#pristin lq

[glitchh1337]

the right thing to do

[cedesect]

I want to talk about the happily ever after route for a second. I want to talk hows it's actually about the narrator. I want to talk about how smitten and the princess directly parallel the relationship between the narrator and LQ.

Smitten as the shadow does what he does out of love for the princess- a misguided sort of love. I'd argue the narrator feels the same kind of love for LQ. A love that traps, that cages. He thinks he knows whats best for LQ- he "rewards" him with something endless and meaningless in "the good ending". "happily after ever" is a VERY similar title, and in it we are also trapped in the cabin by someone who thinks he knows what we want, and that something is something endless, and meaningless- plates refilling, games resetting. It's awful. it's torture, the narrator admits this when he watches the events unfold, it's one of the only times we see him show such abject... I mean, it's hard to describe the emotion. He's a little bit distraught, a little horrified, a little disgusted. he sounds broken, really, like the full weight of his actions has just been shown to him.

These lines stand out to me, too. This chapter really puts him in a new light, even if it's just for a moment, before the echo of him fades away. God, the Pristine Cut is a masterpiece. I've had so much fun with it so far, its really fucking great.

[mysoulspiralbound]

Finished STP recently and have been having thoughts

The LQ gvies a dialogue option along the lines of "I wish this didn't have to happen to you. I would take your place, if I could" and the Princess going "alright, bet." I'm imagining this as an alternate ending to the shifting mound fight.

Enter, The Heroine:

The narrator starts his "you are on a path in the woods speech" before promptly freaking out because that is not the Long Quiet, the nascent god he made, nor is this the princess. Instead she's something else entirely. She is not death, nor does she contain it in her multitudes. This is the embodiment of change, it's the Long Quiet who deals in stagnation. Quickly adapting, the narrator changes his script from Hero to Heroine and hopes the rest can play out according to his plan, even if the split very clearly went wrong somehow, this is probably better, right? It makes sense that death would be a part of nothing, right? (he's a very stressed out echo right now).

It gets worse when they reach the cabin and the pristine blade is not on the table. The steal claw does belong to the Long Quiet, even if they. can't quite remember why it feels so right to keep it in their grasp. Especially since this form is so much weaker.

The Prince has been chained down here for as long as he can remember. He doesn't want to end the world, but if prompted the idea does feel familiar. He thinks he knows he's killed a God before. Power feels as natural to him as helplessness. It's the lack of choices that's getting to him. The voices in his head are not exactly helping him plea his case to the Heroine. Each time she finds him again, she's different, stronger than before. The concept of eternity does not scare him as badly as it did the shifting mound, but he does fear the unknown, what lies beyond the vail.

[strangeracrossthestreet]

So, I think PATD route finally answers a question I don't think has ever really been answered before.

What is the Pristine Blade?

And what do I think it is? It's what the Narrator used to cut Shifty and LQ from one into two...

[tigertaurus22]

Here’s my little contribution to the Slay the Princess fandom.

I created an OC called The Child. She doesn’t really have a name, just like her parents. Yeah, she’s supposed to be the daughter of the Princess and the Decider.

Warning: Major Spoilers ahead if you haven’t played the game yourself or watched too many videos about it

She comes from another timeline where she was born after everything is said and done and the Long Quiet and Shifting Mound leave together as their true selves.

I imagine she stumbles upon another Construct and is only able to enter it during the events of Apotheisis when the Princess tears a hole into the Construct’s walls. She takes the form a small speck of light that goes completely unnoticed by the Shifting Mound at first.

After this, the Child becomes part of almost every scenario the Long Quiet creates, only appearing in the second and third Chapters. She refers to the SM and LQ as her mother and father, much to their confusion.

In the second chapters, she meets LQ inside the cabin, in the room with the Pristine Blade, and goes on before him.

In the third chapters, she meets LQ just outside the cabin, warning him of what he might find. Depending on the situation, she either stays outside where it’s safe or goes in with him.

Like her mother, her appearance changes with each Chapter. In The Nightmare, the Princess is enamored with the Child because she can actually withstand the effects and even give off her own. She’s happy to let her play with LQ too and escape with her.

