#but then the epilogue itself is a lot more serene and calm | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

arthurmorganwateringhole · 2 years

Note

Favourite Arthur moments?

Hi sorry I actually got this a while ago, but I was kind of burned out and exhausted, but I'm back!!!! And gonna try to plow through some asks that just accumulated in my inbox.

Um god, I can't really think of any atm? Well, I can think of a MILLION things, but there's so much. I think Arthur is so well written and so compelling as a protagonist, that you can comb through the entire game and find SO many gems in terms of his moments. But tbh when I read this, I thought immediately of the fishing trip with Jack?

I'm not arguing that the moment with Jack was the best mission or whatever, but I think it sticks out in my memory for a lot of reasons.

1. The change of pace...

I don't remember exactly which missions I was doing before this one, but I just know they weren't like... wholesome lol. I do remember doing the fencing mission with Hosea and another not-so-peaceful main mission. Basically, I've been doing a lot of shooting and riding around on my first playthrough. While the scenery of the game is calming and beautiful, cruelty isn't far off in the game's tone. Not to mention, I had also just done the Strauss debt collection missions, so I also saw a really unsavory side of the gang and Arthur in this dog-eat-dog world.

The idea that I had to slow down and fish for small fish with a little boy, all the while listening to Arthur slowly guide him through the motions, was the most relaxing idea to a new player of Red Dead 2. You’re forced to sit there and listen to the gentle babbling of the brook, all the while fielding questions from a boy who’s excited by the idea of fishing but finding himself rather disappointed with how mundane and slow it actually is. Arthur shows his age when Jack whines, “My arms are tired!” And, sounding somewhat bemused, says, “You’re alright,” like a father feigning soft disapproval.

In short, this part of the game is intentionally slower and serene. You even have the voice of an innocent sweetly complaining about how slow it is. After so much violence, you can almost appreciate what a privilege that feeling must be for someone like Arthur, who might be craving a respite like this more often than he wants to admit.

2. character development and thematic build up

I was a bit charmed when Abigail asked Jack to watch Arthur. You have to understand, I played red dead 1 back when it came out. I absolutely loathed playing as Jack in the epilogue, so it was interesting that the game was asking me to babysit a much cuter version of Jack. Not to mention, at that point I was starting to feel bad for the kid. I overheard just a few missions before John boldly stating to Dutch that he isn't sure if Jack is his kid. Considering how easy it is to overhear these heated conversations, I'm sure a smart and savvy boy like Jack was aware (even a little) of his own father feeling less than paternal toward him. It couldn't have been easy.

So when I via Arthur agreed, I wasn't at all surprised that Arthur sassily told Abigail that he isn't Jack's nursemaid, but what did surprise me, was how enthusiastically Arthur ended up embracing this opportunity to bond with Jack. The adorable conversation on horseback is a glimpse into how turbulent and confusing their lives must be for a four-year-old who can scarce understand why they are even on the run in the first place. Watching Arthur fumble for an adequate explanation while preserving this boy's innocence was not only adorable, but ultimately endearing. He is a good man who is protective of the innocent. He doesn't want to frighten Jack or make things worse for an already shitty situation.

During the fishing lesson itself, you learn something ... sort of phenomenal, but to a first time player, would come off as some inconsequential anecdote. Arthur says he taught a boy fishing before, which Jack assumes is Lenny.

Arthur corrects him saying, “No, this was long before I met Lenny. Long before you was even born...”

At this point, Arthur can catch a small bluegill, and Arthur will teach Jack the value of showing mercy to the small and weak, which the player can choose to reinforce by returning the fish to the water. I don’t think it’s an accident that these two moments happen close to each other. Those who have finished the game will know by now that Arthur is referring to his now deceased son, Isaac. It is perhaps the only mention you hear of Isaac outside of Arthur’s conversation with Rains Fall and Sister Calderon. Both to new and old players, Arthur is showing a tenderness and fatherliness that haven’t been able to shine in the previous missions. He is capable of being a provider and a mentor. He can not only fish but teach a young child the basics of ethics through the very mundane act of survival, like fishing for your own food. This concept of doing what you must to survive but always balancing it out against helping/protecting others is at the crux of Red Dead’s honor system, and it’s neatly encapsulated through the metaphor (well, in this case literal) act of fishing. The visual storytelling and writing of this mission/scene are all working perfectly in tandem. It is a masterclass in storytelling, throwing the themes into sharp relief for the player via a restful moment.

