#Just a bunch of personal interpretations of the player character

[koimethehorizon]

Deltarune: The Image of Divinity and The Angel

(MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR CH 4 of DELTARUNE and UNDERTALE)

If you haven't found this scene, go back to the room where you have to avoid a bunch of Shadow Blobs shortly after reaching the Third Sanctuary. Find a way into the hidden room on the bottom right-side of the room (follow the broken path) and you'll see this at the right side of the hall.

This string of dialogue, especially Susie's uneasy reaction, creeps the hell out of me.

Whatever the Angel's identity is, its physical form is something so terrifying and beyond comprehension that even in the minimalistic style the Prophecy normally uses, Susie is stunned by the implications of just looking at it.

One brilliant theory that I've heard a couple of people mention already is that the empty space is meant to reflect our screens like a black mirror. We are The Angel in this interpretation.

That's just crazy, and I'm very into it.

I'd like to delve a little further into this train of thought that may or may not confirm this theory further.

Remember what the Titan looks like right before we fight it?

BALD

It's a human skull. Maybe even what the Titan's skeleton looks like underneath its divine angelic flesh.

When I first got to this section, I almost thought that the Titan would just be a full on human JPEG like Photoshop Flowey was in Undertale.

Speaking of which...

What... is this even supposed to be?

This is one facet of Undertale that's always been neglected because we've never found any concrete answers for what it could be.

For all we're concerned, it's just part of the absurd horror imagery that Toby is trying to invoke during this section, and we're not meant to think too hard on it.

Except...

Toby used this face as his pfp on Twitter until the release of Deltarune Ch 1. So either he's really proud of the damn face or there's something more to it.

I don't really have an answer for this, but what I will guess right now is:

I think this is what the Angel looks like.

Not the Omega Flowey face specifically, but it's likely a pixelated human face.

Consider the similarities between these examples. This distorted human imagery has been used twice to depict divine beings.

One showing Flowey ascending to a higher state of existence.

The other shows a nigh-unstoppable world-ending monster only depicted in legend.

And The Angel is something akin to Deltarune's Abrahamic God or The Savior. Churches and an entire religion are dedicated to The Angel, yet we only see it depicted as the symbol of the Deltarune.

Let's take a few steps back and return to the "The Angel is The Player" theory.

There's actually one big piece of evidence for this theory in Undertale:

Ominous how early Toby planted these seeds huh?

In Undertale, The Angel is 100% meant to be You on each of the 3 playable routes. Now "You" is a bit subjective because that noun could be applied to 3 candidates:

You "The Player"

Frisk the MC you control

Chara, the true identity of the red SOUL

Regardless of who The Angel refers to in this messed-up trio, one very bold statement is conveyed.

The Angel decides the ending of the story.

And we, as The Player, get to decide how this ending plays out.

To the characters of Undertale and Deltarune, yeah, that's divine power alright. A power that Spamton considered his ticket to [Heaven].

If this theory holds true, then that means a person behind the screen is the image of divine power. In Undertale/Deltarune The image of God is...

A REAL human.

[woompfy]

What if some characters in the movies would be added in the animated show of dwk and what role would they play in?

Well guess what, I drew them if they were in the series and gave them a lil feel of how they'd play into the show. I mostly based their designs off their book designs btw. Also, I only remember parts of the movies and am not a big expert on the lore, nor am I a fan of the movies in general. ( I won't make myself go watch them again without taking a shot each time I cringe) The characters are simply my interpretation if they were in the show.

First and importantly of all Nerv...

I think he would add so much personality to the already existing dwk team with his young energetic spirit and creative imagination. He'd give the team the insperation needed and would cheer them on to achieve their full potential. When the team is doubtful he would be the last one to give up for he just has so much passion for his friend's success. Altough he's determined he would be the loud annoying kid that doesn't know the boundaries of imagination and reality(just like in the movies). He wants to be treated seriously but because of his young age and naivety he's treated like their team's little side kick. That might also rile up some conflics that could be explored if he was in a 3rd season of the show.

Next up is Klette, my absolute favorite...

Our nonbinary icon, indeed. I don't remember what their role is in the movies and how they join the bunch so I'd be open to be informed of their original role. But I do remember their fun banter with Nerv, which I absolutely loved and would keep in the show, with less underage romantic jokes of course. Klette would definitely add to the wild theme of the show, with their messy hair and sassy/playful attitude making them a perfect wilder kerl. I'd like to imagine that the bunch didn't accept her as a memeber at first, just like when they rejected Vanessa, but not because of Klette's gender but because they were too weird for the bunch, even comparing them as a rat. They don't take the rat part personal but they do question the bunch's view on excluding people not fit for their norms even though they themselves are crossing the norms of societly, literally being a soccer cult. That could be an interesting episode of it's own exploring the bunch's view on normality and treating minorities in their own group. (I might as well not know what I am talking about but I still hope you get my point) They are also more likely to get into trouble than anyone else in the group.

Now for Joschka...

Add another diverse character to the mix and it feels a lot more welcoming imo. Although it is said in the movies/books that Joschka is Juli's brother I personally don't see how that would make sense and wouldn't add to anything new. We already have a brother duo and it would be just copying another blueprint of a dynamic. So I made him and orphane, 'cuz these kids shall not be permitted to have parents. That would also make him a friend of Jojo's which he met at the orphanage. He'd join the bunch along with Nerv, that he's best friend's with, and would support Nerv with his passion for the soccer bunch. That would make him and Nerv the youngest memebers.

With him being a past basketball player I can imagine the bunch being a little rejecting if they found out, cuz we all know how much basketball and soccer players hate each other. A crossover of an rival team of the opposite sport would also be interesting to explore. An episode like that could also focus Joshkas character and his passion for both sports, torn between which one to sacrafice. I'd also like to add his couriosity of who his parents are and where his heritage is actually from. That could be an interesting episode that explores his struggle with cultrual identity and perhaps dealing with racism, which originally leads to him questioning who his parents are, who he truly is and if he can accept the truth.

I still got Juli and Maxi on my plate which I'll probably further discuss in a Part 2

[the-glorious-evolution-fanart]

what’s your take on this whole “viktor is czech” controversy im seeing so many posts about how we can’t say viktor is russian or any other Slav anymore because of harry lloyd saying he did a czech accent

(I'm answering immediately since this is kind of an active topic that will probably quickly die. Please first read my entire post.)

I am of the opinion that everyone is allowed to headcanon a character however they want, and that it's not nice to insist everyone else adopt one's own interpretation especially if it's not canon. Even if things are canon, people can always choose to purposefully ignore canon in favour of what they prefer. This says nothing about quality - that can go either way. Sometimes the original writing is bad, other times it's good and fandom interpretations are of low creativity/low understanding/quality.

This accent discussion is not a controversy, it's just a tug of war between some fans. Lower the bullying and arguments everyone! It's okay. There's not much point fighting between fans, when companies hold all the power.

~

The reality is more complex than "what canon actually says".

Previous League version

Originally, Viktor the Machine Herald was designed to on the surface quickly read like an Eastern-European mad scientist engineer, with "vibes" from the Red Scare (and things like Red Alert). It has roots in ideas about scary effective heavy machinery. He was made to have a stereotypical Hollywood Slavic accent. If people read into it as Russian, it wouldn't be incorrect, thought the company. That doesn't mean he's hard-coded as Russian. There's the opinion of the lead writer Praeco being shared online in which he says:

He makes the fast mental jump (just like many viewers/players) and lands on the surface-level stereotype, which he thinks is all there is to it. This is false. Viktor's original, release lore from 2011. has no cultural hints towards Russia nor those stereotypes. It is a great basis for developing a more detailed story, which people would certainly love if it was done in an animated medium.

What the lore does have, are similarities with Nikola Tesla, a Serbian engineer and inventor who was conned by Edison, had his work stolen and often been viewed as crazy. Viktor's in-game abilities are inspired by some of Nikola Tesla's hypothetical inventions. His staff has a Tesla coil on it.

I personally write Viktor as being Serbian-inspired due to this, and it's also easier for me as I'm Serbian, so I can make up a headcanon about old lore old Zaunites speaking this language thus explaining the accent when they speak Common; and not stress over messing up a translation. There's also the fact that we are very underrepresented in pop-culture, and even when we are, it's most often as unintelligent criminals.

That doesn't mean that people headcanoning League Viktor as being Russian-inspired are automatically incorrect.

2. Arcane Viktor

Here's the interview with the voice actor. There's a couple of things here to be noted. He says a "frail Eastern-European scientist"... meanwhile Czechs are Western Slavs, not Eastern. This tells me the Americans leading the show didn't pay much attention to ethnicities, as those things don't matter to them.

Then Nikola Tesla is brought up again - proving the original core archetype. But Nikola Tesla was Serbian, who are South Slavs, not Eastern nor Western.

To Americans, we are all interchangeable. They really don't care. They hired a British voice actor, despite there being countless Slavic voice actors they could have contacted. I can even reach a bunch of them.

The voice actor they hired had only practiced a Czech accent in one of his previous works, and it was "close enough". And what I can say is that he doesn't sound neither Russian, nor Serbian to my ear. Our accent is way more heavy and explosive (actually pretty similar to original in-game Viktor! Just less dramatic) while Russian would be way more softer. I've seen some Czechs say he does indeed sound Czech, and I think that's completely valid! But Arcane Viktor is Czech not by design, but out of necessity.

Czechs (Česi!!!!!) are also very little represented in pop-culture. Basically non-existent. They have also historically been behind the Iron Curtain, so you must understand their position. I think people have the right to headcanon Arcane Viktor as being Czech-inspired, despite what all the inconsistencies and frankly bad mixups have been said by the production crew behind-the-scenes. And they absolutely should not be bullied and forced into headcanoning Arcane Viktor as Russian or any other ethnicity! What's in the work itself sounds Czech, not Serbian. That said, I also think people have the right to personally headcanon Arcane Viktor as any ethnicity-inspired as they wish. Just know the state of things like I shared here, say what your personal headcanon is and don't vaguepost or bully other people. Those throwing rocks first should stop.

3. In the end, I personally view Arcane Viktor as Czech-inspired, League Viktor as Serbian-inspired, but it's not even wrong to consider him generally Slavic-inspired, as these nationalities really don't exist in Runeterra. Political situation aside.