In the Spectre, the Child serves as the Princess’ only company before LQ comes back, taking on a half-spectral form herself.

In the Witch, she is initially distrustful of LQ and scurries off to her mother’s side upon his entry. The Princess is protective of the Child, like any mother cat would be.

In the Adversary, the Child acts as the referee while the Princess and LQ duke it out. They’re indifferent to her but still aware she’s there.

I imagine that, in the Happily Ever After scenario, the Child will present an interesting divergence. She gets sleepy and the Princess will want to put her to bed, leading the Hero to the girl’s room in the Tower-Cabin. There, we’ll see evidence of her true nature in drawings she plastered on the wall. The Child will also let the LQ in on the fact Smitten was with the Princess.

I have my own scenario in mind for an original Chapter 2. I call it The Mother, wherein the Cabin turns into a veritable cottage. The front room appears very cozy and home-y, basically a living room, with a couch/bed tucked into the corner.

A table is there, littered with papers and drawing implements, but no blade.

The basement has been turned into a kitchen/pantry/dining room and we find the Princess hard at work using the Pristine Blade as a regular kitchen knife, attached to a longer chain that will only let her move to as far as the door. The Child is waiting patiently at the table for her food to be ready.

It’s basically just them playing House, and could go a few different ways.

The Child’s mission is to explore and learn about how her parents were before she was born, but after being traumatized a little, she wants to escape and rejoin her real parents who are already out in the real world together.

When the LQ asks the Shifting Mound about the Child, she will claim she knows nothing about her. Unlike the Narrator, the Child is a real person but an outsider. An Intruder.

The Narrator won’t know what to make of her, but from appearances alone, he might conclude that she was related to the Hero somehow. Though he’ll claim that’s impossible (because he didn’t create her).

[mpsideadump]

Pristine Cut new routes!

I've currently played through all of the new routes (as in the new branches of Specter, Damsel, and Prisoner) and I just wanted to get all of my initial thoughts down and share them with you guys!

So

I TALK SPOILERS, DONT CLICK THE READ MORE BUTTON IF YOU HAVENT SEEN THE NEW ROUTES OR ARE NEW TO THE GAME

The Princess and the Dragon was the first one I did and FINALLY SEEING THE LONG QUIET IN FULL because we're inside the Princess's body is AMAZING!

Like?????

And the fact it confirms that LQ just stares when he's talking with the other voices, and the voices can share control of the body and they actually have distinct mannerisms! For sure now one of my favorite chapters!

The Cage's design is SO COOL! I'm not disappointed in how the Cage turned out cuz the way the Woods look and the Cabin being on a floating island makes it one of the more distinct Ch.3s. I will say that I am disappointed in how my run of the Chapter went cuz Skeptic turned into one of the worst voices for me when he's paired with Paranoid (my favorite voice and unfortunately).

I've heard that there's actually a bunch of variations for this chapter that end up with a happier ending, but the one I got where LQ gets decapitated and he just watches his body fight the Princess's felt a bit too jaded for my tastes. I'm gonna be experimenting to see what else I can do!

And finally...

OH MY GOD HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS OFFCIALLY THE BEST CHAPTER IN THE GAME!!! (in my opinion!)

I'll be honest, Damsel wasn't really my favorite because going through it as it was was just kind of...boring. Deconstructed Damsel was far more interesting because it pointed out the problems with her as she is (and the doodle is hilarious to boot). The Burned Grey, while a cool design, also wasn't really all that impressive to me because that chapter always ends with you and her burning together (but I do get what that route was trying to get at, which is how destructive a person blinded by love can be).

Happily Ever After takes that same idea and applies it to the fricking Smitten! SMITTEN!!

We finally have a chapter where Smitten is taken to the extreme and I'm all for it. The way he kills us to get to it is fricking terrifying, and the form he ends up taking to control the Princess is also heartbreaking (pun partially intended).

BUT HAVING THE FRICKING NARRATOR FINALLY REALIZE HOW BAD HIS IDEA IS AS WELL?????

Him witnessing first hand the torture of having someone else tell you what to do and how you should be happy as well as what stagnant, never-changing life actually looks like....

