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virgin weeb depiction of girl boss cousin

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Yes! The Damsel is so underrated, and Burned Grey is such a tragic route for her character. It makes sense why she views you the way she does. You trusted her unconditionally, even when it meant the end of your own life, so she's trusting you too.

And there's definitely a little bit of toxicity in them, I honestly think all the relationships in the game are meant to have their issues, but there's also the idea that she only acts fake if you question her. By asking things that are clearly meant to imply you're doubting her reality and agency, you're altering her to be more fake to reflect that.

She's returning the unconditional trust you offered her up. She just wants to make you happy! So if you stab her, she can't bring herself to place the blame on you. The cabin is what's in the wrong. It's what's making you two hurt one another. And— I mean, she's partially right. She just didn't extend her scope quite far enough.

Damsel for those character bingos? :D

Damsel!! my baby!! I love her with all my heart and she's definetly in my top fave princesses :> I really really like how complex she is and how many interpretations people have of her. There's themes of losing agency and loving someone so much you get consumed by them, but then there's also a sweet happy ending with her, and then there's the betrayal and and AND JUST UGH I LOVE HERRRR

also I have a ton of thoughts about her dynamics with other princesses/voices, I could make an entire post full of headcanons ranging from sweet to angsty.

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Give damsel a gun

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this was funnier in my head.

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Yeah, looking back at all his scenes, that's true! I think I even saw someone mention that he even mentions missing the Narrator in Shifting Mound's heart (which I played it again, and yeah, he does)! He just wants to mess with him a little, meanwhile Cold's probably planning out a torturous demise for him as I speak lol

Contrarian-Cold Parallels

Something I think is super underrated is the parallels between the Cold and the Contrarian. Because, though they present themselves very differently, at heart, they're much more similar than you'd initially believe.

The Contrarian is someone who strives to piss off the Narrator. Whatever he does, he just wants to ruin the Narrator's day. Have some fun, and mess with Narrator; those are his two main goals. He doesn't actually have bad intentions, though. He never wanted to create a fusion of multiple princesses like in the Stranger, in fact, he seems incredibly remorseful. He never realized the weight of his actions, that's all. The Contrarian is much more caring than he seems at first glance, trying to get the player to help turn the princess back at the end of the stranger route, and softening up considerably at the Shifting Mound's heart.

The Cold is actually pretty similar to this, though he has his differences. He, at heart, strives to ruin the Narrator's day and have fun/stay interested in things. Though he's considerably less remorseful for the fate of the princess than the Contrarian, he definitely is more caring than he appears at first glance. He tries to help the Slayer in his own way in Moment of Clarity (I believe it's even implied Cold's powers were what the Slayer used to help stay sane), and he tries to help the other voices bear through terrible pain using his advice of staying numb.

So, they both:

Want things to be interesting

Want to ruin the Narrator's day as much as possible

Don't really seem care about much else other than the two aforementioned goals

Can be surprisingly feeling despite their initial, uncaring presentation

Both seriously underestimate the consequences of their actions—With Contrarian underestimating the harm you can do to the princess, and Cold underestimating the harm she can do to you (sure she's just a ghost, bud, suuuure.)

Funnily enough, though, they spawn from opposing courses of action. Disobeying the Narrator from the start until you accidentally unravel everything (including yourself), and obeying the Narrator until he unravels everything, and then having no other choice but to purposefully end yourself to escape the eternal void he's trapped you in.

And so their presentations seem opposite: The lackadaisical, mischievous, prankster type; and the stoic, serious, calm type. But they both have a major, dare I say character-defining trait in common:

A seeming apathy towards everything except pissing off the Narrator.

In Cold's main route, and most of his others, you literally stab yourself because, well, fuck the Narrator and this torturous eternal void. And Contrarian's routes are... Pretty self-explanatory. You walk away with no discernable goal but the lulz and pissing off the Narrator.

Despite seemingly being completely opposite courses of action, these paths begin to converge into endings much more similar than they seem. You did everything so differently, but in the end, you're still here. With an unknown princess, and a voice who seems to care for naught but entertainment and that pesky raven in your head.

So different on the outside, yet so similar at the heart of it all; that's something I love about these two.

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Contrarian-Cold Parallels

Something I think is super underrated is the parallels between the Cold and the Contrarian. Because, though they present themselves very differently, at heart, they're much more similar than you'd initially believe.

