#Consumer Analysis

[maharghaideovate]

Decoding the Consumer Mind: An In depth Look at Consumer Psychology

 What motivates consumers is not solely the interest of psychologists; it is a must-know for marketers and business leaders alike. But then, it’s actually important for the average person, since most of us are interested in what drives buying behavior. Consumer psychology concerns discovering why people buy what they buy. This is a valuable part of the subject taught in programs such as Sikkim…

[ambrosiagourmet]

This is just a smaller observation that will hopefully someday be part of a larger analysis on Kabru's view of Laios & how Laios impacts him...

But I think it really interesting that Kabru surrenders something for Laios twice, and that these moments are inversions of each other.

The first time, Kabru gives up his life to maintain his control. He changes the course of the entire story with this action, and is willing to die to achieve that. Kabru is (supposedly) entrusting the future to Laios, but he is still very much the primary actor in the overall narrative. He is still the one choosing what the story should be.

The second time, however, Kabru gives up his control to keep hold of something personal and selfish (in the way of dungeon meshi selfishness - it is a good thing to keep this desire. It small piece of what makes him a living creature). He steps aside to let Laios choose the way forward. He surrenders narrative agency for personal agency... not changing the story, but changing himself.

[aheavenofhell]

Aziraphale raising his wing for Crowley hits so different with the S2 context. I feel like we all looked at it as, here’s this sweet little principality, he’s kind and naive so he’ll shelter even a demon—but it wasn’t really that, was it? It wasn’t just some random act of kindness.

It was a message.

When Crowley slithered up that wall, Aziraphale was nervous. Because he gave his sword to the humans, sure—but also perhaps because he was seeing this angel again for the first time since he had fallen. He learns Crawly’s new name (Crowley never asks him for his name, he knows it already) and they have a brief exchange that was probably a lot like the ones they used to have.

Then when the thunder starts, it’s Crowley who’s first to move to him, to shuffle hopefully to his side.

I think when Aziraphale lifted his wing up, it was almost a way to say I remember who you are, I remember the kindness you gave me. I’m still here.

He wasn’t just playing umbrella. He was letting Crowley know he hadn’t been rejected by all of Heaven.

[communistkenobi]

I’m not a fanfiction rights warrior or anything but the discourse about how it’s actively making published literature worse is so stupid. if fanfiction is having a negative effect on the quality of published fiction, that impact is vastly outpaced by the economic reasons for why mass amounts of low quality garbage is being pumped into the fiction market. certain conventions of fanfiction (namely the use of trope and character tags) are being adopted by the industry not because fanfiction has some hegemonic influence on said industry but because those things are easily adaptable for search engine optimisation and marketing purposes. like what explanation sounds more plausible: fiction is being increasingly tailored to fit into various narrow category tags (“gay enemies to lovers slowburn coffee shop romance,” etc) because the consumer market has seen a rapid sea change in the past 5-10 years and now audiences all want to read what is essentially OC fanfiction that they also pay for, or because formulating books in that way makes keyword search optimisation on google and amazon way easier to market low-effort schlock to people? this is not a new phenomenon and blaming end-users for the state of the industry is basic cart-before-horse reasoning. you can dislike fanfiction and find the people obsessed with it annoying, but the relatively niche space those people occupy online is not structurally responsible for books being more shitty than usual lately

[gendiebrainrotreceipts]

The “I’ve watched/listened to/read this thing so you don’t have to, here are my comments/analysis” thing is for movies etc, it is not for political pieces. I cannot stress how important it is to consume those things for yourself and make up your own mind. Do not let other people think for you

[aurae-rori]

do you want my ratio brainworm of the day. trick question you’re getting it. so i find it really fun to analyze the story vs. gameplay paths of characters but ratio is so interesting because we really Only have his gameplay path to go on. you could assume in universe he’s an erudition pathstrider, but given his feelings on nous, does he have the faith to do that? or it could be the hunt, but that’s just assuming that his gameplay and story path line up. we know he Has to be a pathstrider of some kind but we have no idea which one, and whether he holds any faith in aeons whatsoever. (elation ratio fans, here’s your crumbs.)

personally i do really love the hunt on him because of what it says about him thematically. every character who’s hunt in gameplay is pursuing something with single-minded focus, but their motivations seem to usually be rooted in what they love and want to protect, rather than what they hate and want to destroy, which seems antithetical to the whole war between lan and yaoshi, but it also seems to really fit with how lan is characterized OUTSIDE of the context of yaoshi- i.e. “be not afraid, o child of the world,” and so on, from tales about the stars. of COURSE this is ratio’s path! he cares so much about PEOPLE, of course he pursues betterment and a higher quality of life for them all— ratio loves humanity so much it burns him!! he loves and loves like the lux arrow itself, descending to purge ignorance, those wicked abominations. he encourages people to stand on their own feet, follow the trail that arrow leaves behind. i think if ratio ever had the chance to speak to lan, they’d find imperfect mirrors in each other, and that’s beautiful to me.

tldr: hunt ratio says a lot of strikingly beautiful and poignant things about the sort of person ratio is, and it’s very dear to me!

-aria nightshade ☆

i literally have been meaning to answer this ask for a MONTH and i think that this is an excellent ratio analysis guys look theyre so fucking right for this.

love and protection - caring for humanity, literally, i think it's a rather excellent portrayal of his character, even if indirectly and everything you said is absolutely right. AAGH i am normal i am normal and if i had more energy i would word vomit about how much he cares but i have already done that before haha but this is wonderful and i love this brainworm :)

[fumifooms]

Thistle & Falin

Just my narrative of Thistle & Falin, collection of shippy thoughts and dynamic analysis. Creating some imagery and threads, etc. What if we both made devotion to our loved ones our purpose, what if we both hadn’t lived for ourselves in a long, long time. Who are we? Beyond who we love and our powers, what are we?

Background info: a short Falin analysis touching on Faligon and Thistle + an old thistlin post, compiling most of their moments. Here I delve into further thoughts but for base analysis of what they have in canon and in potential those are good starts. If you want I also have a full Falin analysis.

Disclaimer: Beyond the nebulous 1000 years I place Thistle as a young adult, and though I agree Falin mothers him to some degree I don’t think it’s unsimilar to the way that Marcille is a mom friend that sometimes mothers Falin and Izutsumi especially. Their relationship has layers like every other one in Dunmeshi, reducing it to being incestuously motherly or age discoursy to justify it being problematic is so funny to me, hello did you miss the mind control. Ah yes I love the 1090 yo with godlike powers being groomed by his chicken slave. You can have your own interpretation but canon is ambiguous enough, and dare I say intentionally ambiguous, that I have no qualms with not infantilizing Thistle, same with Yaad at the end of canon. I do ship Thistle and Falin, and although it’s in a nebulous qpr-or-other third secret thing situationship instead of conventionally romantic way, like, I puke on anything giving them a parental framing so don’t come shitting on my doorstep, kid-Thistle truthers be warned. Only nuance enjoyers allowed on this post. It’s valid if you’re uncomfortable with the ship!! Don’t make your issue others’ problem.

I thankfully finished my Falin analysis before posting this, but besides that I also have an analysis coming on the whole Thistle age thing which I think is interesting, beyond the well being poisoned there are things to explore there, idk in how long that’ll be done though. That’s all for plans that are relevant to this, now let’s get into it.