3. continuity with red dead 1 (spoilers ahead)

As a Red Dead 1 fan, I also loved this RDR2 mission because it is an overt callback to the final mission in RDR1 epilogue when Jack finally exacts revenge on Agent Ross.

Don’t believe me? Just take a look at these shots.

Agent Milton confronting Arthur, hand ready to draw his pistol.

Jack confronting Agent Ross, who also is carrying a rifle (but for hunting, rather than for self-defense. Note that he is hunting waterfowl along the banks of the San Luis River, not unlike how Arthur and Jack are fishing on the banks of a creek).

The above two shots even completely mirror the 3/4 wide shot between Agent Ross and Arthur. In RDR1, Jack is hunting Agent Ross, which means the hunted is positioned along the bank. In RDR2, Agent Milton and Agent Ross are hunting Arthur, so he in turn is positioned alongside the bank. Jack isn’t supposed to be there, and Arthur knows this, so he immediately gets the boy to hide behind him, both visually adding tension to the scene (we will now worry about Jack’s safety) and reminding the viewer that we’ve seen this moment before. It’s just Jack was not on that side of the stage, so to speak.

The pacing and shot-editing of both RDR1 and RDR2 scenes are so similar, that they both culminate in a duel. Of course, Arthur ends up only almost drawing, deciding not to go ahead with it when he hears Jack yelp behind him. On the other hand, in RDR1, the duel ensues, and Jack kills Agent Ross, avenging his father.

This continuity ascribes to this moment a sense of being fated, as if from here on out, Jack’s destiny will forever be tied to these two men. And by cinematically positioning Arthur in the same place as Agent Ross’s placement in RDR1, the visual storytelling foreshadows that Arthur is doomed. He too will die.

Anyway I can go on. I have so many other Arthur moments I love and want to write about, but I think the fishing moment with Jack is just so rich and layered. I’m surprised no one really has talked much about it beyond how cute and fatherly it is (which it’s true!!! It’s all that and more!). From the perspective of a writer and a literary critic, I just find the execution so masterful, making this game truly one of the most tragic examples of the western as a modern pastoral.

#Arthur Mogan #Jack Marston #RDR2 #RDR1 #lia rambles #rdr2 meta

28 notes · View notes

jahaanofmenaphos · 4 years

Text

Of Gods and Men: Epilogue

Read the full work here:

ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN

FANFICTION.NET

TUMBLR CHAPTER INDEX

EPILOGUE:

Jahaan dangled his fishing rod down into the depths of the wondrous Prifddinas waterfall. The waterfall was sky-blue and magical, tumbling down over the mountain and splashing into the lake below. The pool down there was so clear it perfectly reflected the brilliant white clouds above like an impeccable mirror image of the sky. The falls twinkled as sunlight caught the crystal walls of the surrounding buildings and flashed their brilliance into the lake.

The air tasted fresh on Jahaan’s tongue, as nourishing as a glass of iced water. You could smell the purity of the atmosphere, of a little haven attuned with nature, living harmoniously around its elven neighbours.

The crashing cascade of the water was a low hum beneath him, a pleasant swish of waves lapping against the rocks. He heard the sound of children playing in the lake below, giggling and laughing in tune with the sweet chirping of birds.

Perched on his little wooden bridge, Jahaan took in the calming atmosphere with a contented sigh. This was the place he spent most of his days now, ever since the town council agreed to gift him a little house in the Meilyr district, a small token of appreciation for his services to Gielinor. It had been about three months since he was discharged from the hospital, and he hadn’t left Prifddinas since. He didn’t want to.

Jahaan worked part-time in the bait-and-tackle shop in the Meilyr district, and supplemented his income by fishing. They had strange fish in these waters, all making for a strange delicacy. It was an acquired taste at first, the urchins that he caught and cooked, but he slowly got used to them. Once he learned he could put them in soup - creating the best delicacy ever, hill still firmly there to die on - it was a different matter entirely. Lady Heledd had been kind enough to share the recipe with him.

Ozan settled down beside the bridge, still keeping a slight distance between himself and Jahaan. “Hey, Ariane’s finished setting up the picnic if you wanna come join us?”

