#tears of themis meta

[vynegar]

Analysis: Which other NXX member it would be most painful for them to see Rosa choose instead of them

Tl;dr

Luke → Artem

Artem → Marius

Vyn → Marius

Marius → Artem

(it was actually an artemsweep until the last minute but we’ll get there)

I really wanted to be able to answer this question with a perfect 1:1 assignment where each member shows up once as the worst option for another, but I just couldn't get it to work. Mostly because of Luke; I don't think he'd be the most painful option for any of the members to see, since there's really no way you can compete with the childhood-friend-reunion AND he's a secret agent who's dying. I feel like the others would have to accept that, since they'd have no chance. He’s also the person who would stay the most aloof during the early (i.e. first year of the game) squabbles among NXX for Rosa’s attention, which separates him out as seeming more secure in his relationship with Rosa because everyone knows how important they are to each other.

Luke → Artem

The same feeling of separation that makes him an impossible choice for the others also made it a bit difficult to decide who it’d be hardest for him to see Rosa with. He’s very much his own biggest obstacle when it comes to them getting together, and the way he’s been concealing his feelings for about a decade makes it feel like he’d already be halfway resigned to Rosa being with someone else. His struggles when it comes to Rosa are so internalized that the pain of seeing the other NXX members just pales in comparison.

Vyn and Marius might worry him because of the danger that their status brings (where is the Luke reaction to hearing Rosa got kidnapped in Unconcealable!!), but sticking with the prompt of what would hurt the most to see, I would go with Artem. Since Artem was also someone who hid his feelings for a long time and tried to care for her from a distance, I think seeing Artem and Rosa together might make Luke think what could have been possible for him, and regret that he hadn't tried confessing. The game generally uses parallels between relationship dynamics to strike an emotional chord, so I think it’s fitting to choose the most similar relationship as the one that would hurt Luke the most.

Marius → Artem

As much as it pains me to not pick his ultimate petty-frenemy-teacher for Marius, I kept forcing myself to stick with the prompt and go from there. The important thing was what would “hurt” the most, so I decided to reason out who would strike the insecurities of each character the hardest. I also tried to think about any recurring themes in the storyline of each character, and that led me to Artem for Marius.

One of Marius’s biggest struggles is balancing the many facets of his life and personality. In Rosa, he’s found someone who not only accepts every face that he has, but also gives him space to take off the masks and truly be himself. Rosa was even instrumental in preventing him from sacrificing his artistic identity Z, so her support for him seems even more powerful and unique. If Rosa ended up with Artem, Marius would be losing that special presence in his life to someone who’s as straightforward and uncomplicated as they come. I think seeing that happen could make Marius question once again how feasible it is for him to keep every aspect of his identity, or at least whether he could find a partner who could handle it.

Another reason why Rosa is important to Marius is that he’s always longed for someone brave enough to face every adventure head-on with him. Marius is the one who most readily accepts Rosa taking the lead on things, their interactions and investigations feel the most like they’re on equal footing, and over and over Marius sees that she can hold her own in each part of his life, business, artistic, or personal. If Rosa were to be with Artem though, they would be partners in an even truer sense because of their shared profession in upholding the law, and that’s a connection that Marius could never have with her.

Artem → Marius

When I started thinking about this question, Artem was the only one I was certain of, and even when I was stumped on the others, I didn't want to give up on this post because I HAD to speak my truth re: Artem → Marius.

I know Artem and Vyn's prickly relationship is so memorable, but since I defined the question as "which person would it hurt to see the most", I had to pick Marius. Yes, Vyn would probably annoy Artem the most, but seeing Rosa with Marius would bring up all those doubts about him not being romantic, exciting, interesting enough for her. Marius is charming and trendy and youthful and perfect for hitting Artem’s insecurity of being awkward and inexperienced.

Vyn → Marius

Up until a few days ago, I actually had Artem down for Vyn (ARTEMSWEEP!!). Then when I decided I really wanted to consider this a meta and try to base it on analysis of canon, I thought over it, once again focusing on insecurities and any recurring themes in the card stories, and went back to Marius.

There are many similarities between Vyn and Marius, but many of the major struggles Vyn might have in the relationship are things that Marius doesn’t have to deal with or is too well-adjusted to be troubled by.

Marius enjoys a high social status on par with Vyn's, but he's free of the kinds of oppressive traditions and customs that caused Vyn to leave his home country. Despite the tragedy and difficulties they've experienced, Marius also has a genuinely loving and supportive family, who also have/had loving and committed relationships. Maybe partially as a result from these factors, Marius is still a relatively optimistic and idealistic person, even while being steeped in the cutthroat world of business. Vyn on the other hand has an extremely strained relationship with his family to the point that he struggles with the idea of it, has mostly seen romance in how it ruined his father, and has become cynical after growing up amongst cruelty and ridicule.

