#so i'm very very fond of her and very protective and love exploring different aspects of her as we play

[routeunlocked]

Mobile Otome Recommendations

Hi, everyone! I've gotten into otome in the recent years. I got my start with mobile games, so I thought it'd be fun to talk about some of my favorites as my first recommendations post on this blog. If you have questions or other recommendations, let me know.

MYSTIC MESSENGER

Mystic Messenger has a chatroom setting with many beloved characters of the RFA (Rika's Fundraising Association). MC finds a phone with the RFA app installed, ultimately leading to MC's position as party coordinator. There's more than meets the eye with the organization and the founder's history, however.

Unsurprisingly, this is the game that sparked my interest in otome. I felt the chatroom playstyle was very unique and a relatable way of getting to know the characters. It's fun to get calls from them occasionally too. The characterization and plot are so enjoyable, it's almost heartbreaking each route ends after 11 days. I could easily spend months on each of these character's routes.

As much as I love that it works in real time, it can be difficult to play with a busy schedule. It's also heavy with the triggering/dark content the more you play, so make sure that's something you're comfortable with before picking it up.

Features: Chatroom, routes, calls, real time, dark content.

WANNABE CHALLENGE

MC is a model who has always faced misfortune in her life. She never expects anything good to happen. Some of her memories are also missing, including her history with the goblins, but they're there to protect her. Will her luck turn around as she suddenly finds herself living with four men and competing in the Wannabe Challenge?

I started playing this one more recently and I am in love with it. My only regret is not starting sooner. The blend of historical, modern, and fantasy is well done. The characters are so lovable, I'm not sure I can pick a favorite. The MC is pretty sassy too, which I'm fond of. The Wannabe Challenge itself is based on Instagram, so it's cool to see what characters post while having the opportunity to respond and make your own posts. There's also a dress up and gacha aspect to the game, if you're a fan of that.

The only downside I think is the difficulty of the photoshoot challenges, requiring you to have specific stats. You'll want to upgrade your cameras and cards wisely. On the bright side, the game is generous with free gems and occasionally allowing you to use a random SSR to help succeed.

Features: Instagram, text messaging, gacha, optional ads for free resources, dress up, challenges, affection levels, unlockable stories.

ARCANA TWILIGHT

The Summoner enters an unfamiliar world, filled with sorcery. Their presence seems to bring more chaos and mystery than ever expected. Why do they have a special ability? What is it they see in their mind's eye? What about them attracts danger?

I feel like Arcana Twilight is a very underrated game. I've thoroughly enjoyed the story and getting to know the cast of characters. Their dynamics never fail to entertain. I also appreciate that the cast is 19+ despite this being a magic school setting. Constellations, magic, and monsters are all my taste.

The challenges can be difficult in this game as well. You have to battle between chapters which gets increasingly challenging as you go. Pay attention to elements and leveling your cards.

Features: Gacha, challenges, affection levels, ads for resources, text messaging, unlockable stories.

LOVEBRUSH CHRONICLES

The MC is an artist during her first year at a university. She has special skills, resulting in her finding herself in different worlds. There are some familiar faces there too...

I was very excited to hear about an English release for this game. I thought the art was gorgeous when I first stumbled across it, and I still feel that way. They have an amazing voice cast too. I like the idea of being able to explore different worlds/universes and seeing the roles each of the love interests play. I'm looking forward to diving deeper and seeing what other worlds get released.

Much like the others listed above, there is a combat feature in the game requiring you to focus on your cards/leveling. Thankfully, you can bring support from other players into battle which may be the difference between success and failure.

Features: Routes, social media posts, affection points, gacha, combat, alternate universes, friend support.

THE SSUM

MC uses a dating app to find their "special someone." Based on initial answers, MC is paired with one of the love interests on the app. A relationship is built up over a long period of time. But is there more to the app than meets the eye?

I feel like it comes full circle to have a Cheritz game on my phone again. I'm a sucker for their games (Dandelion and Nameless included), so I had to check this one out too. I've only done June's route at the moment, but I adored every moment of it. I like that I can set it up based on my real life schedule and there aren't consequences for missing chats. I also like the ties to Mystic Messenger. If you're missing the charm of Mystic Messenger, you may want to check this one out to satisfy the nostalgia.

There are some other features on the app, but I'm mostly focused on the story. It is still fun to check out planets and posts by other players though. This game will require a lot of patience as the other routes span 200+ days. Parts of spoken conversations and some photos will also be hidden unless you pay a monthly fee, but it will not prevent you from enjoying the story if you choose to play for free.

