#i MIGHT do the other battle sprites.

[malwarechips]

guys i think that there's something wrong with my copy of in stars and time ???

^^ the sprites on their own (and bigger) /silly

[remxedmoon]

so all you need to do right now is disappear.

HHHHAPPY ISATVERSARY EVERYONE. here’s redraws for every single battle cg in the game. 36 drawings this time around, with 11 of those being custom (though admittedly a good portion of those are edits). combined with the portrait redraws i made back in september, i’ve made 114 redraws for this project! jesus christ! just like those redraws, these are completely free to use!! as long as i’m credited and it’s not for commercial purposes, go wild!! do whatever you want!!!

no i didn’t make these for isat’s 1 year anniversary this is just wildly good timing.

i genuinely can’t fit all of these cgs in one post even with the 30 image limit on browser, but i’ll still try to fit Most of them below the cut (without making this post horrifically long), along with some notes that might be important 👍

okay! once again, i labeled all of the custom art as such in the drive(UPDATE. NNOT TRUE ANYMORE. reformatted file names to be easier to mod in auau. apologies!), but if you want a full list, the customs are hatless siffrin jackpot, bonnie jackpot, bonnie special attack, bigfrin attack, and a bunch of alts which are definitely not related to any projects i’ve been thinking about don’t worry about it. and out of those customs, only like. 3 of them are actually completely from scratch.

while i did my absolute best to keep the aspect ratios completely the same as the originals, there’s 3 exceptions that i just couldn’t get to work.

isabeau’s hair in his special attack cg wouldn’t fit in frame if i kept things completely accurate to the og, so i moved his cg down a bit. it shouldn’t cause any issues with modding or anything, it’ll just appear slightly lower than it does in game. alas…

isabeau’s sleeve and mirabelle’s hair made their jackpot sprites a little larger than the originals? i’m hoping this doesn’t have too much of an effect (since the jackpot sprites have inconsistent sizes) but i can’t test this myself unfortunately. aaa feel free to let me know on discord if any problems arise!!

i managed to fix these, so they aren’t going to cause problems now, but my original drawings for mirabelle and siffrin in the final attack scene were a pain in the ass to fix. mirabelle’s sprite was slightly too talk to fit in frame and siffrin’s hat whacked bonnie in the face while i was editing everyone together. i’m only mentioning this because it took like an hour and a half to fix them and finish the scene.

all that aside, these were a fucking BLAST to work on. apparently this ended up taking 57 hours over exactly 10 days. which is a little worrying if you do the math on that but somehow i have not burnt myself out. i will be doing enemies at some point!!! but probably not for a little bit. i think my friends will actually kill me if i don’t take a break.

once again, happy birthday isat. you’ve ruined my life and i wouldn’t have it any other way (silly).

also, on an actual serious note, this little timeloop game has genuinely changed my life for the better? you guys are probably sick of hearing it at this point (or maybe not, i don’t talk about myself That Much. i hope), but i was practically a ghost for about 2 years before joining this fandom. it’s a little surreal to suddenly have friends (plural!!!) and people who Care about me, or even know i exist, honestly. it’s weird!! in a good way!!!

i don’t think i would’ve ever come back to social media if this community wasn’t so welcoming. i’ve met a lot of really great people through this game!!! so, uh, thank you isat, i guess. here’s to another year.

[ironrose-stylistlegion]

Ranking How Difficult It Would Be to Fight the Various Creatures in Miraland

7. Easiest: Giftys

Even though Giftys are the arbiters of all styling battles, they show no sign of having any defensive abilities. It's also (somewhat) canon that Giftys are edible. This leads me to believe that at least some of them were hunted for food at some point.

6. Faewish Sprites

This might be a controversial pick, considering Faewish Sprites have an entire organized force dedicated to fighting and are shown in-game actually beating people up.

However, I think that's literally just a skill issue. If I was fighting a Faewish Sprite, I would wait for it to fly at me with its stupid little wooden sword, and then I would hit it with a baseball bat and send it flying.

The only reason Faewish Sprites aren't ranked last is because 1. Giftys are pathetic in a fight and 2. I think they could probably shoot each other out of their canons at their opponents and do some real damage.

5. Pieceys

Most weapons wouldn't work on a Piecey because they're just pieces of cloth, but we do know from the Caged Greed boss fight that they can be taken down with enough blunt force trauma. That might be difficult because they can fly, but it's doable.

Alternatively, you could use a flamethrower.

4. Croakers

They seem harmless and relatively easy to fight, but I don't think we should underestimate them. I feel like they could do a jumping kick at me and knock me over very easily. They could also hit me with their long frog tongues, and from there the fight would be over because I would be so uncomfortable that I would just have to leave.

The flamethrower would work on these guys as well.

3. Momo Clan

To be honest, I think taking Momo down in a fight would be quite easy. It's actually Momo's grandpa that gives me pause. His abilities are unknown. I would proceed with caution.

2. Cadenceborn

Kilo is the only Cadenceborn we've met so far, and he seems relatively harmless. It's important to consider that we've never seen him truly threatened, though. Additionally, the other Cadenceborn could be lean mean killing machines, and we just don't know it yet.

The sheer size of the Cadenceborn also concerns me. I'm not sure what weapon would take a Cadenceborn down. What could penetrate their scaly exteriors? Much to think about.

1. Hattys

These things scare me.

[lexi-the-demon-69]

I redesigned Awakened Dark Cacao

!!IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER!! This redesign is only for fun and is not meant to offend anyone. I am fully aware of the cultural significance of Awakened Dark Cacao's design and this is only meant to be a critique/my own interpretation. I am also not claiming my design is better by any means. Please keep that in mind before you jump to conclusions.

I believe I have mentioned before that I didn't really like Awakened Dark Cacao's design. I do like what they had in mind, but it ended up being a cluttered mess. Also, you gotta feel bad for those poor animators and sprite artists who had to animate and draw sprites for that monstrosity of a design... So, I went ahead and redesigned it lol.

Here's the full design:

Here's the OG:

As you can tell, I obviously got rid of all of the cluttered detail on his hanbok and simplified it. I took more inspiration from Dark Cacao's berserk form when it came to his crown since I thought that would look less messy than the hat the OG has.

The OG design never really screamed "I'm a warrior going into battle to save my people" and more of an "I'm getting ready for a fancy occasion" type of thing. So, I gave Dark Cacao kind of a mix of a hanbok and a samurai outfit so he could move around more. I also gave my man his long hair back and put it up in a ponytail because he deserves to have his hair out lol.

I honestly wish Devsisters leaned more into the Berserk form idea since we have literally no other instance of Berserk Dark Cacao representation, so I feel like that would've been a cool callback. Not sure if you guys can see it, but I actually gave my redesign claws because wouldn't it be super cool if awakened Dark Cacao could turn his hands into the claws of his berserk form while in the middle of a fight? I thought it was a cool ass idea, so I gave that ability to him lol.

-----

That's it lol. I honestly really like how the redesign came out! I might make more posts about this version of Awakened Dark Cacao soon so stay tuned for that lol

[house-of-slayterr]

beloved <3 what are you Halsin headcanons??

ps do you also like the polymance w Astarion? i wanna know your takes!! <3

Omg ok it’s happening!!! Ahhhh!