In addition, a major theme of Vyn's second year of cards has been the building desire that he has for Rosa, and his fear of it overwhelming him. Marius is similarly proactive in his romantic pursuit of Rosa, and one of the more forward LIs when it comes to seduction, but fearing that that desire might consume and destroy them isn’t one of the obstacles in Marius’s stories. This could be seen as another issue of Vyn’s that Marius is able to effortlessly keep in check. (I consider this more of a secondary point though, since it could just as easily be a point for Artem and his glacially-paced relationship of two dense bricks. (My other reason for picking Artem would have been too OOC, which is why we couldn’t have the Artemsweep, rip.))

--

Anyway thanks for reading and feel free to let me know if there are any choices you really agree or disagree with! There’s such a gap in canon with the way we never see other the other NXX members when we’re on a certain LI’s route, so things like this are interesting to think about.

*Bonus: if the question was “who would it piss them off the most to see Rosa with?”, it would ABSOLUTELY be a vynsweep with vyn → artem. no there is no reasoning for this it’s just something you feel with your gut

[xelasrecords]

Interpreter Richter's Tragic Endings

I find Vyn's character to be the most tragic in most endings (Artem's is a close runner-up) because no matter the outcome, he cannot win. He loses his freedom for Rosa or loses her for power or simply dies to protect her. What Interpreter Richter truly wants is the freedom that one can only have with power, so he accumulates it at all costs without moral scruples.

These are all from different endings:

This one hurts the most though, because he knew he'd be forever chained to the gang that he wanted to be free from if he helped Rosa, yet he did it anyway. All for her. And she didn't even realise.

[skynapple]

I am actually tired that people keep comparing Artem and Zayne.

Look man I'm an Artem loyalist ok I went into the game thinking Zayne was going to be the one because from an outsider perspective, yeah.

Having spent countless hours in the game now...

Artem being work partners with MC, despite Artem's massive crush it's a slow burn colleagues to romance based on mutual trust and affection. By the time they're dating it's more a confirmation than a confession. With Zayne just from experience he's so reserved that it really almost feels like MC is the one pursuing him and always questioning herself about it. Business Trip makes me a little sad tbh cause yeah it ended well but it's so clear she wants a little bit more of that public casual affection.

They do both have reserved personalities but will surprise you

Artem can surprisingly be very fun and spontaneous and Zayne is extremely calculating and yes he'll go to arcade with MC but it's more just to watch her have fun and be in the same air as her, I think Artem and Rosa (MC) actually go to enjoy themselves and be a little competitive and have fun. From what I've seen Zayne prefers the planned dinner dates and itineraries or just cooking at home. One of his dates is literally... one of those work fairs with like tables and booths. Artem and Rosa's dates spawn the entirety of "grocery shopping and a movie at home" to "we randomly decided to enter a shooting tournament on a whim cause we were in the area"

Not afraid to be bold with affection (Artem freaking proposed at someone else's WEDDING omg Zayne could never I think he would die)

Artem never doubts or coddle MC's ability, complete faith and trust in her ability to protect herself (fortunately all the LaDS boys have this but of the ToT boys I know there's been moments the others kinda coddle her and are overprotective, and of the 4 ToT Artem is hands down the first to say 'Go on without me you can handle this.' You can fight me on this. If you have doubts the last Mystery Little Boss event was wild proof for me.) I just feel like Zayne gets a little overprotective the difference is... he can't really stop her.

In contrast to Zayne, Artem's personality is very warm with MC; he smiles brightly and laughs loudly with her, he'll swing her hand in public, people literally already think they're dating even in the main story. With Zayne I feel like he's so reserved in public to the point I think outside his hospital colleagues who might see her often, people might be surprised to find out if he's even married (I have a coworker like this. So reserved that they handed me their wedding invite one day and I was like???? EXCUSE ME since when did you even have a relationship???). He likes to save his affection for private moments and that's fine and dandy but it's not like Artem to not be affectionate with her constantly and I'm not just talking his confession when he kissed MC in front of the whole theme park or in the middle of the street in front of his mom, no I'm talking just the casual always throwing his arm around her shoulder and holding her casually close to him, even during the recent billiards tournament. I just think it would take a while for Zayne to get to that level of comfortable and for Artem its like, a need.

There's a few more but I'm done. I love Zayne, I do, I'm just tired of people saying he's Artem copy/paste cause he's NOT they could not be more different and if you go into the game thinking you'll get Artem 2.0 then I'm sorry man.

