#tw skeletons

[winterofherdiscontent]

. look to windward

[ finished a new illustration - inspired by Sleep Token's album Even in Arcadia and artist Franz von Bayros's illustrations for Dante's Inferno. mixed media: pencil, ink, digital illustration ]

[grail-lifesupport]

He then proceeds to get rescued by Lancelot over three times.

This whole story happens beat for beat in the Vulgate by the way.

[tale-of-light-and-darkness]

Compilation of Vincent’s nice actions to people #3

The dead and the Monsters (Rebirth, 2024)

For this essay I want to read above two lines Vincent says in Rebirth, precisely during the sidequest “The Lament of the Damned”. These are two separate parts that connect onto a particular aspect of Vincent… that you will see later.

The Dead

“This floor is where he conducted his combat trials. Countless subjects were slaughtered here. Disposed of, never to be mourned…”

This is a little tricky, if anything because this line hints at very heavy lore without explaining anything. It’s clear who Vincent is referring to, but what exactly happened to all these unfortunate souls? We don’t know, so create your own headcanon, vagueness for the sake of leaving space to your own takes. In any case, I want to put the emphasis on “never to be mourned”: these people died, they were killed, murdered, slaughtered without mercy, and Vincent highlights the fact that these victims won’t be buried nor mourned by their friends and families. He shows pity and sorrow for these vistims: after all, Vincent is one of these countless slaughtered subjects, surrounded by the corpses of other victims. There are some elements that further this idea: for example, the previous line of dialogue looks like it is trying to retcon the skeletons you find in og and ever crisis: are these skeletons the victims of the slaughter? as it is shown in ever crisis:

Hojo: “I must get rid of all of those that stand in the way of my research. Even that one from the Turks. I put him to sleep in the basement, but his status will need to be confirmed regularly. The key to the door is secure in the safe”.

So according to ever crisis, Hojo put Vincent to sleep and he…threw him in the basement along with those who stood in his way. Congratulations to Hojo having this bloodthirsty side in his persona, and sorry for Vincent being disposed of in the equivalent of a slaughterhouse.

I guess there wasn’t much control about his status, considering that Vincent then wakes up and goes along with strangers when he hears he can meet with Hojo one day. Still, in og and ec he remained among the dead, a mockery of eternal slumber, forgotten, without a mourning, showing compassion for those who lost their life.

(It is important to remember that this discussion about the skeletons is only conjecture: after all, there is no skeleton in Rebirth, only in og and ec. One wonders: are these skeletons canon in the world of Rebirth? Because in the Re-Universe, Vincent has a room of his own, and the surrounding area out of the room is filled with nothing but graffiti, but you can see dead corpses in og and ec. How to solve this disconnection between worlds? … I don’t know! Let me know in the comments the various possibilities of a stich you can see in this discrepancy)

The Monsters

Cloud: “Why the singing, though?”

“An outlet for stress, perhaps – an expression of displeasure.”

“Despite their appearance, some fiends are capable of complex thinking – and experiencing emotions”

I genuinely love this part because it shows two aspects of Vincent’s personality: his vulnerability in front of his condition as a monster in human shape, AND his compassion for living creatures, including monsters.

This line strikes because of his body language: he raises his hands in enforcement of his first line, and he tilts his head left and right when he says "experiencing emotions". It hits you even harder if you remember two aspects of Vincent from the past:

First aspect:

1) OG Vincent. “It appears my feelings vanished into thin air ever since I was in that long slumber…”

2) OG Cloud: “No, it's just that you're always so cold. I thought you didn't care what was happening”.

OG Vincent: “Cool? Hmm...... I guess that's just how I am, sorry”.

In the original game, Vincent was convinced he had no feelings in his heart because of his long slumber-that-looks-like-death, so he sort of…feels dead inside. As the list will go on, you will see that Vincent’s behavior is quite different from his perception of himself, but at the moment it will suffice to say that Rebirth Vincent partially contradicts OG Vincent: dead people don’t have feelings, but monsters do. I dunno, I love the contrast between these two characterizations of the same person in two different times, it shows how the perception of a character can still change after years. .

Second aspect:

when Vincent is distressed or in extreme pain…he screams.

-He screams in Dirge of Cerberus, end of chapter 4, end of chapter 5, during his confrontation with Omega. (minutes: 39:58-1:16:03 for the first 2 parts)

-He screams in Rebirth, chapter 11, before turning into Galian Beast, and then He roars in pain during the entirety of his boss fight, and I mean, “Primal Roar” is based upon this entire discourse.

He fully understands what Dranabarga feels, this monster screaming in wailing.

Both the mourning of the dead and the pity of monsters show how Vincent relates with others’ suffering by using his own pain, in order to find an emotional connection and have compassion of both people and monsters. You get a lot of Vincent’s characterization with these lines of dialogue because he is basically projecting, showing empathy for others by seeing his own story, condition, experiences in them. And you know what?

“Riight, monsters got feeling”.