And him getting a mini-redemption arc out of it🥲

And gaaaaaahhhhhhh that final dance under the stars with her was perfect😭😭😭

I actually didn't want this Princess to go and was so sad when she got picked up by Shifty (its what I felt towards Thorn but like 10x worse).

Overall, I honestly believe that "Princess and the Dragon" & "Happily Ever After" can make great final princesses before Shifty is fully reconstructed. HEA even more so because of Narrator's redemption and I have the sneaking suspicion that getting this as the last Princess might actually change his opinions when you meet him.

The Cage was pretty good, but like I said I need to see a more uplifting variation of it to be more satisfied with the chapter itself.

[hello-universe-lovers]

"Well, hello there! Fancy seein' y'all here!"

"..."

My Cold debuts with a new Princess: the Belle, an Offshoot of the Damsel. The color ref is not height accurate so refer to my rough height estimate.

You know where the Spoiler rants are (this is a long one since I am introducing a new Princess)

The Belle:

- Spawned from a last ditch effort from the Narrator to keep the Damsel jailed. He locks the cabin door as the Player and Damsel were leaving, only letting out the Player, but not the Damsel. To bypass this, they decided to swap clothes, leaving the Princess in her current clothes and the Player in the Princess Dress. But she won't leave the Player trapped for very long. She decided to stay around the cabin, creating a farm around it, and waiting until the Player decides to leave.

- I went through many ideas for the name (Cowgirl, Rancher, Southerner(j), and so forth) before settling on the Belle from "Southern Belle"

- The Axe is from a melted down Pristine Blade. (Don't ask how that worked)

- the Crown on her hat is floppy. It's not real metal.

- She still has the traits of the Damsel (wanting to make you happy, speaking sweetly, etc...) but it has been tempered by hard work and a southern accent.

- I may or may not have based her color palette on a certain frequent stp reblogger...

- no one knows how or why she has a piece of her dress, when she gave it to the Player before leaving.

- No one knows how she was able to make a farm either.

- there are only poultry on her fields. But bountiful fruits and vegetables.

- doesn't necessarily like Cold (his mood is a Debby downer), but she likes having someone to talk to, even if they don't talk back.

Voice of the COLD:

- obviously he is my most simple design so far.

- I interpret his "clothes" are a result of being tired of daily routine. If he had his way, he'd wear nothing at all. But Hero would throw a hissy fit if he just walked around naked.

- His hands and feet are just like LQ's

- He has 2 eyes. There is nothing on the other side. Just the 2 eyes on 1 side.

- The Mug is from the Belle (he stole it)

- His hair is surprisingly silky for someone who's never seen taking a shower

- whatever liquid is in that mug, he is addicted to it.

- Yes, he has interrupted the Narrator with obnoxiously loud sipping.

- Doesn't like the Belle all that much (the mundane farm life bored him), but he still keeps stopping by, under the excuse of needing a refill. (He stays there for 3 hours, at least).

BONUS SLEEPING MOUND THOUGHTS:

(Explore) "What do you think of this vessel?"

"This one is loyal. She refused to leave you alone, but discovered joy and contentment, in waiting for you. She will make for an honest heart.

Do not mourn her, she has earned her rest."

((Cold you are so me coded it hurts me. Good thing Belle can balance you out!

[modeus-the-misanthrope]

I cracked the codes and figured out how we will make Damsel do her sad frowny face in the Pristine Cut!

First get her to the upper room of the cabin, as shown.

Once there when she asks, "What do you wanna do." You will get the option to ask, "Well...if I can ask you something a little personal...." This will cause her to lean forwards in interest. Like so.

And then she will respond "Of course, anything. Just say what you want." Which will be responded to by LQ without the players input asking. "Do you know if Prisoner is seeing anyone?" Resulting in the camera zooming ij further on this expression.

[insert-random-account-name]

Meme redraw with LQ + Damsel

(Based on the Distracted Boyfriend meme)

When you're leaving with your beloved but the pristine blade catches your eye... (This will lead to burning alive)

I know it's bad, but I couldn't stop thinking about this meme while watching Euro Brady's play through, and I haven't seen anyone else do it, so I did it myself.

