#stp voice of the stubborn

[occatorcreator]

Writing about the Long Quiet gave me the idea of him needing glasses.

Bonus Adversary:

[swanpyart]

I was watching Slimecicle’s play through and saw this interesting line from Stubborn:

“It doesn’t matter. I refuse to go out any way that isn’t kicking and screaming.”

Which breaks my heart cus in the Nightmare Route when all of the Voices reach the mirror, what’s the last thing he says?

“I’m done fighting.”

He just can’t fight anymore, after so many tries. Our relentless boy just gives up.

[snowflakesincalifornia]

So about the Voices in Slay the Princess….

I’ve heard people talk about different voices as if they hold their own individual personalities. And I agree, they sort of do. But also, I think they sort of represent feelings that the Long Quiet would have had anyway.

Like, there’s a lovely meta post on here about how the Voice of the Stubborn loves the Princess more than he gets credit for, because there’s a route where all the Voices in it end up being okay with having to kill her and going along with the Narrator after all, except for him. Stubborn wants to keep pushing at the fabric of this construct, and furthermore refuses to let the Princess go.

There’s also many routes where, without the Voice of the Smitten hanging around, the Voice of the Broken is basically in love with the Princess in his stead. He’s afraid of her, but he also speaks of her with a worshipful kind of awe. To the point where other Voices comment on it, Paranoid even claiming his job is to keep Broken in check.

What I think is that all these Voices are influenced by the urges of the Long Quiet. They’re extensions of his thoughts. And the Long Quiet has a drive to doubt the Construct, to fear the Princess, and to love the Princess. And depending on what route he takes and what Voices he gets, different Voices end up having the job of embodying these desires.

If Skeptic doesn’t show up, one or more of the Voices, even Hero, will still embody the urge to doubt the Construct, and will be more stubborn about it depending on the situation. If Smitten isn’t there, at least one of the voices has to embody the part of the Long Quiet that loves the Princess. And there’s also a part of the Long Quiet that fears and doubts the Princess, and depending on the route, someone will feel this the strongest. Even if it’s not that strongly, like in the Thorn path, where the Hero feels it.

Do you see. The Voices do have their own personalities, but they’re also part of the Long Quiet, and depending on the route and the situation, one or more of them will be the most strongly influenced by these different parts of the Long Quiet.

When the Stubborn or the Broken loves the Princess, it’s not necessarily unique to them, or that they don’t really feel it because the Long Quiet makes them. It’s because … no matter what the situation, someone would have to feel this part. Because the Long Quiet can’t help feeling it in some way, always. And depending on what Voice you get and what personality they have, someone does feel it, to varying levels of strength.

And the same goes for everything and everyone else. Just like how the Shifting Mound sees each vessel as a part of herself. Maybe it’s not exactly the same. Maybe the Long Quiet’s relationship to the Voices is a little different than the Shifting Mound’s and her Vessels. But they’re all still extensions of the Long Quiet, and the way they feel is influenced by things he feels, in different ways.

[worldbeyondtheworld]

Several of the Voices represent not only facets (which is why they are incomplete in the Construct - there's almost no time for any of them to grow) of the Long Quiet's personality, but also their love for the Shifting Mound.

The Smitten is unconditional devotion - for better and for worse - because it's the Shifting Mound, their counterpart. It can be quite shallow because he's the part - without the others balancing him - who's desperate to see her. At his worst he doesn't bother to get to know who she is now, to question her behavior, or worry if she has any agency. All that matters is being with her.

I'd say the Broken is not only a reflection of being hurt and failing, but also a reflection of the hurt the Long Quiet experiences from being split from the Shifting Mound. He's the Broken because they were broken apart and couldn't stop it. He / the Long Quiet thinks he / they can never heal because they failed.

Of course, he devotes himself to the Tower. He still believes he'll stay broken, that he's lesser, but she is the closest in concept to their previous godhood. She can't get hurt as a god (theoretically). And now she's claiming them? Removing the need for him to think on his own? Pulling him close to her (their) godhood?

And in the Wild, he wants to stay with the Princess because they're not broken anymore. They're together again. He can ignore his anguish. (Or so believes, at least.)

The Stubborn is the push and pull aspect of the relationship between the Long Quiet and the Shifting Mound. They clash because they represent contrasting concepts; they are pulled together because they each hold pieces of each other. They used to be the same entity. He represents the two gods' dance, clashing and always getting up, forever dancing as equals because they are contrasts and they are the same. A similar theme to the Adversary appears with the Razor. He can get lost in this need to fight her as intimacy and companionship, to discover how she'll react, what move she'll perform next.

Which is why he's another Voice who wants to stay with the Princess in the Wild. He recognizes that she's their equal, their counterpart, with no need to battle to stay together. By comparison, the Stubborn refuses to bow to the Tower, because he refuses a relationship were they are not equals.

[juliavisuals]

voices designs!!!!

[vickysaurus-art]

The Adversary accidentally knocks herself out while fighting the Slayer, and he decides to take care of her rather than listen to the Narrator. How will it affect their next fight?

This one's a double feature, the second chapter with the continuation of the story in Eye of the Needle will be up in a couple days! Content warnings for graphic descriptions of violence and temporary character death, because it's an Adversary story.

[just-a-itty-bitty-kitty]

who's up for seconds??

canon event

And that concludes Trick or Treating!

It's been a joy and a pleasure!

Have some cookies :)

[undercityrezident]

The Dungeon Meshi anime fandom right now.

[sonjalikestodraw]

BEHOLD! @evenworsefreak and I collabed to bring you Damsel and Adversary at the gym!

They drew Damsel, Smitten and the shading, and I drew Advy, Stubborn and the background ~

[aquapede]

the voices in some god's head

[dobodleaday]

07.24.24 Big Hater and the Littlest Hater

[dr-awkkward]

Slay the Princess text posts, part 15 (in celebration of the Pristine Cut's release!)

[part 14] [part 16]

[olegianote]

I love your stp narrator! And I'm 100% sure you already know this, but secretary birds are also called killer queen! So does this mean the narrator gets called the killer king/queen sometimes by the other voices to annoy the narrator? :]

OH THAT WOULD BE SOOO FUN! I like when Narrator gets annoyed! Which is why this ask inspired me to do this little comic:

[lovelylittlewordsmith]

I don't think we can heart lungs liver nerves our way out of this one boys

[bubblybloob]

Skeptic wants no part in this.

I don’t know if this meme has a name, but I felt like doing it with the voices. I think it’s funny how you can literally see how I draw them change slightly over the course of the drawings, the hands especially.

[vickysaurus-art]

What if Shifty was just a little more patient and let things play out between the Slayer and the Wounded Wild?