#like imagine the powers of persuasion that the three of them would have lmao | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nancydfan · 3 years

Note

In relation to the pre-RE8 ask. I assumed the mold was similar to an irl virus carrier - you don't know you have it until you test for it, which leads to the question 'why wasn't Ethan tested?'

I have two theories

1) They were more concerned with Mia who they KNEW was infected - this is terrible from a professional standpoint and if true those doctors/scientists should be fired, but this is also the most probable in my opinion

2) They did test it but through the power of how well Ethan took to the mold and/or because Ethan himself fully believed he wasn't a mold man (belief is a powerful thing) the test results came back wrong.

3) Someone on the inside was a spy and faked the results, which is how Miranda found out about Rose but Miranda seemed surprised by Ethan's return which hinted she didn't know the full extent of his powers so less likely but still possible.

On Mia's end, I think she knew longer than just after re7. My memory of re7 is a bit rusty but it makes sense to me that she either

a) knew he was a mold man/something was up and ended up trusting him when it became apparent his search for the cure was sincere (she fought through the boat to go get him, she 100% was fighting for Ethan and not what she believed was a mold man wearing his skin)

b) suspected something happened to him and noticed signs but didn't fully realize it until after re7

I say this with the thought that it would be way harder to test/confirm Ethan as a mold man when being monitored 24/7 and out of danger where there's less...let's say extreme evidence. So I think she knew something was off in re7 and confirmed it before the end of the game simply because of her 'special' comment to Chris. Who knows, maybe she woke up before Ethan and saw his dead body?

(Also, lowkey I was rewatching an re8 playthrough and I'm positive Ethan died with that old man in the beginning, that was our first BIG hint...but also how many times did this man die and we all just went ah yes, vibeogame go brrrrr hahaha) (as I am writing this i realized he also could have died with the squad in the escort car and I am Shook, ETHAN PLEASE STOP DYING)

Back to Mia (lmao sorry for the sidetrack), if she knew he died then there's a solid chunk of that game where she was having a crisis behind the scenes where this 'fake' Ethan is running around trying to find and make this cure and she's waiting for the other shoe to drop the entire time but no, he goes through with it and chases off Lucas and she gets cured. By the time they get to the boat she is convinced enough to go save him.

Or maybe she remembers he died through nightmares and her memory comes back slowly, which leads to her argument with Ethan that 'we matter, YOU matter' because he DIED because of her mistakes/for her and she just wants him to think of himself for once.

I have so many emotions and theories, I feel like the Pepe Silvia meme. You asked for this though, so now we're both in this mess hahahahaha :D

Have a nice night :)

I did ask for it and I love it! Pls feel free to send me msgs whenever because I love hearing people’s thoughts because I’m not the smartest person here so y’all always have me thinking! Also, I’m super about to respond in the most crazy all over the place sorry =o

Starting with Mia in RE7, I don’t think she knew Ethan was dead. I know the VHS tapes were more of a learning tool for the characters but I think they’re canon in they’re own weird way lol. She talks to Ethan in a way even saying there’s much he doesn’t know but I think it’s in relation to evie and the bakers moreso then him being dead. I can see how it could be implied that way but she’s talking to him as her husband so that’s why I don’t see it. And as you said, in the boat, she was there for Ethan, her husband, no questions about anything else. She tells Evie not to hurt him. It just feels like she still thinks he’s human. But that’s just my take.

That being said, I love love that concept. And since capcom can only give us like 15 minutes to even explain anything about Mia, I would love to see this explored in fan fiction (hint hint somewhere out there lol) BECAUSE can you imagine? Mia’s been trapped in Dulvey three years and her husband shows up so suddenly she has hope. Then she sees him murdered? And then he pops back up and she knows that’s just not him anymore. Oooof sign me tf up

I imagine the more boring option is she put two and two together as she learned just a bit of what ethan went through. I imagine he has a leg scar? That had to come up eventually. And obviously once the crisis is over she might actually stop and think about how ethan has his left hand back.

As for no one figuring out ethan was mold, yeah, you’re probably right about the most boring, lazy route. Did ethan just not tell them he reattached a limb or can they not see it’s not exactly fully there? Didn’t someone ask about this??? I agree that angry ethan can be persuasive but holy shit someone dropped the ball. And if they gave him something, did it not impact him at all? Wouldn’t he have some reaction to anything designed as anti mold? Or did they chaulk it up to it being removed? Mia is shown to be heavily medicated and they didn’t even give this man anxiety medication.

It’s just so odd no one thought of anything in the course of three years. But maybe his mold condition and his belief is that strong. And like you said, his body is no longer in crisis. It doesn’t need to keep supporting physical abuse so it can support his human identity better.