[ad-hawkeye]

ok so it's lit student again and im like, already lacking sleep but instead of sleeping i'm gonna go catch up on all of artem's cards Just Bc like i genuinely have no idea why it's always in the dead of night that i get hit with an overwhelming wave of adoration for artem?? i'm about to start YAPPING in your inbox again im so sorry DHAKDJKS *does it anyway*

continuing off my last ask they me think of the movie i watched recently called "past lives" that's fully centered around the concept of fate (it's so good 10/10 i really want to see artem review it),,, i won't spoil but it's like hshsjadhsjhdjshs "destined by fate" but fate doesn't tell you what it holds for you??

after watching it i looked up more about the term "inyeon" (korean term for fate or providence) which the movie heavily emphasizes on and found a reddit post talking about it (i'll paste the link below <3) where they quote a comment explaining its meaning and what it says is that inyeon isn't just about the person you're destined to end up with, but also the people you encounter in your life. basically, with inyeon, your string of fate isn't simply linear but also looped around every person you'll interact with. to reach the person at the end of your "string of fate," you're supposed to treat each interaction with respect or else you'll never find them AND LEARNING THIS MADE ME LOVE THE MOVIE EVEN MORE 🥹🥹🥹

a lot of destiny tropes give the characters an easy way to end up together kinda like the opposite of "doomed by the narrative" as in they could do simply nothing and still find their way to each other, but to reference the comment from earlier: your destiny doesn't end the moment your meet your "destined one." artemrosa learned so much and worked so hard before they became a couple a d still continue to grow both individually and together even after they started dating 🥹 they're still the same precious individuals that they were in their pre-dating arc, only wiser and stronger with combined forces 🫶 they aren't together just because fate wanted them to be, they Made it happen and they're still Making it happen‼️ something something every choice i made, every path i took (indirectly and directly) led me to you

like. i genuinely wanna know more about how they met/knew each other in college because it's SO fascinating to me that their paths have crossed so many times, and they don't just simply get together. a lot of things happen that they learn from that shapes them into their best versions that also complement each other. to me it's like,, no matter what happens, what they feel for each other or how the end up, their paths will always be destined to cross, whether it's by brushing past each other on the street and never meeting again or becoming each other's partners both in work and in life and as seen from the different universes that hoyo has shown us so far, we can see that they always end up becoming each other's most cherished person, despite the varying journies that led them to that point WUAWUAWUA

pls enjoy my rambling i might actually pass out from this 😭 good fucking NIGHT

p.s. this was not written with the proposal card in mind god bless 🙏 that's an example of "it happened bc the gods demanded it and they sent a lightning bolt down to everyone who opposed it"

https://www.reddit.com/r/redikomi/comments/16drqze/the_meaning_of_fate_in_yeon_%EC%9D%B8%EC%97%B0_in_korean/

omg shut up i literally read this AFTER replying to your last ask and we literally came to the exact same conclusion HAHAHAHA OMG NO WAY. SUFFICE TO SAY. YEAH. I ENTIRELY AGREE WITH ALL OF THIS.

THIS SPECIFIC SUBVERSION OF THE RED STRING TROPE is WHY i love it in artem's route!! ohhh it's so GOOOODDDD YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT!! YOU HAVE TO BECOME BETTER PEOPLE!! my ass in 2021 would not shut UP about this and dear god im not going to shut up about it right now.

i just want to say you not only took the words out of my mouth but you also made them more concise and well said and ooughhh. Artem Fans. read this. NOW. you will all look at this post. oh im dizzy. oh im going so insane.

[xelasrecords]

I have no idea where Pearce came from but in Chinese culture, the wife doesn't take on the husband's last name and the child inherits the father's surname. This may explain why Artem's mother's surname isn't Wing, and I'm hazarding a guess that Rena just doesn't have one (unless there's a deeper lore involved).

🚨 🚨 Luke Birthday card spoilers!!! 🚨 🚨 I find it odd they put Luke’s dad’s name as his Government Assigned Name but for his mom it was just “Rena.” Like she didn’t have a last name??? And it makes me wonder, where did “Pearce” come from? My guess is that maybe “Pearce” is his mom’s last name or it’s something plot related we don’t know yet. I just thought it was an Interesting Observation.

I did think it was quite sweet they had his name picked out for a really long time. It’s a parallel to how Luke had a baby name saved for his child (which he used on the elephant 🥺). Basically I love this card

hi anon!! and YEAH I FOUND THAT ODD TOO. or rather, i found it odd that Percival got to be Percival Freeman but Rena was just Rena, but im not too confused anymore about where "pearce" comes from because some tot parents dont always necessarily follow western naming conventions (i.e. child gets the surname. this also explains artem's mom having the surname "garner" and not "wing" though maybe theres also a divorce/hyphenation situation there that we dont know about?)

that said, i totally agree with your headcanon that Pearce comes from Rena because 1) Rena Pearce has a nice ring to it and 2) i am SO FOR both of them wanting their child to have the mother's surname instead of the father's, it's sweet :'3

funfact: some etymologies of the name Percival (aside from being the knight from arthurian legend) include the phrase "pierce the vale". im unsure if this was done on purpose by the tot localization team but it's neat

anyhoo: YES IT'S SUCH A GOOD PARALLEL HHHHHHHH. they knew his name from the beginning, just like luke would know the name of his child from the beginning ;w;

i really loved this card too, it's definitely among my top fave luke cards now <3

[starrailarchivist]

Meta, Genshin, tears of Themis, references

Written in the stars….

