#it's so. nothing. in-game in a way that doesn't make sense

[zeondraws]

Making another post about the AMA, as a few questions couldn't be answered on the reddit post before it was closed. Some of the answers were send to the Secret Mode server instead.

So I am listing them all in this post, so I can use it for the wiki. I also asked a few additional questions about Alex, (for example, we were confused if we had two Alex on the rig because of the Alex P. signature. But turns out, Alex Cranstoun is the same Alex who talks to Sunil).

Lead Narrative Sagar: "His full name is Stuart Gibson"

Lead Design Jade & Lead Narrative Sagar - "Spot on, this was definitely our goal!"

Lead Narrative Sagar: "Wait, we completely agree: Billy Chamberlain is DEFINITELY very important! He's the inciting reason for Caz's presence on the Beira D to begin with! Yeah, we have a sense of what sort of person he is, and what happened that fateful evening at the pub in Glasgow. But nothing more we can share here, I'm afraid..."

Lead Narrative Sagar: "Haha! This is the first name of a very important member of the crew. Check out the answers I gave to roses-in-the-abyss and to Icy_Piglet4732"

Lead Narrative Sagar: "Thanks for asking this. It had to do with the overall arc of Mhairi's story. Mhairi, for us, works really well as a foil to Caz. She has more information, plans more, and most importantly, chooses to go into a dangerous situation. True, she doesn't know quite how dangerous it's going to be. But it's a far cry from Caz, who never expected to be running around like mad on a sinking oil rig, and is equipped just with a screwdriver. His final action is exactly what he has grown to be capable of doing. By contrast, no one asked Mhairi to go to the bottom of the North Sea and disturb what was there. She chose to. The most straightforward thing to do, narratively, is to make her pay for that choice, maybe with the ultimate sacrifice. But we wanted to reflect the greater agency Mhairi has a character to do a bit more, and ask the player what they think makes sense for their version of Mhairi. After all, even the game itself opens up a bit more: your version of Mhairi might be more exploratory and less resolute than another, or vice versa. We don't branch very widely in this story, just at the end, so it's not too hard to keep the various realities in our heads simultaneously. It would be a different design challenge if the game were built around branching. Thanks for your question!" Lead Design Jade: "On SWTD we wanted to tell a story about a person who was always running finally deciding to do what's right for his family. A choice would have not given the experience we wanted. But Mhairi has a choice because I think we all deal with grief in a different way. When someone dies you can feel guilty about letting go of that sadness because it feels scary when you built yourself around it. Ultimately you can either let it consume you or let it go and I love that we managed to talk about it in such a way. I think in our mind both ending are open enough that we can do different things with them if we decide to."

Who is Alex/what is his backstory, and what's his surname? (Lo-Honko is my reddit name)

From Sagar: Lo-Honko's questions were quite fun to respond to. But this specific question (the 5th) was ambiguous. There isn't just one body in those two locations: there are two, one in each named spot. In my answer, I only responded to what I thought was being referred to in the second one, later on in the pipe maze, the body with the lighter. But let me expand on both bodies, because I think the first at least has some cool implications about events we never get to see. Once you're down at 237 metres, you get into Mud Pits. (That's the "giant room, split by a fence", as Rob says.) If you make your way through a pipe at the top of the room, you can snake your way into a smaller room, called Mud Handling. That's the one that has a dartboard and also something that looks like a body, buried under some rubble... but also bizarrely with a seeming cross / grave marker? Now that is a weird and confusing thing... is it a legit grave marker? What the hell? This is actually one of the oddest things Mhairi has found to date. It's what leads her, uncharacteristically, to trip over her words. "I-I don't know... body," Mhairi says. Because she can see something Rob can't. It's not just a body. It's a body with debris that seems to have fallen (or been placed!) in the shape of a grave marker. Who would have done that? Presumably the collapse of the rig was an emergency. Who would've had the time, and if they did, why do it in that location? Doesn't seem to be someone in their right mind, and moreover, it'd have to be someone (or some thing) that could have survived such an emergency, present in Engineering and full of confused emotions. --------------------------

The second body (the one holding the lighter in the pipe maze) after you listen to the second data logger recording is Alex Cranstoun. I expanded on this in the AMA and how he got ahold of Finlay's lighter. Alex worked hard on the rig, and he was seen in the first game working with Sunil. He works on the Deck and is always fixing something or trying to keep the rig from falling apart. We get a hint way back when Mhairi discovers the Ganpati murti of just how heavily Sunil's loss was felt, but we don't discover too much about Alex. In fact, Mhairi's quite confused by this body too, even about how it possibly has arrived into the vent. How horrific, if this person died, trapped in the vent. Alex was no less loved by his mates. He was a particularly close co-worker with Sunil. In fact, we see the two of them talking together very early in Still Wakes the Deep. Work on a rig can be very uncompromising and very busy. But there can also be a lot of dead time. You have to make your own entertainment. Sunil, Alex, Archie, and Gregor would sometimes have competitions around who could grow the most luxurious facial hair. Let's just say that Alex did not win this competition... He was determined to get his revenge on Sunil during the darts tournament, and even this did not go his way. Though as a consolation, Alex did manage to win Finlay's lighter off her late in the darts tournament, after everyone was deep in their cups. When the disaster began, and the leccy went out, that lighter was what Alex used to navigate for a little bit while he was running for safety. But it barely lasted a few minutes, before plunging him into darkness. And as the rig listed, Alex tragically tripped and fell into a vent, a slow and tragic end for someone who deserved better.

And for context, this was Lo-Honko's question from the AMA.

"Does the guy from the vents and mudpits have a name? Who is this person Finlay lend her lighter to?"

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Thanks to Liam from Secret Mode for forwarding the Alex questions!!

This is super interesting, this is gonna take a while to put into the wiki. But today I am editing Alex and Archie (I deleted the Cranstoun page and will delete the Dunbar page later, don't touch it!)

I find it important to have sources because some people will think you lie and edit something and claim it's a headcanon. I had to re-edit a page because someone claimed the father-son relationship between Muir and Innes was a headcanon (because of the new memento). I think the person means no harm, but I figured I mention this.

Double check before you edit something, because if you don't have a source for example, you may spread wrong information.

[venbetta]

I've been really getting into SOTM since it's come out, and I have to say, it's better produced than SW's other fnaf games. I'm not saying it's 100% perfect, I'm not gonna gas it up to be game of the year, but it feels cohesive compared to their previous games. It's the fact that when it was originally announced up until its release, I wasn't 100% on board; I didn't know what to expect. I've come out of it surprised by how potent some of the narrative beats are.

I've heard some people say that the story wasn't cohesive or that it didn't make sense, which i get, it took watching a few other playthroughs to catch things I missed during the first watch. And I know the mimic's origins are in the TFTP books, which usually doesn't help either, but the game does a good job at establishing the mimic's creation enough to latch onto. Plus, the Murray family feels real to me, Edwin's neglect, Fiona's caring natural. If they weren't in the game, i think it would've been a dull experience. There were slow moments when I was watching Fusion's playthrough, and I thought, "Gimme more Murray family lore." And when it did show up, I was engaged. Learning and finding out more felt rewarding (I don't have the game myself :( ... but watching other people play has helped).

