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tenho medo de perguntar q foto o Arlequim enviou.............

If the TFC cast had ring tones on their cell phones, what would they beeee??

TicketTaker: Basic rotary phone ring. A sound that specifically reminds him of those corded monstrosities from the 80s/90s. The man is old school and believes a phone should sound like a phone.

Doctor: Chopin's - Marche Funèbre.......Yes...it concerns everyone whenever he gets a call during their check-ups.

Jester: Whatever ringtone Hannibal Lecter has honestly.

Harlequin: He's constantly torn between Your Idol by The Saja Boys and the main them of the horror movie Halloween.

Pierrot: Before meeting you, it was whatever general ringtone the phone came with. After, he's made sure to get something from one of your favorite bands so that you'd strike up a conversation with him about it. Unfortunately, Harlequin often steals Pierrot's phone to replace the songs with fart noises.

READ THE TAGS

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🔔🔔The demo expansion is ready! Exclusive now on the second tier of Patreon!🔔🔔

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draw pierrot please. But beating up a certain green menace with a folding chair 💺

I wanna see more characters take chair shots

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🎪🎩

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After getting a lot of positive feedback from this post, I wanted to do a more proper voicing/edit for Pierrot from The Freak Circus by @nekoboydreams!

You can find Harlequin’s version here!

Originally I had used a default voice filter with minimal editing, but with this one I did try to more fine-tune the effects and give Pierrot a bit more raspiness or texture to his voice since he doesn't tend to speak a lot. I also read through the lines with the gender-neutral MC for those curious!

This follows the choices in-game if you don't pick the candy apple at the circus and tell Pierrot that you'll visit him the following day which is, so far at least, my favorite route to take :3c

Like what you heard? Then go check out The Freak Circus and support the creator on his patreon!

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I have a theory (one may even say a game theory /silly ref) about The Freak Circus and how the MC relates to the angel featured in Harlequin’s story.

Specifically, I think the MC is the angel (specifically perhaps a reincarnation?). I propose that we have some information that points in that direction and after forcing @tazz-was-here to listen to my chaotic thoughts I figured it was only fair to do the same to everyone here

So buckle up boys we're going for a journey

(I also like to preface this is 50% fun and 50% funny, though it would be neat if I was in the right direction :3c)

Lets start with the basics. We know that Neko has taken some inspiration from the Commedia dell'arte. And what is the Commedia dell'arte?

Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. [...] Commedia is characterized by masked "types" which are standardised archetypical characters shared across all productions and identified via their names, costumes, and functions in the comedy.

These standardized or 'stock' characters would be used in performances and works much like we treat characters in fandom today: like barbie dolls in the dramatic stage of storytelling with a per-existing background and personality we can mush around and remix depending on the story being told.

So enter our characters Pierrot and Harlequin, two stock characters featured in the Commedia dell'arte. Pierrot's role is often silent in modern-ish interpretations, and he has often shown to be pining for a woman named Colombina. In traditional Commedia dell'arte Colombina is instead in love with Harlequin, who also loves her in turn and competes with Pierrot with his wit against Pierrot's passive melancholy.

With this in mind, we can understand a bit more how Neko explains he's making his own twist on it:

So in my scenario, in the past of these two Pierrot also loved Colombina, and Harlequin seduced her for the pleasure of seeing Pierrot lose. But something tragic happened in this love triangle. Now Colombina no longer exists, Pierrot falls in love with you (the player) and becomes obsessed. He has already lost a love once and wants yours! In any case, but Harlequin wants to play this game. So the player will basically play the role of Colombina!

(I am assuming due to the chaos of the English language that was meant to be 'Colombina also loved Pierrot' but someone correct me if that assumption is wrong!)

So we're 'playing' the role of Colombina, huh? Certainly sounds like a thematic parallel.. OR could that have been more literal than we assumed?

In reference to if we'll get more Colombina in the future, Neko said: "She is part of the stage, and we cannot forget that."

Though I could argue this means she (as us the player) is still with the circus-- or that we've found our way back to the circus-- Neko more than likely is referring to the flashes and glitches we get during Harlequin's performance, since we DO see flashes of a woman who is presumably Colombina, to put it lightly, getting snacked on.

Me slowly realizing that my theory is holding less and less water but I will live on in denial.

However, I have more evidence. When asked why Pierrot fell in love with the MC so suddenly, he answered: "The angel's death has to do with how Pierrot becomes obsessed with MC"

What a peculiar thing...

Could that be because when Pierrot sees the MC as we are defending him, he sees us as the reincarnation of his old love? Possibly, but unfortunately this evidence is debunked since he sees us in the Bad End we very quickly turn into a human-shaped McDonalds order.