Features: Chatroom, dating app profiles, planet exploration, community posts, optional monthly fees, real time, calls, routes (that can all be played at the same time).

#otome #mobile otome #mystic messenger #arcana twilight #wannabe challenge #lovebrush chronicles #the ssum #recommended

[simplysummers]

what's one of your favorite headcanons for your meerkat?

Okay so the lovely Meg sent me the exact same ask a while ago, and so I think I'm going to reserve my top favourite Sebastian headcanon for that post, just because it may be easier to find since it came from an account, and the headcanon I'm going to talk about is very special to me, and I'm super duper proud of it.

So for this ask instead, I've decided I'm going to list a few of my fave Sebastian hcs that I have! Some may be general, some are unique that I came up with, but either way I've realised that I tend to talk about my version of Sebastian a lot of discord, but not so much on here! So let's introduce you all to him.

Sebastian headcanons:

In my mind Sebastian is an only child, and a miracle child at that. For those who do not know, a miracle child is a surprise baby conceived and carried to term by a couple who were told having a baby would be borderline impossible. I think this hugely contributes as to why Sebastian is so spoiled, it's extremely hard not to melt over the son his parents never expected to have, and considering they have the funds to do so, they do exactly that.

(Have this from an edit video I made about Sebastian to fully explain what I mean 🙂)

In my mind Sebastian is an only child, and a miracle child at that. For those who do not know, a miracle child is a surprise baby conceived and carried to term by a couple who were told having a baby would be borderline impossible. I think this hugely contributes as to why Sebastian is so spoiled, it’s extremely hard not to melt over the son his parents never expected to have, and considering they have the funds to do so, they do exactly that.

(Oh I dubbed his parents Nathaniel Smythe, and Gabrielle (née Alarie) Smythe. We know his father’s canon job is a states attorney (and according to me, formally an international lawyer flitting between the Columbus and Parisian firm, where he specialised in finance) and I’ve always thought his mother to be a surgeon.)

I think Sebastian gets a lot of his mannerisms from his mother, his cold shoulder, his snark, his passive aggressiveness, it all comes from her. And always has. (They both find it comical when Sebastian is an adult, but as a child/teenager, they could argue about anything due to clash of personalities.)

His parents appreciate his talent in the arts, and made sure he explored all aspects of the craft at a young age. He took multiple styles of dance, had singing lessons weekly, and was even forced into learning an instrument (the violin) from a young age (the last of which he wasn’t very fond of.)

Growing up in Paris, while having family in the states, Sebastian struggled a lot with his childhood bilingualism. As a child he was merely upset by the prospect that he couldn’t hold a conversation with people in his family and their dislike for his bad communication skills, but as a preteen he would instead obsess over every little pronunciation when speaking in English, just to make sure it was absolutely perfect and he wouldn’t have to feel so degraded for something so basic. (I have an unpublished fic about this if anybody would like to read it.)

Equally, music and dance helped Sebastian a lot with his bilingual struggles, which is another reason he is so passionate about the hobby. It helped shape him in so many different way.

Sebastian’s favourite childhood TV show was Disneys ‘the house of mouse’, and he would always, without fail sing along, to the theme song.

When Smythe’s moved back to America indefinitely, Nate bought Seb a car because Seb was really upset and he wanted to make his son’s sadness disappear :( (Gabi’s like “girl what- 🤔🫣”

They 👏 love 👏 Kurt

Gabrielle warms up to Kurt a lot quicker than Nate does because he’s a protective father who doesn’t want Sebastian to get hurt (because he knows deep down Seb is a good person), whereas Jeff and Nick are like “what’re you talking about? Mr Smythe is lovely” to Kurt, who is petrified of.

Kurt has a clothing line named after Sebastian called ‘Simply Sebastian’ and yes that’s a nod to my old username. His little logo is an embroidered meerkat.