[meowmeowmeowmeow4x]

kris gender

OK FOR THE LOVE OF GOD IF I SEE ONE MORE YOUTUBE COMMENT CALLING KRIS A BOY IM GOING TO

WARNING FOR RANT AND MILD CHAPTER 4 SPOILERS

Ok look I know in Undertale Frisk's personality, age, gender, really pretty much everything about them is left in the air and many people interpret them as a kind of player insert and while they do definitely have their own moments it's all very understated and tbh thats its own whole debate

But Kris? KRIS?! Kris is the absolute last person to be anything other than non-binary and the game refers to kris as they not because their gender is uP To INtErpRetaTiOn like Frisk's might be, but because that's actually how they identify

Kris is deliberately written to be the total opposite of your bog standard faceless voiceless silent protagonist in that they have opinions and history and a total gremlin personality. Kris is an actual character with actual established traits. They are a prankster, they love their brother, they have hangups about the divorce, they're deeply unnerved by whatever Spamton has going on, they're lowkey terrified of Carol, they adore Susie, they love playing the piano and they hate the fact that hte Soul sucks at it and is making them look bad. They have a personality that is actually pretty hard for a lot of people to relate to, being a 'creepy child' who loves knives, the occult and pranking. At certain points they will OPENLY DEFY THE SOUL'S COMMANDS, LIKE IF YOU CHOOSE CERTAIN EXTREMELY CRUEL DIALOGUE OPTIONS, KRIS WILL DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO INTERRUPT THEMSELVES BEFORE SAYING THEM. If you try to see shit that Kris doesn't want to see (or doesn't want you to see) then you're absolutley not seeing it. Kris will walk into Asriel's room in the Pandora Palace with their eyes closed. They will turn the church door knob but not open it.

When Susie asks Kris who theyd like to take to the festival, you can make Kris say a bunch of different people, but the only person they truly want to bring is Susie. This is their opinion that cannot be changed, no matter what you have them say or do.

Why in the EVER LOVING FUCK WOULD ALL THAT BE CLEARLY ESTABLISHED AND CONCRETE, BUT SOMEHOW THEIR GENDER IS JUST UP TO THE PLAYER'S INTEPRETATION

Kris is so adamant about being their own person and not jiving with whatever the Soul is doing, why should their gender break the pattern of everything and suddenly be up to the Soul's decision, when absolutely nothing else has been? The player has had exactly zero control over Kris' name, backstory, relationships, likes, dislikes, skills, personal angst and trauma. Why should their gender not be the same?

addendum: ive seem some ppl saying that Toby not saying outright that Kris is nb means kris isn't nb, which is ridiculous to me. Try searching for the word lesbian, homosexual or gay in all of undertale or deltarune. Spoiler: ITS NOT GOING TO WORK. Does this mean that lesbians, homosexuals and gays dont exist in either game? UNLIKELY!

[sha-brytols]

What are your favorite things about each da game (or just the ones you wanna talk about lol) gameplay wise? I always like hearing about player experience bc i feel like its so personal and i always wonder how other ppl interpret how the gameplay interacts w the story

mage gameplay in origins is thenonly time i have fun playing a mage in dragon age LOL i like the spell combos and the playstyle diversity. dual wield arcane warrior with haste activated is insanely fun. i also appreciate the party dynamics and the variety of ways you can compose your tactics. once you learn certain cheese strategies it's incredibly fun. i also think the traps are sooooo underrated i love throwing bear traps everywhere.

da2 gameplay makes me want to eat nails. it's definitely more flashy and the animations make it a lot less monotonous than origins, but the sheer lack of depth makes it suuuuch a slog for me. i dont actually mind the shift away from tactics to more slash and dash, but the game isnt balanced for it, which makes it feel weirdly repetitive and unrewarding. also those waves that jump from the heavens can eat my entire butthole and die. every boss fight is the saaaaame theres very little variation and i think they programmed anders specifically to incentivize people to kill him. rogue dual wield is fun though i think its really the only class that actually synergizes with the combat system. also i think people need to put respect on mark of the assassins name because the duke prosper battle was the only time a boss battle ever felt rewarding to me.

inquisition is usually the point where people realize i'm insane and my opinions are probably not to be respected LOL. inquisition has my favorite combat gameplay of all the da games, and i genuinely enjoy it. to me it was like. a really good balance between strategy and action so there's a lot of freedom in the way you play depending on if you preferred da2 or origins. i like that you have to use the environment to your advantage in a lot of fights, like using the terrain to gain better tactical advantage with ranged characters and whatnot. and as much as it frustrates me i do think it was actually pretty smart to limit the amount of abilities you can have on the wheel because it actually forces you to plan a certain build and playstyle instead of just having everything at your disposal which can make some of the other games feel a little less consequential in your ability choices (and at least to me REALLY overwhelming in higher levels). i also think the specs this time around were more. idk. iconic? is that the word . like in origins and 2 i think most people only really remember like, bloodmage spirit healer templar and reaver. rogue specs were always kind of forgettable, and warrior specs were all kind of underwhelming in some way except reaver. i think it might be because it actually has a minor level of impact on the story.

they nuked spirit healers though and i will never forgive them for that

datv. um. it's fun! in the same way shaking a bunch of keys in front of a baby is fun. everyone who told me orb and dagger mage was the most fun gameplay in datv owes me rent this month i have never been more miserable in my life. also geforce now ping turns the parry mechanic into a slot machine which i guess in a certain way adds a layer of thrill i was not prepared for .

[pigswithwings]

okay 1 person asked for this so im talking about mirage now, specifically going to try and discuss her name. so the base definition of a mirage is an illusion or a trick of the light, usually it's used to refer to the fake pools of water seen on a hot road (those are caused by a very cool physics thing but i digress).

anyways there are several ways we can approach an analysis of mirage's name.

if we go with the common association of "fake pool of water", then mirage's name represents her personal beliefs. following mirage's line of reasoning, a person in the desert wants to believe that the water is there, much like how people regularly need to distract themselves from the idea of meaninglessness and/or people regularly try to believe that there is hope in the world. in this interpretation, having a purpose or a hope for life is the mirage. one must remove their idealistic view of the world and come to terms with their life's meaning being negated by the size/scale of the universe. probably the most pessimistic possibility of the bunch, but truthful to what mirage herself tells us about how she sees the world.

in a very literal interpretation, mirage herself is illusory. this is kind of a surface level approach, but it's not wrong. the entire 2-S level itself is basically a joke that's transformed into a more serious message. mirage is an "annoyed schoolgirl who ACTUALLY MIGHT FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU?!?!????" stereotype at first, and it's pretty cool to see that subverted with a genuine message about living one's life freely. ultimately, though, when interpreting mirage's name as literally meaning "she is not real", the message of her level loses a lot of its value because its says something like "you only succeeded at helping someone away from the cliff face of complete despair because this is a video game". this interpretation says that mirage's character and meaning are illusions and that neither matter, this is just a game

however! it's possible to argue that, by interpreting mirage as not real and therefore not having value as a character, you transfer the meaningfulness of mirage's story to the author and audience instead. perhaps mirage is not real, but you are. you played her story and you chose those dialogue options. this is a video game and mirage is a character inside of a screen, but you live in the real world and it matters more that *you* thrive and live your life the way you want. so this interpretation might ALSO say that mirage's character doesn't matter, but its effect on players does.

i think one of the more hopeful and perhaps true-to-story interpretations of "what is the *actual* mirage here?" is that nihilism and hopelessness are illusory when faced with the real world. mirage as a character basically lives a life under several kinds of illusions: the idea that life is meaningless and has no purpose, the idea that she has to continue conforming to the status quo, and the idea that she is alone. but here I'll just talk about the first one because it's most relevant.

mirage is basically depressed, or at least having a very bad time if nothing else. it's very clear from her dialogue that she is quite a smart person (robot? whatever) and that she likes to think logically - she gives us examples of a very specific extinct species (irish elk), she has a quick wit when it comes to insults (giving her skirt a "decorative dirt coating"), she uses academic language in her explanations (describing events of life as "temporary fluctation[s]"), etc.

however this reliance on thinking of things in a constant "direct cause -> one effect" way has lead mirage to convince herself that there is nothing of value in life. mirage goes about her days believing in something that the player character eventually disproves, so in this example the true mirage is nihilism, nihilism which prevents mirage from living well like a veil over her face. with this interpretation, it's implied that the character mirage needs to clear this illusion of meaninglessness from her life in order to be truly happy

anyways i care deeply about this character and her complexities i could talk all damn day about her

[three-realms-archive]

The Three Realms Archive: Masterlist and Rules!

Welcome to the Three Realms Archive, where you can find stories about the beings that reside in the Three Realms and beyond! Whether it be stories of the Avatars of Sin, the students of Prince Diavolo’s RAD exchange programme, or of the incredible human who became sorcerer under the tutelage of the Wise Sorcerer and Master of the Seven Rulers of the Underworld… You can find their stories here!

Atmospheric introduction aside, welcome to this side blog for writing to do with Obey Me! And Obey Me! Nightbringer. These will most likely be bits and pieces that come to me when they come.

My ideas inbox is currently open (use the ‘Ideas Here!’ tab to send them), but please read the rules below first!!!

This blog is new, so bear with me whilst I work on aesthetics and getting started on writing/uploading some stuff I've written :D

Rules and masterlist under the cut:

Rules and Considerations

Please be kind and respectful to each other!

For personal reasons, this is a non-NSFW blog. Please do not suggest NSFW in the ideas box beyond slightly suggestive - any requests like this will be ignored. I will do my best to place content warnings where I think it's needed.

The ideas inbox is called such because you can be as vague as you want - even a single word. However, it is also called this because they are ideas and - depending on various factors like my schedule, how inspired I am, and how much certain ideas inspire me to write - there is no guarantee I write for every idea, or the same amount for every idea. Thank you for understanding in advance :D

I’m a fairly new OBM player, so if anything I write is contrary to the canon, please let me know and I can add a note or rectify it. Most of these are meant to be “imagine the character in this situation” and my personal interpretation.

Have fun!

Masterlist

🌟Inspired by an ideas inbox request!

Oneshot Fics

Checking In: The House of Lamentation family check into a human-world hotel.

Beware MC, the Kind: Sorcerer MC is gaining a reputation similar to that of their teacher, Solomon the Wise. But for what reasons?

Let's Form an Idol Group: Will Asmo's next attempt at making his brothers into a boy band succeed? (This one has a cute commenting challenge - please check it out!)

Dramatic Drama: Telenovelas can be very emotionally-investing for demons.

🌟A Small, Little Lie: TSL Arranged Marriage! AU. The sentence "I love you" means very different things to the Lord of Masks and his spouse and former-knight, Henry.

Love Me, Or Not: Satan pulls on flower petals, hoping to get the same result you did.

Was Never Your First, After All: A childhood friend visits you and Mammon realises ‘first man’ doesn’t suit him much anymore.

First Dates: A collection of first date thoughts from each Avatar of Sin.

Short Snippets

Ante Up: Mammon finds he's a lot more motivated to win quickly when he's at the casino with you.

The RAD School Play: Ideas about MC’s role in a school play at RAD.

Six Pillows and a Tattered Armchair: An angsty (ref. to Lesson 16) accompaniment to ‘Beel is Pillow’, exploring Belphie’s relationship with sleep in the aftermath of his actions.