Halsin:

Halsin attempts to be a gentle man in his conscious actions. He wants to be soft and cause as little unnecessary harm as possible. That being said, with his size that’s a difficult thing to be. I feel he grows frustrated easy when he accidentally breaks things (or people). But on the flip side, if you unleash his rage, this hardly a way to put a lid on it. He’s a large beast, and as such, it seems so are his emotional states. He is terrifying to the enemy and it’s such a harsh contrast to him off the battle field when he’s safe and happy. It’s something I think sets him aside more than the other companions.

Halsin is also a patient man. It takes a lot of patients and self control to be someone with his gifts. The world is lucky his quicker to compassion than to draw his claws, and bear his teeth. I feel like he’s one to give several warnings.

He’s a very goofey guy. This man has a full belly laugh like good old American Santa Klaus. All of camp can hear it when you make him laugh. The best place to be in the world is with him lying on his back, and you on top of him during a sunset as you try to tell little stories to feel his chest rumble. It lulls you to sleep like a purring cat after awhile, like a sleeping agent for your heart, calming it in all the chaos. (Bear cubs can purr like cats sometimes and it’s adorable)

He’s an old romantic. I feel like this man like to try to play things by the book in his head. He knows what relationships are supposed to look like and sound like and he sounds so stiff when he starts off by using his “script” it works because by the gods does he have that shit down to pretty much a sex science at this point, knowing exactly what to say to get what he wants. But that’s not what draws you in. It’s the potential of getting the spontaneity out of him. Getting him to say things he normally wouldn’t, how he normally wouldn’t. Add people he normally wouldn’t. He’s a very flexible man, he’s happy as long as you’re happy. But his best flirting comes when he’s tried, or angry, or those rare moment he gets jealous. Lord help you if Halsin is jealous and the solution is he can’t just have both of you- good luck walking anytime soon.

He’s very in tune with his emotions. He’s a sensitive guy. I mean he loves ducks for fucks sake. This man is precious. He will treat you as if you are such too. Everyone is small and fragile compared to him. He’ll protect your body, mind, soul and feelings with his life. Defend you with his last breath, do anything just to bring a smile to your face. This man is nothing if not devoted 100% to what he does. He starts to become in touch with your emotions too. Being able to sense them from halfway across camp and always comes running ready to be your Druid in shining armour

Now Astarion is a different beast literally , literally… he is a vampire. I wouldn’t say there’s much in common between vampires and Bears. I’d say other than their insatiable appetites. This spritely little elf is more akin to a cat than a bear.

The dynamic is different apart of course, but if you’re with Halsin first, he’ll notice. He’s not an idiot, far from it actually. He pays close attention to his darling and their needs and wants. Especially when it comes to body language. He wouldn’t exactly be mad you’re attracted to Astarion, he can’t blame you. He’d be more upset the longer he observed this attraction grow and you either said or did nothing about it.

I know I said earlier Halsin is a patient man, but one thing he’s not patient for is watching you “suffer” which might be a dramatic word in this case (Astarion would find it quite fitting, you suffering without his love) he will call you out on this attraction quite quickly and ask as politely and openly as possibly what you want to do about it. It’s no secret the wood elf may also find said vampire attractive.

Astarion would agree too it, not without some fuss at first, calming theatrics of wanting you all to himself but it’s fine to share with some “oaf” as if he too is not attracted to the Druid. Honestly if you keep your sanity during this phase of the relationship, congratulations love, you’ve survived the hardest hardship in all of Baulder’s gate.

But once that awkward phase is over. RIP your legs again. RIP your everything actually. Bestie are you sure you want to do this? A bear and a vampire. In love and obsessed with you… wanting to ravage you body at your earliest convince pretty much multiple times a day when they can? Yeah yeah- you’re totally sane, totally cool, totally normal. The rest of your companions aren’t looking at you like you’re the scariest motherfucker to ever walk this earth. Between the bite marks and the claw marks, and let’s be honest now you’ve probably dislocated a hip at least once- how are you feeling? Truly. That being said, they do go easy on you sometimes and give you a break and let you watch them go at each other , and boy is that a sight. (I’m not drooling, you’re drooling)

It’s the after sex but that’s really what you carve though. The part that makes you feel safe and whole and loved. They wouldn’t dare part from you even if the entire camp was engulfed in flames in that moment. Nothing could pry them from their lovers side. They look at you like you put the moon on the sky, the your he very reason their hearts beat, like you’re the only reason they’re still fighting (probably half the reason they’re still standing, let’s be honest, you’ve saved they’re asses more than enough times and they’re so greatful for that) but it’s these moments that you crave. There simple, full of love and lust and simple honest words and looks and touches. Everything so easy, and feels right.

It would be a moment like this one of your boys would choose to make this arrangement permanent. Perhaps Astarion with an off handed comment. Something about “well maybe we should just wed eternally, I hear honeymoon sex is even better” he would grin like a vampire at a blood bank. And it would be silly, but it would be genuine. Halsin would make him try again and give you something proper later if you asked. Or on the flip side, after a hard battle, Halsin would scoop you both up in his arms kissing you each deeply and say “we ahh like join our hearts as one, so we never fear one it’s like to be apart” and even though the situations not ideal and you may be exhausted and covered and dirt and blood and whatever else, it’s the three of you and that’s what matters.

The sleeping arrangements are simple. It’s always Halsin’s tent. That man in massive. Astarion won’t admit it but he creeps into his tent about halfway through each night, never wanting to start on his arms but always craving them. And you sleep happily on top of him, squishing both your boys as close to you as possible. And they wouldn’t have it any other way. They love you and you love them, it’s plain for all the world to see.

AN: sorry if this is bad, I don’t own the game, all I have to go on is fan fics, behind the scenes, fan info, and watching my friends play the game and info dump about it. If anything is inaccurate I’m so sorry 😭 I tried based on how I view them at least.

[egg-emperor]

Does Eggman actually have dark red eyes? I wanted to hear your take on that!

Nah that was just an ongoing thing in non canon media. Likely due to how the US box art Eggman for classic games looked like he had black voids for eyes, then 90s shows seemed to take inspiration but gave him red irises, which the Archie comics then adopted- well pre reboot, as he was later depicted with white sclera there even.

