#multiple specific phobias

[batmanshole]

i have two phobias and idk i dont see many people talking about phobias despite them being fairly common in my experience.

i have pyrophobia (fire) and turophobia (cheese)

also please dont be rude in the notes of this post ok?

[friezaglasiencold]

i wonder... do u have any specific dirt on a certain saiyan prince? u must have at least enough petty knowledge on him to make a banger top 10 video if u so chose to

Why, thank you for the opportunity to divulge…

-Snores. Loudly. I’ve received complaints.

-2 hour haircare routine.

-On multiple occasions has gotten his tail stuck in an automatic door and jumped so high as to leave a dent in the ceiling.

-Unsanitary uniform practices. Smells vaguely of mustard.

-Talks to himself frequently. Forgets to turn off scouter while doing so.

-Lost arm wrestling match with Cui. Never lived it down. Apparently it’s still a sore spot, though I’ve not had the chance to check.

-Afraid of worms. Also anything resembling worms. Origin of phobia unknown but hilarious to exploit.

-Four inches.

[ggyweek2024]

GGY Fanweek 2024

Hello Gregory/GGY fans!! March 7th is coming up next month, aka the original release date of the TFTP book GGY, and it will be its FIRST anniversary!!

to celebrate, I (@puhpandas) am hosting a GGY Fanweek! Heres some more info below:

The week will take place from March 1st to March 7th

This prompt list above has two word prompts, and an AU prompt for each day in the week. there are not three prompts each day unless you want there to be, theres just multiple options!

for each prompt, you can use your art medium to create something centered around that prompt. the usual is art/fanfiction, but other mediums are welcome!

each prompt is very widespread and can be anything you want it to be. its up to you to come up with something cool! All characters other than GGY are welcome. The only must have for each prompt is that it includes GGY somehow. whether it be past, present or future.

dont be a freak. no NSFW allowed along with the usual weird stuff. it will not be reblogged on this account and shared if so. if your work includes anything extreme like gore or certain phobias, please tag accordingly!

This prompt list was released as early as it was to give every participant enough time to preemptively create for each day.

All 7 days are NOT required to participate. you could only create for 1 day and it'd be just fine. this is for fun!

when each day arrives, post your work on tumblr and tag this account and tag #ggy fanweek 2024. its totally allowed to share your work elsewhere as well!

You are not to post your work until the week arrives, and you only post your work on its respective day. (example: day 5's prompt only when it is day 5 of the week)

Each work will be reblogged on this account so it will all be in one place! like an archive

when the week arrives and you post your work, PLEASE tag this account! i need to be tagged so i can reblog your work here!

For any fic writers, if you post your work on ao3 (not required), it would be awesome if you added your fic to the GGY Fanweek ao3 collection

Have fun!! this entire event is all just to have a good time, so please no stress! create whatever you want to in your own time, no matter how much or little. this is to celebrate GGY/Gregory, so let all your passion loose here!!

edit since ive seen some people confused about the AU prompts: the AU prompts are not for an already existing/established AU by me or someone else. its a 3rd option if the word prompts dont interest you, but im also just giving you a scenario to place the characters of your liking into. even if youve never seen an example of the AUs before, theyre pretty self explanatory in their names!

another edit: for archive reasons, I'll be tagging every reblog of every week contribution with tags that apply. for example, I'll be tagging which day the post is for and which prompt they chose. I'll also be tagging every character involved in the work.

so if you ever want to navigate the blog and find works for a specific day or prompt, this is how! in the search bar type a characters name and it should show you everything applying to them! this also works for specific days and prompts!

[gabrielsbubblegumbitch]

Please, elaborate more on these Hazbin Hotel headcanons. I’m very interested in hearing about them.

I would like to preface all my posts on headcanons related to psychology and mental illness with a disclaimer: diagnosing mental conditions, especially personality disorders, can be extremely challenging. It's a complicated process that relies heavily on a psychologist's interpretation of facts, making it susceptible to biases. Personality disorders cannot be diagnosed based on surface-level observations and are not just labels that we can assign to people like in the case of MBTI. Additionally, I am not a clinician with any expertise in diagnosing people. Therefore, the following post should not be taken as a reliable professional opinion. It's simply my interpretation of the internal mechanisms that may be responsible for the behavior of certain characters in my fan fiction. Furthermore, I want to make it clear that I have no intention of stigmatizing people with personality disorders by associating them with villains. A personality disorder does not determine someone's character or make them a bad person. Some characters may be evil because of the choices they make, not as a result of their mental conditions.

Since you didn't ask about anything specific, I'll just give some headcanons on Vs since I think about them the most.

> Vs are not a polycule, it's VoxVal + Velvette because she would never touch any of these losers. What's more, Vox and Val are extremely sexist (I mean it's kinda canon, we heard how they speak about women) so if she had sex with any (or both) of them, she would no longer be one of the boys and become one of the bitches.

> Vox has NPD, Val has BPD, Vel has APD.

> Vox is continuously overstimulated because he's constantly connected to his web. That's why snaps so easily and sometimes goes through 5 stages of grief in 5 seconds. He could disconnect (and sometimes he does) but he's too much of a control freak to not lurk constantly.

> During his life on earth, Valentino had a terrible, toxic father. Very much machismo who abused him relentlessly for being queer. (Not that I want to make him sympathetic, I just think that evil people are often miserable before they become evil.) Because Val is very queer, not just "man occasionally fucking other men", he's always been loud and proud pansexual and gender non-conforming. He wasn't some kind of activist, very concerned about queer issues, he just refused to stay in the closet out of spite, and because it made men around him uncomfortable. He just enjoyed being perceived as a deviant. It was one of the things that eventually got him killed.

> Vox is like a hardcore sadist. He cuts people open just to feel powerful.

> During his life on Earth, Vox used to be extremely homophobic because his bisexuality was threatening to his masculinity. He's also the embodiment of toxic white masculinity from the 50's. He actually did some personal growth in Hell, eg. He gave up racism, homophobia, transphobia, and most other -phobias, and now he despites everyone rather equally. He just bullies women more because misogynistic violence is a low-hanging fruit.

> So with Velvette I had some fun because she manifested in Hell not so long ago and happened to be as powerful as other Vs, who had much more experience and souls collected. So I assumed she must be completely deranged. I came up with the idea that she used to be a toxic influencer who built a cult-like following around her. She weaponized it against multiple people, ruining lives, and manipulating kids into committing crimes or even suicides. Her methods are very fine, Vox and Val have nothing on her when it comes to cruelty.

> Velvette is not misogynistic per se but she despises weak women who can't fight for themselves. That's why other Vs behavior don't bother her, she doesn't feel threatened by their aggression.

> Angel Dust has BPD and an eating disorder. That's why he fell for Valentino so terribly, to trust him with his soul. He used to think that Valentino is the only person fucked up enough to truly love him as damaged as he'd been. (More hc about Val and Angel here). Actually Val has a very similar backstory to him - a queer, gender non-conforming man in a very masculine environment (I'm not sure how canonic is Angel working for the Italian Mafia at this point but I stick to it until proven otherwise).

Other headcanos about Vox and Val ❤️🩵

[somekindofsentience]

spiders, or how to fix half of omori's plot with one symbol

i think i can fix omori. well, some of it.

