#the last wish liveblog

[grumpyoldsnake]

Liveblog: The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

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Context: I caught bits and pieces of several scattered episodes of the Netflix Witcher series while at my parent’s place, and have had my curiosity piqued!

Further context: I don’t actually know anything about storytelling techniques. High school English classes were a long time ago, hah. But… I am currently actively trying to learn via observation. So! A lot of my comments are going to be on that topic: what I’m seeing, why I think it’s been done that way, how well I think it’s working, etc.

Disclaimer: My thoughts might be scrambled, names might be misspelled, and most quotes will be paraphrased. I’m reading via audiobook at work, and only stopping to jot down what ideas I remember after I’ve already read large sections. And some of these thoughts are just writing style and craft thoughts, no chronology to be had.

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So! Okay! Starting off with unnecessary murder! Always endears one to a protagonist, let me tell you /s

Setting that aside, I do appreciate that Geralt’s already a bit more talkative than what I recall of the show

Sapkowski really likes ‘no words were necessary’ and ‘gave a look’ and other such unspoken communication, doesn’t he?

Which, y’know, I do like its use in some sections — for myself I find it almost impossible not to respond (or to write a character responding) to statements or questions, so I think it’s a powerful character note to just have someone. Flat out not reply to something. xD And I’m going to try to remember it, now that I’ve had my attention called to that gut instinct of mine.

Other sections it feels more like the author being unwilling to say or commit to something, though, or occasionally like the author expects something to be clear without being outright stated when—for me at least—it definitely isn’t.

Like look. Nonverbal communication works because there are nonverbal things to observe. It does not work if there isn’t even a narrative description of said nonverbal details. 😂

(Mind you I can’t read nonverbal communication to save my life half the time even when there *is* something to observe…)

Other writing thing of note is the occasional use of dialogue to imply/narrate action that’s going on, without any further belaboring of it in the actual narration.

That I rather like. Reminds me a bit of western style comics where character statements are providing half the context, because the illustrations can’t cover it all efficiently enough. Might experiment a bit with it myself, see if it streamlines my writing any!

The third-ish sentence after Dandelion is introduced being Geralt calling him his friend is a massive contrast to what I recall of the show. 😂

It’s another thing I like though. Aside from the random fucking murder at the beginning of the book, I do think I’m finding this characterization more interesting than show!Geralt. (Jury’s out on ‘likable,’ mind. 😝) Both crankier / more vicious and more demonstrative / more personable, somehow. Feels more rounded?

Don’t quote me on that though. Again. I’ve watched like 3-4 episodes, and not in order at that. Not sure why I keep wanting to make comparisons to begin with tbh, I don’t actually know what I’m talking about slskjfhf

Case in point though — an entire? Fucking chapter? That’s literally just Geralt talking? To a stylistic degree, there isn’t even any narration? “I need to talk to someone” and then he does, wtf is Netflix doing

Admittedly he’s doing it to someone who he knows for a fact will never pass what he’s saying on to anyone else but like. Still.

…Geralt is a dork. Jaskier is a dork. They are both such fucking dysfunctional dorks. (Context: catfishing.)

Ffff holy fuck Jaskier is in bad shape. Oof.

…Geralt is furthermore a self-righteous philosophical sap. Who likes making speeches. (Context: half this book, when he isn’t keeping silent or ‘smiling nastily’. Or uh. Murdering people.)

PFFT I spoke too soon. Yennefer seems to share that thought

“The witcher didn’t like to do anything needlessly” (paraphrased, again, reading an audiobook) — Geralt. Geralt. Why did you kill those jerks at the start of the book, Geralt. (I’m saying ‘Geralt’ but what I actually mean is ‘why did you write this that way, Sapkowski’ >_>;)

Poor Dandelion is so concerned and upset ffff

…I am too aroace-spec for this bullshit 😂

Like is it weird that I would find sheer stubborn desire not to let Yennefer get herself killed more understandable and believable in isolation than I do when it’s tied up with attraction as it has been?

In isolation I’d just nod along but as it is I am banging my head against the wall with frustration slsjfhf

THIS WOMAN HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT CALLOUS TO YOU why do you like her. Like. Again. Yes I understand wanting to save her, but why do you LIKE her good GRIEF

…okay the very last bit of it is incredibly fucking sweet though.

