#tc.txt

[tchiaroscuro]

Would you rather jerk off to a Goya painting or a Rothko painting?

Goya

Rothko

Voting ended onSep 30, 2025

[whirlwindpulse]

okay well you see i would like it if genshin wasnt in the same universe as star rail or impact 3rd or wuthering waves or whatever because those other games do not interest me in the slightest and i would like to not have to eventually do extra homework for the game i do like by playing those ones

[too-cute-foryou]

Going to an actual pride event is a breath of fresh air tbh

[tenaciouscarnie]

What exactly is a fictive if u dont mind me asking :?

A fictive (fictional introject) is an alter based off a fictional character! It's a system thing. You could probably get more info from google or somethin than me, cause I aint an expert, I just exist is all.

[wandasgay]

ok so chyler and floriana are on their way to the glaad awards and chyler is wearing a suit which means i need to prepare for my own death 

[tchiaroscuro]

it'S not the moSt proSocial of me but if I had a Stand bow and arrow like in JJBA I do think I'd juSt Start firing it at people juSt to See what the fuck happenS.

[tchiaroscuro]

I think the Baroque Manga Started to go Some intereSting placeS regarding Guardian Angel and the Archangel (and I'll be real I might juSt been willing to tolerate thoSe partS 'cuz I waS happy to See her), but becauSe of the preSentation and tone the manga uSed, never got very far and waS only bare minimum SucceSSful. The manga bein' much more Straightforward and optimiStic left no room for the really ugly relationShipS that the game wanted to diScuSS and preSent.

Lotta the Stuff with the Doc and Archangel iS up to interpretation, but I don't feel like it'S that ambiguouS So aS to be difficult to draw from their game dialogue that he wielded hiS poSition of power over her and manipulated her, 'Specially Since thiS behavior'S conSiStent with what he actS towardS 12 and he iS generally very okay with reSponding to (perceived) diSobedience with violence.

Doc AngelicuS haS tremendouSly low Self eSteem in both the game 'n manga. But in the game where She getS over him 'n decides to live for herSelf into the future, in the manga he aSkS her to Stick around and She agreeS to, completely ruining the point of having cut herSelf looSe from him. ThiS iS portrayed aS a bitterSweet aSpect of an otherwiSe happy ending, inStead of an abuSer aSking the perSon he abuSed to Stay down with him inStead of leaving with the otherS. It preSentS their narrative of a doomed but Sympathetic romance-that-never-waS, rather than a fucking cult leader who coerced hiS follower into increaSingly atrociouS actionS on hiS behalf. Rewriting the Story to continue bending her characterization around a man when the original work averted thiS iS honeStly juSt miSogyny plain 'n fucking Simple.

ThiS iS the cloSeSt the manga getS to ever Saying anything truly Substantial about how uneven and tranSactional their dynamic waS. But it doeSn't dive any deeper, eSpecially on that crux of the iSSue that the Archangel found the good doctor ultimately expendable, and deSpiSed what She iS and what She becomeS. The manga alSo obliquely diSregardS the fact that the Guardian Angel deScribeS herSelf aS gender-fluid (and if Side material iS to be taken aS canon, that the Archangel waS aware of thiS fact), inStead opting to ignore it outright. Ironic ain't it So that In the world of the manga, people like the Guardian Angel don't exiSt. JuSt generically-pretty acceptably feminine women.

I Spent a long part of my own life feeding mySelf to men. Trying to turn mySelf into a verSion that he'd want. ExiStentially hollowing mySelf out for relevance and camaraderie, or becauSe he waS the man who tenSified my entire fucking exiStence, he waS everything, So I had to in order to Survive. And he tried to make me a woman, becauSe that'S what he wanted, and what he SayS goeS.

Of courSe, that'S no way to live. You can only Spend So much time hating yourSelf on behalf of Some man before you Start dying inSide. Before you realize all the pieceS of yourSelf you offered up to him bit by bit aren't coming back. But there'S a way out, and a way to get better, and to have a verSion of your body 'n your heart you don't hate.

So one might imagine to me why it piSSeS me the hell off that the manga adaptation decideS to overwrite the Guardian Angel liberating herSelf. She doeSn't owe the archangel fucking SHIT! He fucking Sent a death Squad after her for Standing up for herSelf but ohh it'S hiS feelingS the narrative itSelf haS to center 'cuz he'S So tragic.

At leaSt the manga giveS me lotSa pictureS of her for me to look at.

[tchiaroscuro]

I read ScanlationS of the Baroque manga, BAROQUE: The MiSSing Paradigm, by Ueda ShinShuu. My thoughtS......

There'S Some SeriouSly competent art direction and comic language— ShinShuu knew what She waS doing and did it to pretty damn effective endS in termS of impact and viSual Style. (PluS given aS I'm in the buSineSS I'm cognizant that any comic— eSpecially one that'S probably 500 pageS long? I didn't check, but 3 tankobon iS probably 500~600— iS kind of itS own miracle to See realized.)

Her uSe of paneling 'n not Shying away from the grime of the world iS real effective to me, aS well aS conSiStently Stellar linework. ShinShuu apparently iS behind Some of the older Shin Megami TenSei and PerSona manga, which put her in the right Spot for adapting thiS work with itS groteSqueS.