This will be an attempt to prove that a key symbol related to Mari is a spider/bug, and how making this more obvious to the player would have fixed half the narrative.

Mari is closely associated with bugs and spiders in several scenes, but I believe the photos in the real world and Headspace demonstrate this most explicitly.

This photo is one of few direct redraws from the real world in Headspace, and it identifies Mari as a character unafraid, even fascinated, by bugs, which is one of very few character traits she's actually given. This is repeated multiple times as we explore Headspace, where Mari comforts Sunny and Hero about their fear of spiders, takes the group bug-hunting in the real world, and previously put bugs in Hero's desk. It's notable that the reframing of this photo specifically puts a spider in Omori's hand, further linking the girl to bugs in his mind.

Within Headspace, spiders are shown to be far more present than the other two phobias present. We see it in Daddy Long Legs, the ominous nature of Pyrefly forest, the Spider Area, the references to the creatures from Hero, Mari and Basil, and much more - it's clear that the creators wanted this symbol to be present, but overwhelmed it with subtlety, making it impossible to actually understand, and leaving it in the dust in favour of following other threads. The narrative fails to distinguish the Arachnophobia boss, and loses its the relationship between Mari and spiders/bugs.

There are several benefits to making this metaphor more deliberate to the player, by enhancing the relationship through jumpscares, making it important to the Truth/Final Boss segments, or even just distinguishing Arachnophobia from the other bosses. I've decided to organise them into a list since there's so many.

Cohesive narrative interactions between the Phobias and the recital day: I'm always talking about how the juxtaposition between these two events is so subtle that people miss the point. Singling out the importance of Arachnophobia would highlight these two events and bring them to the forefront, making the Final Duet more cohesive.

The Phobia bosses become relevant: If the game is able to properly integrate Arachnophobia into the truth segment, this provides so much more purpose to the Phobia bosses, who often feel like just game mechanics to teach you how fighting against hallucinations functions.

Intriguing moral exploration: I think the idea of the subtlety of conveying Mari as a bug portrays her insignificance - Sunny was able to just kill her, as though she were just a spider to be swatted. It furthers an interesting understanding of morality in the text, talking about the prioritisation of life, leaving more of an impact on the audience. Are humans really as fickle as that?

Hero's character: Connecting Mari to a spider not only allows for more theory and AU creation, but actually mimics Hero's actions in the real world. Only two characters are afraid of spiders - and only those two characters have not visited Mari's grave since it was dug, which mirrors (but fails to highlight) Sunny and Hero's character arcs. In a similar way, Mari and Basil's love for bugs could also mirror some sort of decline.

The relevance of Daddy Long Legs and spider-related Black Space areas: Spiders are regularly referenced in Headspace and Black Space, with a whole room of Black Space surrounding them, but there's never any lucid reason why they're so prominent compared to the other phobias. Making a clear connection to the truth would clear up this confusion.

Basil's Something and Headspace Basil's dialogue: Basil's Something is deliberately abstract, but it is never defined further than its presentation. Not only would it properly link the Spider Area to the reality of the truth, but it would potentially connect Basil's Something to it, too.

Just plain easy to add: Much of Omori's story, characterisation and pacing is very difficult to improve without hours of effort. Being able to cohesively connect elements of the narrative with one symbol is much more realistic.

song i listened to while writing this:

this song is literally the reason i came to this realisation, the themes of environmental preservation were essential dskjhjdsgdjhsgjhkdg shout out to me rediscovering this after years and years

[ziploc849]

Ok so I have a lot of thoughts about one particular thing and it might be nothing but I’m getting more and more convinced that it’s something, so here ya go

There’s a through line (or multiple, depending on how you slice it) I’ve noticed in not all the episodes, but a lot of them. There’s this running theme of fear, in a lot of different ways. And for a long time I thought it was just a result of this being, yknow, a horror podcast, but some of the things on Gertrude’s shopping list are giving me second thoughts.

First there’s the actual feeling of fear. Again I know, oh wow horror podcast scary. But I don’t just mean for us as the listeners, I mean for the characters themselves. Jane Prentiss mentions in her statement many times that she is scared, and she’s supposed to be the monster under the bed of sorts. I’m pretty sure even Jon comments on it. Jon says in season 1 he keeps up the idea of him being a skeptic because he is afraid, and if he pretends they’re nothing then they aren’t real. I’m sure there are more examples, but even beyond just the content of the statements, the characters themselves are afraid and it seems to be in the very real, dread at the bottom of your stomach kind of way.

There’s also the actual sort of. Concept of fear itself. Not the feeling but the thing you think of when you read the word fear. Like phobias. The vast majority of episodes have these links to very common phobias. Fear of the dark, of enclosed spaces, of endlessness/infinity, of bugs, of death. Hell episodes like Anatomy Class and the stuff with Michael could even be related to the idea of Uncanny Valley, these things that are people but a bit to the left. I had noticed this awhile ago, but just assumed it was taking inspiration. Of course a horror podcast would involve common phobias. But episode 66, with Gertrude’s shopping list, sort of solidified it for me as more than just inspiration, in some way I’m not fully sure of yet. She was buying pesticides, and an exorbitant amount of flashlights. Things to kill bugs and keep the darkness at bay. I’m not entirely sure what the gas and lighter fluid could be related to, but the latter at least could have something to do with the weird sourceless heat that seems to keep coming up.

Like I said, there are some things that don’t fit this. Specifically episodes related to individual people or groups. Piecemeal comes to mind, since other than the fact that Salesa is mentioned the act of a person being dismembered piece by piece from a curse put on them by a nice old lady doesn’t ring any bells with any fears I can think of. Or a father’s love. Clearly horrifying, but other than the lights flickering off (and iirc, not enough to cause complete darkness) they don’t really fit that bill. But going down the list of episodes I’ve watched, a lot do.

This could be nothing. This could be something. But yall seem to like my theories whether they’re crack or not, so I hope you like this one lol

[elysiansparadise]

Can you talk about pluto in the 6th house

Pluto in the 6th house

These natives have perfectionist tendencies, it is likely that in their past they have been judged for having made a mistake or not having done something well enough. They are demanding of themselves, and their keen eye for detail is often used more often on themselves. They put all their energy and attention into the task at hand and always try to do an outstanding job. They can be high-strung and lack optimism, so they feel like they always have to be alert or ready for whatever comes their way. Thinking about the future causes them great anxiety but they never allow themselves to be nervous or insecure in front of other people. They like to have total control of their actions, which is why they often clash with people who are demanding, possessive, or who limit their personal and creative freedom. They have an excellent mind for strategy and have unmatched organisational skills, they have an excellent work ethic that stands out for loyalty, efficiency and responsibility. Many of them fear making mistakes or failure in any of its forms. Many of these natives feel tormented by uncertainty or not knowing what is going to happen. If the Sun, Moon or Mercury is badly aspected, it is likely that the native gives the impression of wanting to have everything under control.