Catch me with the redstring and tinfoil hat

[cosmicangst]

tags you're it

personal blathering space ft. mostly psycho-pass, joseimuke, (j)rpgs, and video games, lit, vibes, and some misc romance-adjacent stuff. maybe writing and some art. 

i don’t tag everything but i will tag content/trigger warnings so drop me a line. i also collect tropes/themes:

#god’s not dead; she’s just very tired. catch-all religion, spirituality, and mythology

#they used to shout my name; now they whisper it. prophets, martyrs, and made heroes

#après moi le déluge. witch grandma à la strega nona and/or neighbor who communes with goats and that old dead guy who lives in your cupboard

#those who do and those who don’t. cyberpunk, machines who dreamed themselves into sentience, (non)binary states.

#upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand. decaying empires, beasts slouching towards bethlehem, and crumbling concrete in the backstreets of the city

#tragedy is clean. it’s restful. it’s certain. the ontology of tragedies, loop storytelling, doomed endings, and good old-fashioned classics

#half daughter / half apology. kind of an ‘about me’ tag— mixture of queer-ing, gender-ing with monster theory and being slightly off from that mental illness luv <3

#diaspora blues. soul-weary homesickness when home doesn’t resemble home anymore

#whatever walked there walked alone. ghosts, hauntology, places that are born rather than built

#romance novels are good actually. because they are!!! also featuring romance novels that i’ve recently read

#💌. future love letters for me and you <33333

#growth. revisit and repeat

#provocations. other food for thot

#footnotes. arbitrary to-read list, mostly history or critical theory/activist texts

fandom-specific things:

#secondhand smoke. tsunemori akane and kougami shinya from psycho-pass (this is THE blog essentially)

#hawya. my fic, “here, and where you are”, a shinkane pride and prejudice/regency au

#pp. psycho-pass meta, memes, discussion, etc.

#sims. my long lifespan sims 4 playthrough ft. shinkane and their descendants

#one single thread of gold. artem wing and rosa/mc (named “elle finch” in-game) from tears of themis

#got your six. shepard and garrus vakarian from the mass effect series because no universe exists where one is without the other

#shepard. my mass effect oc, augustine jane shepard. she’s a pinay earthborn sole survivor with a paragade streak.

#if he is not the word of god. god never spoke. tomas ortega and marcus keane from the exorcist

#please picture me in the weeds. five and viktor from the umbrella academy, and the loving oroborous of the apocalypse that is their family.

#there was the poetry. a dot ham and a dot burr from hamilton. yeah i know

other:

#jm. catch-all liveblogs/notes for all my joseimuke playthroughs

#🌙. my book, the moon eaters, which is magical realism set in contemporary los angeles with elements of filipino mythology! really love this novel, hope to write it someday

#for a rainy day., #drafts. prompts, ideas, fic fodder/memes, and works-in-progress

#notes., #fic rec. media reviews, notes, and recs

#weekly reads. my round-up/reviews for what i read the past week

#audio. mostly showtunes, my middle school emo phase, etc. that i downloaded from limewire

#🇵🇭. philippines and filipino diaspora-related art/text

#gif., #edit. non-fic/art related things i’ve made

#reply. answered asks/replies

[fuckyeahmariluke]

💜 💛 about 💛 💜

this blog is a collection of all the fanworks available on tumblr for the ship Marius von Hagen/Luke Pearce (known as mariluke or marluke) from Tears of Themis. it is is a sideblog run by zak @actualbird in his free time and he'll reblog works for mariluke on its own along with multiship works that include mariluke within them (ex. marilukerosa, nxx ot5 polycule). happy marluking, fellow marilukers!!

💜 💛 tags navigation 💛 💜

fanwork categories

#fanart — for mariluke fanart

#fanfiction — for mariluke fanfiction

#edits — for mariluke photo edits and graphics

#headcanons — for mariluke headcanons or ficlets

#analysis — for mariluke textual analyses or meta

#others — for mariluke works that do not fit the above categories (ex. playlists, memes, posts, etc.)

ships

#mariluke solo — for fanworks that exclusively show mariluke

#mariluke and co — for fanworks that show mariluke within or along with other ships

ratings

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if you are a minor and/or do not wish to see mature or expIicit works, please blacklist the "#m to e" tag and browse with caution and responsibility.

