comrades, jaws and concrete constructions

…and why season 1 Evangelyne is far more interesting character than we tend to give her credit for

A personal analysis of Wakfu Season 1, Episodes 19–20

I think what gets me is how surprisingly bold it is for a 6+ show. Imagine you're 6–8 years old, watching your favorite character Percedal lose it, turn into a genuine threat, break Evangelyne's bow, and then freeze in horror at what he's done.

For kids 6–12 years old, that's actual drama. Hit me harder than The Lion King ever did.

Let's talk about the real reason Evangelyne is FUCKING brave in that scene. For real.

Everyone focuses on the broken bow. No one notices what actually happened before that. So let's actually look at it.

And the entire fandom says: "Look, Evangelyne lost again. Can't do her job. Always in distress. Always weak."

But what if I told you that just drawing a weapon on the monster is already an act of insane courage?

Let's talk about possessed Percedal's actual stats (based on screenshots and scenes, and yes, I'm an engineer, this is what I do)

Tristepin Percedal, possessed form stats

· Height: ~2.30m (Razortime is officially 2.90m)

· Muscle mass: insane relative to height · Weight: ~350–500kg · Fang length (from gum): ±15–20cm (visible above lip: ±8–12cm)

· Jump: we don't know the exact number, but from the scene from e19 — his jump height is something about 300+ meters. That's the height of a skyscraper. His jump distance? Around a kilometer. I'm not joking. The human record is 9 meters. He does 100 times that casually. This is not a jump. This is a ballistic launch.

· Punch force: based on the fact that he can destroy a two-story building's load-bearing wall in one hit, and he can (barely) hold his own against heavy mecha-tech — 50–100 tons of force.

I'm a structural engineer in building construction — and that hit is a FUCKING INSANE amount of force!

For comparison: a heavyweight boxer's punch is ~1 ton.

This is a force of a moving freight train.

Who can actually fight this beast in canon?

· War machines (Razortime) · People with superpowers (Yugo) · Someone who's literally over a thousand years old and survived the Dofus era (Joris)

No normal human being ever defeats this creature in the entire series. No one.

And now, imagine you're a 17-year-old girl with a bow.

You're standing in front of this monster. Alone. Everyone else is already down.

You know this thing could tear through the elite Sadida guard like wet paper. You know it could do exactly the same to you. The only reason this scene didn't turn into a bloodbath is the 6+ rating. That's it.

You're not thinking: "Oh, I'm a character of a kid's show, I'll be fine."

No.

You're thinking: "If I miss, if I hesitate, I'm dead."

This is like:

· Going at a terrorist with a pocket knife because there's literally no other option · Standing your ground against a polar bear with a single-shot rifle · Captain Crozier from The Terror aiming his gun at the Tuunbaq and saying: "STOP. Don't move. Let's talk."

And you don't shoot immediately. You give it one last warning. Because it's not a monster. It's Pinpin.

I've seen people ask: "Why didn't Evangelyne just shoot him immediately? No warning?"

Let me give you a parallel.

Imagine you're sixteen. Your dog gets rabies. Foaming mouth, bloodshot eyes. You were playing fetch with this dog a week ago. Could you shoot it yourself? Even with a tranquilizer, not a bullet? Could you aim it at her head without flinching?

I'd break down.

And most of you would too.

We're all so brave when we're sitting on the couch eating chips.

Evangelyne was seventeen. At that age, you're maybe a junior lieutenant at best — not responsible for a royal's life. You shouldn't trust a child with another child's safety. It's insane.

Giving a seventeen-year-old a job as a royal bodyguard, a job for an elite experienced adult warrior, and expecting them to act like a seasoned security officer means whoever hired them is clinically stupid.

Not Evangelyne. The one who hired her.

Put me in charge of engineering at Moscow City at 22, and then — OOPS, why did the tower collapse? NOBODY KNOWS.

Or let's put a first-year art student in charge of illustrating the Divine Comedy, and if they don't do better than Gustave Doré, get them out of the profession.

Or a first-year med student doing oncology surgery in London. How much would you sew up?

Almost any normal person at seventeen would break before shooting a friend they love. Everyone's hand would shake. Everyone would try one last warning.