I mean look at this: “And they were considerate and very thorough. They were caring and tender, and though neigher of them knew what caring and tenderness were, they succeeded—because they very much wanted to, and they were in no hurry whatsoever.”

Tell me that isn’t the sweetest damn way to describe some sex

Ohh. And. Also worth mentioning, Yennefer apparently heard the wish? And liked it / found it touching? Huh. For some reason I feel like that was handled very differently in the show, though I can’t recall the specifics.

Anyway I comprehend the whole interwoven destinies necessary result of the wish, but I am not successfully guessing what the actual wish was. Wonder if we’ll ever be explicitly told?

…that uh. That sure is an ominous ending, goodness. Nenneke is so worried and upset, I think that’s the bit that struck me hardest.

I didn’t mention it earlier but I do really enjoy the sections with Nenneke just in general. Their dynamic is really fun :)

Speaking of those sections — climate change! Except not that! Good times. Makes me think of our ozone layer and the potential impacts if it were lost.

And speaking of ominous things — “it’s already too late” or something along those lines with regards to the changing sunlight. Ahah. Good times. Slow natural… well, again, change. Apocalypse, for some species. Curious to see just how many species that will be.

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Well! I have a few gripes, but overall I did enjoy it enough to be interested in reading the next book! Curiosity is still a bigger factor than actual investment, currently…? But interest is interest, ahah.

[luminousstardust]

[arthursfuckinghat]

The curious couple and their unruly sons satchels <3

[m0e-ru]

did everybody remember when atlus finally restored the attendant social link in the steam port and how stupid it actually was

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s3 episode 10 thoughts

WHEW!!! another rollercoaster of an episode tonight!!!

without further ado, please buckle up and get comfortable while i walk you through everything in excruciating detail. and below, i shall copy and paste my notes.

oh man, back for part TWO. i need to prepare myself. but honestly, can you do such a thing?! it’s debatable! you can only do the best you can. and after yesterday, i’m expecting some further big feelings. so we must keep our delaying brief. 

so i have some popcorn, and now we’re gonna get into it.

(wait. i see this episode is titled “731”. so i made that sort of disclaimer last night about needing to gather my thoughts on that being used in this show but i assume it’ll dive more into it today. so i guess just… keep that in mind? i try to be as articulate as i can when handling sensitive subject matter, but there are some things i know i’m not the most qualified to speak on)

but okay. jump in for real and i’ll try not to get too academic. 

oh we get another “previously on the x files”!! a recap!!! how special!!! and now we remember how high the stakes are. 

back in west virginia. at a gate. OH! this truck is just driving through that closed gate. well! that was abrupt. no care for property here in WV. we see that this is a disease research facility.

a lot of men with guns and disembarking into the facility and we hear a soft mewing… sort of how i’d imagine an alien cat tells you it is hungry?? are there more aliens here today?

no! it’s a man, not an alien, who emerges from a trap door.

JUST KIDDING!! THERE ARE ALIENS BEING LOADED INTO THE TRUCKS. so my alien noise detectors (ears) are in proper working order. 

(author’s note: or… are they aliens? it’s cast into doubt after the end of the episode, but for the sake of the LIVE nature of this liveblog, i will keep my original notes)

now i’m conflicted here, because these aliens look real small and sad, but if they’re behind what is being done to scully, they need to be punished. but it also seems that after last episode, it is the HUMANS who are doing the evil things. so how evil are these critters?

oh… i don’t like their fingers. 

the man is running up to the rest of the aliens, who are being taken into a clearing. oh no… not looking good for them.

and we see the man has a very distinctive face… hmm

alien execution by fire squad? noooo!!! this is exactly what happens. the soldiers seem to check that they’re dead and walk away. wtf??? do bullets work on aliens? i guess??

theme music plays as i type frantically. but i look up JUST IN TIME TO SEE THAT TODAY’S WORDS ARE DIFFERENT! “APOLOGY IS POLICY” HUH?

apology is policy… i feel like the government is really bad at apologizing for stuff though. so??

scully on the phone. mulder on the train.

scully wants to know what is on that train but x says it doesn’t matter. well not sure if you get to make that call!

SCULLY PULLS A GUN ON HIM!!! but he disarms her quickly. omg she is NOT playing around!! 