Also ethan is basically an honorary winchester with as many times he dies LAWL

#thanks for the ask nonnie 💜💜💜#resident evil #resident evil 7 #ethan winters #mia winters #resident evil 8 #resident evil spoilers #mrs joe speaks

35 notes · View notes

everything-laito · 3 years

Text

damn the brain be out here going BRRRRRR here’s the Laito and Cordelia Analysis (with a little bit of Karl sprinkled in) Part III

wow my fingers are freezing but my brain sure isn't!

aaaanyways, iiiiiit’s trauma time!!! Am I a productive member of society by writing these analyses? No. Do I gain anything by writing them? Kinda, my brain gets exercised and they’re fun to research for. But if you haven’t read the first part or the second part for some reason (I recommend reading them in order), there they are.

Once again, trigger warnings still apply; mainly about trauma, isolation, etc

I’m gonna talk about the trauma and effects it had on Laito and to attempt to extrapolate why he is the way he is. I have a lot of examples I want to go over and stuff to talk about, so I think the trauma part is going to be split between two (or maybe three) parts. I also have a little bit to say about Karlheinz.

As always, big ass rant under the cut!

Section 6: Neuroplasticity and Trauma

Oh???? More science vernacular??? You BET! Ok, neuroplasticity. I know I’ve talked about it on this blog. But, I seriously doubt that there is a madlad who has read all of my analyses (speaking of which, I should update the master list lmao) and I don’t expect anyone to do that LOL! Anyways, this neurological concept is the ability of neurons to adapt to certain circumstances or stimuli by creating new neurological pathways (through synapses). This basically relates to memory and learning. It’s why we don’t stay the same person as we grow and develop. It’s responsible from mindset changes to response to traumatic events. It plays a huge part in trauma, which is why “repressed memories” occur as well.

Trauma, taken from Psychology Today, is defined as:

...the experience of severe psychological distress following any terrible or life-threatening event. Sufferers may develop emotional disturbances such as extreme anxiety, anger, sadness, survivor’s guilt, or PTSD.

It’s a basic definition. And although I’d assume people would know what trauma is already, but knowing the lexical definition of something can be good to know before going into it.

Obviously, Laito has trauma, there’s literally no refuting that. But, the point I’m getting at, is the reason why he is the way he is today is because of neuroplasticity. As previously stated, we are going to assume the DL vampire brain works similarly or the same as a human brain. So, because of the stress put upon the brain (Cordelia’s actions and Laito’s general upbringing in a stress filled household), Laito’s brain was rewired (neuroplasticity). This section doesn’t really have much new information, but I wanted to give a baseline since there’s many people who don’t know what neuroplasticity is.

Laito’s definitely different than what he was as a kid. He still kind of had his smarts, and might have been but as we’ve deducted from the first part of this series, he might have been groomed. On top of that, the brain is easily moldable when you’re a child (which is why grooming makes sense for Laito’s case), and continues to snip brain cells off and form new connections.

Section 7: Little intermission about Karlheinz

I know I haven’t really talked about Karlheinz yet. So this will be the section that I do it in. I know this part is about Laito’s trauma, but it’s so hard to not just weave other characters into it. Nothing is stand-alone, which is why it was so hard for me to plan this out. I was debating about saving this for another analysis, but I feel like it fits.

I referenced this in Part II, Section 5 of this analysis series. Basically, Karlheinz throws Laito into the dungeon and locks him up. Not Karlheinz personally, but he ordered someone to do it. We don’t explicitly know why, but there’s several implications. A huge one is that it was part of Karlheinz’ experiment. Before Dark Fate, I was like “wait, so did Karl find out about Laito/Cordelia? And got like jealous or was like ‘nah this shit fucked up no thanks’?” I was really scratching my head on that. But in Dark Fate, you find that Karlheinz knew about Cordelia and Laito, and even really wanted it to happen. Which is all sorts of fucked up. This really put Laito in for a loop. Here’s a scene from Dark Fate:

Laito: That woman always, always believed in Karlheinz. Laito: She believed he married her because he loved her, wanted her. That’s why she was sure that one day... he will give his love only to her. Laito: But she was tricked. She wasn’t loved from the start... Laito: -And I’m a victim of this unbelievable mistake... That’s how it is. Laito: I was treated as a vent for her feelings. Yui: ...Laito-kun... Laito: I’m sure he knew that something like this will happen... He is a god after all... Laito: I was hoping that... He just overlooked it up until now... Laito: But... I was naive. Laito: I was only planned a scapegoat.

God, when I played this, that just freaking struck me to my core. That’s so awful. Ironically... Karlheinz probably has some high level of emotional intelligence. I don’t believe he could be labeled as a sociopath, considering he has this high level understanding of pathos. He’s not god in a sense that he controls everyone individually himself. He’s so good at manipulation that he basically creates fate itself (whether you believe in it or not). He’s generally intelligent and cunning, and it also just helps with the fact that he’s immortal and can time travel. He knows cause and effect by now, and I believe Lost Eden said something about how he’s done so many different “timelines.”