Part 1

So my favorite Falin things are Faligon + her sense of being like a pawn/misplaced, going on autopilot to follow the wishes of others, a feeling of identity being a burden and sort of fleeing from that, and her not really caring in the way/with the intensity that she’s "supposed" to (as per the points I go over in my Falin analysis). Meanwhile, Thistle has a lot of shit going on already but then there’s also how being a dungeon lord is highly wearing on his mind. As Faligon and as dungeon lord Thistle, the way they’re both so out of touch with reality in different ways holy shit?? They have power imbalance between them and it very much comes from mind control lol, but it’s also not something Thistle is fully aware of himself, because the powers are driving him unstable and he’s not even aware there’s someone in front of him really. He’s so out of it that he can’t even recognize that the dragon has been fused with a human and she’s so out of it we can’t even tell how conscious of her actions she is.

And then the interesting thing is that they’re kind of in it together… Mostly from Falin’s standpoint. We see that he does rely on the dragon increasingly so, hanging out with it, being saved by it and embraced by her etc. When he lets them both fall after breaking the web they were hanging from, he automatically, fully and wordlessly trusts her to catch him, instead of relying on magic or anything, and she does. Falin devotes herself to him but he’s devoted to The Cause which is just chasing ghosts at this point. But despite it all there’s a weird comfort here too… From the guy who in his last moment of lucidity reached out for someone, anyone’s hand, from the guy who hasn’t felt companionship in hundreds of years probably, hasn’t taken it slow and slept and eaten in who knows how long, from the girl who feels compelled to care after him like she’s always done with others… And the beast-ness allows her to have some freedom to figure herself out in a weird way, to simply enjoy being beside someone and doing anything her own whims tell her to.

It’s very destructive and weird and layered but like…. I can see the sliver where it works out. Where her kindness reaches him and he has a moment of lucidity where he sees her and it’s like, wait, who are you, you’re not the dragon?? Where finding someone else who feels just as messed up and devoted as them, like they’re just trudging along life like it’s a dream following their loved one, heals them a bit. Where caring for the other becomes a way to care for themselves too, a dark mirror of each other that shows you, oh, this is how bad it can get and I want to choose something else for myself actually. To grow to see the person standing in front of you, instead of only searching with your eyes in what way they’ll reflect on you. In helping each other, finding some companionship that’s weirdly vulnerable and self-healing. He gets her in touch with herself and her own needs again through the arc and conflict they have, and she gets him in touch with the world and his surroundings again. They have clashing ways to be selfless, very self-sacrificial from Falin meanwhike self-centered with Thistle (he ‘knows best’, ‘everything needs to be left to him’, etc etc, he needs the control, but he does it all for others, meanwhile Falin leaves that control to others and only grabs it for herself in exceptional cases like sacrificing herself to the dragon for Laios).

Like just let yourself be, damn!!! So then them being like, zombie mentally stunted babies kind of enhances that theme in a way too lol. The way they communicate together is very… Instinctive and basic, and I’d love to see how it could develop into a functional dynamic. They’re in ‘learning to be your own person’ kindergarten together to me. Thistle looking at her coloring wildly outside the lines and being like "you’re doing it wrong" and then you look at his and he colored everything a weird color. The precision is scary but then his crayon goes 1 mm out of the lines and he blows up into tears. Ok the metaphor has run its course

So yeah like the ship/brotp is very, them being isolated and against the world together and like… Slowly regaining their minds together. Getting their sense of identity grounded into them again. In my mind they have a 50k words adventure where they hang out and he slowly realizes there’s more to her than just dragon and she encourages him to dawdle around and eventually just play in water and shit and it’s like, starting to see life again beyond the laser focus you limited yourself to… And she’s allowed to just chill out and do whatever she wants besides the whole searching for Delgal thing. You can’t tie down a dragon! They are a duo they are an unit‼️ He’d have been fucked without her and at this point in time he sort of made her and he’s her world. Traumabonded kittens do not separate but it’s onesided in different ways haha. Honestly it’s sort of reflavored mickuro wait fuck…

If nothing else, they’re a very interesting dynamic to ponder. The depths of it all… I want to use them as a social experiment. I want them to stop to smell at the flowers and learn to work together… They’re master and servant they’re owner and pet they’re mothering and mothered (in a guardian hound way, in a mom friend way) they’re both incredibly (emotionally and physically) vulnerable in different ways…… Master and monster if you will. Mostly I see them as guardian & leader. Like I said I ship them but it’s not really romantic atp I think but it’s not quite qpr either it’s truly a weird secret third thing… What if we were sort of coworkers but also ?!!!>??????! You should hate me but you fiercely protect me I should appreciate you but I only see you as a tool WHAT IS GOING ONNN IN THERE

He wants to be protected even if he can’t really admit it. Here the catalyst was emotional distress moreso than physical threat. Notice how he lays there under her wing for a bit as he (refuses to) processes what Mithrun told him about Delgal dying and betraying him. She’s becoming his safety net, his comfort hound. Somehow, the both of them find they’re soothed in each other’s presence.

It kills me. Them being so toxic at the start of it, then somehow ambiguously just hinting towards how things could have went on to be better, could have been headed somewhere nice and healing and healthier, she dies and he dies everyone fucking dies and they forget each other and it ends there they never speak of each other again. Canon wanted me dead specifically. Like remember too that I was there when the last chapters where being released, my ass really was like "Oh I wonder how Falin will react seeing Thistle after being revived!" 🤡 But yess at least that means there’s a lot of Unsaid, a lot of space for speculation, and I want to see what could have been. I want to see it so so bad. It’s so interesting

Post-canon is also so interesting, where they’re sort of recovered but not fully not really, them actually getting to know each other… And she doesn’t remember him but he doesn’t remember her either, in a way they’ve never met even though they have, even though she was the first one on his side since so long, the first hint of companionship he’s had, companionship that he’s so unused to getting that he can’t even recognize it for what it is. He couldn’t even recognize a human standing in front of him!! He is so disconnected from others and the world!! He spoke to ghosts like they had no worries in the world and everyone was ok!! He’s out of touch, tone-deaf af!! Has always been tone-deaf!! Being tone-deaf when he was younger, a stick in the mud, caused him to be more isolated than he already was… Autism4autism, anyways—

It’s them not knowing why or how to express it but being drawn together, a bond forged together by the fire of circumstances and coincidences— or is it only that? No one can know for certain but there’s a grip they have on each other there somehow. Weird distant caring thing. I dont know who you are but I feel like I should know you

It’s like my headcanon that she doesn’t know why, but on her travels she feels something when she comes across wild thistle flowers… There are just faint remnants, whispers of feelings like ghosts.

They should be remnants in each other’s lives. A deja vu of a person in the way Falin hugs small dolls to her chest, or how Thistle reminisces of something when he sees bird feathers discarded on the ground. < This paragraph courtesy of @cabinette’s huge brain

He canonically writes poems btw… Poems would be such a good way for him to get in touch with himself again post-canon, find desires in again and get creative fulfillment. He should make poems about her. To explore and vent and express all the vague feelings and memories he has, both those of during canon and after canon. He doesn’t remember her but he remembers her, slivers of kind eyes and warm gentle hands and healing magic like a blanket…

Yaad, an unlicensed therapist but the best you're gonna get in fantasy land: Maybe you should try journaling.