OH HE BROUGHT HER SISTER INTO THIS??? WHAT THE HELL???? X READ THE ROOM??

okay, that was uncalled for, but he says that if she wants to know what is on that train and who killed her sister, to figure out what they put in her neck…… he says it holds more than he could ever tell her. and then. he gives her the gun back and leaves. such an interesting dynamic between this dude and the agents.

SCULLY WHY DO THEY MAKE YOU SUFFER?

mulder trying to get into the train. still hanging on. and he finally found a way in!

looks at a sign that says quarantine and then tries to get into it lmaoooo. alas, he cannot.

so he goes to someone on the train and pulls the federal agent card, but the guy says he can’t help him. but a particular japanese doctor on board might be able to, dr. shiro zama. okayyyy are we getting somewhere????

mulder has a lot of confidence getting into these situations. so he takes the conductor to the dr. shiro zama’s room and says unlock the damn door.  and his room is…. empty??? is the conductor in on this. i’m suspicious.

he finds a suitcase full of writing though, and asks “why did i study french in high school”

! MULDER LORE REVEAL ! HE STUDIED FRENCH IN HIGH SCHOOL!!!! EXCELLENT!!!! CHEERING AND YELLING!!!

mulder says that if the conductor finds the doctor before he does to make him lie on the ground and hold him at gunpoint. so he’s showing the conductor how to use a gun. and he says he’s never used one before but again i am suspicious!!

back to the fbi. chip from scully’s neck analysis time. it seems to be… collecting information as if they are memories? and could even tell you A PERSON’S EVERY THOUGHT. she seems to be terrified. i would be too.

the chip guy says he found the name of the manufacturer!!! he destroyed the chip but he found the name!!! big shoutout to chip guy. 

AND THE CHIP WAS SENT TO DR. SHIRO ZAMA!!!

she’s touched and grabs his arm and this guy clearly has a crush on scully but like 1. same and 2. if it gets her life saving information idgaf

back on the train. we see the guy who killed all the other doctors last episode!!! and he’s going after who is presumably this episode’s doctor. henceforth he shall be referred to as “the strangler”

he gets dr. zama in a bathroom just as mulder walks by and seems to miss whatever is going down in there, which i assume is murder.

okay a car is pulling up in west virginia. IT’S SCULLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! with a flashlight at night. and people are running out of the disease building!!! where are they going….

this is spoooooky. very dark and quiet and just a flashlight and a dream here. but something is under the floorboards!!!! is it the guy from the start of the episode??? she is no fool, she sees him. AND A BUNCH OF OTHER PEOPLE DOWN THERE??? begging not to be hurt. HELLO??? THERE ARE MULTIPLES???

mulder back on the train. sleuthing. finds the dead doctor!!! straight up STRANGLED. a woman screams that he’s dead but mulder is like “no he’s sick :)” and pats her kid’s head and smiles <- LMAOOOOOOO i knew this man did improv in high school

back to the disease facility. scully wants to know who these people under the floorboards are, and says she won’t hurt them and that she is an fbi agent, which is the truth, but possibly not the most reassuring answer. they live here!! 

she puts together that this place used to be a leper colony but it isn’t anymore. so they just left these people there? :(

they say dr. zama “isn’t here anymore” SO HE WAS, AT ONE POINT, HERE?

THESE PEOPLE ARE HIDING FROM “THE DEATH SQUADS” HUH??? scully is deeply confused. but they explain that hundreds have been killed.

she’s like, i thought leprosy was curable, and he says yeah, but we were disfigured before treatment arrived so they kept us out here :( this is so sad!!!

and the others had the “hansen’s deformities” (i do not know what this refers to sorry but we can google later) and he says dr. zama would BURN them. horrific human experimentation!!!!

so he leads her to the execution site from the start of the episode. and it is an open pit of what looks like, to me, aliens. it’s horrific. and he says there are more. it’s really really sad. like i can’t explain how sad it is. 

and just as they do that, a helicopter arrives and shines a light on them both! i realize we don’t even know that gentleman’s name :(

scully is hiding in the woods but people with guns are running in and have surrounded her. they say “move and you’re dead” AND WE HEAR GUNSHOTS IN THE DISTANCE!!! NOOO… WHAT ABOUT OUR UNNAMED FELLOW???