If anyone steals my headcanons I’m going to personally put baked beans in your shoes

#I am completely kidding I do not care if people like this ideas #I just had a problem with someone from this fandom not only trying to steal my ideas #but my whole ass identify Lmaooo- #anyways #glee #Sebastian smythe #the warblers glee #Sebastian headcanons #my sebshine 💛 #kurtbastian #btw if anyone ever wants to talk Sebastian headcanons with me I have an entire document dedicated towards his life

[quinn-of-aebradore]

Quinn. I’m sorry. Do all the multiples of 3

Finally sitting down to do this, Ash you fucking menace XD

3. Has your character been using their illithid powers?

Rowen has been delving into it a bit! She started out fairly wary of it, but still intrigued (she's a wizard, what more did you expect? XD) but after finally having her first Guardian dream (2/3 goblin leaders killed), she gave in a bit and ate Razlin's tadpole. She's continued to explore it a bit, both out of wizardly curiosity and hubris and a somewhat-conscious desire for power out of fear of continuing to be powerless.

6. Were you able to save everyone when the goblins stormed the gates at the Grove?

I don't think so? As I recall, one of the adventurers and one of the tieflings died.

9. Do you have a favorite member of the Tiefling Refugees? Is it the same as your Character's?

Oh god it's so hard to pick. I love Alfira, and Mol, and Mattis, and Arabella. Rowen is so fond of all of them too. The kids remind her so much of different aspects of herself. She is very protective of Mol and has definitely spent time giving Mattis thieving pointers and Arabella magic lessons. And Alfira is just... if Rowen had to pick a best friend outside the party, it would probably be her. Wish she was a companion.

12. Do you have a favorite member of the Zhentarim? Is it the same as your Character's?

I feel like I missed some interactions with the Zhentarim, I didn't even realize there were significant members of it. Though I am just realizing now that I forgot to go up the elevator in their Underdark storehouse, so that's probably why. Whoops.

15. How did the situation with the Grove, the Tieflings and the Goblins turn out for your Character?

It turned out well! Sided with the Grove and tieflings, of course. With the tieflings present, there was no way for Rowen to be swayed to the side of the goblins, she is fiercely loyal to her people. Had it not been for everything else going on, she probably would've tried to kill Kagha for attempting to imprison Arabella.

18. How did your Character deal with Wyll, Karlach and Mizora?

Recruited Karlach while Wyll was at camp, very frantically tried to diffuse the situation at camp that night. If I recall correctly, I failed the first persuasion check to get Wyll to back down and was very scared about fucking things up. Rowen (and I) were very relieved when Wyll saw the light about Karlach and was pissed at Mizora for it. And then he got tief'ed the next night, which freaked Rowen out pretty badly and made her hatred of devils run even deeper.

21. What are your Character's thoughts on the strange artifact that was in Shadowheart's possession? Did it jump to your pack because you changed her out of your party?

Yes it did! XD I wish there was a cutscene for that, it's very funny XD Rowen was 👀 at the artifact from moment one and that only increased when Shadowheart got cagey about questions regarding it (wizard strikes again). She wants to study it so bad but alas, circumstances are not conducive to that XD

24. Was your illithid tadpole empowered by anything in Act 1? If so, how does your Character feel about that?

I am not sure what this one means so I can going to assume that no, it was not. Unless it means eating more tadpoles, which was answered at the very top XD

27. Who ended up in your Character's most used party?

I didn't get the expanded party mod until Act 2, so disregarding that... I'm going to say Karlach and Astarion for sure. I cannot think of a third, I feel like I rotated everyone else pretty evenly, minus Gale? And Gale was only excluded because two wizards is Dangerous.

30. Do you have other pets as a ranger or in headcanon?

Alas the party pets are limited to Scratch (failed the owlbear medicine check and couldn't reload to retry 🥲). If we look outside Act 1 for a moment though, Rowen probably brings a stray cat or two back to to camp eventually.

33. Has your Character allied with the cult of the Absolute?

Nope! Were Rowen's introduction to them something other than them leading the attack on the Grove, she might've been more persuadable in that direction, but that first impression did them no favors.

36. Did your Character find the Adamantine Forge? Did they use it? What did they make?

Yes! Defeated Grym using the forge hammer (though that was still a fucking process) and made some split armor for Lae'zel which I have only just swapped out for something else in Act 3.

39. What does your Character think of Raphael?

Hates him. Hates him so much, doesn't trust him for anything. Rowen loathes devils for backstory reasons and Raph swooping in to try and get her into a contract as her life got Messy only made her feel validated in that hatred. Encountering him again in Act 2 only made it worse and some choices in Act 3 were very easy for her.

42. Has your Character been to the Underdark from before the events of the adventure?

No, she has not. Rowen's seen a lot, but most of it has been contained to the walls of Baldur's Gate. Scrappy, Guild-raised tiefling kids don't get to see the world, let alone the Underdark.

