#oliver route spoilers

[spiced-honeynash]

"But the End knows there is no paranoia about your own demise. Only that dim, plodding awareness of its constant approach."

[inawickedlittletown]

No Queerbaiting Here

A long time ago…I’m talking May of 2021, I wrote a meta post about queerbaiting. Essentially an essay. I wrote it right before the S4 finale of 9-1-1 aired because I was frustrated by Buddie fans calling Queerbait entirely like the boy that cried wolf. I still stand by it. Sort of. 

Now, even back then I was pretty clear about how 50/50 I was on Buddie ever going canon. (Maybe not in that post but certainly elsewhere) But, I shipped Buddie then and wrote a lot of fic and meta and participated in fandom. I never said it couldn’t happen…I just would never be bothered if it didn’t.

Where we stand now: It’s not going to happen. 

And where I stand now: fully immersed in Bucktommy. And what’s more, I am more than perfectly happy about Buck and Tommy staying together and going the long-run. Although I can still look at Buddie and think it’s a cute ship, I just don’t want it in canon. I would not be satisfied if the show went that way. But what’s more if Buck and Tommy don’t work out, that would be disappointing, but I’d be okay as long as they got to be happy. There is, after all, always fanfiction. 

So, I wanted to revisit this concept a bit now that Buck has been confirmed as Bisexual and now that he is in a relationship with a man. Not Eddie. Tommy. And somehow, some Buddie fans are still crying queerbait because their ship is not canon. That’s not how it works. Also…shipping works outside of canon, that’s the whole point of shipping. 

To reiterate from my original post on queerbaiting, here’s the definition from wikipedia:

“Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ representation. They do so to attract a queer or straight ally audience with the suggestion of relationships or characters that appeal to them, while at the same time attempting to avoid alienating other consumers.” 

Here’s where I stand: Buddie was abandoned a long time ago. If it was ever a real possibility, we won’t ever know. What we do know is that Oliver was aware that at one point he had given them the go-ahead to make Buck Bi. Whether this was by putting Buck and Eddie together or having Buck realize this another way, we just don’t know that. We don’t have that information and nor will it probably ever be provided to us. Narratively, I know that a lot of fans figured the timing of it fit with S4 and that particular finale but we really just don’t know despite what happened in the finale.

I found that interesting looking back at my own post from back then and the discussion that followed where some fans felt that the way the finale went would determine if Buddie would be another queerbait ship. (I think most people agreed after the will scene that it wasn’t queerbait because it did leave a kernel of hope that Buddie might still happen). 

And yeah, I guess you could argue that the network deciding not to go the route of a queer storyline points to missed opportunity. That doesn’t then mean that any queerbaiting occurred or that any fans are owed anything just because something that was set up or that the writers were writing towards was then scrapped by the network. Is it a shame that it didn’t happen in whatever way they wanted to play it out, sure, but only because Buck would have been confirmed queer earlier. In the same vein isn’t it nice that we have a confirmed Bisexual Buck now? That the show managed to bring it back to that.

A Buck that is happy and free and that has realized something so monumental about himself? Isn’t it nice that all the queer coding that Buck as a character has received since the start of the show is actually finally not just queer coding but full on character development? That we can look back at the show and see all the things Buck did around other men for exactly what they were. 

When Tommy first returned to 9-1-1 in S7, I think a lot of us were excited by the spoilers about Buck and Tommy because of Bi Buck, but also because this was the thing that could lead to Buddie. 

And then…then Tommy was actually on my screen and I doubted it. I actually thought maybe the spoilers were wrong and this was about Eddie and Tommy? That episode flipped things in such an expertly way that by the time Tommy and Buck were sharing a kiss for the first time I was right there with Buck. On a second watch, it is all there. Buck was never jealous because his friend was ignoring him. He was jealous because his best friend had the attention of the guy whose attention he wanted for himself. The writing on that was perfect and no amount of twisting it can change what happened on screen. 

Buck was not jealous because of Eddie. Tommy was never interested in more than friendship with Eddie. And Buck and Tommy have nothing to do with Buddie. Tommy is not a stepping stone, a way for Buck to be ready to then embark on a relationship with Eddie. That’s both disrespectful to Tommy and Buck, but just not what the story being told on the show is doing. 

The storyline is monumental. Having a big strong guy, a firefighter, figure out his sexuality in his thirties is such good storytelling and add to that Tommy. Someone that we already know, who already works as a first responder, and who can show up and wow Buck in such a way that he realizes something about himself? This is what I’ve always wanted. Because guess what, Buck never questioned his sexuality before this. Not when he met Eddie and not when he met anyone else, not until Tommy. 

Going into the new season we know a few things and one of those is that Buck and Tommy are thriving. The media coverage talks about them as a solid couple, it talks about Buck having someone to turn to and complain to. It talks about how they are still in the getting to know each other phase and I love that for them. I love how they are being treated and described and I can’t wait to see what plays out for them and how much of the build up of their relationship we may get to actually see. 

Do you know what the media and the show never talked about outwardly like this? Buddie. Whenever it came up it was always brushed aside in a way that was respectful to fans and what they saw, but without ever confirming or hinting that the show would ever go there. They never queerbaited anyone with Buddie, what they have done is say “yeah…we know what you see” and then turned around and given us a Buck and Eddie friendship and Buck kissing Tommy, going on a date with Tommy, and thriving with Tommy. 

So, no queerbaiting here on the show where half of the major canon pairings are queer. It’s actually more like some fans baiting other fans with theories and headcanons that just don’t fit.

[bucked-it-up]

806 felt so completely disjointed to me. all the bucktommy scenes we got leading up to that last one were happy; them on a date, Buck realising that 'oh maybe I do love him', Tommy looking so happy to see him at the beginning of that end scene, and then... flipping to that breakup, out of nowhere, with no context or reasoning or foreshadowing at all...

not to mention the RAMPANT biphobia throughout the episode (Maddie's commentary about Abby "turning men gay" and telling Josh that "buck slept with Tommy's fiance" (insinuating that Buck - the ONLY BISEXUAL ON THE SHOW - cheated/helped Abby cheat), Tommy's breakup speech including things like Buck not knowing what he wants (right after Buck made it very clear that he DOES actually know what he wants) because Tommy's his "first, not your last" and utterly dismissing what Buck had to say about that whole situation.

Yes it can be read as Tommy getting spooked by Buck going 0-100 on the moving in thing, IF Tommy hadn't already stayed after Buck went 0-100 "come with me to my sister's wedding" on their SECOND DATE. It can be read as Tommy having baggage and self-sabotaging before he can get hurt, IF there had been any threads of that being dropped throughout the episode prior to that moment.

in the end it really felt like "oh Tommy just remembered his boyfriend isn't Fully Gay, so there's a Chance that Buck will leave/cheat/break Tommy's heart to be with a woman again so we'll just cut this off now" and that... that is a slap in the face.

and now that Lou has not been asked to return for the rest of season 8, it looks like we're not going to get any kind of closure on this, and Oliver wants to go back to the good ol fuckboi Buck days (that NONE OF US have missed or want to see again) after spending MONTHS talking about how badly he wants Buck to settle down and find his person and be at ease with himself etc. after MONTHS of promising to do this storyline justice, it was an ACTIVE CHOICE to take this route and take it in the most biphobic, stereotypical, cruelest way possible.

I'm done with it. I'll take spoilers on the rest of the season to keep up with the ensemble but I find that I can't trust Tim Minear or Oliver Stark to do Buck justice anymore.

they should have picked some random new guy for this role if this was how they wanted to play the story out. not Tommy. not Lou. he didn't deserve any of this or any of the hate he got for just trying to put his heart into his work.

911 is no longer a comfort show. what was the goal here? to remind us that queer men don't get to be happy? what was the point? I'm heartbroken. I'm angry. I just. I'm tired.

I agree with all of this, also in a way I'm angry that as fans we went through so much shit fighting for this relationship and they couldn't even end it respectfully.

I'm just tired. And I don't know what to think. It was meant to be a rom com. This doesn't feel like that.

[azaharinflames]

Calling Katey professional when she leaks spoilers to a select few bucktommys after getting screeners is funny

All of these journalists are biased regardless if we ship the same ship or not

Oliver and Lou should be interviewed by people that aren’t active in fandoms

I hadn't heard of her leaking spoilers to a few Bucktommies. If she did, I sincerely apologise for mentioning her as a neutral journalist because it is not okay to share leaks, no matter what side you're on. But if you let me ask you, Nonnie, are there receipts for this? Could you share the proof with me? I genuinely want to see it because I had no idea this was happening.

Regardless, in an ideal world, we'd get interviews outside of fandom. And, actually, we did get an interview outside of the fandom last year, which, in my opinion, was pretty significant and told me that perhaps Bucktommy was going the long-term route. Outside of that, there seems to be a very little number of journalists that will remain neutral, and I don't think they'd interview Lou and Oliver for the sake of it (not like the journalists that ask interviews after every single episode), so we won't be getting one until something big happens, and even then it is just a maybe.

[morganski-19]

What I don't want to happen with a Buck NDE in 8b

Minor spoilers for 9-1-1 8b under the cut

This is kinda old news, but Oliver's stunt double was on set for episode 12, which lead to the talk of a possible Buck NDE. The stunt double doesn't equal an NDE, but that is an interesting thought that many people have, and I have some thoughts about it.