They are very careful about their personal hygiene, they can be very neat and demanding when it comes to cleaning the place where they spend the most time. Change, especially one that is very abrupt, can cause them some discomfort, since many of them find it difficult to adapt to new things [especially if they lack Mutable placements]. They are people who have wounds related to trust and feeling intimate with someone, surprisingly they tend to help others to heal these same wounds, since they have a stable personality, understanding and above all, very loyal. These people are very devoted in all areas of their lives, but particularly at work. Some of these natives may work as psychologists, psychiatrists, doctors, in the business sector, in any position of power, accountants or a job that requires researching, obtaining or organising information. Something that usually occurs with this placement is that the native can quickly climb in their work environment, becoming highly respected, admired or even feared for their position and abilities. They tend to attract envious people in the work area or people with whom there may be a certain power struggle / excessive competitiveness.

These people may have problems accepting their body image and losing weight may be something extreme, or they lose it very easily or it is very difficult for them. They do not usually have a large appetite and may frequently skip meals. These people tend to work a lot or push themselves a lot, some can border on workaholic [enhanced if it's making hard aspects with Saturn, Mars or MC ruler], rone to stress and are likely to have multiple burnouts due to the enormous amount of overexertion. They do not like to ask for help or it can be very difficult for them. They can deeply dislike criticism. These people are very interested in self-knowledge, they know themselves very precisely and, just like with themselves, they seek to really and deeply know the people who mean the most to them. They are not superficial, nor false in any way, they always like to be authentic and firm before what they consider correct or true. In case of having pets, they always try to take good care of them, so that they do not lack anything and many of them can be very attached to them. With Pluto here, it is likely that they experience a phobia of a specific animal [arachnophobia, musophobia, cynophobia, entomophobia, apiphobia, etc.], this may be something they experience as children or something from a bad experience. These people are very protective of pets and may have a dream or desire to help as many animals as they can. They do not tolerate any kind of negligence.

-> Go back to the masterlist

[hazbinsponsoredbyvee]

Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel!

Welcome to the ask blog for the Hazbin Hotel, featuring all of the residents, along with their newest sponsors - the Vees! They're here to answer all of your questions, and might occasionally reblog things they like. Vox runs the website and handles most things around here, but the others are here too. Also me - hi, you can call me Mel (she/her), liaison between the hotel and the Vees. But I'll mostly let the others do the talking.

So, send in an ask! You can request to talk to someone specific, or someone (or multiple people) will reply at random. As I said, you can expect to see Vox the most, but Lucifer, Alastor, Charlie, Angel Dust, and Husk are all decently active here. The others might pop in on occasion.

THINGS TO KNOW

This blog is set not long after Season 1 of Hazbin Hotel. It is canon-divergent in that anything that happens in canon after this blog was established is not canon to the blog, unless I choose to make it so. The blog has its own lore, and all asks exist within the same continuity. All major story arcs are tagged on the navigation page to easily keep track of plot developments.

Here you can find the rules for how the universe of this blog works. You'll see here that you can do things such as lock characters in a room together, but I request that at least one of the major characters on this blog be involved in these kinds of situations.

NSFW themes are allowed, but I'm unlikely to get graphic with anything. 

Due to the nature of this, this is an 18+ blog - MINORS DNI. This is for everyone’s protection - these characters will say inappropriate things when responding to asks, so I can’t risk a minor being on the receiving end of such things. If I find out a minor is sending in asks, you will be blocked.

OCs are welcome to interact, but please no children and no one who's related to/has history with one of the characters.

Canon characters sending in asks will be treated as though they're from a different universe, since this blog has its own lore for the characters that other portrayals of the character might not fit.

RP is done through asks, not reblogs.

If you send a link, please include a brief description of what the link is to. (It can be as simple as 'an edit of Lucifer and Charlie'.) Also, NO LEAKS.

The majority of these characters aren't good people, so don't expect them to always be nice. (Similarly, just because a character says something doesn't mean I, the moderator, agree with it.)

I will answer most things via queue, which posts 5-10 times a day. There will also be exceptions, such as if the asks are connected to a current situation that’s happening, a limited time event/game, or you know, if I feel like it.

Be kind and respectful! Giving the characters a hard time is fine, but spreading hate to anyone who interacts with the blog is a blockable offense.

NAVIGATION

A navigation page can be found here, where you can find posts tagged by character and ship, as well as art, fics, and lore. This is also where you will find all of the story arcs in chronological order!

A list of all the animals and other characters present but not answering asks can be found here.

A timeline for the blog and its characters can be found here.

MODERATOR

Mel is my OC name that I go by here. She is a demon who works for Vox as a liason with the hotel, but I'll also talk about my normal life under that name. A few facts about me:

30

AuDHD

bi/ace

Married

2 Cats, 1 Dog

CST time zone

Also, here is where you can find my triggers/phobias, if you could pretty please avoid sending in anything involving them - thanks! And here are my opinions on all the characters.

Personal Blog -> @hyperthusiast AO3 -> songofhell Leave a Tip -> Ko-Fi

[dragon-central]

im seeing a LOT of people say this specific breed triggers their insect phobia and I must ask what it is about it. because to me this thing is like, barely bug at all in base form.

Like it has multiple legs, yes, but those legs are clearly reptile/mammal inspired, just like all other FR breeds. The wings are not insectoid. the body is BARELY sectioned off and there aren't any exoskeleton parts. the tail is gecko. the mouth has no mandibles. theres antenna but lots of breed have those and the males look like they have imp whiskers basically. the horn is just a rhino/generic fantasy nose horn. they have 2 cat eyes.

is it just the terts and leg count or is there somethin else im missing??? do aethers also set that off?

i genuinely am interested in others opinions on this because im confused at the powerful reaction it is garnering.

[mewos-laptop]

Pspsps hey we have a RLLY FUCKING HARD TIME remembering trigger tags, esp if folks have multiple, so we're gonna try to have broad trigger tags for general stuff (suggestive humor, s/a, animal death, sui mention, phobias, food etc etc), so please do block those tags if you're uncomfortable with that content !!! /srs

Obv there's nothing wrong w having very specific triggers, or wanting those to be tagged, but we *cannot remember every single one*, which is why we try to broadly tag triggers when we can. We 100% understand and respect wanting a warning before certain content, but that's why we broadly tag stuff !! /gen, nbr, not vaguing

We have pretty shit memory issues, and are usually in a state of absentmindedness when browsing Tumblr, so this is an accommodation we're making for ourselves. Please respect that /gen, nbr

Tagging moots for reach

@boyswillbedogz @the-crystal-femmes @yellow-computer-mouse @purple-space-aliens @dysfunctionaldogdude @starfilled-galaxy @kito-kat I know that I'm missing like sixteen million ppl but again... shit memory lmao

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: the thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break, ch. 29

Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī & Wēn Qíng, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín & Jiāng Yànlí & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén & Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī

Characters: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Wēn Qíng, Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín, Granny Wēn, Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī, Wēn Remnants, , Fourth Uncle, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Original Characters, Niè Míngjué, Niè Huáisāng, Niè Zōnghuī, Jīn Zǐxuān

Additional Tags: Pre-Slash, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Secrets, Crying, Masks, Soulmates, Truth, Self-Esteem Issues, Regret, It was supposed to be a one-shot, Fix-It, Eventual Relationships, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, wwx needs a hug, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Filial Piety, Handfasting, Phobias, Sleeping Together, Fear, Panic Attacks, Love Confessions, Getting Together, First Kiss, Kissing, Boys Kissing, Family, and they were married, Bathing/Washing, Hair Braiding, Hair Brushing, Feels, Sex Education, Implied Sexual Content, First Time, Aftercare, Morning After, Afterglow, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Torture, Scars, Eventual Happy Ending, Hand Jobs, Chronic Pain, Biting, Conversations, Self-Sacrifice, POV Third Person, POV Lan WangJi, Bugs & Insects, Adoption, Ancestors, Ancestor Veneration, Golden Core Reveal, Top Lan Wangji | Lan Zhan/Bottom Wei Wuxian | Wei Ying, First Time Blow Jobs, Multiple Orgasms, Switching, sex-related injury, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī Stays at the Burial Mounds, Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī is a Wèi, Good Sibling Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Dissociation, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Disability, Scheming Niè Huáisāng, Disabled Character, somnophilia

Summaries: Jiang Wanyin visits the Burial Mounds following the attack by the rogue cultivator.

