#they'll never get their own distinct tags though they'll always just be ''bird''

[the-shifting-long]

My favorite part of STP is (earlier anon here) truthfully, Cold.

I get really caught up in deciding how much of him I’m reading into too much and how much is intended but regardless

He really serves the whole vibe of the game so well with how the consequences aren’t based in true reality and all. It’s almost like you have your own personal Shifty— like he’s the part of you that’s most similar to her (not that he is her. He definitely isn’t. He’s you). His and her perspectives line up so well. He understands the need for new perspectives on a situation and reflects the Princess herself so often. Obv this is most evident in Fury but it’s genuinely so many Princesses he’s similar to and none of the other Voices can say the same, really

There’s so much more yapping I could do but. Yea. Cold

Also he was the intended tumblr sexyman so that’s gotta count for something

oh m y god i didnt get a notification for this. this is the second time it's happened i'm so sad. anyways i will say for a lot of Slay the Princess' writing it DOES feel very intentional (sometimes too intentional, lol-the therapy session in Apotheosis........) and the voices are 100% a part of that. So much of StP is about the parallels-princesses with each other and the princess with the player, yes, but also the Voices with their respective princesses, and the role they play as parts of you. Tbh, pre-pristine cut, I actually didn't care about the Voices that much, lmao. Because they're fragments of the player character, they felt less like distinct characters of their own and more like embodiments of what's supposed to be TLQ's inner thought process. And I mean...they are. But. It wasn't that Pristine Cut did anything special-it actually did some of my least favorite stuff, voice-wise-but that was when I replayed the game and started to go shiiiiiit. The writing for the voices is really good too. This game would not be as special as it is without them. How the fuck did I miss this. Combine that with the Shifting Mound having distinct characters as different parts of herself, and that parallel with the player, well... Anyways. Voice of the Cold. Intentional writing. (jeremiah is this you.) You're so right about Voice of the Cold being "closest" to us/godhood, similarly to how Tower/Wild serve as that vessel for Shifty, especially given Pristine Cut and Tower-Fury and his role there. "You are nothing! An empty void that dared to dream it was alive!" and his response that yes, that's right, that feels right...the contrast of that with earlier scenes in Tower where she talks about how "ending the world" is what she was always meant to do, now that she hears you say that... And I think a lot about how Cold is also the voice you get when you do what the Narrator intended for you to do-in chapter 1, slay the princess, don't question it, You're the one with the power here, so use it. In Nightmare's variation of Wraith, kill her immediately, you did your job, that's it. Always showing up for the Greys, where-you guessed it-you Did Your Job. You Slayed the Princess! the only big exception to this rule is Fury, which I've talked about before how I wish that was implemented in a less...what's the word. I got a lot of mood whiplash from telling the princess I cared about her and then getting Cold (for the fourth time that playthrough. Unintentionally.) The way he appears in Tower-Fury is perfect, I almost wish something similar also happened in Advy-Fury where one of the Voices ended up becoming the Cold, in part because it'd also make the fan theories re: how Voices work and what they even are even MORE insane and I love the fan theories for StP, lol. but, well, chapter's released, everything's said and done, no use nitpicking it anymore. ANYWAYS. it reminds me of how the Narrator says he MADE us to do this, he MADE us as a god to kill death-the Long Quiet isn't a god he created in charge of any specific domain, but SOLELY as a slayer of gods himself, and not just any gods-THEE god. Death itself. So the aspect of TLQ closest to his godhood, to embracing this aspect...is the one closest to what the Narrator wants. Cold-blooded. (Mostly) follows orders. Uninterested in most things, and thus, easily swayed into anything that's something. Of course, you don't get any voices from the "good" ending, and none of the Voices are quite what the Narrator wants. But damn if Cold isn't close. It's also REALLY fun how the Cold is most willing and able and eager to slay the princess, but frankly, a world without her would be TORTURE for him. He'd get bored so quickly, lol. yeah. i've grown to appreciate the voices a lot.