Alright, there's your 14 questions, Ash XD thank you for sending them, friend <3

BG3 Act 1 Questions

#rowen hellane #baldurs gate 3 #ask games #quinn answers

[ulfie-by-osmosis]

4, 5, 11, 17, 29, 30

send me the playlist please i love u thank u

Sent it, love you too etc

4. If you could wake up tomorrow in the SPN world, would you? Why or why not?

I don't have much of a reasoning for this one apart from that I find the characters and mechanisms (like purgatory and tricksters, and how some of the supernatural things work) compelling. I would study that stuff until it killed me. Also the poc and rowena and eileen and I would talk shit about others so much Yes, I would wake up there if I could.

5. Samjess, Sameileen, Samruby, Samcas, or someone else?

Oh, man. Can I advocate all? I'm gonna advocate for all.

Saileen/sameileen because they're so good for each other. They both care so much and it's like. eileen deserves someone who's all blushy and protective of her even though she doesn't NEED that, and sam deserves to (and does!) care about someone who doesn't always express a need for softness. also they're both so insane if you look at them for more than five seconds. perfect match really. Also, they're a T4T bi4bi couple.

Samruby for the exact opposite reasons. No thoughts here, just two people who could not be worse for each other. bloodfreak and the OG gaslightgatekeepgirlboss, plus knifeplay. Also it's just really funny when ruby cracks jokes about murdered nuns and god, and sam tries not to spontaneously combust.

Samjess is sweet in its own way, I guess, but I can't really imagine much for this pairing? It was literally only there for one episode. Very formative, though. You gotta like it for the right reasons, e.g. "I was dead from the moment we said hello"

Samcas/sastiel: soulfisting. that's all I'm gonna say. they're queerplatonic to me Samwena is also one of my fave dynamics, but I'm not too fond of it as a purely romantic relationship

TL;DR - I like them all for different reasons, but if I had to pick one, it'd be saileen (one of the few good things that came out of dabb era tbh)

11. If you HAD to get rid of one member of TFW, who would it be?

Dean, easy.

JOKING. don't make me choose, man.

17. What’s an aspect of SPN people often point to as a flaw that you really enjoy?

The dark lighting in early seasons? Yeah you need to double your screen brightness, and it definitely would have been a problem while the show aired on TV, but at least there's some contrast. some vibe. some fucking horror. Okay that's not that unpopular, so I'll talk about the whole... angel population situation going on in heaven. It's the direct consequence of Cas' s6 actions, and its effects are felt throughout the rest of the show. Intentional or not, I love the idea of this one being's ruthless quest for free will backfiring so badly precisely BECAUSE he's handling the concept on such a large scale for the first time. And he feels the consequences for so long. that does two things: a) make way for a very interesting dynamic in heaven (not explored well enough imo but it's There in the show), and b) imply the kind of explosive power even the desire to "change the system" can have on something like heaven, which in spn functions almost entirely on faith as far as I remember?

29. You can cut one character at any point of the show. Who would it be AND what would happen as a result?

Oh, just one? Okay, ketch or gadreel I guess. Let's go with Ketch. As a result half the fuckery of s12 vanishes and Magda Peterson gets to her aunt's house healthy and happy. If it's gadreel, then half the fuckery of s9 vanishes and Kevin gets to kill the Winchesters for his health and sanity.

30. Make up a fact about a character and convince me it’s true.

Charlie Bradbury hacked her way into Bobby's old computer, found a bunch of disgustingly sweet photos of him and Rufus (and one of him kissing this other guy in a priest outfit looking into the camera??), and pestered the old man into sharing gay escapades from back in the day. they're besties now <3

#asks #ask game #spn #samjess #saileen #samruby #sastiel #samwena #love how I already have tags for all of the sam pairs lol #tfw #arthur ketch #gadreel #charlie bradbury #bobby singer #bobbyrufus #castiel

[summerdutkowsky]

For the DnD questions - 5, 7, 9, 55, 57, 59, 75, 77, 79, 95, 97, and 99!

