Teatraps

I just talk about Edgar Valden and game 5 a lot tbh Any pronouns is cool (18)

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Chloe & Edgar: The Foils of All Time

You could probably make something very beautiful out of Chloe going back and reclaiming her identity post-everything that happened and learning to love every aspect of herself & contrasting it with Edgar forming a new identity that’s not tied to the Valden name or all the suffering that came with being his family’s heir & the two of them connecting through the opposite but similar lives they led & journeys they go on to take. Edgar encouraging Chloe to love herself & that she deserves love in spite of everything & Chloe teaching Edgar to not let responsibility come at the cost of his own health & to not lose himself to the duties he feels he must uphold.

Edgar having a higher self-esteem from all the praising making it easier to see life from a point of self-love & as a painter understanding the beauty of all parts of the world. Chloe knowing what it’s like to be disregarded & neglected having the bandwidth to know when to be a bit more selfish & understanding it’s not your job to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders when most won’t do the same for you (and having the observational skills to pick out who would)

I feel like Chloe’s character growing up had so much about her kind of moving to the beat of her own drum because no one expected anything of her, leading to her being isolated but being able to discern things for herself a bit better. But because she was so independent it made her isolated & unable to even begin to view herself as part of a whole who can function with a group & by extension is wanted and needed by a group. Meanwhile, Edgar spent most of his time growing up fulfilling a role and having ALL the expectations on him, as such he only got to be “himself” so much before he had to become “Edgar Valden” and all that’s tied to it. He became reliable but at the cost of being able to have that same level of humanity Chloe got to develop

Alas, I’m not good enough at writing to do anything outstanding with the concept. I think about these two as foils a lot tho, they bounce so well off each other.

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I don’t feel like making a long winded theory explanation so I’ll just put it simply: I think Edgar’s new s tier is about his lasting effects post-mortem. While in Symphonic Elegy he doesn’t actually die, I think the fake death represents his actual death & that he continues to lead/guide those around him even after he’s gone. Something something, the band represents the team & they support his mission thru the song or something

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New Challenge: Make sense of whatever is going on in this timeline without me explaining a lick of it! (Level: Impossible)

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I genuinely need to cut off like 80% of the Edgar Valden fandom cause they suck major butt. A testament to how solid Edgar’s character is tho, cause even the shittiest fandom doesn’t deter me from loving him

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I need to get back into making black edits (especially since I told a friend I would so they could make pins sorry </3)

Saw this skin had earrings and had to lock in IMMEDIATELY

Alt version with a more similar style nose to the original

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I miss when niggas used to just say headcanon. Now it’s always “coded” or “implied.” JUST SAY HEADCANON

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My hottest take is that Edgar was bad asf & Patricia fumbled hard.

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Going bit by bit with Edgar’s 5th letter cause I’m bored (also excuse the lack of screenshots, haven’t been logging on for reasons y’all probably alr know…)

“Sunlight split his silhouette in two, as though the world itself, with strokes of brightness and shadow, were turning the painter into an unfinished study”

I interpreted this as expanding on the duality that’s been presented in Edgar’s character throughout the years. He’s been portrayed as both a shallow, flippant, and self-absorbed aristocrat and an empathetic, kind-hearted, and gracious artist. He isn’t wholly one or the other, but a mixture of the two. It could also more flatly be in reference to killing Sarai since I know netass kinda wants to say that’s a “bad” thing but like… dude, it’s Sarai. That really isn’t THAT bad of a thing to do…

For the world part, I’d take that as a reflection of how his environment formed the way he is. The arrogant haughty aristocrat comes from the shallow praise & aristocratic upbringing while the softer tender notes of his life like with his mom, Ella, and (from his perspective) Sarai for a time developed the kinder and more considerate part of his personality.

The unfinished study line sticks out to me as it implies a lack of complete understanding. We knew this to be true from his experiment file, it’s no surprise, but with the way it’s worded it feels as if they’re also saying he could’ve had more time. There was more a person like him could’ve done or become, but as we all know, that was cut short. There are notes and concepts of who “Edgar Valden” was, but as it stands and always will stand, we will never really know him

“His garments were tailored with precision, and the traces of pigment along the shawl and cuffs mark the fleeting moments when inspiration descended”

I assume the clothing description just denotes his wealth, but also could be a way to show that the way he presents has been crafted (presumably by others since someone else has to tailor the clothes to him). It also leans into it being fit just for him. He is his own enigma and the precise tailoring of his clothing might be an almost Cinderella style reference to say none could fit where he is.

