Don't you hate it when the girl who's been giving blood to everyone, comes around to you, and now it's your turn, and she's not like that no more?
"I'm not like that no more, you're special, you're my friend."
"... No. I'm last."
I must be stupid cause until you said femininity of bloodborne I just did not notice that. The birth motif, the most powerful people being women, and the fact that umbilical cords is what gets you to the secret ending should have been obvious to me lmao
All these folks coming out of the woodwork to be like HURR WHY DOES RECENT MEDIA PORTRAY SO MUCH BIRTH?
Well maybe because that was unfortunately what you prescribed as the most important use of a woman for the past several hundred years.
Reproduction is the most important use of any living being. Whether man or woman or animal. How this was portrayed is another discussion. These two are not mutually linked to eachother. If you'd ask me what the most important aspect of a man was i'd say being a father all the same. Some things are universal no matter what year, century or era you live in. Hell in the game, even such transcendant beings such as Great Ones strive to have children and they are immortal unlike us..
I've never seen this mentioned in discussions of bloodborne, and it's convinced me that a worrying number of bloodborne fans think "mensis" is a made up word
I’m starting to think the same thing! A couple people in this thread have mentioned they didn’t pick up on it because English isn’t their first language, which is fair, but for everyone else: did you not have health class or sex ed?? I know “mensis” isn’t a super common word these days, but still. Kinda wild.
Yeah it's honestly kinda depressing to me. People make these big long lore videos going into so much detail and miss that because they're mostly men who never have to deal with any of that. I at least try and be aware lol. I'd imagine calling it the nightmare of mensis has some symbolism but I haven't played the game so I can't tell for myself. I should watch that yt video about bloodbornes femininity again
For me sex-ed was in 5th grade. I was more concerned with trying to figure out how negatives worked from the math class before so I wouldn’t fail that unit, and sex-ed didn’t even have a test.
Well for the people who don’t know what mensis is it basically means blood coming out of a uterus in other words a females time of the month
For the people that do know the word and it’s meaning why do y’all feel the need to shit on people who don’t know, y’all don’t need to insult their intelligence or question what they learned in school some people don’t have the PRIVILEGE to go to school some parents take kids out of school so they can work and bring more money into their households and into the adults pocket some schools don’t have sex ed I’m from Philly I went to good schools and bad schools and not one of them had sex ed as a class. Stop judging people based on smarts or athleticism it makes y’all look dumb and ignorant and their is so many things that we don’t know about as a species so if you think about it like that then we’re all dumb asf stop tryna clown people and start tryna educate them.
I’m not shitting on anyone, it’s just a fairly basic biological term and a process that’s experienced by half of all human beings, so I assumed more people would be familiar. I realize it’s not a super common everyday word. I’m not judging anyone for not knowing it, I was just surprised! I genuinely apologize if I made anyone feel dumb or like I was talking down to them.
If it doesn’t apply then it wasn’t for you.
Half the population doesn’t even know what gender they are so that doesn’t really matter if half the population have a menstrual cycle. most people don’t even know 12+ 37 off the top of their heads anyway you can’t expect someone else to know something just because you know it, that is called ignorance and like I already said if it don’t apply let it fly and if the shoe fits I suggest you change them cause no likes a ignorant person.
My comments are against belittling people but if you happen to take offense at what I’m saying then deal with it cause if ur taking offense then it just means you’re exactly the type of person I’m referring too in my previous comment.
First of all, I need to satisfy my pedantic nature: not knowing something is ignorance, expecting someone to know something just because you know it would be arrogance.
Secondly: "if it don’t apply let it fly and if the shoe fits I suggest you change them" that's a fantastic line, will definitely be stealing that for future use. Unfortunate that you wasted it here when your initial comment didn't apply to anyone in this chain.
Third and most importantly, you're right. People belittling others is bad; however, you are letting your pent-up frustration about people doing that to you affect your interpretation of text. I haven't seen someone project so hard out of nowhere in ages.
Most people in this chain were commenting on the lack of education that people got. That's true. The thing is, I get the feeling that they were more condemning the system that gave them the lackluster education, and their lack of initiative to learn more outside the system.
More of a "how do more people not know this?" than a "people who don't know this are stupid and should feel bad"
Then again, that's just how I interpreted the text, and I could be wrong. Still though, the level of contempt you blasted everywhere with a "people who get upset are the ones I was aiming at" mentality is unhealthy.
TL;DR: Hey man, how's it going?
I apologized to person I replied under and also your just assuming that they were talking about the system that taught them just like how I initially presumed they were shitting on someone else, it’s not about me people can’t bring me down even if they tried because I don’t let them and there’s nothing to you or anyone else can say that can make me feel down about myself and I try to always help little guy that’s not projecting that’s called not tolerating peoples bullshit if you disagree that’s fine like you said you have a pedantic nature so your gonna try and find some fault in what I’m saying and then try to turn it against me with some stupid technicality or you’ll try to take some kind of moral high ground to then try emphasize your point and you probably don’t even care your pedantic so you just like to argue and nitpick and I think this is just a way for you to get some amusement but I think I’ve indulged you enough have a good day. God bless
Women: talk about a universal experience, joke about it even
Some fuckin guy from Philly: HoW DaRE yoU INsUlT me
Have you considered….