The Contrarian is someone who strives to piss off the Narrator. Whatever he does, he just wants to ruin the Narrator's day. Have some fun, and mess with Narrator; those are his two main goals. He doesn't actually have bad intentions, though. He never wanted to create a fusion of multiple princesses like in the Stranger, in fact, he seems incredibly remorseful. He never realized the weight of his actions, that's all. The Contrarian is much more caring than he seems at first glance, trying to get the player to help turn the princess back at the end of the stranger route, and softening up considerably at the Shifting Mound's heart.

The Cold is actually pretty similar to this, though he has his differences. He, at heart, strives to ruin the Narrator's day and have fun/stay interested in things. Though he's considerably less remorseful for the fate of the princess than the Contrarian, he definitely is more caring than he appears at first glance. He tries to help the Slayer in his own way in Moment of Clarity (I believe it's even implied Cold's powers were what the Slayer used to help stay sane), and he tries to help the other voices bear through terrible pain using his advice of staying numb.

So, they both:

Want things to be interesting

Want to ruin the Narrator's day as much as possible

Don't really seem care about much else other than the two aforementioned goals

Can be surprisingly feeling despite their initial, uncaring presentation

Both seriously underestimate the consequences of their actions—With Contrarian underestimating the harm you can do to the princess, and Cold underestimating the harm she can do to you (sure she's just a ghost, bud, suuuure.)

Funnily enough, though, they spawn from opposing courses of action. Disobeying the Narrator from the start until you accidentally unravel everything (including yourself), and obeying the Narrator until he unravels everything, and then having no other choice but to purposefully end yourself to escape the eternal void he's trapped you in.

And so their presentations seem opposite: The lackadaisical, mischievous, prankster type; and the stoic, serious, calm type. But they both have a major, dare I say character-defining trait in common:

A seeming apathy towards everything except pissing off the Narrator.

In Cold's main route, and most of his others, you literally stab yourself because, well, fuck the Narrator and this torturous eternal void. And Contrarian's routes are... Pretty self-explanatory. You walk away with no discernable goal but the lulz and pissing off the Narrator.

Despite seemingly being completely opposite courses of action, these paths begin to converge into endings much more similar than they seem. You did everything so differently, but in the end, you're still here. With an unknown princess, and a voice who seems to care for naught but entertainment and that pesky raven in your head.

So different on the outside, yet so similar at the heart of it all; that's something I love about these two.

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Dumb question but why is our hand bloody in The Wraith?

I know it was an intentional choice because the artwork and the Wraith's dialogue both feature our hand bloody. That was done purposefully, with some reason.

But the Wraith never drew blood, right? She just broke our ankle. That shouldn't be able to draw blood, right?

Was there a part I accidentally skipped over? Why is our hand covered in blood? Is there some random pool of blood we fell into?

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This has probably been talked about before, but I love how Cold doesn't represent logic.

Normally, when you see a cold, uncaring sort of character in media, someone who just doesn't care, they're associated with logic or power. The stoic detective, the ice queen, the snarky assistant, you know the deal.

But not The Voice of the Cold. You want a logical character? That's Skeptic! But Skeptic isn't cold by any means: he's, well, skeptical, of the things that people tell him. He has the goal of finding out as much information as possible about this situation, and getting out of the hostage situation the Narrator has set up. He's not super expressive or anything, but he's actually pretty approachable/friendly with anyone not named 'The 'Narrator'.

And it makes sense. Skeptic is the voice you get by taking the most logical course of action. Take the blade just in case, but hear the Princess out and ultimately realize she's as much of a victim in this as you are before freeing her, and doubling down when the Narrator tries to control you.

Cold, on the other hand, is about apathy. The closest things to a 'goal' he has are:

1. Don't be bored.

2. Get revenge on the Narrator somehow.

And so, he really can't be logical, at least, not 'logical' in the way we perceive it. Our goal is to get out as unharmed as possible, and many of his suggestions directly contradict this goal.

But the Cold doesn't care about death. After all, it's already been established it's already temporary. His sheer apathy towards any and all harm that comes towards him fundamentally contradicts conventional logic, because conventional logic dictates taking the course of action that minimizes harm.

Now, that's not to say Cold doesn't care about anything. In his own way, he genuinely is trying to look out for the other voices when he urges them to numb themselves to pain, because it's easier that way, isn't it? He's clearly frustrated when they can't do that, urging the Player to just ignore them and listen to him instead during Moment of Clarity.

