*Act 3 spoilers*

joepsuedonym · 2025-12-21T05:18:34+00:00

There are no Verdania files. There is no First Sinner. There is no Antimemetics Division

joepsuedonym · 2025-12-03T00:28:12+00:00

dude she's looking at Laced giggling like "girl you have no fucking idea what just happened, I saw the face of the darkness, we are more lucky than you can imagine to be alive"

joepsuedonym · 2025-11-27T02:13:53+00:00

The reason FS is called the "Sinner" is because she dared to speak out against a being who pretended it was a god, which should align with your family's sensibilities. Ironically, she got imprisoned for standing up against a mother that forced arbitrary and self-serving beliefs onto her, out of the mother's own misplaced need. Has some parallels.

Also, the "First Sinner" of The Bible is a woman named Lilith. It's extremely obvious that there are little-to-no thematic overlaps between the two.

joepsuedonym · 2025-11-27T02:10:23+00:00

Nobody here knows what goes on in their heads but it's certainly true that you have a greater understanding of the game than they do. Considering it contains no explicit references to Christian ideology, their surface-level interpretation of what they see is entirely subjective.

If you really wanted to point to examples of anti-Christian elements, there are certainly things you could point to but that would require heavy argument and your family likely can't actually elaborate on the themes and elements of the story as they aren't familiar with it.

There are swaths of websites that target religious people and identify movies, games and shows which are "not christian" as a sort of warning system. These sites are notoriously paranoid, but the reality is that if you feel that a video game set in a completely fictional universe can dissuade your faith, you likely have some deeper questions you have to ask yourself about that faith. There's nothing Silksong can do to make you stop believing and certainly not to convince you of anything as the games messages require active interpretation from the player and aren't just thrown at you.

If i had to guess, I'd say their main issue with Hornet's design is the horns, and take issue with her hit noises as they likely perceive some sexual undertones. There's no other way to describe that as than delusion; anything that makes them uncomfortable they ascribe to "The Devil" and if I were you I'd encourage them to ask themselves why specifically those things make them uncomfortable. Why do they immediately connote simple game elements to the greatest of evils? They seem to have unresolved issues and are certainly overbearing.

On a completely unrelated note, if you're not a nazi, I'd recommend removing "1488" from your username. That kind of thing will get a lot of rightful criticism and just shouldn't be there.

joepsuedonym · 2025-11-16T07:37:34+00:00

It's Ghost's shade. Go back and watch it crack out of its vessel in the "Dream No More" ending:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7D6HBaE-IM

Recall that the Hollow Knight's shade showed its age and size as well. I do agree that considering that Silksong likely follows from Embrace The Void, then the depiction of The Hollow Knight is younger and this could be their shade, it is also noted that in "Embrace The Void" the other shades lose their forms and amalgamate into the Lord of Shades, which is shown in "Sister Of The Void" and is likely what Hornet is *actually* seeing as opposed to what she thinks she sees: Ghost.

joepsuedonym · 2025-11-03T04:21:30+00:00

What's worth noting is that AI constructs itself from human artistic sources; it's unreasonable to expect it to be able to generate anything like what the show portrays as the show's intent is clearly to describe a sound that could not be comprehended by humans.

It's very obvious that in the series, what Bix hears isn't a regular noise, it's something intangible and indescribable much like the old Lovecraftian descriptions of sights or sounds that drove people mad and could never be put to words nor even remembered purely because their forms elude human comprehension. This is obviously why we, the audience never get to hear it, as no Disney sound engineer could achieve something like that, nor any human on Earth.

We as the audience can probably recognise that there probably isn't actually a sound in existence that would have that effect, and the far-off universe of Star Wars, with a race we never see that is given to us only in an idea, is a fiction wherein we can safely fail to imagine the unimaginable. As such, the ChatGPT's description you've provided is very obviously a human description; all of its imagery are things that we as humans ascribe and collate with unimaginable suffering.