And too the thing is their relationship with each other in a way is ONLY about themselves, even when Falin is being self-sacrifical it’s less about him and more about how she generally is, that sort of instinct to latch onto someone and just follow along with whatever they do and ask, meanwhile to Thistle she’s only ever been a factor in his plans. Idk idk them getting to that point where they see and know each other, stumbling into that through canon or actively working towards it post-canon, there’s weird beauty in that Like. Thistle cares about her because he’ll take anyone as long as they fit the job description well enough, he’s desperate to find Delgal and will grasp at straws to find him. In a similar way that he’ll reach for someone, anyone’s hand on the verge of death, she seeks to protect someone, anyone. That’s how she centers herself, makes someone her compass and her world. Falin wants to protect someone and Thistle would use anyone, pushed to the states they were in they would latch onto anyone for comfort (caring for him, grabbing Marcille’s hand).

Mirrors truly truly. And Thistle likes to shatter those, and silence anyone who tries to talk to him about reality, so then the option left is to be by him quietly and subtly gradually, gently (her specialty) nudge him in the right direction … Nooo but actually why did he shatter those mirrors. Very interesting to think about. Would seeing himself in others anger him?

I like to call him a ghost of who he was sometimes, a ghost of the past, he’s so haunted, and I think there’s fun imagery there too. The care she offers Thistle somewhat reminds me of the one she offers ghosts. I wonder if part of it is that she sees herself in ghosts, that she wants to offer them freedom and peace of mind she can’t get for herself.

And of course meanwhile on her end, the thistlin arc is also about growing self-respect. I don’t want to see Thistle as a lost cause in saying that her efforts are wasted on him, but being so permissive and invested in him is obviously not healthy for her. She needs to learn when to put her foot down

Oooh, just realized that choosing to eat in this scene was a big character moment all things considered. By eating she faltered in her task, stood up for herself and her needs, was selfish for once (/positive go get your damn food girl). She chose to eat. Anyways

I bet he’s the one who healed her wounds after the Shuro party fight. And on that note— it’s interesting he could change her form from Falin to Faligon without touching her isn’t it? Healing by everyone else like Marcille and Falin always required touch, physical contact between the healer and healee, which some like Chilchuck say is a negative, but… The dungeon lord not needing to touch to heal makes a nice metaphor for how isolating the powers are I think. Truly clinical instead of warm. Theme of community and freely offering affection in Dungeon Meshi etc etc. Like I said, Thistle is out of touch.

The way that he has the powers to change her form and heal and like soo much magic power but he can’t even realize when he’s hurting himself and she’s the one who has to heal him. He’s so fully devoted to the cause even when he acts selfishly that he neglects himself too, and she has to remind him to take care of himself, to eat, etc. That she feeds him. Eating is an act of love to yourself and to life. The berries, the curry, the soup that Thistle refuses to eat—

Do you see the vision. Do you see all the narrative relevance and themes and parallels of their dynamic. To chase ghosts, to cling onto them so they stay with you no matter how warped and ugly they get, and to soothe souls, purifying them and helping them depart for the afterlife… Both magic prodigies whose lives revolve around protecting and caring after their loved ones more than anything else. A family member who looks elsewhere while they are their whole world. They can flee their emotional issues together 🤝 Who are we? Beyond who we love and our power, what are we? I think about the way she cradled him in her arms just before they fell down into the dungeon all the time idk idk

^ End notes from the one fic I wrote about them so far: Slivers, on AO3. For a moment, they were both slivers of themselves, bound together.

Thistle feverishly holding onto ghosts of the past and his source of power, meanwhile Falin cradles the people she can protect in the now with the powers that reside in her… Him cradling his book, her cradling her master……… Parallels

Interlude

And yess it’s important to remember too, Thistle became a mage only after delgal asked… He had innate talent, but moreso than Falin it’s through studies that he learned to actually harness his magic etc. Idk I think it’s an interesting parallel that could have interesting stuff be done on it. People often characterize him as predominantly bratty but. He’s smart and composed he’s mainly smart and composed… He’s unstable and everything during canon was happening all at once with the winged lion being freed and Laios’ party and the canaries and agh </3 He can have a meltdown as a treat he’s smart and cool-headed if it wasn’t for the dungeon wearing on his mind ok… Obvi I love my chars with anger issues but saying he’s overly childish is having tunnel vision I think

Ok so the elephant in the room… First of all how present is Falin in Falugon exactly…… We have no clue. The end sequence does show her in purgatory with a dragon foot holding her down, which can easily be read as it suppressing her personality- with how it’s shown though it feels like she’d be fully suppressed by that? And we know that’s not the case, since not only does she recognize Laios and calls out to him, she hesitates to hurt Kuro because of the dog association, she’s excessively kind towards Thistle, the latter which her Adventurer’s Bible profile confirm to be "her kind nature remaining as the chimera". Maybe it’s a dream-like state? Maybe the dragon is the driving force with the instincts, and it’s only bits of Falin and her personality that show through? A state of mind very primal and not very think-y, even if Falin has enough brains to think of sharing the berries, gesturing and oh- of course, casting magic. No issues with controlling the human half of her body as well. To some degree, her and the dragon are working in tandem. My own preferred interpretation is the driven by instincts one, a state of mind like an actual dragon’s, which in my Falin analysis I delve into the significance of it for other parts of Dunmeshi too. So yeah, dreamlike mindless autopilot… I think exploring her pov as Faligon would go super hard. Aware of her surroundings but sort of disconnected with it, and disconnected from herself too, entirely living in the present… And like with her talking to Laios— the only time she speaks in her chimera form, a simple observation, "Laios, brother", sometimes her human thoughts peek through more sharply, short moments of lucidity… I think it’d be interesting to see an arc where as the chimera, she learns to share the "brainspace" more with the dragon.

It’s also unclear if Thistle had a say in how much of ‘Falin the human’ is in control? He very well might have suppressed her somehow when he changed her form to be more dragonlike. That might also be due to just getting back the dragon meat though— and the dragon meat itself might be why/how the brainspace is shared. There is a lot less of Falin’s body in the chimera than there is of the dragon, body mass wise. Dungeon Meshi is a lot about physicality so I wouldn’t be surprised with this reasoning. But there’s the whole mind control soul bond situation too…

The mind bond is another thing that’s left mostly to interpretation when it comes to the details. She feels compelled to listen to the dungeon lord’s orders as a monster created and owned by it, like the dragons Thistle summoned during the fight at his house, but again like we see with the dragons, if the monster has a "strong will" it can disobey to some level without being punished by the bind or anything. The eyes of the magician, the small wyverns, level-of-control wise can’t be accurate examples because they’re sort of like familiars, Thistle can see through their eyes in real time no matter where they are but it’s only this species as far as we know. So otherwise the mind bond is more subtle… There’s also the question of how much the control is shared between the dungeon lord and the demon, which again Thistle’s situation is exceptional because he managed to seal his demon in a book, presumably all the power goes through Thistle without the intermediate of the winged lion, though we do see he has some reach since he reaches Laios through his dreams. ANYWAYS all that to say. I do really ponder about how a dungeon lord's monsters get their orders, like... For the fight on the first floor, did Falin just feel Thistle's agony in her bones and came clawing and barging her way in desperately and angrily to protect him because of his distress, or did he more directly demand she come, consciously or not?! Idk, since Falin is actively protective of him unlike the dragons who reluctantly listen to him, her being very fast and intense about it doesn’t have to be forced… It’d be interesting if she can sense his feelings, wants or thoughts, bc I don’t think it’s as conscious as like, telepathically communicating "hey you, do this"…? Pondering, pondering. Mind bond <3 Soulbound <3

They’re both very trapped in the past… I wonder if as Faligon a lot of her mind goes back to memories of Laios and such, if she’s in a dreamlike state and not just sort of absent, where would her mind retreat... I don’t think so like I said I think she’s mostly driven by dragonlike mindlessness, but still… Thistle stuck in the search of Delgal, thinking back to everything they’ve shared and where it all went wrong obsessively, and Falin, sort of larping that she’s still beside Laios, not unlike how Thistle treats having the corpses of the royal family at his house like them being safe. Delusions. Idk I just want more character studies.

