hermes in purposeful irony imposes on the ancients, who again, represent that ideal. instead of being a paradise, it’s a purgatory where everyone DOES live forever but as ghosts in a dead land scraped of everything that gave it meaning, that orbits a heavy and turgid cocoon of despair. the world that is “born” (everyone imagine imagery analysis here I’m too lazy) is miss endsinger’s wild neverending ride where there is no real substantial world where anything lives but instead an endless mish-mashed retrospective recollection of all the loss and terror it took to create it. i think this is very cool. It’s swagful