5. Does your character have any biases for or against certain races? she’s not fond of humans at all, she’s an air genasi so she’s half human but after the slaughter of her clan and her family by wealthy, shitty, judgmental humans who saw her clan as a cult and a bunch of freaks (because it’s rare for a mix of genasi races to live together in such harmony) and attacked, wiping everyone and everything she knew and loved out completely so she’s very very very bias against full blooded humans (especially rich humans in power)

7. Describe your character’s current appearance: clothes, armor, scars they’ve picked up along the journey, etc. currently, we just started this campaign so we haven’t done too much danger wise for scars, but she has her monk robes (way of the shadow so they’re dark flowing robes) with her quarterstaff held on her back, pouches for holding items on each hip, a few scars (that cliche sexy eyebrow scar) on her face, arms, and legs from monk training (not too many and not too prominent but still), a nose ring, she has light blue skin and since she’s an air genasi she always has a little bit of a breeze happening, just enough to whoosh her hair for dramatic effect, and kind of shimmering light hair that’s in a bun with the sides shaved

9. What deity, if any, does your character worship? What’s their opinion on other people’s worship? no deity, she wasn’t really into the whole religion thing, she has a slight bitterness towards the gods for the loss she suffered, and sometimes when she’s having a bad moment mentally she gets a little rubbed the wrong way by other people’s worship but for the most part she’s a ‘worship how you like just don’t judge me for not and i’ll give you the same respect’

55. What type of creature in the world is your character the most intrigued by? she’s interested in so many creatures. she read and studied a lot in monk training (though bookish wasn’t really her specialty) and would read a lot to her brother so she has a vague understanding of her world and the creatures in it but i don’t know if there’s a specific creature she’s most intrigued by yet

57. The player character to your left admits that they’re passionately in love with your character. How would your character respond? listen if someone in my party falls in love with my character then i will simply have to return these feelings because my character adores everyone in her party (really though idk what i would do, i guess if it happens we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it but it would be interesting, also we play on discord so i have no idea who i would count as sitting on my left)

59. Does your character value their own best interest more than the party’s? absolutely not, party always comes first for her. she will put herself between her party and danger without a second thought. after the loss of her family she has pretty much adopted her party as a surrogate family and made a vow to herself that she would never lose another person she cares about and if that means sacrificing herself then that’s just how it has to be and she wouldn’t even question or regret it as long as her party survived 

75. If your character had the chance to rename the party/give the party a name, no questions asked, what would it be? fdsajfkldsaj after this little adventure we’re on i’m very very tempted to kill us the killjoys for many reasons (between the bad puns and the memes and the fact we’re mid battle with the fantasy times equivalent of emo boy and killjoys is a mcr reference....i meeeean)

77. If your character had to multi-class into a class they currently aren’t the next time they level up, what would it be and what reason would they have for doing so? OH i was literally just thinking about this and talking about it with my DM and i’m definitely going to multi-class as a wild magic sorcerer. i haven’t thought out the whole thing but she’s always been interested in magic, seeing other genasi in her clan use magic to heal and protect, and she’s not adept in it but having genasi blood she taps into it in her party’s most vulnerable moment and throws out some wild ass cobbled together fuckery magic that works and she just kind of goes with it and works her ass off to learn a few spells here and there

79. What unusual talents does your character possess? i haven’t really thought of that yet outside of just my out of this world stealth stats, so she’s very good at sneaks, but idk i’ll have to think about this. she does try very hard to make others laugh and feel cared for, she’s the big sister of the group

95. How did your character learn the languages that they speak? she doesn’t know many languages yet but she made it a point to learn a few words (and working on learning the full language) in each of her party members languages so they can communicate and she can make them feel as easy and cared for as possible

97. What is most important to your character: health, wealth, or happiness? health. she doesn’t give two shits about wealth, she wouldn’t complain if she had it but it’s not priority, and she will never ever really be happy after losing what she did but she can fake happiness enough to make her team think it’s all good but she really won’t ever heal so she’s given up on happiness

99. Are there any social or political issues your character feels strongly about? eat the rich, just fuck the royals that rule over her area and fuck the super wealthy in general

#i know she's probably the most cliche character ever created but she's also the first one i ever created and played with #so i'm very very fond of her and very protective and love exploring different aspects of her as we play #anyway i love my dnd group with all my heart #and they're honestly the best and most caring supportive group of people #9r7g5h #answered

[aspoonofsugar]

Hi! I'm happy to find you reblogging something about Death Stranding. I love this game especially the story. It conveys the importance of the connection between people. I'm curious about who you like most in this game and your thoughts about the story.

Hello anon!

Thank you very much for this ask! I have recently watched the game’s cutscenes and I love the story and the characters!