The definition of a god in a philosophical sense can be broken down into three words: omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. More wicked cool jargon! Yay! Here’s what they mean for extra clarification:

Omniscient: All knowing Omnipresent: All seeing Omnipotent: All doing

Sure Karlheinz doesn’t absolutely know everything, nor can see everything, and he definitely has limits to his power, but he has gained knowledge through living for so many years and time traveling; he has familiars which add to the whole “all seeing” part; and he has a lot of power. So basically, in the most semi-”realistic” sense, it would definitely be the closest being to any kind of god.

Karlheinz is probably the reason why Laito himself has such contempt towards religion, and the existence of a god in general. Sure, the boys are like “that shit’s made up by humans” in general, but it would make sense for Laito himself to have that specific hatred. It makes sense that these vampires would be like “oh that’s made up by humans” when they’ve been around forever and have seen multiple religions come and go. (I’m mainly talking about in DL’s lore case, not starting a religious argument; please don’t take it as such––just to clarify)

Section 8: Isolation

Originally, the previous part was going to be about Laito’s isolation being locked up. However, I went off the rails and it turned into that little intermission. This is going to be a shorter section, but I still wanted to talk about, and it will weave into the next section.

There is no implications about how long Laito was locked up (and tortured) in the dungeon. There’s also no implications about why he was tortured. But torture and isolation puts such stress on the brain that there’s definitely going to be some kind of outcome if persisting for a good period of time. So let’s take a look at what that does to a person.

Once again, taking this with a grain of salt. I imagine vampires don’t need to rely on social interaction as much as humans do, considering they live forever. But we don’t know. However, throwing Laito into a state of isolation implies that it would be some type of torture or harsh punishment for a vampire, which therefore implies that social interaction is a necessity for emotional function. It’s just sound, inductive logic.

So now, as for isolation, I’m using this article as reference. It’s a pretty interesting one to read. Here’s another extensive article as well. Basically isolation can cause:

Depression/anxiety

Immune system deficiencies (basically more likely to get physically ill)

Sleep cycle changes (if put underground or with limited natural light)

Hallucinations

Paranoia

Issues with processing information and more susceptible to persuasion/manipulation

We have no clue if Laito’s experience fits all of these. Also, the second one can be crossed out because vampires in DL can’t get physically sick in the way we can. Also, unsure about the sleep cycle stuff considering they are used to being in the dark. Hallucinations and paranoia can’t be crossed off nor proven.

Being isolated physically and mentally exhausts the mind, which is why it’s also a way of torture. Laito implies that he was tortured with physical devices, but regardless, it’s still stress on the mind. This type of stress definitely goes along with what was mentioned with neuroplasticity and trauma, which also supports the last bullet point: issues processing information and being more susceptible to persuasion/manipulation. Take this flashback from Maniac Prologue in HDB that I used in Part II section 5 (but here’s even more context):

Laito: ーー Let me go!! Let me out of here! Butler: I can’t, young lord. We’ve received strict orders from your father. I am deeply sorry, but please stay put for a while. Laito: What’s the point in having me chained up in here!? Butler: ーーI am very sorry. Laito: Hahahaha…You stupid old man! Do you think that this will make repent!? How foolish! That demon! Has his brain finally rotten from spending too much time with humans!? ー Cordelia appears Cordelia: ー Oh? Laito: …!? Have you come to save me? Cordelia: Oh dear. Ufufu…I’m sorry Laito, that isn’t it. Laito: Eh? Richter: ー Why are you here? Laito: …That’s my line. Cordelia: Okay, okay. No fighting! More importantly, Richter…Come here. Laito: …!? Cordelia: Nnn…Hey, Laito. You are a good boy. Laito: …!! Cordelia: Right, Laito? Laito: Yeah, that’s right. I’m…I’m a good boy after all. ーー Besides, I’m the type of person who only get more aroused from this kind of thing.

Although I also use this to support the whole Stockholm syndrome point, this could also be supported with the trauma isolation also holds. His mind is being re-molded into the facade he holds. Also, note the whole “do you think this will make me repent?!” part. Just a very interesting thing. The word “repent” implies that there’s something to feel guilty about or the person knows that what they’ve done is bad. It just goes to show that Laito has some part of guilt or moral compass still in tact.

You can also argue that this scene was when Laito just got locked up, or he’s been here for a while. Either way, he could have also been socially isolated before this too, just hanging around Cordelia like it’s implied when he was a child. Remember the whole not being in bed 9/10 times when he was a child? Yeah, controlled social isolation. We also rarely see Laito with other characters in his flashbacks. I don’t believe we see him with his brothers in any of his flashbacks from what I can recall; he’s usually with Cordelia. Just implies (to me) that he’s around her a lot. And being locked up is also a more extreme case of that, which would mold the brain even more.