The RAD Cheer Squad: 2, 4, 6, 8 - who do we appreciate? … Probably not whoever came up with the RAD Cheer Squad.

What Is Up, Fellow Celestials?: Luke finds this one human really, really cool. MC and Simeon suffer the consequences.

Just Wanting To Be Included: Mammon and Beel post a FabSnap video, but their brother just wants to be included.

Debuting Change: Diavolo invites a special guest to a special occasion.

Just A Study: Solomon tries to convince himself that living with you was just a study. Spoilers for Nightbringer Lesson 40!

Relent: Belphie has a super, super smart plan to get you to cuddle in bed with him.

A Rainy Day Indulgence: Simeon dances with you in the rain, and it reminds him of something.

Headcannons

Unhinged™: A bunch of silly headcanons that could each be their own anime episodes. Chaotic things the OBM! cast have done. Inspired by this post by @leniisreallycool.

Series

Beel is Anything, If You Beel-ieve

A very unserious collection of slice-of-life snippets, where Beel goes on a journey to become as many things as possible.

Beel is Pillow: Beel is pillow.

Beel is Paint: Beel is paint, according to Asmo.

Beel is Anime: Beel is anime, and Levi is not okay with this.

🌟 Scars, Wounds and Minor Inconveniences

A series exploring slice-of-life snapshots of the Obey Me! characters in the aftermath of Lesson 16. Each chapter is made up of two posts: a oneshot centred around one of MC's scars, wounds or minor inconveniences; and a post with the general headcanons inspiring the oneshot. Features references to injury and spoilers for Lesson 16 of OG Obey Me!.

Phantom Pain (Oneshot + Headcannons): Mammon is used to your 'needles-thing' by now. He doesn't mind it. After all, he has his own things he does every now and again.

A Weak Wrist (Oneshot + Headcannons): Your wrist is still weak from the TSL Quiz; so Lucifer doesn’t understand why you trust Leviathan more.

Nightmares (Oneshot + Headcannons): Belphegor relishes you and Beel growing further apart... until he doesn't, when Beel's dreams change.

Splintered Arms and a New Bedtime Routine (Oneshot + Headcannons - Coming Soon!): The angels are confused at the weird routine you and Beel have before bedtime during a sleepover at Purgatory Hall.

Better, Quicker Reflexes (Oneshot + Headcannons - Coming Soon!): Lucifer used to think his form of discipline was effective.

[garlic-and-vanilla]

This ask is in your inbox because my brain has apparently chosen to title you as The Illithid Understander and I feel like you might have interesting thoughts to contribute to this topic (please don’t feel obligated to respond tho!)

When I played through bg3 for the first time, what really stood out to me about the Emperor as a character was that he is full of ambiguity. Many of the questions about him, on both a personal level and on a broader level as an illithid, simply do not have concrete answers in canon. I thought that it was so neat how the writers enshrined a vessel for open dialogue regarding some of the biggest themes and questions of the game/story in a character. I thought the whole point of the Emperor’s character is that there’s no One Right Answer about: its intentions, its morality, how much it still is or isn’t Balduran, how much it is or isn’t a monster, why it cares so much about the PC, if it made the right choices, etc.

Which is why I was utterly shocked to find out that SO many people played the game and just… unquestioningly seemed to think that many of those aspects had concrete answers. That this character that, to me, was defined by ambiguity, had been determined by so many to simply be Evil.

I have my own theories about each of the questions/ambiguities listed above, of course, based on my interpretation of canon. But I see them as just that, theories and interpretation. Maybe my perception of the Emperor as a bunch of unanswered questions is just an interpretation, too, but then what was the writers’ intent? (Did my success in high school English classes make me overly confident in narrative comprehension? Lol)

I’ve read many an interesting take on the Emperor on tumblr and ao3 that seem to vibe generally with the whole It’s Supposed to Be Ambiguous thing, and I’d love to hear your take.

First of all this is so funny and I am so honored to be The Illithid Understander lmao.

Second I am very sorry I haven’t answered this sooner. Alas I am not used to ever receiving asks and just now realized I even have one. And what a wonderful message!!!

Honestly I think you fuckin nailed it my man. In a game that spends so much time and energy asking the player to think about questions like “what does it take to be a monster,” “what aspects cause a person to become monstrous,” and “when does it become worth it to become a monster” the Emperor is the ultimate answer. The non-answer. His character embodies all the questions the game wants to ask, and then doesn’t answer any of them for you.

The game shows you characters and says “this is a monster.” Ketheric Thorm is a monster, and Orin and Gortash, despite how sympathetic their backstories and motivations might be. It shows you cycles of abuse, manipulation, cult mentality, and indoctrination. The power of grief, love, fear, and ambition to lead people down monstrous paths even as they think they’re doing the right thing, or the only thing.

You as the player character directly help your companions navigate these themes. You see how they’re affected, how they struggle, what they might become if they choose to give in, and what they become if they don’t.

Do they become monsters? Do you let them? Do you encourage them?

The game shows you clearly what monsters are, and waits to see if you’ll become one yourself.

Withers asks you, “Do illithids have souls?”

He claims they don’t, initially, but that story is contradicted the moment he meets the Emperor in the High Hall, and when you meet him after undergoing ceremorphosis yourself. There’s also lore out there that says illithids do have souls— non-apostolic ones.

So far as the game is concerned, I’m not sure there’s supposed to be a solid answer to that question. I think— like you do— that it’s supposed to be ambiguous. He is not a character the game points to and says “here is a monster.”

I agree with you wholeheartedly that the Emperor is made of ambiguity. The lack of answers are my favorite thing about him. He’s a mass of unanswered questions that you look at and see the themes of the story inside.

Is the Emperor a monster just for being a mind flayer?

Is he a monster because he came to embrace the power his illithid nature brought him?

Because a friend turned on him, claimed he was lost, and he killed them in self-defense?

Because he dominated Stelmane, a situation we have no context for?

How much of his behavior is genuine? How much of Balduran remains, and how much is illithid? Does he even know himself? Does it matter?

He’s a big mystery. We simply do not know everything about his past. We don’t know how much of his behavior is real, or an act. We have to make the deliberate decision to take him at his word, or not. To trust him, or not. To love him, or not. All of this complicated by the reality that his mind and experience are alien to us (a whole other post by itself).

Ultimately, there are no answers except what we come to decide about him for ourselves.

Some people have decided that he’s evil, for various reasons, and sure, that’s certainly a way to answer the question. To end the ambiguity by deciding the Emperor is, after all, a simple monster.

But isn’t it so, so much more interesting if he isn’t?

[kings-highway]

Do you have any headcanons on what sports (like basketball/ baseball/ volleyball) the other sawamura siblings play? Or maybe if they don’t play sports at all?

Ohhhhh!!!! So I'm going to answer this question twice lol, once generally and then below the cut will be a breakdown of all my specific Sawamura-OCs I use for siblings, since I've somehow collected more than just 4 of them 🥲

To answer your first question, I think the Sawamura family would skew to the athletic side of things, and a few probably would follow their brother into volleyball. However, I think the stronger aspects of genetics for these guys is the stubborn leadership side, and what they emulate from their big brother isn't volleyball specifically, but that kind of dependable foundation part of being a captain. So I imagine they end up taking more student leadership roles, probably working as managers for different school teams or clubs more than they end up being sports stars. I can absolutely imagine one of his little sisters becoming Yachi's apprentice to take over as manager of the Karasuno team.

Otherwise, it's hard to headcanon without attaching specific personalities to the characters, so read below for my Saramura Bunch! Don't read if you don't care about OCs!

So I actually have a total of 6 OCs I use for Sawamura siblings and I'm sure the number will grow as I keep writing lol. Most of them are invented for archetypical story purposes. I did some art for them, so enjoy!

For my most frequently appearing Sawamura OC, eldest sister Chiyo, (left) I imagine her definitely playing volleyball! She's a setter all throughout middle school, however she's also a little shorty, and does not have Hinata's desire to endless desire to fight (as well as suffering from Endometriosis, so bad experiences having to skip matches if her period had scheduling conflicts lol) so she ends up dropping it in high school, and I imagine this is the girl that ends up working with Yachi and eventually being Karasuno's manager. She loves sports and athletics, but I imagine her going more of a management route (á la Kuroo) and working in program coordination and running events like tournaments and what not.

Little Sister Spotlight! I have two "Youngest Sister" OCs, Yume (once named Yumie and inexplicably light haired in my imagination) and Hayami. Both of these characters are functionally the same, either way I imagine them totally not giving a shit about sports. Both of these girls are artists through and through. Good artists? Probably not. But they're dancing and singing and painting and beading and you'd have to give them money to play a sport. (Side note, since Hayami has only ever appeared in the context of an Apocalypse AU, this is also a Modern/Canon compliant interpretation of her, and all the characters lol.)

Brother Breakdown! I have two main "Middle Child" boys I use: Hiro (sometimes Hiroto) and Kenzo! They're like 18 months apart, Hiro being older, but sometimes I imagine them as twins. Hiro is definitely a sporty kid, I for some reason imagine him mostly playing soccer, and being really good at it, but I think he lacks the Sawamura leadership gene and ends up being more of a loose cannon for his teammates. He's probably well rounded in sports, though, and could jump in and play a match of basketball, volleyball, rugby, american football, or pretty much anything without making a fool of himself. Big sports kid, probably begs Daichi to introduce him to all his famous volleyball friends. Daichi introduces him to Kuroo instead and he complains loudly about it. Kuroo is deeply offended.

Kenzo, on the other hand, is a nerdy kid. He's big on maths and numbers and science and reading and doesn't much want to play sports. I imagine he plays soccer with Hiro a little bit and is definitely more of a Tsukki/Kenma type of player, and even if he's pretty good he just doesn't like it. I actually imagine him as one of the more successful Sawamura siblings, and he's probably the only one that doesn't go to Karasuno. I imagine him getting into Aoba Johsai on a scholarship and being a student council or debate kid, or some kind of science club.

And lastly, a kid that has only ever made it out of drafts in an AU where he dies as a baby, my sick kiddie Yukito! (right image) I originally drafted Yukito as a "sickly kid" for a few different one-shots I never wrote, so he's foreign to everyone but me, but I'll share him now for funzies.

Yukito is the only Sawamura sibling I imagine breaking 5'10, and I think he does/would play volleyball. He's usually placed as either the second-eldest Sawamura, or third behind Chiyo, depending on how old I want him to be. He's definitely also a setter type. Yukito, however, also has epilepsy and autoimmune issues and probably doesn't continue to play sports. In a story in which he survives to adulthood, he probably graduates high school late due to medical issues delaying him from attending and doesn't participate in clubs much past early days. He's also the ~charisma~ sibling, and is often made fun of for being the pretty sibling. He dyes his hair and paints his nails and always smells like flowers and his siblings lowkey (affectionately) hate him for it. Side note about him is that I've never really settled on an age for him. So in most of my drafts a really young version of him replaces Kenzo, but I've also bumped him up to being the second born as needed. The image/art above is taken from an adult version of him that appears in a dream, lol, since it's how I was imagining him all along and technically this kid never really makes it to adulthood but lets pretend!! Maybe one day I'll let him thrive!!