Notes: See end of each chapter

AO3 link

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25-6 | 27 | 28

-------------

The response from Yunmeng is swift, with Jiang Cheng showing up personally with multiple disciples within days. During that time, Wei Qing didn’t go to Yiling, and the magistrate sent a messenger to the Burial Mounds to inquire her whereabouts; he came away with details of the Jin-sent attack, and apologies that they may not be able to return to Yiling for some time. 

Already ailing villagers have come to the base of the Burial Mounds, at least those desperate enough, and she treats them once they’re brought to the settlement by Wei Ying and Lan Wangji, sometimes with Wei Ning’s assistance. 

All of them seem stunned by what they see at the settlement: peaceful people simply farming, the laughter of children playing, and none of the rumors of the Yiling Laozu evident. The lotuses have sprouted, though it will take time for them to bloom, but so far the commoners are witnessing the truth of the yuefu. In truth, having patients come to them will enable positive rumors to spread, something Lan Wangji is certain will help. 

Children have continued to arrive as well, including two before Jiang Wanyin’s arrival. 

He first informs them he sent a letter to the Nie about Jin Guangshan’s move, then lets Wei Ying know he’ll take all the children who want to go and any adults they can evacuate as well. 

“I’d like to get you out of here, since they’re after you specifically,” he says to Wei Qing, adding, “and our brothers, of course.”

“I can’t leave until I figure out how to destroy the seal,” Wei Ying says regretfully. 

“And this idiot needs me to treat him,” Wei Qing demurs. 

Only the day before, they discovered that Wei Ying had resentful energy in his bones, concentrated around prior breaks—of which there were many because of his fall into the Burial Mounds. Wei Qing made him submit to an examination, and she cataloged the breaks and congratulated him on effectively binding them with resentful energy while they healed. 

“None of them healed poorly enough to require rebreaking,” she told Wei Ying, who seemed relieved at the news. “Even your broken fingers, which is a bit surprising.”

Lan Wangji’s heart aches for the pain his zhiji has suffered. 

They will just need to figure out how to dispel the resentment, as Wei Qing believes it could be causing some pain. She shared with Lan Wangji that she hopes rebreaking won’t be necessary to clear the remnants of resentment, and he hopes Wei Ying can be denied that additional pain as well. 

They don’t tell Jiang Wanyin this information, as Wei Ying deserves some privacy, but Wei Qing gives him a list of additional ingredients she needs. 

“Wei Wuxian, you have a target on your back!” Jiang Wanyin spits, Zidian sparking at his emotions as they walk up the mountain toward the settlement. 

What Lan Wangji once would see as anger he can now tell is worry and a desire to protect Wei Ying, one he can appreciate in its intent. If not the method.  

“What I have is a yuefu sending kids and sometimes battered wives here,” Wei Ying retorts. “That target has been on my back a while now, A-Cheng. I’m used to it.”

Jiang Wanyin deflates, recognizing the truth in his words—Wei Ying has had a target on him since before the war, and has simply changed from one odious marksman to another, trading Wen Chao for Jin Guangshan. 

“I figured you’d end up staying, so I brought more supplies,” Jiang Wanyin mutters, handing Wei Ying a qiankun pouch filled with kid-sized disciple uniforms. “I’m leaving more disciples to help you, too.”

“Jiang-shushu!” A-Yuan shrieks as he catches sight of him, dragging A-Zhi behind him. “A-Zhi, this is Jiang-shushu. We have a lot of uncles. A-Zhi is my new brother, Jiang-shushu!”

A-Zhi grabs the leg A-Yuan hasn’t and looks up at him intently. At Jiang Wanyin’s questioning look, Wei Ying shrugs. 

“A-Zhi asked if we would be his baba and die, too, and so he is your new nephew. He is the first one who came to the Burial Mounds,” Lan Wangji supplies. 

“He’s the bravest,” Wei Ying says, patting the boy’s head. “None of the other kids asked, at least not yet. Some of them found family already here.”

“Then we’ll move family together,” Jiang Wanyin says after taking a moment to consider that information, picking his nephews up in the silence, to their delight. “Yes, I’m Jiang-shushu. Did anyone wish to take the Jiang name?”

Wei Ying bites his lip, and Lan Wangji shakes his head to respond for him. 

“We asked which they wished to become and they wanted to take Wei like the rest here,” he explains. 

Jiang Wanyin nods, apparently unbothered, and carries the children away, telling them of the toys he brought for them. He seems to have assumed A-Zhi will stay with them in the Burial Mounds, something not discussed but likely.

”Huh. I worried he’d be offended,” Wei Ying says, watching his brother approach Wei Qing. “I’m glad he’s not.”

They were raised, Lan Wangji knows, to be unhealthily competitive, something that has marred their relationship. He hopes this is a good sign. 

Wei Ying passes out the disciple uniforms to the various children, calling them to queue up for them. Once he has them sorted out, he encourages them to “go meet Jiang-shushu,” giggling to himself. 

“He won’t admit it, but he’ll love the kids mobbing him,” he tells Lan Wangji, smiling brightly. 

Min Cenxi makes her way over, shaking her head at his antics. 

“Da-shixiong, you’re incorrigible,” she says. 

They watch as Jiang Wanyin passes out candy to the kids, prepared in a way that Lan Wangji wouldn’t have expected of him. Wei Ying seems unsurprised, and he subtly tugs on Lan Wangji’s sleeve and points surreptitiously at Wei Qing, who is watching Jiang Wanyin with a blush across her cheeks. 

He imagines if he saw such a scene with Wei Ying in the midst of children, giving out candy, and he feels his ears heat as his body reacts to the image, and he understands Wei Qing. 

The children, who now have new clothing and candy, eventually disperse to dress, and Wei Yating, the runaway wife, approaches Wei Ying, having changed into a dress in Yunmeng Jiang colors, the fabric high-quality. She seems overwhelmed, fingering the sleeve of her dress in a stunned way. 

“Gongzi, we’re really going to Yunmeng? We’ll be safe from my husband there?”

Min Cenxi fields her, reassuring her that she and her children will be protected at Lotus Pier, that she needn’t worry, and the young woman returns to her children satisfied with the answer. 

“The yuefu has truly worked,” she tells him, her voice elated. “So many children will bring life to Lotus Pier. Did you plant them here, or will you make them lotus babies?”

Wei Ying laughs brightly, and shakes his head. 

