#if some of this doesnt make sense that makes sense

[cokrouch]

oooo yay

1/ therian and otherkin, idk actually know much about anything else or their prolly would be more....but im just not very knowledgeable i suppose(very open to learning tho)

2/ Theriotypes: Black wolfdog, Dear, Rabbit, Crow, Barn owl, Black cat, Rhinoceros beetle, Fly, Cockroach

Paleotype: Therizinosaurus

Otherkin: Angelkin, Robotkin, Vampirekin, Zombiekin, Ghostkin, Skeletonkin, Cryptidkin, Creaturekin, Sirenkin

3/ i dont think so but when i get distressed or feel cornered i feel like a prey animal which makes sense i suppose. i also sometimes when im sitting on the edge of my bed and close my eyes i sometimes get little like memories(not visual but like i just know that its smth thats happened) of sitting at the foot of a throne, wings tucked neatly behind my back/over my face(the ones on my head) and im dressed in silk and gold and its just...nice i want to go back but alas i cannot(whenever im in the car and look at the sky and see the sun rays filtering through the clouds all i can really think is "i should be up there")

4/ its pretty ever present so yk

5/ most people are nice, i dont get into discourse cuz it makes me a lil sad cuz like...idk its someone elses life i dont think its a big deal unless its spreading misinformation or harming someone/something

6/ uhhhh prolly gotta go with 2 of my friends being therians too so i can chat with them about it sometimes(i keep it to myself most of the time idk im just like that) being referred to as my therio/kin/paleotype. the fact that most of my clothes are black and one of my more frequently noticeable types have black fur(maybe thats why im more comfortable in blacks/browns/greens huh...) the fact that i have a lot of like cat/dog/owl/prey/etc mannerisms

7/ sometimes mainly cuz i dont have fangs/sharp teeth or a tail and i have skin...and organs...and no wings...only 2 eyes the list just goes on but its not like dysphoria it doesnt cause me distress but yk id rather have all that stuff cuz it would cause more euphoria does that makes sense?

8/ stay away from discourse and if smth doesnt fit thats alright, been there done that, it isnt the end of the world, promise /gen /pos

9/ yes, i want some. the only gear i have is a half finished crow mask it just needs elastic and some feather/painted details but i dont have anything so i gotta wait a bit(i have a wip yarn tail...but i dont like the way the yarn feels even tho it kinda feels like course fur)

10/ no....i do not sadly

11/ you know the gist, anyone can answer and i thing i'll tag....hm...@neowanderseternally /nf ofc

If you are an alter/nonhuman, reblog and answer these questions!

(don't be afraid to write a lot, do what you want ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯)

1/ Which category of alterhumanity do you belong to?

2/ What/who is/are your type(s)? (if you have any)

3/ Do you experience shifts? If so, can you tell us your most common shifts and your strangest cameo shift (if you've ever had a cameo shift)?

4/ How do you experience your alterhumanity in everyday life?

5/ What do you think of the community?

6/ What are the things that make you most comfortable and euphoric in your alterhumanity?

7/ Are you experiencing species dysphoria?

8/ What advice would you like to say to a young alterhuman who has just awakened?

9/ Do you have/want to have gears?

10/ Do you know/have any theories about the origin of your alterhumanity? If so, tell us! (all beliefs are legitimate)

11/ Tag someone/a creature to answer these questions!ㅤᵕ̈

[chiya-eltanin]

hm. dont usually put my own two cents for theories but somethings been kind of annoying me recently so yeah. ralsei thoughts.

i really dont like the idea that ralsei is a specific object. especially not with newer stuff from chapters 3 and 4.