[dualogical]

Divorce the Princess AU - credit to Cabin Enthusiast

I've talked with a few people in the Tabby Discord. They agree that there should be an ending where Quiet separates from SM but doesn't slay her.

Think about it: Whether intentionally or not, they have hurt each other, and sure an option is to shove everything under the rug, but there can be more options.

Maybe once Quiet goes to the Heart with Hero and are above the basement - let's suppose Hero got them out of Her - the Voices can stage an intervention? It's difficult to see you're in a bad situation if you're in the thick of it. Hero genuinely cares for your wellbeing and I'm sure Contrarian wouldn't be opposed either. Smitten and Broke would possibly be the hardest to convince. Just talk things out with people that can see from the 'outside' or at least one step removed.

Here's my readings/evidence

Adversary: Look, I love adversary and it can be healthy, sure! But if the wrong options are picked she beats him to death, even moreso if he tries to go upstairs and hide from her. Needle outright blames him from what she's become. Even SM agrees she victim blamed him!

Damsel actually doesn't do anything, she's fine. LQ can make her deconstruct but it's accidental at least? (I hope the Pristine Cut doesn't make me eat my words)

Prisoner is also fine other than strangling him with her chains. Boundaries, people.

The Greys kill you but to be fair you killed them first so it's a bit of a cycle.

Spectre: LQ outright killed her first. I've never been killed so I don't know if ripping out the heart is an appropiate response. Wraith has some lines in the posession moment that's heavily reminicent of other things.

Witch: If it's Witch alone I can say 'fair', because it's a cycle of betrayal. Both hurt each other in this one.

Wild is also pretty okay but you can also read the route as codependency given form.

Nightmare and MOC are pretty irredeemable in my book, what with hurting him enough times even the Voices are heavily traumatized. That's an overreaction to being locked in a basement. I get the initial lashing out but to keep it going...

Beast and Den: She fucking eats him. Enough said.

Tower: The most obvious one, verbal abuse galore and makes him hurt himself. Fury from what we have won't be a cakewalk either. And given the trailer Apotheosis can stone you

[joculatrixster]

HOLY SHIT YOU'RE INTO SLAY THE PRINCESS... idk if this was asked already it's been so long cough but who are your favorite Voices, Vessels and endings of this game? Tell me all about what you love about them and the game in general.

i llove the game! been following it since the first demo actually!! i have been a fan of tma for a while so when i saw Jonathan Sim was the narrator i was intrigued, i watched manlynaasshero(shout out, also got m into the purrfect games which fun fact i had the top blog for until i delted it) play the demos but played it for real w the pristine cut, i did a full playthrough w a friend w multiple endings and alt routes but i havent done everything yet since ive been busy w other games-

ok so my favorites lets seee...

i definitely have a big paraniod, sceptic, and cold bias, they r just sooooo like oh my god im squishing them and wringing them out like rags.

paraniod bc the nightmare was my kinda "the real slay the princess starts here" ending allll the way back in the demo, the fucking heart liver lunges thing? i did it on beat the entire playthrough w my friend, i thoguht and still think its such a banger addition to what could be a one note character showing how hes Preservation Instincts not just Paranioa, he stemms from a defense mechanism like all the others and is always the one in our corner even if he doesnt rlly Want To do All that

sceptic bc hes just kinda? fucking cool? his name makes u think of the paraniod or chested, u think he just questions everything or maybe is a bit snarky but actually hes more like that toxic older brother who does whats "best for u" even if it hurts u??? like he refuses to accept their happy ending, one of the few voices who goes AGAINST Preservation simply bc he doesnt fuck w the idea of being a puppet but also lacks the real wish to cause harm like the stubborn or the oppertunist(who i would argue PREFERS endings where harm is caused bc it makes him feel more in control a la the dragon but thats for another day) hes literally just selfishness in its truest form he does whats best for LQ but not whats right for him.