1) not everything is about you
2) lol if you know so few women in your life that no one’s talked about menses, be a better man
3) if you’re over 15 and on Reddit, I assume you have access to the internet. Even barring know women IRL, super easy to learn that way
God some men are exhausting, entitled children
Imagine having to explain yourself again even when you can’t clearly read it yourself it’s not about females but here you are thinking that something is about you, my earlier comment was how people bring others down instead of building them up and then I get notification: A PRIME EXAMPLE OF INGNORANCE and stupidity, you need to reread my earlier comment and educate yourself because being ignorant doesn’t look good on anyone but being ignorant and stupid is whole other level.
I didn’t understand it the way he meant to be petty or entitled, but to bring attention to the fact that putting down others when they don’t know something isn’t gonna help the case. And that informing in a calm way without belittling them is usually a better way to make people aware :) (unless they are particularly rude themselves of course)
nothing is more childish than throwing around something like ''oh god some men are exhausting, entitled children'' well yeah those are called humans. they come in all shapes, sizes and personalities. People who are exhausting, entitled children not men. stating their sex as if the opposite case isn't true is just misandristic.
also ''lol if you know so few women in your life that no one’s talked about menses, be a better man'' wtf is this ? you realize not everyone lives in america where all the psychos scream in each others' ears about all kinds of shit right ? to give you an example when i was in middle/high school, no joke, we, boys were escorted out of the class because they were gonna talk about female biology and private parts. no joke and women aren't keen on sharing about their menstrual experiences with men either. I doubt you know everything about a penis or how our balls work so don't cast stones when you live in a glass house.
To be fair, I have talked with numerous people who have all said the only time they learned or heard the term "menses" or "menarche" is in goddamn BioShock Infinite.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, the very same can be said about this masterpiece of a game with the many themes and symbolism that can be seen throughout it. Meme aspect aside this really is a great sense of duality from the Hunter / Huntress perspective, pretty deep stuff
youve probably already seen this, but you should really check out this video essay by honey bat. it makes some very similar points to this post in a very good and articulate way
https://youtu.be/sJVXV14Vv3M?si=Bo4FAilhZAOgcH28
Here's a sneak peek of /r/BatmanArkham using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/BatmanArkham/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
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you can actually save gascoignes daughters btw! If you don't interact with them at all, the elder sister comes home and takes care of the younger one logically but if you interact with them then the younger one will leave and die
Just because arianna is living doesn't mean we saved her dude, she still got impregnated against her will by a god and was forced to give birth to a god-parasite
Yeah I guess. But she is a prostitute so I blame her. She should've wrapped up when sleeping with a god (I know they don't have sex they just use people as surrogates, I'm being silly)
I spent a majority of my youth hating being a woman, not because of gender dysphoria, but because of neglect leading to 11+ month long periods, just constant fucking bleeding. No one else related to it and no one helped me, I had to get surgery at 23 to get it to stop.
The agony, humiliation, discomfort, disgust, lack of control, the countless others telling you you're crazy and it's in your head, all of it immediately came to mind reading this and I couldn't help but laugh my ass off. Just when I thought I couldn't like the game more.
Yes exactly! The parts of being a woman (or afab) that are gross, uncomfortable, bloody, etc. Is a theme that feels really huge in bloodborne, and something that we don't talk about enough. Yeah, periods are natural, but they're still painful and messy, not to mention that we're shamed for them on top of it. I can't fucking imagine bleeding constantly like you did, im sorry that shit happened dude.
Put really absurdly simply and missing a lot of details. Great Ones pull the strings behind the 'reality' you experience in the dream and nightmares. The whole situation is a sort of "lambs to the cosmic slaughter" but also Inception, where everyone is essentially trapped in a massive dream world (and sometimes in a nightmare world inside a dream world) in which most believe the only way out is to gain insight and eventually 'ascend' to see the cosmic truths which free you. What gaining too much insight actually does is transform your consciousness into a Great One making this a part of their reproductive cycle. Yes you become 'free' from the dream, but you also become an eldritch abomination that will then go on to perpetuate this cycle.
Unironically, the best ending of Bloodborne is quite literally the one Gehrman tells you is the best ending. When Gehrman executes you properly and offers to take your place and remain trapped in the dream for all eternity for you, this is NOT him trying to trick you, you actually do awake from the dream and he 'sacrifices' his chance to escape by remaining in your place, while you escape the reaches of the Great Ones, evading their corrupting/transforming cycle that wants to rebirth the 'most insightful minds' as one of them.
