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typing this all up on the spot, so i'm not sure if i'll be including Extensive spoilers, but guaranteed #lucahspoilers for the following thread below this tweet. feel free to mute me for tonight if needed
all those warnings sort of imply i'm getting into super Dark topics the game explores but that's mostly there for precaution?
i might get carried away, and i will -definitely- be repeating shit i've already said publicly about this game because i have a bad memory & repeat myself
i might get carried away, and i will -definitely- be repeating shit i've already said publicly about this game because i have a bad memory & repeat myself
& i've said in a prior tweet that i assume whoevers reading this is at least familiar with what happens immediately in NG+, while trying to keep it vague for the folks who are like "i dont mind spoilers" which, lol, you should play this game if it seems your thing, avert eyes now
what spurred this on is that i've been RPing titular character lucah (NG canon point, not NG+) since a day after the game's release, for every month until now, and so ofc i've been thinking about this character a lot and how they operate in their source world
mute protagonists have an appeal to me (you've either experienced or heard the whole Projection On Mute Protag spiel from somewhere i'm sure). LUCAH intertwines a lot of its narrative and gameplay together, and it has these unspoken ways of explaining things about Lucah themself
what is labeled as virtuous (literally, as Virtues) i interpret as Lucah's judgment (same way i hc the Familiars to be named by them, which although blunt, sound v much like a laconic kid would name them).
keeping sac i. backstory in mind, it clicks better to theorize that.
keeping sac i. backstory in mind, it clicks better to theorize that.
we'll get to the first one later, but one of the first Virtues you pick up is Enraged, which sounds odd that being such is virtuous, until you get to see the kind of figures the Marked had to look up to
others, like Trusting &even Anxious, are things i hc as Virtues Lucah thinks other Marked have/had.
there are Virtues you gain only by Lucah strengthening themself, (pls correct me if i'm wrong) & these are all labeled as positive ones. Lucah learns to be Empowered, to be Loved
there are Virtues you gain only by Lucah strengthening themself, (pls correct me if i'm wrong) & these are all labeled as positive ones. Lucah learns to be Empowered, to be Loved
Loved, in the light of Michael's Memory, contradicts what being "loved" is like, in the way that has been taught to them by abusive parents. you earn these powers through fighting and through discovering, and earning these feels like subtle epiphany, or breakthrough
Disconnected & Untethered (not earned by leveling) i interpret as signs of Lucah suffering from dissociation, which is at times needed to cope, endure, and protect.
these negative ones aren't something to be celebrated as "virtuous", but show Lucah's warped values as a result
these negative ones aren't something to be celebrated as "virtuous", but show Lucah's warped values as a result
besides the obv point of Virtues needing to be balanced gameplay-wise i think respective VP for each demonstrate how much "weight" (acceptance?) Lucah needs to let themself adopt the Virtue in question
following this, then Loved and Hated come into mind... the former costs less VP, so is it easier for them to let themself be loved than hated?
LUCAH after all is rife with adversaries at every turn, even its tutorial directly informs Lucah that an enemy "hates [them]"
LUCAH after all is rife with adversaries at every turn, even its tutorial directly informs Lucah that an enemy "hates [them]"
might be a stretch to argue this, but i think that being hated vs. -accepting- that you Are hated (or: to -deny- that you are hated) are different fights bc of acceptance, denial, and hope
it makes me think of that saying that goes (paraphrasing) "i've survived too much to be a pessimist"... although it is weak against what Lucah ends up putting themself through!
i want to believe that these two Virtues're a special case against what canonically happens to them?
i want to believe that these two Virtues're a special case against what canonically happens to them?
that even if Lucah doesn't exactly mutter to themself, that dealing with being Loved and Hated are significant Virtues enough to struggle with accepting personally.
you can be both Loved and Hated simultaneously, though it weighs heavy (gameplay-wise, 1/3 or more of total max VP)
you can be both Loved and Hated simultaneously, though it weighs heavy (gameplay-wise, 1/3 or more of total max VP)
+ lucah has to fight to be Hated, and they have to take a moment of self-reflection to accept that they are Loved. the latter is only made possible by fighting, but still, cmon
(similarly Disconnected and Untethered together also take 1/3 or more of total max VP)
(similarly Disconnected and Untethered together also take 1/3 or more of total max VP)
im probably gonna look real silly if it's Not That Deep but i like to imagine it is.
at the end of it all, you can be Loved and Hated simultaneously. you can be Condemned and Ascended simultaneously. Paranoid, yet Perceptive. Trusting, yet Cautious and Disconnected. etc etc
at the end of it all, you can be Loved and Hated simultaneously. you can be Condemned and Ascended simultaneously. Paranoid, yet Perceptive. Trusting, yet Cautious and Disconnected. etc etc
the meaning of Unstoppable, the Virtue you start out with, is revealed shortly after beginning NG+ (spoiler: it is unconditional love)
Marked and Scorned follow shortly after that. these ones are really fun to consider and interpret
Marked and Scorned follow shortly after that. these ones are really fun to consider and interpret
the former follows the NG+ intro warning mention of you being Marked. NG+ Lucah wears it as a Virtue, and refuses to remove it; that, & Scorned's gimmick, makes me assume NG+ Lucah has more of a brave attitude when it comes to these labels
if Lucah's Scorned, they might as well let themself be [list of all negative-labeled Virtues here]. accepting that they have been Scorned (bonus: scorned by who, exactly?) allows them to accept much more about themself.
not explaining How, but at this point, the Virtues reflect on more than just themself.
i think that's why NG+ Lucah discovers these, allows these, even as it -literally- weakens them to the world to accept these Virtues as a part of themself.
i think that's why NG+ Lucah discovers these, allows these, even as it -literally- weakens them to the world to accept these Virtues as a part of themself.
this is vague on purpose again, but i think it's at this point that Lucah realizes there's people who they feel is worth letting themself be Hated and Scorned and Condemned and Marked for.
NG+ Lucah can accept that they are all-of-the-above while being Scorned, if it means it's all what fuels each fight to get to where they want to go, & for the people they need to be with
with my runs i hardly turn Unstoppable off, so it's personally given me a sense that Lucah is, above all, viewing themself as such; being Determined doesn't necessarily factor into being Unstoppable
there's importance in how VP is increased by obtaining Prayer Beads, & i have my own understanding of what that means, but i think its meaning is more up to whoever's reading this to interpret personally than to hear me talk abt my own spirituality wrt a video game character lol
ugh there was more i wanted to talk about besides Virtues, but i think allergy medicine-induced drowsiness is taking effect too much for me to tie this into further coherent talk
leaving this as food for thought/notes for future bluffy if i wanna talk abt it publicly some other time, but i Intended to talk moreso abt my interpretations of NG & NG+ Lucah, how it factors into their rival's personality, and the relationship they have with him
there's more about the topic of Virtues that i wanted to talk about too (visual effects, gameplay effects, how each are all obtained and why that matters, how a common thread is that they all have a cost to "wear", etc) but this feels like enough rn
in any case i'm hoping this thread with almost 2hrs of talk is at the very least fun to read lol. i -have- to be thinking about this stuff bc of RP, & also bc i can't stop thinking about this game and everything about it
LUCAH: http://melessthanthree.itch.io/LUCAH
unofficial warnings i wrote up (heavily erring on the side of caution on purpose, to cover all bases): http://pastebin.com/j2g906U8
unofficial warnings i wrote up (heavily erring on the side of caution on purpose, to cover all bases): http://pastebin.com/j2g906U8
cover tweet
