#this is just me gushing over leander isnt it.

[otaku-tactician]

my extremely late realisations when replaying the demo 1.5 years later

touchstarved demo is PEAK! replayed it today. lol i had screenshots but im just rambling cuz WOW THE DEMO IS PEAK! 2023 me did not understand just how expertly woven this game was the first time around. Playing the demo for the second time exposed me to a level of characterisation that I was utterly amazed by.

The links between characters, the hints and rumors that give clues to their hidden and deeper aspects, the way in which every love interest has such deeply interwoven ties and know so many things about the mc is so entrancing yet strange- at times i wonder if they were even informing one another about the mc's movements, because some events felt very well-timed.

and then LEANDER!!!!!!!!! WHOA MAN HES SOMETHING ELSE!

the whole 'as above so below' for Leander's bloodhounds is really intriguing. as a popular occult/ alchemy phrase; it may have links to the arcane, and some perspectives treat this phrase as saying that whatever occurs in the celestial is repeated in the lower realms as well. and how vere states that Leander's BLOODHOUNDS are no better than the Senobium clerics which most are wary of; it may also double as a huge easter egg as to how depraved Leander may truly be.

However, this multi-layered phrase could be pointing to the truth of Leander's nature as well. Monsters enter the human realms from The Shroud, which could technically either be 'above' or 'below'; and the messy human realms may reflect those realms to an extent. Or, Leander may have more in common with Monsters than one may initially assume.

Maybe this message is trying to also state that humans and monsters are not so different, after all...

and lmao back to Leander with mc... how he comments on the mc's curse and its potency whilst blushing heavily, and even gulps from the exchange makes me wonder if he gets off on curses. and how he blushed when suggesting that the mc could tie him up makes me wonder if Leander is a masochist. i mean i do understand that the hand holding scene can be interpreted in an erotic lens, but his reaction is full of rampant desire in the second image.

(Also, I lack screenshots for this; but I finally understood what the other comments were saying about Leander being forceful- he does indeed push the mc when they refuse to accept his flowers, and he grabs their hand if they hesitate, really emphasising that Leander can and will push boundaries in the pursuit of what he desires.)

(wonder if his route will be very kinky)

omg also with how Ais tries the concoctions Leander cooks up and states to mc that it was chewy and possibly poisoned??? because Leander's trying to kill him?? that is the wildest confession i've ever read in hundreds of years. just the casualness of the entire affair, their rivalry seems light hearted on the surface but in the fact that a murder attempt is so simply brushed off - has me suspecting that their competition is possibly a deeply twisted affair deep down.

and another random point- how Kuras states that Leander's BLOODHOUNDS are just like him; people who have survived great hardship in the Lowlands- makes me wonder if the Senobium fucked with him or deeply betrayed him, especially with how angry the BLOODHOUNDS were with even the slightest mention of the group.

and it's so suspect that when talking to Leander about the other love interests, if the mc picks positive options for them, Leander always ends it off with a warning or comment as if to put the mc off them. but then he also has comments for his bedroom expertise with every LI which is such a riot for me personally like YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

(Then again his warnings for Ais and Vere are pretty apt, they are both dangerous- but so is he LMAO)

HOW DID I NOT SEE ANY OF THESE HINTS THE FIRST TIME AROUND!!!!!

omg and it's so cute how Ais and Vere TALK ABOUT EACH OTHER!! Vere becomes so vulnerable and unguarded and Ais could speak about Vere for days!!!

WAUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

GWAHH this feels so intimate, the way he wistfully recounts their experiences and memories. For such a sharp fox, he feels really fuzzy here... Barely any witty or cantankerous insults to be found about Ais from Vere's remarks. They seem so closely acquaintanced and comfortable with one another. It's very... sweet.