The paint portion is a bit harder because we gotta try to keep in mind what “inspiration” is in the context of Edgar. He’s never said for certain, but we have small things that reference what inspire him: we know he prefers landscapes, struggles to draw people often because he can’t find their beauty (however could in people he loved like Ella & her b-day portrait he made for her), and we know the colors he chooses are inspired by people, specifically ones he is close with in some way. We also know what inspires him based on what he described he doesn’t such as his farewell letter where the hypocrisy, greed, and apathy of the aristocracy drew him away. There’s also deductions such as “the beauty of life is always odd yet pleasant” and “life is beautiful and it’s said the brush can preserve said beauty.” Since his inspiration seems so tied to love & affection for people, places, and things then these fleeting moments of inspiration could be translated to fleeting moments of affection. When he’s struck with that love of life and everything in it that never quite disappeared in spite of everything.

“Fingertips stained with crimson hovered in the air, measuring where the brush might next fall, or perhaps hesitating at the coming stroke”

Oof, a rather loaded one. The crimson can pretty easily be assumed to be blood given there is no red on the paint palette, but I think the more salient part is the hovering in midair part and the way it gives 2 options for what it could be

There’s reason 1: measuring where the brush will fall next. This gives the impression of Edgar being very calculated, his actions are planned and he doesn’t do things without reasoning them out first (a far cry from the sporadic way Orpheus portrayed him, but I digress). It also ties an intentionality to his death. We know putting that “crimson” on the canvas is what ultimately leads to it, so by presenting this moment as a calculated endeavor aimed at creating a masterpiece it frames Edgar’s death as something that is enhanced by the environment that surrounded it (i.e. the game). Perhaps even trying to anticipate what will become of his team after his death since many of the files in game 5 allude to that type of thing

Then there’s reason 2: straight up hesitation. It’s a much more humane side of Edgar, it shows he may be scared to die—probably is actually. He knows it must be done to finish the work, but he still does have second thoughts in the back of his mind. Like we said earlier: he’s an unfinished study. He has more he could do and become but for this to work, he has to cut it short. There’s also the juxtaposition from “where the brush falls” to “coming stroke.” The former focuses on what will happen after the fact, again possibly foreshadowing that Edgar intends to use his death as a catalyst of sorts. The latter focuses on what’s coming immediately, what he can see will hit him. His death. There is precision in his actions as he aims for a greater good, but there is humanity and fear in the face of imminent death. It shows he isn’t fully detached from his humanity in the way Orpheus says he is and he doesn’t fully see himself as just a conduit of the arts.

“Most of the canvas sank into shadow, its subject unseen. The finished work and his conception still lingered only within the dark. Blue, white, violet colors arranged neatly on the palette, yet one space remained empty”

Alright let me try not to get overwhelmed with this one cause it’s also pretty loaded. The way Edgar’s painting is hidden from the audience creates a feeling of intimacy with the painting and that we’re not supposed to see it. It’s in the shadows, away from our prying eyes. The emphasis they put on not being able to see the subject really grabs me because we know Edgar tends to paint landscapes. By leaving it ambiguous, it entices readers to speculate what is on the canvas: is it still a landscape? Or has something inspired him so deeply he made a small return to portraiture? Only time will tell.

The finished work & conception part feels like another nod to how we as onlookers will never truly know Edgar (at least for rn). His ideas and the full vision of what he’s creating can’t be seen by us. However, I want to point out that shadows are not stagnant and things that are hidden by shadow can also come to the light. In the same way Edgar, and the kinder aspects of his personality have been revealed as time went on, with the light and shadow allowing a fuller picture of him, the same may apply for the painting. I also wanna highlight the word conception. The most obvious application would be that it’s referring to his ideas & beliefs, but conception also has its ties to birth. It can tie back to the brush falling comment, that all of this will become clearer with time. His ideas and what he’s doing are still in the process of being conceived, not that they’ve come to fruition. (Also, not to tfem Edgar rant but the use of the word conception feel so intentional given that there are so many words that could stand in for what it can easily be read as like ideals, beliefs, etc. but by using a word that is also so commonly associated with motherhood and femininity… come on bro. Edgar already has like 50 references to feminine imagery, you can’t keep getting away with this.) to circle back to some more solid analysis tho, you could also tie this to Edgar breathing life & vibrancy into the world with art, kinda like bringing a child into a world.