For starters, most people that try to figure out what ralsei is in the real world are basing it off of this appearance

however, I feel like there's plenty of evidence to point to this not being his real form, right? People have already pointed out that his original shadowed form isn't fully consistent. It's possibly the most obvious when you compare his singing animations in both forms. His hat form makes what was later 'revealed' to be his ears look more like hair?,

Ears don't really split the same way that hair does, and theres other examples of hatsei having this kind of spikyness to his 'ears' that hatless ralsei doesnt have.

even the fangamer plush makes his ears spiky!!

its a pretty major part of how hatsei looks, and its certainly been talked about before. And then comes chapter 3+4. And we have plenty of evidence that ralsei is a shapeshifter, and I have seen literally nobody talk about it????? huh?????

Oh, and the hat casting a shadow on him makes no fucking sense because he goes onto wear SEVERAL hats in chapter 3 and he's normal????

also I know its like. A funny bit, but HE TURNS INTO A HORSE

WHY THE FUCK WOULD KRIS'S HEADBAND TURN INTO A HORSE???? WHY WOULD A GREEN CRAYON TURN INTO A HORSE???? WHY CAN HE DO THIS????? THIS ISNT A COSTUME THATS NOT HOW THEY WORK????? WHERE WOULD HIS BODY GO.

not to mention that changing shapes was literally his ability in the legend of tenna game???? he plays it off like 'oh every character has abilities i can turn into a box' but he can also turn into a dog? since ralsei was the only one who read the manual it very well could be an ability given to him since the real Ralsei is also a shapeshifter.

It would also explain why ralsei draws himself in his hat form

thats closer to what his natural form is. Dont have any screenshots on hand right now, but he's got two lines in chapter four (if you leave him lying on the ground for too long, and right before they find the first fountain) about how much longer he can 'keep this body for' that make it very obvious that he's only using a form that looks cuter to appeal to us. Him being a shapeshifter would also explain things like

His face being a deliberately made abstraction would also make this interaction make a lot more sense. Pre chapter three, I assumed Ralsei based his face on Asriel to either try appealing to Kris or as fanservice for the player/red soul, however, now that we've slowly started learning more about Ralsei, it's beginning to seem more like Ralsei just wants to have a face and more distinct appearance, like the lightners do. However, because of how dark worlds work, he can only base it off of what already exists, with that already existing 'model' being Asriel, although with modifications to make himself cuter— pink horns and eyes, and his usual glasses. It's why Kris is always quick to point out differences between them, and why Ralsei is embarrassed at being told that they look similar, he didn't have a choice other than be based off something that already exists.

Alright, so Ralsei is a shapeshifter. He still has to have some equivalent in the Light World though, since that's how Dark Worlds work. He was literally about to tell Susie what he was before getting interrupted, and Toby Fox is deliberately dancing around the topic.

However, I think the answer is actually pretty obvious. Ralsei is a being of 'pure darkness', which is why he can exist in any Dark World, unlike Lancer and Rouxls, who need to be objects that 'belong' in their respective worlds. His form is made up by the original dark fountain, and he describes himself as a 'Prince of the Dark'. Characters in the Dark World know about what happens to and around their real world equivalents, but Ralsei in particular seems to be especially aware of all of Susie and Kris's actions and movements. He doesn't need to be brought in by Kris like Lancer and Rouxls do, and he always appears in the Dark World a few moments after Susie and Kris do, while somehow almost always having pretty intimate knowledge of how the world came to be. Ralsei is also the most adamant on being depended on by Lightners, even more than people like Tenna. He talks about how a Darkners role is to be used by Lightners and to make them happy, and his character development in Chapter 3 especially goes into how he wants to be needed and how he's afraid he's slowly developing his own personality, and why he believes darkners shouldn't do that.

So, taking all of that into account, I feel like the most obvious answer for what Ralsei is is a shadow.

He's a literal prince of the dark. It explains why he can shapeshift, since shadows can be made to look like anything— I'm specifically thinking of things like shadow puppets, and why when he gets knocked out he seems to literally disappear, returning to the shadows. A shadow is also the most dependant on light, shadows literally cannot exist without light, or they'll just be darkness. It even explains his empty room.