“No, not yet—I think I’ll make A-Zhi a radish baby like A-Yuan, but the others will be happy lotus babies.”

“Could make them lotus babies here, as well,” Lan Wangji says, looking toward the lotus pond.

“Not with this batch, in their new clothes. A-Cheng would kill me.”

“I can handle them, Da-shixiong,” Min Cenxi says, giggling. “You can get the next ones. I already planted A-Mei while she was learning how to swim.”

“I bet she was thrilled,” Wei Ying says with a snort. “She seemed to have an aversion to dirt. When we dug the lotus pond she watched us like we were crazy.”

“If looks could kill!”

She tells them about A-Mei’s adaptation to Lotus Pier, which is going ’swimmingly’ (pun intended), and shares how having an adult close to her while she experiences the new environment has been a benefit.

“She’s a bit young for the disciple dormitory yet, so she’s housed with Qiuyue-ayi. She asked after you.”

“Ah, you can tell A-Mei her Xian-gege is just fine,” Wei Ying says, his smile wide. “She needs to focus on settling in well.”

Min Cenxi grins back. 

“I think we’re spending the night and leaving in the morning, excepting those disciples who’ll be stationed here,” she tells them. “Zongzhu didn’t know there’d be so many kids—I think you impressed him.”

“Every time I impress him it gives him more work, so I’m not sure he’s happy about it,” Wei Ying says with a laugh. 

“You’re giving me a new generation of disciples, so I’m fine with it,” Jiang Wanyin breaks in, waddling up to them with A-Yuan and A-Zhi clinging to his legs and giggling. “Though it’ll be a challenge to get them all this trip. We certainly don’t want to drop any in flight.”

“If you have to return for the others, you know you’re welcome,” Wei Qing says. “Or rent carriages from Yiling.”

“Too obvious,” Jiang Wanyin says. “That much movement from Yiling to Yunmeng won’t go unnoticed.”

Wei Qing scoffs. 

“We have allies now, and Jin Guangshan has put a price on our heads. Obvious doesn’t matter anymore. Getting everyone to safety efficiently does. Wei Wuxian needs to focus on finding a way to destroy the seal so we can retreat to Lotus Pier,” she argues. 

“It’s not like the Burial Mounds can’t be defended—there’s undead aplenty here,” Wei Ying says. “I just… With the kids in the mix, it’s a bit dicey. I can’t just raise corpse guards and scare them off.”

Jiang Wanyin looks at him like he’s grown a second head.

“No corpse guards, Wei Wuxian! We’re trying to repair your image, not make it worse.”

“Wei Ying is aware,” Lan Wangji interjects, holding his arms out for A-Yuan and A-Zhi, who immediately abandon Jiang Wanyin’s legs in favor of their baba. 

Lan Wangji isn’t smug, and does not feel anything at the sect leader’s obvious disappointment. The boys clamor about their toys and candy, and he pats both of them on their heads. 

“We must still think of other ways to defend the Burial Mounds from attack, now that rogue cultivators may do so.”

For now, they are handling it by not leaving the Burial Mounds, something possible now that they have ample supplies, but Lan Wangji knows Wei Ying worries about the wards and the possible need for defense against intruders. 

“That’s why I’m leaving more disciples here,” Jiang Wanyin says, his voice brusque. “To defend the settlement.”

“I know, A-Cheng,” Wei Ying says, clearly trying to calm his brother. “I appreciate it.”

Jiang Wanyin reddens a bit, looking startled, as though he didn’t expect to be thanked. 

“Yes, well… I’m not about to let Jin Guangshan’s bullshit hurt my brother.”

Wei Ning announces the midday meal is ready and the distraction of cheering kids heading for the main hall in barely-contained fast walks—Lan Wangji’s impact; he’d assured each child that they would eat, but stressed the importance of safety and how running could harm themselves or others—ends the conversation for the moment. 

He is pleased when Jiang Wanyin sits with Wei Qing, who leads him to a table and surreptitiously waves for them to sit elsewhere, giving Wei Ying a short break from his brother’s acerbic brand of caring. Min Cenxi sits with them, as do their sons and Popo, and they all take turns putting more food in Wei Ying’s bowl until he’s laughingly accusing them of bullying.  

Just as lunch finishes, Wei Ying tells them they have visitors at the foot of the mounds, having felt them at the wards. Wei Qing decides to accompany them, as does Jiang Wanyin. Lan Wangji walks with them, Wei Ning, and Wei Ying, wondering whether ailing patients or needy children will be waiting. 

Instead, the sight that greets them is that of a rogue cultivator holding a young child captive, his sword at her throat. The poor girl is sobbing, terrified, and the cultivator is hissing at her to shut up, clearly anxious himself—and he should be, going against Wei Ying, but that sort of disposition can be disastrous. An older boy is cowering nearby, pleading for the man not to harm his sister. 

The girl is wailing, “Guiying, Guiying-gege!”

It is a recipe for chaos, and a child could die. A situation out of their control. 

“Wei Wuxian,” the cultivator says, looking directly at Wei Ying. “I remember you from the war. Nothing personal, but you’d best surrender if you want the girl to live.”

Wei Ying holds his hands up in a placating way. 

“Ah, you have me at a disadvantage, Gongzi,” he says, taking a measured step toward the barrier afforded by the ward. 

Lan Wangji can’t stop himself from reaching forward and gripping the back of his robe, stopping him.

”Lan Zhan, let me go,” Wei Ying whispers, and he can’t uncurl his fingers. 

A man who holds a child hostage won’t hesitate to kill Wei Ying. He can see his husband, dead at this cultivator’s hands, his blood staining the ground at his feet. Another door, shut forever. 

He won’t let Wei Ying sacrifice himself like this. He can’t. 

He doesn’t have to, as several things happen at once, seeming to occur in slow motion. Wei Qing moves suddenly and needles appear in the man’s neck. The rogue cultivator drops the sword, and in the next moment Jiang Wanyin pulls the child from his clutches as he falls. 

“I’ve got you, kid,” he murmurs, his voice ringing unnaturally in Lan Wangji’s ears. “It’s okay.”

He lets her cling to him, bawling, and beckons the older boy to come closer. 

“A-Fang, A-Fang,” the boy says as he hurries to them. “You’re safe, you’re safe!”

Without waiting for instruction, Wei Ning pulls the unconscious cultivator onto his back and disappears in the direction of the settlement. 

Lan Wangji pulls Wei Ying close, holding him tightly, beyond words. He feels dazed. 

“I wasn’t going to surrender, Lan Zhan,” he murmurs. “I was trying to distract him.”

“Good,” Wei Qing says, her voice hoarse. “Idiot. You can depend on us to have your back. We’ll handle the kids. You two go back to the settlement.”

She can see how much this has shaken him, Lan Wangji knows, and he appreciates her perception. He can trust they will handle the children and the rogue cultivator, and he finds he doesn’t even care if they decide to kill the man for his transgressions. 

He might even prefer it. 

Wei Ying first must let the children through the wards, and Lan Wangji must go with, unable to let go. When Wei Ying turns to him, whatever he sees makes him take both his hands in his and lead him toward the settlement. 

“I promise, Lan Zhan. I won’t put myself at risk. I swear it.”