I know I missed things, I probably still am, but I've grasped enough of it to understand a good majority of the story. The endings were nice, I can actually tell which one is definitely the canon one. The secret one was so sweet and heartbreaking. I loved Arnold, even if we don't hear him speak that often. Dispatch is a prick in the best way. The VAs did amazing.

My only complaint is that the minigames (the crane one) were kinda boring. I did almost fall asleep during that part. I don't have many grievances with SOTM, it surprised me.

I know people keep comparing it to Poppy Playtime, and all that other stuff, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it taking inspiration from it. They literally took inspiration from Alien Isolation and Outlast from what I've heard, and that shouldn't be seen as an insult to compare any of these games with one another.

And as someone who's been with fnaf since the beginning, I get why people are a bit discontent about this game's presence. I miss the old games, but I don't see anything wrong with mixing something up in this new Era. I loved Security Breach, even with its flaws. It's a beautiful mess with... a not very cohesive story, but it's fun. Saw someone try to compare SB with SOTM to criticize the latter when they are two distinct narratives with varying visuals. Of course SOTM doesn't have life to it, it's an abandoned, defunct factory with ROTTING bodies. It's a horror game. There's nothing wrong with SB switching up the environment either, it's still a horror game... even if it was catered to be child-friendly which there's nothing wrong with that either...

Comparing apples to oranges.

I digress.

I wish it was easy for people to admit and accept that SOTM isn't going to feel like FNAF, instead of chalking it up to being a bad game or spitefully comparing it to other games for the sake of criticizing when it's easier to just say "This isn't for me anymore." And also not blame any party responsible for making it that way (Steel Wool). Markiplier admitted it in his recent playthrough, it felt nice hearing that from him. To have that self awareness and acknowledge that it's not the same, but it's okay that he doesn't like it and it's no one else's fault!!!! GRGHRGH

I love FNAF, and it's complicated lore, and it's sometimes buggy games. Unless some other game comes along that completely alters my opinions on it, I'm willing to see where this franchise goes, honestly.

So now excuse me while I go make Freddy and Monty kiss each other like lil toy dolls

[snowangelnoelle]

was thinking back on the second round of spamton sweepstakes pages that came out shortly before the new chapters released and there were the /chapter1 through /chapter5 pages, which people originally guessed were connected to whether the chapter was relevant for the snowgrave/weird route and now that chapters three and four are out that definitely seems correct. (spoilers)

chapter one's page says "not applicable": you can't do anything related to snowgrave in this chapter.

chapter two's says "applicable": this is like. the biggest chapter for snowgrave. it's where you cast snowgrave and start everything.

chapter three's says "not applicable" however i think (can't double check as i'm on mobile) if you hold the right arrow it will add "but...": you can't do anything *directly* related to snowgrave BUT there is the sword route (the way you get the shadow mantle - through playing the 'original' version of tenna's video game in the S rank changing room) which heavily references snowgrave and involves "becoming stronger" including by killing the video game versions of susie and ralsei and then using a white robed mage to freeze enemies.

chapter four's is blank but links onto a couple more pages through which people found the deltarune.com/chapter4/thankyou page which used to say "how long did it take her to smile?" with two input boxes, one for an email and one for an answer (if you put nothing on the second box it would say "she never smiled?"). now the option to input anything is closed so it just says "thank you.": this doesn't clearly tell us anything about snowgrave, but..

chapter five's page shows the numbers 2, 4, and 5, with blank spaces for 1 and 3, and the 2 is very large, the 4 is smaller, and the 5 is a bit bigger than the 4: so 1 and 3 aren't applicable, 2 is and is the biggest, and based on this we can guess the four and five are applicable as well. chapter four has a scene which is very important for snowgrave and requires re-equipping the thorn ring to noelle in the light world. so important for the route to continue, but there's not a ton of difference in the rest of the story. but the 5 is bigger than the 4, so chapter five will probably have more that changes with the snowgrave route. that makes sense since chapter five will be on the day of the festival which everyone is meant to be going to so will involve interacting with noelle, and in the snowgrave route carol even calls to tell you that noelle is 'excited' to go with you which causes kris distress and doesn't happen in the normal route.

[liquidcrystalsky]

i saw someone say they never actually played a splatoon game and only watched two story modes. it felt a bit weird to me but i think there is something to think about.

most of all the story/lore/worldbuilding in-game is text and images and are basically identical if you read them on a wiki

The chat logs and sunken scrolls and alterna/dev logs, have nothing to do with whats going on. The gameplay, the things you do, don't inform what information you're given at all.

You unlock things either just with normal progression or as random collectables. In splatoon 1 and 2 the sunken scrolls corresponded to each level, but they didn't take advantage of that at all. Most sunken scrolls just were about whatever. They made it per area in splatoon 3. So it's even more detached from the gameplay.

The Dev Diaries and Acht's letters, are all unlocked in exactly the same way. Every single one, other than having to change what weapon you use, it's the same.

Shit, most of the god damn world-building, ISN'T EVEN IN THE GAME! It's on the websites, in artbooks, interviews (both in-universe and developers), soundtrack releases, whatever.

Other than the first two story modes, there are like Actual things which happen in the games which can't be summarized in a sentence (most of the story about Octo Canyon was in the "Squid Sister Stories." Not Even In The Game).

Octo Expansion has an amazing final sequence, which, is mostly cutscenes and you can just sorta watch on youtube. You don't need to know what happens in Girl Power station or any of the levels at all.

RotM had a Lot Of Shit Happen but... actually i think it did it the best for experiencing the story Through The Game (not by much). Though It sucks that the story has absolutely nothing to do with the gameplay and they often straight up contradict or just doesn't make sense. Oh yeah the whole fucking thing crashed and killed everyone. Don't ask why everything's in completely pristine condition.

Side Order sort of just cleared up all of the story points within the first 10 minutes of the game, right after the tutorial Marina just explains Everything and then that's just what happens for the rest of the game. There's no twist or any evolving story that isn't in the Dev Diaries which don't affect the Actual Game.

The thing i'd say you miss out the most on is small character moments, but there's also plenty of compilations and people pointing them out too. There's definitely a lot of things you'd miss, a lot of spectacle, and some emotions, but idk i feel like it's not too much in the grand scheme of things.

Splatoon has amazing world building, but kind of bad storytelling (i guess nintendo in general, i can see it a bit in botw/totk as well) and it kinda gives room for people to actually be genuine fans of the series, story and world, without even touching a game at all.

As much as I don't want to buy a switch 2 and all that, i really hope Raiders does this storytelling well.

I also have nothing against watching like longplays of the game or just like full game walkthrough or whatever. I call myself fans of games which i've only watched and not played. I'm saying you can totally be a fan with a really large amount of knowlege of splatoon without even doing that.

I have had this comparison of RotM to Outer Wilds in my head a lot and i'm gonna walk my dog then i'll write it out

[themightyhumanbroom]

My thoughts on Sonic IDW #79

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That kinda sucked? It just felt super rushed. I was really expecting Mimic to play some mind games with them by turning into Lanolin or something but nope. They just decided to just blow by that golden opportunity. Like they need to be like an extra issue or have it be longer or something like a longer cat and mouse. The whole arc was so frustrating because they went out of their way to make a proactive team to go after Eggman and they just kind of did nothing with it. Hell, Lanolin wasn't even in the same issue where they finally took down Mimic. The person who has maybe the 2nd biggest reason to want to take down him down! They had a hot new interesting trio right there but for some reason they got cold feet and just put in Silver for some reason. I like Silver but for god sakes he should not be there!