His insistence that his only role is to help the Lightners, the way that people can never find anything notable about him (asking swatch for specials his suggestion for Ralsei is based purely on how he dresses and Queen literally forgets to get him a cage), and his ability to be in any dark world (since there's literally nowhere without shadows) all seem to point towards Ralsei being a shadow.

Ralsei being a shadow also means he's literally with you in the dark, could probably straight up not exist if the world was plunged into darkness, and also makes him a weaker version of a titan (explaining the 'prince' title. not quite king, but noble nontheless).

[lylikers]

been thinking A LOT about this post from toby

if it wasn't already clear why the rule exists, chapters 3&4 cemented that it's related to the game's themes of autonomy and control. he understands how central these themes are to the characters of kris, noelle, and susie in particular

in kris's case, control and autonomy are clearly the main struggle of their character. the player is just jerking their meat puppet around by the soul. they have so little control that in the weird route, you can reach through them and gain control of their childhood best friend too. the player's power over kris (and noelle) is like, arguably the underlying horror of this story. so i get why he doesn't want to turn those characters into dolls and trap them under another layer of metaphysical ownership

SUSIE though, i always thought was included here just because of her proximity to that whole mess. after 3&4 it's clear the opposite is true, she has TOO much autonomy, and can't be held down by silly narratives. a marketable plushie exists in direct contention with her character

to me, this explains why the three appear on some merch (pins, tshirts) but not all. what seems to be truly off limits is collectible stuff: standees, figurines, plushes. he doesnt want these specific player-character relationships to be encouraged through marketing. he wants them to play out as they will.

THE DARK WORLD half of toby's post makes even more sense to me now though. i was a little confused about the amount of ralsei plush before i remembered what he said above, about the game's setting

dark world characters are fantasy animations looking for purpose. spamton and tenna find theirs in literal aggressive marketing. and RALSEI finds his in advertising the prophecy to kris and susie, promising it's worth following. these characters all market the narrative of the game to us. and have meta relationships with the marketing of the game.

so like, yeah the ralsei plush cameos are a little shameless, but i can appreciate them too. they remind us of the layers through which we're experiencing the game. no aspect of deltarune not even its marketing will be safe from toby's narrative fuckery

[the-s1lly-corner]

Hello!!! Could you write Caine, Kinger and Pomni x Reader who's been there longer than anyone else? Instead of absolutely losing it, they have managed to just become incredibly calm and just generally used to it and Caines shenanigans.

Caine Kinger and Pomni x reader who's been around the longest but isnt insane

i kind of really want chai cookies rn. and vanilla cupcakes. and lemon drizzle cake. not sure if its like a cue or what because ive been CARNALLY wanting sweet stuff lately but... i dont usually have a sweet tooth.. grrgrr... i hate being on a deficit and meds. messes with my hormones but alas i need my meds notes: gn reader, short and sweet, written on computer, youre actually pretty chill to be around all things considered cws: none

CAINE

you... intrigue him... its not that he wants you to abstract- honestly im on the side of "caine doesnt really mean any genuine harm," for the time being- hes got a lot of feelings for you. curious to see how much longer you can last- not that he wants to see you fold-, and a sense of odd admiration. youve seen a lot of stuff

he feels an attachment to you too, youve been around for so so so long now that youve just become a normal part of the circus at this point, youre like... a part of the coding now- even though youre a real person... youre like.. his buddy! his pal! his partner in crime- not that hes committing any crimes! because crimes are.. crimes! as hed say at least

sometimes you can use this to your advantage to tone him down a little when he gets a little into making his adventures. make him... calmer... reasonable. hes still chaotic and a bit all over the place but you anchor him down just a bit. its probably going to get real weird when you do abstract though

KINGER

honestly... seeing him spiral into his current state was hard to watch. youve seen first hand how he went from this kind and intelligent man to this paranoid mess. not that he isnt kind anymore. he still is, and he tries his best but god- that knowledge of what he used to be sits heavy on you

he instinctively clings onto you because he knows youre familiar even if his memories are all jumbled up. in his eyes youre a safe person so of course hes going to seek you out when he can during adventures- and when its just leisure time in the circus

youre calmer demeanor helps him relax a bit, even without being in the pillow fort. if youre patient enough you can convince him to take a break and spend some time with the others on his worse days