cold is si damn cool. hes the most hesrtless route but he votes to save LQ, he follows the narrators whims to the letter but he chooses the option thats the most interesting even if it goes agisnt what anyone else wanted, hes lowkey suidical but only out of bordem?? he also goes against the best intrest but what even Is His Intrest? ud think a voice born from a cold hearted slaughter like him would be well...cold hearted? but hes lowkey not? hes muted, sure, and pretry monotone but he does things not due to cold hard logic nor due to what is objectively the best for LQ but bc of personal intrest or disinterest w the actions others take. him and the smitten r in my head like kinda opposite forces of burning passion and extinguished empathy but both of them do what they want and not what LQ needs???? sceptic is selfish but he at least puts LQ first even if in doing so he seizes LQ's autonamy, cold just does what brings the most new experiences which again is Crazy from the guy born of monotone motions but also makes complete sense

contriarian too tbh is another big one but thats bc its so charming that he could be there for the ending just. randomly, yhere, and me and my friend got the stranger first bc they r a bastard like that soo our "true" princess was her and her 5(i counted!) headed glory. he even stood up for us for the bit when everyone else wanted to stab us, what a stand up guy lol

favorite vessel is the sprit hands down, she is the cloest one to understanding the LQ and i had a viseral reaction of crindgw and discomfort playing through the princess and the dragon(can u tell its my favorite route yet?) seeing her perspective and seeing how she is willing to literally forgive her killer of she just gets a taste of the freedom denied to her in life(and he kills her, and she is just. how should she feel? tried? hurt? angry? she forgives him, bc what else can she even do?)

dude i fucking loooove meta narrstives and warped characters in eldritch places, this was a specifc list of niche narrative intrests that all came together to make the PERFECT game exploring the themes of the narrative! the only issue is im so fucked i cant even make any games like this anymore bc it just will never be stp...never ever...the art the music the writing all 100/10 literally changed my brain chemistry its so fantastic!!! every voice every vessel every dialouge option just captivated me like a toddler and cocomelon it was talior made to make MY nerouns activate so much

[paintinthesims]

Slaying Simming the Princess

I finished playing the pristine cut update for Slay the Princess a while ago and thought to myself: what if I made these guys in the sims? And so I did. I guess this is where they ended up after the "And? What happens next?" ending. XD

I started on The Long Quiet first. I'll admit that his CC is pretty scuffed, but this is the best I could find. It really should not be this hard to find animal parts (that actually work) for a sims game that's been out for this long, but that's just how it is. 😤 I kept seeing these big, beautiful wings taunting me from ts4 the whole time I was cc hunting... I also gave him a long, pointy nose to replicate his beak, and I think it looks alright. I may shorten it in the future, but he does canonically have a pretty monstrous-looking face, so maybe I should just let him be a little ugly. I also think his expression and slight overbite are also kind of cute. ^^ As for his traits, I realized that LQ is actually meant to be sort of a blank slate for the player to project onto, so I picked his traits off of how I personally played him. I also gave him the "Natural Cook" trait since he's already proficient with a knife. XD

Princess was much easier to find CC for, but her anime facial proportions posed some challenges of their own. Knowing from past experience that you can't make anime eyes really work in ts3's artstyle, I tried to go more semi-realistic. I'm not totally satisfied with how her face turned out, but I think she at least looks pretty by normal human standards. I may go cc hunting for a more accurate hairstyle in the future as well. I gave her the "Loves the outdoors" trait since I figured she would appreciate being outside more after being confined for so long. Also, you can't see it with her dress, but I made it so that she's usually barefoot. I mean... in the game, you never once see her wearing shoes, so I figured that she just doesn't have 'em. 🤷‍♀️

So... that's all I have to say about these two for now. I'm going to move them into Moonlight falls, and may consider moving them to Dragon Valley later (after they scope it out with the traveler mod). I plan to post about their first days doing life together sometime soon. ^^

[birdmitosis]

Voice of the Hero and the long quiet :))

Awwww HERO!! I love how easily I could tell that was Hero before scrolling down!! The combo of breastplate and scarf is so good (that scarf looks so comfy...) and I really do love how all of them hold the pristine blade super differently... It's very fun.

ALSO THEN LONG QUIET JUMPSCARE. Hehehe, I love how much of a cryptid LQ is in this art, it's perfect. And I love the shape of those wings, as well as how feathery and soft they look!!