The metaphors in this truly… It’s not literal, like def not something that happens during canon at no point are they or could be ever atop a mountain of frames and paintings of the Golden Kingdom’s royal family and fine art lmaoo, so then like the meaning behind it all… She offers him reprieve, an outsider from all the Golden Kingdom expectations and drama, just someone warm to lean on, someone who’ll stay…….. I love Faligon pushing him to rest and nap so much. Man has first nap in a thousand years. Feather duvet like a nice warm pillow. The peace she offers him man……. Live in the present bbygirl Unfortunately it doesn't help. Look at them eyebags… Man needs to sleep!!

Part 2

^ This panels drives me crazy It’s the possessivity. It’s the "my". It’s the "stealing".

What if you have fear of abandonment and think you have to prove your worth for people to stay by your side. What if belonging to someone makes you feel like you belong and you feel loved and soothed by it lowkey, feel like it makes things easy. What if I was bought as a slave and servant but I was adopted into a pretty loving family. What if ownership is what love looks like to me. What if that’s why I have no problem rationalizing keeping people against their will in a glorified kingdom-prison, because that’s just what someone with the power who Knows Better does, and… Did he always call her his dragon hello? Feelings

He is not letting it go damn He hates when people mess with what's his. Or Delgal’s.

But imagine. The dragon is like, the last thing he has. The Golden Kingdom has moved on from him, everything is shit, but his dragon is the last thing he still has some realm of like. Ownership over. But that ownership is kinda just his sense of belonging. His role, his duty.  So it’s like "Don’t steal the last thing I have" especially if post-canon… It’s thinking from his time as a jester bought into a loving family that ownership is natural in love and care. It’s thinking that’s the way you get to belong beside someone, beside earning that through achievements and being useful and capable. Everything is being stolen away from him. Control and things and people and even the importance he has to the Golden Kingdom as he becomes part of the background & past history and the kingdom switches into new hands aka Laios’…

My dragon, not the dragon. I do like to imagine especially after the berries he’s starting to feel differently about her. He keeps being like "you’re acting odd, dragon". His dragon is special. She’s not just another regular monster npc to easily replace, there’s human contact in there. His dragon just for him. <3

I do think Falin has some issues with like, asking to be with the people she loves, feeling safe in asking for that, that she’s worth that. She follows them and is quiet and just takes the crumbs of love that they offer, she doesn’t ask Marcille at the academy to spend lunches with her, doesn’t ask anything of her distant busy father and ill anxious mother… The person she did ask things of, Laios, who she always asked to go travel the world with him and whatnot, left her behind. Like how Delgal left Thistle. Theme of leaving </3 theme of family and abandonment issues </3 So she just follows and cares after them and makes herself useful and is grateful she gets to be beside them at all. So yeah what I’m saying is being owned/belonging to someone might feel yeah like, belonging. Being One Person's. He’s seen her at her worst and most bloody and raw, and still wants her? Very comforting And especially post-canon he doesn’t need her to be witty or useful or such, he just needs her love and that’s what she has lots to give.

Do you think Falin wants to be needed… Do you think she’s a little restless if she doesn’t feel like she is, like she thinks just like Laios people might leave you behind and you never see them again.  It’s also because of what she said, that she put others before herself, that she just followed/imprinted on her parents/Laios/Marcille. She avoided conflict, she wanted to be liked and live in peace. The only times she was selfish, she hurt people (left school for Laios, sacrificed herself for them, teleported them out despite possibly hurting people on the surface), so she chooses to be selfless instead. "One of the most selfish things i've ever done was barely even for the sake of myself" - Falin and Toshiro both hah Falin is often told she doesn’t care the right way or not enough, you’re cutting classes Falin, I’m upset you left me and you don’t even seem to think it’s a big deal Falin, you shouldn’t have sacrificed yourself to save me (her not noticing her ostracization in her village wasn’t told to her but I’m including it also). And with Toshiro when considering her proposal, she was worried to accept because yeah it’s have been convenient but she wouldn’t be reciprocating his feelings in the way he wants and expected her to with what he asked of her… And she’s worried it wouldn’t be right… Bc she doesn’t care about the proposal on the same level he does….. I just think that’s neat I think that Falin caring both too little and too much, with laser focus on Laios & Marcille neglecting even herself, is a big part of her. She focuses on others and their emotional needs so so much always, babygirl be selfish for a while…

Thistle’s interaction with Laios is interesting too, especiaoly when Kaios heals him. How he looks at his shoulder, surprised and confused… Guy who's used to not having his personal needs met because he's so busy doing everything for the people he cares about receives care??? Woah that’s crazy Something something being so unused to human contact and affection that you don’t know how to process it and don’t recognize it when it happens/stares you right in the face. Thistle the Toudens are gonna make you open up ur heart to humans again on god…

What if… He doesn’t want to admit she’s not the dragon. If he admits it’s not the dragon that means giving up some control… This was not in his plan, he doesn’t know how well he can control a chimera rather than a dragon, it’s weakness it’s vulnerability it’s feeling like he’s losing his grip on everything again and thus losing his place and purpose. Hmm…

Finding yourself through someone else… Because defining yourself through others is what you’ve always done… Yeah. Yeah.

I do love it tying into Falin’s arc of finding herself. Like, she doesn’t remember her time as a chimera, she just remembers this guy she has conflicted but fond feelings of for some reason, so say if they travel post-canon, traveling with him would also be a way to figure out more how she’s feeling, and then there’s how when looking at him she gets the feeling that it’s been a long time he hasn’t lived for himself either… And like for him traveling is about seeing the world a bit too. Seeing it not as something to control or always dangerous but something to explore, and just enjoy the little things instead of worrying about the court. And just. Aghhhh. He hasn’t had someone on his side for centuries. Sighs. Of course Yaad also becomes that largely but traveling post-canon with Falin… Would love to see that in fancontent

Them growing to SEE each other, with the film in front of their eyes slowly fading away. Both of them coming out of it more genuine than they’d been even before meeting, before becoming warped, growing more comfortable in their skin and with the thought of connecting with others. It’s the mutual care <33 it’s having been on each other’s side at both your ugliest <3 Unconventional caring...

Toshiro saying "you can’t tie down a dragon" is always so good… Someone should so do stuff with that. "But you can tame it" / "I tried to once" / "but she chose to stay with me anyways"… Musical theme of How to Train your Dragon starts playing in the distance

When/after they get together, I feel like their relationship isn’t something they like to label… If anything it’s like. Partner. Or calling each other by name… Him calling her my dragon, except now it’s warm and personal would be so. Aughh <3 But then that just also makes the first time he calls her by name so huge.

Conclusion

They and their relationship is weird and unusual but that’s just how they are, and how they need to accept themselves (again: as they are) and roll with it! And make a place in the world for them anyways!

Magic forced them to be vulnerable in front of each other but it’s them who have to like… Be pushed out of their passivity and do something with that vulnerability.