The colors are very obviously a reference to the colors mentioned in his last letter for his team. If I keep running with this overall idea that the painting is a larger symbol for whatever goal Edgar is trying to achieve, we can assume this also means Edgar can’t complete this goal without his team. The main color that sticks out is the white. Now obviously the first thing I want to jump to is Ella, it’s her color. Given much of his commitment to art was tied to her based on his note to her on her portrait. It might represent a return to form. After everything, maybe the time at the manor has caused him to revert somewhat. White is also a symbol of purity and most often used to mix with other colors to make them lighter. If we remove it from Ella (which I’m hesitant to do, but wtv) this could be symbolic of Edgar perhaps “lightening” the load off of his teammates. There’s also the unmentioned green and yellow on his palette. Green is of course the color of his mother (again, maybe a return to form) and as for the yellow idrk. My best guess is it’s Kevin’s unofficial color. He was friends with him, but Edgar never mentions Kevin getting a color so maybe it’s his? It’s not an unfitting color for him + yellow does show up in the b-day emote a little with everyone else’s so… who knows. Kind of don’t have anything for it.

The empty space is ofc for the red. This could once again indicate hesitation: the other colors have already been pre-placed and prepared because he’s scared of what will become of him when he incorporates the red, but it’s still a necessary hue nonetheless. If we go about defining our understanding of color in Edgar’s narrative to center his relationships, it could imply that the only way for him to truly grow close to Patricia was to bleed for her. This would go in line with the description Alice gives of her and how her perception of relationships is based on give and take. Also, by saying that there is an empty space, it emphasizes that Patricia needs to be there. The painting cannot be completed without her and therefore he is willing to do whatever it takes to get her “onto his palette,” even if it requires death.

“Perhaps the Edgar Valden of old regarded art as a confession drawn outward from within, but the reflections and gestures he laid upon the canvas received no sincere reply. Endless, hollow praise drained his expectation until at last he became both creator and critic of himself, his own living work, answering the blank canvas’s quiet question with silence and color”

Home stretch! This is the message you get after analyzing each part of the picture. Dang it just keeps getting more and more loaded… let’s get into it!

Right off the bat, the audience is met with ambiguity by saying perhaps. Once again, we’re not allowed to be sure if this is accurate or not. The “Edgar Valden of old” is presumably from before he became disillusioned with Sarai, hence the looking to others part. He was following the teaching that praise is the highest form of love. The word confession has so many different meanings an admission of guilt, sins, or even just intimate revelations of a person. All of these could be applicable for Edgar, perhaps guilt for taking up so much attention which inadvertently led to Ella’s death or for even engaging with the aristocratic culture to begin with. But also it could be expressing his grievances from a detached pov. No matter which definition applies, one thing stands true, what he was portraying in his art was deeply personal and seemed to be aimed at gaining a response.

If he inlaid “gestures” and “reflections” in his art then it’s clear he was trying to have an effect on people and show them something about themselves and the world around them. Possibly the beauty in life that he holds fast to in his deductions. I’ll try not to stray too far but this could be in reference to how everyone in game 5 is trying to prove themselves in some way which contrast against how Edgar was naturally accepted and exalted by those around him. By saying there is an inherent beauty in life, it implies that there isn’t anything to prove and that simply being alive is enough which fits with many of the messages they tie to Edgar (for example his b-day art captions saying things along the lines of simple pleasures being the perfect pleasures for him & allowing himself to simply be present in nature’s embrace). This would also be applicable to the aristocratic culture since everyone is trying to assert themselves as “gentlemen,” to reference Edgar himself, and therefore never being content with who and what they are.

Based on the “endless, hollow praise,” it’s safe to assume people just didn’t get it. They saw a pretty picture and that was it. Not a commentary on the innate beauty of life, not a critique of how people will destroy themselves while trying to achieve an impossible “perfection,” just a pretty painting. This led him to sink into his own mind as “creator and critic.” The use of critic rings out to me because he’s not just being an observer like how he intends for his audience to be. He seeks the faults, measures the value, and evaluates the piece. By what metric? My guess is effectiveness at getting the audience to see the message. He’s a good painter. That’s just a fact, we don’t need to guess if he’s good at drawing. But what good is a pretty picture if it doesn’t send its message? This fact extends not just to his art, but his life. He wants people to see the beauty in the world, he makes that clear in his first few deductions with the brush preserving the beauty of life comment. And if I may say: if you really wanted to convince like 3 or 4 ppl who REALLY hate themselves that they are actually intrinsically cool and deserve to live, what better way to prove that to them by literally killing and damning yourself for eternity for them? It’s like Jesus, in a way. (Just to make a guess-timate on what that whole sublimating the swan song thing could’ve been about).