But at the same time, because of Cold's apathy, his typical 'logic' is just "whatever seems interesting". He's fundamentally a very impulsive character, not in spite of his apathy, but because of it.

Honestly... It's more like Contrarian than anything. I mean, think about it. An impulsive character who does whatever seems interesting and strives to make the Narrator as miserable as they can? The difference is in how that apathy presents itself, which makes sense, because they pretty much manifested in opposite ways.

That aside, though... The Cold acts based on a bestie to feel. Specifically, a desire to feel entertained. And, it makes sense, considering he's what you get from killing yourself due to agonizing numbness and boredom. Of course he's going to be apathetic, uncaring of his wellbeing, and impulsive. That's what you manifested.

Apathy, taken to its logical conclusion, is very impulsive. And I love just how well Cold represents that.

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(inspired by This post)

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Bro's the type of disembodied voice to pronounce a tilde

The Contrarian would use emoticons and pronounce every character out loud. Argue with the wall.

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I couldn’t pick a normal character to be my silly little blorbo this time around it has to be the disembodied voice representing apathy

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Cold-Smitten dynamic is so funny especially in Burned Grey because the Smitten goes "You killed her, so I killed you. Fuck you little bitch I'm going to make you suffer" and the Cold agrees that he killed the princess but also just goads him further because this is entertaining for him.

But Smitten's literally the person who created him? Manifesting Cold has a few requirements but an oversimplification of it is just "Kill yourself after killing the princess". If Smitten hadn't killed himself Cold wouldn't even exist in Burned Grey.

Idk it's just so funny man because. You go king. Create your own worst enemy. Don't just make up a strawman in your head, manifest the strawman in reality and have tense, mildly homo-erotic arguments with him. Even funnier is that Cold is pretty much at his most amused and clearly thinks Smitten's threats are some of the most interesting shit he's ever seen. The hateable guy you made up in your head doesn't even hate you back he just thinks you're hilarious.

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"YOU CANNOT DESCRIBE ME INTO SUBMISSION."

Killer line. Underrated.

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This is great especially in the Spectre -> Wraith route where... yeah the player is just plain stupid for siding with the "wants to trap you in an eternal void" narrator over "just wants to be free and is willing to forgive you for literally murdering her so long as you help" princess

But also I do love how weirdly forgiving she is so long as you don't try to fight her. She even has a line about "You're trying to make things right. I'll remember this, even though I won't forget what you've done."

Like sure she does break your ankles and taunt you but you do kinda deserve it?? In what world is she not justified for doing this to someone who has stabbed her in the heart without a second thought at least once

And if you don't struggle she's literally willing to tentatively forgive you, even if she states she's not gonna forget how you've wronged her + Her straight-up telling the narrator "You cannot describe me into submission" was the funniest shit ever you go queen get his ass

If you throw her into the void, even if it means damning yourself in the process? There's that brief moment of heartbreak, of "Why do you hate me?" Because really, no matter how you got here, why? Why do you hate her so much you'd rather suffer in the void for eternity than just let her be free? And then she laughs. Because of course. She should've seen this coming from you. This is you she's talking about (especially in the two cold routes where you straight-up stab yourself after stabbing her lol). And then she reminds you that it's just you and her now. In a void. For eternity. Why? Because you've somehow decided that, even if it means literally damning yourself so eternal agony in the void, you want to damn her. The Wraith, despite the deservedly taunting way she presents her "you get to be a passenger as I escape", is kinda trusting you not to be a complete maniac here, especially since routes leading up to this tend to establish you as completely willing to kys if needed.

Sorry for yapping over your post T_T, I just love this woman she's one of my best girls

wraith is criminally underrated and im tired of not seeing enough people like her. "oh shes not conventionally attractive like the other princesses" BOO HOO more for me

nothing better than a tired-of-your-shit-soul taking control of you because you wouldnt give her a hand. we deserve what we get

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Why The Voice Of The Cold Hates The Narrator

Replaying the Nightmare -> Wraith route and I'm realizing...

Jesus fucking christ, The Cold hates the narrator. Honestly, I think he might just give Smitten or Contrarian a run for their money.

He:

Doubts every word the narrator speaks

Insults the narrator whenever he gets the chance

Actively suggests killing the narrator, even stating that the princess could help do that

Not only suggests killing the narrator, but also suggests that—no—actually, death is too good for the guy. They should lock the narrator in a void just like the fake good ending. Mind you, this route doesn't even have the narrator do that!