And that about wraps them up! Most of my fics are written with Chiyo, Hiro, Kenzo and Yume, but going forward I'll probably be using Hayami as the baby of the family more than Yume, so she might see a retirement lol. And hopefully I'll finish one of those wips with Yukito so you can actually meet him lol.

[chichiricatsan]

Indie/RPG Maker Video Game Recs!

I mainly made this for a member of a discord I'm part of, but ye! My ramblings of some game recs!

Harvester Games Anthology

1. Downfall 2. The Cat Lady 3. Lorelai 4. Burnhouse Lane

The first three games in this series are also known as "The Devil Came Through Here" trilogy with Burnhouse Lane being the odd one out, but I just call it the Anthology b/c they all take place in the same/a similar universe with crossovers and characters that appear through all the games here and there. They're mainly dark/twisted stories set in mundane environments told through 2D side-scrolling, adventure-style, point and click/arrow keys, and inventory-use gameplay. There's supernatural elements, blood, gore, and heavy elements and themes in all the games. My personal favorites of the series are The Cat Lady and Burnhouse Lane. Downfall had an original game in 2008, but I'd honestly go with its remake from 2016 as it fits in better with its newly-presented style and the way the story is presented.

You don't have to play them in any particular order to feel satisfied with their stories. The stories themselves are self-contained enough.

RPG Maker Games - Horror or Otherwise

A lot of these games are heavy on puzzle elements as well as minimal to light battle mechanics or trial and error gameplay. Story is what is the biggest element here, though.

OMORI

I can't say too much about it for spoilers sake, but at its core this story is about coming to terms with trauma and guilt. It's quirky, imaginative, surprisingly poignant, amazing style and music, and overall thematic AF. It's a deep dive into some psychological stuff. Left a big mark on me and never looked back. It's not heavy with blood and gore, but it's heavy on its subject matter and can be with its disturbing/scary imagery at times. It's got a bunch of TWs, honestly.

ALSO! JUST TO NOTE: The Switch and PS4 editions have exclusive content NOT found in the PC release! It's nothing substantial or anything that changes the story, it's moreso just a little more 'funsies' for the fans and is really only exclusive to one of the two big branches/decision taken in the game. I can say that the console versions run great and since the controls are simple, it's easy to use with a controller/joycon.

Yume Nikki & Yume 2kki

This is one of OMORI's biggest inspirations and is often referenced as one of the first RPG maker "horror" games. While it's minimalistic and older in its presentation and style, it's surrealistic and sometimes disturbing nature keeps most players coming back for more. Lots of room for personal interpretation. The fan-made sequel is usually mentioned in the same breath, so I put that here, too, but 2kki is a much larger, longer, and more spread out game. Playing Nikki is good enough if you don't want too much of the same thing with more of a slog imo.

In the games you play as self-isolating girls who explore their dreams when they sleep. They've got blood and gore in some parts, but mostly disturbing imagery and implications behind said imagery. And then suicidal ideation/action.

The Forest of Drizzling Rain

"After the sudden death of her parents, a young woman named Shiori Kanzaki finds a picture of a man that she believes to be her grandfather Keiichiro. She travels to Azakawa Village, where he was apparently from, in hopes of meeting him and reconnecting with her estranged family. However, when she arrives, she learns that her grandfather has already passed on, and the family manor converted to a museum. Koutaro Suga, the manager of the museum who only communicates in written memos, begrudgingly allows her to stay there for a while and research her family. But there is a legend in the village of the Kotori Obake--the "Taking Spirit", a demon woman who abducts children who go into the nearby forest. When a young girl Shiori befriends goes missing, Shiori is forced to venture into the forest and confront the demon to save her. How is the tale of the village connected to Shiori's past, and why does she hear voices calling her, commanding her to "Come fulfill the promise"?" --From different summaries on different sites I weaved together.

I really liked this one for the characters and setting. It reminded me of the manga/anime Higurashi (When They Cry). It was remade in recent years with all new content and new endings and such, so make sure to nab that version if you give it a try! It's not inherently a horror game--more a horror/mystery combo, but there is a bit of blood and scary imagery in this one to watch out for, iirc.

Ib

"This follows the experiences of a nine-year-old girl named Ib who visits an art gallery with her parents. While looking around, she finds herself stuck in a strange, surreal world where art has come to life. What's worse, Ib's life is now linked to that of a red rose she picks up, and if all the petals fall she will die." --TV Tropes game summary.

Surreal and creepy AF at times, especially when playing as a child in an adults' world. And it's existential and somber at times. There are a couple other characters Ib runs into that help, but this is the core of the story. Make sure to grab the remake/remaster of this one as well if you're looking to play! Blood and scary imagery are the tws for this one. Overall, it tries to have a positive message.

The Witch's House

"A young girl named Viola has gone to visit her friend, Ellen, who lives in the woods. However, those same woods are said to be haunted by a "Wicked Witch" who kidnaps children. When Viola finds her way blocked by magical roses, it seems that her only option is to enter the eponymous witch's house and find a way to break the spell, in hopes of reuniting with Ellen. Accompanied by a snarky talking black cat, Viola must navigate the dangers of the house and its murderous inhabitants." --TV Tropes game summary.

Another that got a remaster/remake with MV added to the title--what that means, I honestly don't know lol. But it's another RPG horror game with blood, gore, gruesome imagery, puzzles, and trial and error gameplay that can sometimes make you want to rip your hair out. But the story is good, if heartbreakingly bittersweet.

Mad Father

"A young German girl named Aya Drevis is living at home with her titular Mad Father, Doctor Alfred Drevis, and his assistant Maria. One night, Aya hears her father scream and finds her house riddled with corpses and other supernatural things trying to kill her, and her seemingly dead mother Monika Drevis having kidnapped Alfred. Not wanting to leave without her father, Aya decides to brave the house and look for him, all while encountering the horrors of what her father has really done." --TV Tropes game summary.

This one can be pretty messed up with its gruesome images and overall harrowing journey of the MC. And while happy in some bits, it left a bittersweet taste in my mouth b/c of the trial and error of some of the gameplay. The remake helps with this, but it isn't perfect. Overall, I'd say give it a try if you do like RPG horror games, though. It can be pretty gratuitous in its imagery, however, just a forewarning.

Misao

"Misao was just an ordinary highschool student, who didn't particularly stand out at all... until three months ago, when she stopped coming to class. Though nobody knew what happened to her, rumors started spreading that she'd already passed away. As they joke about the idea of her haunting the school and cursing her classmates, a sudden earthquake takes out the lights. A voice pleads for help. Separated from the others, your character sets out to discover the truth behind Misao's disappearance, and the curse that's now seemingly befell the school." --TV Tropes game summary (edited a little by me).

This game's characters makes you want to root for Misao tbh lol. It's definitely a test in the belief of humanity and how bullying/ostracizing someone can really come back to haunt you if you're not careful. Blood, gore, gruesome and sometimes gratuitous imagery, and more trial and error messiness at times, but overall a campy good time. The camp and absolute bat-shitness of this is what kept me playing XD

The Crooked Man

"David Hoover has just finished moving into a new apartment during a rough part of his life, but some incredibly odd happenings within the unit leave him shaken. When he tries asking about the former tenant, there's little information on the man in question. Curiosity piqued, David sets out to find him. Along the way, he runs into a terrifying humanoid monster known only as the Crooked Man, who is intent on killing David for unknown reasons." --TV Tropes game summary.

This is another less subtle character study of a game. It's older and definitely has its issues with trial and error portions, but it's got heart. I can't fault it for that. Some blood and disturbing imagery for tws.

Hylics 1 & 2

"Hylics is a video game created by Mason Lindroth in 2015, described as "a recreational program with light JRPG elements.

Its world, from the environments to the battle sprites, is made entirely from pastel claymation. You play mainly as Wayne, a man with a waning moon for a head, on a vague quest to meet Gibby, the King of the Moon. The plot, if there can be said to be one, is heavily buried under symbolism and the general surrealism of the world." --TV tropes game summary

A really unique take on the RPG maker style. It's not a horror game, but I thought I'd share nevertheless. The artist does claymation and mixes their 3D style with the 2D style to make a unique adventure. The vernacular in the game, though, reminds me a lot of OFF and that sometimes it's a bit "extra" XD I've yet to finish them, but did enjoy what I played! I LOVE the style!

To The Moon

"Join Dr. Rosalene and Dr. Watts as they enter a patient named Johnny's mind on his death bed to grant his final request. Watch, interact, and change the past as Johnny's life unfolds before you and takes you on a magical journey inside one's head that asks the greatest question of all: "What if…?" If you had the chance to relive your life, would you change things? Would you try to achieve some grand goal? Could you find love? Fame? Fortune? Or would you realize that sometimes the past is meant to stay the same. Join Dr. Rosalene and Watts on their journey and travel To The Moon." --From the Backloggd description.

Not a horror game, again. This...is a really melancholic game ngl. It's great, just bittersweet and leaves you in tears. Bring tissues. T^T

Other Games

Night in the Woods

"Mae Borowski, a recent college dropout, returns to her hometown that is the sleepy mining town of Possum Springs. There, she struggles with the changes to her home and her former friends. As Mae struggles with finding her own identity and coping with the massive changes in her life, she begins to have odd dreams with ominous messages, and discovers hints of some mysterious force living out in the woods of her community." --TV Tropes game summary (edited a little by me).

A 2D adventure game with minor platforming elements and mini games. This is one of my favorites. It's an existential package all wrapped up in shattered hopes and dreams, with a sprinkle of cult stuff. :3

Sally Face

"Sally Face is a 2D horror point-and-click adventure aame developed by Portable Moose following the titular character, a boy with a prosthetic face and a mysterious past.

The game is broken up into five episodes. In the first, Sally Face and his father move into a new apartment filled with odd tenants and an unfortunate crime scene. But starting from the second episode, things take a far stranger turn as Sal obtains a portable console that seems to detect supernatural activity." --TV tropes game summary.

This game didn't grab me at first b/c it released episodically (which...I hate with games tbh), but after picking it back up and playing through it in its entirety, it broke my heart in the best of ways. I like the art style reminiscent of how old MTV used to feel with Beavis and Butthead. The characters are actually great, and the story is both surreal and pulls you back down to ground you hard. Blood, some gore, supernatural elements, demonic stuff? What's not to love? XD

Crow Country

"The game takes place in 1990, and centers around Special Agent Mara Forest as she investigates a missing person report for one Edward Crow. The report brings her to Crow Country, Crow's long-abandoned amusement park. Mara has to not only navigate the old, locked-up attractions to find her quarry, but also must tangle with unknown horrors as this investigation turns out to go even deeper that it appears…" --TV Tropes game summary.