mulder says not to stop the train until he finds the killer and i’m like okaaaay this is freaky. he is really hoping the conductor isn’t evil. but the quarantine door is unlocked!!! so he goes in. hopefully not to contract a scary disease. and he looks in the back AND SEES AN ALIEN!!! ALIVE!!!

but then the strangler comes to kill him!!! he starts to strangle him until the conductor comes him with his (empty) gun!!! the strangler says he’s a “law enforcement officer” which um. okay.

the conductor locks this “law enforcement officer” in the quarantine car with mulder. and poor mulder is covered in marks around his neck from the strangling :(

strangler claims he works for the NSA. and that there is a bomb on the train. because of the back room alien. and he says anything could make the weapon blow up.

is he bluffing??? 

scully in custody. some guy wants to speak with her alone and he knows her name. HE SAYS HE KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT HER??

he says this was a place where society sent its monsters to live in isolation. and that the people here were all victims of Zama. OKAY BUT ANSWER WHY YOU KNOW HER… WERE YOU THE FREAK PUTTING STUFF IN HER NECK??? so is this whole ordeal with scully and the others in allentown zama’s fault??? and THIS guy who was talking to her, he was the one that BROUGHT ZAMA HERE???

oh no, dr. zama began secret evil experimentations… who could have seen this coming when you recruited the guy SPECIFICALLY for his past secret evil experiments? truly no one! /s

this guy says he wants to show her something. ummm who is this guy and also what is he doing and why? because i want to throw hands. 

back on the train. the conductor asks if he should pry open the door. and the strangler has the keycard. and he claims to have a code, but if they use the code again it’ll set “the bomb” off. 

mulder doesn’t buy it and starts to put the code in. but a phone starts ringing. it’s the strangler’s. he says the phone call is for him. can we put it on speaker. 

OKAY SO. THE GUY WHO IS BEING WEIRD AND HAS SCULLY IS NAMED “ELDER”. shoutout to closed captions. 

anyway, she is on the phone and says that whatever is on that train isn’t actually alien. and that the people he was experimenting on were homeless, subjected to diseases and radiation. so he goes to check and see if the “alien” in the secret room really looks like a alien.

hmm… i find this hard to believe and am curious as to why scully claims to buy it. unless elder is forcing her to say these things….

she answers this very question by saying that SHE HAS BEEN IN THIS CAR BEFORE. WHEN THEY WERE EXPERIMENTING ON HER. NOOOO SCULLY :(

she says there is no alien abduction, and it’s a smokescreen for the government to experiment on people. and the “UFO” he saw was NOT a UFO, but a russian submarine. hmm not sure i’m buying that…

OH??? TWO WEEKS AGO the president made a public apology for secret radiation tests?? (are we still in bill era for s3 or has it transitioned to george bush town? i honesty can’t tell when this season dropped. need to look up radiation apologies)

and she says that there is a BOMB in the car as the strangler said, and the test subject/alien in the back was exposed to an awful fever, and if it blows up, a ton of people will be exposed. huh… who IS this dude trapped back there?

she says there is a ventilation grid, and the timer to the bomb is hidden inside. so the strangler opens it.  and yes! there is a bomb!!! with a little under 2 hours left!!!!!!

she says that they need to get the train to stop so a bomb squad can get out there, but he PRETENDS THE CALL IS BREAKING UP!!! and he hangs up!!!! what a traitor, thinking he can use his own smarts to get out of this! what an ego or a blind optimism this man has!

SCULLY :( why does she have to suffer in such ways… now she can’t reach her friend on the train that is about to blow up….

mulder says to reroute the train to the least populated area and unhook the car…. OMG???? WHAT IS HE PLANNING??

doing that thing where people move the train tracks. so cool. and they unhook the car they’re in!

the strangler is on the floor but he sees a scalpel…. what is HE planning…. 

scully is speeding home. “scully, let me tell you, you haven’t seen america til you’ve seen it from a train” “DAMN IT MULDER, WHAT HAPPENED” <- LMAOOOOOO, line delivered by man whose coping mechanism is Quips

he says that if what HE thinks is on that train is in there, they’ll get him out. she says if what SHE thinks is on that train, they’ll let ‘em blow up. 