[adelle-ein]

i've only played one of the new routes so far but damn that pristine really did cut

vague spoilers under cut for several new princesses + new ending

so far based on what i've seen it looks like i'm really getting everything i wanted from the new princesses and expanded princesses in terms of like...character development and arcs and the relationship btwn her and lq and just. really exploring things i wanted to explore and i'm so hyped. (would be cool to be able to go in blind but i'm too anxiety disorder lol. gonna do more of the new gals tomorrow though now that i have general ideas of how to get em)

the new ending i watched on youtube and honestly it's not that interesting, seems like more of an easter egg and less fleshed out than the other options, but some cool ass animation at least so there's that -- that being said, not quite enough cool ass animation to justify its existence lol. but that's fine, i like the existing endings and i don't think another outcome was really needed, i'm more interested in the chapter additions and those are seriously delivering

[gegnabean]

The narrator trying to get the LQ to take the pristine blade

🗡️

(in case you need a knife in the next two days for reasons unrelated to political assassinations)

[hello-universe-lovers]

Well, time for my stp au ranting (thanks @neverpathia for getting me off my ass)

For some context, have this:

SLAY THE PRINCESS: THE FIRST DRAFT AU:

(SPOILERS and OC TALK ahead)

Let's start with someone I've been referring to as the Player

(Do not mind that the sketch has a different title name. This was literally the first draft, ironically enough. And some beta voice designs weee~)

Her name is Ley, and her design is honestly what I call the "Pocket OC", a blank slate that I can insert into any universe or fandom with some modifications. For this application, she is the unfortunate Mortal that the Narrator decided would be GREAT at princess slaying!!/s

Contrary to Larry, who only had to do 5 loops to freed the Shifting Mound. Ley has to go through 11 FOR ALL THE VOICES. Since LQ isn't exactly capable of calling the voices back to him like She can. And with the "2 voice per loop" rule, she has to collect em one at a time. Fun times/s

I feel her personality is best described when I go into the routes with her, in contrast to Larry (note that they are in a specific order).

THE PRISONER:

Her first was the Prisoner. Her skepticism of the Narrator and the Princess (expressed by bringing the knife down to the basement) quickly melted away into sympathy for the Princess and resolved to save her. Unlike Larry, she didn't had to cut off her hand. Rather, she cut one of the links with the Pristine Blade, rendering it blunt. When the Narrator took over, the Princess had to bash her head against the wall, knocking her out/killing her (they have the same effect).

In the Prisoner Chapter, she woke up in chains, rather than free, and the Prisoner is her usual self. And to add to her headache, there was a new Voice with the Narrator: the Voice of the Hero (pre-egg crack). She informs her that she's been stuck here for a while, and the knife was out of their reach, presumably upstairs. Ley, not giving up, broke her thumb to get out (since the chain was for Larry's neck, not hers) and did the same for the Prisoner's wrist cuffs. With freedom and a knife again, the Prisoner asked how she was going to get her out of there. She did the same thing she did last time: cutting her free. When asked why she thought that worked and not trust her in her "alternative" plan: she did trust her, but she didn't want her to get hurt for the sake of freedom. Hero encourages her on with her choices, seeing how far a strong will can get you, as well as subtly demonstrating she can still influence this world, even for a human.

But, as the Shifting Mound claims the Prisoner and she finds herself in the Long Quiet. The Mirror is still there, but rather than showing her own reflection, she sees the Hero, in how she perceived the Voice, through her route. She says "Hi" to her (who finally cracked her egg) and comments on how Proud she was of Ley for keeping her good nature, even in such a difficult circumstances. However, their conversation couldn't last long as the darkness of the mirror starts taking Hero away. Hero screamed in fear, and Ley bangs on the mirror, but the Voice returns to the Long Quiet, to where she is meant to be. But she inherited Ley's Chivalry, and it will stick with her

(Don't worry, I won't rant too much with the rest, this is the first. The rest of them will be shorter)

Edit: so that was a lie!

