was having natsume's book of friends vs. matoba's book of enemies* thoughts again while waiting for the subway earlier today as one does and thinking about their default standing at the start of not just the series but also their lives and then throughout
many others have written probably far more coherently about this being a story about different takes on legacy which never ever stops to fascinate me but the way that natsume starts his life born as grandchild of reiko who vanished into obscurity but was immensely powerful and able to make contracts with immensely powerful yokai (often after beating them through either simple friendly games or trickery but never cruelty) and grows up with no real sense of connectedness with family until much later and inherited this collection of contracts that he now takes it upon himself to release them from these contracts as a way to restore the balance :)
and matoba who is born into notoriety into the strongest clan of exorcists (who by definition eradicate yokai) growing up with an identity impossible to extricate from his family and inheriting threats and curses and immense power that the entire exorcist community counts on him to uphold even as they hate him for it on top of inheriting mistrust from human and yokai alike what with the inability to make a contract because of his name alone and inheriting a legacy of violence and cruelty and so has continued to perpetuate it because there seems to be no other viable alternative to maintain the status quo of remaining the head of the strongest exorcist clan which is supposed to be his one (1) job :)))
[*the matoba seiji pov series that lives in my head]
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Who do u think is most likely to (possibly) die permanently in SH
Hi anon, I had to give this some thought because in the past I’ve only considered the idea of who could die in Scarlet Hollow so briefly I didn’t have an answer. But now that I’ve let it percolate for a while I have some ideas. Spoilers below, but I’m going to be kinda vague about them. I hope you're okay with a long answer, friend, because that’s what this turned into, lol!
First off I think anyone who dies in the course of the game won’t come back in some way. The two people who can die in Episode 4 do so in such a way that it wouldn’t be possible for them to come back in the flesh. Unless we get another ghost or their spirit inhabiting another body they are gone-gone. Obviously I could be wrong, but given we’ve already dealt with a ghost and people being temporarily puppeted, I believe any death is permanent. And our choices really do matter!
So “most likely” to possibly die I think are Kaneeka, Sybil, and Avery. Kaneeka has a lot of concerning magical girl imagery associated with her character. I’m not familiar with some of it, but I love Madoka Magica, and the Sayaka statue is worrisome when you consider how her character arc ends. Like a lot of fans, I predict that Kaneeka will have some kind of magical girl-like awakening or transformation, and my guess is it has the possibility to end with her dying. And much like Tabitha, Kaneeka takes her family duty seriously even when it’s painful. So I think it’s within the realm of possibility for her to pull some sort of self sacrificing move.
Sybil is very connected to what’s going on, obviously a lot more than she’s letting people know. Which could easily put her in serious danger. Plus it adds Kaneeka and Miles to to Dead Mom’s Club! I know that seems like a joke, but I’m mostly serious. There are a lot of themes in the game about generational trauma and abusive parents. I think Sybil dying, especially if it’s from a choice Kaneeka makes, fits with the themes we’ve already seen in the game. And in light of how Episode 4 can end, that just adds weight to the theory in my opinion.
For Avery, it’s purely because they are way too casual about all the horrors happening! Mx Belle, please don’t say you’d be okay with a ditchling using your body to incubate it’s offspring! Do they even have a self-preservation instinct in the face of supernatural stuff? Because it sure doesn’t look like it from where I’m standing. Avery is reckless and much too willing to get into bad situations just for the thrill of it, so that doesn't bode well for their survival.
Granted, I’m not sure anyone is safe. And I’m concerned about Janey and Pastor Daniel making it to the end of the game. That conversation you can have with Tabitha about how no one in town has two parents is pretty ominous with her reply of basically “Tulip has two parents, for now.” Honestly, I do hope at least the kids are safe, because there is no way I could handle a child dying! (Despite the fact I don’t want children, I’m exceedingly fond of them.) Also, it just doesn’t feel right from the direction Abby and Tony seem to be taking the story.
Thanks for the ask, anon! Ngl, I was a little surprised to see it since there are quite a few SH fans here who are much more known for talking about the game and their theories. But it’s was fun, if a bit morbid, to think about! <3
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The graffiti scene in 'Home - Part 1' makes Twitch, Hashtag and especially Robby appear very ignorant on what their mother went through. Poor lady just wanted to be a forest ranger away from Cybertronians. Robby was aware of that. No doubt seeing them alone makes her uncomfortable yet she kept it under wraps for the Terrans' sake.
The humans' prejudice against Cybertronians is indeed bad but not unfounded. The war was only over for 15 years, not 50. There are still teens who grew up as orphans because of them. Veterans who couldn't find peace because of them. Homes destroyed because of them. The episode even discarded the Autobot friendly fire Mandroid mentioned. If the show actually bothered to make the main cast in the wrong, them being ignorant on the damages both the Autobots and Decepticon had caused on Earth can be one.
The graffiti is upsetting as a fellow Transformer, I get it, but why do they act like as if the whole world knows about their very secret recent existence? As if the graffiti was being made while they were there? There's no prophecy about the Terrans' future existence. The terrans themselves don't know what they're fully capable of. Whoever made the graffiti might have been (related to) a victim of the Autobot friendly fire or a Decepticon attack for all we knew.
That scene felt very weird...
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