It just doesn't make sense from a storytelling standpoint or a marketing standpoint!

The comic isn't over so I'm still going to try and hold out hope that The Diamond Cutters reform and actually do what they were introduced to do. Also I just want to make it clear that I'm happy for Whisper and Tangle, I'm glad Mimic is finally dead so those two can finally move on with their lives. It's just how it all played out was kinda ass.

[lovehazard]

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rank each member of Valentines (crew? organization?group?) on how dangerous it is to try to escape them?

Also, what would it be like to try to escape each one of them? I feel like the experience would vary from each one of them, due to their different resources/skills/strengths and such. It would probably be a little different too, depending on who it is that is escaping...(for example, like if it was just one of their victims, or their darling)

Hmm it’s hard to say on scale, they’re all pretty difficult to escape from, you have to be very lucky, or smart, to be able to escape from them.

Sylas

Escaping Sylas isn’t impossible, but that's because he lets it feel that way. Sylas gets a certain... pleasure from the chase. The moment someone tries to slip away, it flips a switch in him. He doesn’t panic. He smiles.

To Sylas, a darling on the run isn’t a threat, it’s an invitation.

He’s not the type to have tight security, not because he’s careless, but because he’s confident in what he does. You think you’ve outsmarted him. You think you’re safe. That’s when he reappears, calm as ever, amused that you thought it would be that easy. The more you run, the more his obsession grows. Not just with owning you, but with proving that you belong to him, no matter how far you try to flee.

“You really thought you could make it, how cute.”

His strength isn't just physical, though he is capable, it’s psychological. He doesn’t just want to drag you back. He wants to make you want to return. Or make sure you never dare to run again.

If you’re a victim: He doesn't feel much for you beyond fleeting curiosity. You're not precious to him, you’re just a toy, a job to get done. Unlike his darling, he doesn’t plan to keep you. He’s just dragging out the time until he gets bored, or until you break. When that moment comes, he doesn’t make a big show of it. He appears like a shadow at your back. Maybe with a soft chuckle. Maybe with nothing at all. And he’ll say: “That was fun, but time’s up.” Then it ends. Quickly. Quietly. Coldly.

Cannibal-chan

Trying to escape Cannibal-chan is like trying to sneak away from a wild animal that knows you’re in the room, even when you think you’re being quiet.

She’s similar to Sylas in that she enjoys the chase, but Cannibal-chan is even more impulsive and violent. She lives for the panic in your eyes, the terror in your voice, the way you trip over yourself trying to flee. The moment she senses fear, it turns into a game for her, one she doesn’t plan to end quickly.

She doesn’t care about letting you go to prove a point; she lets you run because she wants to have fun. The more you resist, the more inspired she becomes. You might get away from her physically for a short time, but mentally? She’ll have already gotten under your skin. You’ll start wondering if she's watching you. If she’s nearby. If she’s already behind you again.

And when she finally catches up? It won’t be clean. It won’t be quick. Cannibal-chan likes her messes. She likes watching you squirm.

If you’re a victim: If you're just a victim to Cannibal-chan, you’re basically a snack with legs. She might find you amusing for a bit, especially if you scream nice or run in interesting patterns, but once the fun runs out? You’re meat. She won’t mourn the loss. She won’t even remember your name. Her only interest in you lies in how entertaining your fear is, how creatively she can hunt you, tease you, and pull you apart once she’s done playing.

Dominik

Escaping from Dominik it’s more like a test than just escaping. A curated, calculated experience designed to dissect your mind like a frog under glass. Unlike the others, Dominik isn’t impulsive. He’s patient. Chillingly so.

He observes how you react to the obstacles. He’ll let you think you’ve found a weak spot in the security. A window left open. A moment when the cameras “weren’t working.” But all of it? Intentional. He wants to see how long you’ll last. How much you’ll hope. How far you’ll push yourself before it all crumbles.

Then, right at the peak of your adrenaline, your desperation, he appears. Calm. Immaculate. Unbothered.

And then come the questions:

“How did you feel when you thought you were going to escape?” “Did it make your heart race?” “Were you disappointed… or relieved to see me again?”

He’s not asking for answers, he’s watching how you answer. How your voice shakes. How you avoid his eyes. Dominik doesn’t just want your body under his control, he wants your mind. Your patterns. Your fears.

I believe the worst part is that you’ll start to feel like he knows you better than you know yourself. And when he says “You were never going to make it.” you’ll believe him.

When he brings you back, he won’t raise his voice. But you’ll feel the walls close in subtly. Quietly. Until there’s nowhere left to go.

If you’re a victim: He won’t romanticize you. He won’t feel sorry for you. You’re an opportunity to observe, and maybe refine his methods. He’ll let you run. Not because he’s giving you a chance, but because he wants to see what you do when hope is dangled in front of your face. For him it’s not cruelty, it’s curiosity.

Almas

Almas isn’t the type to chain you to a bed or lock the door. No, he’s the type to wrap the chains around your heart, your mind. Giggling, teasing, and whispering sweet nothings until you don’t even realize you’re trapped. Escaping him isn’t about fleeing a physical space, it’s about disentangling yourself from a feeling that refuses to let go.

He's an incubus, after all. Seduction is second nature. He’ll make you feel seen, desired, adored, even when it’s all part of the game. You think you’re pulling away? He’ll pout, act hurt, maybe even cry. And then suddenly you're comforting him, even as you're trying to leave. His power isn’t brute force, it’s emotional disarmament.

He plays. He flirts. He pouts when you pull away, only to turn possessive the second you get too close to someone else. And if you do manage to run?

He won’t run after you. He’ll draw you back in. Maybe with a dream. Maybe with a voice in your head that sounds just like him. Or maybe with that lingering ache in your chest that whispers, “did he really love me?”

You’ll never truly escape. He’s already made a home inside your thoughts, and he’s very comfortable there. The most dangerous part isn’t the chase. It’s how much you don’t want to leave.

If you’re a victim: Almas is an incubus. He feeds on desire, attention, emotional charge, and if you’re just a victim, you’re mostly bait to pass the time. He might flirt with you, toy with you, confuse you with mixed signals, but he won’t grow attached. You’re fodder for his ego or appetite. He may seduce, manipulate, or even pretend to be kind, only to end you when he’s done feeding from you.

Viktor

If there's one thing he can’t stand, it’s when something doesn’t go according to plan.

Especially when they run away from him.

He doesn't lose his temper, he just gets sharper.There's this edge that starts showing in the way he moves, how short his sentences get. He won't yell or rage, but you can feel it. The irritation in his voice. The pressure in the room.

At first, he’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was fear. A mistake. A moment of panic. But once he realizes you're really trying to get away? That’s when the clock starts ticking.

He doesn’t play games. He doesn’t chase for fun. He hunts you down to end it quickly.

And he always, always finds you.

You’ll know he’s close when everything just… stops working. The car won’t start. Your phone dies. The safehouse feels too quiet. You catch your breath in the alleyway, and hear the familiar sound of boots behind you.

Then comes his voice, steady and tight with irritation:

“Was that really necessary?”