I know that was a LOT to process and read. I sure hope this still is cohesive for you all. I’m pretty bad at organizing this kind of stuff; it’s a bit difficult since it all just goes together. Which, kudos on the writers of DL, because that’s just good writing. I was going to put something about gaslighting in this part, but that might be too long, so I’m going to make that a separate part or include it in the next part.

If you have any questions, feel free to just put it in the inbox. I’m planning on making the last part of this series answering all the Laito/Cordelia questions I’ve received, or just general questions pertaining to this analysis in general, whether it be tangential questions or clarifying questions.

Hope you all are still enjoying this ride as much as I am! -Corn

#analysis #diabolik lovers analysis #diabolik lovers #dialovers #dialover #laito sakamaki #sakamaki laito #raito sakamaki #sakamaki raito

93 notes · View notes

astrologysvt · 4 years

Text

Chart First Impressions: Wonwoo

For more SVT astrology posts, follow my blog! Check out my masterlist to see all the readings I’ve done so far and what I’ve got coming up! 💫

This is just a very general reading of the member’s charts — the parts that popped out to me, things I personally liked, things I thought were interesting or contrary to the image I have of them. I’m not looking at anything in particular with each reading. Some of their readings may be more aspect focused, where some may just focus solely on their personal planets and their signs. If you have any questions on specific aspects or want to request a more specific reading, feel free to send me an ask!

lets all thank wonwoo for giving this air dom group the water it needs

our little cancer bb

he’s so sweet

may be more emotional than he lets on

certainly very sensitive to everyone around him and a lot more of a stabilizing factor in seventeen’s dynamic than he may come across.

not just because of how calm a person he is, but because he’s very in touch with what the other members are feeling and will direct his attention where he feels it’s needed, even if it’s just subtly walking over and putting a hand on their shoulder.

not only that but with such a strong-willed, high-energy group of people like svt, it’s good for them to have that little bit of water in there to absorb those super high frequency fire and air energies lmao.

the general feeling in a group that wonwoo offers brings that little bit of stability and serenity you need when you’re surrounded by a group of people who are looking to really and seriously make you think.

like at a party, if you’re feeling overwhelmed you’re gonna find water-sign wonwoo in the corner so you can sit with him to recharge.

homebody af.

i’m going to get A LOT into how dedicated and detail-oriented wonwoo is -- that all still stands but you need to understand.

cancers and leos have SUCH a lazy streak. they’re so capable but they take their comfort seriously.

so as hardworking and capable as this chart may dictate, he takes his leisure just as seriously as he does his work.

def a drama queen thanks to all of that LEO.

i think that there is a lot about wonwoo that is so signature wonwoo that’s so NOT stereotypical leo.

like his cold look, the deadpan humor, and generally his appreciation for the more serious things.

but then all that leo comes in and just, makes him the most dramatic and silly guy on the planet.

when he all of a sudden decides to yell, or in svt club when they were talking about how dramatic he acts when he pretends to be upset.

oh, or when he makes a joke and looks at his members desperately trying to get a reaction/approval.

that’s his leo side of him.

not to mention how great of an actor he is -- his tendency for dramatics and creative expression come from his leo, but his ultra empathetic cancer sun helps him express sincerity.

he would make a great actor, we all know it and i do not doubt it for a second.

but let’s take a look at his chart because he has a super interesting one.

cuz hey ya’ll we got ourselves a .・゜゜・　kite　・゜゜・．

his leo mercury forms a grand trine with his aries saturn and sag pluto

his mercury is opposite his aqua uranus

and his uranus is sextile both his pluto and saturn

making a beautiful .・゜゜・　kite　・゜゜・．

they’re super easy to spot cuz they look like a kite and often times indicate a great talent and huge potential as indicated by the planets involved.

to break it down

trine aspects are super harmonious, meaning that the two planets that are meeting in this trine freely and easily offer energy to each other.

these are aspects of our personality we are naturally good at.

the stuff we hear second-hand from others because we simply aren’t aware we’re doing them.

for example, someone with a moon trine mars wouldn’t understand people with overly short tempers who are ultra sensitive.

mainly because their emotions are harmonious with their sense of action/anger. they simply do not feel any tension in that area of their life and thus, seldom experience bursts of anger.

for wonwoo, his grand trine indicates that there are THREE areas of his life that easily flow energy to each other and those would be: communication, discipline, and transformation.

this can mean a lot of things.

his saturn trine mercury means that he’s an organized and detailed-oriented person.

it can be one of the reasons he appears so deadpan and levelheaded -- it’s because he’s so practical in his thinking and planning that, often times, he sees no need to act dramatic unless called upon by the situation. he simply isn’t surprised by outcomes because he either predicted them, or is taking them as they come and actively thinking through solutions.

which is why his outbursts are very calculated and mainly used to be funny.

his communication skills are clear and concise, and this can certainly rope in why exactly he loves books and is so well spoken.

it’s because he very clearly understands and feels the weight in words, and understands how to manipulate them in order to convey a message.