mulder is asking the strangler what the hell is going on. and when he is giving smarmy looks instead of an answer, mulder says that he’ll shoot him in the stomach, which is THE MOST PAINFUL AND SLOWEST WAY TO DIE. OH. HE MEANS BUSINESS!

so the strangler says this creature on the train is a weapon. and that dr. zama was trying to find something immune to radiation and biological warfare. and mulder pulls out the “alien-human hybrid” card… but the strangler is like, well if that were true, wouldn’t someone have come to save it by now… UGH, SO WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

scully in mulder’s apartment. searching through his things. his journal. calling a number? CALLING THE SENATOR?!

we learn mulder’s number is 555-0199. so that’s some useless information for ya but maybe it’ll help you sweep trivia night. and she puts the tape X up! just bites the tape right off to cut it. love that for her. 

watching the autopsy again. and she winces, possibly realizing that she is seeing what was done to her. 

SHE SEES DR. ZAMA ENTERING A CODE IN THE VIDEO!!! carefully going frame by frame to figure out each number. whilst the strangler smirks from behind. possibly with the weapon…

she can’t fully see the last number though!! and it works!!!!

BUT THE STRANGLER!!!! HE ATTACKS!!!!!

BUT THEN HE GETS SHOT!!!!

is that…. X?????? (he has kinda like almost bell bottom looking pants but it could also maybe be skinner?)

MULDER’S FACE IS COVERED IN BLOOD!!! AND IT IS X!!! HE SEES THERE IS ONLY A MINUTE LEFT ON THE BOMB TIMER. what is he doing???! going to the creature in the back?!! is he gonna let it get blown up……… 

X is carrying mulder like a rag doll and it IS FUNNY LMAOOOO it’s kinda cute…… they’re getting out of there RIGHT AS THE CAR BLOWS UP!!!!

so was that an alien?? was it a plague bearing human??? will mulder now be exposed to plague?? WHAT IS THE TRUTH???

time skip to a week later. mulder is making calls to try and figure out what happened to the car and his face :( it’s all beat up :(

and senator matheson isn’t returning his calls…

she has a briefcase from the train but it ISN’T THE RIGHT ONE!!!!

scully says that mulder is doing the government’s work for them, chasing aliens that aren’t there to help cover a shameful story. AND SHE SAYS “APOLOGY HAS BECOME POLICY!!”

he says he wants them held accountable for what DID happen, he wants an apology for the truth, and he looks like he is gonna cry. their disagreements make me sad because they want the same thing, but i see her point…

so someone is translating a journal written in japanese… is it the OG or the fake?

GASP!!! CIG MAN IS WATCHING THE TRANSLATION PROCESS!!!

OMGGGG a million thoughts.

i really liked this episode in terms of plot. i thought we were steering straight into alien territory after the last episode, but they’re giving us more non-alien explanations that are honestly pretty damn believable. i mean, i don’t know what the results of inventive radiation torture would make a human being look like, but maybe it could look like what we assume an alien to be? OR it could be a hybrid of both stories, there’s experimentation going on with vulnerable people AND aliens are involved. 

and the reveal that scully was tested on by people- man!!! on the one hand, how horrific to learn this for a person whose greatest fear is the evil humans can create. but on the other hand, it was human, not alien, so there should be an explanation that could make sense. even if the answers are being hidden, she can try and find them. but again, how terrifying to know humans do this to fellow humans.

they’re fighting a bit at the end, because they have entirely different interpretations on what is going on, and their own individual reasoning and experience that backs their thoughts up, and it’s so deeply personal for both of them. but they want the same thing. i want to make them sit down and say that they are approaching the same problem from two different angles!! and that is okay!!! 

sighs. mulder, willing to gamble his life for a creature that could be an alien, could be a bio weapon, could be anything, but if it keeps people safe he will risk anything for it. anything for the truth.

and x showing up in the nick of time, hauling him out, saving him… after all the fights they’ve gotten into, x risking his life just to sneak him information, but never telling him enough… no matter how many times they come to blows he still showed up, dragged him away from the bomb, killed his attacker… truly, what is this dude’s motive? what is his job? whose side is he on? i would bet there is no consistant side for him, just a paycheck. 

omg. so the terrible things being done to scully are being done by humans… it doesn’t explain everything (and i don’t buy either of their stories fully) but how juicy. how terrible for scully, but juicy for a viewer of the plot.