I'm a sucker for the older Resident Evil and Silent Hill games as well as the blocky PS1 art style. This game hits the nail on the head with it feeling like a love letter to those days. It's a recent release, so might be a bit pricy, but I thought I'd drop the summary here anyway. It's a 3rd person shooter with blood, some gore, and disturbing imagery. Spooky!

Kindergarten 1-3

"You play as a kindergartner. Throughout the day, do favors, avoid trouble, get special items, and repeat as you uncover the mystery under the kindergarten." --TV Tropes game summary.

That's...the best way one can describe these games. The games are so randomly batshit and off the wall I couldn't not share them, though. It's an adventure-type game with trial and error (but done well) and has "true" endings for each--all with canonical stuff following to the next for more insane madness. What can I say except... it's Kindergarten. There is a lot of crude humor, some language, blood, and distressing stuff happening to you and your teachers and classmates all the time.

Flower

"The game takes place within the dreams of a lonely potted flower upon the windowsill of a rather dreary city apartment.

With the completion of each dream, more flowers appear upon the windowsill, and the apartment grows ever less run-down while the view out of the window grows ever more picturesque. Actual game-play consists, for the most part, of guiding a single, wind-borne petal of the presently dreaming flower, awakening other flowers and adding a petal from each to your own, until you find yourself guiding a great, winding current of blossoms and petals (along with the occasional leaf) through the game's vast and varied landscapes while the ambient music shifts and changes according to locations, movements, and events.

As the game's wordless story progresses, it takes on an increasingly subdued and eventually sinister tone, until the player finds themself witness to a triumphant charge to bring back life to a once beautiful landscape and city." --TV Tropes game summary.

This is a very peaceful and lovely game. A palette cleanser, if you will. The only hang up is that it uses motion controls, but it's not overwhelmingly difficult or unintuitive with them and still would recommend. :3

Journey

"You play as a nameless robed figure who is crossing the desert to reach a mountain in the distance. As the game progresses, you pass through several unique environments and ruins, uncovering more of the game's story as you go.

Your character has only two real abilities. The first is singing, which radiates a sound wave proportional to how long you hold down the button — this is used to activate or attract various objects. The second is jumping, which allows you to go sailing through the air — this ability uses energy, which can be replenished by touching the floating bits of cloth you encounter throughout the game. The maximum amount of storable energy, indicated by the length of your character's trailing scarf, can be increased by collecting glowing symbols.

One of the game's main selling points is its unique form of multiplayer. During the game, you may encounter another player, whom you may travel with if you wish. However, unlike most multiplayer games, you can't see the other player's name or other information except for a unique icon that appears above their head when they sing, which is the only real way to communicate. There is no text or voice chat in the game, so you must rely entirely on your in-game abilities to work with your partner. However the game does list the handles of all the other players you encountered in the session during the credit, so you have a chance to send them a heartfelt “thank you” after the session." --TV Tropes game summary

It's a very unique and short experience. Another palette cleanser <3

GRIS

"The title heroine is a young girl dealing with personal trauma, the exact nature of which is uncovered throughout the game, as you guide Gris through a surreal and initially bleak landscape of her devastated psyche." --TV Tropes game summary.

This game's art style and soundtrack are heartbreakingly beautiful, and it's a less "severe" journey through the MC's trauma without blood or gore. It's a lovely game, honestly, and I find myself going back to it a lot.

[lurksunderthebed]

Ghoap Analysis/Meta (2.5)

The Evolution of GhostSoap Redux

Finally finishing Codmwii (22), via discussion of "Ghost Team" and "Countdown".

Discussing Ghost's face reveal and what it means to his character motivations/backstory.

Part (2.5/?) out of a series.

Brief mentions of MWIII. Practically spoiler free.

Please read the Alt text.

As I said more or less in my previous post, "Ghost Team" and "Countdown" doesn't have as many GhostSoap interactions by virtue of having the whole gang altogether again.

But what we do have however is the final evolution of Ghost as Trusting Teammate Ghost and a teasing look at our favourite masked character's face.

In this post, there'll be less analysis based on dialogue and more speculation/assumptions so take that as you may.

So let's look at "Ghost Team".

Ghost Team

Price: Alright, listen - We are taking back your HQ. We are getting our prisoner. We are killing Commander Graves.

Rodolfo: When?

Ghost: Now.

Price: This is a fight against our own... We are not 141 and Los Vaqueros on this. We're a team...

Ghost empties a bag full of skull masks onto the table.

Price: ...Ghost Team.

Ghost removes his mask in front of everyone, although the camera shows only the back of his head. Price nods and smiles at Ghost.

Price: Good to see you again, Simon.

Price removes his boonie hat.

Price: If you're in, take a mask... If you're not... Don't.

Everyone around the table takes a skull mask. The camera circles around Rodolfo, Gaz, Soap, Alejandro, Price, and finally Ghost as they put on their masks.

"Ghost Team" is bluntly named after Ghost finally deciding, hey these are all trustworthy guys and I'll show you the proof of my trust, by extending trust via face reveal. It's an extension of his previous statement in "Prison Break" that, "We're a team... all of us". It's like a switch with Ghost; once he decides to trust someone, to really consider them as Team, he proves it with his actions.

I know many out there were disappointed by Ghost showing his face to everyone, in fact I was too. In some ways it does feel a bit like whiplash to have Ghost struggle so hard to trust Soap and then in a span of 16 traumatic hours, he takes off his mask in front of all everyone. Remember this isn't just Rudy/Ale and 141, this is also a bunch of random soldiers from Los Vaqueros who were imprisoned seeing his face.

So why does he do that? And more importantly, does Ghost actually trust all of Los Vaqueros and Gaz as much as he now comes to trust Soap and Price?

To answer that we have to look at why Ghost might have decided to take off his mask, his thought process on doing so and the events leading up to this.

Let's go back to the cutscene before the whole reveal:

These are two separate frames that we are shown while Price is talking to Shepherd. We have Soap, Gaz, Alejandro and Ghost listening in.

Now this is again all interpretation and assumptions, but if you look closely, Ghost is noticeably a fair distance away from the rest of the gang.

For a guy who is extending a lot of trust by showing his face in the next scene, it's interesting that he's still framed as a man somewhat separate from the bunch. I know the framing was partially because showing all 4 men distinctly would mean placing them neatly like that.

But putting that aside, they could've placed Ghost closer to Soap. He could've taken Alejandro's spot on the opposite side of the table. It would make sense to group all of 141 closer together. Ghost has worked with Gaz since 2020 in Verdansk. They've known each other for 2 years already while Ghost has only known Alejandro (and los Vaqueros) for a whopping 5 days.

Again, they didn't. Personally, given how much the game relies on framing to indirectly inform players of character relationships, I'm going to read into this probably deeper than it's supposed to be.

One way to look at it, is that Ghost still isn't completely trusting of the rest. He still holds himself apart from the rest. Physical positioning actually does matter when we look at Ghost because 9 out of 10 times it isn't what Ghost is saying that matters insofar as what the man is actually DOING that determines his motivations.

It says a lot that the game decided to frame Soap and Gaz together and yet Ghost isn't placed closer to Price nor Soap—the two men we know he is the closest to.

Potentially, we can infer that Ghost taking off his mask in the next scene was a bigger leap of faith than thought before.

Ghost has decided to trust men (random Los Vaqueros) that he maybe hasn't personally talked to before. It's quite the jump, especially since we know that he STILL holds himself apart from everyone (even Price&Soap).

There's a couple ways we can look at why Ghost decided to do the face reveal.

Maybe Ghost showing his face happens more than we think and that's why it was so easy for him to reveal his face? Perhaps Ghost freely takes off his mask on his downtime and only truly cares about it being on or off while he's working.

It's possible. There's no way to determine Ghost's actions outside of him on duty. But even that doesn't fit right with the fact that we see him all masked up and bundled in layers in the bar scene at the end of this game and at the end of MWIII. Both times he could've gone with something more casual looking and less anon if he truly was someone a bit different than how he presents himself on the job.

Granted, the times we do see him in a more casual context, he's with his co-workers so it's not quite the fairest assumption to make. Perhaps he separates who he is with people who know him as Ghost with who he is when people don't.

But given what we have and what we already know of the man, I think it's fair to assume that how Ghost is in-game is probably how he acts when he's off duty.

After all, the one person (Price) who knows Ghost as both, the LT still isn't that close to. There's respect and trust but the casual joking friendship you see between Price and Laswell isn't there. That might be more on the fact that Price is still Ghost's superior so maybe the man just likes to keep their relationship on a strictly hierarchical basis. (Yes, I know Ghost jokes at Price in MWIII, but that was arguably more for Soap and also at Price's expense).

We know that showing his face isn't something Ghost does habitually. Soap hasn't seen it before and they've worked together for 3 years already, 2 of which they were in the SAME taskforce. They had to have seen each other a fair bit considering that Soap, Ghost and Gaz are apparently the only 141 operatives.

If there were more 141 operatives, I would expect them to come out in MWIII especially with the whole Makarov/brink of war thing, so unless any new info comes out I'm assuming that 141 is just Price, Ghost, Soap and Gaz with random loaned soldiers to pad their ranks when needed on missions.

So why does Ghost decide to take off his mask if him showing his face isn't a casual thing when he's off duty, nor does he fully trust PEOPLE as a whole?

Honestly, I see this as a massive leap of faith/hope and Ghost wanting to see things done right this time around.

As I said previously where I somewhat go into Ghost's backstory, there's an implication with Mace's inclusion that there was/is a unit of 'Ghost' styled operatives who might have all worn the ghost mask. Added with the fact that the reboot likes to take a lot of character depth from the older popular games in the franchise, it's not a stretch to assume Mace and Ghost being teammates are a nod to Ghost squad in cod: ghosts.

We know there was a betrayal of sorts, potentially one that might have involved those fellow ghosts. Mace left the unit and there's an ominous, "things are very different now" statement by the dev about Ghost and Mace's time as teammates.

Perhaps the title "Ghost Team" wasn't so much named after the man, Simon "Ghost" Riley, but rather after the 'Ghost' unit that Ghost and Mace were on.

Maybe Price calling them all "Ghost Team" was actually referencing that unit.

This is based on assumptions but hear me out.

We know Price obviously knows what Ghost looks like. The captain references the LT by name a couple times before: when talking about him to Laswell in the ending scene in 2019, in Verdansk (via comms) in 2020 and now here after Ghost takes off his mask. There's a relationship in between the lines that suggests that Price knew him before Simon Riley ever became Ghost.