In this answer I won’t be able to touch on every aspect of the story, but I will talk of some things I liked and of my two favourite characters:

I am fond of Fragile and love her with all my heart, while I like how complex Amelie is as a character and the perfect equilibrium they managed to obtain with her characterization and story. Basically I love the first with my heart and I like the second with my head.

Both women are representative of different aspects of society and to be more precise Fragile represents society’s positive traits, while Amelie society’s ambivalence.

This ambivalence of society is well represented by the cuff links. As their name implies they both connect (links) and control (cuffs) people.

This same ambivalence is conveyed through the entirety of Amelie/Bridget’s story and character.

Amelie’s name, as it is explained in the game itself, has multiple meanings:

On one hand it means “a soul that is a lie” because Amelie is nothing more than a part of Bridget and not her own person. To be more precise she is Bridget’s Ka:

This works for the wordplay Amelie-Ka aka America:

“Have I ever told you my real name? It’s Amerigo, after Amerigo Vespucci, the man who discovered the continent”

“I thought it was Columbus?”

“Except Amerigo was full of it. He lied. America is a lie”.

So America (aka society) is a lie just like Amelie is. However, things are not so simple:

This is highlighted also by Amelie’s final speech to Sam. In this speech she keeps contradicting herself to the point that it is not even clear what her true objective and motivations were.

On one hand she claims that as an EE she has realized extinction is impossible to avoid and that she has done her best to try and make it faster, so that she won’t be stuck alone on the Beach.

On the other hand she claims that all her experiments as Bridget were an attempt to find a way out using the knowledge of the universe to stop the Death Stranding.

Basically, Amelie came up and implemented a plan which worked both to save humanity and to destroy it and she herself is probably not sure of what she was hoping for.

This is made clear also by her act of saving Sam:

When she is the one narrating the story the whole scene is portrayed as sweet and as Amelie being able to feel sympathy and warmth for another life hence her resurrecting Sam and developing a bond with him.

However, later on, when we see what actually happened in Cliff’s past, we are shown this:

It was Bridget who killed Sam and Amelie’s resurrecting him ends up acquiring a more utilitaristic spin since Bridget was interested in Sam because of her experiments. That said, Bridget decided to bring Sam up even if he can’t be useful anymore in the BB experiments suggests a genuine attachment on her part. In the end, it is through this redemptive action and through her bond with Sam that the Last Stranding is postponed since Amelie chooses to believe in him.

In short, Bridget/Amelie is an extremely ambiguous character, just like society is and this is why what Sam tells Die-Hardman in the end is so important:

As Sam implies, Die-Hardman unwillingly represents the old ways which need to be overcome if there must be hope for the future. He is a character as ambiguous as Amelie is since he too appears thorn and to be more specific he is thorn between his loyalty for Cliff and his loyalty for Bridget. In this he is similar to Sam and in his last speech to him, Die-Hardman tries to reconcile these two loyalties, but this reconciliation is only partly possible for both him and Sam. In the end, Die-Hardman did not actively kill Cliff, but he did so thanks to his passivity and at the end of the game he is shown encouraging the narrative depicting Amelie and Bridget as heroes and concealing everything negative she did. In other words, he is still telling and spreading lies.

In short, the ambiguity of society is conveyed through characters like Amelie and Die-Hardman who have sacrificed babies (aka the symbols of the future) to a plan which could have potentially both saved and destroyed the world. Despite this, society is still the only chance humanity has to survive.

And society still has beautiful things and these things are embodied by Fragile who is   clearly a very important character thematically:

Fragile is a person whose time has been taken away from her and this is why her body has aged prematurely. However, she has never given up and has kept trying to do the best she can with the little time she has left. This is literally what all humanity must currently do as it was stated by Amelie as well:

The only thing humanity can do is to try to evolve and to survive. After all life itself is:

Life is fragile, but not that fragile. It fights to survive and Fragile embodies exactly this. This is why she is a porter just like Sam and she is specialized in taking care of frail cargo. She protects fragility and makes sure it survives. This is something symbolized also by her powers which let her teleport through the beaches of people she knows and understands. In other words, her ability is a physical embodiment of the ability of becoming connected with another person.

Of course, because of society being a double edged sword she too has been used to create damage and in particular Higgs used her to destroy a city. However, even if she was betrayed in such a way she did not give up and managed to save another town in exchange of a high personal sacrifice.