He doesn’t hurt you if you’re his darling. But you’ll feel it. The disappointment, the tension, the way his hand tightens a little too hard on your wrist as he brings you back. He hates wasting time, and running just made things messy.

If you’re a victim: You’re a mess that needs cleaning up. Viktor is fast, brutal, and completely impersonal. No speeches. No lingering looks. Just a clean job and a quiet disposal. You won’t see him coming. You won’t get a second chance.

Liam:

Trying to escape Liam isn't like running from a sadist or a stalker. He’s not the type to breathe down your neck, play psychological games, or leave cryptic messages in your locker. He doesn’t enjoy the hunt, he just sees it as part of the job. You're not special. You’re a task. A name on a list. Kill. Get the money. Move on.

He’s calm, collected, and efficient. He won’t get sloppy. If you run, he doesn’t panic. He just starts walking with a bat in his hand. And he won’t stop until he gets you.

There’s no thrill in the violence. No pleasure. It’s a chore, but one he does without hesitation. He’ll crack your skull open with a baseball bat just as easily as he’d take out the trash.

If you’re someone who tries to interfere with Ophelia, if you get too close, too friendly, too curious?

You’ll die differently. Slower. Not because Liam wants you to suffer, but because he wants you to understand. You don’t touch what’s his. You don’t look at what’s his. You don’t exist near what’s his.

Then he’ll check his phone, wipe his hands, and text Ophelia something sweet.

“Miss you already. Dinner tomorrow <3?” (Poor Ophelia)

[ehlnofay]

19! :)

19: sea change

In the last few days of the year 200, Torr kills the Emperor. In early 201, a war breaks out.

It’s not wholly unexpected, at least not by those who know where to look. The Emperor’s death is no small blow to Solitude, the city that sent him off on a voyage he would only exit under a pall; especially considering that the guard had patted itself on the back for successfully foiling an assassination attempt right before his ship left, only for his throat to be slit under their noses, anyway. The head of Skyrim’s Penitus Oculatus appears to have vanished. No-one reports seeing anyone out of place on the boat until they started stumbling over the bodies. The Empire mourns through all the official avenues as the heir prepares for succession; Solitude’s government is busy trying desperately to smooth it over, putting out excessive bounties on the assassin that failed and scraping up intel on the one who succeeded. Not that there’s anything much to find – it’s a locked-room murder, and every logical suspect has an alibi that holds up to interrogation. There are no leads to follow.

And Windhelm is a powder keg.

It always has been, ever since the Great War, as long as Torr or any of his kids have been alive. Short-fused and disillusioned, crowds moving hot as blood through its winding stone streets, it’s always been something tough, hard-throated, splintered into careful lined sections. Torr walks whatever lines he wants, but not everyone has the energy to straddle them; not everyone can.  The upper city is all harsh-cut stone and ice, the bricks ancient, the crowds in a hurry, even though none of them seem to know where they’re going; the Grey Quarter is where the snow runs when it turns to slush and the walls are stuffed with rags. The planks keep snapping with dry rot, sharp and gaping as broken teeth. They need to be filled to keep the cold out. The Cornerclub keeps the fire roaring. Talres goes there to work most days and doesn’t come back up to the house until the streets are empty. No-one knows it’s going to happen, not exactly, but there's no way anyone couldn't know. There are a lot of people who have been waiting on an opening, and all eyes are pointed elsewhere.

With little fanfare, the Jarl and his entourage leave Windhelm.

The city stops being a fuse and starts being the wreckage after it’s blown. Torr is told that there’s a span of a few weeks where Talres stops leaving the house completely. Katla gets arrested again and weasels out of it on her own. The ill-drawn posters of something approaching Torr’s face stuck up over the walls of Solitude are covered up with announcements and calls to join the Legion. Windhelm floods with bodies ready for the rebellion. Aventus’ house is already crowded; in a few months, Torr hears, it’s nigh impossible to walk in for the bedrolls and blankets spread over the floor. The city has never been a warm place in any sense of the word; Torr’s siblings are inundated with more kids and more kids with nowhere else to go. They don’t know if Solitude is much better; they look different now than they did on the night of the assassination that wasn’t and then was, hair cropped shorter and uneven, face gaunter, the weight they’d managed to gain over their comfortable months in Falkreath sloughing off them like a spider’s old skin, but even so it’s a bit much to step foot in there so soon, some of the bounty posters still mouldering on their posts. One of the kids says something about needing a whole other house. They’ve only got the one. Still, it makes Torr think.

(Skyrim has one orphanage, a little wooden hall down on the banks of Riften’s canals. And now there is a cursed house in Windhelm.)

Torr doesn’t go to Solitude. They only occasionally go to Windhelm. When they’re not on business, they stay on the outskirts of Danstrar; the Pale, all frozen winds and snow high enough to ice a horse’s knees, is an unappetising enough target that aside from an announcement of alliance with Windhelm’s Stormcloaks the war has not truly reached them yet. Which is ironic, considering.

(If prompted, Torr probably could have seen this coming – Torr, who spent years with his finger on Windhelm’s pulse, moving through the people and hearing endless talk about the government. It was going to happen sooner or later. And of course the Empire reeling from the assassination of its Emperor – the first since around the time of the Oblivion Crisis, which no-one is anxious to repeat, and the reminder of which put plenty of important people quite on edge – is enough of an opportunity to weigh heavily in sooner’s favour. If he’d thought about it with his blade set beneath the hairs of the old man’s beard, he would have known he was setting a war in motion. What Torr doesn’t know is if he would have cared.)

(Probably not. He still doesn’t, after all. Not enough to regret anything.)

Dead winter bleeds into spring; a little ice melts, and the sea begins to change. Torr’s shoulder aches when the weather is bad. There are clashes on the roads, outside cities, described in newspapers and word of mouth. Cyrodiil ships off heaps of soldiers to spill into Solitude’s ports. The house in Windhelm is overrun. But the nightshade kept in the temperate corner that Babette has transformed into a garden begins to bloom months early. The tides still come in and out.

The old Emperor is dead. Skyrim is tearing itself apart. Torr cleans his knife after use with a soap that smells like lavender and tries very hard to dredge up any guilt.

[team5ds]

the worst part is i can't even say he's wrong. they certainly did figure out how to contribute the city by joining the wrgp. but like. this is one of those things where it literally does not make sense. this is insane levels of logic. "we're not sure how to contribute to the city. we think entering a magic the gathering tournament will help." like. imagine saying that fr when your parents ask what you're going to do after you graduate college. "idk. thought i'd play card games and figure it out, man"

[vv-ispy]

chapter 4 is kinda the "ah there he goes Komaeda is now mean to everyone" chapter but its focus characters are basically the perfect counter to Komaeda's approach to life and death and therefore extremely fitting setup for Komaeda's death the next chapter.

Nidai is, like Komaeda, someone who has a terminal health condition that severely limits what he can achieve compared to most people. But he chooses to live the life he has to the fullest, doing what he can in its duration by being himself to support others. Tanaka is, like Komaeda, someone who is aware of the unfairness of life, that for instance in the wild certain animals must die so others can live. But he knows that even those which die as prey fight as hard as they can before their demise. All three of these characters are aware of how unfair life is and that it may be cut sort at any moment before it comes to fruition. But unlike Komaeda, both Tanaka and Nidai respect the life they're given. Being fated to a stepping stone for another's life, like a mice that gets eaten by a hawk, doesn't mean the mice gives up on its own life; the mice will still fight as hard as it can to live, and will have lived until its death. A human life is no different, it's meant to be lived.