POMNI

her introduction to kinger- assuming this is pre halloween episode- made her think you were going to be a bit... scrambled... too... but shes a bit taken aback at how calm and put together you are. and shes silently thanking you for that- its nice having someone she can actually talk to.. ragathas nice... but you know a little more than her thanks to your time here

though... the fact youve been here for so long does make her feel sick. i dont think shes fully given up on escaping- its just not her main focus right now, save her own mental health or whatever... but you being here for so long does dampen her spirits a bit. so she really is just stuck here, huh?

theres only so much you can do to comfort her, but youve seen so many people come and go in the circus that youve probably got a few ideas on how to tackle her and keep her emotionally anchored long enough to change the subject

[anissapierce]

Its kinda like how ppl who watched batman 66 when it came out shipped bruce n dick. Bc of the age of the actors n set up it all read very easily onto the way some gay men were operating at the time. Where they would legally adopt their younger lover. Glen Weldon discusses it in his book.

Bruce Tim was born in 61, in the '75 comic i read shes about ten yeads older than Dick. By the time Babs was deaged,Bruce Timm had already solidified an idea of Babs in his mind. Which becomes an issue when hes making his own canon tht uhh doesn't have the same foundation the comics do.

In BtAS shes still in univeristy, in the comics she was a librarian with the degree to match. And i do wonder if that was a creative choice or something pushed for synergy with the comics who at this point had deaged her. Theres no way of knowing. It doesnt make sense for Batman of BtAS to sleep with her. And

idk how familiar you are with the DCAU but im watching batman beyond right now and there is a scene where the milf the legend the silver fox barbara gordon tells terry she fucked both dick and bruce and she's so smug about it lol

genuinely and I am not exaggerating this even a little bit the WORST part of the DCAU hands down

[nekolikedacat]

inspired

for day 2 of sonic pride week organized by @sonicpridecorner i went with the hedgehog himself. didnt really have to think much abt the choice - as soon as i read "inspired" my mind went "sonic is an inspiration"

[i got a bit talkative about my relationship with sonic and being aroace so im leaving that under the cut]

i really love aroace sonic headcanon as an aroace person myself - i know a lot of people like to ship him and i dont mind seeing him in ships that much, but aroace reading became my favorite as soon as i rejoined the fandom

a lot of media i consumed when i was younger was heavy on crushes, dating, etc. even the first time i was in sonic fandom, archie focused on romance and the fandom just loved shipping. i remember that i shipped some popular ships not really because i liked them but just to not feel left out, even if i wasnt as active in fandom spaces

dont get me wrong, i do like shipping and romance, it just.. depends on characters. so in hindsight, having a character like sonic - who i know clearly see as an aroace - its kinda obvious why i was never as into sonamy as i tried to be. as im older, having characters who can just exist without a need of romantic relationship, hits different

when i first found out im ace, i didnt mind. i never cared for sex, so whatever. i kinda knew back then that im on aromantic spectrum too, but it was hard to accept. when i could no longer deny it i grieved. because i stil craved romance. the love everyone thought was so special. i cried, felt awful and.. moved on. it took time but i felt better with the label

rejoing sonic fandom - older, better at reading into stuff and understanding english - i got a fresher perspective on sonic. i still recognized him as the character i liked, but with that newfound understanding of his character, i gained a stronger appriciation of him. i could relate a bit more, sorta. with the aroace reading, i saw him in a new light - maybe even as an aspiration. someone who can enjoy themselves to the fullest without romantic love. someone who can appriciate platonic love

because god knows i still sometimes feel awful knowing that ill likely never fall in love. but a character i admire doesnt. a character i admire doesnt even spare a thought for romance. so maybe i can too, one day