In the games he's always had regular white sclera instead. Even before we knew his actual iris color, he was consistenly depicted with white sclera long before and it was always Sega/Sonic Team Japan's vision. Here I'll compile some times they've appeared in the actual games

This was an unused animation for the Egg Poison boss but it's still a sprite made for a game that depicts what they envisioned his eyes to be:

They should've kept it because it was very cute and funny, spilling Mega Mack over himself XD

But with that, it dates his white sclera all the way back to Sonic 2, despite what Western classic box art and shows depicted at the time

The Sonic Advance games and Sonic Battle have his eyes very comically pop out when he takes damage:

He's literally one of these keychains where you squeeze them and the eyes pop out, they need to make an official Advance/Battle Eggman keychain like this lol

The 2D animations like Sonic Mania Adventures are considerably canon as they take place after the game's events and are in an actual game now through Sonic Origins' museum. You can see them there too:

You can also see them again in the character sheet art that was also used as reference for the Origins 2D animation:

Trio of Trouble, which also should be canon as a prequel and promo for Sonic Superstars, also shows his eyes briefly:

The only time he's been shown with an iris color in a game is Sonic 06, where we finally see that they're blue

While 06's events were erased from the timeline, Eggman's eye color obviously wouldn't have just randomly changed just for these events and then been some other color after, so this solidly confirms what color his irises are

I really love the light gray-blue shade they went with specifically, suits him best for it makes them look cold and intense which I think works as a much better way to give him a sinister look than much more cliche red and black eyes

And a bonus which perhaps might not be the case but that one CD sprite has always appeared to give a peek at the whites of his eyes behind his glasses to me at least too:

There are also non canon depictions with white sclera as much as there are of him with red and black but I wanted to compile the appearances within actual games and tie-ins specifically. And as you can see, he has white sclera in all of them and blue irises in 06

Red and black is purely non canon. A lot of people have theories about his eyes changing or looking different because of non canon media but if he took his glasses off in a 3D modern game, he'd absolutely just have blue eyes and white sclera

I really hope they do at some point because they'd be fun to see on his regular model outside of 06 and would look very pretty hehe 🩵 I love to imagine them all the time and I'm very happy that they're the canon look because they're the best!

[captainkawaii666]

So I saw a Deltarune theory video (I don't remember what it was called specifically but if I do I'll link it), and it wasn't actually about who the Knight would be specifically, but the Knight did come up and they said they thought it would be Knight Knight, which at first I was a bit skeptical of, but like

C'mon look at her

She's literally a knight

The symbol on her mace looks like a Titan eye

She has night/darkness theming (moon on helmet, chest area looks owl-esque)

You beat her by putting her to sleep, which brings to mind the Pacify spell

One of her battle flavor texts is "Knight Knight's armor emits a dark sheen", further associating her with darkness- specifically darkness that somehow still glows, like the fountains

Another one of her battle flavor texts is "Smells like stardust" which can be vaguely associated with the SAVE stars, which are tied to Determination (which is required to open fountains) in Undertale, and the Titans in Deltarune

The battle start flavor text is "Mercenaries emerge from the shadows", which provides her yet another association with darkness- although interestingly enough, this is only used when she's accompanied by Madjick

When encountered by herself, the battle start flavor text is "Knight Knight blocks the way!", flavor text which is shared between only her and bosses

She roars when you hit her, and the Knight's full title is the Roaring Knight (this one specifically is like the biggest reach ever but there's so much other stuff here that I might as well bring it up)

She's heavily connected with Shyren, who has several of her own ties to darkness and Dark Worlds

She summons the sun and moon- representations of light and darkness- for her attacks

Going back to her mace, it's called the Good Morningstar- Morningstar is another name for Lucifer, tying her to Gaster due to his satanic theming

She's referred to in the code as "Final Knight"

Her sprite is referred to in the code as a "dragon"- this further associates her with Gaster (Dragon- villain's second in command) and the Roaring (the dragon of the apocalypse)

She talks without a dialogue bubble, with her text just appearing on screen (this isn't much, but it is reminiscent of the dialogue during the Goner Maker sequence)

Speaking of her dialogue, she has no sound effect that plays alongside it- the only other spoken dialogue in either game this is true of (unless I'm forgetting something) is the last bit of the Goner Maker, where someone who is most likely not Gaster since it was almost definitely him for the rest of the sequence says "Will now be discarded. No one can choose who they are in this world. Your name is..."

She definitely seems like she could be strong enough to beat King in a fight, and with her preferred fighting style being "summon meteors and solar flares and smash the shit out of everything with her mace", it would certainly explain the state of his throne room

Queen refers to the Knight as "it", and while that may just be her using gender-neutral terms, Knight Knight is also referred to as "it" by some flavor text (she/it queen!!)

She's associated with sleep and dreams, and the Nightmare Knight leitmotif has appeared in a few Deltarune songs- mostly ones associated with entering a Dark World (it's also widely assumed that Nightmare Knight, or a song heavily reusing its leitmotifs and stuff the way Metal Crusher did for Noisemaster, will be the Knight's theme, but this is pure speculation so that's not really important)

And while this is most of the evidence I have of her potentially being the Knight, I'm fairly certain I could find even more if I really went digging (although most of it would probably be of the more tenuous variety)

[ofieloafi]

for some reason I decided to do a solo md run with and max out every single rodya id this month 😎

also threadspun all her egos to max as well

she's so cool I wish I was like her

some observations for each id I gathered in my time playing:

Base: she's surprisingly durable, though even that hardly makes up for her awful rolls. Also her attack sprites are super weird like

what kind of angle are you hitting at girl. Are you trying to kill some random bug on the ground? I feel like she has the worst attack sprites out of all the base ids, though them making her look like she's swinging kind of recklessly and with no practice might be fitting to her character?

Kurokumo: Surprisingly good for a release id. I think it'd be fun if her s3 had attack weight. She doesn't look all that kurokumo with her coat lacking the cloud texture and her having no visible tattoos outside the one on her breat.

LCCB: A very interesting concept that while good for its niche isn't something really relevant to the game. Like she would be really good if the game went in a direction where defense skills were a genuine threat outside of a few counters and evades being annoying. Other than that her blunt synergy is cool but greatly limits her.

Ncorp: Love how messy she looks. Also weird how in each of her "evil" identities (Ncorp, Tcorp, Princess) she mentions refusing to eat. She's okay, probably decent in a full Ncorp team. I don't have much to say besides she looks really cool and hot.

Rosespanner: the first good id she got that still holds up pretty good despite her clashes being somewhat mediocre. Synergizes really well with her effervescent corrosion ego and its passive.

Zwei: Probably my favourite 00 id. The concept of turning poise count into shield is so interesting, and makes her quite a decent meatshield. Other than that though she doesn't have much going for her and she barely has any synergy with the other good zwei identities.

Dieci: I don't really need to say anything. It's dieci rodya. I think she's strong in kind of a boring way

Liu: She's cool. Love using her passive in teams to get big wrath absolute resonances going, though the condition of everyone being burned is harder to achieve in chain battles.

Tcorp: got an absolute ass run with her and barely got any tremor gifts before the end. She's okay. Good clashes and tremor application but not a lot of bursts.

Devyat: She's just strong and fun. Really good for solos with the free shield she gains and her incredible damage potential. Also I just love the concept of a weird bag that has limbs and things that come out of it. That's just cool.

Princess: Clashable counters make regular encounters super easy in solos. A bit worse for them than the other bloodfiend ids since her healing is tied to her passive and not her abilities, but once she gets going she's really good. Also using an umbrella as a weapon is just really cool. Also unrelated but when she was released people were being so boringly horny for her, like this is Rodya, she's had her tits out since launch and now you notice them? Also her uptied art is way hotter anyway.

I don't have much to say for egos since most of them are pretty straightforwards.

don't use pursuance in solos since the additional effects are ally only as far as I've tried.