So fitting that it is this chapter in which Komaeda learns the truth and rejects living, his life and everyone elses too, and spends the trial looking down on the class while they internalize Tanaka's message of always walking forward. This is the chapter that could have given him food for thought as to his own situation, but instead because he learns the awful truth he preemptively dismisses everything and rejects the moral of the chapter by rejecting the idea of living and moving forward, leading to him not only throwing away his life but now attempting to kill everyone else too in the next chapter

[perilegs]

not an astarion defender in the traditional sense, but in the sense that the whims he gets approval from are funny. i would also approve of someone throwing shit at people who asked them to smear their face with said shit

[ruvviks]

saw u tag one of ur posts as james and 👀 hehehe i want to hear more abt jim :3c

(ofc only if u want to!!!)

EHEHEHE THANK YOU i wrote a little introduction post about her here so that would be a good place to start at >:^)

so tl;dr james is aubrey's twin sister and she's a private investigator and security guard at the club bodytalk in downtown night city! she mostly works there as a bouncer because she's good at throwing punches and throwing people out, but she's also in charge of overseeing any ongoing gigs from aubrey's fixer business and sending in reinforcements if necessary (or she just goes out there to deal with the problem herself)

she used to be on the wilder side when she was younger, drinking and doing drugs much like aubrey but instead of it leading her down the path of partying and one night stands she got in trouble with the ncpd a LOT and she mostly just got into so many fights. she's not like that anymore nowadays, after getting married she settled down and after her divorce she mostly just wanted to vibe. she's not made for a 9 to 5 job and that's why her current occupations are perfect for her because she can work in the evening hours at the club and do the investigator stuff on the side :)

she ends up getting together with luna at some point a bit later in the story! they first properly meet when luna starts working at bodytalk a bit more and grow closer quickly when james gets injured after a gig and she ends up going to luna's shop because it's the closest ripperdoc she could find. need to spin them around more but things are happening in here alright

some more facts because i love her

james uses she/he pronouns, in the sense of mainly she/her but if you wanna use he/him for her she doesn't give a fuck and also actively encourages it when people ask her :) this is mirroring aubrey's he/she pronouns, he has the same kind of relationship with his pronouns. the two of them often jokingly say they swap pronouns every other week LMAO

she's a few minutes younger than aubrey but also a single cm taller and she has decided to make it her entire personality. as is her right

james has pretty bad anger issues which are entirely a result of her past, with her father being a piece of shit and her mother not taking care of her children at all. she's very protective of becca, her older sister, who took care of her younger siblings throughout their whole childhood

james nowadays lives together with rikki, her younger half-sister :D rikki basically moved in after aubrey left for elysium (spaceship) and when he returns, he goes to live together with leon which means rikki can stay with her older sister. the valentine siblings all love each other very much basically and don't mind sharing a living space at all, it's what got them through their childhoods and especially after aubrey has been trapped in space for nearly a year they all agree it's important to stick together as much as possible

[gender-euphowrya]

this is such a Nothing problem but i'm still a bit mad about the creepy factor of liminal spaces being replaced by generic AND THERE'S A BIG WEIRD MONSTER CHASING YOU in mainstream depictions of like the backrooms & all

[arolesbianism]

Having realizations while looking through some of the newer logs again

[xavieremix]

okay so the tags on that last post got me feeling those melon collies so i'm just gonna. tagdump in here. slightly sensitive topics? so uh. scroll down (or press J to jump to next post). or read my thoughts like the morning paper. sorry. cheers.

[cosmictheo]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 | kang dae-ho

—summary: a sudden closeness of you and player 333 makes dae-ho's usually sweet mood swing in the opposite way, triggered by pure jealousy. why would you ever need anyone else when you've got him right there? —pairing: kang dae-ho/player 388 x female!reader —word count: 4.5k —contains: +18, smut !!! (minors dni), p in v sex, unprotected sex, creampie, descriptions of the reader having female genitalia, some porn with some plot, really passionate sex, voyeurism, public sex, sub dae-ho!!! (canon), slight praise kink if you squint, he talks to you through it, jealous and possessive behavior, fluff, dae-ho being so in love with the reader.

writer’s note: english is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me if there is a grammatical error. hope you like it!

Kang Dae-ho had been protecting you ever since he had helped you survive Green Light, Red Light, the first game of all this hell in disguise as a promising new opportunity.

Not knowing you from absolutely nothing, he stepped right in front of you, stretching a hand out to the back to hold yours and guide you across the arena, playing human shield until together, you had crossed the finish line. 

And that basically summed up the kind of person Dae-ho is; kind-hearted, courageous, selfless, caring. He was one of the best people you had ever met and he was making this whole calvary into something much better, something brighter, something to keep fighting for until you made it out of there.

Since that, he had stuck by your side, practically standing as your own shadow, constantly putting you first, looking out for your well-being and safety. Without him, you would probably be dead by now, devoid of purpose.

The other players had already gotten used to seeing the two of you together, always watching each other's backs and fooling around and strategizing. Through thick and thin, you were together.

It was only a matter of time —hours—; before something else began to spark between the two of you, growing every time your hands brushed, or when he wrapped an arm around your shoulders or when your bodies cocooned in each other's warmth at night when you slept. A tension was just starting to build, an emotion that for some reason, would always make Dae-ho nervous and flustered, whenever you'd smile at him or clasp his bicep to be by his side every time Gi-hun related a story from his past experience at the games, or when you'd lean your head on his shoulder or when you'd hug each other every time a game ended.

Whatever it was, out of the same feeling, Dae-ho sensed a heaviness in the pit of his stomach, feeling as if his guts were constricting like a viper, every time you chatted with the 333 player.

He looks at you from the distance, frowning slightly as you laugh at something the guy says, he doesn't even know why he dislikes him so much... he just does.

“Why are you all puckered up?” Jung-bae questions him, pausing his own story to express concern for his teammate's face, following his gaze until he finds you, naturally.

Dae-ho clicks his tongue, shaking his head gently, his tone of voice fluctuating between disbelief and annoyance, "Why is she even over there? It's dangerous"

“Dangerous? Buddy, she's just talking to him. He saved her in the last game, remember?” Jung-bae answers him, confused by the uncharacteristic grumpy attitude of the younger man, used to the sight of him being so cheerful and jovial and optimistic.

“If it weren't for him, she wouldn't be here,” Young-il adds, also glancing at how you whisper with player 333, “She's just being polite.”

But Dae-ho huffs humorlessly, forcing his eyes to drag from you to Jung-bae standing in front of him, his fingers still grasping his fork tightly, not really feeling like eating lunch today, “Bullshit, I would've saved her anyway. She didn't need him.”

Gi-hun rolls his eyes, sitting by his side as he quietly observes the whole scene, chewing a mouthful of rice, “You're just jealous, man, admit it,” he pronounces with his mouth half full, eyes attentively scanning Dae-ho's reaction.

The whole group of men laugh upon seeing Dae-ho's face morph to one of embarrassment and some offense, cheeks blushing furiously at Gi-hun's fake allegation.