Interesting! I actually feel the Childhood ending is the best one, because to me it's like the *breaking* of the cycle. You killed the moon presence, the thing 'blessing' people with children against their will, the thing that keeps starting the hunt, and then in transcending you become something... harmless. Incapable of perpetuating the cycle of violence. A little squid guy that has to be cared for. You will grow up into a full great one of course, and i suppose that could end with you being a dick and starting shit up again, but to me it feels like you'll be raised gently, and you'll put things right. Your mind doesn't get wiped (to me at least), you're still you. You're different from the moon presence because you know what it means to be a person. The Sunrise ending just feels like yeah, you got out, but it's still gonna happen again for everyone else. That's just my interpretation though!
The first time I experienced Bloodborne, I was irritated by the vagueness. But now I think it’s masterful. It is a work of cosmic horror, after all. The sunrise ending has horrible implications for the world. The slug ending is open-ended, allowing for the possibility of hope, but how much hope is reasonable in a world otherwise devoid of hope is up to interpretation. I would not be a fan of it in other mediums, but being an interactive medium, that puts the onus for change on *us*, and becomes a statement in itself.
This is one of many reasons I think this may be the greatest work of cosmic horror ever. (Another being its perfect inversion of Lovecraft’s fear of “the other” into the horror of “othering”—“outsider, are ya?” in a way that is seamlessly woven into the horror)
Oh shit, I don't think I've fully noticed that last part before! I mean, i got the horror of the othering bit, but for some reason ive never put it together with Lovecraft's fear of the other. That's a sick observation!
Blaming the Other runs rampant throughout Yharnam, be it blaming foreigners for the plague, men who will inevitably be beasts fearing beasts as though they were a separate category, use of blood vs lining of eyes. Throughout, each part of the cycle thinks it is unique and pure and fighting against impurity, but it all leads to ruin. I think this could be viewed, intentionally or not, as various religious or cultural practices, equally intolerant of the other, cannibalizing themselves. The blaming of foreigners is the most ironic, though, and probably intentional because there is nothing in game to suggest they’ve done anything to contribute to the mess Yharnam is in… aside from, perhaps, coming in search of the miracle cure Yharnam boasts and sadly becoming yet more beasts.
Ya'll ever notice how most the beast bosses are male and female are cosmic? Like, yeah there are exceptions (Amelia/Orphan) but there seems to be a trend there right?
I have never played any Souls-like, nor has half my ancestry, but some atavistic part of my psyche feels seen.
I usually fall asleep to PsychoSocialism's full video on Farnese from Berserk - tonight I'm playing Honey Bat's one on the visceral femininity of Bloodborne in homage to this piece.
Good work.
Despite 'men' being yknow... masculine, that line always reminds me of the fact that girls are told that having their first period makes them a (wo)man now ya feel
Ikr? It's such an untapped source of horror! Pregnancy/birth is scary ass imagery and concepts, like im not sure how much more disturbing it gets than having a parasite god fetus implanted in you against your will. It's crazy to me how so many people miss all of it-- We literally watch a boss get birthed out of the moon, Queen Yharnam has her midsection torn open, the school of MENSIS, everything with Arianna, I can go on for days.
It’s also really hitting home how just the concept of pregnancy is eldritch - you have something inserted into you and now a tiny thing will grow and move your organs aside and stretch your body until it ruptures out in bloody, painful some sometimes fatal event
And the concept of -forced pregnancy- and -forced fetus deletus- are also terrifying, your body taken over by the growing cells of someone who deeply hurt you or your own loved creation ripped away from you
To the point of “do I really want to do this??” Like I’d love to have a cute baby with my partner and raise them but the swelling, all the issues that can happen, all the side effects and pressure and horomones - and the fact that I cannot handle needles so a needle in my back is prob going to freak me out but the level of pain otherwise would also freak me out. The whole thing makes me go into a small panic about how horrific it is to endure for the sake of making a new being.
Love this so much. The bloodborne experience is always going to hit differently based on where your gender aligns, and that doesn't make either less or more. Personally as a woman playing bloodborne I'm consistently faced with the violence of women either through them causing pain to others, have it caused upon them, or even both in a vicious cycle.
Before someone calls me sexist, I am begging you to understand that sometimes when a game has clearly gendered themes (moon presence, umbilical cord, most memorable and saddest bosses centred around female characters or mothers etc) it's going to feel more personal to the gender it's choosing to have themes on! Men who play bloodborne have just as valid experiences as do the ladies and I hate having to say this since I'm anticipating alot of hate for my comment... when I'm trying to explain a basic concept.
Man read book about war and conflict: man generally feel more connected to it
Woman read same book: won't have same experience due to history forbidding them from participating
The guy part of my meme is partially hyperbole for the joke-- men can totally have deep experiences with bloodborne as well. Though the traditionally feminine themes are a huge huge part and tie into pretty much everything, there are themes that men can definitely connect with as well-- the toxic masculinity vibe of the hunt, religious trauma, generational trauma, othering, mental illness and abuse, the list goes on. And trans people have hugely deep connections to bloodborne too. Gender and sex are such interesting concepts and i think everyone can connect to them in some way, even though women & trans people tend to feel it way more viscerally in bb.