Goddamnit Pierrot you're ruining my perfectly baseless theory here.

Well, there IS the scene where, upon being drugged and/or rejecting Pierrot's request to see him again (does it happen in both, or just one?) he makes a very clear statement that connects the MC and the Angel:

Get yourself a man who looks at you like that (minus the cannibalism part that could be a red flag)

...Now, I guess TECHNICALLY, if the MC was the reincarnation of the Angel, then his wording would have made more sense to be 'Don't make me devour you AGAIN', since 'too' insinuates a separation of person, that there was a previous one he consumed like a Taco Bell burrito and the MC is someone else entirely.

I think I'm too hungry to be making these analogies...

I think we can make some broad assumptions that, if PERHAPS the MC is not a reincarnation with Colombina, then the two of them are connected in some *makes hand gestures* kinda way-- especially since I imagine that is tied to why Harlequin and Pierrot are so at ends with one another-- and why Harlequin seems to start pulling out all the moves ONLY when he knows Pierrot has shown interest in them with the red ticket.

Okay I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect to get this far and if you're still with me then you're a brave soul and I respect your perseverance.

Have you remembered to eat? Take all your meds?

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MY BABY 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Lore! As I mentioned, I’ve been working on this comic during my lunch breaks for a few days now! There are lots of lore snippets I jot down for worldbuilding, and usually, I don’t share them but I thought you might like to see a bit more while I work on the game.

There are still more snippets that I’m not sure if I’ll turn into comics (because it’s a lot of work), whether to just leave the written bits, or maybe make a simpler comic to illustrate them. These include:

The outfit change Pierrot mentions

What goes through Pierrot’s mind the first time he meets MC

Some details about the Ticket Taker’s appearance

Explanation about Pierrot’s symbol

Explanation about the colors of the Fifth and Pierrot

I’m kind of a perfectionist, so the worldbuilding has lots of notes like this that I’ll be sharing little by little.

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- Pumpkin, why are you run from our fate? We're going to be together forever, after all, you're my solmate...

(I tried to make the background kinda complicated, idk)

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i really wanna read smut now fr

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i mean... it ain't totally wrong tho

crying💀 I just realized I’ve been calling it “the freaky circus”

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hi!! i hope you're having a lovely day <3 i really loved your game, it’s so immersive that after finishing it i didn’t even realize how much time i had spent trying to unlock all endings— i love that! the atmosphere is so beautiful and i genuinely think it’s a really innovative idea, so i hope you’re able to bring it to life just as you planned. i wanted to ask if at some point you could make a sfw alphabet for ilya, please? i’d love to get to know him a bit more. ◜ᴗ◝

i’m really happy you felt immersed!! hearing that you spent so much time unlocking the endings makes my heart do cartwheels ;;♡ sorry it took me so long to actually respond to this LOL

a - affection: he's not used to receiving affection, so giving it is clumsy at first. he's incredibly hesitant with physical affection. but the moment he gets a taste of it, he chases after it feverishly. he wants more.

b - body language: always composed and polite. he never lets his posture dip into what someone could mistake for aggression. his height does the intimidating for him when needed. when he's tired, however, he lets his guard down and slouches a bit LOL.

c - comfort: he’s surprisingly good at comforting others. his voice stays level, his movements are slow, and he’ll always offer you a glass of water before anything else. when he needs comfort, he becomes unreachable and shuts you out. eventually, though, he'll murmur an apology if you come by again.

d – domesticity: the mere concept of a “home” makes his chest ache, but he’d try so hard to build one with you. if there's anything you don't want to do (like cooking, or cleaning, even if you both take turns) he'll gladly take it up before you even complain. if anything, he wouldn't want to overwork you. you'd have to argue with him about sharing the load. he would eventually relent, but again, wouldn't mind if you changed your mind.

e – excitement: the closest he gets to excitement is fascination. he leans in when you talk about something you love and watches you earnestly, drinking in whatever you have to say. i think, if he ever achieved something 'good' or 'happy', the fear of it being taken away would smother out any sort of excitement rather quickly.

f - flirting: horrible at it whenever it's meant to count. but then, out of nowhere, he’ll say something shockingly earnest and hide a grin after you choke on water (or something haha)

g - gifts: he prefers giving practical gifts, stuff he notices you need. i do think he'd become aware of your interests after living with you for a long time, thus he'd have more of an idea of what to get and/or bring you.

h - honesty: ....well. let’s just say he’s very good at sounding sincere ^^

i – intimacy (nonsexual): he’s actually very starved for it. things like brushing his hair, bandaging a scrape on his hand, or making eye contact while talking,, it gets to him. he'd never admit how much it affects him.