this also makes him very aware of how other people use language. he’d definitely see it as an art/skill, and be extra appreciative of when people are great writers.

his saturn trine pluto amplifies this ultra resourceful and organized persona he’s got going on.

it tinges this aspect of him a little less militaristic and more compelling and magnetic.

he’s extremely persuasive when he needs to be.

not only that but his sense of purpose is multiplied. it’s definitely not on the same level as say i think a more purely capricorn energy like seungkwan or seungcheol’s

he isn’t holding himself to this incredibly high standard that’s daunting him in every move he makes, but he definitely feels a lot of purpose in his actions.

if he goes out of his way to do something, there is a reason.

i think especially when he makes his long posts on fancafe, he’s so charismatic and genuine and you feel the need to make note of what he says, the timing, and the purpose because it’s wonwoo.

that’s that energy.

mercury trine pluto again makes him very well spoken, a very targeted, no nonsense individual when he needs to be (though do not get me wrong, the leo in him is naturally super super silly).

pluto almost adds a hint of obsession to everything it touches, which can make wonwoo that guy who stays up all night researching something or breaking apart in his mind something that may have happened. he likes understanding every bit of what happens and why.

pluto would also add this sense of secrecy and intimidation, which again adds his image of being that deadpan guy.

but noooooow we add in those sextiles.

sextiles are very similar to trines meaning that they are very harmonious.

however, as opposed to a trine, sextiles need to be developed a bit more to be able to fully reap the positive benefits.

now we have uranus sextile saturn and pluto.

uranus as a planet is the reformer. they’re the innovators, the “take the path less traveled”, the avante garde planet.

it’s a very powerful planet because of how uniquely and off-beat their mind works, and when you pair that with the intensity and depth of pluto you get something that’s really fascinating and eye-catching.

his saturn sextile uranus makes it so he’s capable of letting people into his vast world. he strives to understand and create so much and saturn brings a sense of reality/possibility that allows him to bring people into his vision.

he really doesn’t let us into this side of him but i sincerely hope that, years and years later, he somehow manages to become a writer or something like that. there is SO MUCH depth to him and he is certainly very capable.

and now we get into the opposition.

as i said before, a grand trine and even sextiles are super harmonious signs and often times connote a sense of ease and even laziness.

they are naturally good at it so it can bring a sense of “i’m already good at this so why bother”

that or the idea of developing and really putting these skills to good use may fly COMPLETELY under the radar because they are simply unaware they’re capable of such things. or maybe they do know, but it comes so easily to them they have no idea how to call upon those skills on command.

that’s where the uranus opposite mercury comes in with this kite.

without tension and without friction there is no growth.

the opposition between uranus and mercury creates that tension and brings awareness to the ways these skills may be used

the opposition in general makes him super quick-witted but also very temperamental. his attention is super fickle.

his kite comes to full fruition once he learns to reign himself in and commit his mind to a single idea.

generally, for wonwoo this can mean that he sees communication (mercury) as his tool in order to bring a sense of change and innovation (uranus) and he’ll be successful at this because of his harmonious aspects.

and i think the best part about the uranus influence is, although they’re very individualistic, they’re sincere hope is to make the world a better place as cheesy as it sounds.

they’re goals are big in that they want to bring a positive impact to a lot of people may it be an industry, community, or even country.

which is why i imagine wonwoo is very satisfied being in the position he is in now, where he’s able to be a source of inspiration and happiness to so many people even if it is just for a short period of time for those specific people.

not to mention his cancer influence, who would see a great deal of value in being a place of rest and comfort for other people.

#seventeen #svt #wonwoo #jeon wonwoo #ugh he's so soft

81 notes · View notes

princeoftrashy · 6 years

Photo

A long time ago, I said I would do a power explanation for each of my main crew! (Equinox’s is here.) And I’ve finally gotten around to doing Minerva’s! :D Also, it’s Inktober, guys! This is my first post. I’m counting it.

Minerva’s brand of magic is called Spirit/Aura/Soul Magic. Yup, three different names attached the same fucking thing. It’s basically defined by a type of magic that pulls energy directly from the user’s soul versus pulling energy out from around you and converting it into whatever. Most magic operates the second way. Minerva’s people just don’t give a fuck though. 😎 Anyway, explanations/commentary for each individual piece down below. ⬇️

Minerva’s most notable power is her ability to astral project. She loses consciousness when she does it (obv), but it makes her great for scouting since the only peeps who can see her are ghosts and spirit mediums.

I ripped off Sailor Moon lmao 🌙✨ Also, good time to mention that she doesn’t need to shoutout her spell names, Minerva just does because she’s secretly a dramatic magical girl type 🌈

Minerva is also the team healer! :0 And she can usually heal a person up 100% — which is special bc most healing magic can only really get you halfway there at best ❤️ bless

Does the power of friendship exist? Depends on who you ask. Minerva does have a battle bond ability so that counts, I think! And the battle bond things probably works how you'd expect. I kind of imagine working like Bastila's battle meditation actually ...

