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renegade--soul498 · 1 year

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Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: A Plague Tale (Video Games) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Amicia de Rune & Hugo de Rune, Amicia de Rune & Béatrice de Rune & Hugo de Rune, Amicia de Rune & Sophia, Arnaud Malpart & Hugo de Rune, Lucas & Amicia de Rune & Hugo de Rune, Béatrice de Rune & Lucas, Sophia & Arnaud Malpart Characters: Béatrice de Rune, Amicia de Rune, Hugo de Rune, Lucas (A Plague Tale), Sophia (A Plague Tale), Arnaud Malpart, Victor de Arles, Emilie de Arles Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Redemption, Alchemy, Blood and Injury, Swordfighting, All of the cast basically protecting Hugo, victor being an asshole, Emilie is mad crazy, Family Bonding, BAMF De Rune's, Lucas is an honorary de Rune, playful banter, finally some sense of peace, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Swearing Series: Part 1 of Magistra Summary:

"Only a mother could have such power over someone".

Béatrice de Rune knows she has to find her children, she has to make amends, she has to bond to them again. Béatrice de Rune wants a chance at living her life with Amicia and Hugo for once. She must muster the strength to face her past, she tries to provide wisdom in the present, so together their family will have stability again to bear the future. ...on her name as a de Rune, she is ready to do anything for her children from then on - no matter what.

Author's note and spoilers down the cut.

I have started a project... Oh boy, here I go again. With this I officially surpass the amount of other fanfics for other fandoms I have written lol (Top was Danganronpa with 5 fics dayum) Anyways, thing is... This is the beginning of what I would've liked to have seen of Béatrice if she had survived. You'll obviously see more of our favorite siblings, more of best boy and apprentice and friend, more of our favorite knight, and of course our favorite pirate queen. Expect action in this one, badass mofos on the making for sure. Not gonna say too much, I'm gonna let you enjoy this first part on your own, I'm already working on the second and last chapter so you have something to look forward to.

If you want to comment, you have a suggestion or advice for me, feel free to let me know in the comment section! I'll read and try to answer when I can. Much appreciated!

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kdval · 1 year

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Let's talk about villains

And their connection with protagonists. And some related topics.

I finally finished it. This would be a loooong post. I'll provide reddit link below just in case.

Spoilers ahead!

A little preface

I've played Requiem 3 times – 3rd playthrough was mostly for hunting for good screenshots and finding anything I've overlooked in the first two. And it turned out it was good idea – at least bc some interesting details, especially about side characters, are simply "hidden" in the most dynamic scenes. Like, you're in a middle of a fight and characters start talking about the past while trying beat the shit out of each other. Given the fact that everyone wants you dead, it's a bit difficult to focus on dialogue (or subtitles). Or you can accidently interrupt character's line while approaching certain area too quick (I ran into it when Sophia was explaining that big tree prayer and then place for people who can't have children – I just didn't hear the whole 1st line and she switched to the next; sure, I could stay there for a while and then proceed, but still, I didn't expect new encounter so soon).

So, my main idea is: Asobo improved their character development compared to the previous game, especially ofc I mean antagonists. At the same time this little problem with dialogues and some plot decisions leaved me in, well, frustration? I love this game, but it broke my heart.

About Innocence

Innocence's antagonists look much more plain and simple imho. For me the rats were more terrifying – every time you meet them you feel desperate. Though they never were real villains, just mindless power. Like Lucas said – Macula cares neither for good or evil. Same for rats.

So you basically bump into horrors of war, decease, human cruelty and somewhere on the background the Inquisition looms. Vitalis and Nicholas are just another human beings driven by greed.

We know that Vitalis is grand inquisitor who tries to hunt down De Rune family and take the boy, use his blood in his own experiments with rats. A bit weird how he can send dozens of people to take down just one family and then just two kids (Hugo didn't even have "powers" back then) – and fail. Ofc it's for game's sake – otherwise it could end in the first chapter, but still. What do we know about him except that he's old (maybe even unnaturally old), rich and powerful enough for heaving the full stuff of alchemists working on Macula for him and soldiers hunting people he orders to hunt? I can't recall any specific details.

Same for Nicholas. He has really cool outfit and voice, can't argue with that. He's extremely loyal to Vitalis, he's ruthless fanatic and terrifying warrior. Maybe he has unnatural powers too? Like, Vitalis almost certainly experimented on something other than just rats. Arthur throws at Nicholas bunch of big-ass rocks – and he didn't die! Rats tried to devour him twice – he didn't die! He lit his sword and then whole armor – like not a big deal. Maybe he was alchemist too? We don't really know. Nothing about his or Vitalis' background.