i hope that makes sense. i always related more to tails as a kid - i still do, but sonic was still a big inspiration to me when i was 11 and older. and ig that is one of the ways he inspires me all these years later - to be proud in who i am, to just let myself be

so ig for day 2 i was inspired lol

[youkaigakkou-tl]

hi! im writing a fanfic and i was hoping i could ask you for a bit of help figuring out some dates, if thats okay? 😅 i check the timeline in the wikia often, but it seems october hasnt been updated yet! im aware that the kyoto trip happens in october + the last chapter exactly on seimeis death date, so everything in between happened during october, but do we know exact days where everything (kyoto trip, meiji romance, etc) happens or has it never been mentioned? what abt student haru arc? tysm!

something like this

the only concrete dates we get are

kyoto arc happens in october (possibly spanning a weekend)

parents day (97) happens on the 18th

the first scene of newspaper (117) happens at night on the 20th

circus happens on a monday

126 happens later that week on the 31st

from this its highly likely that meiji actually happens on the 19th, since its unlikely to be the same day as parents day, and in 117, in that night scene on the 20th when hatanaka is texting ibara, they alr have baby 4 and ibara is all cleaned up at their house and not at the miki house still

tofu (114) probably happens chronologically after meiji, though it technically doesnt have to bc it only references meiji in a meta joke

liar vs liar (116) must happen after meiji bc. its about that.

acchan going drinking with haruaki is highly likely to be the same day as the charity sale, jailbreak happens the next morning (at a reasonable waking hour bc renpapa is having a banquet with police chiefs)

circus probably happens sometime between 27-29 (probably even 27-28) because its "a couple days" before 126 and theyre probably in the same week

the rest of the chapters are pretty ambiguous and could technically happen anytime in october

...actually wait ok lets do more maths

an october where 31st is a friday would not work, because the 18th and 19th have to be school days

and thinking about it, the 20th has to be a school day too because in 117 hatanaka was getting home late because of a meeting

and actually, the 2nd scene of 117 happens "the next day" so 21st has to be a school day too. and just within that chapter, its like

hatanaka at night (20) -> the next day, newspaper about hatanaka (21) -> the next day, newspaper abt ebisu and haru (22) -> the next day yayy fixed (23)

wait hold on is this 6 school days in a row hold on this doesnt make sense what the fuck

so like i think dates are just putty and dont make sense and do whatever. sensei sure is doing whatever with her reckless abandon using "the next day"s

[kuyanh]

oh dear- i swear i meant platonicly- i kinda find it fun to know yall personalities n js mix it w mine n make some duo or stuff:3 listen im tired asf n i can not think any shits so if it doesnt make sense dont point it out to me js pretend it never happened-

hey uhh im bored asf:P

can yall tell me ur mbti?:3 so we can ship ourslefs>:3

uhh i may put the link for the test but im lazy asf sorry- so js search up mbti test:) ill wait for yall answ:DD

@asmollestgremlin @idkdema @ahbasta09 @abscshshhd @arttixxiar25 @0riginal-catb4rk @justmushyyy @tiny-creaturr @asteroid-fruitcup @thechos3n1 @curryvo-again @franklinclintonwife @kaiserikhwan summon yall moots too if u want to:)

@mewannew once when u come back plz answ ts ok? which is uhh.. never. WHEN CAN U COME BACK DEAR?!?!

[sourapplesauces]

why is gregory's age so confusing...

like how do you expect me to believe this little guy might be a highschooler in security breach?! (according to the books at least)

if you go to GGY in the TftP, his friends Tony and Ellis are both in seventh grade, and since Gregory shares classes with them its easy to assume he's in 7th grade too. Tony is 12 which is the average age for a seventh grader (12-13). And of course Gregory could be younger, but he really cant be any younger than 11 during GGY.