So Fragile is the life which struggles under adversities and her arc in the game is symbolic of this. After all, she starts the game in a similar place as Sam:

She too does not care about America and she is simply motivated by the loyalty towards her father and her feelings of revenge against Higgs just like Sam is motivated by her bond with Amelie. However, by the end of the game she has changed:

She has decided to implement her father vision and as Sam says she is “going on with the world”. She is evolving and has found a new place within society through her newly found connections.

However, this is specifically why her path diverges from Sam who, like her, finds a new purpose through his father’s words. That said, this purpose is different from Fragile’s:

Thematically speaking Fragile is the good about society and it is not by chance that she is the one that, since their first encounter, offers Sam the possibility to be part of a group aka to be part of something bigger. And she repeats her offer to Sam at the end of the game.

However, by that point Sam has two problems. The first is what he himself states:

He is still grieving and is scared of creating bonds or to better say to enjoy his bonds since by that point he has clearly created strong bonds with the other members of Bridges. As a matter of fact his whole speech about how he still has no bonds is clearly false considering that in the end it was his bonds with the others which saved him from a lonely existence on the Beach. However, it is true that he has gone through a highly traumatizing experience.

What is more, this experience has casted a shadow on the way Sam sees society. This is made even clearer by the fact that society still plans to use and dispose of BB. This is something Sam can’t accept and his wish to try and save Lou is what motivates him to leave the others.

The fact that the last scene between Sam and Fragile is so sad is probably because she represents his chance to go back to be a part of society, but by that point Sam has already chosen to escape society hence him pushing her away.

Basically, while Fragile has found new bridges to put society back together and will keep working to obtain this result, Sam has found a different kind of bridge:

It is a bridge to the future aka a child and as Cliff stated:

Louise has become Sam’s bridge to the future. She has become a link he must accept and take care of because Lou is completely dependant on him, so he does not have the luxury of leaving her behind. In conclusion, Sam himself has become the Cliff which needs to be connected to the future and given courage by a little bridge. This is why babies are bridges. It is not because they are connected to death, but it is because they are connected to hope and the future.

So, Death Stranding is a story which explores the beauty of living even in desperate situations and the beauty of different kinds of bonds both in the present (among peers) and in the future (parent-child relationships).

I loved basically all characters. Cliff’s story is heartbreaking, but his last moments with Sam are beautiful and I loved Deadman, Mama and Heartman. Their stories were all interesting and were used to explore different aspects of the worldbuilding and of the themes and foreshadowed different plot-points (like Amelie being Bridget’s Ka in Mama’s story and Cliff using the Beach to search for his lost son like Heartman using it to look for his family).

Thank you for the ask, I am sure I did not do justice to the complexity of the story, but I hope my thoughts were interesting! Feel free to ask something more specific and have a great day!

#death stranding #death stranding meta #amelie strand #samantha america strand #bridget strand #fragile #sam strand porter bridges #clifford unger #die-hardman #asksfullofsugar #anonymous

[evangelineartemiasamos]

do you mind elaborating on why you are anti bri/jame? no worries if you don't want to talk about it. i myself first read their riverlands arc as a redemption arc for J and an internal honor arc for both of them rather than a romantic one, then i saw that a lot of people shipped it. so i'm always interested in seeing why people have stronger opinions on the ship (both pro and anti) than i do. - maxine

Don’t worry, this is fine. Indeed, I’d like to talk about them, so thanks for asking.

Note that my opinions are based on when I read the books 7 years ago, so a) my memories are bound to be vague, and b) I never gave the show version of them a shipping chance.

My foremost reason why I don’t ship them is because Jaime treats Brienne like shit. He insults her aloud and in his head and I don’t abide this kind of bullying, least of all the concept of from bully to lover. No bullying victim deserves this, and I think only someone who wasn’t bullied can imagine not only to forgive a bully, but also to fall in love with them. But that’s just me. I don’t think a bullying victim can ever fully trust their bully (again) which is necessary for love. It’s hard for bullying victims to trust people in general, and Jaime cuts into the very same wounds Brienne already had to deal with for years. So it’s good that he changes, but that is only basic human decency, not romance. I mean, look at Tormund in the show. He admires Brienne from the start and supports her. I don’t remember for sure if his behaviour is always appropriate (ID, whether his behaviour borders on sexual harassment), but his affection is what I think someone like Brienne needs. So this is why I couldn’t see Jaime and Brienne in a romantic light from the start.