She can also make bomb ass shields that are nearly impenetrable. Her favorite kind is the classic bubble shield 😘

She can use her funky spirit magic to manifest wings. They aren’t usually so small, and they do work great! But they take a lot of energy to maintain 🦋

So this next one is kind of fucked. Minerva can manipulate the emotional states of others. When it backfires, it’ll have the opposite effect and increase whatever emotion she’s trying to change (best case scenario anyway). However, she’s usually pretty careful with it, and only uses it on people who are vulnerable to it’s effects. This is obviously useful for calming down a potential enemy and increasing the chances of a successful persuasion. HOWEVER she has used it on loved ones before. Usually to make them less angry at her for whatever — which yeah, is kinda messed up 😬 But she’s also used it for good to make sad people a little less sad. I mean, that’s kinda good so... LOOK I NEVER CLAIMED MINERVA AS BEING A GREAT PERSON OKAY 👌 I love her but yeah ...

#art #my art #drawing #Inktober #inktober 2018 #inktober challenge #traditonalart #ink #oc #minerva #comic #magic #terha #original character #equinox #equi #sol #solstice #the lost ones #main story

1 note · View note

chimerabal · 6 years

Text

Session 4 - So many geists.

We opened the session with a battle we set up the previous one: The party was traveling through a desecrated town seeking out any cult activity, and found two Really Angry Ghosts. Revenants? The party cleric, Mikela, tried to reason with them, failed, and was attacked- initiating group combat. My character, Uriel, took a quick 10 damage and fell prone dodging what would have been a lethal 16 more, she pretty much just cried the whole battle- got one or two mediocre hits in. The scaab, Ugly, was called from an alley over; a turn in or so he made a Grand Entrance to the battle- koolaid man style through an empty building.

Mikela and our necro-alchemist Sibyl dealt an impressive amount of damage through radiant attacks and giest-powered-spells. Sibyl dealt the final blow with a spell that I imagined looking like a more fire-y version of the ghostbusters plasma streams ripping the hostile giests in two. Extremely cool.

Post battle Mikela tried reasoning with some non-hostile looking giests that were floating around watching the battle. Impressively- thankfully- three of them came around and spoke with the party. They expressed a desire to pass into the aether, which Mikela gladly offered to help them do. She set up and began a 10 minute ritual to help first of the three ghosts move on- one that required concentration. Sibyl, needing ghosts to power her inventions and all, also decided to speak with the geists in an effort to persuade them help us save the town in the form of boo-juice. The friendliest/most helpful geist declined politely, the third ghost eagerly agreed to avenge his town and stop the probably-cult we are building up to fight against.

This could have gone nicely, but, our cleric really, Really, objects to the concept of necro-alchemy and using ghosts as spirits as fuel. While Sibyl was speaking with the giests- getting consent and all to turn them into a power source- Mikela was unable to stop her ritual and confront Sibyl... and was getting progressively more and more angry. Just as the cleric had finished her ritual, the necro-alchemist was starting one to capture the ghost. Mikela charged Sibyl and grabbed her super-cool-ghost-storing-but-still-decorative-broach and triggered a mini-combat between the two of them.

Mikela had the broach, Sibyl acid-bombed the both of them, the broach was dropped and kicked towards my characters, Ugly flung the broach back to Sibyl. As Sibyl paused to inspect the item for damage, Mikela quick started trying to set up a ritual and force the avenging giest to move on. This Really pissed off avenging giest, and it threatened to turn hostile- shooting out some fireballs at Mikela. Sibyl also got back into the frey to tell Mikela off and smack her around a bit (which is... all they did to each other this time. a small slap fight). Damage was dealt, yelling and tears happened, and my character- for the most part- was enjoying the show up until about now like

However, with the two other party members were both crying, and the ghost was spitting fire everywhere, the whole ordeal had stopped being entertaining and Uriel was about ready to step in..... didn’t end up needing to though. Mikela finally, after a few solid throws, broke concentration on the ritual and dissolved into a blubbering teary mess. With Mikela having backed down, Sibyl was able to neutralize the angry spirit and absorb it as power. Both characters were Spent.

Note: this was a great conflict and I’m counting on the character’s handlers to have all the details and arguments that went down because... I’m short on detail b/c I was building dice towers and this is actually a very interesting fight... and because this is the second time now the two have butt heads over Ghost Stuff :3c we have a Theme growing here folks.