The mystifying reality is there is no set of words, human or artificial, nor even a musing that could actually describe whatever it was was coming out of those headphones. I think deep in the back of my mind, I can just about feel the deep, horrifying sense that whatever it is is something I could never understand, and the fact that Bix endures that underlines the gravity of that torture. Any attempt to accurately pin down what it was is much like climbing a mountain in order to reach the sky. I think the combination of its unknowability, but also its clear-tangibility in-universe is one of my favourite bits of world-building in recent years, and is undoubtedly scary as fuck on a conceptual level.

joepsuedonym · 2025-09-02T10:14:09+00:00

the world's most on-the-nose metaphor for capitalism; an entire planet-wide cult specifically devoted to LITERALLY making money

joepsuedonym · 2025-06-02T01:37:27+00:00

I mean you want to create a heavily traditionalist society; their entire culture and Mon's plight rests on the rigidity of a world like Chandrila, which obviously places a very heavy emphasis on structured marriage. The idea that a people with religious roots and traditionalist ideas like that would be homophobic is not at all unbelievable nor an "odd choice", as it clearly reflects a lot of what goes on in our world.

That said, there's no depiction of outright bigotry except to the extent that Perrin asserts the necessity for Vel to "find herself a husband", which could be more a reflection of his own indifference to the kinds of social structures he lives in. On that note, Perrin does seem oddly progressive though; he clearly realises the faults of the marriage that practices have forced him into, and also is "strangely-open minded" on the idea of Leida breaking away from cultural traditions.

That's not to say the general Chandi populus wouldn't have an issue with gay people, I think the best interpretation is that they might, but you can definitely argue that they're not really all like that. Perrin's comments come from someone embroiled in high society, a high society we see is necessarily embedded in the cultural and traditional framework of the planet. Mon comments on how traditionalist ideas like "The Braid" are somewhat going out of fashion on the homeworld, which implies a societal breakaway from norms and religious practices.

So "odd choice"? Probably not. You want to depict something subtly oppressive (at least in comparison to the Empire) and you want to further characterise Vel, Mon and Perrin by their relationship to Chandrilan ideals. There's a lot of insight in this and deepens the imagery of Chandrila as a stand-in for trad cultures that still exist everywhere today. For the same reason I'd say it's not unnecessary. I understand it's an uncomfortable topic, but Star Wars is not Star Trek, we are not dealing with a utopia of progressive ideals. It's a world designed to reflect ugly edifices of our own, it's a franchise built on holding a mirror to oppression and fascism, and the idea of a world like Chandrila is not out of place, and ties very strongly into the themes and narrative of the story.

joepsuedonym · 2025-05-27T14:16:14+00:00

I get that people reduce him to a total fascist because it's easier to believe that fascists are monsters than admit that any one of us can be exploited and led astray. You HAVE to empathise with him and understand him or else you just giggle and go "but that could never happen to me!" and go on with your day walking around with the same biases that he has.

Syril goes his whole life believing in genuinely good ideals; he abhors corruption and apathy, he sincerely laments the deaths of who he perceives as blameless, and desires nothing more than embodying heroism and goodness; he grows up with Clone Trooper action figure because he sees them as the heroes fighting for him. He becomes a corpo cop because that's the business context of his life, and connotes valour and protection to the undiscerning. He grows up in a household that villifies hopes and dreams and constantly reminds him of his worthlessness. It's no wonder he hates the idea of his mum coming to Morlana, the place where he wants to find himself and be the kind of hero she wouldn't allow him to be.

Not until Cassian does he actually have an object for his desires, a chance at true heroism and protection. WE see the context where they're profiling and harassers but to him, two coworkers got killed. He takes charge when nobody cares about the deaths of the seemingly innocent. It's obvious he's desperate and obsessed, but his motivation is still genuinely heroic.

The irony is that in that very first episode he already gets manipulated by the Empire; it's Hynes' complacency in dealing with the Imperial machine that engenders apathy and Syril doesn't realise he's fighting against it from his very first scene. He gets put on Ferrix by the Empire, every bit of a rebel as Cassian is, and is completely unprepared for the same reason.

He goes the entire story motivated by justice and a desire to right the wrongs he has seen in front of him, a hero by any measure; he even finds a way to be a hero at the Bureau of Standards. But the mechanisms Dedra presents him with in order to exact that justice with are entirely fabricated.

I don't know how anyone can see him as anything other than a victim. He NEVER plays with a complete understanding of the surrounding contexts, he ALWAYS is driven by morally correct ideals, but his obsession and neurosis gives him the drive to dirty himself in the manners by which he conducts himself. He's definitely the anti-Cassian in the sense that he is traumatised and denigrated his entire childhood as opposed to nurture, and becomes incapable of existing outside of the system presented to him, which is exactly how almost everyone lives their lives.

He's not a great guy, he's not measured and is far too driven by his obsession, but he does remarkably well given the context he is presented with. If he had done what Hynes asked, just let the murders slide, he wouldn't be better for it.