but if they WERE experimenting on people who were homeless or otherwise vulnerable as she claimed, why on earth would they pick her? her absence was noted, her job was prominent, it’s not like she was scooped off the street. and duane barry had to bring her to where she was taken. also, duane was the only guy that we know of that was taken… maybe they were taken by different groups?? different experiments going on?? maybe one was taken by aliens and the other by people??? maybe they’re lying about only taking people who were already vulnerable, and will take anyone for sample size? man. i have so many questions. but i LIKE that. i like having mystery and a big conspiracy to try and crack, even if you run into a million endless snakes biting their own tails. nothing explains everything.

what was cig guy doing!!! and who made the chip that was in scully!! and who really sent the strangler!! and what was that creature!! why did “elder” know scully!!!

i think that the government doing awful evil things is a lot more compelling to me than an outside alien force. and sure, both can work together, don’t get me wrong, because we know aliens exist in SOME capacity after the whole poisonous gas blood and endless clones of that one lady pretending to be samantha from last season, but it’s an infinite universe, there are probably a ton of alien species. maybe the clones were one and these guys are another. 

the point i was trying to get at was this: i think the government doing evil stuff is compelling. but i’m torn on the use of real human suffering as a story building element. the things committed by unit 731 were unspeakably horrific, beyond description. but that really happened, to REAL human beings, not characters on a screen. to use that suffering and build off it it, to incorporate that into fiction is… troubling to me.

and this isn’t exclusive to the x files by any means, there are other stories that take the human experimentation that was actually done to real people in WW2 and imposes it/expands upon it in fictional contexts- but i feel a sense of… like, these things were truly real and horrible, and using them as a jumping off point feels… maybe trivializing is the word? they’re treated in the show as awful, horrible things, but they’re expanded upon in a fantastical manner that almost makes it feel like the real horrible things that happened weren’t horrific enough. idk, i’d be interested in hearing thoughts on the subject. 

but i feel that if i want to expand upon that at length, it would be best to do it in its own post. as is my rule with things that are too serious for just one post. 

(to be clear, i’m not critiquing the episode, which was well done and performed and had me at the edge of my seat. i’m raising a question about the ethics of the writing itself and if using that real horror as a jumping off point is a morally sound thing to do. feel free to chime in, you don’t have to make a huge think piece or anything, just wondering if that crossed anyone else’s mind)

morality of the plot points set aside to discuss for another day, this episode was another banger. i was at the edge of my seat and KEPT pausing to take notes lmao. i would get one thing down and ANOTHER WOULD HAPPEN! the pacing was great, i was sad to see our agents separated but isn’t there something wonderful about a phone call connecting them despite the distance? i feel that we are getting closer and closer looks into what drives them, what their essential differences are despite their commitment to figure out what is going on and their mutual skin in the game. i just don’t want them to argueeee :( my babies :(

wow! that was a lot to say, and i’m sleepy, so i best end here before i am tempted to develop all the lore into course content that i subject my friends to.

[degenderates]

the brides of heisenberg

[bistaxx]

Genuinely though I am curious why Elq decided to take Q's place for this... like outside of possibly genuinely not wanting Q to go through purgatory Elq also mentioned an 'operation' ... what does all of this have to do with whatever operation he's doing and why would've Q being there put it at risk...

Also Charlie, Phil, and Quackity's tickets being unique like- what was up with that???

And why did the cinematic single out these guys in particular 😵‍💫?!

[teamjlry]

"I don't know, and I don't care."

Yeah, I mean, I'm always on the verge of tears and raising my voice when I'm talking about things about which I don't care too.

