#balloon party reverse 1999

[takiminada]

she carried me until i got medpoc so it's only understandable that i must draw her once

[applesformyworms]

electricity

[504py]

WOOOO!! balloon party back on the banner!!! just managed to get P2 getian after i lost 50/50 on the toothfairy banner LOL. i surprisingly don’t have any art of the birdman so have this thing i drew a while back! and yes this is the game that caused my hiatus LMFAO i’ve been obsessed

[acesw]

Reverse: 1999 : Disabled Characters

The game doesn't stray too far on the neurodivergent allegory for the arcanists themselves. But at the same time, there are also inclusions of other characters who are very much known to be disabled. So for this post I'll delve into that, just a bit.

Now, there are 10 characters that I want to put in the spotlight. These mostly lean towards being canon, but a part of these are also researched upon and shortened so the post doesn’t become way too long.

Cristallo, Rabies, Erick : Chronic Illness

It's quite self explanatory that Cristallo herself has a chronic illness. She was born prematurely, with an added condition that makes her physically fragile. As seen in the game, she needs a life-support system to maintain her health when she's outside. It's also implied that her condition may be a recurrent cancer, as her arcane abilities are tied to a machine that provides cobalt therapy, a known advancement in radiotherapy in the post-WWII era.

Rabies is an odd case. In his stories, it's noted that Adam cured Alicia through unknown means at the cost of contracting rabies himself. However, instead of the virus being acute and guaranteed to be fatal, it becomes a chronic illness to Rabies due to the abundance and use of arcanum. And since the rabies virus attacks the brain, his cognitive capabilities and ability to recall things before the present had been impaired, making him rather docile and animal-like in nature as a result.

Erick, as revealed in her anecdote, has a hereditary blood condition that came with her arcane skill. With her arcane skill making her physically powerful, overusing it will accelerate the effects of her blood condition to the point that it can become fatal. To prevent this, she also inherited an armband from her grandfather, Harald. The armband suppresses one's ability to use arcane skills, but by extension it also prevents Erick's condition getting worse.

Shamane : Amputee

Shamane's circumstances are also self-explanatory. He lost his arm for unknown reasons, but after having lived without it for 20 years, it doesn't bother him anymore. However as we know, he crafted his prosthetic arm as a means to avoid scaring kids. (which I think is quite cool in itself)

Ms. Radio, Bessmert : Blindness

Ms. Radio and our new friend, Bessmert, are both canonically blind. Ms. Radio has stated that she cannot see, and asks Vertin to left in places where she can feel temperatures to make her feel at peace.

And as we know, Yenisei (or in other words, Yenisei's VA) has stated in the 1.6 livestream that Bessmert is known to be blind, but even with that, she's a great researcher and guide to her.

Mesmer Jr. : OCD [Content Warning: Mentions of Self Harm and Suicide.]

Mesmer Jr.'s character has heavily implied throughout the main story and her own to have OCD as a result of the traumatic experiences she had gone through from her field of work and her family’s history in it. She identifies that she has "incurable" anxiety, which causes her to think differently about arcanists and act a little irrationally from our own perspective. This anxiety results in double checking everything and having a slightly intensive routine.

This routine is created as a means to maintain herself and her own sanity, but an imbalance or interruption can greatly upset her. As a result, she has conflicting ideals, experiences hallucinations and panic attacks, has suicidal thoughts, and actively inflicts self harm as a means to cope with her anxiety. However, she’s calmer and at peace with herself when she's left alone in a quieter and clean space, away from others, and where nature is heard more than constant buzzing. In short, Mesmer Jr.’s mental health is really complex and would be better if it's explored in a separate post.

Baby Blue : Alice in Wonderland syndrome

It's no secret that Baby Blue has Alice in Wonderland syndrome, or in other words dysmetropsia. This affects her perception of reality and her ability to recall, but this in turn makes her arcane abilities all the more powerful. As a result, she doesn't realize that she's growing up, yet it seems she doesn't mind that much. This doesn't seem to affect her physically either; In fact, it has a heavy influence on how she displays her arcane skills.