So I personally didn't feel anything about Nicholas' death. Same for Vitalis. Both boss fights are bit annoying, but ok-ish. I was much more worried about the main characters relationship, I loved Hugo from the very beginning and was ready to kill anyone for this precious boy. Amicia grows as a character throughout the game, she becomes strong and carrying, real big sis for Hugo, and still has her own doubts.

Anyway, Asobo did a great job with Innocence and they really improved in storytelling in Requiem.

About Requiem

So, in this chapter we have antagonists who has quite good, interesting backstory. I wouldn't assume the Count and the Countess as main villains though – first, we confront with Vaudin (who's not really remarkable character, but I loved his voice and design anyway), then with Arnaud, then with the Count and his wife, and eventually… with ourselves. And the biggest power here is actually Macula. We can see at some point that Macula has some kind of… its own will? Especially when Amicia shout in a rat's nest that she won't give Hugo up – and shit immediately happens, we run from thousands of rats once again.

In this sense Requiem's more complex than previous game.

So, we hear little details about the Count here and there from almost very beginning. It's very easy to miss these details, but when I approach La Cuna, I remembered that little talks and thought "Ah, this is the Count everyone were talking about, alright".

In Innocence we meet the Inquisition in 1st chapter, they're after us the whole game. Here – whole districts are shutdown, plague's everywhere, some local conflicts happen here and there (wtf was all that mess with beekeepers anyway?). Everything feels more global than us. As soon as our - world's and Amicia and Hugo's – paths cross – boom, some shit happens.

Would eventually the Count and the Countess know about our existence if not for Arnaud's dumb revenge plan? Maybe not. Well, would we have ever met our antagonists, if we hadn’t gone to the island, to start with? Damn, our little family was surviving for half-year somehow, if not for that castle and beekeepers, they still could live peacefully as they wanted to. But the game constantly remind us: we can't live among people and be free from them, their vices, their greed, etc.

Returning to our antagonists.

We know the Count is very rich and powerful man. With one hand he can grant favors to people, with other – close districts, leaving people there to rot and die from a disease. Ofc when Amicia asks Arnaud if they should worry about count's army here, on the island, he says – different captain, different land. And we hear how soldiers speak about new captain – the Beast – so I guess arbitrariness is definitely possible. But again, the Count lives on the island and seems not very concerned about the rats and everything else… If we listen closely to his and Arnaud's dialogue during their duel, we can learn that leaving people behind is quite normal for the Count. Costs of war, so to speak. We can learn his "war veteran philosophy" from that "duel" with Amicia as well. Asobo scattered a lot of details everywhere actually.

At the same time the Count loves his wife so much that he found a whole goddamn cult just to fill her head with this Child of Embers legend, so she wouldn't try to hurt herself mentally and physically again.

We know the Countess can't bare the child, she had conflict with her parents (because of that?) and tried to commit suicide (if I understood correctly). Though she's quite charismatic cult leader, not gonna lie. And she has great influence over her husband. "She showed him another way" as he says himself.

So I fell into a trap. I actually felt sorry for our villains. Or pity. When we arrived to La Cuna, I hoped, like Hugo, that everything will be fine. More or less. Even though it was obvious that everything will go to hell.

What I personally didn't like about 12 chapter – villains turned to typical dumbass villains again. Instead of finish everything quick they start that pretentious bla-bla-bla and guess what? Shit happened. It reminds me Innocence, when Arthur should check out if Nicholas was dead. Wtf he was doing all that time? Right – nothing. And got wrecked because of it. Wtf the Count was doing while Hugo was killing his men? Well...

It feels like some plot events were made that way to lead us to finale we got. Though I wouldn't argue with this finale, it's sad and heartbreaking, but very meaningful. But some characters simply suffered for plot's sake. Like Beatrice, for example. I feel like she was more of an instrument for plot than a character. Firstly – to confront Amicia, secondly – to push Hugo into Macula. Even though they all reconciled, she actually understood her daughter, supported her, and then we almost immediately lose her. Well, thanks.

About parallels

But what else I like about the Count and the Countess backstory – aside from details Asobo added to these characters – is connection with protagonists.

Just think about it. We have two mentally ill people. They can't cure each other obviously, but they care for one another and prefer to live in a "wonderful dream", being delusional and deceived. And until they live there, on that island, disconnected from other world... well, they handle just fine.

Same for Amicia and Hugo. They can't find any cure for Hugo. Except for very fragile hope for calm life. But Amicia clung to Hugo's dream, even though it's a lie. Even Hugo in 9 chapter says that they (the Count and the Countess) are so wrong – "just like me". Like making a parallel. But when our siblings stay out of trouble, when the war, the plague, the slavers, the marauders don't concern them – they're fine.

And as soon as Amicia/Hugo and the Count/the Countess run into each other – they start annihilating everything around them. And eventually annihilate each other.

The only difference is the Count's fully aware of his own lies, while Amicia truly believes in her dream.

In Innocence Amicia comes a long way from "leave me alone, you little…" to "I'm going to kill everything and everyone for my brother". In Requiem she gets angry several times, but she stops herself from being rude with Hugo. Like when they wanted to change a bandage, and Hugo asks what color she wants: she clearly wants to say "I don't care", but immediately corrects herself. With Hugo she becomes more patient, calm, reasonable and protective. At the same time Amicia is quite obsessed with Hugo's dream and the whole idea of saving him, which causes harm not only to Hugo, but to all people around.

Same for Emilie. She's a calming presence for the Count, he becomes peaceful and nice, when she's around. As a composer, Olivier Deriviere, says in his walkthrough, she contains his anger and madness. And you can say the Count is obsessed with his wife as well: "everything in this world is rotten except for her" line, his wish for destroying the world after she's gone, all that.

They both – Amicia and the Count – are convinced that what they're doing for their loved ones is for good. But Hugo constantly sees bad things around him, fall more into Macula, become more frustrated during their journey. And Emilie's just falling into madness. She doesn't try to hurt herself anymore, yes, but now she's whole into that crazy idea of becoming a Mother for a God…

I can't find much parallels between Emilie and Hugo … except, maybe, for their way of dealing with things. When Hugo's angry, he calls the rats and tries to "eat them all". And he believes that's the right way to deal with cruelty he sees (even though Amicia tells he can't just kill people like this, but honestly, not that a 6yo kid can defend himself in any other way). Emilie's doing whatever she's doing and she's sure that's the right way.

(Only we keep in mind that Hugo's just a little innocent boy, and Emilie is in her early 30's (I believe?) and her psyche is broken).

And I noticed one interesting thing. When we play that hide-and-seek game with the Count, and he speaks his lines about Emilie and all that, Amicia says that he's lived in this lie for so long, that he can't tell it from the truth. The irony is it's exactly what she's doing – living in a dream, a lie she created.

Hugo's going to die? No, it can't be, we will find a solution. Hugo doesn't want to go to the tomb? No, you must, it's for your own good. Hugo thinks he's responsible for all deaths? No, it's rats/Macula/the Count/whatever.

Another topic I constantly see in the game is revenge. And how an obsession with revenge gets people into big trouble.

Amicia. I would assume this as a kind of revenge, when she starts killing soldiers at herbalist's hut. Like, "the world hurts", and she wants to respond to it the same way. But the most important moment is Beatrice's death and following Hugo's anger. Amicia wants to "spoil their blood", she wants revenge so badly, that she basically pushes Hugo into more anger. As a result, we have:

Hugo's almost dead (even though he "wakes up" later, that massacre certainly affected him badly);

Emilie's dead which causes the Count's fall into complete madness followed by events of 15-16 chapters;

Arnaud. He wants the Count dead, so he will do whatever it takes to reach his goal. He doesn't care if lots of people will die once Hugo release the rats. And eventually he got our siblings into trouble along with himself.

The Count. Thinks he can take control over the boy with such disastrous powers and make the whole world burn.

Conclusion

In one of his walkthroughs Olivier Deriviere said they didn't want to make villains plainly bad. Like, bad people are bad in every aspect. But instead they developed more complex characters, and I believe, they did an excellent job. You may hate these characters, you may care little for their motifs or background, but the devs created amazing story.

And main characters' problems, conflict aren't based only on confrontation with villains, but on their decisions and mistakes.

So, as you understand – it's just my interpretation (maybe a bit chaotic, and my English is complete disaster, sorry for that), but I'm open for any discussion.

#a plague tale #a plague tale requiem #aptr #amicia #hugo #count victor de arles #countess emilie de arles #just thoughts

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