Therefore we can also assume that Price also knows what happened to Ghost and potentially the details of that unnamed unit as his current direct superior. With Price's connections and his casual disregard for rules, I'd be surprised if he wasn't familiar with that hypothetical Ghost squad.

I think the biggest nod to this, is Price having on hand a bunch of skull balaclavas. He could've gone with plain balaclavas if just being anonymous was the concern, but didn't; the choice of a skull pattern was deliberate. This was potentially planned out prior to Price's rescue of the group in "Prison Break".

Unless Ghost just randomly keeps 6+ extra skully balaclavas on his body at all times, it's most likely Price that brought the balaclavas with him.

There probably wasn't enough time for Ghost to communicate to Price of Shepherd's betrayal and thus their need to hide their faces to fight the general. In "Alone", the LT even mentions it to Soap that they have to rely on themselves and not Price or Laswell. Heck at that point, Ghost didn't even trust Laswell. Only Price, Soap and everyone that got betrayed was deemed 'safe'.

I suppose Ghost could have sent a message to Price that they were going to break Alejandro out at the safehouse, but I'm not entirely sure there was enough time for that between everything that happened and Soap's injury. Plus Ghost and Soap were surprised to hear Price on comms. If Ghost was sure Price was going to show up, I doubt he would hide it from Rudy. And even if he knew the captain would come, it's likely he would change their plan to factor in Price's arrival. Therefore we can say that this was most likely all Price's initial plan. Not Ghost's.

Price clearly knew that to defeat Graves and Shepherd, they would have to 'go dark' so to speak. Obviously showing their faces would make the group war criminals. Naturally that meant they would have to emulate a unit that was probably well known to do missions completely anonymously without any country, rules of engagement, or signifier outside the skull mask. An international unit that carried out presumably the blackest of ops would be a perfect fit.

And to make it even more authentic, they have a member who was/is a part of that special group. Now the title of a game serves two purposes. Referencing Ghost's change from lone wolf to teammate as well as a call back to cod: ghosts.

So again, if this was Price's idea why does Ghost go along with it?

Well harking back to what I said earlier, it's assumed that Ghost has been betrayed by potentially his own ghostly teammates.

Ghost coming up to this point had no idea anyone other than Price, Soap and Los Vaqueros were trustworthy.

But then the events of "Alone" and "Prison Break" happen and Ghost sees Laswell being, "still solid as a rock". He gets rescued by Price unexpectedly. Soap shows that outsiders can be trusted by proving Ghost wrong about all his initial suppositions. Everything Ghost said to caution Soap— them not being able to rely on Price, them not trusting Laswell, Soap surviving, all of them were proven false.

And from seeing that, perhaps the man decides he wants to overturn his past experiences with betrayal to something better. Because now Ghost has hope. What else could he be proven wrong about?

This hodgepodge ghost squad might be a catharsis for Ghost in the sense that this time, he can get some revenge for being betrayed. He can have solid 'ghost team' members who have his back (unlike previously). He can let himself have a team again, with all the vulnerable trust that is implied with letting himself be a part of a team.

So Ghost taking off the mask makes more sense when we look at it as him trying to redo his own past as well. He is asking the rest of them to trust him by extending trust back (by showing his face).

But again that's just a theory. A video game theory.😎

I could be very wrong with everything here. It could just as well be as simple as Ghost after finding love trust from Soap, is so moved by the power of love trust that he felt compelled to take the next step in teamhoodness. Again, by asking the bunch to trust him by showing his identity.

The masks and the naming could just be based on Ghost and his apparently infamous legend. The guy has a bit of an ego about his skills. Maybe this plan was hatched by Ghost and Price together, and the LT wanted his ego stroked by having everyone dress up as him.

I also wouldn't put it past the man to randomly have 6 spare balaclavas on him at all times. He wears SKELETON GLOVES for god's sake. The guy is truly committed to the bit. Maybe he really is that eccentric/well prepared.

Who knows.

What we do have however, is the fact that Ghost taking off his mask was an action of trust and vulnerability. An action that wouldn't have happened without Soap being there and being his snarky lovable self.

Without Soap proving himself and working together with Ghost it's doubtful whether the LT would've opened up enough to show his face.

But enough of that. Lets talk GhostSoap interactions. It's sparse but boy do they stare at each other like no tomorrow.

It does feel a bit like grasping at straws to go, 'THEY'RE STARING AT EACH OTHER YOUR HONOUR. THAT MEANS ITS DEFFO LOVE!!! LOOK AT THEM SPARKS FLY!!!!'

But we've already established that stares are a form of wordless communication between the two. The game did it forcibly, by framing shots in each other's perspectives CONSTANTLY. This isn't the only time they've been long gazing into each other's eyes for an amount of time that would normally be uncomfortable for anyone else.

Soap is placed directly across from Ghost. The game wanted us to see Soap's expression when it pans teasingly behind Ghost's back and you're only left seeing Gaz, Soap, Alejandro and Price. This was all deliberate.

From start to finish, Soap barely takes his eyes off of Ghost. Even when Price is explaining things, Soap is very obviously looking Ghost's way. And Ghost is quite obviously staring back at Soap.

What could they be communicating between them here?

Well from Soap's expression on the third picture, it kind of looks like the sergeant is grinning. No doubt thinking back on his words where he flirts tells Ghost to show his face. Maybe Soap is stuck on the truth of Ghost's boasting. That Ghost really isn't an ugly guy at all. Quite the opposite indeed.

Really, it could be a multitude of things. One thing for certain is that we can see that they're both caught on each other from the very start of the conversation.

The funniest thing is that this isn't the first and last time we see Ghost and Soap seemingly ignore everything around them but each other. It happens in the cutscene in "Alone", here in "Ghost Team" and later in MWIII multiple times.

We can sort of excuse it here because this is the very first time Soap gets a look at Ghost's face in 3 years of working with each other. Anyone would be staring like the other would disappear in that circumstance.

Every other time though? Yeah... It suggests something very non-platonic in nature about their relationship. Let's not forget that they only really do this with each other. Not Gaz nor Price elucidates this sort of behaviour from either man. Both of them have a staring habit but it only seems to activate when the other is there.

Unfortunately, this whole cutscene was pretty much it for notable Ghost and Soap interactions in this mission. As I said earlier, "Ghost Team" doesn't have a lot of meaningful GhostSoap interactions. That can be said of "Countdown" as well, but we do get a few choice bits.

Let's look at "Countdown":

Countdown

Rodolfo closes the vehicle door as he and Alejandro turn to Soap.

Alejandro: Go... You have work to do.

Soap shakes hands with Alejandro and Rodolfo.

Soap: Keep fighting the good fight, hermano.

Alejandro: To the bitter end, my brother.

Rodolfo: Good luck, amigos.

Soap turns to go on the transport plane and taps Ghost on the shoulder to motion him to go as well.

Alejandro: Ghost...

Ghost turns around to face Alejandro.

Alejandro: No te pierdas, carnal. (Don't get lost, brother.)

Ghost: A huevo. (Of course.)

Alejandro and Rodolfo smile and laugh as Ghost boards the plane. The doors to the ramp close shut.

Now this scene is interesting when we contrast the Ghost of "Kill or Capture" to the Ghost now. The Ghost at the beginning of the game visibly hated being fistbumped. The Ghost now, doesn't seem to bat an eye at it. For a man that seems to treasure his personal space, this is a big moment. Soap is now solidly in the rarified group of (2!) members that are allowed to touch Ghost (without getting glared/intense side eyed back). The other being Price of course.

Let me reiterate that this whole process only took 7 days.

This is also compounded with Ghost actually engaging in friendly conversation with Alejandro and Rudy. If at the beginning of "Cartel Protection" where we see Ghost more or less stonewall any sort of friendly jokes/banter, here we see Ghost actually respond positively. He even raises a fist in a total bro gesture. 🥹 Antisocial Ghost who's him?

This is further reinforced when we look at the usage of Spanish by non native speakers. Notably Soap, Ghost and Graves.

Soap's Spanish usage is used to denote affection/care from Soap to Alejandro/Rudy. We know that Soap cares about Rudy and Alejandro because he makes an effort to ask personal questions about them AND tries to learn/use their language.

Graves by contrast uses it too. But none of that is meant affectionately. When we do see it, he's mocking Los Vaqueros and taunting them over the loss of their base.

And reflective of Ghost, the LT doesn't even mutter a word of Spanish at all to Rudy or Alejandro. His non usage is used to imply how he intentionally distances himself from everyone.

In "Cartel Protection", they asked Soap and Ghost whether they knew any Spanish. Throughout the game we see Soap learning and using Spanish to the delight of Alejandro and Rudy. Ghost did not join in to that cultural/language learning at any point up until this key moment here.

Perhaps Ghost was actively learning Spanish as well, paying more attention/care than anyone would've thought. Or maybe Ghost being the secretive troll he is, might have already known the language to some degree and refused to reveal it to Ale/Rudy. Which ever reason behind it, this scene was the perfect moment to show how far Ghost has come since 7 days ago.

From arrival via transport plane and instantly stonewalling Soap from making any jokes, to now leaving via the same transport plane and revealing something about himself—it's like deja vu except Ghost is the only thing different. The lightning is even the same. Ghost has been changed by the past events. His motivations now are evolving and expanding into something a little more friend shaped.

But sadly, that's the last time we see Ghost and Soap physically together since we see Ghost has been put on overwatch for the millionth time in Chicago.

We do however get some delightful exchanges at the end of the mission:

Soap: It's detonated.

Laswell: Copy that. Air Force will confirm. Thank you, Sergeant.

Soap: Yeah... Pleasure doin' business with ya, Laswell.

Laswell: Where's Hassan?

Soap: Not alone- he's got AQ guards with him. I'm gonna kill every one of 'em... and then I'm going for him. Out here.

Soap moves throughout the construction floor evading Al-Qatala guards.

Soap: Steamin' bloody fuckin'...

Ghost: Nicely done, Johnny. Now for the hard part.

Soap: That was the fucking hard part, L.T...

Ghost: Let's find out. You need to stay alive, take out the guards, and kill Hassan.

Soap: I just need a weapon.

Ghost: Make one.

Soap: Aye. Like old times, huh, L.T.?

Ghost: Seems like yesterday...

Soap: It was yesterday...

Ghost and Soap fall back into snarking at each other during critical moments. What's interesting is that because Ghost is on overwatch and we see Soap work with Price and Gaz, we now have a chance to compare [Ghost and Soap], [Price and Soap] and [Laswell and Soap].

There's an odd thought rattling around that Soap could just be a very flirty person by nature. He likes to buck authority. Maybe Soap snarks back to all his superiors.

But we find that might not be true at all, because Soap doesn't snark at Price ever. Not here in mwii(22), not in "Flashpoint" in 2019 and not at any time in mwiii(23).