Mocks the narrator when he finally gives up on trying to make you slay the princess

Seems happy that the narrator is gone, saying he had a feeling The Wraith could deal with him

I'm pretty sure Cold over here'd rather be playing Slay The Narrator.

Really though, upon further reflection, The Cold's hatred for The Narrator is also prevalent in The Spectre, where one of the few things he actually seems to have a firm stance on is "We should kill the Narrator". In the Greys, though he's arguably at his most nihilistic, he still seems to oppose the Narrator. He joins the Skeptic in his suspicions, and though he mostly just seems to be having a time provoking Smitten during the Burned Grey, he still does take the occasional second to spite the Narrator.

And honestly, come to think about it, it makes sense. After all, the Cold manifests not necessarily from slaying the Princess, but more specifically, from killing yourself. But not just from killing yourself, slaying yourself in The Tower at the hands of the Broken doesn't manifest him, but specifically by killing yourself to spite the narrator. I mean, other than Empty Cup and Moment of Clarity (Where we don't actually know how he manifested due to the timeskips), each iteration of Cold's manifestation checks out.

Spectre: You slay her, get the good ending, but then decide "fuck this and fuck your contruct", and stab yourself even as the narrator repeatedly urges you not to.

Burned Grey: You kill the Damsel, and in a fit of rage against both you and the narrator, the Smitten kills you, even as the narrator urges him not to. (Funnily enough, this means that, despite the Smitten's line of "you killed her, and so I killed you", it was the opposite, and the Smitten manifested the Cold)

Drowned Grey: You kill the Prisoner, and, just like in the Spectre's route, you kill yourself even as the Narrator urges you not to. If you refuse to kill yourself, Skeptic does it for you, seeming apologetic towards you, but definitely not towards The Narrator.

Wraith: You kill yourself as the Narrator urges you not to, and Paranoid also spends this route doubting the Narrator.

These routes involve various levels of emotion for the Princess, ranging from "My love! Still gonna kill you though" to "So scary! Still gonna kill you though", and an overall perception of the Princess as a corpse. But the Narrator? In all of the routes leading up to Cold's manifestation, the Narrator is met with hostility, usually leading to you killing yourself out of a mix of spite and suspicion.

So Cold's manifestation has two constants:

Some level of apathy towards the Princess, regardless of your previous interactions with her. Whether she's your perfect damsel or your worst nightmare, you don't care. You stab her.

Disregard for your own safety. You're just going to stab yourself, cool. It's better than this hell. Sometimes it's another voice fulfilling this requirement for you, like Smitten in the Damsel, or Skeptic in Prisoner depending on whether or not you willingly die.

Distaste towards the narrator. A conclusion that the Narrator is untrustworthy and distinctly not on your side. No matter how you manifest the Cold, it is clear that you do not like this pesky raven one bit. The Nightmater -> Wraith route shows this through Paranoid's constant suspicion of the Narrator. This distaste frequently, thought not always, occurs due to the Narrator attempting to force you to live out your life in the void, though it can also occur due to the Narrator attempting to make you live a life without the one thing you cherish (Damsel route).

Apathy towards most things, but one thing's for certain: You don't trust that Narrator guy. He tried to make you live out a crappy, boring life for eternity.

Cold's attitude makes sense when you look at how he was created. Just like Smitten was made by deciding the princess was an immediately trustworthy damsel in need of rescuing from the pesky narrator, or that the witch is a gorgeous woman whom you can save by giving your blade in spite of the narrator's wishes—Cold is made through deciding that neither your nor the princess's safety particularly matters, but fuck that narrator guy. He sucks. As apathetic as the Cold likes to act, he reacts to Smitten's threats and the Princess's murder attempts with "interesting", and reacts to the Narrator's explanation of the timeline with "we should kill him".

So, my point?

Well, I think that—not only does the Cold hate the Narrator—but hating the Narrator is part of him as a voice. He's cold, apathetic, and he hates the Narrator. It's been baked into his very being through the choices that you make. The princess doesn't matter, your physical well-being doesn't matter, but know that the Narrator is an untrustworthy little prick.

TLDR: Replaying Wraith made me realize that the Cold probably hates the Narrator very very much, and he does so because it is baked into his very being because of the choices you made to manifest him. You go, king. Let your inner hater run free.