It doesn’t matter; Wei Ying is at risk, too selfless for this world, too righteous. And now with a price on his head and people after him willing to harm innocents to get to him. 

Lan Wangji still cannot find words when they arrive at the cave, when Wei Ying sends A-Yuan and A-Zhi to Popo, when they reach their alcove. 

But there he can find action, and as soon as the blanket curtain is drawn shut, he does, crushing Wei Ying into the wall with his weight, kissing away his nonsensical words of apology. 

He needs desperately to feel him, and he scrabbles at the ties of his robes to get them off him before yanking at his own, allowing Wei Ying to help him shed them, letting them fall to the ground without a care. Their hands tangle as they pull off their zhong yi. 

Then he falls back onto his husband and bites at his shoulder, relishing in the way he lets out an erotic punched out ‘ah!’ and arches against him, their cocks sliding together. He has enough patience left to prepare him, and then he loses himself to passion, to fear, to need. To the need to show Wei Ying his worth, to make him set aside his selflessness for him. 

Later, they will need to talk. For now, Lan Wangji allows his body to talk for him. 

——————

Lan Wangji just had a sort of trauma response, whoops. Who can blame him, under the circumstances? It’s not really Wei Wuxian’s fault, and Lan Wangji knows it. He just can’t help how he feels here. 

I’ve finally been officially diagnosed with multisystem long COVID, which is key to getting treatment and potentially disability. Yay? It’s an answer. I’ve been waiting for one since 2022. 

桂英, guìyīng, means laurel/cassia/cinnamon and flower/petal/brave/hero. 芳, fāng, means fragrant/virtuous/beautiful. 

baba = dad 

da-shixiong = first martial brother 

die/a-die = dad

gege = older brother 

gongzi = young master

shushu = uncle

yuefu = a style of narrative poetry that basically borrows from Chinese folk song traditions—the Ballad of Mulan is an example

zhiji = lifelong confidant

zhong yi = trousers and shirt that act as underwear 

zongzhu = sect leader 

[spiders-notagain]

Misc Headcanons

[Stuff I don't know how to make its own post]

legendary lost city buried under the sand somewhere; minecraft buried cities style

cliff cities- used to be a big fortress now just used for daily living

mostly specific monasteries

extremely good water recycling system- technology to make water out of hydrogen and oxygen in the air

if breakfasts are things that are easy to obtain then plomeek must be obtained regularly (e.g. grown throughout the year, incredibly hardy plants)

valley cities- alderaan style

shikahr historically very good land, less earthquakes and harsh conditions

large areas of the planet irradiated by radiation and theres not much they can do about it, no ones allowed to go there without special protection

some areas that are civilized have been ruined by their ancestors and are only just starting to restore its natural state

no birthdays but some places have a quincenera coming of age equivalent * sometimes in addition to the kahs-wan and taloth trials

Vulcans are pretty direct and so an acceptable form of making friends (although its really more like conversation partners) is to go up to a person and tell them that you share an interest and would like to talk about it. This is no guarantee youll ever interact again though.

Vulcan has a lot of jobs that are restricted to native citizens

Need mental contact to survive as babies the same way humans require touch

Tight knit families heralding from olden days. Almost mafia like in its web of connections. Additionally, alliances with certain clans meant status and power.

Alot of infighting between clans in the earlier days also

Similar to Ant colonies underground

Buildings have sections above and below ground

Above ground, buildings protected from sandstorms. Few windows, more doors. The less open to the elements the better.

Sehlats were tamed more recently than dogs, usually they would offer protection to the vulcans in exchange for food

Black and brown hair extremely common, genes for blond or red hair extremely rare

Early books made out of leather and a cotton-like fiber

later books made out of stone paper

Water very rare, lots of it is a sign of wealth.

Given the newness of logic, theyre not very good at it and struggle to apply it in day to day life. Additionally theyre good at lying to themselves about what emotion they may or may not have

Multiple different sects bc everyone has a different opinion on whats logical

Some are better adjusted than others because some try their absolute best to

Very preppy- high ego, strong social classes, pretentious, hide any faults, care alot about their reputation, fear being ostracized in their own community, many social rules

vulcans generally prefer to keep humans away from their sehlats because humans try to be overly affectionate with them and end up severely harmed

Vulcans get hit with winter depression even harder than other species but deal with it better. Their own ships are set up to have sun lamps all over the ship.

vulcans view mental illnesses with the same seriousness as physical ones.

not only can vulcans pass on mental disorders to their children but also strong phobias (and some philias) even those obtained through later trauma

typically mothers during pregnancy thought to occur during the mental bond

the prenatal mental bond can pass on memories as well but are typically suppressed till adulthood. its more of a folk wives tale thats corroborated enough that most people agree but technically had little proven evidence until recently

vulcans think murder by drowning is one of the worst most senseless murders ever

vulcans be like  🤓☝️well actually-

vulcan school systems dont have an above and beyond grade because the highest possible grade to get is by default you meeting the acceptable standards. that said, they do have extra awards given out for such behavior. although acceptable standards by vulcan standards is somewhat higher than is what is the case for human standards

vulcan kids still do the same 'kid logic' thing as humans because theyre trying to reason and understand the world using the logical reasoning skills being taught to them but they dont have enough information to make it accurate

Vulcan vegetables are bred to have a higher concentration of nutrients, a project that has been in development for the thousand some years since the awakening

passive cooling methods going back thousands of years; more advanced than human technologies

windcatcher like structures built to incorporate: the structure of the house, local weather, local geographical phenomena, etc.

heavily populated cities may have hybrid cooling systems that are integrated with modern technology to increase efficiency, this is less common in more rural areas where ppl are more likely to be 'if it aint broke dont fix it'. in most cases though they were so well designed that not much is needed aside from general maintenance

depending on the location, most vulcan homes are designed with the concept that a bedroom is exclusively for sleep and like wardrobe changing. you dont usually engage in hobby activities, doing those in a separate entertainment room or in the equivalent living room

like the rest of their society, vulcans incorporate more circles into their architectural designs than humans do and less squares than humans do

glass art is one of the oldest vulcan art forms. their planetary conditions work very well for it: lots of sand, high heat. and its an art that features alot of mathematically appealing shape language

ex. those curvy glass vases with the holes, floor mosaics with tinted glass, stained glass windows, suncatchers, etc.

in ancient times, betrothal jewelry (and other ceremonial purposes) were made partly with copper wire crafted from the blood of their enemies. some of these pieces (and spare wires) still exist. Vulcan clans that still practice this, obtain the blood ethically from dead animals (or in extremely rare occasions, consenting dead relatives)

STARSHIPS

Constructed so that every system is at max efficiency when used exactly perfectly how its meant to.