“I'm n-not jealous” he tries to defend himself with a stuttering voice, looking frantically around the amused faces of the men around him, his fingers letting his fork drop by his twitching and nervous state, attracting the attention of a few players who were nearby, including yours, which only makes Dae-ho to blush even redder.

Jung-bae smiles playfully, picking up the fork that had fallen to the ground, “And you're being overdramatic.”

“I am not!” Dae-ho squeals, his brow furrowing as he stands up and yanks the fork out of Jung-bae's hand. As the whole group laughs at him, his eyes again search for you in the crowd, finding you in record time, and his whole face darkens again as he notices the way your hand is resting down the player 333's forearm, like you would usually do with him.

He sighs heavily and for the first time, he seriously considers the words of the older men.

Time passes unnoticed within that place, hours perhaps, days? No one really knows.

But the warning that the lights go out in thirty minutes usually means that you should lie down and rest for the next event that the monsters who created this have planned for you all.

The first thing you notice when you arrive at the bed you share with Dae-ho, is that he is lying on his side with his back to you, which concerns you a little, since he never had his back to you when he would sleep.

Something is off.

“Dae-ho?” you call out his name in a gentle whisper, sitting down on the bunk and looking across the broadness of his back with worried eyes, “Are you okay?”

No response.

“Hey,” you try again gently, thinking that maybe he's not exactly having a good day, considering the current situation you're stuck in.

Dae-ho is feeling his chest heaving as he senses your hand laying on his shoulder, fingers delicately squeezing his flesh beneath the tracksuit jacket. 

And suddenly, he's cracking up.

“I'm trying to sleep” and yet, he replies to you curtly, without showing even the slightest sign of rolling over and wanting to actually look at you.

You admire his back with unconvinced eyes for a moment, lying down on the bed and resting your head on the pillow, your hand moving from his shoulder, down his back, across his shoulder blades, before dropping to the surface of the bed.

“You sound off.”

Dae-ho considers his options; whether to just keep talking to you in that oh-so-ungentlemanly way —which made him physically cringe—; whether to express everything he was feeling or just stay quiet and pretend to sleep.

In any case, he acts on impulse, rolling over so he can finally look at you, his eyes softening the instant they meet yours, his heart beating hard and fast, pounding in his ears.

“It's not good for you to associate with players outside our group,” he suddenly blurts out and sees how you just stare at him with further confusion washing over your pretty face, “It could be dangerous.”

“What do you mean?” you inquire, silently urging him to elaborate on his point. You are quick to notice how deadly serious his face is, his lips lightly pursed and his eyes solemn, a look that is unusual on him. You don't like to see him like that, like everyone there usually acted.

“Player 333,” he replies, jaw clenched, his eyes following you as you sat up again on the bed, looking down at him in sheer confusion, as if somehow, you aren't recognizing him, “I saw the way he was looking at you.”

He sounds... hurt? Disappointed?

“Lee Myung-gi” your face turns enlightened, finally understanding what he's referring to now.

Dae-ho deflects his gaze away from yours, slightly rolling his eyes. Whatever that idiot's name was...

“I was just talking to him. He saved me in the last game, Dae-ho,” you explain in an overly naive tone, a little smile curving the corner of your lips, “I went to thank him”

“But I am the one doing that, that's why I'm here. You didn't need him, you have me,” he retorts back to you instantly, your name being pronounced by his lips like a plea for mercy, gesturing to himself with his hand for emphasis on his words. Your brow furrows at the same time as his, your lips turning into a small pout, feeling like a scolded child, “I was going to save you anyway! You only need me, no one else...”

His voice fades the more he speaks, shaky hand brushing through his loose hair. And now you notice it, the betrayed and hurt expression on his face, his eyes hiding something more than friendliness, something much deeper and bigger.

He is jealous.

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?” you are questioning him, getting more comfortable on the mattress, your voice keeping low so as not to wake the others, but also firm on your side of the little argument. You had done nothing wrong, “He was just being a good companion—”

“He didn't seem to be performing the good companion role,” Dae-ho interrupts you, spitting out the words as if they were venomous, rising himself up to also sit on the bed and face you, gesticulating with his hands, his tone of voice is fueled by sarcasm and subtle irony now, “I didn't like the way he was looking at you... neither how you were touching him with your hand.”

He crosses his arms and resembles a sulky kid who's had his favorite toy taken away, but you're too pissed off to pause and laugh at him.

Instead, you roll your eyes, starting to unbutton your jacket, feeling too hot all of a sudden, Dae-ho's eyes follow your fingers as they pull down the zipper, “You're being overdramatic.”

"I'm not!" he gasps-whispers, expression offended, he genuinely does seem to be feeling betrayed by what you had done. He leans close to you, so close that you feel the natural warmth of his body, but you stand your ground, looking at him with baffled eyes, his gaze remains soft yet aching, “I'm just looking out for you.”

“You'd rather I touch your arm then?” you raise an eyebrow on your forehead, dropping the jacket by the bottom of the bed, holding his gaze, “Is that what this is all about?”

The effect of your words in instantaneous on Dae-ho, blushing and causing him to pull away from you rather abruptly, brushing his hand through his hair again like a maniac.

“Yes,” he replies with certainty, the word barging into his throat before he could even think of a reasonable response, so he shakes his head slightly, “I mean no— I mean yes—” he cuts himself off, flustered by your attentive gaze, “—that's not the point! The point is that you don't need to go to anyone else when you have me right here.”

He gulps hard, eagerly waiting for your reaction through desperate, sheepish eyes.

“I know,” you whisper, letting out a soft sigh from your mouth, switching to a more empathetic postur. Then you nod your head and stretch out a hand towards him, who wastes no second in reaching out to take it and pull it close to his chest, nuzzling your knuckles with his thumb, “But he just dragged me with him, I couldn't do much,” you offer him a small apologetic smile, “I know you would have saved me anyway, Dae-ho.”

“Of course,” he murmurs your name, bringing your hand to his mouth to press his lips onto your knucles, kissing your smooth skin, “You're not alone, you're with me. You are everything...”

Without saying anything, you move closer to him and hug him. Dae-ho is more than happy to reciprocate your embrace, wrapping his beefy arms around your waist and hiding his face in your neck, breathing in your sweet and comforting scent, the scent he so adores. You feel his warm breath against the sensitive skin of your neck and a shiver runs through you from head to toe.

One of your hands goes up to his head, caressing his hair, fingers sinking into his dark long locks, the soothing and so intimate touch making him sigh.

“You're jealous,” you murmur after a moment of comfortable, heart-warming silence, and he stiffens, his body freezing, you can feel the way his muscles tense against yours.

Dae-ho pulls away from you just a little, far enough to be able to look at you, offering you a sheepish little smile, his cheeks blushing from all the attention and touch and closeness, the way you're talking and looking at him has him breathless.

“Maybe a little,” his expression shifts to one of shame as he dares to confess, valiantly enough to hold your gaze, letting himself fall into the gentleness of your eyes, always so lively and playful, but as beautiful and sparkling as a pair of gemstones, with your long lashes brushing your cheekbones every time you blink.

His hands gently squeeze your waist, contouring your curves and fitting into them perfectly, as if crafted for him to touch and hold.

“You don't have to be jealous, sweets,” you assure him, like a promise, a complicity, leaning into him again.

