#the foil potential!!

[follows-the-bees]

It's true, this man has no nose.

[epicfirestormer]

(holds all three in my hands) I just think they're neat

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The girls are plottinggggg

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[codenamethebird]

Ok here's a little (not really) analysis/theory post about Hades 2, because I'm obsessed. Its consumed all my thoughts. And I need to talk about a theme I think will (hopefully) be addressed as the game progresses.

Here's some examples of dialogue that starts to touch on this conflict between mortals and the gods. What exactly do mortals deserve? We also have literal Icarus "flew too close to the sun" here too (and probably Pandora). Chronos was able to sway many to his side with a promise of a golden age without the gods, which is presented by the narrative as a foolish venture. And not saying it isn't, or that Chronos is the secret good guy here, but I believe Chronos is taking advantage of a very real hurt that exists for mortals.

This line from Nemesis really stood out to me, because it implies that while mortals have a concept of evil, the gods don't. Which sounds ridiculous but the more you think about it makes total sense. The gods in Hades (and just greek myth in general), are kind of the worst. They are petty and selfish, they literally attack you if their boon isn't picked first, and most vitally in this context, often utterly disregard mortals.

For example, one of the things that drove me a little crazy in Hades 1, was how chill everyone was with Demeter's never ending winter. Demeter was killing possibly millions upon millions of mortals and everyone else just sort of let it happen. Maybe complained a bit because it was annoying to them, but just stood by. And that's just one example. Mortal's have a very valid reason to hate the gods.

And considering we have more areas of the surface to explore that aren't out yet, I have a feeling Melinoë is going to be meeting some of these discontent mortals. And my hope is they are going to be nuanced characters, that will challenge Melinoë not just in a fight, but her very ideals.

Because Melinoë is very deferential to the gods, waaaaaay more that Zag ever was. Unlike Zag, who was more like a bro to them and was willing to suck up to them for personal gain, Melinoë seems to genuinely mean all the respect she gives them. She praises them, defends them when they are insulted, and just generally very polite to them.

In a smaller scale, she describes Hypnos as having a wisdom about him and can somehow sense her intensions while asleep. Which as Nem implies, the version in Melinoë's head doesn't exactly line up with reality (though sidebar, I am a believer in Chekov's Hypnos and that he's going to somehow save the day and put Chronos in a never ending sleep or something, but that's beside the point haha).

Melinoë's reverence to the gods makes total sense of course. She was denied her family and a happy childhood, and because of that has glorified them all in her head. The Olympians are sending her vital aid on her holy mission for vengeance and to save her family, even as their own home is being attacked, how honorable of them!

And I think part of Melinoë's arc is that perfect picture of them breaking into pieces. Yes, they are the better of the two options between them and Chronos, but that doesn't mean they aren't also kind of the worst. That mortals deserve better than frivolous gods that can decide on a whim their fates for better or worse (love u Moros but I'm still fucked up over you and your sisters giving mortals horrible doom endings when you were bored. At least he feels bad now but still. Perfect example of gods even when not intending to having horrific consequences for mortals). And maybe like how Zag healed relations with his family, Melinoë can start repairing relations between the Gods and Mortals.

[otaku553]

More reluctant king sabo au! I realized recently that this au is an excellent excuse for drawing sabo in pretty outfits that he would be absolutely miserable in :)

[sweatandwoe]

Me when I see a Gale/Astarion simp hating on the other: You FOOL they are parallels, foils, you cannot hate the one without the hating the other (I need blood/magic for nourishment or else I will die, they have a patron they are bound to, they are both bookworms, both can make terrible choices for the world, they have a magic the gathering homoerotic card art, both have the tsim just one is masked and the other is not, etc)

Also if you wanted a morally good man to romance, Wyll is right there.

[hulloitsdani]

It worries me sometimes

how similar you both can be.

[sleepy-aletheas]

The love I hold for Haikaveh being thematically parallel to Nabu Malikata and Deshret is ever abundant and I have Thoughts on it all. I just wish I would ever decide to try and write my thoughts down when I'm in a reasonably awake state to have a shred of sense and not after spending the whole night staying up and pushing myself into sleep depravity.

Anyway, the basic idea is that I think both Kaveh and Alhaitham mirror certain aspects of both gods, but probably are meant to be the happier endings of that type of dynamic/character types. It's not just Kaveh=Nabu Malikata, Alhaitham=Deshret, Alhaitham has certain similarities to Nabu and Kaveh has a lot in common with Deshret (I would even say he is a more narrative foil to Deshret than Alhaitham ever could be). I understand that it's easier to just pick one pair for comparison and be done with it for simplicity's sake, but I'm already neck deep in overthinking, might as well go fully out on it eventually.