Poltergeist : Social Anxiety

Poltergeist has been known to be anxious in social settings which conflicts with her people-pleasing tendencies. She's also insecure about herself which adds up to her not wanting to be directly perceived. At the same time, she doesn't like being left alone as a result of having been ignored and forgotten post mortem. Poltergeist is also elaborate (i.e. not wanting to be looked at for too long) yet awkward at the same time when communicating them.

However, I'm not sure how to describe Poltergeist's case quite well, but the idea of her having social anxiety resonates greatly in my mind, so it can be treated as a partial headcanon.

Balloon Party : Autism and Speech Impairment

Balloon Party as a child had contracted an illness that caused her to have a persistent high fever. In the end, she awakened her arcane skill this way, with her being able to cough up balloons that can be harmful or a cure to anything.

However, it might have also affected her speech because of the physical strain that comes from coughing, it results to BP's speech being a bit slow and having abnormal pauses before she speaks again. Though, this also might be a sign of her possibly also having autism, where rigid and uneven language development is a common pattern in how autism affects one's ability in communication. Her speech also has a pattern of echolalia, having a flat tone, and lack of control of it.

However, speech impediment isn't everything about autism, and there's a lot more about BP's character that also connects with it such as her special interests. I can better explore this in a different post, which will be explained below.

Last Notes

These are the characters I’ve written down, most of these are less headcanon and more of observations I’ve found when looking into these characters. Some people from the lore chat have also added their own insights on some of them. (Thank you lupjo for beta-reading through it and helping me out) 

Of course, there are a few more characters I want to discuss because of the implications of them having autism / ADHD, but these will be written in another post in the future because I still need to research and gather other information. Additionally, it would be an opportunity to talk about the connections between an arcanist’s and neurodivergent person’s relationships with modern society.

Congrats for reaching the bottom of this post, and feel free to add your own ideas or headcanons about the characters here and/or any other ones.

[gabsterz1]

so many BALLOONS!!!!

[clicks-b0mb]

I thought it'd work on a plane for some reason But uh, I'm a bit slow sometimes 🙂 [I've been to India before, thrice]

Prev | .... | Next

[soysaucepastry]

Balloon party fanart by me ✨️

[child-of-plut0]

Halloween official art!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hallowwww]

Its the balloons party today ^_^ (ithink)

[hall0www]

Balloon Party :3

[raiyni-dayz]

The silly guys interacting cuz I said so :3

[harrowharr0w]

dump of old wips from the beginning of the year

[applesformyworms]

my daughters switch their clothes

[acesw]

Reverse: 1999 : Neurodivergent Characters

I want to put my official disclaimer here that I'm not diagnosed with any sort of condition. I've taken time to do my research and take insights from my friends who are indeed diagnosed or well-versed in these subjects. So, I will try to be respectful as much as possible.

This is essentially a part 2 of the disabled characters series (which I highly encourage reading first!), but this will mainly focus on Reverse: 1999's characters who are implied to be neurodivergent. The term applies to a variety of conditions, and I found that the parallels mainly draw to autism. Because of this, over half the characters on this list fall under it.

I found that it is easier put out those characters first, and then place down the rest of the neurodivergent characters afterwards. Additionally, this is mainly focused on finding implications, but these are partially headcanons too. And also I apologize for the heavy word vomit that you'll have to endure. Now, lets begin.

Autism

37, Horropedia - The reason why I put 37 and Horropedia on the same line here is because they're incredibly similar to each other. Both of them are characters that embody one of the main stereotypes about autism: Incredibly intelligent characters who fixate on specific subjects. 37's focus is on mathematics, while Horropedia's is the horror genre.

They lace their speech with associations to their topic of interest, and will infodump about it unprompted. The two of them also struggle to pick up social cues, nor can tell if the information they're sharing is unsolicited because the information is normal to themselves. However, the difference between them in this is that Horropedia is more carefree about it, whilst 37 is more self-aware about the fact that she can't come to a mutual understanding with others.

Even outside of this their personalities are quite similar, arrogant yet kind and understanding.

Balloon Party - I explained this previously, but the main reasoning behind placing BP here is that her way of speech is unconventional. Her way of speech is slightly slow and having abnormal pauses, and it tends to be perceived as monotone and having a lack of control.