There were Some game elementS that I felt like didn't have to be adapted into the Story, and were juSt included becauSe hey, the game had them. I wouldn't have batted an eye if the paraSiteS and other itemS were gloSSed over.

Were the paraSiteS and brandS really neceSSary, eSpecially Since they don't much come up again? The brand at leaSt haS a good bit of Signaling information to the audience at the Start, where 12'S new body lackS the mark aS an indicator Something'S up. And I figure I can't much complain that no one'S really explaining much to 12, given aS that'S conSiStent with the game'S whole everything elSe. But from a doyliSt perSpective it'S redundant.

But Speakin' of articulating oneSelf......

Here'S another thing: 12'S muteneSS iS downplayed by makin' more characterS than juSt Horned Woman telepathic, and 12 haS a pretty conSiStent internal narration throughout. Out of perSonal preference in our own workS I tend to leave out thought balloonS aS much aS poSSible to put the characterS' thoughtS in the readerS handS, makin' 'em rely on body language and context and Such to extrapolate and interpret how a character feelS and thinkS. And I can underStand that in adapting a Story like thiS iS already difficult, So to have a protagoniSt wholly incapable of wordS would be complicating the matterS that much more. And it ain't like ShinShuu iS allergic to quiet momentS or 12 being unable to communicate. But ultimately it concretizeS one interpretation poSSible of a deliberately vague Situation.

Which iS the weak point of the manga aS a whole.

To be clear: the Source text bein' a roguelike with an intentionally Surreal piecemeal plot Scattered through Some very particular eventS, and peripheral material meanS that trying to build a manga out of it iS inherently goin' to require a more linear narrative Structure 'n techniqueS, unleSS you decided to go in a direction juSt about aS conceptual and opaque aS the game itSelf, which by itSelf doeSn't guarantee quality or a good adaptation. I think Ueda ShinShuu made underStandable, informed choiceS given the optionS her medium allowS for and her own experience. It'S juSt that Baroque would alwayS be a work profoundly difficult to adapt to any other medium unleSS you Get Weird With It. Which She oughta have.

Information given in the game through diStorted dialogue and Sparing cutSceneS, framed through the characterS' own limited perceptionS, are repreSented in the manga with third-perSon clarity. 'CourSe an adaptation haS the right to expand on ideaS in the Source text, and there'S a real poSSibility my criticiSm readS aS "they changed it, now it SuckS!". But theSe changeS do fuckin' matter, for better or for worSe. They recontextualize 'n Shift perceptionS of the work. The extrapolationS can accentuate Some detailS and minimize otherS. And I ain't even oppoSed to theSe expanSionS 'n extrapolationS! The Storytelling regarding Dr. AngelicuS (🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶) and her fraught relationShip with the Archangel, there'S SOMETHING there, at leaSt. And not juSt 'cuz I like her beSt.

GueSS at the end of the day I wiSh the narratorS coulda been more unreliable. I Should be unable to tell how much of the Archangel'S hiStory iS juSt bullShit he'S feedin' me— becauSe hiS entire M.O. is feeding people and God bullShit. (It'd alSo make Dr. AngelicuS Sharing her memorieS with 12 a direct foil. She'S Showing him the truth even though it definitely caStS her in an unflattering light.) PluS, making Some information leSS abStract and more literal kinda openS more queStionS than they anSwer at timeS. ThingS that an audience wouldn't queStion in a work aS divorced from reality aS Baroque being portrayed far more directly Start to pull down on our SuSpenSion of diSbelief.

AS an example thiS juSt Straight-out unneceSSary. A backStory waS conStructed for the Neophyte inStead of expanding on any of the exiSting backStorieS?????? APOLOGIZE TO SACK THING. Wait hold on bitching pauSed.

Neophyte Redglare. Heh.

Other minor gripeS of note:

-Alice bein' made into an obligatory love intereSt waS a really grating move.

-One Scan callS 12 "Dextera", which I think woulda juSt been better tranSlated aS Dexter if that'S the way you were gonna go. Another Scan tranSlateS it aS "Righty", which contextually workS better 'cuz it'S more obviouSly a nickname. I perSonally woulda preferred if 12 waS all he got. (I alSo don't think the Archangel Shoulda been calling him 12 at all, given aS he don't exactly reSpect the Koriel, nor do I reckon he'd bother calling 12 anything other than "hey you".)

-UnleSS I Somehow fuckin' miSSed it we don't See the Archangel impaled before thiS point So it'S all the weirder when later he uh, poSSeSSeS the neophyte and ShapeShiftS back into hiS own Self and there'S a maSSive Scar from the. Y'know. Impaling? And then he phySically attackS 12. And THEN 12 SeeS him impaled. Some of hiS dialogue 'n the action iS pretty cool here, but aura comeS at the expenSe of coherence.

BonuS pointS for uSin' commenSurate.

Can't quite Say I hated the ending too much, given aS it maintainS the anti-eugenicS theSiS of the game. The manga ultimately waS clumSy and mid while gettin' there though. I'd Say it ain't a total waSte to Seek out, but it doeS read aS fanfiction.

I got more to Say on the topic but moSt of it'S about Doc So I'm gonna Save that for another poSt.