Mainly, how this NDE would effect the Eddie storyline in El Paso.

I do not want Eddie to come back because Buck got hurt. I don't want that at all.

Do I want Eddie to be affected by Buck getting hurt and him not being there, yes. Do I want to see the spiral Eddie could have because of that, yes. Do I want him to maybe go and visit LA, or speed up the move-in date because of it, if it's done right, yes.

But Buck getting hurt should not be the sole reason that Eddie leaves El Paso to go back to LA, he needs to decide that for himself.

Why?

Because it would take all of the agency out of Eddie's decision. While Eddie and Buck's storylines are intrinsically linked to each other, they have to grow, change, and have their own plotlines as well. Eddie going back to El Paso is one of those. He needs to use the opportunity to fix things with Chris, and needs to do his own self-reflection on why moving to LA was the best decision for him.

Eddie needs to make the decision to move back to LA because it's the best decision for him and his son, to put distance between his parents, and for him to get out of an environment he hates and back to an environment he thrives. He needs to make this decision FOR himself BY himself.

If Eddie figures out about Buck's injury AFTER he makes the decision to move back, I think that would be ok. Because his decision was already made, now it can just speed up the process. But the decision has to be made first.

Now, for the Buck side of it.

He cannot get rewarded for getting hurt with Eddie coming back. He can't. That would be awful for his narrative, and only solidify what his fuck ass parents made him believe. They better not write that into the storyline, otherwise I will have choice words and some rocks to throw.

Buck needs to be chosen. Whether that be romantically or platonically, he needs to be chosen. Eddie needs to come back because it's his decision, and because he wanted to be there for Buck during his recovery. It needs to be explicitly stated that Eddie did not come back because Buck was hurt, for both his own and Buck's narrative.

That being said, if this is the route they're going, it sets up another Because Evan moment.

This season is really bringing back a lot of Buck's themes throughout the earlier seasons. Tommy broke up with him in a manner very similar to Abby, and now Eddie's leaving. They first name drop Abby and therefore bring back the abandonment issues that she caused, and then that is amplified by Eddie leaving. (which, if the way we saw them shoot that in the leak is how it will look in the final edit, is an exact recreation of Abby leaving)

By bringing up these old narratives, it brings up the need for another moment in which a character states that Buck is wrong.

What makes the "Because Evan" moment so special is that 1. the one and only time Eddie calls Buck by his first name 2. explicitly states that Eddie doesn't view Buck as expendable, which is something that was heavily dealt with in season 4.

His recklessness was and still is present, however, that mindset of being the person on the frontlines because he doesn't matter is significantly minimized.

That isn't the same for his abandonment issues. Especially with how heavily they are brought back up in this season.

With Bobby leaving the station, thereby leaving the 118 with chaos under Gerrard, Chris leaving, Eddie leaving, Maddie getting kidnapped, and Tommy bringing up the Abby trauma, it's the climax of this issue.

If they do it right, they could have a moment that has the same impact as the "Because Evan" scene.

If they do it right.

Will it happen with the possibilities of an NDE? I don't know. Do I think it is important to the Buck and Eddie narrative, yes. It all depends on how the Eddie in Texas storyline ends.

[directdogman]

Omg so if DSAF is in a completely different universe, how much of Peter's backstory is the same as in Dialtown then? Not gonna say his dialogue from the game for spoiler reasons, but I know of the DSAF references in Dialtown, so this has got my theory gears turning!

Peter's backstory isn't explored much in the DLC, more just the impact he's had on Roger. To make a comparison, you could consider him to Roger's route as Mr Dickens is to Oliver's route!

Roger's story is, however, talked about. There's quite a few parallels between his cameo in my older work and his new backstory!

[monsooninamajestic]

Me rambling about Ninjago Garmadon-Wu Swap (with the effect of other people's alignments and effects changing/being altered)/Main Four aren't the Main Ninja. I ramble cause I want to even though I should be working below cut.

NINJAGO SPOILERS WILL BE UNDER CUT ALONGSIDE RAMBLLING

Okay Okay, so Wu is the one bitten by the Great Devourer instead of Garmadon cause Garmadon said something like "your sword, you grab it, I'll make sure you won't get in trouble." Yeah yeah, the Overlord didn't really expect that route but one of the FSM's son now have evil in their veins so whatever.

Most events take place like normal; Garmadon is a bit more wary and cautious and protective and felt like for a long time it is his duty to make sure his little brother doesn't become evil. When Wu becomes evil, Wu is more evil as a villain rather than Garmadon. Oni Dragon symbolizing; Garmadon still Oni while Wu is dragon. An evil-lized dragon posing as creating and respectable and "good" while the oni might be destructive in some methods but has good heart.

Morro! Oh I love Morro. He gets to be alive. So since Garmadon is rasing a baby Lloyd (+ baby Mikoto. Mikoto is my Ninjago OC & Lloyd's Older Twin Sister. Yeah I love my girl Miko) around the same time a kid Morro is around getting trained by Wu (not as evil since Wu wasn't evil at the moment). He gets upset that he isn't the Green ninja (apprently one of the reasons Morro wanted to be the Green Ninja so badly cause he thought of it as The Green Ninja will be Wu's number one best student or something like that).

Some angst but when Wu was fully evil by Great Devourer's venom, Morro was living in the Monastery of Spinjitzu, so that meant he witnessed his father figure be evil and his "uncle" fight him. A few days prior, Morro couldn't help but sometimes think that his sensei was acting more off so when those two had to fight, Garmadon had directed him to be safe along Lloyd and Mikoto until everything was descalated. Morro doesn't know if his Sensei still cares for him or sees him as a permanent enemy. Morro continues training under Sensei Garmadon cause he wants to fight and be strong. Ninja of Wind, and since Wind was never in the Elemental Alilance (since Wu said like "he had a power over the Wind I had never seen before"), Morro chose his color as more saturated and/or darker greens (Sage Green and Olive Green) along with some black (more cause I think the dude is some form of alternative like emo).

Now here is more crazier changes. I definitely based this off cool fanfic series of a roleswap au on a03 of Dark Sides By RebelFanja which is a AU that The Main Four are working for an evil Wu while Pixal, Nya, Skylor, and Seliel are the Ninja. A quite bit is directly inspired from them so yee!! I am definitely having that. THO, big differences I make right off the bat is aligning stuff to Season 8+ stuff cause I watched everything currently AND only one Wu hadn't the chance to manipulate and recruit is Jay.

Why not Jay? Jay is the son of Cliff Gordon and the former Master of Lightning. Libbey goes missing so that meant on paternity leave- Cliff has to figure out what to do with baby Jay. Before Libbey suddenly vanished, she was talking to Jay on a day something along the lines of "..I am scared for you Jay, Garmadon warned us that Wu is completely bad now...he's smart. What if he plans to do something?! He wants power over those Golden Weapons.."

Cliff knows his wife can act nuts but he concluded it as "someone is going to hunt down my son and use him so that means knowing on where he will be is bad" so Cliff drops him off at a junkyard where he knows it will be safe. He made sure that there will be tabs on his son. This is for the security of his son.

[I honestly think Libbey & Cliff was a good relationship, Cliff became a womanizer/flirting with other women AFTER Libbey was gone.]

The other three, yeah no. You three get manipulated hammer. Ray and Maya still get kidnapped and forced to work with Krux and thus leaving Kai and Nya alone. Cole is grieving because of Lily's death. Zane believes by working with Wu, he is protecting those who cannot be protected (Zane is getting decived big time to be villain.)

Okay, now, lovely Girl bosses.

P.I.X.A.L still is made by Cyrus though Borg Industries is bulit before hand, like a few years before Pliots/the beginning. I like Magnetism that RebelFanja had as Pixal's Elemental Power so I'm keeping it. She likes being useful, and she takes a little while before she breaks her code and be more human and lively. She is loyal and responsible, keeping track of many things.

Nya was left alone after both her parents vanished and now her brother. Garmadon was around and saw the alone girl, and told her about how both of her parents were Elemental Masters, and he figures out she inherited element of Water. Nya was in denial, thinking as she was just normal. Though, if this dude's brother might of been the reason for her brother not seeing her anymore, might as well join him.

Seliel. I actually never read the story she came from, so, yeah. Idk how she joins Garmadon (actually, idk how I will write well why any of the girlies would join Garmadon and become a Ninja). I'll make up her element and she's Master of Stamina. She called it Energy since it was basically just Energy Manipulation in the sense of it basically Controls Energy of Living Beings. Can make someone have so much energy or steal their energy so they are fatigued. If Seliel isn't Master of Stamina, I'll do Master of Spirit/Phantom which is mimicking/doing the properties of a ghost and do what a ghost or even a spirit can do while being obviously alive + no death cause water, though, water is the number one weakness. Nya and Seliel have to be careful and make sure planned attacks are coordinating good.

Skylor. I know you would join somehow. Idk how to explain.

Now. Who is the Green Ninja in this AU?

I have three candidates.

• Lloyd Garmadon

○ The Canon One.