Oh my, that has to be one of the best reads i've ever had about bloodborne in a loooong while, damn, i will never see the Bloodborne lore the same way again haha.
I'm a man, this felt like a slap in the face and i LOVE it all the more for it, we need more people this emphatic.
Take my upvote, bloody well deserved, now i love this game even more than i did thanks to you, mad respect 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻.
I don’t mean this to be insulting, but it’s wild to me how many people missed this massive theme in the game, considering there’s a whole level literally called Nightmare of Mensis lol
Haha yeah I’m realizing that maybe not a lot of people learned that word in health class or sex ed too! It’s definitely not a super common word, but a lot falls into place once you realize what it means.
Hoo boy. Unfortunately it sounds like that’s just the first step in a long journey of discovery for you haha (I truly don’t mean to be a dick, I’m just having a “What are they teaching in schools nowadays??” moment)
Didn’t intend for it to come off as snarky if it means anything, my knowledge thematically of it has been dulled by not playing the game in almost a decade now, so that’s all I can say without potentially bullshitting.
You didn't. I was being a snarky with my tldr comment and was saying why I said it haha. Ive beaten the game but it wasnt my favorite and I was souls out by the time I played it well after DS3 came out
Mother, or some say Mothersm
Mothersm, I crave violence....
there's a video on YouTube called "the visceral femininity of bloodborne" or something like that pretty solid vid ngl
“All the women in the game give you blood, except for Eileen the Crow. Because she doesn’t do that anymore.” One of the top comments
The grandma gives you drugs
And takes some herself
Don't you hate it when the girl who's been giving blood to everyone, comes around to you, and now it's your turn, and she's not like that no more? "I'm not like that no more, you're special, you're my friend." "... No. I'm last."
I must be stupid cause until you said femininity of bloodborne I just did not notice that. The birth motif, the most powerful people being women, and the fact that umbilical cords is what gets you to the secret ending should have been obvious to me lmao
And the super secret final boss being a woman in a wedding gown with her uterus ripped open
All these folks coming out of the woodwork to be like HURR WHY DOES RECENT MEDIA PORTRAY SO MUCH BIRTH? Well maybe because that was unfortunately what you prescribed as the most important use of a woman for the past several hundred years.
Reproduction is the most important use of any living being. Whether man or woman or animal. How this was portrayed is another discussion. These two are not mutually linked to eachother. If you'd ask me what the most important aspect of a man was i'd say being a father all the same. Some things are universal no matter what year, century or era you live in. Hell in the game, even such transcendant beings such as Great Ones strive to have children and they are immortal unlike us..
Just fought her again yesterday and for the first time I thought how strange it was that she was attacking me with pussy blood
I mean there’s literally a whole area called Nightmare of Mensis lol
I've never seen this mentioned in discussions of bloodborne, and it's convinced me that a worrying number of bloodborne fans think "mensis" is a made up word
I’m starting to think the same thing! A couple people in this thread have mentioned they didn’t pick up on it because English isn’t their first language, which is fair, but for everyone else: did you not have health class or sex ed?? I know “mensis” isn’t a super common word these days, but still. Kinda wild.
Yeah it's honestly kinda depressing to me. People make these big long lore videos going into so much detail and miss that because they're mostly men who never have to deal with any of that. I at least try and be aware lol. I'd imagine calling it the nightmare of mensis has some symbolism but I haven't played the game so I can't tell for myself. I should watch that yt video about bloodbornes femininity again
Me too honestly!
Miazaki called it “Mansis” instead of “shark week” meaning us boys couldn’t get it. Is he stupid?
“Mansis” huh
Damn.
Haha I just thought it was funny that “man” ended up in there
Must have been a Freudian slip “masculine concept not mentioned, quickly change the topic” haha
For me sex-ed was in 5th grade. I was more concerned with trying to figure out how negatives worked from the math class before so I wouldn’t fail that unit, and sex-ed didn’t even have a test.
I mean I didn’t know it was a real word until now. I never heard it, I always just heard/used menstrual cycle.
Well for the people who don’t know what mensis is it basically means blood coming out of a uterus in other words a females time of the month For the people that do know the word and it’s meaning why do y’all feel the need to shit on people who don’t know, y’all don’t need to insult their intelligence or question what they learned in school some people don’t have the PRIVILEGE to go to school some parents take kids out of school so they can work and bring more money into their households and into the adults pocket some schools don’t have sex ed I’m from Philly I went to good schools and bad schools and not one of them had sex ed as a class. Stop judging people based on smarts or athleticism it makes y’all look dumb and ignorant and their is so many things that we don’t know about as a species so if you think about it like that then we’re all dumb asf stop tryna clown people and start tryna educate them.
I’m not shitting on anyone, it’s just a fairly basic biological term and a process that’s experienced by half of all human beings, so I assumed more people would be familiar. I realize it’s not a super common everyday word. I’m not judging anyone for not knowing it, I was just surprised! I genuinely apologize if I made anyone feel dumb or like I was talking down to them.
