#goodshiptalks

[goodshipskypirate]

So V ( @smaller-comfort )and I were talking about this scene and it dawned on me that even after Aephorul gave Resh'an a birthday gift, the latter gave something back. Iceline is basically an automatic cooler every time you take a sip of liquid. If you think about it, this would probably have been unnecessary for the both of them at this point.

They've already achieved immortality (you can see they're already in the stages of decaying.) And we know the both of them are hard to kill. I imagine this means they don't need to worry about basic human needs; hunger, sleep, or the effects of severe weather condition would be trivia to them. They probably aren't sweating in the desert or anywhere close to dying from the heat.

And yet Resh'an still gave Aephorul a drink because he cared about his partner and wants him to get enough water. And he cared so much that he made sure it was perpetually cool so he wouldn't suffer heatstroke. It's a small, kind gesture to his boyfriend. On his birthday. You don't give gifts to others on your birthday, but Resh'an was so in love, so concerned for the well-being of his partner, how could he not?

V noted how Resh'an is all about small, subtle gestures while Aephorul prefer bigger and grander displays and this checks out. The eagle transformation is Big and Bold, and so are the giant statues he leaves in his wake, or the infamous BDSM Slab that is hard to avoid.

Resh'an, meanwhile, handles his tasks in quieter, inconspicuous methods. Which is why while Aephorul has giant Dwellers simmering before being unleashed in all its glory (mind, Aephy can be sneaky, such as the Dweller he snuck in the DLC), Resh'an subtly manipulates time/space so Zale and Valere can save their fallen friend.

These gestures, these gifts they give to each other, explains so much of their planning as well as how they shower their loved ones with affection.

[goodshipskypirate]

Ya know, the game was missing the inherent homoeroticism that often came out of Higgs in the first game, so I'm glad to see at least one for the sequel, even if it's a dream.

[goodshipskypirate]

Oh, you put a creepy face to your giant octopus mech. ...Of course you did, Higgs.

[goodshipskypirate]

Now this is a neat scene. You have to repatriate over and over again because of the everlasting fire Higgs somehow created. I wondered if there was a trick to it and I had to wait while Sam was stuck in limbo, but nope, you just march on, enough until Sam, well, tries to march on himself.

All while Higgs plays a song that gets increasingly more romantic by the passing lyric.

(I somewhat can ship the two in the first game, but I actually don't feel much of it in the second one. Higgs genuinely just feels like he is fueled by hatred and any inherent creepiness this time doesn't have the sexual overtones it quite carried like it did in the first game. At worst, all Higgs does here is hold Sam's hand for a brief period of time.)

[goodshipskypirate]

Oh, Higgs, you and your doom cult with angelic statues and acolytes, and you popping out of a coffin all dramatically like that. You so silly.

[goodshipskypirate]

So Higgs claims he's "immortal enough" and for the longest time, I wondered what exactly he was now. I figured maybe he became a major DOOMs sufferer to the point where his body had been heavily altered to the point where he's oozing tar and controlling Ghost Mechs that he might as well qualify as Not Really Mortal anymore.

Then this happened and I'm second-guessing myself. The framing of this scene implied all the time Higgs has shown up on-screen might not have been the real deal, but instead a Ghost Mech designed to look like him. Maybe Higgs controlled the robot version of him from...somewhere. Hell, maybe he's still at the Beach where Fragile left him, still mortal and fleshy and pathetic.

Or it's possible Higgs IS a nigh-immortal being, but sent a robot duplicate for reasons the game has yet to inform us. Personally, I like the first theory better. It would be like Higgs to hide any vulnerability behind a mask (literal and metaphorically) in order to maintain any sense of superiority and ego to his lack of worth.

Also, I love how Tomorrow's battle with Higgs was almost like a dance, the way the latter twirled in her arms. You get the sense that while Tomorrow was just trying to drag the man to her, Higgs, all smiles and pomp and circumstances, was purposely dancing because this is soooo much fun for him.

[goodshipskypirate]

Who is your favourite Mother 3 character? :0 (as someone who has played the entire Mother series before, multiple times)

I... genuinely had to think and sit down for a moment, because as much as I adore Mother 3, I don't think I ever had a firm favorite.

But I think, I think it might be Flint. Because it's very easy to write a negligent father who doesn't step up for their kids, regardless of any justified reasoning, because it's a staple of so many media that I'm not always fond of them doing it (usually with a dead mother, which this series also has, though her ghost being ever-present is a welcome dynamic), but also...

Having Flint as the first playable character changes the perspective and the approach we feel for him immensely. We're in his shoes, we see how the tragedy unfolds while guiding him through our controller. It invited you to understand his emotions better by stepping into his shoes and I think it was an effective decision.

So you have a man who is absent for, like, 95% of the game, but ends up memorable and sympathetic by making him the central figure at the very start. You get why he made mistakes, why he wasn't there for Lucas because he was obsessively trying to find his other son. You see him kneeling and physically exhausted at the last stage of the game. And once you talk to him, the first thing he tells Lucas is not n "how are you" or "are you okay", but that he has found Claus.

He's a very broken man who, like the rest of his family, was torn apart and beaten down by Porky, as much a victim as anyone. And even then, he did genuinely help in the end by shielding Lucas from Claus' attack (which I found particularly heartwarming because it's both him and Hinawa's ghost working together as parents for the final boss by doing do what they used to do: watch over their children.)

Also, if anything, I think he might be my favorite because he has one of the best scene in ANY video game depicting pure, undulated rage:

[goodshipskypirate]

I hope the actors were as enthusiastic and down with whatever kooky bullshit Kojima wanted them to do.

"Oh, yeah, wanna be in my Triple A game? You're playing a puppet version with your likeness who was once a spirit medium but now his soul is trapped in a doll."

"Hey, wanna be in my game? You're an old pilot whose hand is cut straight from the wrist and also it's covered in tar but it lets you navigate through the tar so you can pilot this airship that can travel in tar under the earth."

This shit is BONKERS and the fact that everything is played seriously is genuinely why I love the batshit that comes out of Death Stranding. I have to at least show some respect for Kojima for having the balls to do whatever the fuck he wants. It inspires ME to continue my artwork and make it equally weird.

Also, I am in love with Dollman's animation. The choice to have his movements look as if its done ala stopmotion is so brilliant.