• Mikoto Garmadon

○ It is a swap au, so I wanna swap the Garmadon Twins! Mikoto would be a great Green Ninja as her brother is an awesome Green Ninja. Lloyd and Mikoto are similar in personality at core, but, they act different; Mikoto is definitely adaptive type and would use ANYTHING she has in her toolbox. Canon!Version of Mikoto literally uses regularly after she learns how to use the powers of Destruction and Creation since she lacks Elemental Powers. Mikoto is crazy supportive as she is the older sister and protective. Plus, she is definitely more brutally honest and sassy than Lloyd.

• Harumi

○ Girl Power!!!! Harumi as Green Ninja would be epic. Plus, Her and Morro would be Alt-Kids Together and Besties. Little Sis and Big Bro.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Hi there! Hope you’re having a lovely Sunday :)

I love the theory you just posted in response to the Abby/BT breakup anon!! The only thing that worries me is Oliver specifically saying he could see Buck in queer spaces only IF Buck and Tommy are on a break… He also said something like “whether or not Tommy is Buck’s forever partner…” in that same interview. Isn’t this basically him implying that BT are still together at least as of 8x08 (since that’s what they are filming right now)? On the other hand this could also just be Oliver saying all of this to avoid any potential spoilers!

Side note: I also just think it’s very strange that lfjr liked a tweet with a meme of him drinking “buddie tears” while he is still on the show. Just unprofessional behavior imo. Especially since you would think he would want more buddie fans to like Tommy so it could keep him on the show. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Hey Nonnie.

So I’ve pulled up the quotes for reference, and we do need to remember he can’t directly give anything away about things relating to the finality of bucks relationship with tommy, he has to answer the questions as if they are still together regardless of what he has filmed and why he knows - because he knows where the audience are in the story at the time of publication of the interview. Actors usually get a briefing sheet for each interview or set of interviews they’re giving (if they’re doing multiple interviews one day) - which will include the intended publication date for said interview - so Oliver would’ve known these two interviews were going out in time for 805, and that will give him an idea of what he can and can’t say. There may be information on the briefing relating to this as well.

The show needs to create intrigue without giving the game away and as far as the ga especially, bt are together and in a fairly good place at this point in time.

Oliver’s response was to a question relating to a throwback from bucks past. Now the question itself doesn’t directly refer to love interests, but it is implied, and that is fairly important.

He didn’t need to answer the above question with the below answer - why did he need to bring up the idea of them being on a break? He could’ve gone with ‘oh it would be really fun to have buck and tommy bump into one of bucks old girlfriends. I’m trying to think of which one would be best for this.’

But instead he went with on a break.

Then he proceeds to talk about Buck putting himself into queer spaces and being shepherded by Lucy (I am massively paraphrasing but the actual quote is below) in those spaces.

There is literally no reason to take this route on this question unless you’re hinting at something without being direct about it. It’s a very subterfuge-y answer - very much of the type we’ve seen Oliver give before and very much in keeping with some of the things he was saying about Lucy in the s5b interviews he was giving in terms of answering in a slightly odd way that when read after the episodes have played out suddenly make a lot more sense (I don’t have the time to find the quotes I mean but I’m sure if you Google you can find them!)

So we have an answer that gave a lot of random detail that the question didn’t really warrant. And then the second quote you mention;

That quote doesn’t really feel to me that it implies bt are still together in 808 - the language is generally past tense - ‘have been’ not will always be his first and ‘always be,’ I think, huge importance… again past tense - again in an answer where he could’ve used present tense - in fact the first ‘have been his’ instead of just saying ‘be his’ is more indicative of the relationship, if not being fully over, more or less over (if we’re getting them on that break Oliver spoke of!)

Oliver isn’t going to say anything to spoil things for the audience at this point - the big hurdles he and Tim have spoken of haven’t actually appeared yet and we don’t know what format they’re going to take (I have my theories, but we don’t actually know!) and how make it break for the relationship they are going to be.

We also don’t have a timeframe for how things are going to fully play out. I’m of the opinion that 812 is the episode when we’ll see buddie go canon, but that’s just my feeling (because it will be episode 118 and Tim likes to play with numbers!), it could just as easily be buddie going canon in 817 or 818 or any episode number in between, it really is dependent on how things get paced for both Buck and Eddie’s arcs, as well as the stories they want to tell for the other characters - because this is an ensemble show and there will be episodes focused on madney and henren and bathena.

I don’t for the life of me believe that Tim would have Tommy be Bucks endgame when he’s developing his character in this way. It would be incredibly easy to make Tommy likeable and a good partner for Buck with very little additional screen time needed - the scenes we’ve already had, reworked would achieve this. But no they’ve gone the direction they have and that in and of itself is pretty telling.

And even if buddie isn’t the end goal here, I don’t think they’d have buck figure out he’s bi and jump into a first relationship with a man and have it be endgame - and do it at the rushed pace they did, that’s just not how this type of tv works!

As for the lfj tweet liking thing he’s been on - well all I have to say is that it’s remarkably similar behaviour to Megan west and edy gangem and we all know what happened to their characters shortly after their little spate of crazy on Twitter main! The man has already behaved very unprofessionally with his cameos etc and was clearly reined in by the network in some way (I don’t pretend to know the details of what happened, all I know is that it’s highly suspicious that he went complete and utter radio silence for the entire hiatus and until after his return had been revealed and that the show sm pages did exactly the same). Regardless of if he is still on the show or not, he’s not doing himself any favours and his character remains an undeveloped lite version of both Buck and Eddie

[iphigeniainaulis]

Background paintings in Ikevamp and why they matter

...even if you are not familiar with art.

Warnings: minor spoilers for all routes, though I tried to keep it as vague as possible

Time to talk about background paintings in Ikemen vampire because…why not?

First, let me warn you that the following is nothing but a theory based on some visual resemblance. While it may occur that Ikemen designers wanted to hide a few Easter eggs, it's also fair to mention that sometimes the sky is blue just because it's Sunday morning, and that’s all. 

Nevertheless, one detail may hint at the former statement being true. And this is because there’s a significant difference in how different paintings are shown in the game. 

Some of them are blurry, overdark or too bright. While we can distinguish some unclear silhouettes, the rest is on our imagination.

For example, it seems that the first picture is the natural landscape (probably, sunset in the forest) as well as the second one with the Ionic style columns being placed in the center of a garden. Still, we’re not sure.

But the thing is it doesn’t matter. The amount of details the viewer is given is too small for us to make any art-historical assumptions. Based on these mere images we can figure out neither the artist who painted them nor the narrative. Therefore, these paintings have only a secondary function of background decorations and proof of demonstration of their owner’s wealth. 

On the contrary, there are paintings that we can easily detach because their creators are too famous to be unfamiliar with. But even within this scope of paintings there is a slight differentiation due to the way they are incorporated in the game design. 

Some of them have been revived by the hands of geniuses who once created them. This is the case of Leonardo’s Study of a woman’s head and Study of Hands

 or Vincent’s Sunflower and the Olive trees

While it’s easy to reduce the meaning behind this design decision to simple hype, I think that it also serves as a visual representation of the suitors' character traits. What is the point of redrawing the painting that was already brought to life a long time ago? For Vincent it means years, for Leonardo - centuries. My guess is that for artists like them it's never enough. Life is too beautiful to be captured once and forever. A woman’s face is never a mystery solved. While for many people it’s okay to achieve a goal and forget about it the exact minute they are done, for geniuses like Leonardo and Vincent it’s always different. You must improve. You have to work further. There is always something new an artist’s eye can capture. That’s why they painted it again, again and again. 

Let's move to another group of paintings. Spotting The Starry Night in Theo’s room is not a surprise because we know that, first of all, they’re brothers with Vincent, and, secondly, Theo is an art dealer.

What deserves to be brought into focus is that this work is regarded as the elder Van Gogh’s magnum opus. Sure, you can argue that the real Theo and Vincent thought little of this painting, calling it “a failure”. To which I reply that, again, this is a game for numerous people across the world, including those who are not familiar with art history. For many of us The Starry Night is viewed as one of the most popular art works, a special work, a valuable one. Therefore, by omitting historical accuracy Ikemen writers and designers try to achieve something more contributing to the plot - they try to evoke certain emotions. Putting the art of such great significance in the room of one of the brothers should be a clear indicator of the amount of respect and love the two of them share. Describing the emotional bond between them is mainly the prerogative of writers. But sometimes game design plays no less if not more meaningful role in the process of us as readers getting familiar with characters. The painting here becomes a subtle part of the plot as it highlights certain prerequisites of their relationship and prepares us for what is going to come next.

The latter is especially relevant to Vlad's route. The female portrait in the pureblood’s room is what takes background paintings in Ikevamp on a fundamentally new level - the level of plot-forming core.

Unlike those paintings I mentioned at the beginning, these ones are no longer a substitute for the room decor. Instead, they serve as a device that pushes the plot forward. It accumulates three major points that are relevant to the plot:

It adds the mystery element for triggering our curiosity. The portrait is ‘faceless’, and even though we all see the resemblance in features, there is this ‘if’ element. What if they decided to go with a classical Dracula plot? Eternal vampire loses his lover and waits for her to be reborn? Is this MC? Why can’t he remember her face?