Like 37 and Horropedia, Balloon Party also tends to utilize her topic of interest (balloons and dreams) as a means of conveying her thoughts through word association and echolalia. She also struggles to catch on to social cues and (over?)compensates by association. (e.g. her praise voiceline describes Vertin being a great "party partner" and the "best kid and adult" despite not being able to exactly define the differences of a kid and adult.)

ADHD

Regulus - With Regulus, it's more of a headcanon than it is backed by evidence, but the main points that can be found for her is her restlessness and her impulsivity. They're common stereotypes in ADHD, and thus they aren't exactly conclusive. But I also found that Regulus also tends to bring her interests to light when navigating through conversations, and this with the reasons mentioned above makes me personally believe that Regulus not just strictly have ADHD, but also generally neurodivergent too.

Marcus - At first I believed that Marcus was autistic based on how she retreats back to reading as a means to calm herself, but the more I learn about her the more I believe that Marcus rather has the inattentive type of ADHD.

Firstly, Marcus heavily relies on having someone to guide them or support her, as she tends to struggle making decisions on her own. And in attempting to, she tends to overthink and get absorbed into it until something or someone snaps her out of her train of thought.

She also tends to take rejection very deeply, as rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD) is a common but not definitive part of ADHD. She would resort to immediately coming up with ways to resolve the sources of her being rejected.

Lastly, she also has her impulses. This shows more prominently when she's upset or makes a significant decision. Its mainly shown when she decides to leave the Flannan Isles to the Foundation, to when she tries to fight Heinrich herself when she's enraged, and when reaching out to Kakania upon realizing a solution to her mission.

Eagle (1.9 Spoilers!) - Here, Eagle also seems to have the inattentive type as well, but a more established indicator of her likely having ADHD is that in her anecdote, Eagle was classified as having some sort of attention-deficit.

And throughout the anecdote, Eagle continues acting on her own impulses such as jumping to try to find the missing boy scout, and even helping X if it meant that it progressed her mission. She also doesn't take her rejections from the boy scouts well, and continued to try to join them until she was invited to join the Lorentz.

While these alone aren't conclusive either, they still give me enough reason to believe that Eagle could be implied to be neurodivergent too.

Others

Mesmer Jr. (OCD) - I've already described it in the previous post too, but I will condense it down here. As a result of her traumatic experiences in her line of work, Mesmer Jr. has anxiety, has routines that she strictly follows, and tends to do drastic actions (i.e. self harm) when triggered from stressing situations like routines being disrupted.

Pickles - While I'm not exactly sure if there is any evidence about Pickles being neurodivergent at all, @abyss-idiot pointed out that he was nicknamed as an "indigo pup." While this might be related to his arcane skill, the nickname is also intriguing because its like the term "indigo children."

"Indigo children" are classified as those who are incredibly intelligent and possess special talents or powers according to the New Age concept. However, this classification is closely associated with neurodivergence due to the similar descriptions.

Vertin, AliEn T (AuDHD) - Mentioning Vertin and AliEn T in the same line seem to be incredibly out of place. But from the insights of my friend Bee, it made me realize that the two of them have some commonly shared traits. This will be the longest one so buckle up.

For one, both of them feel their emotions more greatly than others, and the main difference being how it's translated into external reaction. We have AliEn T being noted to be very emotional, while Vertin is a lot more stoic but will be direct with how she feels in some cases like stress.

Another point is that both of them have executive dysfunction, where AliEn T cannot do "simple" tasks and struggles with them. Meanwhile this was more prominent on Vertin as a child where she had difficulty focusing in school and doing more mundane tasks. I also think that Vertin still struggles with this in the present, but has a support system that allows her to work more efficiently.

They also have certain interests that give them an emotional anchor. Where AliEn T's is the general subject of the earth and human society, while Vertin is more focused on wildlife. (i.e. frogs)

Here is where their common points diverge, and I want to talk about both of them separately here.

Starting with Vertin, most of the "obvious" signs are present in her childhood, where she is mainly restless and blunt towards most situations, and has gotten punished often for both of these things. While currently, her main indicators are her tactile tendencies (i.e. tends to touch others out of curiosity) and being absorbed into her thoughts quite often.