BROTHERSSS THEY’RE BOTH ALL ABOUT BROTHERS. LEAVING. OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY. OUT OF TOUCH WITH THEMSELVES AND THEIR OWN IDENTITY. In a twisted way only the other would understand what it’s like.

Thistlin is so crazy, in humanizing you it humanizes me, in recognizing you for what you are I get more back in touch with the world again.

Flighted birds have hollow bones. With freedom there are risks and drawbacks. Thistle was Falin’s.

It’s not everyday you can have a ship where both characters are out of touch with reality and others and themselves and have this weird almost innate bond of her being compelled to protect him and care for him and him holding onto that unknowingly… Even if he didn’t need to, keeping her by himself and sitting on her while he plans and has a panic attack….. And also he owns her and robbed her of her freedom & body & full mind but she still wuvs him. Weird intimacy with the guy who horrifically changed you into something else, and yet is not even aware he has done it.

Falin loves nature and Thistle is named after a flower… Her post-canon coming across wild thistles and feeling a rush of fondness and she doesn’t know why… Thistles have thorns, but they taste sweet. Just gotta peel them off and enjoys the sweet taste of it once it’s open <3 Eat it like them honeysuckles

Slice of life 40k words thistlin sitcom I need you. Don’t make me write it myself. Sob

You are so so close sweetie…

wutiwant

I don't know what I want But I know it's not this These words don't mean nothing Once they left my lips More awake inside of my dreams Was that really you, next to me? Give me what I want, who am I supposed to please? Who am I supposed to please? Who am I? Who am I? I? Give me what I want Give me what I want

Some links, since the pair is small enough that finding stuff for them can be hard: Falin & Thistle search on pixiv Falin & Thistle search on danbooru Ao3: Thistle x Falin, Thistle & Falin Ship names: ファリシス / シスファリ. Thistlin

My own spotify playlists: Thistle & Falin, Thistle, Falin

source v

[ohmerricat]

(first time watcher here teehee) losing my mind over this exchange. the common consensus is apparently that this episode is below-mid grade filler, but i beg to differ, not even only because it would have been a lifeline to little withdrawn artistic autistic girl me had i watched it at chloe's age. just– look at the subtext. they're talking about themselves, each other, their own mutual codependency. sure, rose wasn't lonely before meeting him per se, but she had been living day-to-day unfulfilled and underappreciated. and four billion? that's close to the population of a decent sized planet. i don't know how many gallifreyans there were and i'm not delving into the wiki for this because it's about words, not numbers. words very particularly chosen. two lonely kids who needed each other, desperate to be loved. 'it' (the relationship, the symbiosis, the empathic link, the isolus as doctor and chloe as rose) will just keep pulling 'kids' in: people, lives. mostly strangers for now, apart from mickey, but it's as if the writers this whole series have been beating over the audience's head with the message... this is the story of a love doom(sday)ed by the narrative. the doctor gets more arrogant, rose gets more infatuated; the little inside jokes and side glances and sarcastic private detective duo dynamic they've got going on, so easygoing and carefree and invincible – it's all set to crash and burn.

[nerdyenby]

NO YOU DONT UNDERSTAND

Martyn’s betrayal isn’t just him betraying Scott, but the ideals of the entire season.

Limited Life has had the most stable alliances in the life series across the board, with everyone sticking with their ep 1 crew until the end. The theme of this season was loyalty, you guys.

The Clocker’s weren’t the only family, far from it. The entire series is like a sitcom — neighborhood drama. Everyone was related in some way, everyone cared about each other to an extent, and the bonds formed were never broken. Sure there were accidental team kills and mistrust between factions, but the teams themselves all were so individually devoted to each other.

It’s a perfect reflection of Last Life, last time the bogeyman sewed seeds of distrust and betrayal, now we see unwavering faith in spite of the curse. It’s hardly a curse anymore; as with any disease, those who have had it before have higher resistance. We have people resisting the urge to turn on their teams and instead confiding in them, working together to get them cured. The bogey doesn’t divide people, but bring them closer together because of the inherent trust in looking at someone you love, seeing the bloodlust in their eyes, and saying “I’m not leaving, we’re going to get you through this.”

The whole season feels more amicable for it, people are willing to make alliances in the final episodes with people who have hurt them before because there’s some small, remaining foundation of trust there. While Last Life was built on lies, words have weight in Limited Life. Promises are kept here. Grudges are dealt with. Fistfights are held to put past hurt behind them. People willingly offer their lives to each other, even if not on the same team. People beg their allies to kill them, just so they can have a little while longer.

So when it comes down to the final three, there’s no bad blood, they were working together earlier that very episode. They want a good, fair goodbye to their enemy, because he’s still their friend. So they redistribute time until they’re equal, they burn together to level the playing field, and they agree to do a fair 1v1v1. No weapons, no armor, may the best man win.

But that’s not what happens. Martyn has come too far to leave it to chance. He has no reason to honor this agreement so he doesn’t. He even goes after Scott first, betraying his closest ally to let Impulse know this isn’t about him. It’s not about making Impulse lose, it’s about making Martyn win.

In the season built on trust and good faith and interdependence and promises, Martyn breaks all of these in the final minute of the game.

The winners are always those who go against the grain, and Martyn is no exception.

[thornycanary]

big frightening ducky

[tubchunk]

q!tubbo, fred, and how far are you willing to go?

So I have THOUGHTS about the lore today :D

FIRSTLY:

When watching the stream, I was so convinced that the letter Fred left asking q!Tubbo on a date was fake, a trap by the federation. But now, realising that it was actually genuine, it was a real desire they expressed, and q!Tubbo never lost faith once that he meant that invitation, breaks my heart. I don't know when Fred realised that their feelings may be something other than just friendly (if they even are completrly), but I bet the movie date and q!Tubbo's endless kindness and patience towards her is what made them want to push a bit further. I wouldn't be surprised if Fred forgets about the Federation, what they have done, and what their position means, when they're talking to, thinking about, or simply with q!Tubbo. Because he never treats him as "Federation Worker WA02". They're Fred. They're someone who exchanges letters with a curious, kindhearted, chaotic engineer, using flowers to communicate things too large to put into words on a page. That's who they are when picking up the letter where q!Tubbo says yes to a date, telling him to pick him up whenever.

But then, like with q!Pierre, q!Quackity comes and kidnaps him, and that stark reality returns. Because to the other islanders, he is a Federation employee, working for an organization that has hurt, tortured and manipulated the people of the island to the point of memory loss and trauma. In q!Pierre's case, Fred was DIRECTLY involved in what happened to him, and to q!Quackity, he is the symbol of what took everything from him. They don't care about what Fred may be like away from the office, he is an employee of the vessel of their worst nightmares. This isn't usually a problem for them, he defaults to the persona she must adopt as a high-ranking employee, with no fear and curt responses that don't reveal much.

Until they bring q!Tubbo into their threats.

And that shakes them up, something in them twists. Not him, he has nothing to do with any of this. Fred says that every time, cuz to them, q!Tubbo is the part of their life that is untainted by the things he has done as a Federation employee. He's the boy who taught him what a friend was, who always wished he was healthy in every letter he wrote, who promised to protect him with what little he had cuz he cared. They have never seen q!Tubbo as anything other than kind, patient, and understanding. He needs them to stay separate, both for q!Tubbo's safety, but also his own. Because they think the moment q!Tubbo finds out what he has done, he thinks he'll leave. Why would someone as kind as him stay by his side after finding out they're a monster?