And since then, a year or two passes before Security Breach happens. (while its up to debate in my opinion its been 2 years). so if you do the math... he's most likely 14 (but his general age range is 13-15 (!)) which would make him a freshman in high school?!

tldr; Gregory is a freshman in HS... he's just a short king

[mochasucculent]

Was looking at refs and since Viktor has two different leg braces I was wondering, do we think he wears them simultaneously?? The refs don't perfectly line up perspective-wise so it's hard to tell but parts of the one he wears during the Hexcore scenes look like they could maybe line up with the brace that he wears over his clothes, but also some parts really don't and look like they'd be super uncomfy. Also HOW does he take these on and off. Experts weigh in

[tawnysoup]

two new critters just dropped

[urabrask-the-hidden]

actually iirc one of the duskmourn stories said that House got real weird for a bit a while back- lots of crazy noises as if some bit conflict was going on- and it was after it died down that people from outside duskmorn started showing up. so it seems phyrexia DID invade duskmourn, its just that valgavoth kept shuffling House around to keep the phyrexians away from the survivors while he sent all his horrible creatures to fend them off. which makes sense- the survivors are basically his food, and he doesnt want any of his yummy snacks getting compleated. furthermore, valgavoth needs duskmourn to be connected to realmbreaker/eight in order for him to spread his freaky doors across the multiverse.

Extremely funny to me that the phyrexian wiki says that duskmourn was unaffected because the phyrexians just. Couldn't get into the house. They breached the multiverse but the front door was locked so they left ig.

i never heard that before thats really funny but i think it makes sense. i like the idea that valgavoth can keep his house body free of phyrexians by keeping all the entrances locked, meaning that valgavoth is clearly stronger than the phyrexians. demons keep on winning lmao. i honestly love that there was no sign of phyrexian influence on duskmourn that kept the plane feeling very much its own thing, kinda secluded from other things that could make it less horrific to the people within, with little hope of escape. although the phyrexians wouldve fit in design wise pretty well on duskmourn lol

[the-s1lly-corner]

OKAY SHOOT- REGARDING MY OTHER ASK- (one about twisted!reader who's only docile around Astro) I APOLOGIZE FOR ASKING FOR THAT ONE, I DIDNT SEE THAT THE FICS WERE CLOSED, PLEASE FORGIVE ME-

Anyways, (totally didn't panic) could you maybe do so HCs with Astro with [READER] being a blackhole!toon, whos pretty chill, but some kids are scared of them? Bonus if they can mimic other toons looks/abilities!

Astro x blackhole!toons

its all good! sometimes mix ups happen- doesnt mean i thought you were being a certain way woooooooo yeeeeeaaaaaah notes: gn toon reader, short and sweet, honestly cannot easily imagine what the reader might look like so their looks are left up in the air, pre game mostly, mentions of post game for the ability stuff, written on computer cws: none

he thinks youre... different... but that doesnt mean its a bad thing- if anything he feels drawn to you. no pun intended! ...but it makes sense doesnt it? youre both space themed so of course hes going to gravitate to you and try to get to know you better

sure you might not be a real blackhole but they definitely got creative with making you- most other toons have at least some heat going on but youre... ice cold. more than ice cold- and his blanket definitely comes in handy when he gets close... even if he needs to bundle up a bit more just to not shiver

...and youre more than free to have a few of his spare blankets if you ask- you might even need to ask, he's going to bring it up himself

you once tried to use his rest ability on him to see if it could make him not so... tired... but it looks like hes just. meant to always be a little sleepy at all times... but he does think your attempt was sweet

gentle encouragement that you can make it work one day even if it never will

thanks to your similar themes youre often paired to work together during gardenviews visiting hours- and its usually him who steps up to calm the kids down and let them know youre not as scary as you look... it stings a little but youve grown used to the teary eyed looks some of the younger ones give you

he feels so so bad for you even if you try to let it roll off your back, hes always reminding you that youre more than other peoples impressions and that youre not some scary monster to be feared

[fair-strife]