On the other hand, we're not entirely sure about how AliEn T's home society is structured, but it can be argued that his and our societies tend to parallel each other. For example, AliEn T is seen as a bit eccentric to his kind like the regional manager and co-workers because of him being emotionally prone and being very fixated on the Earth. (which his society collectively avoids) A lot of his points here imply that in his home society, there is a case where they have their equivalent of some of the struggles found in the neurodivergent experience.

End Notes and Credits

I did say that I would give credit where its due, so this portion is dedicated to that. I want to give thanks to Lupjo, Jager, Bee, and Send Help, and Abyss for their insights and research on this topic. (Especially Lupjo and Jager for providing help with phrasing this entire word vomit still)

Like I've said previously, not everything here is conclusive and these can be speculation or some sort of interpretation. However, every experience is different, and I think these characters here openly show that. Welcome to the bottom of this post, feel free to add your own insights, corrections, and even your own headcanons here. Thanks for reading.

[uraniumnm333]

>get into reverse 1999

>pull balloon party

“okay shes cute”

>learns there are two other scientist/inventor types

>looks for fics where there all worsties

>find none

“well guess ive gotta write my own”

[the-blossica-fan]

If I could ask for you to write... /np

Consider: Balloon Party and Lorelei's first meeting ^-^

Of course comrade!! Writing takes a while so this ask may be released two to three days after, due to the time I have to compromise 😓

"Ow!"

Coming back to the earth of the conscious, Lorelei felt a sting on her leg. A gentleman critter had dug its sharp teeth on her leg, she hadn't even realized the big critter split into others.

"Lorelei!" She could hear her friends concerned words in the background as she tore the critter away from her, stumbling backwards.

Her leg began to bleed green and she tripped backwards, the strength leaving her wounded leg.

The gentlemen critter opened its mouth wide revealing sharp teeth dripping green and launched at Lorelei. However, it couldn't attack twice.

Semmelweis launched a floppy disk, hitting it right on the side, pushing it sideways and cutting his momentum.

"Lorelei, stand up! You can't stay down there or else they'll-" A critter interrupted her words, making her kick it away as if it were a ball "-Fucking attack you!"

"Y-yes, one second."

Semmelweis took on the position of a defender while Lorelei tried to walk properly. So much for their first time exploring the suitcase's "Dusk to Dawn" alone.

The defeated critters ran away, yelling curses in their language while also dragging their not-defeated friends away. Another battle conquered, yet Lorelei still felt a stinging pain in her leg that slowly grew bigger and bigger.

"Those damned critters don't know when to give up!" Semmelweis turned to Lorelei angrily, but taking in the injured girl's face, stopped in her tracks and asked: "Was it a deep wound?"

"Sort of, it's okay. The pain will leave once I- Ow- sorry" Lorelei tried to reassure Semmelweis, but upon taking a step, her numb leg couldn't support her weight and almost made her lose balance.

"Let me take a look." Semmelweis kneeled on the ground, ignoring Lorelei's reassurances and dismissive words.

The wound went through the bandages, tearing them apart and leaving the horrible mark or teeth. From the wound, a red and green substance poured out of it, one is blood and the other seemed to be... Poisonous saliva.

"Lorelei, we have to abandon our adventure."

"But- You wanted to explore this! We can't give up on our progress for a wound, papa-"

"This is a poisonous critter bite, and not only is a critter wound prone to tetanus, but this will slowly kill you!" Semmelweis rose back to her legs, placing both hands on Lorelei's shoulders. "Right now, I don't care what your papa or mama have to say, you need a doctor."

Despite how much Lorelei wanted to argue, she knew her friend better than anyone, a stubborn woman who wouldn't take a no for an answer once she decided something, and that determined yet stubborn frown said everything.

"You shouldn't leave everything behind for a lunatic, Semmelweis, you did want to try your newly learned spells"

"Silence, Bela, we can discuss this later"

Semmelweis didn't give either Bela or Lorelei time to reply, taking Lorelei's arm and placing it over her own shoulders, helping her walk towards the lobby of the wilderness.