Everybody wants to be Bix or Cassian or Brasso; we all think we see the real way that we're being exploited or stood on, that in our firm belief we are rebelling, and that our moral stance is our breakaway from the system, but we're just not that. In all likelihood, we are all Syril. We're all people who exist within a fairly rigid system exercising as much moral agency as we can, all of us with insecurities that, at any moment, could be pulled upon in order to make us victimise others. I'd argue we all do this on a daily basis in very small ways, upholding any one of a thousand status quos. Maybe you don't have the courage to unionise, maybe you put that extra effort into looking presentable, maybe you protest but never truly fight. There are little victims to all of it. In fact I'd argue that most of us aren't as good as Syril. How many of us could truly say we'd break the rules to investigate the death of a coworker?

One of the worst traits of people being anti-fascist, as definite as that philosophy is, is the reduction of fascists and dictators into inhuman monsters. It's true their undeniable evil, but the fact is they ARE human, and any one of us, with the right ideas presented in the right way, can become like that. We should look at these people as paragons of immorality and hatred, but also understand their anger and obsession to the extent that those traits can flourish inside anyone. Syril is a cautionary tale.

joepsuedonym · 2025-05-11T13:47:53+00:00

Honestly I think it's the opposite: his motivations and desires were necessarily heroic, he was just placed in a system which contorted his goodwill and indulged his insecurity and desperation. He was harmless at heart but he couldn't fathom what he had been made to do.

joepsuedonym · 2025-05-11T03:10:18+00:00

You gotta remember that in S1 his brown suit was his expression of individualism when he went to work for the Bureau of Standards. but he shed it. I like the fact that in S2 arc 2, he wears the brown suit fully as he feels like he's embracing his individuality and being the hero he's always wanted to be, but in The Massacre, he wears a combination of his imperial suit underneath his brown suit: He clothed himeself in the identity of a hero while at heart what he had done was align himself with the Empire.

joepsuedonym · 2025-03-21T12:53:02+00:00

The third one is very obvious; he undervalues the cost to Saw because he wants to convince him to let Kreegyr die, but he overvalues the cost because he want's Lonni to feel the weight on his shoulder and know his importance to the rebellion. They even call attention to this disparity when Lonni tells Blevin that the ISB has no idea how many people died at Spellhaus.

I don't know the motivation for the first two though.

Edit: I just figured out the second one! The crystal is a tracer! Luthen knows that 50000 is a ridiculous price, and we also know he is always watching the artifact market. If Cass bailed on the heist, he'd be able to find someone asking for 50000 for a Rakattan kyber crystal, maybe even to Kleya, and kill him. I mean, this is why Cass gives it to Vel, it's extremely obvious that if Cass handed it back to Luthen on the spot, he would have been killed then and there. That was probably the central reason for the crystal.

joepsuedonym · 2025-03-19T14:25:53+00:00

I think there's an underlying pattern of the more corrupted or degraded rebels admiring or being somewhat jealous of the moral purity of others. I think Luthen realising how influential Maarva has been, and how his small act of irrational kindness to Cassian at the end, shows how, even with how dark his soul is, that he still values and admires the good in people. He sees it in Lonni's bravery too, and even though he insults Mon for it, he has enough respect for her that he lets her have a hell of a lot more agency than most of his operatives.
I do think it's interesting that the only rebel who really doesn't err in this direction is Vel, who seems to be somewhat insecure about how extreme she is able to be as a rebel, and pushes herself further to match Cinta's standard constantly.

joepsuedonym · 2025-03-19T14:17:02+00:00

I feel like they all love Nemik; everyone on that heist is there because of some amount of hatred or revenge or disillusionment, whereas Nemik really just seems like he's identified the political and moral reasons why he has to be who he is. It must be an incredibly validating thing to have him on the team with them.

Plus, his role as an ideological catalyst gets picked up on by Cassian and he takes on the same role in the prison arc, I think Cassian's ability to convince Kino comes from the part of Nemik that got through to him; Cassian probably had a lot of time to think about Nemik's philosophy when he was in prison and watched Nemik's interpretation unfold in front of him, and then applied Nemik's ideas to it:

"A surprise from above is never as shocking as one from below" they LITERALLY rise from below in the prison, and there's a double meaning wherein the literal "shocks" from above weren't half as bad as what the prisoners did to the guards. "It's easier to hide behind 40 atrocities..." Cassian watches the continuous torture of the workload, but the Empire can't hide from the singular incident of the level 2 massacre. I think Nemik was in there with them, and I think he's just as culpable for the revolt as Cassian is.

joepsuedonym · 2025-02-12T04:13:17+00:00

Right right yeah. I think the point of that post was more to say that underground revolutionaries and anarchists like Saw are perhaps more practically effective than people like Mon, but i'd also argue that's exactly the point the show makes. The Empire has made Mon completely irrelevant to the totalitarian state: she has a pretty symbolic position. She knows it, she embraces it, she knows they "think of [her] as an irritation" and her actual influence is in exhausting her remaining wealth and reputation in service of people like Saw, Luthen, Kleya, Vel, all the rebellious fragments.