Ozan was adapting to life as a wight quicker than anticipated. The inability to eat grated on him the most, and his appearance would occasionally frighten the elven children. It took awhile to convince the locals he wasn’t a zombie. Said locals referred to him as ‘marwwr’, not really a term of endearment but a factual statement that, yes, he was a deadman. Ozan got used to it though, taking it in good humour.

He and Ariane didn’t exactly want to relocate to Prifddinas, but ended up doing so anyway. Unfortunately, west of the River Lum, those of the undead variety weren’t particularly welcome in towns and cities. At least in Prifddinas, Ozan had Jahaan, the town elders, and even Seren to vouch for him. As for Ariane, thanks to teleportation, it was easy to commute to the Wizards’ Tower for work. There, she and a handful of other wizards were starting to look into a cure for Ozan’s affliction, but hopes weren’t high as of yet.

Coal wasn’t a big fan of Prifddinas once he figured out that crystal was too tough to eat, and most of the structures and tools in the city were made out of such a material.

Nudging closer to Jahaan, but never too close, Ozan motioned with his head to the female fisherman perched on the rock opposite Jahaan, the one with brunette bangs who’s eyes kept flicking in the World Guardian’s direction.

“Psst,” Ozan whispered with a mischievous smirk. “I think she’s checking you out.”

Jahaan looked over at the elf in question, but she quickly glanced away with a sheepish smile.

Turning back to Ozan, Jahaan grinned and said, “Drop dead Ozan.”

“Already did, Jahaan.”

“Encore.”

Then there was a laugh, but it wasn’t Jahaan’s or Ozan’s, and it echoed throughout Jahaan’s mind. He shook his head to clear it.

This had happened before, many times. Jahaan had a theory, but he shared it with no-one. After all, a pleasant lie was far better than an unpleasant truth.

What he didn’t know was, some of those around him had the exact same theory.

There were differences he noticed ever since he woke up inside that Prifddinas hospital bed. He could sense auras around people, dark shadows that lurked around their being. Sometimes the world had slightly muted colours, like he was unconsciously slipping into the Shadow Realm, something he never intended to do again.

But the main difference he noticed was the voice inside his head, a new voice that was certainly not his own.

It was there during the menial and mundane, there during the trials and tribulations. It talked to him, and talked AT him. Reassuring occasionally, mocking often, but not necessarily at his expense. It commented on things, laughed at other people’s jokes.

Sometimes it even sang.

At first it disturbed him, but as he became more and more used to its presence, it stopped bothering him so much. Sometimes, when it was quiet, Jahaan missed it.

But late at night, when he tried to go to sleep, the familiar laugh would always return...

...and when no-one was around…

...Jahaan would laugh back.

DISCLAIMER:

As Of Gods and Men is a reimagining, retelling and reworking of the Sixth Age, a LOT of dialogue/characters/plotlines/etc. are pulled right from the game itself, and this belongs to Jagex.

Previous chapter

#of gods and men #it's been a wild ride guys #ty all so much!

5 notes · View notes

juniper-sides · 5 years

Text

Never Alone: Epilogue

AN: This is the final chapter of “Never Alone”. Finally!!! Thank you to everyone who has been reading and enjoying this story. I sincerely appreciate the support that you all have provided, even of just reading and sticking along for the ride. Just a quick note: I am by no means an expert on mental health! While I experience some mental issues, I’m not an expert even on the ones that I experience. Everyone experiences them differently, so my depiction is going to be different from someone else’s. I included my references at the end of this chapter, as well as some resources for anyone who needs them!

Trigger Warnings: None except for some referenced PTSD. No explicit panic attacks, though. Intrusive Thought is also discussed heavily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few months later

A sniffle-turned-sob woke Roslyn from her midnight nap. (The work would not finish itself, after all). With a sigh, she stretched and stood up from where she had been laying across her work desk. A hissing breath escaped her as her shoulders protested.

“I really need to start planning breaks during my work.”

Opening the door to the hallway confirmed her suspicions, someone was crying just a few rooms away. They certainly were not being quiet about it, either, if she could hear it behind closed doors.

The sobs led her just outside Anxiety’s room, or more accurately, Anxiety and Depression’s room. Both of the Sides had her own Space, but they usually opted to stay close to one another. Logic had noticed Depression would follow Anxiety into her room, likewise Anxiety would follow Depression to hers. Roslyn suspected that the two still suffered from their treatment under Intrusive Thought, but had not had the chance to ask either of them about it.