Its interlocking systems mean that it has millions of tiny unobtrusive glitches that can happen to the point where one can reasonably predict based on the type of glitch exactly what deeper system is failing and why

While it has normal passwords it mostly relies on each person to have their own special bioelectric pattern that is measured each time a user touches the console in order for them to input anything at all

They dont like outsiders on their ships as crew because they make tiny mistakes that while easily fixable, can mess up major systems

Sun lamps all over the ship as natural lighting, they gradually turn off according to the vulcan solar cycle and are replaced by a secondary lighting system that mimics candlelight. Although its kinda dark for humans its just fine for vulcans

Because of the size of their ships, they often have really large 'halls' that take up multiple decks and serve as visual space for the different wings connected to them

the vulcan warp rings compared to the human twin nacelles serve different attributes with the analogy being like a train versus a car. trains are faster but theyre also bulky, dont slow down well and arent designed to make quick on the spot diversions

[pan0pticonn]

Honestly I love that TMAGP isn’t sorting cases into smirke’s 14 anymore it’s like the best decision they’ve made, don’t get me wrong I absolutely adore TMA and find smirke’s 14 intriguing, like it definitely worked for TMA but archives and protocol are podcasts about our relationship to dread and fear and fear is MESSY and weird, you can’t really sort it into neat little boxes, which is sort of the point

Jon explained it a bit in TMA S5, sometimes fears overlap and get messy even in the TMA universe

Especially after TMAGP 18 it’s very clear that fear isn’t being sorted Into neat little boxes anymore, that woman’s fear wasn’t just one of the dread powers but multiple of them mushing together and creating one bit awful cocktail of dread, and it was still her biggest fear

TMA mostly touches upon specific phobias and fears that multiple people experience and sorts them into one of those 14 ( 15 if you count extinction ) categories ( for the most part ) which works well and was intriguing and interesting to listen to but protocol seems to focus more on the fact that fear is fucking weird and personal a bit more than archives did and I love that because without sorting fear into categories you can get even deeper into what fear is and how it’s not always perfectly understandable or neat

They really have the opportunity to expand on the fact that the dread powers aren’t 14 ( 15 ) different things but ONE BIG THING that is all that is fear and terror im and I’m very exited to see what protocol is gonna do with that

[radigalde]

Master post for fear stat counting in OKS

Personally, I went through multiple playthroughs of One Knight Stand, and somehow managed to fuck up the semi-hidden fear stat in most of them. It's rather annoying, since there are statchecks for your fear score as early as the club scenes in chapter 1. Therefore, I decided to make sort of a guide (more of a list) for all stat changes. Hope it will help you too.

Fear level on the stats screen:

0 (or less) - Fearless;

1-2 - Calm;

3-5 - Apprehensive;

6-8 - Nervous;

9-11 - Rattled;

12-14 - Spooked;

15-17 - Anxious;

18-20 - Alarmed;

21-23 - Disturbed;

24-26 - Frightened;

27-29 - Aghast;

30-32 - Terrified;

33-35 - Panic-stricken;

36-39 - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

THE STATCHECKS

Chapter 1:

Less than 10 for Pippa accident reactions in Polo route (most options have the second condition of vice or type of fear stats).

Less than 7 for somw options in Fencing Club route (but not in the accident itself).

Less than 13 for the hellhound attack (at first can be altered with greed vice or willpower score of 7 or higher; after Merlin appears, it can be altered with greed vice and willpower score higher than 13).

Less than 13 for staying in the corridor of the apartment building after hellhound attack (can be altered with willpower higher than 12).

Less than 13 to open balcony in your apartment during the hell breach.

Less than 17 to succesfully run away from beneath-the-bed-hydra. It has a lot of other conditions, probably going to make a guide for it later.

More than 7 for skip initial Merlin's loredump via having a nap or hysteria fit (also available with negative bold stat and phobias of fear, darkness or death).

Chapter 2:

Less than 13 to not freeze at the sight of the blob in gas station (can be altered with greed vice).

Important note: almost all options that allow you to lower the stat by pretending that nothing happens affect another stat - denial. It was hinted to be rather important for survival, therefore I'll try to highlight each instance. Same goes for other important/rare stats like corruption or apathy. Also, in some situations the statcheck may be failed regardless of the fear level score, if MC has a specific phobia non-compatible with the situation (like trying to stay in pitch-dark hallway with darkness phobia). Those are quite obvious in most cases, and fear phobia is generally fucked in all these situations.

Prologue and Chapter 1

TLDR: by default, you leave your apartment with the fear score of 6 (7 mandatory increases, 1 decrease). You can lower it by 6 at the not so low price of +6 in denial stat. Alternatively, you can lower it by 4 without increasing the denial. Additionally, you can lower it by 1 unless you chose wrath vice or increase by 1 with blood phobia or fear phobia.

Polo club route (Part 1 and Part 2)

TLDR: up to -7 with carrots; +4 for discussing creepy topics (can be +1); -2 (or -5 depending on Adrian relationship) for light chit-chat; mandatory +3 for full conversation; +1 mandatory for scary trailer; -3 (-2 or -1 depending on the outcome) for saved Pippa; mandatory -1 for saved Pippa; +1 (or +2) for dead Pippa; +1 for drink acceptance, -1 for vocal drink refuse; and a ton of other conditional stat changes depending on the choices made.

Fencing club route (Part 1 and Part 2)

TLDR: up to -14 with snacks; +4 for discussing creepy topics (can be +1); -3 (or -6 depending on Adrian relationship) for light chit-chat; mandatory +3 for full conversation; mandatory +1 at the start of changing clothes; -3 (-2 or -1 depending on the outcome) for saved Zain; +3 for injured (and probably dead) Zain; +1 for drink acceptance, -1 for vocal drink refuse; and a ton of other conditional stat changes depending on the choices made.

[sapphirefox1995]

I'm trying to decipher what I truly think about The Watcher. For context I absolutely love and adore Rain World. Both base game and Downpour. Downpour has its flaws, but it's a DLC that I cant get enough of. I consider Rain World to be my favorite video game ever.

Now imagine my excitement when The Watcher was announced. I literally could not wait for it.

Because I need to be spoiled on all things Rain World (I have far too many phobias that exist in the game) I watched multiple streams of The Watcher, all endings. And while watching I felt massively disappointed.

I feel like most people like Rain World for different reasons, or maybe all the reasons. For example, my friend liked Rain World due to the ecosystem, I like Rain World for the movement tech, the graphics/music, the lore and the characters. I'm not a fan of getting lost, I look up intractable maps or memorize every location. I don't like to get mad at my games, getting mods that make it an easier time (I'm also disabled but that only effects me playing with Rain World's default keybinds). And I want to very clearly state that cheating/making any video game easier does not devalue the game or the player.

This doesn't make the game a cakewalk, in fact it is still difficult. Campaigns like Spearmaster or Hunter or Saint still have a lot of trail and error.

Then here comes The Watcher, and somewhat detailed spoilers after the cut.

And be warned, you may disagree with my points, and that's totally fair and fine! If you want to voice your opinion in the comments, whether that be you not liking the Watcher or loving it, then go ahead. Just please keep things civil with the things you disagree with.

The world as you know it is different, there's rot everywhere only forcing you to go to specific places (Shaded, Chimney, and Farm) which I kinda like. I get not wanting us to see Moon or Pebbles, and in fact, I'm happy you don't. (And dont get me wrong, Pebbles is one of my favorite characters of all time, I love him, I adore him, and I want to make a video essay about him) and only having those locations feels like a neat way to show the world you grew around is now decaying. Great intro, no gripes with it.

The echo, although some would want more out of them, I love. I love the silly stinky talk, it shows they are a child. The more the campaign goes on the more the echo gets serious. That's amazing, I love that.