💜 💛 made a mariluke thing and want it here? 💛 💜

feel free to @ this blog in your post or submit the link of your post here! i'll add it to the queue :D

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[siennaditbot]

Been in a very visual novel/otome game/dating sim mood lately.

Started with Tears of Themis, got worse with this one Xiao x Lumine one on Itch.io, got even worse by some non Genshin related ones on the same site (Project Blue and Blooming Panic, eugh, I'm feeling sappy), and now I've been replaying one I got in 2015 I think

Too bad it's Amnesia:Memories.

I used to love the anime cuz, eugh, the character designs were so extra and I was like 16 and deep in the anime hole. Also Shin is so pretty and he's all black and red lol. I even made several Shin themes for my browser lol. These designs are so cursed btw. Thigh high boots, everything's ripped and the whole outfits probably take like hours to put on lol. Kinda cool but dumb.

I remember not being too happy with the game, though, and it took me until now to realize why.

Back then I only got 1 out of 5 good endings. Kent my beloved, no wonder I have fond memories of only him lol.

Going in again my main thoughts were "Shin's mean", "Toma's creepy and crazy", "Ikki's gross" and "don't care about Ukyo" buuuuuut

I still think Shin's mean, but now I kinda get it. He also softened in the good ending so I'll let it slide, but his constant boundary crossing makes him a bit iffy. And, unsurprisingly, I love his voice. Tetsuya Kakihara might always sound the same but eugh I love him anyway.

Toma freaks me out, can't trust him on any route. He literally puts MC in a dog cage cuz he's too overprotective. It's resolved in the good ending, but it's crazy enough for me to not be able to get over it. He's also a freak on Shin's route. Some might be into the yandere stuff but eh, not my thing.

I wanted to quickly get through Ikki's route before going for main man Kent, but turns out I actually really liked Ikki. Kinda worried that he might end up being my fav lol, I'm a sucker for the "playboy actually falls in love" stuff lol. Positively surprised.

Can't wait for Kent next time. I think he was a silly little math nerd who blushed a lot. Iirc he makes the player actually solve math problems lol. That's the way to my heart apparently xD Oh, I like his voice too, Akira Ishida. Not one of my favs but still.

Had to stop for tonight before starting Kent's route, and I finally unlocked Ukyo's, too. He seems like the meta guy (like Seven/707 in Mystic Messenger) and he pops in on every route talking about how "you probably don't remember me but be careful" and sometimes goes a bit crazy but I'm definitely interested to see how his good ending goes. Probably gonna end with me crying and wanting to hug him to make things better lol

Might even go for some of the bad and normal endings afterwards, who knows. Gonna ruin all the good vibes immediately xD

Anyway I don't think anyone's gonna read this but hey, it's there for those who might go through the game's tag soooo suffer!

[mlynar-nearl]

i find it astounding that you have a system for this. i mean, not to say that i pull randomly, i do save for mostly lims only (the only one i lack would be nian herself actually) but i am seldom ever able to save up that much (175?? insane), its mostly about 80 to 100 for each banner. although i will say that i did pull for certain characters i like or found meta like thorns/surtr/gnosis/passenger but it did cost me which means im always fumbling for pulls at the end of each limited banner. ever since w banner where i dumped over 200 pulls for pots (why??) i have been more stringent with my saving but ive never actually saved that much. do you have monthly card or is it just somehow pure f2p things (do you use op? im genuinely curious how do ppl save this much when im always poor) ?

ah and yes gachas are exploitative in nature, but at this point of time, it is what it is tbh, i only choose to whale in games where i genuinely like the game to bits (read: honkai) or i support them in other manners, such as merch (i buy the ak anniv boxes every year !) but yeah gachas are honestly very predatory now its scary ngl. but genshin is cool :) i dont play anymore but i might come back just for kaveh (,,,,i love him so much,,,) and abt mhy games i would rec tears of themis ! if you like pretty men yeah thats my only excuse </3 the men are pretty i am gay but i can sure as hell appreciate the very pretty men hehe. perhaps i will sleep soon it is almost 3.30am so its probably my last ask of the day (?) ty for the consistent replies !

yeah of course! i use monthly card which helps and i buy some stuff around the anniversaries and such which helps, but limiting my possible moves helps Psychologically.

funny you say that ab kaveh because my roommate lured me in to genshin with alhaitham. we call it alhaithamquest because i played the game to get alhaitham, build alhaitham, and put alhaitham in Situations. i am up to the last object on that list. i'm putting him in SO many situations. kaveh and alhaitham fascinate me. i love autistic characters and love/hate relationships and i love how kaveh asks if youre hired actors. i just wish more people in sumeru were dark-skinned...alhaitham should be brown...they couldnt make him a moc because then hed be the optimal character i Think. genshin's plot and such doesnt feel nearly as robust to me as arknights but it is good fun, and i cant begrudge it that. also i think it has some of the funniest plot setups ever because the whole "zhongli helps you plan his own funeral" thing is literally comic gold to me. i'm not taking genshin too seriously admittedly considering the Scatman Diluc Incident but i like it that way. keeps the brain mold away.

hope you sleep well btw<3

[any-n-everything]

Tears of Themis Theory

You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hugh “Huey” Kenders is actually a “child experiment” of Heirson’s.