[transfinan]

This evening I will become someone who has Seen seven kings must die

[protect-namine]

(kisa route) in a way, sissia vs gashadokuro really is as much a competition between kisa and chui as it is between present neji and past neji, and all of the things kisa, chui, and neji represent. quartz vs amber, transformation/collaboration vs raw talent, reaching for visions yet to be realized vs perfecting a vision. the "gear" and "gods and mortals" metaphors

the irony of chui "I'll die for theater, literally and figuratively" tanakamigi existing while neji is writing a play where the lead also "dies for theater", but chui and sissia are coming at it from completely different directions

like, to me, this is neji's finale as much as it is kisa's. quartz exists the way it does because neji transferred there and reshaped the class to make up for tsuki's absence. all of the plays they perform are a product of neji absorbing everyone around him, but every play is also a reflection of neji's thoughts on his classmates and his growth as a character and artist

just look at I Am Death and how his writing progressed to central nation of sissia. neji wrote takihime because he wanted chui to have hope that there is someone out there who can match his talents, that he wouldn't be lonely on the stage. but neji himself didn't really believe (at the time) that such a person exists. while he meant well, it's kind of a mean thing to write for chui, who is the kind of artist who will try to perfect the script over and over, always searching for takihime

sissia, on the other hand, was written for kisa. neji wrote all the things necessary to kisa, which includes having "warm and welcoming friends"

if chui met quartz!neji instead of amber!neji, he might have gotten a kinder script, one where gashadokuro doesn't get summoned by a takihime that acts as his mirror, but one where he is brought down to earth and warmly humanized by the people around him

all this is made all the more poignant during the scene when kisa saw chui practicing at the himehiko shrine and the player can make the choice for kisa to see chui as just another seventeen year old boy, reaching for his dreams like she is. in many ways, neji and kisa are probably the only people in univeil who take the time to see chui as just another fellow artist, human and growing and changing, while the rest of them (amber, univeil, tamasaka) are basically elevating him to god/demon status and distance themselves from ever connecting with him

[girlwiththegreenhat]

last ep over now what do i do with my life

season 4 was good and then it was DOGSHIT for a minute and then just as the episodes start getting really good and feeling like classic knight rider again it's OVER </3 WAA

[arthursfuckinghat]

Albeit, I'm only on chapter three of my first rdr2 playthrough, but this game has really taught me a lot so far.

I was getting really frustrated and caught up in the fact that my honour level would go up and down when I was striving to be the 'highest honour', I'd do good deeds to make up for story missions that lowered my honour (e.g breaking Micah out of jail and killing all those lawmen) and after listening to how Arthur described himself to Jimmy Brooks - I get it now.

Arthur doesn't see the honour scale like we do.

That sounds obvious, I know, but he is aware of his actions (the good and bad) and knows the consequences, he would help out strangers as quickly as he would rob them if they wronged him. He doesn't see himself as a good man, an honest man yes, but he knows he has done bad as much as he has done good.

That's how he was raised, it's what he knows works and keeps him alive.

He has seen good people be wronged and taken advantage of, he has seen bad people and how little they are respected and unwelcomed. He saw and is seeing the downfall of the outlaw lifestyle.

But that's another thing, the people in this game aren't just [good] or [bad]. The game does a fantastic job at showing you all the grey, muddled areas between those two 'categories'. Arthur himself cannot be categorised as exactly good or bad, that's a factor in what makes his character so fascinating.

This has helped me a lot in my game progression. I don't need to make up for my choices if they benefitted my gang, I don't need to save every stranger that claims to be innocent as they're being dragged to jail by lawmen, I don't need to get myself further into trouble dealing with that. I already have bounties on my head, sinking deeper into that will do more harm than good for my Arthur.

I don't need to prove that I'm good, when that isn't how Arthur is.

I can change this anytime I please, but finding the comfortable area between doing good at no expense of my own and doing good at the expense of others is tricky at first.

I let the people at the first train heist go free, that ended up with the government workers getting a tip about Dutch being around, and Leviticus Cornwall himself demanding for Dutch.

I could have killed those people so they wouldn't have ratted us out, but I didn't. So now, instead of just choosing the option that is "good" in my mind, I have to choose more wisely. Even if it kills people.

[fan-kingdoms]

junhwan withdrew from gp espoo im about to take a looooong fucking walk to the garage

[indiiglow]

Ohhhh my god okay so I watched the first Puss in Boots movie and now I'm watching the new one and OH MY GOD THE CHANGE IN ANIMATION THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING

[falderaletcetera]

this is my nth time reading this and I still can't believe geralt just goes along with being bathed and dressed fancy for Unspecified Purposes when queen calanthe orders it.

[mcybree]

last night I was on the verge of tears over that pufferfish scene and then I woke up and was completely normal. Strange phenomenon. Time to tempt fate by watching episode 3