The portrait itself allows us to get for a second into Vlad’s head and understand his feelings towards the mysterious woman. Vlad drawing her portrait is caused by the act of kindness she showed him. His entire motivation is connected to the single painting. She was the one who he wanted to be with. In order to do so, he had to become strong, to accept his tragic loss and move forward. The portrait serves as a silent reminder about what was his goal and why he chose the path he chose. 

It circulates the narrative. At the beginning, MC faces the challenge of being the third one in the relationship with Vlad and his unknown lover. She questions the identity of that unknown counterpart of hers and secretly wants to learn more about her. By revealing the truth of Vlad’s past and their connection, MC figures out who was the woman in the painting which in some way pushes her to find enough strength for making a certain groundbreaking decision. 

Finally, there is the third group of paintings that possess what I call ‘potential meaning’. These paintings maintain the main features of the two previous groups, namely, vague silhouettes combined with a rather clear narrative that somehow increases the possibility of them being more than a decorative object.

Take a look at the two paintings in Vincent’s room. In comparison to all other paintings these ones differ not only in terms of shape but also in terms of color. The lines seem to be more fluid, and the color palette is dominated by ochreous, blue and black which is typical for East Asian classical ink art. By taking a closer look, you can actually see the vague outlines of the sea and shrouded in mist mountains in the background. Personally to me such landscapes together with a specific composition angle remind of Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji which can be a great allusion to Van Gogh’s obsession with Japanese prints and their role in his artistic career. 

The huge painting in Comte’s living room has been haunting me for years, I shall admit. It portrays a marine landscape with a single boat chasing the wild waters in the dark or right before the sunrise. When talking about marine art, the first person that comes to my mind is Ivan Aivazovsky. Yet, it is evident that Aivazovsky’s style was pure romanticism with heavy realistic elements, whereas this painting looks like it's more about light and colores rather than clear and precise lines. And also this sun, this strange orange sun..that can be spotted only in Claude Monet's Impression. Sunrise. 

The mansion’s copy is a darker mirrow image of the original work. Nobody knows why Comte chose this painting for the mansion, but isn’t it a bit of irony that the painting that praises France, the country that suffered from the war with Prussia and was on its way to revitalisation, is located in the house that is about to face the battle between the lesser vampires and their haunters or rather the figurative war of two different morals (we are yet to know about it, though)?

Another version is that the painting serves as a metaphoric description of the character. In various routes MC mentions how Comte reminds her of the sun that made manifest, and everything supports this claim to be true, from his golden eyes and hair, to the brightness of the room and..paintings that symbolize the master of the mansion.

Finally, I wouldn't forget about the massive backlash Impressionists had to face at the early stage of the movement’s existence. It was only until the 5th Impressionist exhibition in 1880 that the artists finally got praised by critics. Just a bit more than 10 years before the MC’s appearance. However, we know that the creation of the mansion had taken place before this event. So, my point is that probably Monet’s painting was purchased by the greater vampire during the times when Impressionists were still harshly criticized by the Salon. And if so, the display of the painting that represents the les misérables of the art world speaks so much volume about Comte’s character and devotion to fulfill what he perceives as his noblesse oblige - to support those in need, to help them reveal their talent no matter what social class they belong to. 

The game room’s central painting is another amusing detail as it’s completely out of mood. Playing cards, watching chess games or taking any other light leisure activity with a glass of brandy in your hand, you rarely expect to raze your gaze from the table only to stare at the image of ruins. Yet, this is what we get here - a typical capriccio painting like those of Alessandro Salucci and Leonardo Coccorante.

Capriccio artists dared to do something new in the history of art - they put real archeological signs into fantasy surroundings, sometimes from the same time period that the artists lived in. To an extent, they brought the ancient past and allowed it to live in the future, which is not a bad allusion to the original purpose of the mansion’s creation.  

And here is what we can spot in Shakespeare’s room. At first, I didn't think much about this painting in Will’s bedroom but something felt odd. And then I understood. 

You see, there’s this famous Vincent’s work named Cafe Terrace at Night. The painting is created from the north eastern corner that allows us to see the starry night without facing an obstacle in the form of the cafe's roof. 

But this is how the modern cafe looks from a different perspective. Yellow elongated building with two wide niches that serve both as windows and entrance. 

Do you see it, right? RIGHT?

I headcanon that Vincent was so eager to spoil his new friend with a present that he decided to redraw his favorite work and  give it to the bard. But being an empathetic and observant one, Vincent immediately figured out Will’s admiration of everything unique and rare, so he decided to create a completely new version of his own painting instead of just redrawing it from the same angle as he did with sunflowers. 

Aaand this is what we get in the living room. Random at first sight, the composition of various unrelated pictures actually makes sense. The most evident one is, of course, the image of theater curtains. What else should we expect to see in the manor of the great Bard of Avon? The same curtains, by the way, appear in almost every scene where MC and her suitor are invited to Shakespeare’s play.

Just a small detail, but I think this is one of those rare occasions when we can actually name the place Ikemen writers took inspiration from (apart from, of course, Louvre and the University of Paris). What helps us here is the curtains over which we spot golden metal lambrequin with a cartouche that imitates the image of the sun.

Such a prolonged lambrequin with the sun image (in honor of Louis XIV, the Sun King and also the father of the Paris Opera) in the center actually exists only in one Parisian theater - Opera Garnier, where in 1888 Shakespeare’s  Roméo et Juliette was staged.

Just to make sure, look at the curtains in some of the most popular theaters that existed during the historical period in Ikevamp -  Théâtre du Châtelet or the Opéra-Comique. You won't find a similar one.

Two last possible Easter eggs may be related to the two historical objects that existed during Shakespear’s era. The first one is still connected to the curtains for as you see, there were rumors (modern archeological findings prove them to be true) that the first venue of Shakespeare’s plays was called ‘the Curtain Theatre’.

And the second thing I want to point at is two images of the chair. Honestly, I highly doubt that a person like Will who has an almost narcissistic obsession with expensive staff would put a painting of such low value in his private apartment. But I can understand it, if this is not an image of  some random piece of furniture but the well-known Shakespeare’s Courting Chair, wherein, according to William Henry, ‘the bard was used to sit, during his courtship, with his Anne upon his knee’. 

Anyway, I hope it wasn't too much. Thank you for reading!

[onlymurdersintheafterparty]

OMITB S4:E8 "Lifeboat"

This episode was really interesting. More questions answered and even more created now that we know what went on with the Westies. Given all the theories out there the ending wasn't too surprising but I do wonder how all of this will be explained in the final episode. At this point I don't have many theories left I'm just waiting on the denouement. All in all I enjoyed it. Spoilers ahead!

I can't believe Dudenoff's death was that simple. I'm not even going to lie I just found the whole thing so sad. He was lonely and grieving his wife and then created a found family that he loved so much he wanted to protect them even in death. Poor Helga who was so scared and convinced that someone did something to him. What I don't understand though is why they called her the wrong kind of Westie and scratched her face out in the picture. They acted like she was a villain or something when all she was trying to do was figure out what happened to Dudenoff. There was a theory on the subreddit that Helga was the one giving Sazz information and now it's confirmed so this is a new turn of events. I'm with Mabel on not ratting them out but with Dudenoff confirmed to be dead how are they going to continue this rent scheme? The police know so the jig is up. Or is this reveal just so that the trio would sympathize with them and not rat them out to the police?

Glen being the stuntman that Sazz was referring to still feels like a red herring to me. We know that he is mentally unwell because of the hallucinated rats but I still don't think he's our killer. I'm thinking Glen is part of the group that killed Sazz and the mastermind shot him to keep him from confessing or it's as simple as the common theory that Marshall is the killer and shot him because he recognized him outside of his disguise. With Glen being in a coma we probably won't learn either outcome until the season finale or the very end of the next episode. Sazz said that this stuntman messed up badly and would be the death of her. She's dead and he's in a coma so she was right but the fact that he was shot means that some sort of cover up is in place for whatever it is that he did and whoever else knows it.

The Westies showing up and waving a knife and everyone just going along with it is so wild to me. It was 6 against 5 and I know Rudy is fit but surely they could have still held their own. It makes sense they didn't react though because they needed the confession. Rudy doing the entire monologue and everyone progressively getting emotionally drained was so funny. Zach has had the funniest quotes this season and I hope someone does a video edit including them all.

Charles really needs therapy when the case is solved because the way he's unraveling and doesn't even know how to process his anger is so sad to watch. Eugene better be careful what he wishes for because when Charles fully snaps and lets all his anger out it's not going to be pretty. I wouldn't be surprised if upon learning who killed Sazz he attacks them (not fatally) and has a full breakdown.

Every week I see the same theory that Loretta will die and I'm starting to get scared this may actually happen. I get them being sentimental about The Arconia but it's full of so much death I can't believe that they would plan their wedding there. Oliver has lost so much and Charles just lost his best friend so do you think the writers will really go there? Maybe it will be a bridesmaid or someone else in the bridal or groom party who is killed. I just feel like instead of killing her off they can just write out her character by saying that she and Oliver travel back and forth to see each other and that explains why she's not onscreen. They've been making it work now so no need to take such a dark route.

I'm so excited for the last two episodes and to see how this all plays out. The Westies never confirmed that it was them sending the letters or bugging the apartments so the mastermind is still out there waiting. This also means that there must be another murder that has gone unnoticed. On a recent youtube video, Matt & Jess TV mentioned Charles' quote in the pilot about the bodies buried in the back of a 14 story building as well as Marv mentioning the Sixth Street Slasher so it looks like there's still a cold case to solve.