To shoot quickly and quietly, you need years of service in law enforcement to build up that cynical armor. Or, if it's a dog, years of euthanizing animals as a vet tech.

Human psychology is much weaker than people think — especially at a young age. All that heroic pioneer stuff we were fed in school is just propaganda and genre conventions.

The point isn't that he broke her sacred bow. The point is that she even dared to stand in front of this creature, knowing she didn't stand a chance, and pointed an arrow at it — hoping, just for a second, that the friend she knew was still in there somewhere.

That's not weakness. That's an act of desperate, insane courage.

"But she lost, so she's weak."

By that logic, we should call the entire crew of The Terror weak. Every single one of them lost to the Tuunbaq.

We should call the crew of the Nostromo from Alien pathetic. Captain Ahab? A fucking failure.

No. The crew of the Terror didn't lose because they were weak. They fought some monster that was unbeatable. And Evangelyne did the same.

"Season 1 Evangelyne never shows a unique skill or method."

Oh, really?

· The Tree of Life episode? She literally rejects a perfect illusion, chooses painful reality over a sweet dream, and breaks everyone out. That's method. · Standing in front of a monster and trying to reach its humanity instead of just shooting it? That's method too.

But by the way here's the episode no one takes seriously:

The Tree of Life.

Look, I know it has issues. The romantic fluff, the damsel-in-distress scenes. I'm also here for the unrealized potential, I'm not blind.

But this episode has a very mature core: some things cannot be fixed. The broken bow can't be glued back together. Amalia's dead mother can't come back. Pulling yourself out of a sticky dream is painful, but it's necessary.

And Evangelyne herself sends away the illusion-Percedal with his promises of a fairytale happy ending, and runs to her actual duty.

I love that Evangelyne gets herself out of that sticky sterile trip. She decides that she and Amalia don't need to be fed sugary lies with a repaired bow and a resurrected mother.

There was a great quote in the art book:

When the ground fails under Evangelyne, she sinks deeper into the heart of the Tree of Life — metaphorically, into the layers of her own subconscious.

I'd joke about "late Bergman for six-year-old girls," but…

The surrealism here is way above 6+ level. Evangelyne literally sinks into the tree's epithelium and walks through its veins. It's almost Tarkovsky for little girls, I swear to god. Rewatching it now, I'm reminded of Solaris.

And I love this dialogue:

Evangelyne: "What are those lights?" Amalia: "Each one represents the soul of a Sadida." Evangelyne: "So one of them represents you?" Amalia: "Yes." Evangelyne: "Do you know which one?" Amalia: "No. They're all anonymous, because…" Evangelyne: "…because no one life is more important than another."

Yes, yes. Boring unnecesarry episode.

And well so, this episode shows: season 1 Evangelyne is not «Pinpin's girl» AT ALL, it's a fandom stereotype.

proud

formal and protocol-driven when needed

genuinely invested in the kingdom's fate, standing her ground during an audience with the prince

a supportive friend

So, yeah. It's not much. Wakfu has problems. Evangelyne has problems. Not good bodyguard enough. Too much failures. Problems in a love story writing. I'm an Evangelyne fan and I'll be the first to admit it.

But here's the difference between a completely empty character and one with unrealized potential: with potential, there's something to hold onto. There's something to explore.

I feel nothing for, say, Toross. But with Evangelyne, I can explore, dig deeper on my own, write, build things.

You can't explore emptiness. But here, there's at least a terra incognita with arrows pointing into the white. No wonder my favorite childhood book was "The Voyage of the 'Fox' in the Arctic Seas" by Sir Francis Leopold McClintock.

And that's the whole point.

вакфу

сезон 2 эпизод 26

Зачем разбил моё лицо,

Зачем разбил моё прекрасное лицо?

Я не хотел, я не хотел, я не хотел

Зачем сломал мне три ребра?

Зачем сломал мне три ребра, ведь я был прав

Как я посмел, как я посмел? Как я посмел?

Это не я!