I hope she gets a negative sp id some day to benefit from the passive of what is cast and to make the awakening of 4th match flame more powerful.

hope she gets a charge id some day so she can have some relevance in any team (rosespanner is too dependant on tremor to really count)

maybe a sweeper id with the backstreets intervallo cause they eat people and rodya is a hungry girl.

idk

[caliburn-not-calculator]

Any thoughts on the angst potential of Legendary VR-LA? Just rewatched the episode and am curious on any opinions

Okay so this has just been sitting in my drafts and I completely forgot about it for… too long. But yes!!! I have thoughts. Sorry for how late of a reply this is

Okay so. My first thoughts are more related to everyone else rather than VR-LA himself.

The Per Aspera crew left without one of their members, the ship finally void of its longest continuing inhabitant. He never seemed to make that much noise but it is notably quieter. He had more personal effects than most of the others, and with them gone… it hollow. So dreadfully hollow.

Emi no longer has VR-LA there to guide her, raise her, teach her. The person she was begining to model herself after is gone. Dani has lost her first mate and best friend, another brother gone beyond her reach, no one to work with deep into the night or stop her from doing so. Vhas who would usually stop by VR-LA’s room to antagonise him finds nothing but silence on the other side of the door, no lighting or snark at his back in battle. Kyana stargazing with no wizard pointing out his favourite constellations and telling her their stories. Finbar has one less serving to prepare (he always forgets, and they end up with extra food).

He’s not dead, they have that at least, but he isn’t there. Perhaps sometimes he can visit. Every few months he’ll appear at the Sprite Spring, or standing in the doorway to the Per Aspera’s common room. Seemingly out of thin air, and vanishing much the same. There isn’t enough time. It’s hard to accept that there never will be.

On the sanctum his loss his somehow felt more acutely and subtly simultaneously. They were already used to not seeing him for long periods. They had adapted to communicating via infrequent sendings and letters, but this is different. VR-LA rarely has time for even that much anymore. C-RA has lost another friend, someone else she couldn’t and can no longer protect. K-LB, whose brother was taken from him in memory and then finally returned, finds that closed gulf suddenly tearing open. Things keep changing… he wishes things would stop changing. AS-TR takes it better than most, there is a pride in the way she regards the situation, she is glad to see her friend go so far yet still finds herself melancholy at his absence when they’d had so little time together. E-DN tries not to be angry at him, or Mystra, or anyone else. She’s been trying to cut down on those emotions, but still, things end up broken when she hears that he is, one way or another, gone.

Maxim is… complicated. He feels betrayed, he is angry, and somehow he is relieved. VR-LA was meant to step back, he was meant to stay safe, they were meant to have… something. It seems the gods can’t help but take what he loves. Greedy and uncaring, keeping those he loves from his reach. The one solace he has is VR-LA is alive. He is safe. He is still out there somewhere and Maxim still may see his face, and for that he suppresses what might be rage. He was so used to feeling either grief or nothing, the way his gears are wrenching at the injustice is a new feeling.

As for VR-LA. He saw himself growing old, settling down, living a long and full life with the friends he has found and freed.

He doesn’t know if he can grow old anymore.

But he does know there is no settling. He was meant to step back, but instead he has stepped up. Balancing on the precipice of something beyond mortality and terrified of what it could mean. Terrified that the choice he made to save his friends may lead to him losing them. Time and existence doesn’t work the same as it once did. He may outlast them, out pace them, become something so much more than them that he can no longer be who they care for.

What he can do is watch. Only occasionally, but more often than he can visit. A simple scry to look over his friends, to ensure they are well. Eventually he finds that he can even bestow minor boons. Gift them with echoes of his magic to aid in their adventures in ways he can no longer. To remind them he is still there. That he still cares.

To ask they please not forget him. To not abandon him as a memory or a tragedy. To pretend that maybe, things aren’t so different than before.

[rustedleopard]

Everybody who's played Undertale/Undertale Yellow knows that in order to get through fights without hurting/killing monsters, you need to use ACTs. What you might not know is that (at least in UTY, I don't recall if this is a feature in UT) what Clover does when they ACT and how the enemy responds changes if the enemy is hurt enough to display their injured sprite.

Usually it's nothing too crazy. For example, Clover (hypnotizing +) singing to an Insomnitot will meet its SPARE conditions and have Insomnitot remark that Clover is a good singer, whereas if Clover first injures then sings to an Insomnitot, it will be too distracted to notice Clover's little ditty and will also tell Clover "You need vocal lessons." Or doing 'ACT: Touch' on Cactony will have Clover give Cactony a careful pat in-between two spines, but doing 'FIGHT: ACT: Touch' will have Clover prick their finger on Cactony's bristles. It's a fun little detail that most wouldn't notice because people generally either choose to focus on only sparing or fighting the enemy instead of trying to "play" with the enemy when they're injured.

It does fall apart a bit when you come across Sousborg in the Steamworks in a Neutral/No Mercy Run. Sousborg has a unique gimmick where, in order to meet his SPARE conditions, you have to instruct him on how to cook an egg. Unfortunately, the devs likely weren't expecting someone to do the whole "injure then ACT" deal with Sousborg*. As a result, these injury ACTs don't fit the actions that Clover can choose from the menu. For example, doing 'ACT: Crack,' which would normally have Clover instruct Sousborg to crack the egg on the edge of the pan, will instead display the text "You toss Sousborg's cooking into the garbage." which... has nothing to do with cracking anything.

The ACT menu will still progress as though Clover instructed Sousborg on proper egg preparation if they choose the correct prompts (Crack -> Fry -> Season). Some of the lines for the instructions will even be the same as they were if Clover didn't initially injure Sousborg. Sousborg also doesn't try to fight back either if Clover is ACTing against him. It's just a fun and interesting thing I noticed. Here's some screenshots from the fight, as well as what ACTs yielded which results.

An example of an ACT (Bake) displaying the same exact text that it would if Sousborg wasn't injured and Clover attempted the ACT. No egg was ever cracked, so there is also no "puppy" to throw into the oven.

This is what Sousborg's bullet box looks like when Clover does an "injury ACT." It lasts long enough for him to say his line, but once you press X to progress the text, it disappears and he doesn't try to attack you.

Another example of a selected ACT not displaying the correct action for the prompt chosen. Nothing about choosing 'ACT: Boil' should have Clover toss Sousborg's cooking into the garbage.

All the ACTs from this battle that I noticed. Note that the text in parentheses is what Sousborg responds with. Unlike other enemies where their response directly correlates to what ACT Clover chooses (even if injured), robotic enemies (when injured) will always respond with a random line that doesn't have anything to do with the ACT that Clover chooses. Like they're defaulting to programmed responses. For example, choosing ACT: Bake can have Sousborg say "D../inner _:wiLl be <r-Ready .> Soon." or "Sw/>.eet _or SAVory?" at random (I just put down the first one I noticed when I was fighting him).

*Or perhaps the ACTs that Clover could do were supposed to change entirely if Sousborg was injured, which differs from the ACT options in the other battles. Usually the ACTs stay the same but change how Clover performs those actions. I speculate if this was the intention, then they might've said something along the lines of "Wash" and "Toss," to fit how Clover can either wash Sousborg's oil off their hands or toss his cooking into the garbage.