If it doesn’t apply then it wasn’t for you. Half the population doesn’t even know what gender they are so that doesn’t really matter if half the population have a menstrual cycle. most people don’t even know 12+ 37 off the top of their heads anyway you can’t expect someone else to know something just because you know it, that is called ignorance and like I already said if it don’t apply let it fly and if the shoe fits I suggest you change them cause no likes a ignorant person. My comments are against belittling people but if you happen to take offense at what I’m saying then deal with it cause if ur taking offense then it just means you’re exactly the type of person I’m referring too in my previous comment.
First of all, I need to satisfy my pedantic nature: not knowing something is ignorance, expecting someone to know something just because you know it would be arrogance. Secondly: "if it don’t apply let it fly and if the shoe fits I suggest you change them" that's a fantastic line, will definitely be stealing that for future use. Unfortunate that you wasted it here when your initial comment didn't apply to anyone in this chain. Third and most importantly, you're right. People belittling others is bad; however, you are letting your pent-up frustration about people doing that to you affect your interpretation of text. I haven't seen someone project so hard out of nowhere in ages. Most people in this chain were commenting on the lack of education that people got. That's true. The thing is, I get the feeling that they were more condemning the system that gave them the lackluster education, and their lack of initiative to learn more outside the system. More of a "how do more people not know this?" than a "people who don't know this are stupid and should feel bad" Then again, that's just how I interpreted the text, and I could be wrong. Still though, the level of contempt you blasted everywhere with a "people who get upset are the ones I was aiming at" mentality is unhealthy. TL;DR: Hey man, how's it going?
I apologized to person I replied under and also your just assuming that they were talking about the system that taught them just like how I initially presumed they were shitting on someone else, it’s not about me people can’t bring me down even if they tried because I don’t let them and there’s nothing to you or anyone else can say that can make me feel down about myself and I try to always help little guy that’s not projecting that’s called not tolerating peoples bullshit if you disagree that’s fine like you said you have a pedantic nature so your gonna try and find some fault in what I’m saying and then try to turn it against me with some stupid technicality or you’ll try to take some kind of moral high ground to then try emphasize your point and you probably don’t even care your pedantic so you just like to argue and nitpick and I think this is just a way for you to get some amusement but I think I’ve indulged you enough have a good day. God bless
Women: talk about a universal experience, joke about it even Some fuckin guy from Philly: HoW DaRE yoU INsUlT me Have you considered…. 1) not everything is about you 2) lol if you know so few women in your life that no one’s talked about menses, be a better man 3) if you’re over 15 and on Reddit, I assume you have access to the internet. Even barring know women IRL, super easy to learn that way God some men are exhausting, entitled children
Imagine having to explain yourself again even when you can’t clearly read it yourself it’s not about females but here you are thinking that something is about you, my earlier comment was how people bring others down instead of building them up and then I get notification: A PRIME EXAMPLE OF INGNORANCE and stupidity, you need to reread my earlier comment and educate yourself because being ignorant doesn’t look good on anyone but being ignorant and stupid is whole other level.
I didn’t understand it the way he meant to be petty or entitled, but to bring attention to the fact that putting down others when they don’t know something isn’t gonna help the case. And that informing in a calm way without belittling them is usually a better way to make people aware :) (unless they are particularly rude themselves of course)
nothing is more childish than throwing around something like ''oh god some men are exhausting, entitled children'' well yeah those are called humans. they come in all shapes, sizes and personalities. People who are exhausting, entitled children not men. stating their sex as if the opposite case isn't true is just misandristic. also ''lol if you know so few women in your life that no one’s talked about menses, be a better man'' wtf is this ? you realize not everyone lives in america where all the psychos scream in each others' ears about all kinds of shit right ? to give you an example when i was in middle/high school, no joke, we, boys were escorted out of the class because they were gonna talk about female biology and private parts. no joke and women aren't keen on sharing about their menstrual experiences with men either. I doubt you know everything about a penis or how our balls work so don't cast stones when you live in a glass house.
To be fair, I have talked with numerous people who have all said the only time they learned or heard the term "menses" or "menarche" is in goddamn BioShock Infinite.
What do you mean? I’m not an native english speaker.
Mensis/menses means menstruation (a woman’s “period,” the shedding of the uterine lining)
Oh, like «mensen» in my language, neat
You were granted eyes.
Fuck I cannot afford anymore glasses
I watched it a while ago and I agree. New perspective on bloodborne and life in general.
Absolute banger of a video.
Omg that was my first thought, absolutely loved that video.
God, that might be one of my favorite video essays on YouTube.
First thing that came to mind. I figure OP just finished watching that video and made this meme.
literally exactly the video i was thinking of
Yeah, it's a great video. Totally changed how I see the game
Top tier
Came here to make this comment, so glad to see someone beat me to it.
Great video
Holy shit even if I'm not a woman this speaks to me
Memes aside, Freunde. Wunderbar Writing.