And to wrap this all up I just have one question: WHERE IS THEO?

[simplyvalinor]

Ranking Guy’s mlm ships by how likely they are to happen

1. Guy x Jasper

200000/10

this art

both jasper and guy’s routes give massive “this is my boyfriend guy/jasper and this is his boyfriend jasper/guy” WHY IS THERE MULTIPLE INSTANCES OF GUY AND MC GETTING FREAKY IN FRONT OF JASPER AND GUY IS LIKE “LET HIM WATCH” LIKEEE HUHHHHH

“Given the choice between you and Jasper, I would rather have him as my wife” ??????

that route where guy ingests an aphrodisiac and propositions Jasper and Jasper is like “i am honored 😇 but those pursuits are for the realm of sobriety😔” oh…so you might say yes if he was sober jasper? hmmm

jasper definitely services guy when he’s having a bad day

post guy’s route him and mc definitely let jasper watch as a special treat mc would be flustered but guy is like smh i let him watch me masturbate all the time this is nothing new

post jasper’s route mc says they should invite guy into their bed bc jasper would like it and jasper acts like he wouldnt 😐 but during the act would be like “omg my two fav people getting nasty🫣😍” he’d love it

2. Guy x Fenn

10000/10

they’re the equivalent of the “you wanna kiss me so bad it makes you look stupid” meme

they already have kissed!!!

this route if mc didnt interrupt…. oh they wouldve gotten nasty

Fenn is always wildin for Guy’s birthday 🫣first the collar and Guy puts it on mc and is like wow what a great gift??????? um ok

then the punch card where i think guy gets points if he sleeps with fenn or takes fenn out on a date?? And then if he reaches a certain amount of points his reward is an entire day to do with fenn whatever he wants……and guy keeps the card 💀💀💀💀💀 (jasper also has one and excitedly says he has three points and cant wait to have an entire day with fenn)

Fenn knows how much he can get away with and every once in a while i think Guy gives in😏😏 they would fuck so nasty im concerned for their health

3. Guy x Lynt

20/10

this one you genuinely have to be blind not to see the possibility im sorry

Besides Jasper Lynt would be the only other pairing that would not have to put in work to get Guy to agree to them. Lynt would just have to ask lol

Mr. “Lynt is a comfort to be around” Avari!?

Yeah…Lynt would only have to ask to fuck and Guy would be like sure why not and then be surprised when he catches feelings

There’s too many instances of Guy being a softie for Lynt I cannot even reference them all. I’d need a binder full of screenshots!

Just to reference Fenn’s wild ass birthday gifts again, Fenn gifts Lynt Guy for his birthday AND GUY GOES ALONG WITH IT

I swear there’s even an instance with Lynt sneaking into bed with mc and Guy in the middle of the night and Guy just allows it??

Spoilers for Lynt book 2, but it’s Guy Lynt turns to for help with the blue olive problem And Guy is like “you do realize you owe Avari? would you make such a vow to me so lightly?” and Lynt says “🥺YES BECAUSE ITS YOU, GUY” and Guy is like 😒😒this naive ass bitch….”but since its you who’s asking🥺🥺my magic is yours🥺🥺🥺” these gay ass bitches…. Guy would NEVER do that for anyone else the only other prince he’s done something remotely kind for is Toa💀💀💀

4. Guy x Roy

2/10

alexa play paparazzi by lady gaga

Everyone point at Roy and go SIMP 👉🏻👉🏻👉🏻👉🏻

is it mean to roy if i say i prefer this ship as unrequited—LISTENNNNN i just think that Roy would mever actually act upon his attraction to guy

Sherry dunking on her own brother in Guy’s route and being like “if you(mc) and guy get together roy is gonna be pissed!” and Rio agrees 💀💀 that scene had me gagged

Roy’s ear being pierced to match Guy💀💀

Their’s would be an angst filled romance 🤨🤨 like Guy would think Roy’s affection would be amusing at first but then he’d quickly get annoyed at Roy’s hero-worship. Roy would need to learn how to see Guy as a person but also show his true self.

IF they were able to get past each other’s princely status and just be people, i think they’d actually be very cute 🥰 🥰 but yeah lots of angst

5. Guy x Toa

-75000/10

oh brother….the two most shippable are always the most unlikely to be together in canon, aren’t they?

they both see love as a waste of time and that there is only political duty

it’d be the SLOWEST of slow burns we’re talking bible length proportions slow burn

they HAVE to fight or angrily kiss to get to the next level there will be no civil conversation here, only toxicity

the potential is there i could talk all day i very clearly obviously have a preference

like i said earlier, Guy actually did something kind for Toa once…. In Toa’s route he gets himself in deep shit for not only fighting Guy, but losing. And Toa’s basically in disgrace in consequence but Guy fixes everything simply by implying that he respected Toa’s abilities at a party in front of important people from all the kingdoms. Simple, but insane coming from Guy, all things considered.

and then this happens after…

alexa play once more to see you by mitski

alexa play i can see you by taylor swift

alexa play guilty as sin by taylor swift

[lime-ventures]

thoughts on invincible s3 so far!!

currently just finished ep2 and the action is superrr cool as always!! the music has also been great (i think there’s just been one song so far but i always love the music!! it rlly immerses me n is rlly well done at reflecting marks mood)

and holy shit mark opposing cecil n getting the guardians to walk out on him. cecil was insane for putting a bomb in mark’s head but i rlly like that the writers explained his actions by showing us his past history. doesn’t make it justified obviously but helped when he kinda escalated from his normal behavior. also he’s the head of a undercover government agency. it lines up.

from what i’m understanding this conflict is moreso character-driven w cecil, but i wish it was also more of a crit against the systemic things in the gov that gives him the power to do these things because imo it creates a more nuanced world. we saw a little bit in cecil’s flashbacks w the prison and the prev FDA director so i do have some hope 🤞 it’s just that we don’t get to see much of the gov aside from cecil and donald so let’s see if the writers ever go down that route

also!! mark n eve kiss!! love them as characters and their dynamic but imo i feel like mark’s feelings of love were kinda out of the blue. ur telling me he thought he was going to die and he only thought of eve? girl be fr 😭 u have a whole family who love n cherish as well why r u only thinking of eve. definitely took me out of the scene so definitely wish we got to see more of him reflecting on his feelings and putting off the kiss till later!! but mb the later eps r action packed so the writers wanted to get the kiss out of the way first so who knows im just rambling 🤷

oh AND oliver. he’s definitely going to be a bigger problem this season. like wdym “kill cecil”?? lines up for being an out-of-touch super powered three-month nine yr old. i feel so bad for debbie and mark they’re going THROUGH it 😭 at least they’re being transparent w oliver though so that’s one plus

also hate the immortal ❤️ hate nolan ❤️ just had to put that out there.

those were my thoughts!! excited to see where the rest of the season takes us. so far the only spoiler i’ve gotten is that one scene where they keep on bringing up the title card!

[b0ndagebunny-games]

Hey everyone, it's been a while again. I've just been continuing the grind. Olive's route has it's first draft of testing done, now I just have to fix all those bugs I found and sweep through it again for any errors that slipped my notice. Sebastian and Daniela are fully edited now!

A lot of the latest things I've been up to are secrets but I suppose I could spoil a few.

Game spoilers are also below, proceed with caution

I've been playing with some mug ideas. As I really do love printing mugs. I don't know why it's just my favorite. So this is another design I've been drafting, though eventually they would all need to hold the signs.

Other then that, I've printed the first Of this one (bondagebunny mug below) for myself to test and see how it looks as a whole. I need to find cheaper printing so that I can sell them cheaper to you all in future.

I've also made the first Love Lock double sided keychain that is currently being printed as well. I've only printed 1-2 to test the ink as blacks and semi blacks sometimes when printed are just 100% black (000000) and it leaves the image with no detail at all. So it's a test print.

I've been working on a pillowcase design for small throw pillows as well. 45cm x 45cm/18inch x 18inch

This is my rough draft as some heads need cleaning up (olive and Damien) and Walters face is not the right style. So far though I love it.

[geroge2]

(SPOILERS) The Coffin of Andy and Leyley: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Compartmentalise

C/W: Death, Gore, Cannibalism, Incest

Spoilers for the whole game! If you don't care/haven't played it, I've included a plot summary as it's necessary to follow most of what I'm saying.

Preface

Before anything, I want to clear up some misconceptions you may have about this game. It’s commonly memed about due to the relationship between the two sibling protagonists. I’m not going to argue that there aren’t incestuous undertones (and at a few points, overtones), but I want it to be said that there is a lot more to this game than just cheap shock value.

I’ll admit I picked up this game specifically because it seemed so weird. I’ve always been partial to RPGMaker games (LISA and OMORI are two of my favourite games, ever) and seeing a widely memed about, dialogue heavy indie rpg? Sign me up! Basically, I wanted to see for myself whether the game was actually good, or if its controversial elements carried it to stardom. My conclusion; yup. I don't really have a specific focus here; I mainly just want to cover the various angles of Andrew and Ashley's relationship.

Also, I apologise for the length of the plot summary. I tried my best to shorten it, but there are lots of little moments that I need to specifically reference later. Bear with me.