Exhibit A: The mark of “3″ on his arm

Exhibit B: His mental development is sus. I know they attributed his genius to autism, and there have been examples of such, but you know what’s another possibility? Heirson actually made headway with their anti-aging drug and Huey is actually older than he appears.

[xelasrecords]

Hello Tears of Themis community I'm bringing you a quick translation clarification about how Rosa addresses Reina Richter as "auntie" in English.

If Reina's response seems out of place since "auntie" doesn't exactly scream formal, it's because the original Chinese phrase shouldn't translate to "auntie" at all. Writing it as "Aunt Reina" would be a closer translation, but I understand why they avoided using this as it may sound unnatural.

In Chinese, using 伯母 (bomu) denotes that you're showing great respect to a woman older than you, typically someone around your parents' age. This is a very polite phrase, so Rosa calling her future mother-in-law as 伯母 is definitely intentional. The casual, more commonly used version is 阿姨 (ayi). In this case, there'd be no problem with translating it to "auntie".

This explains Reina's stunned reaction when Rosa got so touched that Reina gave her one of her jade bracelets, even putting it on for her, that she calls Reina 伯母 again on purpose. (Another fun fact: real jade bracelets are valuable so this is an important gesture from Reina!)

TLDR Rosa is very respectful and Reina likes it.

[wedreamedlove]

Zuo Ran’s Love Theme

This is going to bother me until I get it off my chest, especially when I have negative expectations of this being conveyed in any of the localizations.

But Zuo Ran says a line during Chapter 1 of the main story that is crucial to his character and his relationship with the heroine. It’s also repeated in his Character PV and his drunk date.

SPOILERS for Chapter 1 of the main story and touches upon Zuo Ran’s character, and will show images from [SSR One Step Away] and [SSR Two Inseparable Hearts].

So, in Chapter 1, Zuo Ran asks Zhai Xing to help him find a partner and, after giving her all the things he’s looking for, this is her response:

Zhai Xing (Voice Message): Zuo Ran, wake up! A person capable of being your mirror can only be encountered and not sought for, alright?!

Hearing Zhai Xing’s “roar”, Zuo Ran furrowed his brows again and then sighed.

His sight swept across the reference book on the table again and his slender fingers slid over the spine of the book.

Zuo Ran: Can only be encountered… and not sought for…

The phrase both of them are using here is 可遇而不可求 and the literal translation is above.

To make it clearer, what this phrase means is that what belongs in your life will come to you and what doesn’t belong to your life should not be forced. A wondrous thing can only be waited for and if it belongs to you then, when the opportunity comes, you put in the effort and you will get it. However, if it doesn’t belong to you, then even if you force it and obtain it for a short while you will still ultimately lose it in the end.

There is a subtle nuance here that I have not seen any other translation capture. The thing you want is not rare, it’s not hard to come by, but it’s also not something that can be gotten so long as you put enough work into it. The whole meaning of the phrase 可遇而不可求 is that you cannot go looking for what you want, because you won’t be able to find it.

However, it’s also not saying you can just sit on your butt and wait for life to deliver what you want. Life only delivers you the encounter (or opporunity) and then it’s up to you to decide whether you want to put in the effort for it or miss out on it.

Now, how does this apply to Zuo Ran? It’s literally present in every interaction he has with his heroine. To him, his heroine is the encounter that life has given him, and if he blows his chance then he will never be able to get this opportunity again, no matter how hard he works.

And so, even when he’s sure about his feelings for her and wants to pursue her, he does it in such a tentative, careful, gentle, and considerate way. He’s not oblivious to his own emotions and, in fact, is quite obvious of them and even shows his possessiveness to other men.

However, he is terrified of pushing too hard and fast with his heroine and scaring her away (in addition to being clumsy with how to woo someone in general). This is also why he keeps using that hilarious Love Psychology book, because he wants to get all the steps right. There can be no room for error because, again, if he blows his chance then it’s gone forever.

Anyway, as I mentioned, you can see this tentativeness everywhere but I love how explicit it is in his card names and why I love these two cards. Let’s see if Themis keeps up with this theme, haha.