Speaking of, Roslyn herself could not talk about it either. While Anxiety and Depression had certainly endured a lot under the wicked Side, Logic, had experienced her own share of abuse. So many nights....

Logic shook her head to rid herself of the dark thoughts and continued on her way.

She carefully knocked on the door, rapping quietly so as not to wake the others.

“Anxiety? Depression? It’s Logic. Is everything alright?”

The sobs instantly ceased at her words, soft whispers barely audible. Finally, Depression opened the door.

“Hey, Logic. Look, everything’s fine. We’re just, just talkin’ about some stuff.”

Logic narrowed her eyes and adjusted her glasses. ““Some stuff” sounds as though it is rather difficult to discuss.”

Depression’s gaze was nearly unreadable as she defensively crossed her arms. She leaned against the door frame, blocking the room.

“Look, we’re fine. Anx and me are doin’ alright. We’re jus’-”

Before she could finish, a pale hand appeared on her shoulder. Depression turned to face Anxiety, who’s blotchy face and terrified eyes begged for comfort.

Logic hummed thoughtfully. “If the two of you were interested, I was thinking about making some chamomile tea. It’s very soothing and seems to quiet the mind. I’ll be in the kitchen.” And with that, she turned away and left for the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Logic, Anxiety, and Depression found themselves quietly sitting around the kitchen table with steaming mugs in their hands. The calm serenity of the household was marred only by the awkwardness the trio were engrossed in.

Logic was the first to break it.

“So, I understand if you do not want to discuss your fears and feelings, but I would like to give you two the opportunity to tell me how you feel free of judgement.”

Depression narrowed her eyes. “How do we know that you’re not gonna judge us or tell the others?”

“Well, I am the personification of logic. I merely decide things based on a logical standpoint. There is no room for my own personal judgement. That is more Emotion’s area of experience, no offense to her. Furthermore, I believe that it would be in our best interest to keep this conversation private.”

“...You just said that you decide things free of judgement.”

“Indeed, I did.” Logic couldn’t help the smile that came to her face. “Call it Emotion’s way of rubbing off on me. But nevertheless, this conversation will remain private and non-judgmental. I’m certainly no saint, what right do I have to judge either of you?”

Depression continued to stare at the intellectual Side for another moment before she sighed. “Fair.”

The silence continued again, the three uncertainly glancing at one another.

“I suppose I should call out the elephant in the room,” began Logic, “I do not hold the two of you responsible for what you’ve done. I admit that I have been under Her influence before, it is difficult to break out of. Her promises...” She trailed off, a distant look in her eyes.

“She...has a certain way with words that makes you believe her. No matter what she tells you, it’s easy to believe and hard to contradict. Even I, one who is responsible for intellect and rationale, found it hard to oppose her.”

She shook her head, sniffing furiously as Anxiety and Depression stared in shock.

“I don’t...I do not blame either of you for what you did. I can understand why you felt you had no other choice. What matters is that the two of you are trying your best to do better and have left her.”

Logic took a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed at the overflowing tears desperately.

Depression glanced at Anxiety, her own expression of shock mirrored there. “We, I, thought ya hated us. You avoid us so much and...and we helped her. We helped her do what she did. It’s our fault.”

Something crossed Logic’s face, a shadow of fear and remembrance.

She shook her head again, a watery smile on her face. “No, I don’t hate you. I was mad and upset at one point, but intellect has since won out. The two of you were under her influence, a place that I know all too well. It is incredibly difficult to break out of someone’s control like hers. I myself almost did not, had it not been for the adrenaline and heat of the moment.

“No, I do not hate either of you. I am not mad at either of you. I forgive both of you, and would actually like to repair the relationship between us, if possible.”

Anxiety clutched her mug closer to her quivering chest, lip trembling.

“Aren’t you....aren’t we....we’re bad. Sh-she said...so!” The tears spilled down her cheeks as she tucked herself into Depression’s side.

Logic pulled another cloth from her pocket and handed it to Depression, who gingerly passed it to Anxiety.

“No, that is something I have learned, as well.” Logic sighed and crossed her legs, arms coming up to grasp her elbows.