[homestuckreplay]

❌ CAN’T ABSCOND, BRO ❌ (THUMBS DOWN)

(page 871)

I got psyched by the narrative. I expected a GameFAQs moment after Again in the future… but instead it’s the very important [S] Dave: Abscond – the sixth [S] page within a 50-page run. A fight scene seems like an especially high effort animation project – very fast paced, lots of frames, and the same repeated movements can easily get boring to watch.

So I was interested to see how this one broke down into beats, and keeps the limited concept 'two brothers sword fight on a roof' feeling interesting throughout.

Interactive moment: Dave still on the ground defeated by Cal, reader must press pink >ABSCOND button.

(0:00-0:10) Bro slashes button with sword. Text ‘CAN’T ABSCOND, BRO’ and ‘ROUND 2’. Music begins. Bro gives thumbs down, Dave reveals grisly bleeding puppet head. Cal flashes. Text ‘STRIFE!’

(0:10-0:16) Fairly standard fight sequence – Bro and Dave on the roof, slashing swords and swapping places.

(0:16-0:20) Dave goes for a more aggressive attack. Bro kicks him into the air and knocks him down with the sword. Both land.

(0:20-0:29) Both pause and then leap into the air. Epic moment of aerial combat in front of the eye of the red storm.

(0:29-0:32) Bro spins 360 degrees and knocks Dave to the ground. He lies as if defeated.

(0:32-0:41) Bro lands and Dave immediately jumps up. They fight again on the roof, faster than before, their sprites blurred.

(0:41-0:47) Dave attempts an advanced spin attack, which fails when Bro picks him up out of the air and throws him forcefully across the roof.

(0:47-0:52) Dave somehow bounces off Bro’s elbow, due to Bro’s ninja-like movements. He whirls through the sky and slowly descends.

(0:52-0:55) Bro uses Cal to parry Dave’s fall, sending Dave flying across the roof and into the stairwell.

(0:55-infinity) Dave falls down stairs. Sweet Bro or Hella Jeff ‘I WARNED YOU ABOUT STAIRS BRO!!!!’ flashes during leftward fall, ‘I TOLD YOU DOG!’ flashes during rightward fall.

In these beats there’s a variety of speeds, different backdrops despite no actual change in location, and a lot of attention paid to how the sprites move – especially Dave, who’s compactness makes it easy to spin him like a bouncy ball. The flash feels like longer than a minute while watching, because so much gets packed into it; it’s able to give the sense of an extended, grueling fight sequence without actually playing that out.

The flash really emphasizes the size difference between Bro and Dave; it’s one thing knowing Bro is twice Dave’s age (give or take), it’s another seeing that Bro is more than twice Dave’s size, fully proportioned with real limbs that behave like an actual human’s, while Dave is some sort of seed or nugget. It feels so intrinsically wrong that these two are fighting with swords. Bro’s pointy sunglasses are menacing and his lack of a mouth makes him even more expressionless than Dave – it’s uncanny that he stays so collected and unaffected during an intense battle, and he’s absolutely ruthless, with no regard for Dave’s life or bones.

The ending implies that the first SBAHJ comic, where Sweet Bro or Hella Jeff warns the other about stairs, was Dave… processing the fact that his brother pushes him down the stairs regularly? Which might suggest that all of those comics are clues to Dave’s ‘radically debilitating patholog[y]’ (p.419) and is also something that Rose would have a FIELD DAY with if she knew about. She would love writing a psychological report on those comics. If I do it, it will be in her honor.

> Dave: Reveal which one is Sweet Bro and which one is Hella Jeff.

[underforeversgrace]

Nine (or so) People You'd Like To Get To Know Better

I love tags games and it's goddamn tag game time again! Thanks to @jackdaw-sprite for tagging me in stuff for me to mess around with!

Rules: Answer the 4 questions and tag 9 people you'd like to know better.

Last Song: YouTube is playing in the background and this is what it played from my mix: For Honor by Peyton Parrish. I am so in love with his songs for real for real! Viking Metal my beloved.

Currently Watching: I'm not currently watching anything new BUT I am rewatching Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and Angel: the Series! I think I'm going to start watching Supernatural and/or Doctor Who again soon.

Currently Reading: Other than all the baller fanfic dropped during Invisobang? I'm not reading much original stories right now, between school, work, and fandom! But the last thing I read was Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao! And I will recommend it until my dying breath. Enjoy the summary!:

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.   When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​   To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

Current Obsession: There's a few that I'm rotating between currently!

Peyton Parrish's music

Jonathan Young's music

Miracle of Sound's music

Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and Angel: the Series (specifically Wesley Wyndam-Pryce)

Danny Phantom, ofc

Ecto-Implosion!

Uhhhhh... do I even know 9 people? Let's check out what people I know well are doing! @probably-dead @hannahmanderr @the-oaken-muse @raders1001 @scarletsaphire @duchi-nesten @going-getting-got-ghost @half-deadmagicperson aaand @blobghost!

[puzzlefaggot]

(professor layton and the golden witch au)

You might be tginkhgn:

What on earth!!! why is descole here. Well let me tell you. veeery light umineko ep4 spoilers and also layton spoilers

to start from the beginning at the end of ep1 layton does Not join the battle on beatrice in the meta world. I've been trying to think of this as a "what if umineko was a layton game" but it simply doesn't work if battler is not the protagonist which means in our hypothetical layton game level-5 makes the hilarious move of making layton just be some non main character for about 40 hours. he would still be an important character On the Gameboards but otherwise. Lol

once we get to episode 4 we instantly forget about making Umineko work because we get rid of ange. i know. i felt so bad about this which is why i made those layton style sprites of her earlier. instead she is replaced with desmond (gross!!!!). like ange desmond really misses his dead brother after 12 years and bernkastel offers to put him in the meta game. for him his condition is he can't tell anyone about his relation to layton but that's not really that difficult considering Layton Isn't In The Game

(more major ep 4 spoilers from here and also ep 5)

at some point during ep 4 (i have not thought this part through properly) desmond somehow communicates with layton on the gameboard and has a kind of similar scene to the one where ange died. i dont know how he does this. but i feel like theres precedent for it somewhere in umineko. IDK

in ep 5 bernkastel has TWO new pieces one being erika obviously and the other being layton. this is how he gets into the game. ive been thinking aaah he wouldn't be like battler in denying it so much BUT if you gave him a motive (his brother turning to flesh chunks in his arms begging him to come home alive) I Think He Would Do It

he also wouldn't really like bernkastel but again. brother dying jn his arms thing. also imagine how funny layton and erika as a pair would be

I also think layton would replace will in ep7 here. not only because layton needs more time here but also because he absolutely would "understand the heart" (and he needs a redemption after working with bernkastel for 2 episodes). i think him and lion would get along very well

(ep 8 spoilerss) ep 8 goes about the same ? but like makes less sense because layton wouldnt be the gamemaster? or he would be idk? 55 year old desmond sycamore learns how to deal with grief 50 years too late. Hoooray. i think his witch of truth (or sorcerer of truth. whatever. i think witch is cooler) outfit would be descole's outfit of course

anyway more layton style ange + dlanor i couldn't bring myself to finish

zen zen dame daze

[braxiations]

Hylics - The PoolWayne Theory

Preamble

So, I’ve never really seen many Hylics theories be shared online. Most of what I’ve found is limited to discord servers like the Hylemxylem. So, I thought I might put my foot into the ring and share one of my own!

