#we are pristin

[blacktabbygames]

3,266 new voice lines The base game has 9,500

That's like 34% extra stuff. For free.

[xoxoemynn]

I hope she's okay.

(Ed's wig.)

[justn0t]

princess puppy eyes

[haliibugg]

(that part where u make a pact with Lucifer, but he’s a lot more feral abt it)

“so, what will it be? will you make a pact with me?”

(bonus: even if u say no, he says ok, COPE)

[skunkes]

"ill draw in my new sketchbook when my colored pencils get here" bitches once the colored pencils get here

[lipstickchainsaw]

The Pristine Blade

I've played a whole lot more of Slay the Princess, and it is excellent, but I've been wondering, why the 'Pristine Blade'?

Obviously it represents the power you have over the Princess in the dynamic, and how that dynamic develops over the chapters depending on your relationship to that power (see the achievement you get for handing the Blade to the Witch: Past Life Gambit, Hand your power to a suspicious character), but why a Pristine Blade?

Most of the voices are happy to call it a knife, or a dagger, or whatever else, or even ask for different weapons, but the Narrator is insistent on calling it the Pristine Blade, every time, which does make sense. It is one of the few constants in these scenarios, next to you, the Hero, the Princess, the Woods (most of the time), and the Cabin. As with those others, it was made fit for purpose by the Creator, perhaps with some details filled in by the Long Quiet's conceptions of reality (one aspect sure is, but we'll get to that).

What is the Pristine Blade?

For this, I'm going back to my Otherverse roots (hi, StP fans, read Pact and Pale), and analysing this as an Implement, which is what the Narrator explicitly refers to it as.

First off, it is a knife. Knives have purposes beyond enacting violence, but this particular one is a knife made for killing, there can be no doubt about that. You can still use it for other purposes, of course (like cutting the Thorn free), but showing up with it still marks you as a killer (and the Princess responds as such).

Secondly, it's small, which means it can, in fact, be hidden. The Opportunist is the only voice to consider this, but it is an important aspect, since it has its effects on you even if not showing it visibly.

Thirdly, it's small. This means that, to do its job, you need to get close and personal. You cannot keep your distance (which is why several voices wish you had something better) and, while it's suggested, in the Nightmare route, that you can throw it, in practice, the Paranoid can only do so much to keep your body functioning, and that kind of dexterity isn't part of it.

This makes it an intimate weapon, which sure is fitting for the dynamic between you and the Princess. Every time you use it, or choose not to, you are saying something about this relationship, and influencing how you both develop in the wake of the cycle of violence and revenge it enables.

But that doesn't explain the insistent terminology.

Why 'Pristine'?

The Pristine Blade is something implanted into the Construct by the Creator, it exists in every reality, and every iteration of the Narrator expects it to be in the Cabin even when it isn't, and every time, it is Pristine.

It is always perfect, almost the platonic ideal of a dagger, cutting through anything except the Razor (including bone!) with ease and it, too, is temporaly 'sticky'.

When you move from one chapter to the next, the scenario the Construct is running resets, except for you and the Hero (and whatever other voice you've picked up), the Princess (and the changes wrought upon her), and the Pristine Blade. And the Pristine Blade, too, remembers what happened, where it's supposed to be:

If you died with it in hand, or having it forcibly taken from you, it will be right where the Narrator expects it to be in the chapter after, but if you gave it to the Princess, either by actually giving it to her, like in the Witch route, or having it fulfill its purpose by stabbing her heart (and boy, there's a metaphor), it will be with her in the chapter after.

But even if the scenario itself states ages have past, the Pristine Blade is still that, Pristine.

Because it is unchanging. It will never be anything other than Pristine. It is, in some sense, stagnant, a constant. In short, it is the Long Quiet's weapon.

The Long Quiet's Weapon

The Long Quiet was created to slay the Shifting Mound, to end death, by putting a stop to change, transformation in all sense, and thereby ridding the world of doom, of the cycle of life and death.

And the weapon to do this is the platonic ideal of intimate violence. A constant, never changing, in this relationship.

Yes, in part this is because the Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet were once one, and their split wasn't perfect, so each carries a kernel of the other within themselves, but how delightfully ironic for stagnant violence to be the thing intended to destroy change in order to kill death. What a perfect encapsulation of the futility of the Creator's mission.

In the final confrontation, the Shifting Mound tries to convince you to join her by pointing out how you are both so familiar with the cycle of violence and revenge, and clearly this means she's speaking your language, and maybe she is.

But she doesn't have to be, because at almost every juncture, you could choose to leave the Pristine Blade behind, or wield it not to be violent. And every time you choose to leave the cycle of violence and revenge behind, to choose not to have power over the Princess, or at least use it with respect to her, it changes things, and it changes them for the better.

[glyphes]

The blood 🩸 and the weave 🔮

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

if i had a nickel for every time i had to investigate why there was blood on my hands-

[eggbagelz]

They're teachin' me to kill, who's teachin' me to love?

[needlittlepiggiesinmymarket]

Jean discourse hurts me on every level

Does one of them really have to be the villain?? Can’t they both be fucked up little guys?? fucked up little assholes together?? Meanie heads who make out sloppy style?? I think that they are good friends AT LEAST but also drag each other down a bit and then they make out

I think they should kiss

Actually I think Kim, Harry and Jean should have a 3 way kiss and then go play twister homoerotically

[in-naeher-we-trust]

GUESS WHAT CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!

[bizarrelittlemew]

wish i was a rich baron so i could be a patron of the arts™️and invite all ofmd fanartists to come live at my castle or whatever in exchange for pictures of ed and stede kissing filthy and cuddling in bed. is that too much to ask

[mace-raincloud]

The duality of stars

Sundrop and Moondrop, my favorite animatronics-ish from security breach. Drew them in this more fluid style. I especially love the how oddly attractive unnaturally contorted moondrop is when he stalks you around at night.

[feline-evil]

Dick or no dick confirmation Pickles was always going to be trans to me anyways; if he's swingin' somethin that's phallo babes, if he's not then his t-dick fat. What's not to get.

[loudmound]

i remember when i was like 15-16 years old, and i was woobifying the hell out of lapis lazuli from land of the lustrous. i looked on a relatively well-known blog within that fanbase complaining about said woobification. they did not name names, but i knew that it was about me. LMAO

[downtherabbitholewithlucy]

☀️A little dose of Sammy's Smiles for your mental health☀️

(Bonus gif)

(I'm adding the longer version of this gif because he's still cute as hell, but the quality of the source is absolute ass so I had to trim the gif down a bit for the post above)