But q!Tubbo isn't exactly what Fred thinks he is, either.

The same boy who excitedly showed him Wall-E in the cinema, who picked flowers to give him every time they wrote, is also the one who laughed down the barrel of Cucurucho's gun pointed at him, before making his escape. He's snuck into the Fed office multiple times and broken into all its parts, he's broken several rules and continues to do so without a care. HE WENT TO THE NETHER !!! HE LAVACASTED A FED BUILDING!! MAJORITY OF THE ISLAND CURRENTLY WANTS HIM THROWN BEHIND BARS AND HE DOESN'T CARE !!!

Quackity (the cc) had said during the Brazil meetup streams that following events would push the people of the server to see how far they would be willing to go. And I can so clearly see how this would factor in for fred and qtubbo's arc.

Fred has been convinced by q!Quackity that q!Tubbo now hates him. But he doesn't know that, despite q!Quackity trying everything, q!Tubbo refused to be angry at Fred. His faith in them is unwavering TO A FAULT. And he has said before, he does not CARE whether Fred has hurt people or harmed them, because that's his friend (cough cough partner). He knows Fred better than anyone else, and would not think to abandon him through anything. And if he's done bad things? q!Tubbo would not care, he'd probably be willing to walk down into hell with Fred's hand in his if it came to it. Who's to say, to get Fred back, q!Tubbo wouldn't snitch to the Federation? Anything to get the one he cares about back. He promised to protect them. That's how far he's willing to go. Even if it means everyone on the island hates him even more. If it's Fred, he's willing to do it.

q!Tubbo would be willing to burn all his bridges if it meant keeping him and Fred warm.

i was kinda disappointed with the lore today cuz i had hoped it would be more qtubbo centric, but i guess shit must havebeen shifted around cuz tubbo is travelling and it wasnt the best convenience for him but PRAYINGGGGG they do something with this and qtubbo gets his true neutral/villain arc for fred toxic yuri coded frubbo are so real to me

[maharghaideovate]

Decoding the Consumer Mind: An In depth Look at Consumer Psychology

 What motivates consumers is not solely the interest of psychologists; it is a must-know for marketers and business leaders alike. But then, it's actually important for the average person, since most of us are interested in what drives buying behavior. Consumer psychology concerns discovering why people buy what they buy. This is a valuable part of the subject taught in programs such as Sikkim Manipal Distance Education MBA and other top distance MBA colleges, thereby, a must-learn for every MBA student.

Why Consumer Psychology Things

Consumer psychology isn't complicated, but it's powerful. Basically, it focuses on the study of how a human thinks, feels, and makes decisions at the point of purchase. The right kind of knowledge here will help you make messages that mean something to your audience. Whether you are doing a global campaign or a local ad, your work will be all the more potent with consumer psychology as its foundation. And it's no wonder why it's taught in top-tier programs like the best distance MBA colleges.

The Marketing Connection

It goes without saying that marketing is not merely about selling a product; it is about connecting with people. But how on earth do you do that? Since it is no rocket science, marketing stands on the pedestal. yes, psychology. Be it big brand launch programs or any customer-retaining activity, knowing somebody's brainwork goes a long way. Almost all of the Top Distance MBA Colleges do cover a lot in this regard, teaching the way to translate psychological knowledge into workable strategies.

Key Psychological Concepts in Marketing

Social Proof: People follow the crowd. If they see others doing something, they are more likely to do it too.

Scarcity: If it is something in limited supply, then people want it more.

Emotional Triggers: You have their attention by connecting with someone's feelings.

How Top Distance MBA Colleges Prepare You

Sikkim Manipal Distance Education MBA and other very reputed colleges offer courses that go deep down into consumer psychology. The respective courses are not merely scratching but going to understand how consumer behavior impacts marketing and business strategies.

You will learn:

Consumer Needs: Understanding what the consumer needs really, not necessarily what they say they want.

Predicting Trends: Staying one step ahead of the pack by forecasting what really is next.

Planning using psychology for effective marketing strategies—Strategic Planning. Practical Applications of Consumer Psychology Mastering consumer psychology is not about theory alone; instead, it is about the practical application of the theory in real-life situations. Graduates from top distance MBA colleges, who learn the skill of making use of consumer psychology in real life, are much better positioned to succeed in business.

Here's how you can:

Create Stronger Campaigns: Use insights to develop messages that really resonate.

Better Products: Design products that answer the actual needs of consumers.

Understand what keeps customers satisfied and loyal.

Real-life examples

Want to see consumer psychology in action? Look at brands like Apple and Nike. Apple doesn't just sell gadgets; they sell a way of life. Nike? They've built a belief that anyone can achieve greatness with the right pair of shoes.

These brands didn't get lucky. They understand consumer psychology and use it to build loyalty and drive sales.

Final Thoughts

Consumer psychology is not something to be understood at will; it is plain imperative in marketing and business. If you are pursuing any courses like the Sikkim Manipal Distance MBA or in any other top colleges for distance MBA, then notice this aspect. It will help you come out with workable strategies.

The next time you work out a campaign or product, consider what's going on in the consumer's mind; that is where the success begins.

[monsterfuckermilligan]

thinking about the fact that up until s15 the story always ends with older sibling killing the younger sibling, who basically was a parent to the younger sibling. it’s cain and abel. michael & lucifer. dean & sam. they all parallel the darkness & the light, who are the original siblings. however by the end of the show, michael is the only one who fulfills his ‘role’ by killing lucifer while both of their vessels (adam milligan and nick) are already dead. (michael also subsequently fills the role of chuck’s abraham and isaac, father killing his son obsession by chuck killing michael personally instead of him just being erased during the rapture like everyone else.) as for the originals, the darkness and her vessel (amara schneider) get consumed (eaten) by the light, essentially killing both the darkness and amara. and with the winchesters, dean is the one dies in the last episode while sam, aka the younger sibling, survives which means that the light is the one who survived. we know this because jack says “we’re in harmony” when asked about TD!amara, so he is referring to light/dark. but the power transfer with jack still leaves behind chuck shurley, aka the light’s former vessel, and jack says TL!chuck’s power is not his anymore, so it’s possible it’s not a full consumption, but simply another possession.

[loadinghellsing]

"does a person count as religious if they believe, but have lost their faith?"

If the answer is "yes"? Alucard is more religious then Anderson.

"more religious" as in "more consumed, motivated, and driven by their faith, and by their faith alone."

Combat is Alucard's prayer, it's in the blood spilled and the lives lost. Vlad lived, fought, and killed for his faith.

And him consuming the blood, is him taking that entire prayer from god, and claiming it as his own.

So if you take every act of faithless faith, and tally it up as a religious point. Well...

I feel it's safe to call him the most religious character in Hellsing.

His relationship with it is complex, and runs deep. Furious resentment, but also a sense of self loathing with what he's become. Torn between two extremes.

(conflicted grin/scowl)

-Additional note-

Alucard's quote; that dedicating yourself to god, or dedicating yourself against, is all the same.

Prompts an odd realization, that in Alucard's own terms, he could never have held the weight of a human life.

Because Vlad had been dedicated and faithful to an all consuming extreme. Alucard is just the other side of that same coin.

"If Satanists do not believe in the devil, who does?" - "Christians."

But if Alucard expresses two extremes of monstrosity, here's the thing that really gets me.

Anderson is a monster of neither extreme.

"Instrument of God", sure. but the main things is; Anderson doesn't want to be human. He doesn't want emotion, fear, heart, or pity.