Gaz actually jokes more with Price than Soap ever does with the captain. And that's wild because according to the official bio, Price has known Soap since the sergeant was 18! Soap and Price's relationship go wayyy back. To our knowledge it's the longest official relationship we know between any of the characters. Maybe Soap's relationship to Price is more respectful/devoid of any back talk?

Regardless, Soap doesn't pull any of that towards Price. He actually snarks more to Laswell and their relationship started around 2019/20 when the taskforce was formed.

We see this here with Soap in an echo of what was to come in mwiii(23):

Laswell: Copy that. Air Force will confirm. Thank you, Sergeant.

Soap: Yeah... Pleasure doin' business with ya, Laswell.

Laswell: Where's Hassan?

Laswell thanks Soap. To which Soap snarks back happily. Laswell shuts down any jokes and moves the convo back to more pressing matters.

Contrast this convo with Ghost congratulating Soap and then starting the snark up first cause he can't help himself:

Ghost: Nicely done, Johnny. Now for the hard part.

Soap: That was the fucking hard part, L.T...

I honestly think the snark came out of Ghost from all the sheer worry the LT had. Remember that Ghost jokes to distract himself and Soap. This is another extension of that.

When we look at this as a whole, we can read it as further framing of Ghost and Soap's relationship as something unique, something special to only them. Out of all the superiors Soap has ever been directly under, it's only Ghost that seems to snark back. They egg each other on and we see this with each successive line in the dialogue bit:

Soap: I just need a weapon.

Ghost: Make one.

Soap: Aye. Like old times, huh, L.T.?

Ghost: Seems like yesterday...

Soap: It was yesterday...

Soap doesn't really joke back to Price (though we don't see them interact outside of extremely critical time sensitive missions so it's a little debatable). Laswell sort of tolerates it, but forcibly moves the subject.

It's Ghost who previously ignored Soap, that entertains and even encourages him to snark.

Soap isn't like this with Alejandro, Rudy or Gaz. We see (1) instance of Soap being pouty about Gaz being right (for once) in MWIII and that's all we really see of Gaz and Soap's relationship to be frank.

We also don't see Soap snarking at Alejandro or Rudy. The one time we saw Soap quip back at anyone, it was at Graves specifically during the tank scene. And that snark was meant murderously of course.

On the other hand, It feels like Ghost and Soap could go on forever trading banter at each other for hours.

And they somewhat do when the mission suddenly becomes a crafting survival game at the end. It becomes a little segment similar to "Alone" where you have Ghost encouraging Soap to murder better via helpful tips about how to do so.

There's a call and response thing going on with the two of them. Every time Soap says something, there's an automatic response from Ghost. And we see this especially so, at the very end of the game:

Soap: Ghost...

Ghost: Soap...

Soap: Watch the window...

The window blows apart and Hassan walks up to Soap.

Hassan: We are not attacking...

Hassan hauls Soap up to his feet and brings him to his face.

Hassan: We are invading...

The scene shifts to Ghost on the rooftop of his building as he deploys his MCPR-300 sniper rifle and aims at the floor where Soap and Hassan are located. He sees Hassan hauling Soap over to the window preparing to drop him to his death. At this point, the player must shoot Hassan before Hassan can push Soap out of the building.

Ghost fires a shot that hits Hassan in the head. Hassan collapses to the ground, dead. Soap drops to his knees and looks at Hassan before looking back to Ghost's position.

Soap: Perfect shot, L.T.

Ghost: You called it, Sergeant. All stations- Hassan's down. Enemy KIA.

Like "Alone", which literally was just yesterday for them, all Soap and Ghost have to say is their names and one of them will respond similarly. It's like they're a perfect pair meant to always be framed together. We are introduced to these characters together and we see the depth of who they are as characters in contrast to one another. (I'm not counting warzone because Ghost/Soap being there was equivalent to a fun Easter egg tbh)

And finally we get to the circular ending of mwii(22). It ends like how it starts. The game itself starts in Ghost's perspective with a missile strike to kill general Ghorbrani. We are in Ghost's perspective looking through a scope to confirm the target.

Here at the end, we are in Ghost's perspective after looking down another scope to kill Hassan.

Except this time Ghost isn't solo.

SoapAndGhost worked together for everything to end happily. It's in the text explicitly. Soap praises Ghost on his perfect shot. Ghost is like, noo, you called it. It's a regular ole praise hot potato here.

From beginning Ghost (who works alone) to end Ghost (who works with Soap): the heart and soul of this game is centred on these two. The big emotional breakthrough is Ghost's evolution from lone wolf to devoted teammate.

Whatever people might think about the nature of their relationship, it's unmistakable how important these two are to each other in-universe, but also just when we look at how the game was written. These two are the crux of MWII.

If MW19 was emotionally centred on Farah's backstory and her growth as a character in which we see her literally grow from child to freedom fighter, MWII was emotionally centred on Ghost learning how to trust (outsiders) and be a part of a team again.

It's really no wonder people like to ship Ghost and Soap when the game is focused on their particular relationship. From the framing to the dialogue, this was all deliberate. The shots had to be created/animated, the dialogue had to be written (no ad lib from what it sounds). There was a reason to have all these borderline non-platonic cutscenes/lines. And again I'll thank everyone there who had a hand in those choices.

They took what could have been a very dudebro game into something that appealed to a larger (feminine) audience by making choices that went against the grain of what a typical fps game does. Especially one so painfully mainstream.

Thanks game devs for creating such compelling characters/relationships. You really did us a solid by making it.

Now the next thing to look at is this: How has Ghost and Soap's relationship changed between mwii(22) to mwiii(23)?

That's a tough question. There are differences though those are best talked about in comparison to how we see Ghost and Soap in 2019, 2022 and then to 2023. There's sadly nothing truly explicit and all we have to look at is context, stares and little touches. Which still is enough to sink our teeth into in my humble shipper opinion.

But if anything, given how little time mwiii(23) had to bake, I'm glad that there was an effort to at least sub textually in the dialogue try to communicate Ghost and Soap's relationship.

We could have had zero relationship growth in mwiii(23) guys. I'll forever be glad we got the tidbits we do have over literally nothing.

Does this mean I think mwiii(23) was a good game that did Ghost and Soap's relationship justice?

No.

But I actually don't think it was completely the worst. And looking back at certain dialogue choices after going through mwii(22), there was some reasoning behind it. Which somewhat makes the ending better, though I'm still bitter about the whole nonsensical plot.

Anyway. Thanks for reading my stupidly long post, anyone who's still tuned into the whole thing, you have my endless gratitude. 💕💕💕🥺

And thanks to all the gifers out there to make my life easier for these posts. You guys are the real troopers. 🫡

Part 3 will prob take a good time that might not happen anytime soon because I keep on getting side tracked with writing/plot bunnies. Sorry guys 😔

+

Also sidenote, I have my own thoughts on why the game chose to not have Ghost join in the killing of Graves and instead have Soap and Rudy do it. My ghost squad theory is admittedly weaker when we see the game deliberately choose them (not Ghost) to get revenge. But honestly, it was always going to be the player character insert (Soap) and one of Los Vaqueros. Not Soap and Ghost. After all, it's Los Vaqueros that had their base taken over. It makes narrative sense for one of them to help end it as well.

[liliallowed]

we ballin, hello, it’s the guy who’s running the daily-dusttale account (this is just my main blog, howdy). I have come here to ask for a reference or smt for Crimson, since I looked at what you’ve said for them a bit and like their vibes. Was honestly going to ask this like…a few weeks ago but I forgot 👍 I hope you have a great day!

the character lore backstory and personality is by me/lilibanned (my old deleted account) but the character design itself is by @fateswind0wseat

heres a bunch of links! i follow their design but have inconsistency drawing their cloak so its better to just put these here.

besides they're a wonderful artist and deserve all the attention

and my favorite one:

[neo-zone]

Alright, I finally got my hands on this full ... presscon? cast reaction? Whatever.

I already shared some screenshots from this before (by some people on Twitter) and after finally watching the full version, I fell like I need to share the rest of the season 2 world building and character lores mentioned and discussed to you guys in here (and also major spoilers for season 3)

P.S. I could be wrong on some of the points here (either misinterpreting or not paying enough attention), so please correct me if I do in the reply section

Season 2

I'm still confused af on this line : "he killed his original body as well as his personality, eventually turning into the twisted monster that he is now". Like so, does it refer to Sang-won killing his original body in season 2 or is it about monster Sang-won killing the real Sang-won?

I still don't get this line too, so interpret it however you want : "The child covered in black?" "This is where what's remaining of Sang-won disappears, uncovering the child."

Chan-young was a baseball player. Ye-seul was one of the cheerleaders

Oh, apparently monsterization does still happened inside the stadium. That's why there's a regular daily checking. Anyone showing symptoms will be out in the isolation place (yeah that place where they put the sick mom in). Some lived, some died inside the isolation => might be why Chief Ji keeping her monster son secluded somewhere deep inside the stadium

Hyun-su cut Yi-kyung's daughter hair the same style as him, hence how they're being similar appearance wise

The live action crew is adapting Shotgun Boy into Netflix Sweet Home

Yi-kyung blames herself for how her child turned out to be with her monster-turning power

Yi-kyung's inability to give affection or even touched her child stems from the fact that monsters are created from human desires, so she didn't want her child to have desire (awfully familiar with a particular old man *side glance*)

Yep, you guessed it. These three (Hyun-su, Eun-yu, and Chan-young) are dense as fuck about their own feelings to each other (minus Hyun-su to Chan-young and vice versa ofc)

Yi-kyung's daughter views Hyun-su as her own family even more than her biological mother. Because they're similar and he's the only person she could hold hands with without her power reacting

Hyun-su uses red ribbons to mark the safe area for Eun-yu because color red stands out among the greenery of Seoul post time skip

The monster cocoons are shaped like a heart because monsterization manifests from human desires

The "real Jung Wui-myeong" is one of the scientists. Sang-won (or monster Sang-won depending how you interpret the earlier points) took his identity and used it as his own, probably to separate himself from his old human self

Lmao, not them calling Sang-won's family as family of evil and there's no good apple in it. That's so fucking foul

Sang-wook is still there somewhere (I already shared this one before)

Sang-won's original abilities include the Medusa touch he did to Hyun-su in episode 3

Oh wait, Yi-kyung survived?! I thought she died after her fight with Hyun-su (uh oh *nervous glance to every instance of me mentioning "her death" in replies*)

Monster Hyun-su act according to what Hyun-su thinks and desires (I had shared this one before)

Monster Hyun-su is more proactive and extrovert (is the extrovert part really necessary?")