THE RAZOR:

(Oh I forgot Stubborn went through a redesign godddd--)

Her next route is where her personality changes the Story. Let's be clear here: she isn't Larry. She has no God powers that makes her go numb to pain or make it go empty. But what she has is drive. Perseverance is a HELL of a drug, and it's what she did to Conquer the Razor.

After being stabbed by the Princess in the Chapter 1, Ley tried to give her the benefit of a doubt, but it's clear that this Princess's love language is "STAB! STAB! STAB!!", so it's time to arm up. It's difficult, she died a lot, but overtime, she realized that the arena they were in...was changing. Warps, cracks littered the walls of the cabin and basement. An idea was sown, and luckily she has the perfect voice to keep her going. Stubborn had to take a backseat, which he hated, but he got what he wanted. Clash after clash, the basement showed signs of breaking down. She even tore off one of Razor's arms to use as a sword. Once you have a goal that isn't just "winning", your motivation skyrockets. Chapter 4 wasn't named "Mutually Assured Destruction", but "the Bird and the Mountain". As the Princess showed her new form, Ley showed her plan's fruition. The basement finally gave out under the abuse, and collapsed on top of both of them. The Bladed Razor looked up at the sky from the hole that opened up, while pinned under tons of rubble and was memorized. Ley, meanwhile, made her way out of the rubble, in pain, but alive. This is where an unintended Side effect of her influence came in. Because she felt someone lifted her up and helped her approach the Razor. The Princess was surprised, but she had no regrets. In fact, she had fun!! Seeing her slowly growing to triumph over her was fun! And the stars were pretty to look at too! She was ok with dying now, promising to maybe try something else, now that the world is open to her...

But they won't have that next encounter, as Ley finds herself in the Long Quiet once more.

Stubborn was struggling against being unraveled, but he had to congratulate her. If it was him, he would have fought her over and over with no stop. But her plan not only stopped her, it also kept her going. With a brain like that, nothing could stand in her way. Ley gave her peace with him, reassuring that the Quiet won't hurt him, it's taking him somewhere he belongs. And to tell Hero she said "hi", when he sees her...

The NIGHTMARE:

With so many deaths in one loop, it left her feeling the fatigue in the next Loop. In her tired state, she decided she needed space from both the Narrator and Princess to think, so she left the basement. She didn't, however, closed the door to the basement. She left it open to show that she wasn't gonna leave her in limbo. While she thought of what to do, exhaustion finally kicked in and she fell asleep. However, when she woke up, the door to the basement was blocked by the table. She rudely asked the Narrator what happened, and that's when SKEPTIC made himself known. He came while she was asleep, and decided that it'd be safer to talk with the door blocked. Panicked, she quickly opened the door, asking the Princess if she's OK. But her haste to check on her let her tripped and broke her neck in the fall.

The next time, Skeptic is once again not being helpful. Apparently he and Narrator had a talk while she was "dead" and Skeptic doesn't believe in anything Narry is saying about their situation. Not even the ominous cabin and the drop to the basement. For once, his Skepticism kept her alive because when the Nightmare showed up, he just didn't believe she could do that. It's not Paranoid but it will do. For Ley herself, it may felt like absolute shit to have your organs barely work, but it gave her time to say sorry to the Princess and helped her out of the basement. When asked why she said sorry, when she didn't ask for it, she responded that she deserved one anyway.

In the Long Quiet, She confronted Skeptic for his mistakes...but she does thanked him for keeping her alive, even if it was accidental on his part. He apologized for his misjudgment and was grateful to meet someone like-minded. Maybe she can discover the truth of this place, where he could not. Then he was taken away, though he resisted a little.

(Bonus but between every few loops, she just crashes into Shifty to sleep. Not repeating what happened with the Nigthmare, now that deep sleep can apparently summon these guys. Not that she'd remembered)

The TOWER:

Her hesitation to kill the Princess gave the next one an Ego boost. And Smitten is here because of a misguided respect for the Tower, that could be interpreted as "love". With a voice that's all about devotion and a literal Goddess, she was THIS close to succumbing. BUT the Tower just HAD to take the face of a loved one, brcause Ley wasn't a "little bird", try and persuade her. Which just made her ANGRY. The Fury of the AUDACITY!!