"Ms. Tooth Fairy should be able to heal your wound quickly, we're not running any risks."

Lorelei held tightly onto Semmelweis, humming thoughtfully. "Mama thanks you, she really likes it when you're caring."

"What a weirdo-" "Thanks Lorelei, I do my best."

The numb feeling in her leg slowly expanded through the way back, and the slight sting also increased alongside her guilt. She dissociated once again, causing Semmelweis to lose all the progress she had made.

"I'm sorry, my little musical note, I should have been paying attention." Lorelei heard Semmelweis sigh tiredly, some habit she said she got from an old friend.

"Don't apologize, you didn't mean to make it bite you, right?" Lorelei shook her head. "Then don't apologize. Look, there's the lobby."

And indeed, the lobby of the suitcase appeared right before them, something they would never get used to. There were few people in the lobby, and some didn't pay attention to them aside from greetings and concerned gazes. No wonder why though, Lorelei's skin looked sickly pale, her leg had been bleeding through the bandages to 'let the poison go' and the way she clung to Semmelweis for support gave away her current status.

"Madam Druvis" Semmelweis approached the only person she seemed comfortable enough to talk to, that being a dissociating Druvis, who turned to her slowly. "Have you seen Ms. Tooth Fairy or any healing arcanists?"

"Tooth Fairy is currently outside of the suitcase as well as Medicine Pocket and Vila, Sotheby is in her room making potions with Cristallo and Ms. Bunny Bunny is at work. Is there a reason for- oh." Druvis' eyes stopped at the sick Lorelei, who gave her a greeting smile.

"Hello, Madam Druvis. You seem radiant today!"

"...Balloon Party is in her room at the moment, you can knock on her door, she might not be busy at the moment." Druvis pointed at a door near the lobby, making Semmelweis sigh once again.

"Thanks a lot Druvis, see you." Semmelweis walked towards the door, dragging along Lorelei who turned to say goodbye.

"Goodbye, Madam Druvis. May you have a prosperous day" She received no verbal response, instead, she got a concerned nod and a worried look.

The locked door in front of her caught her attention, the shining words reading 'Balloon Party', a member of the suitcase she had not met yet. Semmelweis might have, judging by her tired look and Bela's words.

Knock knock knock

"Balloon Party, are you there? I need your help, it's urgent!" Semmelweis knocked again on the door, almost banging on it.

"My little musical note, it's not necessary to be so desperate. I can still talk and move, my condition is still stable and safe." But words of reassurance di everything but reassure for Semmelweis.

"For fuck's- God's sake Lorelei, you're injured, have some more self preservation!"

"Said Semmelweis, the one with almost no self preservation."

"Shut up Bela!"

The door unlocked and opened annoyingly slowly, revealing the frowning face of a sleepy young girl who's not so young. She lacked her usual floating dog balloon and her creepy dress, this one being replaced by sleep wear.

In the middle of the evening.

"Stop knocking on the door, it's not going to open if you hit it harder." There was a sense of teasing in her tone, Semmelweis did not like that.

"You're a fucking doctor, no? My friend over here-" She gestured to Lorelei, who waved to the young girl in front of her happily. "Has been attacked by a critter and I don't have the time nor patience to wait here."

"But you shall, this is my room after all, hehehe." The young girl laughed at nothing, but for some reason, Lorelei found it funny too.

"What are we laughing at?" The girl, Balloon Party, turned to her with a raised eyebrow and shook her head.

"Walk in and lay her on the sofa, I'll take care of her."

Semmelweis didn't need to be told twice, she barged into the room, helping Lorelei sit before kneeling and unwrapping the bandages covering her wounded legs, dirty and bloody, but at least the wound had stopped bleeding poison.

"Place your hand away, don't touch it directly. Your hands are dirty." Balloon Party placed a hand on Semmelweis shoulder and slowly pushed her to the side, taking her place kneeling in front of Lorelei.

"Hello doctor! I believe we have never met before!" Lorelei tried to spark up a conversation between her and the girl in front of her, who smiled in return.

"I have met you, you haven't met me." That sentence made no sense for Semmelweis, but it did to Lorelei.