But then you get sent to one of the three locations depending on what echo you ended on. Everyone I watched, including when I played, went to Coral Caves. Now I like Coral Caves dont get me wrong, but my main problem with the Watcher is here. It's the locations.

They feel so disconnected from each other, it's hard to peice together the environmental storytelling. Like, we can theorize but nothing will ever be a true answer. And the base game did this to an extent, but through naming systems and lore pearls, it was pretty clear on how to piece together this world. The Watcher's new encioremnts do not have that.

And the portals, I hate the portals. From a gameplay stance. Lore wise, if the Watcher is truly an Echo (which is what I tend to lean towards) portals are fine, they're just fine. But game wise they suck! They distort your screen where you cant see stuff, apparently there's a pole plant in a room with a portal in Rusted Wrecks which is just so hard to see. Plus it adds to the feeling of everything being so disconnected! They do not show up on the map, causing you to find them multiple times if you don't have a solid memory. And they're never explained, making people playing it for the first time confused on how it works (I'm pretty sure you have to stand in it and that's it, you can move I think but I never do). Base game has tutorials, so does Downpour, that doesn't feel too intrusive, whether that be text in the corner of your screen or an overseer. Watcher does not have that.

Then you have the backtracking. And don't get me wrong, the base game has backtracking. But not as bad as this. There were multiple times while playing that I wanted to rage quit because of how much backtracking I had to do. I dont rage at games easily, I sure dont rage at Rain World. But this is out of hand at times. I got stuck in Rusted Wrecks for a century, and it doesnt help that you quite literally do not know the map, where you're going, or where the portals are.

The map, btw, just sucks. Your ui for the regions is just so awful to navigate. As I mentioned before you don't get to see portals on the map. You can see Karma Gates, and when you're just playing you can see a blend of the regions. Like how chimney looks like industrial when you're near that gate, but looks like Sky Islands when you're near that gate. It's very well designed and blends perfectly! The Watcher does not have that.

Then you have the lore. If I squint, I see the lore. But I have to squint. I understand the story it was telling but you dont get a lot of lore. Echos can move on. That's about all the lore I really got from this. The rest of the lore is just theories, not actual fact. Base game had a show dont tell way of dealing with lore, but it sure did tell you stuff. If you gathered the pearls you get an dump of information about the lore, iterators, and the ancients. The Watcher does not have that.

And I want people to keep in mind that theories are theories, they're not truly canon until stated otherwise and they're nothing to get truly mad over. I dont agree with the Rot being the Triple Affirmative theory. I think the rot is the antithesis of the void. Where the rot is the bad death and the void is the good death. And by all means the void should be linked more to the triple affirmative than the rot. But again, I could be wrong, but so can that theory. We do not actually know for certain. I do not like this. I love theorizing but I also like when I know things to be true.

Then the thing that gets me the most, cause I do not know, how a game praised on this aspect, didnt bring it to the Watcher. And that's the ecosystem. Some animals seem out of place (Blizzard Lizard, now granted it is cool in theory, but it sucks to deal with and doesnt feel grounded in the way other lizards are, if that makes any sense) some are super awful to deal with game play wise (the mushroom lizards) and some doesnt interact with anything but the player (the locusts). Sometimes the regions feel so empty, like it's meant to be a sightseeing area than an actual ecosystem. Btw this does not apply to the moths. Moths go crazy I love them.

So those are my gripes with the Watcher, but I do like other parts! I like the ending to both endings, the room with the ancients is pretty cool, and the Prince's design is rad. But I wish I liked more things about it.

So as of now I say that I only like it, I have mediocre feelings about it. And that makes me a little sad.

[somekindofsentience]

mari could have OCD - an analysis

Mari as a character is left mostly up to speculation by the player - which is partially a fault on the creators' part, but is also somewhat deliberate to allow for consumer projection and exploration. Because she's left so open, I want to explore a personal headcanon of mine - that Mari has OCD.

Disclaimer: This is my opinion! I may be wrong! I am a human and I am wrong sometimes! I do have OCD, but my experiences and how I write about them are not necessarily indicative of all people with OCD.

I want to pre-establish here that doing things that I market as "compulsive" is not necessarily compulsive behaviour, and it does not necessarily mean you experience OCD. The reality is, we can't know if Mari has OCD, or any disorder, because we don't get any insight into her mind. Cognition and thinking patterns are vital to a diagnosis of OCD. If you like to play the piano over and over again, you might just enjoy playing the piano. As with anything, if it's causing you distress, please seek a therapist!

Mari has three prevalent character traits that could potentially link to anxiety of some form - her perfectionism, tying into her compulsive piano playing; and her responsibility as the "mother" of the group. From these three traits, I think I can somewhat develop an argument for Mari having OCD.

Mari is a perfectionist; this is explicitly stated multiple times in the game. It's practically the only "negative" trait (or, rather, trait that comes with a downside) given to her, and despite that, it's still painted in a glorified light. It's somewhat implied that the recital day's events occurred due to this perfectionism, but we will discuss the piano playing later.

Now, OCD is not perfectionism, and mixing them up leads to horrific misinformation about the illness. But OCD can lead to perfectionism in specific instances. Let's say Mari believes if she doesn't play the recital perfectly, she'll be a failure and a terrible person. While it seems like an extreme jump between the two ideas, and it might feel so irrational to her, something in the back of her head just won't let that idea go. To feel more confident in her playing, she keeps playing it, over and over and over again. Every time she gains some confidence, she loses it just as fast, trapping her in a little cycle at that piano. In this case, we can see how an irrational intrusive thought could lead to perfectionistic tendencies in a person - and can see a rational cognitive explanation for Mari's behaviour.

I also want to talk about an aspect of OCD that isn't commonly spoken about - taking responsibility to an extreme extent. When we discuss mental disorders, we tend to talk about where they begin and how to treat them; but with disorders like OCD, it's actually important to consider how they continue. Everyone experiences intrusive thoughts, but there are several factors that increase the likelihood of believing them. One of them is the idea that one must take responsibility for their own intrusive thoughts - "if something bad is going to happen, I have to be the one to fix it".

Some people are naturally very self-reliant, and this can be for a number of reasons. I see this in Mari in the responsibility she holds over her brother and her friend group - she's the pinnacle of their rationality, keeping an eye on them (even in Headspace, which mimics some reality), and she's the one to save Sunny from drowning during the day of the Phobias' creation. Mari is fifteen, but holds so much pressure to monitor her friends, so it's not impossible to believe that worrying over her brother would cause intrusive thoughts. OCD is sometimes exacerbated after traumatic experiences, and having to save your younger brother from drowning is a lot to go through. Maybe she became more overprotective later on - not that I really have any evidence for that, since we don't have the most lucid perspective on Mari throughout the game.

I don't really have any way to reasonably conclude this, but I will say, I can recognise that a lot of this is projection. I have OCD. It's very difficult to see representation of complex OCD in media, since it's so hard to convey what intrusive thoughts and unobvious compulsions feel like, so it's nice to be able to give it to a character. But I feel like it has some basis in the real game, and could genuinely provide an interesting headcanon for people to use.

I dunno. You tell me.

Oh right, I forgot to mention. I wrote about this headcanon here. I'm pretty proud of the fic, so, I'd appreciate people checking it out if they're interested.