Post fight Sibyl was staring into space (IS...pretty sure she ended the session Still In This State...) and Mikela was sobbing grossly on the ground. Uriel, despite this shit not being her forte at All, had to do something- suddenly becoming Party Leader. She approached Mikela and delivered silent paps, getting her pulled into a sobby bear hug. Mikela cry-ranted about hating the position she is in, having to fight and not being able to help anyone (ghost or not). She didn’t sign up for this shit. After some more (freaked and awkward) back pats Uriel summoned her monster over to take her place in the bear hug (unsure if this worked, I like to think Mikela koala clinged to Ugly just as quickly lmao).

Even after all this, that one friendly ghost stuck around with us. It tipped us off that “They are coming this way”. Uriel, staying true to last session’s decision of ‘not wanting to fuck with Them or That or whatever the fuck (cultists- its cultists)’ starts leading the emotionally broken/physically exhausted party back to town. Note: She’s the only one who realized we left some civilians we were traveling with along the cultists’ path.... but they’ll be Fine, they have an axe, we gave them an axe, they’ll be FINE. Sibyl doesn’t follow the group right away, so Uriel loops back around and offers consoling paps to her as well. When asked if she was okay, she says nothing but starts following the party.... which was good enough.

Once in town Uriel starts knocking on doors and announcing that “The demon slaying heroes from yesterday need help, we helped you, please help us.” Mikela joins in, affirming loudly that, yes, we slay demons, and that we are with the church and would love some hospitality please. We get a dude to speak to us through a cracked door, Uriel manages to convince him to a point, but starts to flounder (largely due to my own not-great improv skills) and is backed up by Mikela. Sibyl I think is just... standing in the background, wall eyed, with the scaab and ghost... freakin’ this dude out.

He agrees to let us in if we ditch the undead we have in our party. Mikela doesn’t want to give up the ghost (lol) and tries to persuade the dude to let our giest friend come in- against Uriel’s sound advice, “enough with these fucking ghosts” (thats a joke I didn’t say that). She has the ghost tell what it knows about cult recruitment; the cult is gaining more members by terrorizing the town with devils and shit and making them question Avacyn’s powers and protection. They then prey on civilians who’s faith has wavered and introduce them to the cult.

During her persuasion the LOUD EVIL VOICE from the night before starts speaking from an adjacent row of houses- out of sight but still getting Uncomfortably Close. It pretty much word for word confirms what ghost friend said, but in an insufferable boisterous evil way. Both Uriel and Mikela are about to change course and follow the cult- pretty much resigned that there’s no Way they’re getting shelter now- but the man allows everyone, ghost and all, into his home (We snuck Ugly in as well.... and by snuck we mean it forced itself through the door before the kindly dude could shut it completely). And that’s where we ended, in a random strangers’ home with cultists doing some recruitment outside.

Note to myself: if I don’t get answers out of Sibyl during our stay here I’m gonna d i e.

And like last post- im tired and not proofreading this. good luck.

#long post #OC: Uriel #Fantasy RP Campaign

1 note · View note

mikami · 7 years

Note

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on Mello and Hal's 'relationship'. Both in the manga & the anime (but more so in the manga), I got the vibe that Hal had crush on/legitimately liked Mello, and she seems genuinely upset when he dies. But why? This is the guy most likely responsible for the death of her coworkers, and has pointed a gun at her on multiple occasions. Is it Ohba's sexism again? Or was she trying to trick Mello into giving her information by seducing him? I really can't tell.

I never thought Lidner had a crush on Mello or was even trying to seduce him, truth be told. I think her interest in him is largely pragmatic, with maybe a hint of having a soft spot for him, but… not in any attraction-way of it.

Like for one, I consider it incredibly unlikely she’s into him due to the age difference alone. When they meet she’s 29 and he’s 19, she has little reason to even see him as a full adult, let alone a viable sexual partner. I think the way she treats him is often very reflective of this age dynamic, much more than any of her conversations to Near who, despite being younger, is legally her boss. Lidner owes no such respect to Mello.

The two of them meet rather ominously ca. a day after Mello blows up his hideout. I say ominously because Mello is injured in LA area - Lidner lives in NYC, on the completely opposite coast. There is no way she’d have been able to make a 5 hour flight to LA and back without Near noticing, so she can’t have picked him up there intentionally. So rather than that, apparently Mello managed to drag his severely injured ass onto a plane without attracting attention and get to NYC almost immediately after blowing half his face off.… Ohba still doesn’t know how injuries work, news at 11.

Near said that Mello is very likely to have information on Gevanni and Lidner but let them live intentionally, so they could serve as future reference to him.So we can… reasonably assume he approached Lidner and tried to threaten her into helping him out? But that…. didn’t work out all that well, judging by how they interact when we see them a week later.

Mello lived in her apartment all that time and judging by her immediately raising her hand to shush him when she comes in, it is pretty much commonplace that he waits for her with a gun out in case it’s someone suspicious. She is no longer impressed or intimidated by this at all.

She makes that clear a second time in the shower scene, by explicitely mentioning that he can only threaten her with a gun but it’s not a very convincing threat either, so basically “you don’t own me, Mello.”Mello may still make attempts to threaten her, but she makes clear that she’s the one holding the power here.