All of this!! Very true!! and I'ma be honest I totally forgot about all the little ghostyboy dialogue!!! (and damn yea I do remember that quest and there being some dialogue somewhere else where he says something about how clea doesnt believe the creatures in the canvas are alive but he does) and damn yea that does put my idea in the grave, rip the only mildy okayish reasoning I could find for the whole Verso and ghostVerso thing that happened. (the reason I thought that they wouldnt make their own escapism canvas's was I was thinking maybe Verso's soul being in the canvas painting the changes played a huge part in their desire to stay there but idk again the ending where Alicia goes I just want to fix this world and then I'll leave I thought was gunna be the endgame and well yea it wasnt obviously XD) Also the first few moments after doing the ending (and being sad cause I oneshot Renoir and didnt even get to see the dancer's mechanics ;-;) was expecting some kinda nod to Alicia remaking that world herself maybe in a painting but its implied that Verso died because she was more interested in writing and the writers guild took advantage of that to try and kill their family or just her to spite them so I really expected her to be holding a book she wrote them into that maybe functioned like the canvases for painters.... if that makes any sense.

I also just feel like there is just too much in the "real world" that isnt covered or explained well enough for me to flesh it out. mettatexutally having "the writers" be the villian behind Verso's death could be a wink the game devs wink moment or it could be played straight in the story sense of fleshing out a world with magical abilities around art, and that whole war that is happening between painters and writers in the background that we dont really get a lot of info about...

I think my biggest frustration with Clair Obscur's endings is that they feel like they belong to a different game. Like, if the Canvas was a dream world or something similar, something where the people living there didn't really exist outside of Aline's and later Alicia's heads, then having a good end where that world is destroyed so the family can begin to move on and a bad end where Alicia reforms the dream and vanishes into it forever would make sense and be fine! It probably would've necessitated spending a lot more time with the real Dessendres to avoid the frustration that "and it was all just a dream" stories generally create (which... honestly the game as it stands already runs into with how the "good" ending involves treating the Canvas like a dream world that needs to be woken up from), but the endings themselves would be fine and make sense and the emotional impact of Life to Love's theme of moving on would be there without being muddied by all the characters we spent the game with (except Maelle) dying and making everything they fought for pointless.

Except the problem is that the Canvas isn't a dream world that only exists in Aline and Alicia's heads. It's a real enough place that people (Painters at least) can go there whether they made it or not. The people that live there are created beings, yes, but they have thoughts and feelings and rich inner lives that exist outside of their creators' actions. There's never any serious suggestion that they aren't real (Renoir and Clea do to some extent dismiss them as not real, but they're set up as the villains of the piece insofar as any of the Dessendres are true villains). And because we spend so much time in the Canvas and so little time with the Dessendres we're predisposed to if anything think of the people in the Canvas as more real than the people the endings require us to see as the real people whose lives really matter to be at all satisfying. The endings are supposed to be bittersweet at best, but even the good ending just comes across as a callous abandonment of the world we've just spent so many hours exploring and getting to know. Like, I don't actually get the impression from Alicia's dialogue in that final section that she necessarily wants to remain as Maelle in the painting forever, never leaving to be with her family as Alicia until being in the Canvas kills her! It's treated as her bluntly refusing Verso's suggestion that she leave for now and come back for visits without risking her health by spending too long in there, but that's very much muddied by the fact that she's scared Renoir will kill everyone in the Canvas if she leaves. Could she be using that as an excuse? Sure. But the fact remains that a) Renoir has been trying to kill everyone in the Canvas to force a member of his family out of it for decades as the people within it experience time, b) up to about five minutes ago he was pretty dead set on destroying the Canvas, and c) he absolutely would lie about changing his mind to get Alicia out of it. The "good" ending doesn't feel bittersweet, it just feels bad, because this whole world was already collateral damage in this family's self-destructive grief and now it doesn't even get the chance to recover because destroying it was an easier way out than the family having to learn to live with that temptation and interact with it in healthy ways. Which would've been fine if these characters weren't alive in any meaningful way, but the game spent most of its runtime hammering home the exact opposite.

[szczurherbacany]

yyyyy yyy gays 👍

[tylidae]

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