Key/Explanations

I’ll be using a lot of quotes in this essay. Because many of these are back-and-forths, I decided to clearly identify which character is saying what. So, pink means Ashley, green means Andrew, yellow means Mum. If there is text that has no quotation marks, but is coloured, it’s the characters internal narration. Hope that makes things easier to read!

I mention the Burial and Decay routes on occasion. I’ll elaborate on them here; when you’re preparing the ritual to sacrifice your parents, you can choose to either let Andrew stay with them and set it up, or set it up yourself (as Ashley). Choosing the former results in a conversation between Andrew and Mum, wherein she’ll offer an olive branch. Accepting this results in the Decay route, a route which is characterised by Andrew’s indifference to their future and his coldness towards Ashley. Declining results in the Burial route, wherein Andrew maintains his general composure and his care for Ashley. Also, choosing to set up the ritual as Ashley also results in the Decay route with only some minor dialogue changes and a unique conversation.

I mention Room 302 a few times as well. This is the room where Andrew holds the woman hostage, who he later kills. I bring this up quite a few times, so keep it in mind.

Plot Summary

Andrew and Ashley are two siblings living in an apartment together. They have been quarantined for an indeterminate amount of time due to some parasite they allegedly have and are nearly starving to death. The two hear their neighbour play loud music and they cross the balcony gap to investigate. They witness him performing a satanic ritual, but he fails. They watch some TV before falling asleep. Ashley reminisces in her dreams. She remembers her mum leaving them, a nurse taking their blood, and their mum telling her not to call them anymore. The next day, Ashley decides to clean up the house, but collapses from exhaustion. Andrew takes her to the couch, and while half asleep, she hears him talking to his girlfriend, who dumps him. Some time later, Andrew and Ashley are laying in their living room. They hear their neighbour again, alongside a strange roar. They witness him summon a demon that then kills him. They decide to cannibalise him, transporting his body into their freezer and cooking and eating one of his limbs. Ashley goes to sleep while Andrew cleans up. While dreaming, she recalls a time when she convinced Andrew to bring Nina, a friend of hers who likes him, to a warehouse so they could trap her for a while to scare her away. Andrew is reluctant, but Ashley insists. When Ashley traps Nina in a chest, Andrew tries to convince her to just let her out, but Ashley manipulates him into leaving her there. She’s awoken by Andrew, who can’t sleep, and goes to sleep next to Ashley.

The next day, they return to the cultist's apartment. The warden knocks on the door, and hearing no response, presumes the cultist dead. Andrew goes to distract the warden at their apartment door while Ashley cleans up the blood. When the warden opens the door, Ashley hides in a closet. He finds her, and Andrew kills him. Before they leave, he tells her to never speak of this to anyone, threatening her. Ashley lashes back, and Andrew apologises, telling her he’s stressed. They concoct a plan to escape; try summoning the demon that killed the cultist again, and offer the other warden as a sacrifice. While checking out the floor below them, they encounter a woman in Room 302. Andrew threatens her with the cleaver to call the other warden up to the cultists room. He stays with her while Ashley goes to summon the demon. Ashley is successful and receives a talisman which will give her prophetic visions. She goes back to meet up with Andrew, finding him alone and the woman dead. He tells her that he let the woman go, but she tried to shoot him with a nail gun and so he killed her. Ashley accuses Andrew of trying to sleep with the woman. This causes an argument. which spirals, climaxing when Ashley absolves herself of any wrongdoing and claims Andrew has done everything of his own free will. Andrew threatens to kill her, but Ashley says that she’s the only one he can talk to. The two reconcile with each giving a stipulation. Andrew doesn’t want to be called Andy, and Ashley wants it to be just the two of them. They escape the apartment together.

Some time later, the two are sitting at a cafe. They’ve been living at a motel. Ashley has a vision that night of a hitman killing them both, so she wakes Andrew up and they leave. She decides to wait to ambush the hitman with the gun they stole from the warden. They take everything from their motel room, and Andrew shoots the hitman in a nearby park. They steal his car. Ashley suggests robbing their parents, to which Andrew reluctantly agrees. She says they should kill them as well, which he isn’t keen on. While asleep in the car, Ashley recalls the two finding Nina dead. Ashley is unbothered while Andrew panics. The two go to bury the body, with Ashley blackmailing Andrew into being friends with her, else she tell everyone their secret. Andrew reprimands her, telling her he already liked her. Ashley is awoken in a car park near their parents' home.

They break into their parents' home, finding them to be richer than they remember. When their mum unexpectedly arrives home, Andrew converses with her. He tells her that they’ll cook dinner. They have dinner with their parents, and while cleaning up, Ashley attempts to convince Andrew to sacrifice their parents to recharge the talisman. While asleep on the couch, Andrew has a dream, recalling his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, his cannibalism of the cultist, and the corpses of the people he's killed. Ashley wakes up Andrew on the couch, and they bring their parents to the basement. They summon the demon, presumably killing them. While untying them, Andrew finds them to still be breathing and panics, so Ashley kills them. Ashley notes Andrew's apathy while they clean up. Before they leave, they decide to get another vision. Ashley falls asleep, and either gets a vision recalling her life and her relationship with Andrew (Burial) or is chased by Andrew, who then kills her (Decay). Regardless, the two leave to dump the bones into the ocean.

Codependency

Andrew and Ashley are hopelessly codependent. This is both alluded to (i.e when Andrew’s girlfriend breaks up with him) and made very clear through their dialogue. After they butcher and eat the cultist, Andrew wakes Ashley up because he can’t sleep and sleeps next to her that night, which is implied to be a regular occurrence. Throughout the game, Andrew struggles to cope with his actions and their tumultuous future, often talking out his problems with a relatively unbothered Ashley. After their first argument he tells her “It’s……….. I’m stressed out, Leyley.” and when she gives him the silent treatment in the car, he attempts to apologise but is rebuked. Andrew’s reliance on Ashley to cope with his guilt is something both of them are very aware of: “I’m the only one you can talk to. I’m the only one who can make it go away!” “Fancy that. When you’re the reason I can’t sleep in the first place.”. Andrew has always struggled to say no to his sister; in the past, he was reluctant to trap Nina, and tried to convince Ashley to let her out of the chest. Ashley gets his compliance through emotional manipulation “It’s not fair! Why does everyone like her better? I’m loud and weird and annoying and no one likes me at all!”  ”...I like you better LeyLey.” “Prove it. Liar”. This codependency is only furthered when they bury the body; “You’re a bad person Andy. But I won’t tell anyone… So let’s always be friends. Okay?”. Andrew is “stuck” with her (a motif repeated throughout the game). In the present, he is quick to dismiss Ashley’s idealistic plans, pointing out how they can’t stay at their parents house after the murder or use their IDs. However, he still goes along with the majority of her schemes, even if they’re dangerous (i.e killing the hitman). This indicates the level of influence she still has over him; during their argument in Room 302, she insists that “you chose me! YOU CHOSE ME! ME!!”, referring to the Nina incident, which incites Andrew enough to threaten to kill her. His eventual refusal to do so shows us two things; that he still feels intense guilt over Nina’s death, and that he needs Ashley to deal with it. 

While Ashley is the more assertive of the two, this doesn’t mean she’s any less dependent than Andrew. She’s shown to be incredibly possessive of Andrew (who she prefers to call “Andy”), getting intense jealousy whenever he receives or gives attention to another woman. This is what incites her to trap Nina; “What do I do about these hussies around you…”, as well as sparking the argument in Room 302; “Andrew shoots his load, while I risk getting shot by the warden!”.  She even mentions this in the Decay route after they sacrifice their parents; “I don’t know. What do you keep me around for?? I’m certainly no pretty lady. You can’t even fuck me.”. Her contract with Andrew demonstrates this perfectly: “And thus, she forever keeps her mouth shut.” “Only as long as you keep your eyes closed!”. Ashley holds all the power on the surface; she’s the one who can reveal this truth, showing indifference to the truth of Nina’s death being revealed; “So what? “No one likes me anyway.”. But when it comes down to it, she needs Andrew just as much as he needs her. While the emotional manipulation she uses on Andrew is obviously bad, it’s clear that Ashley herself believes what she’s saying; “God! You stupid, stupid girl. I’ve been here this whole time….. None of this needed to happen, you could’ve just–” “I KNOW YOU DON’T LIKE ME!! Andy, I know. But that doesn’t matter anymore. Because from now on, no one will like you either!”. She blackmails Andrew because she genuinely believes this is the only way to get him to like her, ignoring his complaints. The current Ashley is certainly more deliberately manipulative than her past self, but as we see with her stipulation, Andrew’s undivided attention is still the most important thing to her. There is no Leyley without Andy.