Now, this theory is pretty out there. I’ve done quite a lot of examining of both Hylics 1 and 2 and to my knowledge nothing contradicts my theory. I believe my idea explains quite a lot of things pretty well and adds some fun subtext to a lot of plot beats and history. However, it’s not the pure result of thorough evidence and 100% rational thinking. It’s basically a fun idea that explains some things and, in my opinion, is interesting.

The Wayne-poolman connection

To start, I’d like to point out an odd association between poolmen and Waynes. This is first seen before we even know what poolmen are: back at the Waynehouse. Here, we see Waynes slapping poolmen dummies as training. 

Now, it’s likely that this is because poolmen are Gibby’s  main infantry, and this is a point I’ll return to soon. Secondly, is Gibby Redivivus’ design. Atop his head is a Wayne head… or is it? While this is also called a warpo head by some, in actuality it’s literally just the poolman model’s head colored yellow. 

Poolmen’s heads are crescent shaped, so this makes sense. My thought upon learning this was “ha, are Waynes basically just yellow poolmen?” Well… Looking at the chibi sprites for both Wayne (or Sat-Wayne as I’ll call him) and poolmen do reveal a pretty clear similarity. While poolmen’s heads flop around so much in battle it’s hard to notice them as crescents, whenever shown as static or simplified they generally are shaped as such. 

Now, all of this is to establish that I believe poolmen and Waynes to be mirrors or counterparts to one another in some way. Personally, I think this was actually intended by Mason himself. As you’ve probably noticed though, this post is far from over.

Why does Gibby look like that?

Specifically, why does Gibby R wear a Wayne/warpo/poolman-dipped-in-yellow-paint head anyway? As many know, Gibby’s design in Hylics 2 differs from his design in H1 because it originally belonged to a (probably) different character, Fuller. In-universe, however, Gibby’s body is referred to as a “vessel.” His remains were likely put into or molded into this form by Odozeir and his followers. So, why on Fingerhead’s beige Earth would he endow him with THE FACE OF THE GUY WHO MURDERED HIS BOSS? Well, it seems that Gibby has been repping this symbol since longgg before his reconstitution, just not as a face. 

In the platforming mini-games, we get our only look at the world before the Accretion. This confirms a few interesting points: 

There was at least 1 other Wayne pre-Accretion, being Sat-Wayne himself. (Likely a Waynehouse too.)

A Hylemxylem (likely the one that became the Moon) existed pre-Accretion. (Seen in the bg.)

Gibby and Odozeir were allied before the Accretion. (Their faces are on flags together.)

This last note about the flags is important as the Gibby face used is his Redivivus design. As this was being used on flags way back when, it stands to reason that Odozeir fashioned Gibby’s vessel after the symbol itself. Likewise, this would also mean that the Waynehead was being used as part of Gibby’s iconography back then too… which is strange.

Waynes as an army

The nature of Waynes is a question that dances around the edges of Hylics 2, but it never really addresses it outright. Here’s what we know:

Waynes have a huge grudge against Gibby. They seemingly spend much of their time training in the event he becomes a problem again.

They’re all equipped for combat, seemingly naturally. They do have to train and they spend much of their time doing so.

They’re seemingly all clones of one another or something analogous. They can have some differences (some are more well-trained, at least one is either fem or trans (if Decres is canon), etc,) but most are identical. 

Waynes are kind of a problem, at least in the Hylics 2 zone. Chuck, when speaking of his writing process for An Endless Cycle, stated that he wanted to invoke this feeling. With the seemingly mutant Waynes we’ve seen in the New Hylics teasers, Waynes might be growing out of control, taking a role similar to that of invasive species. Tl;dr: they probably aren’t a part of the local natural order.

Perhaps Waynes are entirely natural, eusocial organisms like ants and their soldier-like training simply comes from the fact that they’re sapient. Their contentious placement in the Hylics 2 ecosystem could merely be them being invasive. Their single-minded grudge against Gibby could be explained in a few ways. If H1-Wayne is indeed the Old Wayne from H2, perhaps he dedicated his… children(?) to keep Gibby at bay because it was his most notable accomplishment. Where this explanation might falter is the Wayne head symbol used by Gibby, which is still left entirely unexplained. 

So… what if the symbol came first?

The theory What we know of the Wayne species’ nature, as listed in the previous section, is highly reminiscent of sci-fi ideas of modified super soldiers. In the Star Wars prequels, for example, literal clones meant only for combat are a prevalent plot point. While Waynes as ant-soldiers sufficiently explains many of these traits, the idea that Gibby’s yellow crescent predates the Waynes could only leave an artificial origin as an option. Now, of course, this point that Gibby’s symbol is older than Waynes themselves can’t be proven for certain. The oldest point in the timeline we have access to shows Sat-Wayne coexisting with the symbol. If one was older than the other we’d have no idea. What strikes me as odd, though, is why Gibby would ever associate himself with Waynes. While we don’t know if they’ve always had an antagonistic relationship, Sat-Wayne (who is again, the first Wayne we know of,) spends much of his time attacking Gibby and Odozeir’s forces. The conflict between the two groups has been ongoing, and it seems odd Gibby would choose to honor a species that has constantly attacked him for so many years without strong reason.

With this in mind, I will propose my theory: Waynes are not a naturally occurring species. Rather, they are the descendents of poolmen fashioned into super-soldiers by none other than the forces of Gibby. As such, they were changed to resemble the yellow crescent used as a symbol of Gibby for so long. Now, the manner through which this was done isn’t super important. I like to think they were selectively bred, but it’s just as possible they were genetically modified or given some of Gibby’s royal goop. It’s really just speculation.

As we have established, poolmen may be some of the primary infantry used in Gibby’s armies, especially pre-Accretion. (I would like to suggest that poolmen are the koopas of Gibby’s army, and tyros are the goombas.) With their strong resemblance to Waynes, it stands to reason that Gibby, looking for more capable soldiers, would use the poolmen as a basis. While poolmen are capable of speech, they’re generally represented as animalistic. Their only gestures used are lambaste and multiply, as well as the ability allotrope. As lambaste is literally just hitting someone, multiply is clearly their reproduction, and allotrope is a reflex, it stands to reason they aren’t capable of the hand movements required to use actual complex gestures. (They don’t even seem to have hands.) Other enemies such as the noncomfornist clearly show this ability. Thus, it stands to reason that Gibby would seek soldiers capable of doing such things. In fact stronger, modified poolmen are clearly seen in the form of poolmagnes, but they still don’t achieve these heights.

Many stories of advanced combat technology involve betrayal or an uprising from the technology itself. Thus, we may be able to explain why Waynes hate Gibby so much anyways. Created as sapient soldiers, Waynes would effectively be slaves. They would have no choice but to fight and participate in the tyrant’s cruelty. It seems likely that they would have rebelled, and Gibby may have retaliated harshly.

Sat-Wayne is alone in the Waynehouse he emerges from. H1-Wayne is clearly the only member of his species in the Hylics 1 zone. Many have noticed that the redesign of the Ghost enemies bear a strong resemblance to the skulls of Waynes. Further elaboration falls into pure speculation, so I’ll let you come to your own conclusions here.