He becomes a monster because of a human desire to not be overwhelmed with conflict. It's the desires of a tired man expressed through faith (not because of faith) that turns him into a monster.

he works at an orphanage, he has kids he care about. Such as Maxwell. Who he strikes down in "the name of god", be he strikes down with a human heart. With pity, sorrow, loss, and love.

Emotions that aren't because of his faith. It's human, it's who he is. And his faith is just another aspect of that identity.

So through those terms? Anderson became a monster in the most human way possible.

[multifandumbmeg]

Subtle JJ things I noticed that keep me up at night:

1. The way they changed the styling of his clothes from season 1 to season 2. Season one he's already pretty ripped but he mostly wears these loose-fitting tshirts and cutoffs that make him look cute, lanky, and unthreatening. Season 2 he mostly wears tight-fitting tshirts that make him look CONSIDERABLY beefier and generally is seen wearing more layers- it's technically Fall but he covers up more than other characters do and it has the effect of him seeming more closed off and isolated than the others, which he is. Season three his style is somewhere in between, not super tight but not lanky and loose either, like he's found a better balance.

2. His drinking. Season 1 he's partying a lot with beer and frankly, high most of the time. Season 2 he starts carrying around the flask- presumably liquor, not beer- and drinking non-socially. Before school. At John B's "funeral". That night they're stranded with Kie and Pope on the way to Charleston. The others aren't drinking at all, nor does he offer them some, then he seemingly (to Kie) falls asleep with the open flask in hand... Like he's been drinking himself to sleep, and this has probably become a habit. This is clearly because he's depressed, and though I think John B's "death" is the catalyst, it's clearly not the only reason as it continues through season 2, for example the aforementioned Charleston trip. I think John B's death, going no-contact with his dad, living alone at the chateau, Pope and Kie's relationship, have all led him to feel extremely isolated and he's clearly coping with substances even worse than before. Not to mention he's free of his dad for the first time, completely after he leaves OBX, which means for the first time in his life he's probably processing his trauma, which is what tends to happen once you find yourself no longer in a continually traumatizing situation. That would also account for his moodiness and increasing dependence on substances. I think it's also interesting we see him smoking weed less, but drinking more heavily. I think they did this to show a marked change in his already concerning substance use from season 1 from "bad coping mechanism, gets him through the day in relatively good spirits" to genuinely concerning and potentially volatile, over-using a substance his biological was known to be addicted to. Note this abruptly ends at the end of season 2 with being stranded on the island with all the Pogues. There are zero substances on the island, but it's clear it's the happiest he's ever been. A lot goes down after they get off the island but he seems to minimally fall back into old patterns in season 3. Apart from hanging out and partying a socially acceptable amount with his friends, the only time I remember him using is when he's drinking beers alone at his house- when he gets home and everyone's reuniting with their families and when he's fighting with Kiara because of their moment. When he feels alone and scared. I'm curious to see his development in season 4.

3. His lack of fear/loss of fear in death. Bro, nobody talks about how differently he reacts to danger between seasons 1 and 2. All throughout season 1, JJ is an anxious wreck and his response to being threatened is always submission, fear, and an instinct to run. When there's guns on him he gets the fuck down. He puts his hands up. He looks visibly terrified. Multiple times you can see him VISIBLY shaking. When the thugs are attacking Miss Lana, he's trembling with his eyes closed and trying not to make a sound. He begs John B to leave while it's happening and after when he sees her reaction. Even when Barry tries to rob them, furious though he is, he follows Barry's demands and doesn't fight back until John B starts it and makes an opportunity. As Kiara so aptly puts it, "he has the survival instincts of a cockroach." He does! But everything changes when he tries to grab the money and run from his dad. Again, he doesn't want a fight. But he gets one, and he's finally tired of it. He's been beat up and threatened and stolen from one time too many, and the threat of death is no longer a more powerful motivator than his wants. So he attacks his dad back and puts him in his place. He once again puts his hands up when Barry and Rafe come for him at the Phantom, but he doesn't look as scared. John B's "death" may be the final nail in the coffin, because starting season 2? He's not scared anymore when he should be. Despite the fact that he appears to be having panic attacks and worse anxiety than ever, every gun that's pointed at him or fight that breaks out he just rolls with. One of the only times I can see his survival instincts crop up in season 2 is when Kiara yells "murderer" at Ward seconds after he straight up killed someone with a gun, which is a normal human reaction and may have had more to do with protecting his friends. He just seems numb to most of the danger. Then again, season 3, he almost seems to find a balance. He's still doing some reckless things, and no longer cowering in the face of enemies, but he also knows who the dangerous people are, and when to wheel and deal or turn away and come fight another day.

Anyway, I'm very curious to see how he evolves in season 4, now that he's establishing his own life, financially secure, on good terms with all his friends and (hopefully) in a committed relationship. Let me know if I missed any other interesting character changes patterns for JJ or any other characters from the show! I would love to read/hear what you noticed and your own in-depth character analysis. JJ's my favorite character and a super rich text, so I tend to hyperfocus on him. Also if you want to request me to make one of these on one of the other characters let me know! I would love to zero in on them and see what I missed on my next watch-through.

[collecting-dustbunnies]

Obey Me Nightbringer Theory Time: MC is an Unreliable Narrator

Part 1: MC is an Unreliable Narrator | Part 2: A Clash of Ideals

What if the MC knows more than they are letting on? What if the MC's motives is different from ours, as the player?

(Disclaimer: Long post. Different from my meme content. Contains spoilers for all of NB and OG content. Also I may wake up tomorrow and cringe at this, but hopefully you can enjoy my delirium?)

OG = Obey Me Original

NB = Obey Me Nightbringer

It all starts from the beginning

We can see traces of this from when we first launch the game, with MC's first text messages with Nightbringer. And I'm not talking about the messages that we saw when the game first launched, but the new re-write of those same messages. You can compare the differences between the old texts and the new texts on @impish-ivy 's post here (thank you for allowing me to discuss it here). I'll include some of their screenshots as reference.

Let's take a look at the new version of the text exchange. Now, I don't know about you, but I have no idea what Nightbringer is talking about. But Sheep-chan apparently does! If MC answers that they think they understand what he's talking about, they get to keep their memories when they get sent to the past. But if MC says they don't have a clue? The game assumes that they have lost their memories. This seems like a strong indicator that MC knows something that we, as the player, do not know about Nightbringer and their powers. This exchange is very different from how things played out in the original version of these text messages where:

Yes I know them. Really well, actually = MC has their memories.

I don't know who they are = MC has no memories.

[The official reason for this change was "to make the game more enjoyable for new players", but I don't buy that. In the original version, it was quite clear which option you had to pick to signal to the game that you have not played OG. While in this version, it's way more convoluted, since the player will have no idea what Nightbringer is actually talking about. It just causes people who have played OG to accidentally signal to the game that they haven't. Why change the text to be even more confusing, when the original version would have sufficed for newer players?]

Now let's follow this line of thought for a moment. Nightbringer states that the MC has received "a second chance at a fated meeting", and MC has to answer that they think they know what this means if they want to keep their memories during the time jump. If they don't, then Nightbringer assumes that they have lost their memories.

Which leads me to believe that Sheep-chan is not entirely an innocent victim who was unwittingly sent to the past. Instead, they were a willing participant of the time jump. Maybe they have some understanding on how Nightbringer's powers worked and wanted to meet the brothers again. Maybe they too were curious to see what their ideal world looked like. With this idea in mind, let's re-evaluate everything MC has said and done in NB.