Now, Smitten believed in love, and if Tower's love language was "devotion", he was gonna give it to her. And he didn't appreciate this Lady not seeing the LOVE like he did. However, in her fury, Smitten saw her memories, and of the Love that she had with this other woman. But it ended tragically and bitterly. Died by a fire. But it was REAL. A REAL love that was meaningful that was more than devotion.

Ley pushed the Tower out of the window, letting them fall into nothingness. The Tower realized that maybe using the face of a dead loved one was a bad call...but she still thinks highly of herself. Ley coldly responded "what is a God to a non-believer?"

She is taken away, leaving Ley to fall on forever. But she soon landed gently on the ground. Facing the mirror, Smitten was crying for the lost of the Tower, but also at the beauty of Ley's love. If that was what True Love looked like, maybe He could find it again. Ley told him that True Love doesn't exist. There isn't "the one" for you, just the "love" you made together with the one you choose. Smitten has a lot to think about, now...as he fades away.

The WITCH/THORN:

To go from a tragedy to a romance, Ley didn't want to betray the Princess. But the Narrator forced her hand, and in comes our "favorite" asshole. Rather than being summoned by Ley's feelings, it was the Narrator's feelings projected onto her, the rush of pulling one over on someone. Ley is NOT happy with either of these people in my head, and Opportunist was content to go back and forth between choosing a side. It got to a point where it caused her such a headache that she broke the Pristine Blade by jamming it against the root wall, and bent the handle so no one can get it out. It was an act of desperation against the Narrator and to show trust to the Witch. However, just as they were about to leave, Opportunist decided to try what the Narrator did last time. Ley struggled hard against him, which scared the Witch so much that she stabbed her with a sharp piece of root from the ground. She fell, but muttered an "I'm sorry" before fading away.

The next time she woke up, she had a pain in her chest. And the Voice was less of a voice and more of a person. This is where the Voice finally have a body of their own in the Construct, and Ley's first action was punch the ever loving shit out of the Opportunist. Blaming him for the Witch stabbing her when she was THIS CLOSE to saving her! She never wanted to betray her but the Narrator and now him were projecting those feelings onto her and now SHE has to bear the brunt of their treachery. She did stop wailing on him, but he was crying and begging her to stop by the end of it. All she did was glare in return, saying how pathetic he truly was...before walking to the cabin, skipping the Pristine Blade all together that was just sitting there. The Thorn was there, vulnerable and surrounded by painful thorns, obviously she is scared of Ley for even MORE reasons than the canon one. Because how could she still trust herself, after what she saw and almost did? Ley answered back that she resisted, every step of the way. She never stopped resisting, and she will continue to resist, until both of them made it out of here. With her bare hands, she tore into the vines, not caring if they bleed, Thorn's protest or the Narrator's attempts to make her stop via tedium. She ketp going.

Then, a tap on her shoulder. Whipping around, it's the Opportunist, one hand holding an eye that she punched earlier, and another...the Blade, extended to her, hilt facing her. He makes a non-committal reasoning for being here ("it's better to stick together" and all that) but I ranted enough about what he actually feels before...so with the knife, she cut the Thorn and the 3 of them Escaped the basement.

In the Long Quiet, the Opportunist stood before her. The root that stabbed her chest was now in his and blooming a rose, and the shiner she put in his eye was now a poppy, like the Thorn's. He...apologized, truthfully, for his actions. There is no one to witness them, so to him, this was his only chance to say sorry. He just wanted to live...and that blinded him to the opportunities that he could have gotten, if he was kinder. Ley said that she...won't accept it, not yet...but she can acknowledge that if he's truthful, than one day, she will. And that she wasn't the only person he'd hurt. Thorn was too...if he see her again, he has a lot to make up for. He begged to not be taken away, to not die or be asleep before he got to say sorry to her. But something tells Ley that he will see Thorn again...but she won't.

((I am stopping here because I am CRAMPING: tune in next time for Broken, Cheated, Hunted, Paranoid, Cold and Contrarian!

And thanks for making it this far. It was...very nerve wracking to do this. To show my work like this outside of friends so I hope this resonated with you and I hope you asked me questions about them.