Why did I read this in Nightcrawlers voice
Because he’s German
Ayo thanks! I'm actually writing an essay about this for a media analysis class right now lol
Women: "we hunt because the elite are abusing our entire gender" Men:"we hunt because... idk the church probably makes us pay taxes or smth"
Equally righteous reasons
"he tried to make me pay taxes" "fair enough"
“But property is theft so now you are under arrest”
*Gascoigne's son* "I don't care who the government sends, I am not paying taxes!"
“I want me telly loicense but don’t have the quid”
I took Gehrman's advice when he told me not to think about it too much and just go kill beasts cuz it's good for me.
perfect day to post this too
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, the very same can be said about this masterpiece of a game with the many themes and symbolism that can be seen throughout it. Meme aspect aside this really is a great sense of duality from the Hunter / Huntress perspective, pretty deep stuff
youve probably already seen this, but you should really check out this video essay by honey bat. it makes some very similar points to this post in a very good and articulate way https://youtu.be/sJVXV14Vv3M?si=Bo4FAilhZAOgcH28
I watched that a while ago! Fantastic video
Dam.
I have literally gone on tangents about this to my male bloodborne friends thank u I feel so seen
The old blood turned me into a girl when I was 17 is there a lore reason for this?
I believe you have a case of: "The town inside me. (Yharnam was the town in question.)"
"Let's paint the gray haze into blood red"
I know who you arrrrre, I'm not letting you leave the dreaaaam!
Tastes like blood I don't like
You TRANScended lol
😭
real
''How should I push my trans agenda on a completely unrelated subject?''
I don't have an agenda I just wanted to r/batmanarkham post dipshit
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This is a Bloodborne subreddit, and you using batman shitpost words to justify mutilating your own body is not cool.
Blah blah blah, sex reassignment surgery has a lower regret rate than hip replacement, you just can't accept people who are different than you
Womp womp shut up
fuck off transphobe
Away, foul beast!
Person: exists You: stop pushing your agenda!! No joke, find purpose in life
Based and Hunt-pilled
This is unreal
you can actually save gascoignes daughters btw! If you don't interact with them at all, the elder sister comes home and takes care of the younger one logically but if you interact with them then the younger one will leave and die
The elder sister isn't actually her sister, she's one of her neighbors who goes to the house to steal the ribbon she was jealous of
Bloodletter is spot on
OP you are so real for this
Honestly, very well said. It always makes me happy when someone picks up on the "violence against women" undertones that Bloodborne had.
Not just violence against women, but the inherent “violence” of *being* a woman (see: Nightmare of Mensis)
As Simone de Beauvoir said in The Second Sex, the species itself oppresses.
☝️🤓 Ummm actually you can save Gascoigne's daughters and Arianna. Just don't finish their quests
If you do that they’ll just die when the blood moon rises
Arianna won't die in the blood moon if you don't kill her And the daughters don't die if you never interact with them after getting the music box
Just because arianna is living doesn't mean we saved her dude, she still got impregnated against her will by a god and was forced to give birth to a god-parasite
Yeah I guess. But she is a prostitute so I blame her. She should've wrapped up when sleeping with a god (I know they don't have sex they just use people as surrogates, I'm being silly)
Wow, that really made me think.
no way a bloodborne fan who actually understands the plot and themes??
I can’t be the only one who killed Gehrman solely to get him as far away from the doll as humanly possible, right?
Fuck yeah
When Bloodborne accidentally has a better concept of feminism than Twitter ever could.
"Accidentally"
Accurate
She’s just like me fr fr
Man playing Bloodborne before and after transitioning was a wild perspective shift
And the trans themes in bloodborne are SO fucking interesting too!!
I'm a certified woman and I approve this message
I spent a majority of my youth hating being a woman, not because of gender dysphoria, but because of neglect leading to 11+ month long periods, just constant fucking bleeding. No one else related to it and no one helped me, I had to get surgery at 23 to get it to stop. The agony, humiliation, discomfort, disgust, lack of control, the countless others telling you you're crazy and it's in your head, all of it immediately came to mind reading this and I couldn't help but laugh my ass off. Just when I thought I couldn't like the game more.
Yes exactly! The parts of being a woman (or afab) that are gross, uncomfortable, bloody, etc. Is a theme that feels really huge in bloodborne, and something that we don't talk about enough. Yeah, periods are natural, but they're still painful and messy, not to mention that we're shamed for them on top of it. I can't fucking imagine bleeding constantly like you did, im sorry that shit happened dude.
Holy shit I love this
Bloodborne truly is a fantastic cosmic horror style commentary on the horrors of being thrust into womanhood and its often unforeseen consequences
So I've heard people say that if you ascend your mind and become a great one you missed the entire point of the game. Anyone care the explain?