“She told me that...that she was the true voice of reason. She said that I was nothing but....but....” Her voice trailed off as memories flooded into her.

Depression paused, then laid a hand on her shoulder. “She...she called ya some nasty things. She said some horrid stuff that you thought was true then.”

Logic took a breath and nodded, eyes shining with tears that flowed unabashedly.

“...’S alright. Take yer time. We get it.”

Logic took some steadying breaths, shoulders shaking with the sobs that she strained to contain. Finally, the strain lessened enough for her to continue.

“Yes, she said some...horrible things. Horrible lies, I’m learning now. No matter how true her statements feel, they are nothing but intrusiveness on her part.

“I have been doing research since....since we all escaped. An important fact that has been brought to my attention is that intrusive thoughts do not mean someone is evil. In fact, they seem to oppose the core values of someone. So our Host is not inherently evil. The existence of her does not mean that any of us are doing a poor job.

“In the same vein, thoughts are akin to flowers. Tend to a thought, and it will thrive and flourish. Leave it alone, and it will eventually wither and die. As such, granting her the attention that she craves fuels her energy and power. We must strive to lessen the power she desires by accepting her nature.”

Depression raised an eyebrow. “Uh...so what’re you saying?”

“I’m saying that she is an automatic response. We are not evil by her presence. No matter what she tells any of us, she is looking for a reaction. That is what fuels her.”

“So...stop reacting and she’ll leave us alone?”

“Well, that is the unfortunate part. Intrusiveness such as hers is more common than we think. In fact, it is believed that everyone has intrusive thoughts to some degree. What creates the debilitating nature is the provision of attention and validation.”

Anxiety wiped away the last of her tears and hiccuped. “So...’cause we were all scared of her...we...acciden...accidentally made her...stronger?”

“Exactly.” Logic nodded somberly. “The only way to combat her is to either ignore her or laugh off her ideas. No matter how convincing, it is important that we not let her establish doubt and fear in us.”

Depression gave Logic a quizzical look. “Um, no offense, but that’s easier said than done.”

“And therein lies the issue. It is certainly more difficult to create a goal like this than it is to enact it. Hurt such as this runs deep. It is a challenge, indeed, to try and alter the damage caused.

“This is why I cannot be angry at either of you. I know the pain that you feel, the desperation and fear that is created and rooted deep. Neither one of you are evil. Neither one of you are terrible. You were scared and acted within the best interest of one another. You also were the ones to rescue the rest of us, and that is certainly appreciated.”

Tears began to flood Logic’s eyes again as she smiled gratefully.

“The two of you saved me. You saved my family. Thank you. And please believe me when I say that I appreciate it. Anyone who can do that cannot be evil.”

Anxiety finally smiled and stood on trembling legs, making her way to Logic once she had set down her mug. She collapsed onto the intellectual Side’s lap with a sob and clutched her jacket.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you...” Anxiety’s cries and tears fell onto Logic’s shirtfront as she awkwardly maneuvered to embrace the other.

Depression tried to discretely wipe away her own tears, but found her own cheeks quickly covered in salt. Logic and her shared a glance over the still-sobbing Anxiety, an understood agreement exchanged between them.

We may not be perfect and we may not heal completely, but we’ll do our best. Day by day.

“No, thank you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While I experience intrusive thoughts, depression, anxiety, and PTSD, I am by no means an expert. As I said before, everyone experiences them differently. I used the following resources to help me better understand them (especially intrusive thoughts and PTSD):

https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/unwanted-intrusive-thoughts

https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/posttraumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/symptoms

https://www.intrusivethoughts.org/blog/are-intrusive-thoughts-normal/

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/what/index.asp

If you yourself suffer from any of the above mental issues or a different one, I want to tell you that you are not alone. While some days are worse than others, things will get better. Maybe not tomorrow or the day after, but they certainly will with time. Help is out there and you can do it.