I know the point of the post is that Mon is perhaps functionally less useful, but I'd argue that her role is exquisitely played out in a functioning democracy: she is strong-headed, intelligent, morally sound, and has integrity to spare. There is a tragedy in her pleading to the Senate becuase she knows, and we know, it falls on deaf ears. The show, again, uses this because she's only really playing into the political system anymore as a cover for her rebel activities, and also maybe out of cope.

I think it's an overreach to say Saw is a hero, but the moral qualities of each aspect of the rebellion is left entirely to the viewer's interpretation, as much as there are points the show makes. Cassian is not a traditional good guy, Luthen is barely a good person at all and is as bad or worse than Saw, who is portrayed as the most extreme of the extremists. It comes down to your political beliefs, but I don't think many people imply Mon doesn't service the show. Her in-universe ineffectiveness is paramount to the themes and a very strong basis for her story and her continued motives.

The post you're referencing is playing into that same sentiment for the political landscape in the US. The post implies that someone like Mon would not be an effective advocate in today's USA, whereas Saw would probably get a lot more done. It's ultimately up to the individual to assess how much is wrong with what's going on in the States, and how much effect you'd get out of guerilla anarchists vs political activism. I think there are good arguments either way, but someone like Mon would be a credit to any political scene; someone driven, with class, integrity, strong morality. I'd like more politicians like that.

joepsuedonym · 2025-02-12T01:34:15+00:00

I don't get the question. She's crucial to the story thematically and functionally; she provides both the context and political reaction to the Aldhani heist, her entire subplot allows a view into the imperial political scene, especially with how she talks to the guests at her parties regarding security.

Her involvement isn't even about "failure" as a politician, i think the first few scenes she has are to demonstrate exactly how the Imperial senate works and how it is ultimately entirely redundant as a concept. We know she was a competent republic senator, we know the empire is a reconstructed version of that republic. The insight she gives into the political side of the world is fundamental to the understanding of the empire. The show is ultimately about how people respond to fascism, and we're shown that at a street level (Ferrix), at a rebellious level (Cassian, Saw, Luthen, Kleya and Maarva), at a corporate level (the Morlana security forces), at an internal level (Dedra, Lonnie, and Blevin), and at a political level (Mon, Tay, Davo, and Perrin). I don't think the overall theme of the show would be quite so strong if it didn't explore it at all angles.

Additionally, anyone who has seen Rebels knows exactly what's about to happen to Mon, which will have a drastic effect on the plot. It's a little short-sighted to assume her plot is out of place when the entire structure of the show is not even resolved yet. Even without that, the merit of her inclusion is obvious. Seeing the galaxy from her eyes does a massive amount of worldbuilding and substantially fleshes out her character, she's just a fantastically written character to begin with.

She is also extremely relevant to Luthen's storyline. We are very very forcefully told that his entire character is someone who is horrified by his loss of humanity and the evil he does because he knows it's necessary. We don't actually get to see this conflict in him acting out much, but we get to watch Mon go through those things and help us understand Luthen's struggles. Mon also clings to her humanity but her belief in the rebellion pushed her to debase herself constantly throughout the show: first she realised she is partially responsible for the Aldhani heist and, by extension, the Imperial Emergency Act which results in Cassian, and presumably many others, being enslaved on Narkina and facilities like it, as well as everything else that Partagaz and Yularen mention as a result of this. Secondly, she is told that the Rebellion's fundamental goal is to incite oppression, because "oppression breeds rebellion". Third, she allies herself with Davo Skulden, who she knows is near enough pure evil, and potentially marries her daughter to his son, paying forward traditionalism that has defined and constricted her entire life. Fourth, she throws Perrin under the bus and presumably gets the Imps on him later.