In December 2020, he got a card called 一步之遥 which literally translates to One Step Away.

Then, in April 2021, for his birthday he got a card called 两心无间 which I call Two Inseparable Hearts but it’s literally No Distance Between Two Hearts.

Is this not poetic beauty? I’ve seen hilarious comments about how, in keeping to this number theme because the Chinese titles start with numbers, the next one should be 三年抱俩 (two babies within three years) and then ��世同堂 (four generations in one family) HAHA.

Returning to the topic, I wouldn’t say that Zuo Ran is shy, oblivious, or hesitant to show his emotions; he’s really just being extra-cautious, extra-considerate, and taking the utmost care because of the belief that his heroine is someone he fatefully encountered in his life, but if he messes this up then he’ll lose his chance forever.

(Silly man doesn’t realize that, among all the guys, he’s actually the one who constantly gets the red thread of fate theme. The universe drew them together in the past, before they even knew each other, and continues to draw them together in the present, and now the heroine just has to step forward and take his hand.)

[ad-hawkeye]

Hi, im the anon from months ago who was tempted to get back into lovebrush after seeing your posts on Alkaid.

i wanted to let you know that I gave lovebrush a second chance this week and omg you were so right about Alkaid. he's my fave, with Lars being my second fave atm. I'm very slow on progress (same with Tears of Themis so that's not new for me) but I really enjoy Alkaid. thank you for your lovebrush postings that encouraged me

(ps: I am a huge Artem bias so I feel like Alkaid being my fave says enough about me)

WAHHAHHHH WTF!!! I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE ENJOYING IT I'M SORRY FOR BEING NONSTOP ABOUT MY FAV BLONDE FREAK I PROMISE I'M NORMAL

AND IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE THE BLONDES!! I ALSO LIKE THE BLONDES! lars consistently ranks alongside cael and alkaid for me and omg he has really good upcoming plot so keep an eye out hehehe - my fav alkaid routes are eden and azure island! :,3 my fav lars routes are eden and awakening!

lbc is definitely more of a like. slow burn, in terms of getting to know the ins and outs of the characters. some are more blunt and straight forward (ayn) and some take you several main story chapters, 15+ affinity events, and several card stories to figure out wtf is wrong with them (alkaid)

even with the au versions, the mls all the same base nature, so it's rly fun to pick apart how their upbringings made them different, and how it changed around their innate traits and yadada nature vs nurture

you'll also find lbc is stupidly consistent writing wise (the themes, base natures, and motifs for each character will show up so goddamn often with new twists and takes and deep dives) and has. a lot of foreshadowing. like a LOT. i love both tot and lbc, but character writing and consistency wise, lbc is a breath of fresh air sometimes lol. the game rewards meta posting and theorizing and it's SOOO fun omg

ALSO SAME. HSGHDFD SO MANY ARTEM FANS I KNOW ALSO LIKE ALKAID. it's always either alkaid or clarence. though i've def seen some artem + lars fans as well.

DJHJD SORRY I'LL STOP RAMBLING!! i hope you enjoy anon!! my inbox is always open for questions and ramblings HAHA, lbc has a lot of content so i can help with reading order and stuff too

[actualbird]

// general spoilers for luke’s story

a luke pearce character analysis (again): he’s an enneagram type 2 with a twist

let me preface this with the disclaimer that all kinds of personality typology should be taken with a grain of salt because all humans are multifaceted and different and theres no true way to categorize every single one of them. however, it is immense fun to slap some labels onto characters in an effort to understand them more. additionally, this is all just my own personal interpretation and opinion and should in no way be taken as the word of god.

with that outta the way, ive had luke pearce down as an enneagram type 2 ever since the beginning. mostly because my litmus test for how to choose an enneagram type for a character is to listen to every single one of Sleeping At Last’s enneagram songs and seeing which clicks the most, and man. Two by Sleeping At Last is the most luke pearce song out there. just look at the lyrics

Like a force to be reckoned with A mighty ocean or a gentle kiss I will love you with every single thing I have Like a tidal wave, I'll make a mess Or calm waters, if that serves you best I will love you without any strings attached

It's okay if you can't catch your breath You can take the oxygen straight out of my own chest

I know exactly how the rule goes Put my mask on first No, I don't want to talk about myself Tell me where it hurts I just want to build you up, build you up 'Til you're good as new And maybe one day I will get around to fixing myself too

I don't even know where to start Already tired of trying to recall when it all fell apart I just want to love you, to love you, to love you well I just want to learn how, somehow, to be loved myself

which is just yeah, thats him!!! 

but upon further reading, i got even more interested. type twos, according to the Enneagram Institute website, are described “empathetic, sincere, and warm-hearted. They are friendly, generous, and self-sacrificing, but can also be sentimental, flattering, and people-pleasing.” i agreed, this fit with how i see luke. and then i read that this description stems from twos’ basic desire: to be loved. 