[Созвездие Отрезок]

* * *

One of us is crying, one of us is lying

In their lonely bed

Staring at the ceiling

Wishing they were somewhere else instead

(One of us is shaking with a heart that’s breaking)

One of us is lonely, one of us is only

Waiting for a call

I've decided to fix some mistakes with the help of @nemmil, but there were so many, that it would be easier to make a new post

I don't remember that day a lot. When i saw my newself in the mirror. I was washing myself in the tub (didn't fit, my knees sticked out). Remember sickness and shame. So guilty. My poor momma. Died long ago, will never know what her son is now. Was so guilty towards my tunic, socks and sandals, they don't fit me anymore. Was so guilty to lump in the throat. And that hero from the statue? The one with a cool cape? Mabye I failed him too...

In demons' language there is no such concept as "love" existing. It's more of… of the way when you say that you like fighting, but not about a "love" to simular being. It wasn't even a tuul'ma – when you fuck and don't cut them off completely after — you just keep chatting from time to time.

No. It was a feeling that only a human can experience. [then crossed out]. All-consuming tenderness mixed with some bitterness. Desire to squish, lick all over her body, eat it up, not even that... devour. Gently, lovingly, painlessly. Like in nursery rhymes. But between this… sitting with her, and talking about everything for hours straight… [then text becomes unreadable].

But the most horrible thing in loving someone – is that how I was torn apart only of the thought of how is the world unfair and fate might be cruel to her, bring her pain anytime it wants to. You, in tirn, can do no-thing. You… [smudge, hole in the notebook, unreadable]. Well, demons hate to feel pathetic…

(from the diary of Rubilax, data and year unknown)

У демонов даже нет в языке слова «любовь». Есть что-то похожее, но это так... так можно сказать про то, что ты любишь подраться, но не про себе подобное существо. Это было даже не «туул'ма» – когда ты ебешься, но не разбегаешься после этого, а продолжаешь раз от раза общаться, спрашивать как жизнь, все дела.

Нет. Это было чувство, доступное, как будто бы только человеку. [далее зачеркнуто] Поглощающая нежность, смешанная с какой-то горечью. Желание помять, облизать, съесть, нет, даже сожрать. Ласково, любя, безболезненно. Как в детских стишках. Но между этим сидеть, и разговаривать с ней часами... [текст неразборчив]

Но самое чудовищное в том, чтобы любить кого-то – то, как меня раздирало изнутри от мысли, что мир жесток, а судьба над ней может сколько угодно раз надругаться и сделать ей больно. Ты же, в свою очередь, не можешь сделать ни-че-го. Ты [клякса, порванный лист, дырка в тетради]. Знаете, демоны очень не любят чувствовать себя жалкими...