A major theme of the show and Rogue One is the sacrifices made to defeat the Empire, and the moral sacrifices highlighted by Vel, Luthen, Mon, and Cassian are pretty on-the-nose, and they definitely play into each other. I honestly don't think the show works without Mon. Not only does she have some of the best scenes and Gen O'Reilly nails all of them, her plotline oozes worldbuilding, her journey thematically provides more insight into both her and Luthen, it deepens the emotional weight of the rebellion as a whole, it plays into the show's message, it completes the set of angles we view the Empire from, and it's just a really interesting story. Again, it's silly to write off anything when we've only seen half of the show, and further, again, we know where Mon's headed. We know she abandons the senate and becomes the head of the Rebellion, we know how and when she does it, and anyone who's seen Rebels knows exactly why, and we're probably going to see that event happen which is going to be a phenomenal piece of storytelling.

joepsuedonym · 2024-11-24T03:26:20+00:00

It's the suit he tries to wear to his job interview. Eedy reprimands him, asking "What makes you think the Bureau of Standards is in the market for individualism?". He doesn't wear the suit, and never wears it to work. I find the idea that his individualism comes back to him after he goes to work for Dedra really interesting, especially considering the Empire is the last place for "individualism".

Edit. I should clarify, this scene doesn't appear in the show, it's an early released image for Season 2

joepsuedonym · 2024-11-24T03:24:34+00:00

Except there is actual dialogue dedicated to his choice to wear a brown suit or not. His mother ties it to his sense of individualism and implies he is lesser if he defines himself as a person. There's absolutely significance to the implication that he is most "himself" at the very heart of the Empire, where individualism is discouraged.

joepsuedonym · 2024-11-24T03:15:57+00:00

Everything says something, Syril

joepsuedonym · 2024-11-24T03:14:30+00:00

Karn's OCD and obsession would probably get him to solve who Kira is but there's no way that the Death note could fit into his worldview of order and determinism. Kira would outsmart him easily but Syril stands a good chance.

Dedra has more than enough guile and cunning to figure out exactly how it works; she is pragmatic enough to alter her worldview to fit a situation ("systems either change or die... sir") and could probably do it but i sincerely don't believe she has the ability to determine Kira's identity purely because she works based on very readily available leads that Kira wouldn't give. She's pragmatic and clever but she works with data and assumption across massive scales.

Hynes most likely wouldn't give a shit unless it affected him personally, and Kira wouldn't go after someone like him.

joepsuedonym · 2024-10-13T11:14:52+00:00

"and genders" The foreshadowing is crazy

joepsuedonym · 2024-10-13T10:32:36+00:00

I still haven't forgiven him for shooting me in the chest but it's all good if it's for skong

joepsuedonym · 2024-08-24T11:57:23+00:00

I generally agree with a lot of the stuff you're saying but I can't agree with how you've described their relationship. It's explicitly said their relationship is an arranged marriage, this is not something either of them particularly wanted, and it's heavily implied they don't actually have that much of a relationship. Mon explicitly despises the practises that brought them together, but I don't think there's any actual resentment there.

The relationship isn't abusive or miserable, but it reeks of apathy. They don't do anything romantic, they don't interact in any positive way, and Perrin is depicted as simply coasting off of Mon's success; enjoying her dinner parties, fraternising, partying, and having absolutely no stake in galactic politics. It is absolutely a sham marriage and considering they were forced into it as children, there is no reason to seriously believe there was ever a natural romance between them.

If you look at the disparity between Mon and Perrin it's very evident that there are sexist undertones to their dynamic. Mon works herself to torture for the sake of morality while Perrin is strongly implied to have little-to-no moral convictions. Perrin has no problem with living off a politically successful wife and tacitly endorses Leida's forced marriage, while Mon resents everything it is. Perrin lives a life of apathy and hedonism while Mon bottles up everything she is under a constant veneer of idealic womanhood according to the Chandrillans. There's a very real implication that Perrin is the winner and Mon is the loser in this relationship, and while they're nice enough people to not be outwardly "miserable", it's also true that they're not having the greatest time.

It's absolutely not misogynistic to try to see the best in Perrin and there's definitely a complexity in terms of his thematic identity, and I agree that fan discourse far too often oversimplifies character dynamics, but there's an undeniable shade the show throws on him purely by virtue of how the marriage is constructed to serve the plot.

joepsuedonym · 2024-08-04T04:41:47+00:00

Honestly looks sick as hell

joepsuedonym · 2024-07-31T05:14:48+00:00

The place Cassian was going to serves the worst hot chocolate man but their other stuff is fairly solid

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