Barret metaphorically punches him into the face. The way Vincent is hurt…makes me think that the entire process up described was unconscious. Vincent talks about empathy for others, showing his own vulnerability without realizing it, and when someone makes him notice, bam! Emotional damage.  

You know what, whatever, this confrontation between Barret and Vincent is still important, because in my eyes this is the turmoiling seed for a boundary between the two that can represent a huge emotional development for both characters in the future. Besides, Barret still doesn’t exactly know why Vincent is a monster and what happened to him, I’m curious to see if the devs will bring this discussion in the third part of the Re-project...

[everyryuujisuguro]

[gentlenaa]

The creatures are free ❤️❤️❤️

This took me around 16 hours done in a whole month (to not overwork my hands hahah) I'm really proud of it! This is a young Hathys in his natural environment :]

Commissions

[arconinternet]

The Museum of Anything Goes (Windows/Classic Mac, M. Markowski & M. S. Robinson, 1995)

You can download it here, or download it configured to run on modern versions of Windows here.

[larissa-the-scribe]

Terrarium Lights, pt. 3.13

Previously on Terrarium Lights: a new person (?) has entered the chat (Next part >>here)

"I was wondering if you'd come back," he called. The voice was the oddest Gail had ever heard. She heard it clearly, and yet it seemed made of silences. Like it made itself known by quieting all other sounds about it than by making sound itself. But she almost missed it in the sudden realization that this new person’s teeth with fully black, but in a way that felt like they were that color because they were supposed to be and not because they were unhealthy or rotted. Just… black.

"I'm sorry," Jonathon said, halting before he could walk to the edge of the path. "I… when I realized, I… I don't know… I panicked."

"You always were a bundle of nerves," Samuel said with a fond chuckle.

"I… I suppose that makes sense. I wouldn't know. I've, um, mostly lost my memories."

"Ah.” Samuel looked more strained than surprised. “Do you know who I am?"

Jonathon nodded. "I know bits and pieces. But… I… well, the thing is… I might forget again. After today."

Samuel frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Right now… I'm, well… I don't know if I can quite call myself a ghost, but… similar." Jonathon looked back at Gail as if for help.

Gail made a shooing motion at him. "Go talk to your friend, say what you both need to. Don't worry about me. I’ll be here if you need me."

Jonathon drew up his shoulders, and walked out into the space between two trees, right at the edge of the water. Gail stayed back. She knew she was here more as a “just in case” and less because she herself had a definite role to play.

So she decided to take stock.

Samuel was a true ghost, as people most often spoke of. Jonathon was a ghost in his own way, but—Gail understood as they faced each other—they were opposites. Jonathon was still alive. Samuel was not. Jonathon was still warm, still lit with his own odd life; Samuel was colder as the ocean depths, highlighted in negatives.

As if she needed any further evidence that Samuel was no longer in the domain of the living, Gail saw what lay in the grass beside Samuel's pale gray boots: a skull. A fresh one. Gail did not doubt that, if she looked further, she would find further evidence of this new skeleton—the creatures of the woods and the sea had done their work thoroughly, but they had little interest in clothes; there were scraps of it about. And more—around Samuel's neck was a white cord, hung with a steely, gray-blue pendant that looked to be somewhat star-shaped. Gail could glimpse something glinting dully by the skull, and knew that a more normal-looking version of the necklace could be found there.

In a way, it was a mercy. Skeletons could be gruesome enough; a half-decomposed dead body would be far worse for a grieving parent. Not a pretty sight to have as the last image of their son.

Gail slid down against a tree, planning to recover her legs before they had to leave again. She clutched her shawl closer around her.

Jonathon and Samuel were talking—Jonathon might have been crying.

Beyond them, a white-gold sun, dazzlingly brilliant, poked its tip over the horizon; it sent a trail of shivering light skidding across the ocean.

"Lord," she said, gripping her shawl as she looked up at the leaves above her, towards the sky, "your creation is beautiful, and your people are stranger than ever I knew—and I've met some odd ones in my time. I wish I knew some kind of last rites to say over the boy, some prayer or passage that the preachers would know. I don't, sad to say. The best I can do is pray that you would lay his soul to rest, that he may find his way home to your arms and to his family's. And be with them Lord, as they are left behind. Again. Lay your peace on them to help them through this new trial. If I can be of comfort to them, I pray you’d let me."

She continued praying for a while yet, and recited what she could remember of 1 Corinthians 15.

*

The sun was hard to look at, so large and bright it had become, and the woods around them sounded with the lives of a hundred different creatures in the middle of their morning routines. Jonathon came back. He pulled a sleeve across his eyes, face as wet as a semi-ghost's could be.

“First,” he said, his shoulders braced. “You said earlier that you would tell me the whole story someday. Do you promise? With all the evidence and detail that you can?”

Gail nodded, solemn. “I promise.”

"Well then," he said, sniffling. "I think I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be.” He took in a deep breath that was half gasp. “It's time for me to wake up."

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[shatinn]

Fallout 4 - quest