Another point, which is somewhat different to the first, is that I think their morals are incompatible. Their contrast is well-written and was a good idea for the story and character development, but I see it mostly as this: a plot device. I like how Jaime and Brienne display different aspects of chivalry to explore its meaning and, in my opinion, to undermine it. Jaime is seen as the perfect knight because he comes from the right family, has the right job, great fighting skills and looks good. But all of these traits are shallow and have nothing to with chivalry and moral behaviour or with Jaime as a person, who is indifferent, self-serving, biased, weak-willed, ruthless and living in an adulterous, incestuous (and traitorous) relationship. And while he is praised for his superficially “good” traits, he is reviled for the one thing he did out of convinction it was the morally right deed for the greater good - killing Aerys. I find him very interesting for this, because he embodies so well the main message of moral ambiguity in ASOIAF. Jaime follows his own opinions, but the problem is that he has so few. He could be willing to subvert Westerosi conventions if he cared enough and dared to act, but like everyone else, he is still bound by rules too. Or rather he lets himself be ruled and manipulated by Cersei and Tywin as he’s too coward to really go his own way and rather remains in toxic relationships. But as the story progresses, the image the reader can make of him is quite fluid because he has a lot of potential that is used in the story. And then, not only our image of him changes, but also Jaime himself.

Brienne, on the other hand, behaves according to the actual chivalric code and is willing to follow it no matter what. She doesn’t let herself be stopped by conventions saying no to her and for that, she faces a huge amount of backlash. Brienne is how a knight should be, but society doesn’t accept her because she doesn’t fit the perfect, superficial image like Jaime (for being female in a misogynistic world). You might think that is admirable, and in a way, I agree. But it also means that Brienne behaves in a very dogmatic way, refusing many ways act right from the start because she can’t unite them with her naive dream of ideal chivalry. It doesn’t exist, and so Brienne fails. Often. The world throws rocks at her again and again and she hardly thinks of changing and adapting.

Chivalry is the most important thing to Brienne but it is also what harms her as society has lost and forgotten the meaning of chivalry. I can understand that she holds on to it to keep going, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like that. In my opinion, Martin is trying to say that chivalry is dead because it’s lost its meaning, so people have to find their own ways to do the right thing instead of clinging to something outlived. That idea appeals to me a lot, I have to admit. Brienne isn’t willing to reform her concept of chivalry although it’d would help her to protect herself. This might be my petty streak, but I would’ve respected someone more who realizes the flaws fo their beliefs and yet finds a method to integrate them into a more prolific way of life. Brienne’s behaviours irks me.

I think the dynamic of Sansa and Sandor deals with similar fallible assumptions of knighthood, but displays more nuance in the way Sansa reacts to her fracturing beliefs and learns from that.

I believe an appeal of Brienne and Jaime’s dynamic lies in changing him and less her. In a way, Jaime slowly learns to care for a stranger he starts with being as indifferent to as to nearly everyone else. That is pretty big for Jaime amd sparking his further development, but not a future romance (losing his hand also plays a role here of course, as it means that he too loses his perfect knight image and has to reevaluate how to embody knighthood). Brienne works as a role model he needed to change, but this development is unequal. IDK, I think their characters arcs are more about finding themselves instead of the other. So far as the books go, this dynamic doesn’t evolve. They’re two people who came to respect one another, nothing more. I don’t see him and Brienne suddenly walking down the romantic route together because they’re going in different ways. Of course, you might say they are going in similar ways because Jaime takes Brienne’s chivalry to heart, but that doesn’t erase all the shit he has done. He’ll have to face the consequences without hiding behind his family and his image and I don’t believe Brienne will follow there. She might listen, but I rather see her as his (fair) judge than someone who falls for him despite everything.

And all in all, I hate the sheer heteronormativeness of the ship. “Oh, we have a woman and man going through a quest and many dangers together and while they quarrle and get to know and grow fond of each other, so surely it has to mean they’ll fall in love!!” Eww, no thanks. As I elaborated above, Jaime merely learns not to be an arrogant ass and to treat someone who isn’t part of his esteemed disgusting family with decency and respect. Furthermore, Jaime isn’t even ready to be in another romantic relationship because while he doesn’t know how he feels for Cersei, he does know that he still feels too close to her. When I read the books, I tried to ignore any hints there might be a romance between Brienne and Jaime, and that worked because their interaction is platonic and should be allowed to remain so. Being an anti is more about many in the fandom wanting to see them together while I can’t stand the idea.

#ask #a song of ice and fire #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth #anti brienne x jaime #analysis #gosh i really needed a prompt to write this down finally^^°