Season 3 rough summary

Family drama : Nam Sang-won starts a bunch of trouble (this bitch) in order to create a world he dreams of. There are family reunions and conflicts between spouses. He also meets his child (uh oh). They fight for her custody. This custody case didn't need a court (fuck, oh come on 😂). Yi-kyung wouldn't just talk it out. She'd fight until one is dead

Sibling drama : Eun-yu will meet Eun-hyeok again, but I'm not sure it'll make her happy

Second male lead struggle : Chan-yeong faces even more hardships as the story progresses. But even then, he gives up a lot just to protect Eun-yu. He starts to understand the monsters more. There's a lot on his mind as the story goes on.

More monster Hyun-su : Hyun-su lets go of himself and lets out the monster. But the monster doesn't just do its thing. He reads Hyun-su's mind and acts as he wants.

Another Hyun-su and Yi-kyung interaction : And later on, he interacts with Yi-kyung as well. The emotion it brings also felt huge. In the narration, he tells Eun-yu how much pain Yi-kyung is in and that he has to stop it all himself. So I'm sure Hyun-su sparked a change in Yi-kyung's heart. That'll continue in Season 3.

[darl1ngd3ar3st]

Hey there! Can you do some Cole and Seth crushing headcanons pls? (If you don't want that's okay :])

I don't have the seth bundle so unfortunately I don't know a thing abt him and I don't wanna write your pookie wrong cuz I know how infuriating that can be but I'd be happy to write abt cole!! (I'm mentally ill)

falling for you hcs w some of my fav boyz (cole, reece, and cashew)

cole

he falls fast and he falls HARD. scraped his knee and everything.

he will do anything for you

like literally anything

your shoes untied? he ties em for you. oh you need a ride to work? say no more. you're hungry? let bro cook.

also he is mentally ill. I think he has bpd but I could be wrong

you are easily his favorite person. he is obsessed with you. he gets jealous and upset when you're not around him for too long because he worries you'll forget about him and the other person will steal you away.

he wants to devote his life to you and you only. nothing else matters. no one else matters (lol yandere sim reference)

anyways he's constantly trying to do things for you

helping you run errands, making sure you're eating and drinking enough water, getting you trinkets and doohickies he thinks you'll like, just overall being your number one supporter and your biggest fan

it's implied he has an actual shrine of the player in his closet somewhere in the game so. if you wanna interpret that as him being so fr go ahead

all in all, you are his everything and there's nothing he wouldn't do to make you happy and to hopefully get you to feel the same.

reece

mrrp meow mrrrp mrrp mrow

I love autism representation that doesn't involve harmful stereotypes

anyways. reece is a hopelessly romantic lovebug I think

he doesn't know how to flirt like at all so he just. meows at you and hopes you meow back

and he gets really excited when you do

he doesn't mean to, but he often shows affection by infodumping about his hyperfixations and special interests and then gets really embarrassed and apologizes a bunch later

please reassure his silly ass

also he forgets to drink water and do basic things for himself so if you remind him he's gonna fall head over heels all over again

also if you're neurodivergent he really loves hearing you talk abt your hyperfixations and special interests!!!!!! he loves it a lot!!!!!!!!

he tries to remember all of the little things but he forgets some stuff

but like if you mention that you think you wanna go to italy on a whim one (1, singular) time he's like "okay so we're going to italy" like a day later

also takes you to the renaissance era cuz it's pretty

and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if he confessed to you on the titanic

he unintentionally starts picking up stuff you say or do like if you have a stim where you say "yipee!!" like the autism creature he starts doing that

or like if you walk a certain way he starts walking like that without meaning to

long story short his main flirting tactic is being autistic and meowing at you

cashew

HES CANONICALLY DEMISEXUAL/DEMIROMANTIC ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

anyways so you're friends. you are friends

and one day you're in the library helping him pick out a book and your hand brushes against his while you're walking back to the car

except he brushes it off in his head cuz i mean come on. you're best friends.

and then like a day later he finds out the book you guys picked was an erotica or whatever it's called so he gets an absolutely jumpscare when the guy in the story pulls his dick out

like this was his exact reaction

BAHAHAHAH ANYWAYS

anyways in his head he's imagining one of the characters is you. like without even realizing it he's just like "oh yeah they've got h/c hair and e/c eyes and oh wait"

and when he realizes he's thinking of you he starts to panic like "WHAT THE FUCK IM IN LOVE WITH THEM. ok" and he comes to terms with it in like 15 minutes

but he starts doing a bunch more favors for you like carrying your stuff for you and offering you his coat

he is not subtle at all

like its so painfully obvious by the way he looks at you that he's head over heels

he doesn't know how to flirt honestly

it doesn't take long for him to just tell you how he feels

sorry this was so short lmfaoo thank you for the request!!!!! <33

[callistosposts]

If I may ask, why do you associate Cabinet Man with Saturn? I mean he does give off the vibe of someone singing it for fun, but I don’t really see any personality stuff that links with him.

Well other than the “you can win me, I can’t be beat; I won’t hurt you UNLESS YOU CHEAT!” part that makes a lotta sense with how you interpret Saturn

it definitely has a lot to do with how i interpret him!!! :D

a lot of it is also interpreting the song as a bunch of metaphors , when i think of songs for characters i dont exactly go off the original songs meaning

"electric desires had unraveled all my wires, now im in the box for safekeeping" - saturns desires to be seen as perfect or kind to everyone drove him crazy, so now he just tries to stay calm

my interpretation of the song in relation to saturn is all about his two faces that i always talk about, his sadness and kindness vs his more malicious side conflicting and messing with other people, and how it often backfires on him as in gets him in difficult spots

"you cant see me behind the screen" you cant see saturns true act behind his kindness facade "im half human" reffering to his more humane side once again, kindness, remorse "and half machine" reffering to his more malicious side, a side that is very inhumane

"players soon appeared, and i quickly was revered. this must be what love would of felt like" reffering to how Titan seems to forgive him and see him as a higher power so easily compared to the other moons

"with eyes so piercing theyd wait their turn to play, perfect patient lines cause' I was in their minds. I could do whatever I felt like" how the moons are basically manipulated and fear mongered into staying with him and forgiving him for things

"only eatting the occasional matinence man" deystroying a moon

"only driving a few kids to madness" upsetting the moons

"maybe they were pre-disposed to madness, who knows?" excusing his actions / wrongdoings

"its getting lonley, its getting hard to breathe" when titan left / dissapeared and therefore he had no one to make his image look better

"bashing in my face with a crowbar, kicking me and pushing me over, now they see my blood on their sneakers" i think this one would directly refer to Planet X / Hades, the fight for a spot, how Hades got a little to close to Saturn and Jupiter and i imagine that whole thing as a big fight where Saturn and Jupiter eventually won but they wernt left without injury

[miiilowo]

I've never really watched anything about Security Breach's cut content so I'm don't know much about it. Any specific things or moments that you wish the most were actually used?

And/or, could you tell us about your interpretation of Vanny :3c, I don't have any less vague questions off the top of my head so just in general I guess-

SHATTERED. FREDDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCKING HELL SHATTERED FREDDY!

YOU SEE THIS ASSHOLE ?? ^^^^

there are voice lines and unused art for glamrock freddy that show vanny commanded to other glamrocks to disassemble him, and it would have turned him against gregory. Having your one failsafe source of protection and guidance (well. if you dont include him getting stuck on walls and railings) ripped out from underneath you, now hunting you? can you imagine how effective that would have been for most people?

this was the intention for the game. it wasnt an idea that was scrapped, it was cut because they didn't have enough time. this was SUPPOSED to happen. even if it wasnt scary, (which it might not have been accounting for how MONSTROUSLY BRIGHT THE PIZZAPLEX IS), it would've made the game much more memorable, the characters have more stakes, and made the game feel less empty. and can you IMAGINE the sexyman potential? Hot bear dad turns fucked up and evil??? you know the fandom would be all over this freak

like all silliness aside, one of my major complaints w SB is how empty it feels. It's fundamentally broken, and not just from a bugs perspective; The story does not work like it should, because most of the story was removed. You experience the most barebones version of the plot. The meat used to be there, but they hid it in the files never to be seen again. It's stuff LIKE shattered freddy that would've made this game more than it is, would've fleshed out the characters, the plot, and motivations. It injects some EMOTION in there, god forbid. Among the lines for shattered freddy related cut content is one of gregory crying!!!! come on man!!

They'll probably bring him back for Ruin, but it won't be the same, nor have the same plot or characterization. Just a skin slapped onto him, I imagine.

Before I get to vanny, i wanna touch on glamrock bonnie. I do think we were supposed to get more of him in general, seeing as a whole bonnie bowl minigame was cut out, but we really only got scraps hinting at a larger mystery. I'm not sure what all was cut, but it feels like it was building up to something much bigger and it simply never had the chance to be executed, which is a shame.

Moving away from him though, theres a bunch of stuff about Vanny/Vanessa (most of which i will not cover here). vanny my sweet lovely girl who was done so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO dirty

First of all, they completely made Vanessas personality do a 180 degree turn right before release. The version of her that we got is very mean, short tempered and cruel, whereas the version of her before actually cared about Gregory and helping him out of the pizzaplex; The reason Gregory wouldn't trust her, being that he knows she is also Vanny, but I'll get into that in a second. She seemed just as confused and scared as Gregory is, and while, yeah, having every female character be motherly and sweet is BAD i do have a point as to why that would have been better for her character, especially if it was a ruse she was putting on:

It makes the player want to trust her. Since Gregory never explains WHY we shouldn't trust Vanessa, it would make sense that we would want to doubt him, wouldn't it? There's cut lines that show Freddy didnt believe Gregory for a while either until he proves that something is up. The game was originally supposed to have a sort of "vanny meter"; I'm not sure how this would deplete, but whenever it did, Vanessas model itself would turn INTO Vanny, at which point she would start hunting you. Having the player witness one of these transitions after being led to believe that Vanessa has been genuinely trying to help us this whole time would be 1. scary in the same sense shattered freddy wouldve been 2. would explain why gregory doesn't trust her (he's seen this happen before, presumably) 3. would give freddy an actual reason to protect you instead of just doing it for the sake of protecting you, continuously going against his programming in rather inconsistent fashions

You can see how this was likely going to be incorporated through the trailers, (the line where shes saying she didnt want to hurt gregory, and it was 'just a glitch'), and it would also explain why shes NEVER IN THE FUCKING GAME DESPITE BEING ADVERTISED AS A MAIN CHARACTER AND VILLAIN

While I do think steel wool wouldn't have made her full evil (as much as i would love her to be) and would've made her genuinely a helpless wet rag whos scared and being puppeted around by afton, I do think this wouldve been better, because she wouldve been an effective threat and more sympathetic as a character. In the end game she still is just a helpless wet rag being puppeted around by afton but without any of the emotional impact. what fucking ever i guess

i still stand by the fact she should've been a copycat killer and afton's "i always come back" line would mean his INFLUENCE is eternal, not that HE HIMSELF is eternal, as we both know this would have been better in one thousand hundred million billion trillion ways forever