MC's interactions with Nightbringer (and Michael, I guess)

After the intro, the next time MC directly interacts with Nightbringer is in Lesson 12 of NB, where they get sent into a coma after breaking the rules at the Fountain of Knowledge. Let's look at what he says here for a moment.

The first thing Nightbringer asks MC is what they think of this world, a rather unusual thing to ask someone who is kinda sorta dying. If MC says they want to go home, Nightbringer expresses some confusion as to whether the brothers of this world are not to MC's liking. It makes sense for him to be confused here, since he sent MC to this timeline under the impression that they would like this world (or at least, view this world as a stepping stone to reach their "place of joy").

(Then again, if MC responds that they are enjoying this world, Nightbringer is even more perplexed that they can remain upbeat in such a precarious situation. But knowing what canon Sheep-chan is like, why is this surprising?)

After this, he explains that his motive is to lead MC to a place that will "bring [them] joy like no other". This fits what he had said in the beginning of the game:

"Shall I take you someplace you will be happy? Somewhere that will bring you more joy than any other."

"A world you desire, and where you will be desired."

- Nightbringer, intro text message

He then goes on to emphasise that both he and MC want the same thing. He comments on how MC has done a splendid job getting closer to Lucifer and his brothers. This is where I feel that Nightbringer was never MC's enemy, as both parties have similar goals, and they need each other to some extent. MC needed Nightbringer and other mysterious forces to set the gears in motion so that MC can become closer to the brothers, forge pacts with them, and reach their "ideal" world. Nightbringer wants to bring MC to this place of happiness, and he sees MC forming pacts with the brothers as the way to get there. In this case, Nightbringer is a co-conspirator here.

This idea then gets brought up again when MC sees Michael in Lesson 13, when he saves MC from their coma. He warns MC that the Celestial Realm would be less willing to tolerate their behaviour if they ally themselves with Nightbringer (which, is exactly what MC has been doing so far). Is Michael afraid of the MC trying to forge their ideal world together with Nightbringer? Or is he afraid that MC is getting tricked by Nightbringer?

This also explains why Nightbringer never interacted with MC again after this incident. Everything MC had done in NB was what Nightbringer had wanted as well. Nightbringer didn't need to intervene because everything was going according to his plan.

Comparison of MC's actions in OG vs NB

When we consider the fact that MC may have actually wanted to go back to the past and meet the brothers again, a lot of their actions (and even their inaction) makes more sense. When Solomon tells them they need to make the pacts to get back to their own time, MC is in no rush to obtain these pacts. In fact, they don't even think about making those pacts until Season 2 when they are faced with an ultimatum to make those pacts, which is, they have to forge the pacts before MC and Solomon lose their connection to their original time. This is different from the usual behaviour in OG, where they were extremely motivated to make a pact with every brother from Beelzebub -> Asmo -> Satan and employed help from multiple people to acheive this goal. They even took the initiative to ask Lucifer for a pact on the day before they left the Devildom, when they had no reason to do so.

This is very different from how Season 2 of NB played out, as MC simply waited around until each brother went beserk (in the case of Mammon, Asmo and Satan) before they even thought about proposing the pact. In Lucifer's case, even though MC (after much prompting) spoke up about needing to go back to their home, it was Mephistopheles advocating for MC that ultimately convinced Lucifer to let MC go. And later on, MC remained on the sidelines and let the other characters take the reign in rescuing Lucifer from Cocytus. Compared to the original game, where MC takes on a more active role in forming their pacts, MC is more passive in Nightbringer, simply biding their time until the opportunity to make a pact falls onto their lap. Is this how somebody who desperately misses their home and wants to go back ASAP would act?

Regardless of how you choose to play the MC as, they always express some hesitation in leaving behind the brothers of the past. No matter how many times you try to make the MC say they want to go back home ASAP, Lucifer will gaslight-gatekeep-girlboss MC into admitting that they do not want to leave. Simeon in Lesson 35 of NB even reaffirms this by saying "I'm sure you really feel that way deep down inside. Even if you don't realise it". Bruh.

But why? MC should know that their home is with the boys of the present timeline. Why has the MC never considered the repercussions of staying in a timeline that they don't belong in? Or even considered how Solomon could lose his powers for good because of MC's hesitance? Why had MC never once stopped to consider how the demon brothers they had left behind would feel about their absence? This shouldn't even be a dilemma.

Unless... this past was the place they wanted to end up in the first place. That, like Nightbringer had said, this place will bring them joy like no other.

As an aside: One of the few insights we get about Sheep-chan's inner thoughts is the nightmare they have about the brothers trapping them in the attic and preventing them from leaving (in Lesson 33 of NB). Which has horrific implications, considering the attic still did not exist at this point of time. Was Belphegor's imprisonment and the Lesson 16 incident so traumatic for MC that the attic is the place that they associate with imprisonment?

Note how some of the brothers keep suggesting that THIS is the outcome that the MC really wants. But this also provides another possible reason for the MC's hesitation to leave: The fear of how the brothers' of the past would react. The fear of brothers turning against them, despite everything MC had done to protect them. Speaking of what MC had done to protect them...

MC forging their place in the past Devildom

MC hasn't taken active measures to forge their pacts to return home, but you know what they have shown to be more interested in? Asserting their place in the Devildom of the past, and spending time with the past version of the brothers.

The best example of this is Lesson 11 of NB, where the MC hesitates to promise to Solomon to protect humanity, but with no hesitation, promises to take care of the brothers even with full knowledge that they would be punished for doing this. If we remember Lesson 35 of OG where MC, Solomon and the demon brothers went to the reaper's cave to break Beel's curse, Solomon was surprised that the demon brothers' punishments for breaking the reaper's rules (turning into a Little D) were so mild. It was implied that without MC unconsciously protecting them with their magic, the brothers could have died or been wiped out from existence upon breaking the rules.

A weakened MC of the past who retains their memories of this incident in the reaper's cave would know just how severe the backlash would be if they make promises in the cave. But this did not stop them from doing so anyway. This shows where MC's allegiance truly lies: Not with humanity, not with any mysterious forces at play, but with the demon brothers. It's hard to tell what the MC hopes to get out of making such a dangerous promise.

The most optimistic take is that they felt forced to prove their loyalty to Lucifer and his family by taking such a drastic action. After all, MC is used to sacrificing their life for the people they love. Throwing themselves at death is nothing new to them.

The most cynical take would be that this bold decision was actually a calculated move by the MC to assert their importance and their role in the demon lords' lives. To show just how bad things can get without them. To guilt-trip Lucifer and Belphegor who had doubted the MC's allegiance, so that they never doubt MC again.

Regardless of their motivation, the MC's actions showed that they are inseparable from Lucifer's family, and this incident served to further cement the MC's importance to them. This allowed MC to strengthen their bonds with the brothers once again. So that they can create a world they desire, and they will be desired.

Putting this all together

Obey Me: Nightbringer paints the image of a MC being ripped from their home and being thrust into an unfamiliar world. Yet, the MC's actions in NB tell a different story. It shows us that Nightbringer is turning the gears so that MC can go to a place surrounded by people that they love, and who will love them no matter what. Because it wouldn't be enough if the characters of the present were hopelessly in love with them, but the characters of the past should also feel the same way. Even if that is a world the MC does not belong in.

All I'm saying is, Sheep-chan is sus as heck.