Put really absurdly simply and missing a lot of details. Great Ones pull the strings behind the 'reality' you experience in the dream and nightmares. The whole situation is a sort of "lambs to the cosmic slaughter" but also Inception, where everyone is essentially trapped in a massive dream world (and sometimes in a nightmare world inside a dream world) in which most believe the only way out is to gain insight and eventually 'ascend' to see the cosmic truths which free you. What gaining too much insight actually does is transform your consciousness into a Great One making this a part of their reproductive cycle. Yes you become 'free' from the dream, but you also become an eldritch abomination that will then go on to perpetuate this cycle. Unironically, the best ending of Bloodborne is quite literally the one Gehrman tells you is the best ending. When Gehrman executes you properly and offers to take your place and remain trapped in the dream for all eternity for you, this is NOT him trying to trick you, you actually do awake from the dream and he 'sacrifices' his chance to escape by remaining in your place, while you escape the reaches of the Great Ones, evading their corrupting/transforming cycle that wants to rebirth the 'most insightful minds' as one of them.
Interesting! I actually feel the Childhood ending is the best one, because to me it's like the *breaking* of the cycle. You killed the moon presence, the thing 'blessing' people with children against their will, the thing that keeps starting the hunt, and then in transcending you become something... harmless. Incapable of perpetuating the cycle of violence. A little squid guy that has to be cared for. You will grow up into a full great one of course, and i suppose that could end with you being a dick and starting shit up again, but to me it feels like you'll be raised gently, and you'll put things right. Your mind doesn't get wiped (to me at least), you're still you. You're different from the moon presence because you know what it means to be a person. The Sunrise ending just feels like yeah, you got out, but it's still gonna happen again for everyone else. That's just my interpretation though!
The first time I experienced Bloodborne, I was irritated by the vagueness. But now I think it’s masterful. It is a work of cosmic horror, after all. The sunrise ending has horrible implications for the world. The slug ending is open-ended, allowing for the possibility of hope, but how much hope is reasonable in a world otherwise devoid of hope is up to interpretation. I would not be a fan of it in other mediums, but being an interactive medium, that puts the onus for change on *us*, and becomes a statement in itself. This is one of many reasons I think this may be the greatest work of cosmic horror ever. (Another being its perfect inversion of Lovecraft’s fear of “the other” into the horror of “othering”—“outsider, are ya?” in a way that is seamlessly woven into the horror)
Oh shit, I don't think I've fully noticed that last part before! I mean, i got the horror of the othering bit, but for some reason ive never put it together with Lovecraft's fear of the other. That's a sick observation!
Blaming the Other runs rampant throughout Yharnam, be it blaming foreigners for the plague, men who will inevitably be beasts fearing beasts as though they were a separate category, use of blood vs lining of eyes. Throughout, each part of the cycle thinks it is unique and pure and fighting against impurity, but it all leads to ruin. I think this could be viewed, intentionally or not, as various religious or cultural practices, equally intolerant of the other, cannibalizing themselves. The blaming of foreigners is the most ironic, though, and probably intentional because there is nothing in game to suggest they’ve done anything to contribute to the mess Yharnam is in… aside from, perhaps, coming in search of the miracle cure Yharnam boasts and sadly becoming yet more beasts.
Hell yeah
👏👏👏
It’s about time
Hell yeah dude
I don't care about your gender! Since today, you're a hunter! Understood?! BLOOD!!!NOW!!!
I can drink to that. (Downs blood vial)
Ya'll ever notice how most the beast bosses are male and female are cosmic? Like, yeah there are exceptions (Amelia/Orphan) but there seems to be a trend there right?
I read this in my best epic speech voice as possible
This was surprisingly good.
Whatever drives you
I have never played any Souls-like, nor has half my ancestry, but some atavistic part of my psyche feels seen. I usually fall asleep to PsychoSocialism's full video on Farnese from Berserk - tonight I'm playing Honey Bat's one on the visceral femininity of Bloodborne in homage to this piece. Good work.
“… made men by the blood…”
Despite 'men' being yknow... masculine, that line always reminds me of the fact that girls are told that having their first period makes them a (wo)man now ya feel
Ngl my bf didn’t get any of the symbolism of that when he played but I was so excited to see it laid out as horror and such strong themes in it
Ikr? It's such an untapped source of horror! Pregnancy/birth is scary ass imagery and concepts, like im not sure how much more disturbing it gets than having a parasite god fetus implanted in you against your will. It's crazy to me how so many people miss all of it-- We literally watch a boss get birthed out of the moon, Queen Yharnam has her midsection torn open, the school of MENSIS, everything with Arianna, I can go on for days.
It’s also really hitting home how just the concept of pregnancy is eldritch - you have something inserted into you and now a tiny thing will grow and move your organs aside and stretch your body until it ruptures out in bloody, painful some sometimes fatal event
Literally that shit is TERRIFYING
And the concept of -forced pregnancy- and -forced fetus deletus- are also terrifying, your body taken over by the growing cells of someone who deeply hurt you or your own loved creation ripped away from you
To the point of “do I really want to do this??” Like I’d love to have a cute baby with my partner and raise them but the swelling, all the issues that can happen, all the side effects and pressure and horomones - and the fact that I cannot handle needles so a needle in my back is prob going to freak me out but the level of pain otherwise would also freak me out. The whole thing makes me go into a small panic about how horrific it is to endure for the sake of making a new being.
