my thoughts on the new sss card (aka: it is so good. please pull for it)
i loved all of it. i wouldn't change a thing. LOL
starting off strong. artem has to take medication because he had a bad fever and rash from. sleep deprivation causing a weakened immune system. Great! i love seeing artem suffer the consequences of his actions i think he should do that more <3
artembear stuns in a new cameo. rosa states artem is annoyingly persistent, just like the bear. one time she forgot to turn the bear off and its battery died after talking all night. cackling imagining this tbh.
artem remains the deflection king. explodes him.
also interesting tidbit. artem and rosa never hid their engagement but never announced it either. fun info to keep in the ol noggin i guess.
also this part made me laugh more than it should've.
the build up to the argument is so good bc they're both very obviously hiding their issues from each other, so the tension is there from the very beginning. but it keeps building and building and you can tell the other knows something is up and--
thank you artem! very cool observation! i say this with love, i love it when he's stupid and goofy.
even funnier is the argument sparking right after this.
the build up. so good. it keeps slowly building and building and artem starts to show how guilty he feels and then rosa turns the questions on HIM. and how he shouldn't risk his reputation for her. and let me tell you. neutral expression artem jumpscare is HERE and it is REAL. AAAAAAA LMFAO
also this card confirms artem does that T_T expression whenever he's upset or uncomfortable and it killsssssss meeeee
zhao lu's voice acting after this point is so good too. my word. you can hear the emotion just. vanish. it goes monotone. but it's delivered in a notably panicked way, and he just keep getting faster and faster and he keeps on rambling and it's SO. GOOD. you have to watch this scene to experience it yourself!!!
artem also continues the thing where he refers to himself as a concept in the third person. this is a surprise tool that will help us later.
no joke, this screenshot does NOT do the scene justice. the voice acting sells it completely.
you can also see artem's logic working overtime here, too. he's in control of his own actions, so sacrificing himself for others is more often than not the 'logically sound option'. ironic, considering how emotionally driven such a motivation is in the first place.
also no commentary on this scene, it's just. really good as is. artem finally says what he's been holding back this whole entire time and it's GREAT. we LOVE this character development!!! year 1 artem could NEVER!!!
ughhh i could write a whole post about this argument. i swear. artem finally breaking out of his robotic ranting when he finally says he doesnt want his existence to become costly for rosa. and then he implies he didn't realize what he lost about himself growing up until recently. godddd. this is so good.
the silence into the awkward conversation about food. too realistic. someone wrote their experiences into this. i can feel it.
snail.
NOW THIS IS THE CONTENT I WANT. UNIRONICALLY I CACKLED JHDJD
oh i am havign flashbacks to artem's y1 halloween sr. oh maaaan. like??
ANYWAYS. back to the sss card. behold. your PRECIOUS "daddy dom".
rip potato.
scene ends, they go to sleep, but neither of them can sleep with things unfinished.
this upcoming scene i really, REALLY like. tot usually doesn't do things subtly. but i like how they went about showing that artem still hasn't shook off his childhood uhhhh coping mechanisms. like check it - him telling us about them in 4th anni vs the game showing those behaviors.
i also really, really love this part. him referring to himself in third person (i told you it would be a surprise tool that helped us later. which is now) pops up soo often, and i've talked about it before! so seeing it directly addressed is so, so satisfying.
thinking about all of the times in y1 when artem would frequently apologize for "how boring" he was. thinking about it. stewing on it. eating it.
so they make up with a rly cute forehead touch!! so so cute!!!! AUGHHHGHHHHHHHH BACK TO THE LAWYER PODCAST PLOT THING. which is also so good bc rosa didnt want to decide what to do for artem, and vice versa. so the resolution to this plot is really nice.
another thign about artem i've loved since day one. he's always 100% believed that rosa is just as capable as him, and that they are equals. senior attorney status be damned, they're partners who work on cases together! so seeing him manifest out of no where to drink his respecting women juice to this podcast live questioning was sooooo good
also rosa then proceeds to kill a man scold a man in private while artem just kinda hangs out in the corner just watching it happen. i'd like to imagine this is what happens during all of the debate levels. LMAO
[artem voice] okay <3 yay <3
i love the scene with the ascended art as well... pookie....
DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE LETTER. CHRIST.
THE LETTER.
so basically after rosa got a lot of dick ass letters during the podcast thing, artem wanted to be the one to write her a kind letter. and he sneaks it into the luggage. and it's!!!! so!!! (he's giving O_O)
i'm not gonna post the letter, but. it made me TEAR UPPPP WHAT THE FUCK LMFAO. it's actually so sweet. and also, it's so poetic. the mockingbird theater kid movie reviewer JUMPED OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ughhh so cute ;_;
the letter is all about like. if you want to explore, then please leave me behind i dont want to be your shackles etc etc, my only selfish wish is for you to think of me one day and remember me.
and so on. AND YOU GET IT. go watch a recording. i need you to listen to it. then the card ends on his signature and the date. fuuuuck me man, it KILLS ME
the video call is artem getting accidentally drunk and asking rosa for alcohol content levels and just all in all being incredibly goofy and cute and i also don't want to spoil it HAHA
pull for this card. i missed like a ton of stuff and details. like the narration of their shadows being mismatched during the beginning of the card, but becoming one again by the end. and like. a TON OF STUFF. A TON. SO GOOD. PLEASE GET.
a maple leaf falls on his head in the bond screen.