Wakfu OC biography

Ralph Aubrey, eniripsa

His life path began quite usually... for the eniripsa from a venerable family of doctors. The best Medical Academy of the whole World of Twelve, where he did gnaw the granite of science. Ralph did established autority very fast, he was efficient, neat, incredibly polite, but, more importanly, he was talented. When did the time of choosing the specialization came, everybody expected that Ralph, the excellent student, will someday become a personal healer of the Queen. But he decided to work with the cursed people and (gasp!) the possedees. Precisely because nobody wanted to approach them, not to mention healing them. Because to those beasts were sent the most hopelesses students, the ones, who hasn't enough credits for the sane specializations. Aubrey's aim was simple but noble – to give those desperates the hope. He worked tirelessly, accepted those unfortunate ones at whom the other doctors only squinted with disgust. Gaining experience, he began to put on their feet the ones from whose cases the other doctors only threw up their hands. And whether Eniripsa blessed him, or he did sold his soul to Rushu, but he became famous someday. The daughter of iop lord was cursed be the man to whom she refused a marriage proposal. Ralph watched the disgrace of whose who laughed at his desire to work with nonhumans and fuglies. And then the entrance of hero – after the week of healing here is the same ginger beauty, that you used to know. Aubrey was generously rewarded. In front of his cabinet the queues sudennly arosed, the exastic rumors became louder and louder. The hospital, which was in disrepair, had been multiplied by funding, having learned what miracles, hitherto unknown, are happening there. Order of shushu guardians, having realised that there's a doctor, who can operate the guard, mutilated by unsuccessful fusion, has instantly become the sponsor. A dilapidated building has undergone a major overhaul. But not everything went as smoothly as our hero would like. With the growth of fame, diagnoses have become more complicated. People were brought to the hospital with such terrible diseases that even Ralph was powerless. Many curses progressed rapidly: in the morning it could be a person with encouraging forecasts, and in the evening - a monstrous substance spread over the bed. There were those patients who went insane. Ralph didn't give up. The order has commited a squad of demon-fighters, capable to cope with the fang-clanging beast. Ralph decided to inject those patients with the tranquilizers in such a big dose that would definitely knock out such a monster. Ralph asked for the license from the government. Expenses again, immoderate expenses. Then one of those held in the special section somehow overcomes the opiate sleep, did break the chains, the door. The hospital barely escaped carnage. Aubrey did decide to take a difficult step - to kill those who lose their human personality. Kill instantly. Even if they seem harmless. To inconsolable relatives we would tell that the patient died at night, would give out the body in a closed coffin, and bury it only in the cemetery next to the hospital. Ralph lost his sleep, he began to see monsters and formless substances. For twenty cured, there was one such... a monster. But they are the most memorable. Tons of bouquets, camas, mentions in the newspapers, heartfelt thanksgiving from the rescued. Eniripsa Queen gave Ralph the order on honor. But nothing pleases him anymore, because these empty eyes, drool from the mouth, these paws that reach for him, these shapeless bodies... they haunt him. But nothing pleases him anymore, because these empty eyes, drool from the mouth, these paws trying to reach for him, these shapeless bodies... they're everythere. Day and night. Ralph locks the door to his office with the complex key. At home he places a stasis gun near his bed. As soon as he treated the young man, it would seem that he's on the mend - but no. Ralph's white coat is again stained with bloody mucus. Again these sticky rocesses with an unintelligible groan reach for his throat... stupid unreasonable eyes... Shoot! How much blood where is on his hands? Ralph doesn't know. Probably as many as saved lives.

Time goes by, Ralph becomes just a cynic, mechanically doing his job. What does he care about these beasts, let them shout, he is doing his job despite. But even to ordinary people, he becomes cold and indifferent. The rules in the hospital are getting tougher, for violation of discipline – a severe reprimand. The former intellectual hates whining and liberties. Don’t even try to shed your tears in front of him.

Shut up and give me paw! Don’t you ever try to bare your fangs or we’ll knock them out, understood?

The girl could not stand taking twenty pills a day, began to secretly drain them into the toilet. The result – the tentacle tangle, that she became, smashed the wall, well at least not bearing. We will strictly control the intake of pills, they’ll drink them in our presence. And let someone just try to vomit!

Ralph is thirty-five, and he feels like an old man. He is already engaged in administrative affairs, writes a scientific paper, handed the monsters into the hands of the young. At home he feels calm with his beloved wife and cute bow-meow, and also a faithful violin, which he has been playing since school years.

this text in my native language:

Ральф Обри, энирипса Его жизненный путь начался весьма стандартно... для энирипсы из именитой врачебной династии. Лучшая медицинская академия Мира Двенадцати, где он несколько лет корпел над справочниками и грыз гранит науки. Очень быстро Ральф заработал авторитет, он был исполнительным, аккуратным, невероятно вежливым, но главное – способным. Когда пришло время специализации, все ожидали, что Ральф, отличник по всем предметам и любимец преподавателей, решит расти до личного королевского врача – у него были все задатки на это. Но нет, он решает работать с проклятиями, и (о, ужас!) одержимостями. Именно потому, что туда никто не шел. Потому что к этим тварям отправляли самых безнадежных выпускников, тех, кто профукал конкурс на все вменяемые направления. Обри двигала благородная цель – дать отчаявшимся людям надежду. Он трудился не покладая рук, принимал тех, на кого остальные врачи лишь брезгливо косились. Набираясь опыта, он начал ставить на ноги тех, от чьих случаев другие специалисты по проклятиям лишь разводили руками. И то ли сама Энирипса его благословила, то ли он продал душу Рушу, но про него узнали. Дочь иопского лорда проклял человек, которому она отказала в предложении руки и сердца. Ральф видел, как позорятся те, кто смеялся над над его стремлением работать с нелюдями и уродцами. А потом встречайте появление героя – через неделю лечения двери покоев открывает все та же красавица, которой ее все помнили. Обри был щедро награжден, но главное, что он приобрел – славу. К нему потянулись очереди, про него пошли восторженные слухи. Госпиталю, бывшему в запустении, во много раз увеличили финансирование, узнав, какие чудеса, неведомые доселе, там творятся. Орден стражей, узнав, что есть медик, способный прооперировать стража, искалеченного неудачным слиянием, мигом записался в спонсоры. В полуразрушенном здании сделали капитальный ремонт. Но не все шло так гладко, как нашему герою хотелось бы. С ростом славы стали и усложняться диагнозы. В госпиталь привозили людей с такими ужасными болезнями, от которых даже Ральф умывал руки. Многие проклятия стремительно прогрессировали: утром это мог быть человек с обнадеживающими прогнозами, а вечером – растекшейся по кровати чудовищной субстанцией. Были и те пациенты, что сходили с ума. Ральф не сдавался. Орден ему выдал целый штат демоноборцев, способных унять лязгающего клыками зверя. Ральф решает по самое нехочу наколоть таких товарищей снотворным, да притом настолько мощным, чтоб оно подействовало даже на такое чудовище. Выпрашивает лицензию у государства. Снова расходы, неумеренные расходы. Потом один из содержавшихся в особой секции каким-то образом преодолевает сон из опиатов, рвет цепи, выламывает дверь. Чудом избежали резни. Обри решается на тяжелый шаг – убивать тех, кто теряет человеческую личность. Убивать моментально. Даже если они кажутся безобидными. Безутешным родственникам говорить, что пациент скончался ночью, выдавать тело в закрытом гробу, хоронить исключительно на кладбище рядом с госпиталем. Ральф перестает спать по ночам, ему начинают видеться монстры и бесформенные субстанции. На двадцать вылеченных приходился один такой... урод. Но запоминались они ярче всех. Тонны букетов, кам, упоминаний в газетах, сердечных благодарений от спасенных. Королева энирипса выдает Ральфу орден почета. Но его уже ничто не радует, ведь эти пустые глаза, слюни изо рта, эти лапы, которые к нему тянутся, эти бесформенные тела... они его преследуют. Днем и ночью. Ральф запирает дверь в своей кабинет на сложнейший ключ. Дома ставит рядом с кроватью стазисную пушку. Только он лечил юношу, казалось бы все, идет на поправку – но нет, белый халат Ральфа снова заляпан кровавой слизью, эти липкие отростки с невразумительным стоном тянутся к его горлу... тупые неразумные глаза... Пристрелить! Сколько уже крови на его руках? Ральф сам не знает. Наверное, столько же, сколько спасенных жизней. Эти чудовища, эти омерзительные твари сколько раз хотели его убить? Но самое страшное, что когда-то они были людьми. Людьми, которых Ральф хотел спасти всей душой, и которых ему приходится раз за разом убивать. Или отдавать приказ об убийстве, по большей части.

Со временем Ральф становится лишь циником, механически выполняющим свою работу. Что ему до этих уродцев, пускай себе орут, пускай себе тянутся, он свое дело сделал. Но и до обычных людей он становится холоден и безучастен. Порядки в больнице становятся жесче, за нарушение дисциплины – суровый выговор. Бывший интеллигент ненавидит нытье и вольности. Не надо ему тут слезы лить.

Лапу дал живо. Пасть закрыл. Я тебе полязгаю!

Девушка не выдержала прием двадцати таблеток в день, начала тайком сливать их в унитаз. Итог – тентаклевый клубок разнес стену, хорошо хоть не несущую. Будем жестко контролировать прием таблеток, пусть пьют при нас. И пусть кто-то только попробует выблевать! Ральфу тридцать пять, а он чувствует себя стариком. Он уже занимается административными делами, пишет научную работу, передал уродцев в руки молодых. Единственное, что дома его ждет любимая жена и ласковый боу-мяу, а еще верная скрипка, на которой он играет еще со школьных лет.