Ultimately, we’re left with the following timeline:

Gibby employed poolmen for war.

Wanting stronger soldiers, he ordered his forces to create a more powerful breed of poolman, capable of complex reasoning and the use of gestures.

These Waynes proved too intelligent and rebelled.

Gibby reacted harshly, wiping out nearly all of them.

This begs the question of why Gibby still, by the time of Hylics 2, choses to use the yellow crescent symbol. I think this could be explained as a form of denial. If he casts aside a symbol that was always his simply because rebels used it, he would essentially be admitting defeat. Besides, an NPC in New Muldul talks about wretched anarchists who overthrew Gibby, not realizing who he’s talking to. The fact that a Wayne was responsible for killing Gibby might not be common knowledge. Gibby can simply ignore the uprising and continue to use it.

Other notes and convenient ties

One of my favorite parts of this theory is that it retroactively explains some other oddities in the games. For example, Wayne heads notoriously occur throughout the world or even on jars. If the crescent is a symbol of Gibby, who we know has influence throughout much of the world, this is rather easily explained. 

It gives us an association between Gibby and the Waynes. Many have pointed out that both have names in reference to the moon: gibbous moons and waning moons. Gibby is notoriously prideful and arrogant, so perhaps he intended the Waynes to be made in his image, giving them a similarly lunar name. 

It could explain the moon soldiers and their weakness. Many have noticed their resemblance to Waynes. Perhaps, after the rebellion of the Waynes, Gibby still desired more powerful soldiers. Moon soldiers could easily just be another artificial variety of poolmen, making them basically the cousins of Waynes. Their intense weakness could be attributed to avoiding the pitfall of making soldiers that are too powerful again. Maybe he hoped someone would see the Moon covered in soldiers and simply decide to back off. (It’s worth noting that moon soldiers might not be nearly as weak as we see them. Rather, the joke might be that at this point in the game Wayne and crew have become so strong that they’re killed in an instant.)

The fighting instinct of Waynes could explain the depression, purposelessness, and exhaustion of H2-Wayne that we see explored in Absent Moon. With this theory, Waynes would literally only exist to fight. Having defeated his greatest enemy, Wayne no longer has a purpose in life. Perhaps this lack of purpose has caused unrest in the Waynehouse, and will lead into the events of the New Hylics game that features monstrous, creature-like Waynes. 

Old Wayne remarks on the “forecasts” of the stars, apparently able to glean meaning from them. Perhaps an ability to read celestial bodies is a holdover from their days as Gibby’s soldiers. While the Hylemxylem had not yet developed into the false moon of Hylics 1, this may have been planned. Perhaps the Moon could have sent or shone signals for the Old Wayne to interpret and relay to the Waynes under their command. 

Warpos could essentially be reverted to an older, primal state by their consumption of poolwine. This doesn’t make much sense biologically but whatever.

Random biology notes

Poolmen probably contain hard, spiny components akin to the spicules found within sponges. These spicules would be poked out of their bodies in their allotrope attack. Perhaps this developed into the skeletons of Waynes. The way Wayne’s flesh and muscles melt off of him upon death is similar to how poolmen melt upon their own deaths.

Poolmen multiply and reproduce asexually, likely meaning they’re all more or less genetically identical to one another (there would be errors of course.) Wayne reproduction is more or less elusive, but their status as clones and low genetic diversity could be a remnant of their poolman ancestors.

I have a theory that the “egg pods” we see in the Waynehouse basement might be the Wayne equivalent of the hylethems that produce poolmen. However the connection between poolmen, hylethems, and hylem as a whole is a story for another time.

Summary and conclusion

I believe that Waynes are a sort of poolmen. They were either genetically modified or selectively bred from normal poolmen, as Gibby wanted to employ them as soldiers capable of complex thinking and use of gestures. These Waynes proved too powerful and intelligent, rising up against their creator. He had many of them slaughtered, creating a grudge that would last countless years and influence the Wayne species for the rest of time. 

That’s basically it. Thanks for reading! If you have any thoughts, counterpoints, or additional ideas please feel free to share! I’d really like to discuss this with people!.

[vampireghostlawyer]

Foreshadowing of Daan's fate in Termina Compilation

The reveal of Daan becoming Pocketcat was one of the things that made me so wholly obsessed with Termina and now, after playing it a few times and analyzing the wiki and party talks to hell and back, I've found a few pieces of foreshadowing (some minor and some more blatant) and I wanted to compile them.

1.) Battle sprite

This is one is probably the most obvious, so I'm including it first. In Daan's enemy battle sprite, he is posed very similarly to Pocketcat. Both are faced slightly to the side of the player, with one leg bent in the front, and a hand in their pocket.

2.) Fashion Choices and Dialogue

Daan and Pocketcat are likely nods to the dandy archetype. They both put a lot of emphasis on their clothes and appearance (Daan makes constant references to his shoes and clothes throughout the game, and Pocketcat has multiple dialogues about contestants' clothes as well as his own). Each of them are overly polite and follow traditional etiquette to the point of comedy, and even in situations where it doesn't make sense to do so. Daan will continue being civil to the player, even when he is made furious through talking in battle, and Pocketcat will spend his entire fight doing the same. They speak in surprisingly similar ways, with both using a copious amount of vintage slang and queer-coded linguistics mannerisms.

Also, if Daan transforms, he will continue wearing some of his own clothes as Pocketcat. This one is so obvious I hesitate to include it but I figure I might as well. Specifically, he will unbutton his jacket and wear Daan's vest underneath, as well as his pants and boots. Interestingly, Pocketcat also becomes a shade paler when he transforms into Daan, but I'm not really sure why or what it signifies.

3.) Selfish Artists Karin parallel

Daan and Karin are pretty obvious foils to each other, which serves as the basis for a lot of their bickering in game. They have inverse backstories, inverse motives, and inverse personalities.

When speaking with Pocketcat in the museum, the player may hear a long dialogue of his about the three types of artists/people he sees in the world.

This has multiple meanings, both narratively and in terms of giving the player hints about what to do next, but there are some pretty strong ties hinting to the Daan and Karin parallels in the story. Karin's largest fears (and eventual transformation) can be seen pretty clearly in his description of the extroverted artist, while Daan could be either the introverted or third artist.

4.) Conversation with O'saa

This one is relatively minor, but if you have both Daan and O'saa in your party in the museum's ballroom (near the Pocketcat), O'saa will become puzzled by something and Daan will ask him if a "cat's got his tongue." This is, of course, a common idiom, but considering the time and place where it happens, it seems like foreshadowing to a certain extent.

5.) Pocketcat's Usual Victims

The implications that Pocketcat is a pedophile are honestly so blatant that they aren't really implications. We know that he targets vulnerable children, particularly in Rondon, and finds sexual gratification in it. We also know, through Daan's backstory, that he suffered multiple instances of CSA. Pocketcat has a special interest in people who he sees as malleable, likely blank soul types like Daan. Considering Daan shares two features that Pocketcat targets (both a blank soul, as well as his past), it becomes more obvious that he is a possible future victim/host.