This last line finna KILL ME bc there are so many ways this could be interpreted. 1) the blank canvas is people. People who don’t know their worth & feel like they are nothing: blank. He meets their feelings of purposelessness with silence (hearing them out) and color (denoting vibrancy to them & giving a feeling of value in the world). 2) the canvas is him and his life (the most likely of the interpretations since the blank canvas follows “his living work” which indirectly links the canvas to the work that characterizes his life). This would also fall in line with the critic part of him. Possibly asking himself questions along the lines of: “what are you willing to do to get your message out there?” “are you truly as committed to your vision as you’ve always claimed?” etc.. He meets this question with silence, (maybe meaning his death/acceptance of his death) and color (the relationships he formed & the value he attributes to them & how they enriched his life & the beauty he already saw in the world)

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I swear to you these 2 are twins

(Inspired by them having very similar tweet emoji indicators

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They done made my favorite game for the past 6 years, that informed my choice for my career, and has some of my favorite characters of all time into literal ai slop. I’m gonna bawl my eyes out rn, I’m so mad rn

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Uma Musume-s your game 5

Voodoo Queen (Patricia): an Uma from Haiti hoping to put herself and her home on the map as worthwhile racers to care for. She runs pace & her style focuses on pursuit specifically. Her gold skills dazzling disorient & tantalizing trick allow her to focus on the racers ahead. Her focus on pursuit acts as a reference to Patricia being a “huntress” and her tendency to get tunnel-vision on her goals. She struggles with pushing herself too hard & feels she needs to win by large margins to prove herself and her home as she feels anything less may get passed off as a fluke. She also struggles to form friendships as she focuses too much on seeing other Umas as rivals before friends, thus treating them somewhat coldly. This is a reference to Patricia keeping a distance from everyone in the manor during the game because she was focused on judging their sins. Her trainer is Mary (a play on her foster mom), who tries to keep Queen grounded & remind her that making it to Tracen is an amazing feat in its own right. She has a required practice poor event from overworking herself. Her drawback comes in being pursued, since her abilities focus so much on chasing, she’s not as great at being chased & tries to keep from being in the lead until the very end. Her biggest fear is going home a disappointment.

Lingering Fragrance (Vera): An Uma hoping to forge her own path out of her sister’s shadow. Her style is front runner & she’s most known for her insane stamina & how she takes a large lead to keep from getting into challenges, hence her skills restless & taking the lead. This is a play on how she kinda tries to run from her problems and doesn’t do well with challenges. It also plays on her ability focusing on “durability” which translates to stamina here. Her sister, Blooming Cocoon, was set to be the star of the family & received the most support to become a racer. Fragrance assumed she would just take on a diff Uma-dominated job despite also loving to race. Cocoon was injured before a big regional race. The family was ready to pull her out but Cocoon insisted that Fragrance run because she recognized her potential. Fragrance & the rest of the family were against it, but Cocoon insisted. Fragrance agreed on the condition she would race under Cocoon’s name since they look similar enough to get away w/ it. Cocoon agreed & to everyone’s shock, Fragrance excelled. Surprisingly, there was a Tracen scout there and she wanted Fragrance to come to the academy. She wanted to say no, but Cocoon said she should do it which made Fragrance cave. She struggles w/ imposter syndrome & feeling like she took her sister’s spotlight. The rest of her family outside of Cocoon adds to this feeling, echoing the statement & shaming her for saying yes to the academy’s offer. Her trainer is actually just named Vera. She reminds her of her sister & helps her fight her imposter syndrome while affirming her that she’s where she should be. For a while, Fragrance tried to mimic her sister’s pace strategy but lacked the power for it to be the most effective. Vera was the one to realize her speed and stamina was more fit to run front. Finding her own technique instead of copying her sister’s helped her find her own identity as a racer and led to her becoming much more confident to the point even her family couldn’t ignore it anymore. She still struggles with feeling like she took her sister’s spot, but those who care about her always try to reassure her.