Even if I really wanna write this out, I don't know how comprehensive it would be. I make sense to myself, but the moment I try to put anything into concrete words, it suddenly feels like I need to fill in 5 different topics to make any sort of sense and bring the whole conversation to the same page with a common understanding.

Maybe I'll take a nap, that could fix everything.

[takingasterix]

Had this idea stuck in my head, so threw together a quick animatic with Merlin and Mordred and unrealistic lighting! I think their dynamic had so much potential and complexity that I would have loved to see explored. This is a confrontation that did not happen in canon, but I think definitely could have! Hope you enjoy :D

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Idk if this is going to make any sense, but I always feel like there's something missing when I read thoughts about sskk and it really is the impact Kyouka has on them.

Like, a lot of it is "look at the impact Atsushi and Akutagawa have on each other" and "they are so similar at their cores" which is true! And essential for any bsd partner dynamic! But Kyouka also has commonalities - she has Atsushi's general wonder, simple wants and joys, and desire to be helpful and kind, but also Akutagawa's laser focused objectivity, initial lack of questioning orders, and straightforward ruthlessness when required.

But a lot of the external influence on sskk I see mentioned is Dazai and Chuuya's... which I get, because they're the previous double black, but also Chuuya is very minorly involved by proxy only, and while Dazai undeniably is at the heart of sskk conflict (and it's good to analyze in depth!!!), I feel it's understated how much it was actually Kyouka who kickstarted the development between them - Atsushi was brand-new to the Agency, but saving Kyouka cemented his mindset of proving his worth and also gave him someone to look out for - his position became less fragile from that point on and more permanent. Her mix of kindness and darkness also forces Atsushi in the Guild arc to reassess the idea that people are either "good" or "bad". (He's working on this still, but his judgements are becoming much more nuanced than at the beginning.) And as for Akutagawa... I have a lot of thoughts on their dynamic and how I really don't think there's a whole lot of bad blood there anymore after my all-time favourite scene where they fight in Cannibalism arc - but all I will say is that he legitimately thought what he was doing would make her strong enough to survive, and both Kyouka and Atsushi telling him this is wrong, that people can't live being beaten down like that forces him to reassess his own situation in the Hawthorne and Mitchell fight. (He still has a ways to go, but I seriously hope he eventually realizes that his treatment by Dazai was horribly unnecessary and cruel.)

But what's great is that Atsushi and Akutagawa influence her development too! I don't even need to get into Atsushi's: he believes in her potential and sees her as the young girl she is - not a weapon but a person. She starts off pretty much attached to him and only him, but as time goes on, she starts to adopt a more positive mindset and becomes more confident making decisions as a result of his faith in her. With Akutagawa, she is, like Atsushi, forced to reassess others, especially after he tells her he's glad for her having found that will to live. Kyouka is unable to continue fighting him after that, and I get the sense she saw him as a person there, instead of only the man who harmed her. I also find it really interesting that she has no shame or concern about her mindset aligning much more closely with his, to the point where she'll work with him if necessary.

This is a bit of a mess but really it's one long-winded ramble on how I loved these three working together in Dead Apple and would love to see them working and fighting alongside each other again. I know, I know, this is probably not going to happen because it's supposed to be about sskk as a duo but consider:

They are a trio in my heart.

[chaotic-history]

Be gay do escrime 🤺

[itsafternoonpast5]

thinking about their friendship so hard

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Tbh a huge amount of the issues MHA has could have been fixed had Bakugo just been expelled from UA in the first season or not gotten in at all

[wyrdle]

I'm always having creation ideas above my skill level for Shuji Ikutsuki lmao

[cowchickenbeefpork]

gotham should've made Lucius fox weirder. Do you mean to tell me he got the reflection riddle right meaning he was like an Edward who was loved and cared for in a way that he was not weird at all? he got the riddle right a series of riddles meant to find someone similar to Edward and he got the reflection one. he has no quirky quirks at all here? for shame.

[aelin9]

Long Live Evil is good in the way Sarah Rees Brennan is always good where she tells you exactly what she's going to do and then does it. But I'm starting to take it personally now that het and achillean ships are perfectly swoony dangerous and hot filled with tension and longing and chemistry and the only sapphic relationship here was a literal snoozefest. Why are y'all like this