"How very interesting! I must have been distracted. Mama seems to recognize you, but I don't!"

"Is it really that good of an idea to leave these lunatics together?" "Would you fucking shut up? This is no time to be discussing this." "You said we could discuss this later, this is later."

During this self-conversation, Balloon Party prepared every supply she would need under Lorelei's curious gaze. "Is your friend okay? She seems to be in a heated conversation with herself."

"Oh, that's just her and her other her, they don't really get along." She cast a look at Semmelweis, looking at her annoyed friend conversing with herself. "Is she annoying you?"

"Not at all, not at all, not at all." As if it had been necessary, she repeated it three times, confusing Lorelei. "But I need silence and peace for this, would you tell her to leave for a moment?"

And Lorelei didn't hesitate. "My little musical note, I must ask you to leave for a moment."

"Huh?" Semmelweis turned to Lorelei, dazed. "Why? Is it some sort of necessary procedure?"

"The doctor needs peace, mama thinks you're too noisy." Despite Lorelei's calm words, Semmelweis glared at Balloon Party, who began to put on clean gloves.

"Fine, I'll be back if anything happens." Luckily, Semmelweis complied after a second of consideration, slamming the door shut afterwards.

"Ah!" The cold feel of plastic against her leg got Lorelei's attention back on Balloon Party, who looked up from below.

"I apologize, I surprised you." without any more words, she centered all her attention on the wound. "It has dried, I took too long to get to it. Your friend is exaggerating, the poison is not strong enough to kill you, but tetanus might be your biggest worry."

Lorelei nodded, not understanding a single word but going along. The doctor's hand worked quickly, spraying the wound with some painless medication before cleaning with it cotton.

"This is a medication provided by Ms. Campbell."

"huh?"

"You're staring, so you must be curious."

Lorelei came back to consciousness for the second time, her face heating up in embarrassment. Had she been staring at Balloon Party this whole time? How weird, her friend must have handed her over her weird habit.

"I apologize, doctor. Papa is right, staring is rude." The feeling of the soft cotton passing over her skin stopped for a second before continuing.

"it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. I don't really mind." Balloon Party resumed her work, glossing over the 'papa' comment. She and Semmelweis are friends for a reason, they're both weird. "You never told me your name. I know it, but it's best if you introduce."

"How rude of me. I am Lorelei, I'm new in the suitcase."

"I know, I saw you with Sonetto."

Lorelei didn't understand how this girl knew her, but she didn't. There were many arcanists, Sonetto introduced most of them, so how did she miss-

"Do you have a habit of staring?" This time, Balloon Party covered the wound with bandages, her hands held Lorelei's leg straight as she did, and a weird sensation transferred to her heart.

"No! This is- this is unusual in me. I don't stare, not as much, I apologize." Lorelei's words became fumbled, a mess of different explanations and apologizes which Balloon Party ignored.

"we're done. Don't run too much, it will heal completely in a day. Come back tomorrow for a check up and then you're free." Balloon Party stood up and sat by Lorelei's side, who flinched in surprise.

"Thanks doctor! How should I Uhm, repay you?" Lorelei lowered herself slightly, hearing her mother's words of 'straighten up your back!' at this.

"There's no need for that, it's free." Balloon Party took off her glove and touched Lorelei's cheek, then slowly went to her forehead, then her neck.

"...!?"

"No fever or unusual temperature, your friend was indeed exaggerating." She took her hand back, raising an eyebrow when Lorelei unconsciously followed that hand.

"Ah! Uh, well. Wow, thank you!" Lorelei stood up very quickly, almost surprising Balloon Party. "I'm leaving now! Uh."

She paused, her brain telling her to shut up and run, not say a single word as she did, but an arcanist doesn't rely on their brain.

"See you around beautiful!"

And she ran to the door, aggressively opened it and ran out, a loud "Ow!" echoing her room once she collided with Semmelweis on the way out, who closed the door after looking strangely at Balloon Party.

Now alone, Balloon Party walked towards her bed and laid down, about to go back to sleep, and turned to her bloody balloon bear.

"What a weird girl. She'll be back tomorrow, I quite want to call her beautiful too."