USA Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255

TTY - Hearing and Speech Impaired: 1-800-799-4889

USA Crisis Textline: 741741 (text HOME or START)

Canada Crisis Textline: 686868 (text HOME)

The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

Trevor Project Website: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/

IMAlive Online Crisis Chat: https://www.imalive.org/

Suicide Prevention Lifeline Online Chat: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/

ULifeline (provides resources for college students): http://www.ulifeline.org

A list of resources (not just for suicide but for a variety of crises) can be found here: http://suicidehotlines.com/national.html

#logic #anxiety #depression #and that's how i'm ending it #i'll be writing more stories with these characters but this one is done #it only took me seven months fjkjaskfjas #my writing #junipersides #never alone

4 notes · View notes

dajoezenone · 7 years

Text

REVIEW of The Devil Is A Part Timer! Vol 5 (novel)

I feel like I just posted my review of Vol 4 but I flew through this one I couldn’t put it down. Its hands down my favorite of all five volumes so far. Let me tell you why it is so good.

First off, its funny. The writing in this book makes fun of so much stuff. From cell phones to the death of TV in favor of the internet, to Pokemon, to anything else. The series always satirizes the life of the average Japanese person, but for whatever reason, this book does it in a way thats funnier than I think its ever done before, and its always relevant to the story and mixed in with humor making fun of the characters as well. Its perfect.

Second, I think this might be the most balanced book in terms of which characters get represented the most. Granted, the character that does get the MOST coverage is my favorite character, so of course I’d say that, but nobody feels extraneous or left out in this book. Other than Emeralda and Albert, of course. Eme shows up in a single conversation as always to drop some exposition and then never shows up again.

ANYWAYS though, without getting spoiler heavy (yet), there’s a lot more plot in this novel than usual. This book really gets back to the way the first book had a threat slowly creeping up throughout the duration of the story, not just for five minutes at the end. The climax is really long too. These books are always split into thirds, but the third act of this book seriously takes up about half of the pages. And those pages are filled too. There’s like 3 different twists and reveals that happen, plus multiple epic fight scenes. Its GRAND.

Overall, the writing is better. Smarter. More emotional. The illustrations are better. The epilogue is followed by bonus goodies again. Read it.

Okay SPOILER ALERT BEYOND THIS POINT.

The story picks up roughly where the last book left off, with the Devil and his cohorts moving back into Villa Rosa Sasazuka apartment 201.They discover that in addition to fixing the gaping hole Gabriel left in the wall back in Book 3, their landlord had an HDTV hookup installed. So now they can get TV channels. If they had a TV of course. Maou convinces Ashiya that they have room in the budget, and Suzuno decides to go with them and get one of their own. Ashiya invites Rika Suzuki, as he had previously asked her for help in the task of purchasing himself a cell phone (and to give her a souvenir he got her in Choshi during the previous book).

As the book progresses, they slowly discover a plot by Gabriel (returning after his unsuccessful attempt to take Alas Ramus and the Better Half from our heroes in book 3) and a less powerful, but higher ranking Angel whos name I cant remember for the life of me, to find the rogue Angel Lailah (Emi’s mother, also implied to be the angel who inadvertently started Maou on his quest, as well as gifted him with the Yesod fragment that eventually grew into Alas Ramus) so they can punish her for crimes against Heaven. In the process, they end up hurting Chiho, which of course provokes the ire of the Devil, the Hero, and their underpaid comrades in arms.

The first half of the book focuses a LOT on Alciel, which as I said in my last review, was something greatly needed, expected, and totally as good as I hoped it would be. He doesn’t exactly get much of a character arc, as he largely just goes from being totally unwilling to buy a TV, to getting one for as cheap as possible. But he gets development in other ways. In Vol 3, he seemed largely oblivious to Rika’s clear attraction to him, and his interactions with her seemed to largely just be because of his overly-polite personality. But, as their totally-not-a-date goes on, his politeness is revealed to have a bit of mutual feeling behind it, and he even tells her he may sometime tell her the truth about him and the others, something she doesn’t really question, as she never totally believed the story given to her anyways. Sadly, once the danger raises its head, she’s rushed out of harm’s way, and Ashiya stays largely quiet from that point on.

Maou, as always, is in the forefront, but at the same time kept mysterious. He mentions early on that a TV could be helpful in knowing what is going on in the world, and being able to predict and fight any Heavenly (or Demonic) things that come to threaten the Earth. And after the threat is resolved, mentions that its not like they’ll try the same thing again, so the TV is less useful now than it was. So, did he know they’d try to use the TVs in some way? Probably not, but its not beyond reason. As always, then, he treads the line between being a silly character, and being the most serious, as he can flippantly ask Rika if she likes Ashiya to her face, and can very earnestly out-debate Suzuno (who, reminder, is the closest thing Ente Isla has to a lawyer) when the two discuss whether or not Rika ought to be made aware of who and what they all really are.