Idealisation

“Andy” and “Leyley” are more than just nicknames; they are used by the siblings to refer to distinct versions of themselves. This difference is most pronounced in Andrew; whenever we see the two in flashbacks, they are “Andy” and “Leyley” but Andrew is quick to show his disdain for the nickname whenever Ashley tries to call him it. After killing the warden, he decides to play along, but when they leave the apartment, his one stipulation is that she never calls him “Andy” again (which she deliberately breaks again and again). In his own words,  “Okay, but I’m not gonna be Andy anymore. He’s so… spineless. And I hate Leyley like you wouldn’t believe… She better stay and die here with Andy. So you and I can leave.”. Andrew associates “Andy” with a prior version of himself; calling him “spineless” implies that he intends to stand up to Ashley more than he did in the past, and he makes it clear that to him, there is a clear distinction between the two and their nicknames. When she calls him Andy in the motel, he responds with “Go for it! Though you’re going to find me a lot less accommodating than Andy.”.  This is what sparks their big argument in the car; “Oh c’mon! It’s just a joke.” “Like I don’t know you Ashley! You’ve pulled this shit before… You’ll keep going “Andy “Andy” until I get tired of correcting you. And suddenly it’s “Andy and Leyley and Stupid Bullshit” all over again.”. He confronts her again while they’re washing the dishes at their parent’s house; “I agreed to behave, and you agreed it’s just us now.” “Funny. Because I remember agreeing to bury Andy and Leyley.”. Andrew wants to use their new life on the run as a fresh start of sorts; to be a different, better version of himself. But Ashley doesn’t.

Ashley is naturally opposed to Andrew’s stance. She adores “Andy”, not just the nickname, but the ideal of Andy. Of the brother who loves her more than anyone else, who helps her out whenever she needs it, who agrees with her no matter what. While Andrew tries to push himself away from this mould, Ashley wants him to stay firmly within it. This dynamic has existed for some time prior to the events of the game; “I told you to stop calling me that. We’re not kids anymore.”.  Despite agreeing to his stipulation, she continually pushes his boundaries, trying to slip it into conversation like in the motel (which he instantly rebukes) and later into the conversation during dinner with their parents. She wants Andrew to be just like they were when they were kids, when they were doing their “Andy and Leyley” adventures. It’s no coincidence that after they eat the cultist (the inciting incident), Ashley reminds Andrew of their past; “Hey Andy? Remember when we used to go on adventures. Andy and Leyley’s quest for something-or-another. Remember?” “W-why bring this up…?” “Isn’t this just another one of those?”. She’s still treating everything like just another adventure, which gets on Andrew’s nerves after he kills the warden; “Ashley. I am not in the mood for your shit right now.”. While washing dishes, Andrew asserts that “Well guess what? Andy is dead.” with Ashley responding that “..... You’re right. I really don’t like Andrew.”. Andrew wants to bury Andy, while Ashley wants him to be Andy forever. But what she can’t (or won’t) understand is that there is no Andy. Not like she wants.

Desensitisation

Throughout the game, Andrew slowly gets more and more desensitised to both his and Ashley’s actions. He’s careful by nature, and quick to panic when things get out of control. He retches when eating the cultist, and struggles to sleep that night. But as time goes on, as more people die, he starts to lose his sense of humanity. In fact, he begins to become more and more like Ashley, something that she notices; I don’t know… something is shifting. I don’t really like it…... What’s interesting is that Ashley doesn’t want Andrew to be like her. No matter what route you take, Ashley picks up on Andrew’s nonchalance when cleaning up their parents' bodies. Andrew continues casually butchering your parents. Incidentally, there’s a knot in your stomach OR “Having regrets?” “Would I be allowed to say so, if I did?”  “I love you Andy. I love you. I love you. I love  you. I’m sorry for lashing out earlier. I forgot how hard this is for you.” “I’m fine.” “No you’re not, talk to me.” “………. I’ve got nothing to say to you”. Andrew continues casually butchering your parents. And for the first time in forever, you have no idea what he’s thinking. During his vision in the Burial route, we see his ex-girlfriend Julia. Andrew says that; “You’ll never see her again. And the fact that it doesn’t really bother you, bothers you”. Andrew isn’t just becoming desensitised to murder and cannibalism, he’s becoming desensitised to everything, as demonstrated by his nonchalance at the bridge. Ashley later shows relief when Andrew can’t sleep; “Oh, you still can’t sleep? For a moment there I thought you’d changed.”, followed up by his eulogy at the bridge where she wonders Maybe you have changed after all…. Meanwhile, in the Decay route, after she has the vision of Andrew murdering her, she calls him Andy and hopes that he doesn’t react. He initially doesn’t but when she asks why he doesn’t say “I love you” back, he says: “You keep calling me by some other guy’s name. What do you expect?”. This is the natural consequence of Ashley’s desire for her Andy; as Andrew goes along with her plans, he becomes less like the Andy she wants. These incredibly stressful situations either result in him snapping (Room 302) or no longer caring (their parents). And these exact situations cause the only thing keeping him together to fracture and tear.

Responsibility

No matter what seems to happen, Andrew tries to maintain some form of a moral compass. He tries to justify his cannibalism to Ashley: “I was too hungry to think straight, okay??”. But as Ashley points out, whether he feels bad about it or not, he did it.  “What do you want me to do about it? Woosh woosh! there goes my magic wand! There. I’ve absolved you of your sins! You never took a bite now.”. This is Andrew’s most potent coping mechanism, the one thing that seems to keep him sane despite everything; no matter what, he is not fully responsible for what he’s done. When they argue in Room 302, he denies Ashley’s innocence; “I’m all innocent. I’ve not harmed a single soul!” “Of course not! YOU MAKE ME DO IT FOR YOU!!”. While this allows him to maintain some composure, the obvious guilt he carries reveals his true feelings; he is aware of what he’s done and what it means. But he maintains that fragile defence, the last thing that he needs to hold on to not to lose himself; part of their twisted, complex relationship is that Andrew needs Ashley to share the blame. But it’s a ticking time bomb. The big turning point for when he seems to fully accept his responsibility, is after they sacrifice their parents. They are revealed to still be breathing, causing Andrew to panic, but Ashley kills them. And she catches something; “Surely, he’ll bitch and moan as per usual. But you did not miss that sigh of relief”. Relief at the death of his parents. Until now, Andrew always had a defence for his murders, as we see in his dream; You killed this one to protect Ashley. No regrets.; Ashley would’ve wanted to kill this one anyway. You couldn’t leave any witnesses after all.; This one you had to get before he got you.. But he’s run out of excuses. He nonchalantly hacks away at their bodies and disposes of their remains, something which even Ashley is uncomfortable with. The way he drags his bloody finger down her face is very reminiscent of her doing the same thing when Andrew can’t sleep after they eat the cultist. The roles are deliberately reversed here. Ashley is turning Andrew into a monster. Or maybe he’s letting her.

Neglect

While Andrew is slowly changing, Ashley, on the other hand, was never bothered by the murders, or the cannibalism, or just about anything. We see this in the past too; after Nina dies, she reacts with cold indifference; “If you’re so weak that you die just like that, then clearly nature doesn’t want you to live.”. This brings us into a nature versus nurture argument; was Ashley’s upbringing the cause of her personality, or was it intrinsic to her? To do that, we have to understand why Ashley is so fiercely possessive of Andrew. We don’t see a great deal of their childhood, but we can piece a lot together from short scenes and implications. The game establishes early on that Ashley has a bad relationship with her mum; “Please don’t call me anymore. I won’t answer…………… G-goodbye, Ashley…”. This is expanded upon in the car, when it’s revealed that Andrew knows their parents’ new address; “.... She actually told you the address?? Huh.. the only thing she told me was to stop calling her.”. The conversations Andrew has with their mum makes things very clear; he gets along well enough with her to piss Ashley off; “Hell, since you think everything is all good, why not stay here and play happy family some more??”, and of course, Andrew has to convince her otherwise; “Listen, I chose you, didn’t I? I chose you.”. And in her vision during the Burial route, we see a representation of the events up until this point with plushies. Her parents and Andrew are at the dinner table, while she’s alone in the corner. Even if you try and put her plushie on a chair, it just falls off. 

We are given more context in a hidden scene you can find in the Decay route. Ashley finds a present in her vision, which reminds her of one of her birthdays; “Hey Andy? Isn’t it interesting that when it’s your birthday, you have your classmates come over and stuff… But when it’s my birthday, we can never afford anything?”. When Andrew suggests buying a cake, Ashley responds with “Nah… it’s not like my friends would show up anyway…. They’re always busy when I ask for anything. Even when I haven’t said the date yet…”. After Andrew uses his pocket money to buy some lemon muffins, he tells her to wish for something. She wishes that “my brother loses all his friends and never finds love!”. This scene is really, really interesting because of how normal Ashley is in it. She isn’t concocting some scheme, or manipulating Andrew. She’s just a kid who’s sad on her birthday, and looks to her brother to comfort her. It’s for this reason that I think you can view this scene as a turning point of sorts; when Ashley gives up on depending on anyone except Andrew. That’s certainly what her wish suggests. This is further supported by a conversation Andrew has with his mum if Ashley leaves him to set up the ritual; “I wanted to apologise to you. For always making you look after her. That was wrong of me. I’m sorry I made you raise her. I thought you were getting along, so I didn’t want to see what was happening. And for that, I apologise.”. Ashley’s neglect was not incidental, but purposeful; her mum let Andrew deal with her and ignored their growing dependency.