Dae-ho swallows loudly, squeezing his eyes shut as he feels your beautiful soft lips press down onto his throat, kissing his bouncing Adam's apple. He can feel himself in heaven, letting himself be swept up by the way you are treating him, the way your hands run down his body, passing down his chest until they stop at his midsection, just at the moment your tongue traces across his skin, making him hiss, feeling all the air being knocked out of his lungs.

“Fuck— ngh,” he whimpers, his whole body aching with heat, his heart pumping hot blood into his crotch, heartbeats matching up with each of your wet kisses on his neck.

His big hands wander over your waist, lightly caressing your lower back, fingers barely grazing the curve of your ass above the fabric of your tracksuit pants, clasping the flesh, pressing you helplessly against his body. His touch is needy, but nonetheless respectful, as gentlemanly as ever.

“Is this okay?” comically enough he's the one to ask as your mouth reaches his chin by a wet trail of soft kisses through his skin and he almost feels himself cumming into his boxers by the way you open your eyes to look up at him, pupils dilated in pleasure.

You sigh out a soft chuckle and your breath crashes against his half-open lips, needily breathing in your air, breathing you in. Your fingers fiddle with the edge of his jacket.

“You want this?”

It's stupid that you even had the mere thought of that question.

“Yes, please, baby— please,” Dae-ho rushes to answer, hands squeezing everything they could grab from you, desperately, “Can I kiss yo—”

Before he managed to formulate the question your lips are on his and from one second to the next he pulls you close to sit on his lap, making you feel his erection press against the underside of your thigh.

Frantically, between kisses, tongues recognizing each other and hands grasping what they can of the other, he helps you to remove his shirt, breaking away for just a moment to pull it over his head, looking at you with eyes darkened with desire.

He groans against your mouth as you kiss again, your teeth nibbling gently on his bottom lip.

“Shh...” you coo against his lips, pushing him down to make his back lay against the bed, “You don't want the others to hear, do you?”

A playful smile stretches at the corner of his lips, squeezing your butt once you leaned over him to begin kissing his chest, his eyes rolling back in pleasure, feeling the way your back arches.

“I wouldn't mind if 333 listens—”

“Dae-ho,” you name him disapprovingly, but your eyes are heavy with playfulness and longing.

He gazes adoringly up as you take off your shirt, eyes roaming down your neck, across your chest, down your stomach.

“You're so pretty, fuck— come here,” he tugs you closer to him to kiss you one more time, his hands detaching from your hips to lift his own, pulling down his pants and his now, wrecked boxers, clumsily sliding the waistband of the cloth down his thighs.

His dick springs free and it has you open-mouthed, staring down at it with eyes of raw longing and adoration. His mushroom-shaped, leaking, needy head bumps barely against his lower abdomen, lining up with his happy trail.

Dae-ho blushes under your gaze, one of his hands caresses your hip to attract your attention back to his face.

“Can you handle it, baby?” his tone of voice lowers sheepishly.

Your cunt pulsates around nothing from his words only and in less than ten seconds, you're stripping off your pants too, pulling your soaking wet panties aside. He can actually feel how wet you are when your pussy barely brushes against his bare crotch, he has to resist to keep from cumming right there.

“I can— fuck, yeah— I can handle it,” you babble tremblingly through gentle gasps as he reaches his cock, stroking it three times before he aligns it with your inviting hole, rubbing it slowly up and down your slit to scoop up all of your wetness, and use it as a natural lube.

Dae-ho bites down on his lower lip to muffle a moan that ascends his throat, feeling the head of his cock push up into the tight entrance of your pussy, plunging between your slick folds.

He leans his forehead flat against your chest, nestling right between your breasts, his whole body trembling from a riot of pleasure, muffling his moans and noises against your skin.

“Shit, y-you're— h-hah— you're so wet,” he raspes out into your bare skin, his lips slurring insults and name-calling you like a prayer, a poem through your sweaty skin, his tongue rolls out from between his parted lips, coating your skin with his drool. 

His hands are roaming over your hips, each digit digging into the fat of your ass, never applying weight, giving you all the time you needed to settle onto his size, yet his voice was desperate and eager with anticipation, “So tight— so pretty.”

Your lips are pressed against the crown of his head, breathing shakily as you begin to lower yourself into him achingly slow, drawing a gasp from both of you. Your palms squeeze his broad shoulders, suppressing the urge to cry out with every inch he is pushing his way inside you, your pussy fluttering and squishing him deeper.

“Yeah, just like that, that's it,” Dae-ho is praising you, pressing sloppy kisses all over your tits, fingers caressing your lower back while his other hand pats your ass appraisingly, “just a little more, baby, a little m-more and I'm all yours— I'm yours.”

His words really touch your very core, hand sliding up his neck to sink into his hair and pull it, making him hiss as he licks your nipple. Your pussy swallows another inch of him and you feel him in your fucking guts by now. He feels your squishy walls clench around him like a vice and he refuses to even think about the possibility of a life without feeling like this again.

“Dae-ho,” you whimper his name as the bulging tip of his cock reaches a particular spongy spot and instantly your whole body reacts as well.

“Mh-hm,” his lips lick and kiss your collarbone all the way up your neck and then he kisses your lips, “I'm here. I got you, I always got you,” his eyes finally lock with yours again and you nearly feel every single muscle and organ in your abdomen twitch when you notice tears being held back in them, all from the flood of pleasure and bliss your body is giving him.

He can feel himself in heaven, beneath you, his hips grinding up into yours as his cock is plunged so deep inside you.

Dae-ho kisses you again, intoxicated, a thread of spit remains connecting your mouths once you part.

A few more long seconds and you're all the way down sitting on him, his heavy, throbbing balls pressed flush against your ass. Your pussy envelops him thoroughly, molding into his shape as you breathe a deep sigh and Dae-ho breathes out as well when your nails dig into his shoulder blades.

“There you are, my baby, you're doing s-so good,” he croaks, fondling your backside affectionately, feeling your dampness dripping down his thighs, “Holy shit you feel good... I'm so deep—”

And when you start to move on top of him, he has to close his eyes, his sweaty palms pawing your ass, hopeless for your mercy. 

But you have no mercy, your pussy, your thighs, your fucking hips, the way you look down at him and ride him, giving him whiplash with every bounce. And he can swear he knows you from another life, from the way his cock forms a shape inside you, reaching parts within you that no one else has been capable of reaching before, as if your body was made for him— no, as if he was made to fit your body.

“My God—” he hiccups and you press your forehead against his, seeking his lips with yours to silence you both, pushing him down until he's lying flat on the mattress.

The bunk just barely creaks beneath the relentless sway of your hips slamming into his, ass bumping hard down on his thighs, taking him all the way down and up again, so deep that every time you bottom out you feel him in your fucking throat.

“You feel so good, baby,” you whine, looking down at him and all of his body is reacting to the petname.

You take in the gorgeous sight that is his face flushed with utter pleasure, eyes squinting, sweaty arms wrapping all around you and holding you impossibly close, his lower belly tensed and cramped.

He looks so pussy drunk, drinking and drinking in your body and essence, everything you provide. The tought makes you feel your insides flip, squeezing into a knot. And Dae-ho feels it too.

You bend down, lips falling onto his shoulder, trailing down to the tattoo on his side and when your tongue traces the black ink, exactly when his engorged tip brushes against your fucking cervix and your ass does a particularly powerful bounce on his thick thighs, he starts to feel his body twitching, reaching that exquisite release. He begins to cum, wracked by a rush of erotic bliss that has him seeing stars in the pitch-black.