She isn’t, by the way. I suppose we must wait for another book for that.

Emi and Suzuno, seemingly unaware that their fates were bound in with that of the Devil King a long long time ago, have learned, through Emeralda, that Ente Isla is now engulfed in a Civil War, which was seemingly instigated by Heaven, Olba, and the Demons that seek the Better Half at his suggestion. They decide that, at all costs, Maou must not be allowed to join in this war, as he would likely reuite the Demons, and crush the un-unified countries of Ente Isla, particularly because Emi is unable to join, as siding with any part of humanity over another wouldn’t be proper as the Hero. Hence, Suzuno continues her surveilance of the demons, now with the renewed purpose of making sure no Demons come with the intention of pulling their King into their war. Emi, assured that Eme and Suzuno are capable of the tasks before them, goes looking for her mother, unaware of the two Angels out doing the same thing...

Emi’s story is an emotional one, as it often is. Everything she knows is slowly crumbling around her, and as her mother is unable (or unwilling) to reveal herself and speak to her directly, and the other main characters all either preoccupied or still enemies in her mind, she is left only with Alas Ramus by her side to help her to understand what she must do and where she must go. I dont want to spoil specifics of Emi’s story in this book, but its very good. I didn’t cry as much as she did, maybe, but I at least teared up a bit.

Crestia Bell, meanwhile, has a lot more time in the limelight after last book forcing her to make sandcastles and do little else. She has slowly grown to be one of my favorite characters in the series. She’s far more multilayered than anyone else, with her background so steeped in religion and politics, combined with a fascination with Japanese culture, particularly the old pre-WW2 stuff, from when Japan was still traditional and religious itself. Plus, she really likes Udon for reasons nobody really understands. She’s funny, quirky, serious, and strong. And she gets a lot of time to show off all sides of herself in this book, and she manages to be awesome at every aspect of it, all with the calm serenity of a person of her religious station. There’s a reason she’s on the cover of this book. Heck, she’s more of the book’s standout character than Ashiya, I just was more happy about him getting focus so thats who I talked about more at first.

Hanzo Urushihara, after a surprising amount of character development in the previous novel, returns to heaven on earth (the inside of apartment 201 of Villa Rosa Sasazuka) with great enthusiasm. He too wants a TV, but obviously he isn’t going to go outside the apartment to get it, nor is he at all going to be helping pay for it, so he doesn’t help Maou convince Ashiya of its usefulness as that would not help the case. He instead stays home through much of the book. Gabriel stops by about halfway through, and they have a great interaction, where we get an inside look on exactly how Urushihara thinks, and how he justifies his existence to himself. While he seems unaware of it, he really has evolved as a character; He does a lot to help during the climax, and at one point expresses great pride in the work he was able to do at the Beach House in Choshi. Overall, he’s written much better now than he was prior to book 4 as well, as he still feels like a fusion or extension of the disparate parts of himself that seemed kinda incongruous in the first books. In fact, he’s more bad*ss now, humming “Amazing Grace” as he shoos one of the series’ primary villains out of his personal space, than he did menacingly levitating Chiho above Hatagaya in the first book.

I guess I should also talk about Gabriel, because he comes back, and he’s better now than he was. A nice effort is made to make him and the other Angel distinct characters, rather than Gabe feeling like a tamer, but more powerful version of Sariel like he did when he first showed up. He’s still not as good as Olba, or even Lucifer were as villains, but he’s still cool, and the threats he’s a part of feel really legitimate this time around, which is a really nice change of pace from both the previous books.

Finally, Chiho. At first, I was kind of dissappointed that her injury was basically keeping her from actually helping with the plot at all, despite being its whole inciting incident.

Without spoiling it, lets just say that uh, dont count Chiho out because she has a bigger role here than, like ever. I mean, she’s been damsel in distress, she’s inspired the others, and convinced Gabriel to delay his attack in Book 3. In this book, she basically saves the day.

How does it make any sense when she’s just a normal girl? Um read the book ya dummy.

#Devil #The Devil is a Part Timer!#anime #review #novel #book #goodreads

3 notes · View notes