Untamed Soul (Kevin): An Uma from the Americas with a specialty in pace chasing. Lowkey a Taiki dupe icl. The only one of the 5 specializing in short races as a reference to Kevin not seeing the full game through. Her speed & strength are unmatched but her racing aptitude is… eh, hence big sisterly & speed star with a low wit stat. She’s not great at getting out of boxes at all. Growing up she had a friend who was a much stronger racer than her, but due to her living circumstances, never had the chance to be scouted the same way she was. It’s left her feeling undeserving of her spot & wishing it was her friend instead of her at Tracen. With the help of her trainer, Ms. Lamb (I think I’m so funny. She’s an older woman who literally looks like a lamb), she resolved to use the stage she has to try and highlight Umas who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to be recognized. She feels deeply for Queen’s struggle for recognition as she’s seen secondhand how circumstances can stop an Uma from getting the recognition she deserves.

Departure Date (Jose): an End Closer. Her most notable trait is her maneuverability, a nod to Jose’s job as a navigator, she’s not one to get blocked thus having the gold skills of lane legerdemain & no stopping me. Her stamina isn’t the best, so she uses navigation to kinda cut corners. She’s prone to getting the slacker trait & has an event where you’re required to get it, a nod to why Jose was fired. Her father saw her potential to be a racer & raised her around many Umas to subtly train her. One day he suggested her & her friends compete in a regional, not telling her Tracen scouts would probably be there. Unsurprisingly, she blew the competition out of the water (no pun intended) & was scouted. She didn’t want to go, even with her father’s pressuring. Then her dad went behind her back and convinced her friends that not taking this opportunity would stifle her and that they should encourage her as well. It was her friends’ encouragement that led her to accept Tracen’s offer. She’s uncomfortable with her fame, feeling as though she abandoned her friends for it. Her father, Joaquin, is also her trainer of course and basically tells her to suck it up and that her talent shouldn’t go unrecognized because of some friends. Overall, not a great trainer for her because of it.

Artistic Resonance (Edgar): Pace or Late but given she has bigger picture it makes most sense to put her as late. She also has swinging maestro. Her decent stamina & observation skills make her great at adapting to whatever a race throws at her & making it her own. Her mother was a well-known racer & she kept the legacy going as a strong racer in her own right. From birth people had high expectations of the racer she could be, and she met & exceeded them. She loves to run but between her mother retiring early from a racing injury at what would’ve been the peak of her racing career mid-race & many rivals retiring after feeling they couldn’t keep up with her and decided racing isn’t for them, she began to resent racing & by extension running. She felt as though racing only sullied the art of running by making umas compare each other and sucked the joy out of running for them. Upon coming to Tracen, she met racers who could match her ability & reignited her love of racing, being able to appreciate how it draws out the best in ppl & pushes them to become better. This would lead to her final race where, despite the fragile legs she inherited from her mother, raced as hard as she could so her rivals could race the “true” her and also ended her racing career prematurely due to injury. She ended on a tragic win with no regrets. Her Trainer, Sarai (he’s not a pedo this time, just a dick) was picked specifically to train her and make her the best. He was aware of her legs but not her rationale. He couldn’t make sense of why she would end her career by injuring herself in a race that, even if she lost, wouldn’t diminish the record she had. Another instance of poor trainer-trainee pairing with Sarai viewing racing as a path to status and reverence while Resonance saw it like a performance art

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NOOOOOOOOO

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I AM SO SERIOUS, IF CSM ENDS TOMORROW THEN I’M CRYING

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just when i try to get into it

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IT’S NOT OVER, I SWEAR IT’S NOT! THERE HAS TO BE A PART 3! WE HAVE SO MANY UNRESOLVED PLOT POINTS! FUJIMOTO WOULDN’T DO THIS TO ME! HE MADE LOOKBACK! HE MADE GOODBYE ERI!

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I AM SO SERIOUS, IF CSM ENDS TOMORROW THEN I’M CRYING

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The prettiest of princesses and her muses

Something something: cool sentence that references swan songs that’s super deep and poetic

Here’s just the painting (you can tell I was getting lazy…)

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VeraPat urges sprung up out of nowhere, had to chase the high (extend for the no effects version)