Now we have a much better idea of who Ashley is, and why. Ashley had these almost sociopathic tendencies as a child (as seen with Nina), but blaming her isn’t really fair. Ashley was completely and utterly failed by her parents. Her mum delegated the burden of raising a child to Andrew, while ignoring the worrying signs she developed. If Ashley stays in the basement to set up the ritual, her mum admits she was aware of Nina’s murder; “I never told anyone what you two little psychos did to that girl.”. Their mum is characterised by inaction; she admits she’s a fuck up to Andrew, but it doesn’t change a thing. Ashley’s lack of parental affection and her inability to get along with her peers led to a loneliness that only Andrew could fix. It’s no surprise that her relationship with Andrew developed the way it did. Ashley is a victim of a much subtler form of child abuse, the type that isn’t dramatised or talked about as often, but can be just as devastating. Ashley didn’t have to be a monster.

That’s It?

We’re left at a precipice; these two fundamentally broken people who can only find comfort in each other. Unfortunately, the game isn’t currently finished. We don’t get to see how the branching Burial or Decay routes go, or even how Andy and Leyley’s final adventure ends. But I still think there’s a lot to say about this little RPGMaker game made by one dude. How it examines these complex themes; the toxic nature of codependency, the unhealthy escapism of idealisation. How desensitisation can be inevitable, and how people use mental gymnastics to escape the weight of their actions. And how monsters aren’t born, they’re made, sometimes in more subtle and insidious ways. I think that’s all really worth talking about.

Postface

I haven’t written a structured essay in a long time, so I hope my rustiness didn’t show too badly. I’m not exactly sure why I felt so inclined to write all this about this specific game. It’s definitely a game I really enjoyed, and that strongly affected me emotionally. But I’ve played a decent amount of games like that in the past year or so. Maybe I just played it at a time that I needed some kind of creative outlet. Who knows.

Thanks for bearing with my indulgence.

[possiblyunhinged]

Every time I listen to Keir Starmer in PMQs or conferences, I think, ‘Nah, this guy is fucking sound.’ And then I go online, and people talk about him like he’s fucking Goebbels or something.

It makes me laugh because people claim they want ‘real politicians’ but then critique the exact pressures that force every single politician to be orchestrated and media-trained in the first place.

I’m just fucking exhausted, frankly.

Because any dregs of hope you allow yourself to have are almost immediately stomped out by some jobsworth online, who seems to think their true calling in life is making sure nobody believes anything can get better.

Labour is passing decent bills. They’re trying to act on things. And I hesitate to even say that—because I know some jobsworth in the comments is going to clutch their pearls, act like the Labour Party ‘may as well’ be called the German Workers Party, and insist—with absolute sincerity—that having a party like Reform in charge would be no different.

Like… my friends, you have lost the plot.

And I say that as someone who once went to the doctors at 14 because I was having psychotic episodes where Jim Morrison’s face would morph out of my bedroom walls.

But anyway.

That being said, I'm not going to pretend that watching Labour 'attempt' to tackle the country’s issues doesn’t feel a bit like watching someone try to put out a fire with a singular Yakult.

Backing down on non-dom status. Endlessly waffling about ‘growth’ instead of tackling wealth inequality. Abandoning millions of children in poverty by refusing to remove the two-child benefit cap.

And yet, I can't work out who I'm more sick of...

Them or middle-class leftists talking down from their online pulpits, completely unaware of the culture they've created—one that makes it borderline impossible for working-class people to see the left as anything but a self-posturing entity where folk play silly games of relative deprivation.

The next time I hear a middle-class person say, “I acknowledge my privilege, but I grew up with my siblings’ hand-me-downs” like they’re fucking Oliver Twist, I will swing.

Swing, I tell you.

Fists ablaze.

Because the reality is, I will always have more in common with a disenfranchised person from where I’m from than I ever will with them. I will always feel like a stranger in their spaces. And I did, very much so, at university.

I need it to be clear: I am left-wing. Very left-wing. But I also find the modern middle-class left insufferable—and worse than that, actively harmful to the very people they claim to fight for.

Going to uni was lowkey a terrible move for me. Not just because I didn’t fully grasp the tens of thousands in debt I was racking up—coming from a Wonga and BrightHouse family, financial instability is all I’ve ever known—but because I was suddenly surrounded by left-wing, middle-class folk and learned the hard way that their politics had absolutely nothing to do with the socialist movements I admired.

I sat in rooms with 20-odd-year-olds who genuinely thought the route to working-class liberation was mandating other people’s language—all while dismissing the simple fact that politics is legislation. Change in a democracy is legislation. And the sheer irritability toward that reality, like it’s beneath them or a distraction, is fucking wild to me.

And honestly? It made me understand why my family was so turned off by the left. Because it stopped being about workers and started being about performing virtue.

The left’s inability to look in the mirror and acknowledge how far it’s drifted from birthing the NHS, a living wage, maternity leave, and actual material change is… telling. It has all but abandoned real structural reform, acting as if ignoring working-class frustrations will somehow prevent them from slipping into far-right rhetoric.

Spoiler: It won’t.

People just want change. They want to get through a month without spending the last two weeks wondering how they’re going to afford groceries or fill up their fucking car.

I know it’s easy, as an autistic person with a lateral brain, to be like, ‘Tax the rich, job done.’ And I get that it’s probably more complicated than that (she says)…

But is it?

The rich have never been richer. The middle class is shrinking. The working class is drowning.

Labour backed down on non-dom tax but pushed ahead with private school VAT—which now just feels like a cheap political move. What was that supposed to do? Placate us into thinking education reform is coming while there’s a £20 billion black hole to fill?

Meanwhile, billionaires are buying up assets, foreign oligarchs treat the UK like their personal Monopoly board, and they’re avoiding tax while doing it.

And what… Labour thinks taxing assets is somehow ‘anti-aspiration’?

But they want to go after inheritance tax and farmers?

Make it make sense.

It’s infuriating to watch. It’s awkward to watch people be so spineless while suffering gets worse.

[livdaboba]

Currently still 8%, 100k words demo

And silence spoke to you like a rat biting the rope holding you from falling into insanity.

Justice or your destiny?

All you knew was the cursed,

“Welcome home.”

Born as the son/daughter of the dethroned emperor, you lived much of your life in hiding, being trained to rebel against the current tyrant of a ruler.

However everything changed at the month you turned 16.

The elders of the rebellion decreeing you to gain fame at the upcoming tournament known as the election, you are forced to take your first steps in reclaiming your father’s throne.

Carve your own journey, a passionate rebel or a rebellious anarchist? Take down the tyrant that is nibbling on the lives of his people and discover the rottenness of the rebellion!

Chose your fate

Lead the rebellion/ Be a fugitive wanted by the tyrant and the rebellion/ Infiltrate into the depths of the tyrant’s court

Potentially be corrupt

Customize your pc

Combat centered/ Charismatic/ Wise/ mixed

Male/female

Determine your personality

Determine your self esteem

Dynamic gameplay

Betray and be betrayed

Convert your enemies into comrades

Be convinced to side with the enemy

Different branches of love with same RO

Discover secret routes

Encounter assassination attempts

Romance and rivals

3 Opposite gender RO

2 set male RO

2 set female RO

Adventure theme

Slowly descend into angst and darkness. From the first step of adventure. Enter the mind of your character and chose what to let go.

Customize your faith

Christian (struggling and reborn)

Christian Nazirite (struggling and reborn)

Unbeliever

Romantic options

Aden/Adina [M/F]

A brunette with a knack for decisive and violent response. Aden/Adina is one of the strongest rebel in your generation, with no serious flaws. You often wonder what your childhood friend hides behind those striking green eyes. Calm on the surface but a wreck inside, only you know of the tempest brewing.

*self esteem issues, may be manipulative depending on choices. Aden(distant, yet caring and respects you), Adina (Capricious, yet secretly caring)

Ronnie [M]

A blue eyed red head, Ronnie is charismatic oriented person yet actually a laid back guy who befriends everybody instead of a heart robber. You often wondered how he was so uncaringly positive until you noticed not everything is as it seems.

*Laidback yet protective (bro vibes)

Elias/Liana [M/F]

As mysterious as Elias’s/Liana’s mismatched eyes and as tantalizing as his/her sculpted olive build. Change how you meet this RO and explore three different dynamics with this character. And decide the flow of your relationship. (No spoiler).

*enemy to lovers/ friends to enemies/ lovers to enemies/ enemies to friends

(Elias- stoic|Liana- flirty)

[If you play female pc, Liana would exist as Elias’s siblings and vice versa]

Feiyu [F]

Doe eyes and a cute twin bun hairstyle. Feiyu is Innocent… or is she really? Tied to an organization that still brings goosebumps when you think of it. Deal with the complexity of the game when her allegiance to the rebellion surpasses yours.

*Just a really nice girl

Shanon [F]

Strong headed and a body honed for combat. She is a student part timing as a blacksmith, and partaking the tournament where the winner will be recruited into the empire. Dangerous sense of morals and those amber eyes which hides no emotions.

*strong personality

Zion [M]

The tyrant who started all the tragedy. Loving him would be everything wrong, yet there is something about him that pulls you under. Be it his immoral love and unchecked obsession.

*???

Mark

Potentially more to come.

Prove that black hair does not equal to a calm personality. Mark is dash of energy ready to irk the heck out of you. Mark is an adventurous agent of the Chatoyant who does everything exciting and often desires to drag you into his “marvelous” schemes.

???

An RO that I might scrap.

Demo link below: