#edit reads like a legal document lmaooo

[mystical-inclinations]

idk if it's different in patho 2 (ive never played it) but in pathologic classic using the "mystical inclinations [...] left and right hand" dialogue as gay evidence that hinges on 'omf it's the first thing he says when they meet what a homo' but one of the major reasons this quote is so fucking good is because this isn't even close to the first time daniil and artemy meet. if ur playing the game in the recommend order, daniil has already completed his route. they know each other really well. they know their ideologies are completely incompatible. they also have an inkling that they are the same, things are repeating, things are different, "nature is playing jokes". obviously im not saying that daniil remembers the previous route exactly, but the player doesssss. and that's the context that makes his minor(?) breakdown about not being real a little more impactful, because he's already got the feeling things are starting again. another brilliant thing ab the way this was written is it doesn't rely on the player unlocking any of the secret endings in their first playthrough (pretty tough ride going in blind), so the line is either:

'wow this self awareness is fucking cool. I wonder if daniil kinda remembers the previous route, knows everything is starting again'

or

'oh my fucking god he kinda remembers that he isn't real'

anyways rant is almost over, but I also promise I'm not saying that daniil and artemy aren't gay or whatever, that's subtext for you to pick up on yourself. I'm just saying that the "left and right hand" thing means lots of other things (I just barely covered the sort of Brechtian angle you could take, there are so many angles because its a phenomenal game).

EDIT FOR CLARITY:

above post is unedited so u can understand why it is not effective in communicating my point lmao

I absolutely think the line has romantic implications. I also think it implies other things. I do not think people who analyse the romance are just unaware of the other things. I do not think the 'we have been here before' implications are the most important implications. Nor are they my favourite implications. I am just saying the fact it is the first thing Daniil says to Artemy has nothing to do with the romantic implications, but everything to do with the 'we have been here before' implications. I do not think that romance and 'we have been here before' implications are the only implications.

#мор утопия #pathologic classic #pathologic #daniil dankovsky #artemy burakh #edit reads like a legal document lmaooo