His hips begin to meet yours in mid-between your wild bouncing and your pussy squelches around his cock, ready to take in all he has to give.

“I'm cumming— hah— b-baby, where—” he babbles through breathy hiccups and whimpers, his body is flushing, seeking your gaze with half-closed eyes, his chest gasping fast.

You kiss his tattoo one more time before answering him, having the nerve to smirk, as if you aren't jumping his bones, “Inside— mhm— fill me up, Dae-ho,” your eyes finally meet his and you squish his biceps, “please,” you beg him, with tears on your eyes.

“Holy shit— you don't have to convince me, love” he growls out hoarsely, and you have never hear him insult so much in such a short span of time. He kiss the corner of your lips messily, “I'm so fucking deep, you take it so well, baby— fuck.”

He chokes on his own voice and squeezes your hips until his palms are molded into your flesh. His tip touches that special squishy spot inside you again and you're cumming with him, both of you riding your own high, sinking into each other's bodies, souls becoming one. Straight into the core of the storm of pleasure.

His trembling fingers eventually loosen his grip on your ass, but his imprint stays right there, flushed. His cock softens deep inside you and you can feel it still spurting hot ropes up into your womb. Dae-ho whimpers flush against your mouth, gasping for breath. And you know you might as well die right there, tangled with his body.

Your head is empty, blurry with him and only him, your hips keep rolling on their own motion, slower. Your pussy squelches, full of him, the friction only makes him chant your name over and over in raspy whispers, like a hymn. Your orgasm is rough and strong, rocking your body like an earthquake. It makes you moan his name and he cuts you off, kissing you senselessly.

“Thank you, thank you...” he mumbles repeatedly against your mouth, hissing once you stop all movement on top of him. And he kisses you again, appreciatively, lovingly.

Dae-ho throws his head back on the bunk, trying to catch his breath, his hands drop to your thighs, always with a possessive hold, groping around for your ass, pressed down on his trembling thighs.

And it's ridiculous how absolutely majestic he looks there under you, in an afterglow that has him breathless, eyes narrowed and lost stare, gazing upwards as if he's suspended in paradise. His entire abdomen is sweaty and you hold back the urge to run your tongue across his cute little tummy, since your body is slowly beginning to give in to exhaustion, your legs wobbling.

You are satisfied with tracing your fingers along his sweaty skin, touching what were strong muscles, now softened under your thumbprints. Your hand makes an appreciative path up his pecs and he comes back to reality with the touch, looking up at you and patting your ass lightly, his gaze softening as he met your eyes amidst the darkness. The look of love.

“Don't do that, I'm about to get hard again,” he murmurs in a playful voice, a little sheepish smile growing on his lips. He is blushing, like he's not balls deep inside you, his cum leaking out of your cunt and trickling down your thighs.

You let out a sleepy chuckle, leaning down and snuggling close into his chest, his arms wrap around your shoulders and he tugs a blanket over the two of you.

“I had to take you on a date first,” Dae-ho blurts out suddenly, sounding more like he's talking to himself than to you, but you do manage to hear him, yet not really understanding what he's trying to say.

“What?” you ask curiously, still a little dizzy, fingers tracing light caresses on his chest, right where his heart is.

He clears his voice, bowing his chin so he can look down at you, gaze full pure love and adoration, his fingertips soothingly caressing your spine as he answers you in a hushed whisper, “I was supposed to take you on a date before.... all of this.”

You smile bashfully against his chest, looking up at him with big, soft eyes, “Well, we're not exactly in a position where having a date is doable, Dae-ho.”

But he is confident on the subject, fingers drawing little circles on the small of your back, “After we get out of this, I'll pick you up at your house and take you to the fanciest restaurant.”

You kiss him tenderly. 

And he smiles like he's actually in love.

“I'll be waiting for you in my best dress, then.”

[patchwork-crow-writes]

The Roaring Knight encounter at the end of Chapter 3 is a masterclass at showing you that the REAL protagonist of Deltarune isn't Kris - it's Susie.

This doesn't really make much sense at first glance - you can't even really FIGHT the thing on equal footing without the Shadow Mantle, and to even get that Kris has to go through a harrowing gauntlet and fight a whole OTHER secret boss that doesn't even use the battle mechanics we've grown accustomed to. Kris Suffers to get that item, the one thing that can let them stand up to the Knight's merciless assaults. Hell, the game won't even let you retry if you lose until you have the Mantle in your possession. You would therefore assume that the Mantle belongs to Kris, and that they are the ones who should wear it.

And yet. Even when you don't have this item, who stands up to defy it? Susie. Who stops it from doing... whatever it was trying to do to Toriel, TWICE? Susie. And who gives chase across the boundary between light and dark, across the entirety of hometown, to stop it from abducting Undyne? Why, it's Susie. Her actions are those of a hero standing up to a terrible villain of unknowable power, and she does it without a shred of hesitation, even faced with the very real prospect of being killed.

And if that were it, it'd be kind of boring. But that's not it at all, because the reinforcement of this idea continues into the fight itself. Because if you can keep Susie alive for five turns, she starts monologuing against the boss, telling it how much it sucks and that she'll always have her friends behind her.

The Knight is presented to us as unknowable, invincible, unstoppable. Regular attacks bounce off of its absurdly high HP, it cannot be Checked like a normal enemy, attempts to reason with it fall on deaf ears. And yet, what's the one spell that can meaningfully hurt the Knight, to the point of temporarily disrupting its form? Susie's Rude Buster.

And then, when you throw yourself at the Knight again and again, trying to figure out its weakness, trying to outlast its brutal onslaught, it hits you - the Shadow Mantle does NOTHING for Kris in this fight, but it does EVERYTHING for Susie. Susie's the one doing all the damage. Susie's high HP perfectly compliments the shadow mantle's protection against the Knight's more absurd attacks. Ralsei has no way to meaningfully contribute to the fight at all, and while Kris can use Hold Breath to give the SOUL a boost, their utility begins and ends there. The most that either of them can really do is to act as TP and healing bots for Susie, and to equip weak armours that have beneficial effects, such as the TwinRibbon, Silver Watch, Blue Ribbon, TensionBow and Lodestone - the effects of these items persist regardless of whether the character wearing them is DOWNed or not, and, you guessed it, are equipped not to help them survive, but to allow them to support Susie even when incapacitated.

Then you start seeing it in other areas. Who is it that facilitates change in the other characters - Ralsei, Noelle, Berdly? Susie does, each and every time. She effortlessly upends their own myopic views of the world, defying them to change and be better, without even really realising that's what she's doing - is it any wonder that EVERYONE in the main cast seems to have a thing for her? She's magnetic in the way that heroes are, not despite her brashness and short temper but BECAUSE of them - because she cuts so effortlessly through the FICTIONS that other characters cling to, the stories they tell themselves about who they are, what they can do, and how they ought to be. Susie shatters those preconceptions and offers an alternative - live how you want to live, make the choices that you want to make, and let no-one else ever tell you who you are.

Susie is the hero of Deltarune, and the Roaring Knight's fight encapsulates why perfectly, without ever once drawing attention to the fact. It's sheer genius on Toby's part and I salute the skill with which it conveys those ideas in such an organic way.