which immediately made me tilt my head and go hmm...thats not quite right, for luke.

because yes, luke does show his desire to be loved, but if i had to word it differently according to my own interpretation of him, i would put it this way instead: luke’s basic desire is to be good.

i think this because to be “loved” implies some kind of want from another, but luke seems to do things regardless of what he gets in return. love is a great huge plus, but it seems he is happy contribute in positive ways no matter what.

this changes some things, about the typical description of type twos, especially concerning how twos become when they veer into the unhealthy territory. unhealthy twos have the tendency to want to oppressively establish themselves more in other peoples lives, to make themselves be important and needed. they want to be loved, and so they have to be there.

when luke is at his lowest though, when he’s hopeless and resigned, he does not focus on his presence. instead, he focuses on his absence.

in the end of luke’s ep1 character story, luke writes the following lines in his diary:

from this, it’s clear to see why he’s thinking about his absence. due to his terminal (for now, mhy, im begging you to give this dude a cure, PLEASE) illness giving him a limited lifespan, he’s come to the conclusion that the inevitable heartbreak he will cause overrules whatever he can do with the time he has left remaining. presence can cause being loved, but thats not luke’s core desire. he wants to be good, and, when he’s at his lowest, he thinks that his absence can do a better good than his presence.

this causes a domino effect of luke pearce bad coping mechanisms, most interesting to me being his 1) desire to hide (which includes dishonesty and secrecy, which is just rich from luke “tell me everything, dont keep things from me!” pearce, talk about a hypocrite) and 2) desire to leave

luke is middling in terms of the healthiness scale of being a two, in my opinion. his greatest challenge, emotionally, will be to go against those bad habits he has. to be honest. to stay.

he may not realize it yet, but those two things can do much more good than he thinks. 

[ad-hawkeye]

i totally agree with everything. i hope you don’t mind me replying because i love how his cards go about this~

one thing i noticed with artem too (that completely ties into this) is that he initially severely downplays everything he likes. it’s especially noticeable in his thin veil and in sickness or in health cards.

like oh, i do like movies somewhat - says the guy who has a home theater and popular movie review blog, goes to film festivals, memorizes his favorite dialogue, studied camera shots and framing technics and would have majored in theater if he didn’t get into law school.

oh, i only do simple home cooking here and there - says the guy who is incredibly skilled at cooking to the point where mc notes he could have made it as a chef if he wasn’t a lawyer. oh, i only go for leisurely drives sometimes or oh, i only know how to do this because i saw someone else do it, etc.

also, if i’m not mistaken, he kinda touches upon this in his skadi card when he mentions people finding him weird for not having typical interests, right? while he doesn’t care what other people think, i do think the comments stick w him, and affect him when it comes to interacting w mc in his earlier cards because he DOES care what she thinks... and is why a lot of his cards are kinda a long “getting to know you” game as the two open up to each other.

i'm gonna start crying just thinking about this but

someone probably told artem to shut up about his rambles

listen, i know in some cards and in the main story he goes off saying "oh i'm boring" or "i don't keep up with media" and this is a learned behavior.

in his lg card he goes on to make playing 'dig in the sand' about being a lawyer and strategy which honestly, fair go for it, but then he goes on and says

like, i know people ramble when they get excited and passionate, and honestly it's so fun and liberating to do but either people get annoyed or disinterested real quick.

some people go the further step and shut people down. i think that artem was one of the unfortunate souls that got shut down. artem is passionate and intense, and while yeah his cold demeanor makes him intimidating hes pretty open about what he likes.

he doesn't lie to celestine when she says that she knows he's smitten with rosa, all he says is that she should shut up about it. he wants to share his likes with people, and i think that stems from him being unapproachable or the expectations he had as a child. he goes on and recommends books to the mc and asks them to also go see a movie.

but someone told him to shut up as a child. that's why he's always like 'i'm boring' and the likes. someone took it upon themselves to tell artem to shut up as a child when he was rambling about what he liked.

that's probably one of the reasons why he's anonymous on the internet. "mockingbird" is someone who doesn't have ties to any famous lawyer. not lawyer an, not neil hume, not artem wing. he simply is. and people seek out his opinion. like, okay, in the internet no one asks and shit and some people use blogs as a way to ramble about things they like. there's also the plus that even if people tell you to shut up, you don't have to listen bc they're the ones looking. don't like don't read mentality.

anyway, just that constant 'im boring' feeling, bc what he likes is boring to people or bc he feels like they won't listen, is learned. someone, probably a lot of people, either didn't listen or told him to shut up.

and that makes me really fucking sad bc same 🥺😭