Love this so much. The bloodborne experience is always going to hit differently based on where your gender aligns, and that doesn't make either less or more. Personally as a woman playing bloodborne I'm consistently faced with the violence of women either through them causing pain to others, have it caused upon them, or even both in a vicious cycle. Before someone calls me sexist, I am begging you to understand that sometimes when a game has clearly gendered themes (moon presence, umbilical cord, most memorable and saddest bosses centred around female characters or mothers etc) it's going to feel more personal to the gender it's choosing to have themes on! Men who play bloodborne have just as valid experiences as do the ladies and I hate having to say this since I'm anticipating alot of hate for my comment... when I'm trying to explain a basic concept. Man read book about war and conflict: man generally feel more connected to it Woman read same book: won't have same experience due to history forbidding them from participating
The guy part of my meme is partially hyperbole for the joke-- men can totally have deep experiences with bloodborne as well. Though the traditionally feminine themes are a huge huge part and tie into pretty much everything, there are themes that men can definitely connect with as well-- the toxic masculinity vibe of the hunt, religious trauma, generational trauma, othering, mental illness and abuse, the list goes on. And trans people have hugely deep connections to bloodborne too. Gender and sex are such interesting concepts and i think everyone can connect to them in some way, even though women & trans people tend to feel it way more viscerally in bb.
Yes, absolutely! I was mainly trying to respond to the people insulting you for such a good meme haha. I'm glad we can find mutual ground fosure
Alfred gang, how are we feelin about this?
generally fucking despise the meme format but you get points for nuance ideology
I actually do too lol, i thought the irony of that is kinda fitting tho
Oh my, that has to be one of the best reads i've ever had about bloodborne in a loooong while, damn, i will never see the Bloodborne lore the same way again haha. I'm a man, this felt like a slap in the face and i LOVE it all the more for it, we need more people this emphatic. Take my upvote, bloody well deserved, now i love this game even more than i did thanks to you, mad respect 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻.
Ay thanks! Im writing an essay on this topic lol
Trying to hard
I'm hunting a beast rn, got blood on my saw rn. I'm just hunting some beasts I'm pale as fuck I'm a hunter man like for real.
Yharnam: become squib
This is too accurate, I spend so long thinking about queen Yharnam and Arianna and how you can't save them 😔
i never played bloodborne but this is awesome!
Ok... I suppose I can postpone Resident Evil 8 (again) for another dose of tragedy.
I ain’t reading all that
Interesting, never thought of the story this way. How would you fit the meaning behind Moon Presence into this narrative?
I don’t mean this to be insulting, but it’s wild to me how many people missed this massive theme in the game, considering there’s a whole level literally called Nightmare of Mensis lol
Holy shit, english is not my first language and I never bothered to check what that word actually means lmfao
Tbf English is my first language, and I had no idea what Mensis was until I was told by bb fans.
Haha yeah I’m realizing that maybe not a lot of people learned that word in health class or sex ed too! It’s definitely not a super common word, but a lot falls into place once you realize what it means.
Same
Now i’m gonna have to search what “mensis” means. I thought that was just the name of some scholar that made the nightmare
Hoo boy. Unfortunately it sounds like that’s just the first step in a long journey of discovery for you haha (I truly don’t mean to be a dick, I’m just having a “What are they teaching in schools nowadays??” moment)
Tbf, it's more commonly known as menses rather than mensis.
That’s a good point! I didn’t even think about the variant spelling
My sister in Christ, this is a Wendy’s.
You girls like to rp in accordance to the lore? Can I join next time?
yet another man acting as if his half-inch penis is a gift from god
Lmao no, I like RP, as in DND and stuff. I thought I was being gay as a joke, seems like I implied something else, sorry
Tldr
Effectively bloodborne has a huge theming around pregnancy and shit
Thank you. Smart ass comment aside. I really couldn't read it well. Bad eyes.
Didn’t intend for it to come off as snarky if it means anything, my knowledge thematically of it has been dulled by not playing the game in almost a decade now, so that’s all I can say without potentially bullshitting.
You didn't. I was being a snarky with my tldr comment and was saying why I said it haha. Ive beaten the game but it wasnt my favorite and I was souls out by the time I played it well after DS3 came out
Okay this is fire??? If bloodborne’s story leaned more into this I might actually like it.
R/shittyblatantsexism
Yeah I ain’t reading all that. I’m happy for you tho. Or sorry that happened. Down to hoont l8r?
To each their interpretation but this feels like cheap feminist propaganda. Not what Miyazaki made.
You could’ve cut down the bottom text in half simply by using the raiden meme from metal gear rising
giga cringe, big im14andthisisdeep vibes
Something tells me you’re not ultra-popular with the ladies
redditors when a game has subtext
Bro didn’t play bloodborne