6.) Rher Identity and Mask

Speaking of Daan's blank soul, Rher's book, The Truth Under Moonlight, details a philosophy about people not having a true self.

Pocketcat is not only a servant of Rher (so he likely follows Rher's beliefs), but he seems particularly devoted to the idea of not having a true self, or only having a true self that can only be revealed by outside forces and not oneself. One of his arguments to Daan during his transformation revolves around a secret truth about Daan that has existed for years, as well as he seems to take on traits of the hosts he inhabits, such as their clothes or subtle mannerisms. Even his mask is a symbol of a lack of identity.

Combining all of this with the knowledge that Daan has a blank soul, and seemingly struggles to understand himself (as he often contradicts himself and presents himself very differently to certain characters), it seems like another nod to the fact that Daan is the sort of victim Pocketcat would target.

7.) Meddling and Daan's Connections to the Occult

Part of Pocketcat's purpose as a servant to Rher is how he meddles with the future of people who may harm Rher, or bring other gods more power. Daan's lifelong connection with Sylvian, as well as his connection to and research of the Sulfur God, would both make him a target of Pocketcat's meddling.

Additionally, Daan's past with the occult makes it clear that despite his aversion to the gods and religion, he has experience with them and helps build a relationship to the player between him and the godly creatures in the game like Pocketcat.

8.) Daan's Pants

Both Daan and Pocketcat wear tight, distinctive pants (by 40s' standards, at least lol), and Pocketcat even comments on and expresses an interest in Daan's pants. Obviously, post transformation, he also wears Daan's pants.

9.) Promise to Olivia

The player can promise to take Olivia to a club after they escape Prehevil and she asks them to dance with her (I don't have a screenshot and it's not on the wiki, I'm sorry 😭). Obviously, this technically could happen with any playable character, however it points towards her eventual death at Pocketcat's hands.

In certain circumstances, Pocketcat will kidnap Olivia and forcibly take her to the dance at the museum, where she will moonscorch and transform into the mechanical dance. Imagining this conversation happening with specifically Daan out of all the playable characters makes Pocketcat's sudden obsession with forcing her to go to the dance and become a dance make a lot of sense, and is especially insidious.

This also only happens if both Daan and Olivia are alive, but not part of your party (according to the wiki).

10.) Game Mechanics

Probably my absolute favorite foreshadowing of Daan's transformations are the parallels in game mechanics and combat skills between him and Pocketcat. While Daan is a healer, primarily meant more for magic and healing than combat, his most well known and powerful skill involves amputation (magna medicinal). Pocketcat's main attack is a dismemberment attack targeting a limb of choice, mirroring not just the amputation, but also Daan's ability to choose which limb he's sacrificing.

Additionally, Daan's healing and loving whispers ability works through him whispering comforting (and possibly sexual) things to another party member to heal them. Pocketcat's B attack is a version of healing and loving whispers which harms the recipient by saying offensive and perverted things to them.

11.) Game Mechanics Part II

In addition to their combat skills talked about above, a common (and I believe, intended) strategy for Daan's character points towards his possible future as a host for Pocketcat.

Because of his Magna-Medicinal ability, many players keep Daan alive for a period of time exclusively to use for reviving other characters. Basically, keeping him in the party and removing all his limbs via magna-medicinal to buy 4 extra lives for other characters.

I think this primarily serves as an example of Daan's core character and backstory, where he has been taken advantage of, abused, and used as a sacrifice his whole life, however I also think this hints at his transformation.

Based on our tentative understanding of how Pocketcat works, he takes human men's bodies as hosts and inhabits their bodies to keep himself immortal. Daan's mechanics encouraging you to essentially do the same to him point towards why he is eventually willing to allow Pocketcat to do the same to him.

---

Those are all the ones that I can think off off the top of my head, but if I remember more, I'll add them. ^^;;; I wrote this all at 3am so im sorry if some if it makes no sense

[maddieandangel]

Given the new Chapter 3/4 dialogue sneak peeks we got from the latest UTDR newsletter, I wanted to bring back this snippet of an old post from one of my other blogs:

Those lines REALLY give me hope that we'll actually be getting some sort of "Rouxls and Queen show up to Cause Problems On Purpose for the Fun Gang in the name of Comedy" scenario!! Or at least Rouxls and somebody, since Queen hasn't actually been confirmed to show up outside of Castle Town. I don't know what the E's mean at the start of each line (..."expression", maybe??), but Rouxls' "We're just hereth for the Snackse" and Lancer's "Oh-ho! You want some treats of the trade?" seem like they could be connected! They've both got that food theme, at least. So maybe Rouxls and Lancer team up for a silly fight? Father-son bonding in the form of being a mostly-harmless obstacle together asgsdgf <3. Or Lancer could help you fight Rouxls in some way possibly.

I'm more inclined to assume that this scene happens sometime in Chapter 3, rather than Chapter 4? Since both Rouxls and Lancer are still in Kris' inventory at the end of Chapter 2, and Chapter 3 will most likely begin with everyone already inside the new Dark World. So the two cards are basically guaranteed to make an appearance there! And also Toby seems to imply that, when the newsletter was being written, Chapter 4's localization process hadn't quite started yet. But there's nothing to say that they won't continue to stay in Kris' pocket for further Chapters despite the dangers of being statue-ified. I sure hope they'll be in every chapter, at least!

This scene happening in Castle Town might also be an option, though! And I've seen someone else speculate that Ralsei's "get ready for another fight" line might point to some sort of boss/enemy rush, which is a thing you can do in Castle Town's Dojo! So possibly Rouxls crashes a dojo challenge?

Though as I read through the dialogue again, (while also assuming that the E's are for whatever expression sprite is shown alongside the text, and not any sort of indicator for the order or time the lines are said), I'm inclined to say that the scene does actually take place inside the new Dark World, during the main story's events and not a post-Chapter side thing. Seeing as Ralsei only mentions Kris, maybe the party gets split again and Susie's not with them at the time? And after getting through some unrelated fights (some generic enemy encounters? Or dealing with the Dark World's actual antagonist(s)?), Ralsei and Kris finally find Rouxls, perhaps after he had once again run off to do his own thing at the start of the Chapter. He's also with at least one other person; possibly Lancer, possibly Queen (highly unlikely if it's Chapter 3 but as a Queenkaard Enjoyer I can have hope lmao), possibly someone new who he just met in this Chapter. And Ralsei immediately assumes that Rouxls is gonna start another fight, since that's what he did last time. But nope! Ralsei is wrong! Rouxls is just in the area for some snacks. He's not interested in a battle. Maybe he understands now that the Fun Gang is stronger than he initially thought, and that he won't be able to defeat them in a fight. Maybe he's even on their side permanently now and has no reason to oppose them---he does seem to still be trying to serve Queen even after Chapter 3, after all, as seen in Queen's room in that Chapter 3 preview/status update back in 2022. Regardless, that Lancer line is a separate image, so it's possible that it's from an entirely different scene. But again, it's got that same food/snack theming to it, so it could also be part of the scene and just a couple lines after the Ralsei and Rouxls exchange! Lesser Dad and son bonding moments? Please? Maybe Lancer followed Rouxls out of Kris' pocket this time around and they've just been hanging out in the new Dark World together <3 dgshshf