The line about living in the bathroom strikes me more as a mocking joke than flirting here. It is obvious that it’s not possible for him to live there because she couldn’t smuggle food in there consistently and he wouldn’t have any way to leave - he’d essentially be her prisoner or sell himself out to Near immediately.So far, he seems to be able to come and leave as a he please, given he has his jacket on which implies he was either about to leave or just came back? (To be fair, this is debatable because it’s probably just Obata’s aesthetic, but still…)

That she doesn’t mind having him around seems to be more about having her assets close. By being a double agent for both Near and Mello, she currently has more information power than any other person involved in the case and not losing this advantage is like… a good idea.I doubt she specifically finds him pleasant company, given he killed her coworkers and habitually points guns at her head, but if anything I can see her being ever so slightly amused by him.

She treats him a lot like a child. In the course of this one conversation she asks “so, what are you going to do?” three times, a little like a teacher questioning a student. She sees herself as the one calling the shots in conversation, the one who determines which questions get solved.

The line above additionally unmasks the bathroom-living line as a joke because when she discusses viable options, it’s not among them.And again, she calls the shots, she attempts to blackmail him.

The power dynamic only shifts when he threatens her with the gun again, but even when she goes along with it, she seems more slightly tense than afraid.

Like half an hour later she throws herself in front of his barrel anyway, so point stands that Mello’s guns got nothing on her except a minimally persuasive power.

Also interesting here is that she has a good understanding of his motivations that she uses effortlessly to emotionally influence him. Between what she gathered from Near and what Mello may have mentioned himself, she has a good understanding of what makes him tick.There is no rue basis for saying this other than her patronizing attitude earlier, but I think this further contributes to her viewing him more as a child. A gifted, useful child with a lot of information, but not an emotional equal.

She does have a remarkable willingness to go along with his plans, however. And admittedly, this is where I have intense trouble understanding her.As stated in the above panel, she thought that Mello would act to beat Near to the punch. Yet she hands Takada over to him with little hesitation:

So she probably expects him to have some sort of reasonable plan that will give them more information? I struggle to see what plan she imagines here though, given she has not given him complete information about the Kira case:

But evidently, she liked Near’s plan enough to not tell Mello about Mikami and hence prevent him from messing with Near’s set-up.So she’s very between “okay let’s not disturb Near’s plan too much, but also let’s let Mello kidnap this woman and see what happens”??

I’m… not fully able to make sense of her thoughts here, but I suppose what we can take away from this is that Lidner wants Kira caught and for that she’ll take the best of both worlds - however she thought that would turn out in combination, uh. She’s neither on Mello’s nor on Near’s side, she is on the “let’s fucking catch Kira” side.

When Mello dies, I consider her mostly shaken because of how unexpected it is and how more-or-less direct her involvement in it is.After all she acted as a catalyst for this situation that led to both Mello’s and Takada’s death by making the choice to hand Takada over.

The original Japanese text of this panel is “Ko…. kore wa…. Mello…” which means as much as “Th-that’s… Mello…”, so ‘oh no’ is not a literal translation.She’s expressing her shock that this is happening at all first and foremost.

In that sense, I personally think it’s too much said to claim she’s mourning for Mello specifically here. Though to be fair, she doesn’t spare a thought for Takada’s death. You could argue that this is because Takada is on Kira’s side but since Mello has killed her coworkers that reasoning loses some weight.

Lidner may not have any deep personal feelings for Mello, but she has developed more of a connection with him than she has with Takada for sure.

In the end, she tries to make sense of the spiral that is her involvement in Mello’s death leading to her own survival. I think it’s a quite understandable reaction to wish for one’s survival to be founded in more than mere coincidence. That is easily achieved with the assumption that Mello knew what he was getting into. In a way, that’s the clean solution to the situation from where Lidner is standing.

So to sum up: I don’t think Lidner had any kind of romantic or sexual interest in Mello, instead treating him like a child. Nevertheless, she thought him capable and useful and thought it worth it to work with him. His usefulness outweighed the death of her colleagues to her and she came to think of him positively, despite his threats to her (probably because she never took them seriously to start with lmao).

I’m hesitant to call her emotions for him especially deep, but she seems to feel some degree of responsibility and thus remorse for his death. How much of that is Mello specific and how much of it is just the general weight of human lives is debatable.

The anime meanwhile fucked all this over. In the anime they meet for the first time when Mello breaks into her home and ambushes her as she comes out of the shower. In light of that, the fact that the rest of their dynamic remains similar is pretty weird, but ah, that’s the anime for you.......

So yeah, that’s my thoughts on this? I’ve never sat down to try and truly understand this before, so keep in mind this is just my personal reading and that I haven’t really thought it over all that much yet.

#death note #halle lidner #mello #answers #luna thinks #thoughts

244 notes · View notes