j – jokes: notoriously horrible at them </3 his humor is incredibly dry, however if you laugh at a single one, he brightens up. suddenly, he’s trying all the terrible puns he can possibly think of. you’ve created a monster.

k– kisses: if it's initiated by you first, ilya's surprised every time it happens. but once it starts, he doesn’t want it to stop. he kisses like it's the last time, every time.

l – laughter: he hides his mouth when he laughs with the back of his hand, not boisterous at all about his joy. the second you tell a stupid joke just to hear it again, his shoulders shake and he tells you to stop, though it's clear he's still smiling and trying to wipe a tear away.

m – mornings: not a morning person. if you try to slip out of bed early, he’ll groggily pull you back into his arms, mumbling that you both deserve five more minutes. the moment you leave, though, he’s up too.

n - night: he's more alert after dark. you catch him staring out windows, like he’s waiting for something or someone. sometimes, you wake up to find him already watching you. not in a edward cullen type of way HELP, more like he’s lost in thought and that he's memorizing your features (lovingly) in his mind.

o - obedience: (ohhh boy.) unfortunately, he's the type to sort of expect it at some capacity. he never raises his voice, because he doesn't need to. when he tells you to stay close, it's not meant to be a request. that doesn't mean that he doesn't expect you to lash out or act against him, though. he won't be confused at that, because again, he can be surprisingly rational when he wants to be, especially right after the captivity route begins lol

however, it's better not to test him after a certain point. he has his limits.

p - promises: he doesn't make them often, but he doesn't take them lightly, either.

q – quiet time together: he loves sitting in silence next to you--reading, writing, just being. he cards through your hair and soaks in your presence.

r – rage: never shouts. never breaks things. his voice goes quieter, if anything. of course, there's a broad range of how his rage would truly manifest, especially with the desperation that might be involved. ilya's meant to be a multifaceted individual :')

s - scars: he has more than he lets on, but is reluctant to explain why they're there. if you ask, he deflects. if you insist, he changes the subject. some things he just doesn’t want to talk about.

t - time: he's terrible at keeping track of it. it's amazing, really, how hours slip through his fingers like sand. and yet he remembers the exact minute you met, the first smile you sent his way. the little things...

u – unhealthy habits: tends to isolate, bottles up his anger, self-neglects when he’s overwhelmed.

v – valentine’s day???: he’d be awkward and overthink everything, but he’d try exceptionally hard. not only would he spend a good two hours making a heartfelt card dedicated towards you, but he'd make a feast of anything and everything you enjoy. he'd probably practice for days beforehand to make sure he doesn't mess up, so with all the dishware lying around it's not exactly... subtle.. doesn't really expect anything in return lol

w – winter: he enjoys it! the cold doesn't bother him that much. he'll stand outside for hours with a sort of childlike wonder, encouraging you to walk with him. but the second you start shivering, he’s rushing you back inside. he’s not great with his own needs, but he watches yours like a hawk.

x - xtra: likes to hum along to folk songs! he'd never sing with fervor, though.

y - yearning: so. much. yearning. he wants, but he doesn’t know how to ask. you’ll catch him staring at your lips, your hands, etc. he wants to know all of you. the way you cradle your mug, your idiotic childhood stories, your worst memories, the curve of your handwriting, every possible tiny mundane detail.

z – ZZZ: very light sleeper. his dreams are strange and often cause him to wake up in a sweat. when he does sleep, it’s fitful. his hands twitch and he can't help but keep you close to him. feel free to share your own interpretations/headcanons/etc too, i love reading them!!

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Cry

(1/2)

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Summer Memories Part 1: Silas

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Let's set the summer vibe🌊🐚

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Cold take: Credit card companies should not have the unilateral power to decide what is or isn't acceptable art. Also fuck weirdo puritan terfs.

Art is based off this post

For the random terfs seeing this wondering which games I'm referring to, it's every single nsfw game on itch.io, putting tons of indie artists and game devs out of work.

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[ ANNOUNCEMENT CONCERNING ITCH'S LATEST STATEMENT ]

For those who are unaware of itch's latest statement towards the NSFW build, you can read it here: link

As you may have noticed, I have hidden my NSFW build as of the moment and set my game to "No Payments", preventing from making future payments and access from the game's NSFW build for now and follow itch's rules to keep my game indexed.

So for now, the NSFW build for "The Kid at the Back" is unavailable until further notice, better yet, once their planned "Content Warnings" function arrives and hope that "The Kid at the Back" is still ok to stay indexed.

I have sent my questions regarding this to itch but for now, the best thing we can do is wait and thank itch's team for considering and creating a solution that would be most beneficial to both devs and consumers alike.