#tho funny thing the realization didn't even come from engage. it came from one of the hired merc voices in UO

[shuruzy]

the voiceclaims sketch

[rhemaji]

Lil rant abt Caine

Caine is just a lil guy, despite it all. From a design standpoint I thought I was gonna absolutely fucking hate looking at him because those chattering teeth toys make my skin crawl- but the art direction really helps make him look more appealing and whimsical than a disembodied pair of talking dentures sounds on paper.

The thing with Caine is I didn't initially like him that much after the pilot. While his interactions with Bubble were quite funny, that one episode left me feeling like he'd just end up being kinda one note or at the very least one note in a way that'd get on my nerves. Then everything changed when Pomni Wake Up Time to Go On an Adventure! attacked

The comedic timing throughout that announcement video was so fucking funny and thanks to his line deliveries and animation/model [?] upgrades- CAINE LOOKED AND SOUNDED SO ADORABLE!!

Legit it wasn't until this came out that I realized I actually could be on board with Caine as a character and it's been uphill from there. Episode 2 was better than the pilot not only comedically and visually but also in terms of showcasing just how actually unsettling Caine can be as an antagonist. Not because he's vengeful or malicious, but because he's so oblivious to how people work. His mind's always buzzing with terrible ideas and he's so so eager about these adventures, but at the end of the day he really really doesn't get the circus crew. Try as he might to include them, keep them engaged [ZOOBLE WAIT!], or even give them what they want [Exit doors] he doesn't realize how traumatic and distressing their current situation can be. The very nature of being trapped in a digital world is bad enough but it's especially rough here bc not only does its god have limited capabilities, you also are very well acquainted with him, and he can't fully understand your pain nor can he truly save you from it. He won't mourn your abstraction. He will not attend your funeral. He will not understand the distress of your arrival, nor the weight of your departure.

This isn't just sad from the pov of the circus gang, it's also very sad for Caine- not because i think he'll ever feel sad about it himself necessarily, but instead because the situation is sad. New members appear over and over, you craft adventures and games and distractions like [i'm assuming] they'd asked you to, but over and over, one by one, they abstract. They stop laughing at your jokes. They don't like you. They want you to leave them alone. It's confusing and maybe even inconvenient.

Where I'm hoping the series takes Caine is that this dissonance between Caine's intentions and the distress of the circus gang gets worse and worse and worse until something's got to give. I'm hoping that maybe at some point a character will try to sit down and talk with him and for it to either sorta get through to him but completely backfire in some form because he misinterprets what the others want from him OR i'd also be down for him to listen, but not understand any of it and proceed as tho nothing happened. I don't want Caine to come around really, it'd be interesting to see how Goose would go about having him come around to being a better host that empathizes more with humans, but personally I do prefer him to keep on keepin' on being this oblivious and eager antagonist.

My favorite Caine lines/line deliveries so far:

"You, my friend, stumbled into an incredible world of wonders, where anything can happen!…e-except for swearing."

"And here we have THE GROUNDS! Drown yourself in the digital lake, or engage in ridery at the digital carnival!"

"What do you think of XDDCC? You're right, terrible, LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN!"

"Kaufmo abstracted? Why didn't anybody tell me?"

"Bubble you can't say that"

"-ZOOBLE WAIT!"

"Why are you all just standing there?! The- The Canyon- C-Candy Canyon Kingdom needs you now!" [according to his VA, this was an actual line flub but hoo boy am i glad they use it bc it's hilarious]

"I know you guys love your NPCs, but if I start losing track of who's a human and who's an NPC, who knows...what. could. happen..."

That last line there specifically surprised me the most because up until he said that I was under the impression Caine was linked to every single NPC. I even thought he could see through their eyes if he so chose thanks to his "hundreds of all seeing eyes" line in the pilot. Him saying this here implies lots of things. Has Caine forgotten before? Is someone in the circus secretly an NPC ooooooooh~

"Who knows what could happen..."

Honestly, when Caine first said this I did immediately theorize Jax as being an NPC but now that it's been *checks calendar* three months since I watched episode 2, I don't think this is the case anymore. Jax being an NPC would be...something. Jax not knowing he's an NPC would be interesting [i like it when ppl's realities get shattered], but honestly I think this line was a way to telegraph to the audience that no Caine isn't actually all knowing. He didn't know Gummigoo was coming through that portal until he saw him with his own two eyes. My theory is that Caine is only able to teleport, create, censor, transform, and destroy the world around him, but isn't able to see all of it at once unless he tries to. I think Caine's default state is one where he only knows what he sees directly in front of him/what he himself has left waiting for someone else. And rather than implying someone in the gang is an NPC, I think that line in episode 2 was mainly implying Caine can be tricked, that it's possible to hide something from him, to surprise him even. Though I'm not opposed to an NPC we haven't met trying to join under the guise of being human, it'd potentially create some fun tension assuming the audience was given enough reason to care about them.

Jax is actually my favorite character in tadc, but i couldn't fill an entire post with things to say abt him. Caine seems to be- at least as of right now- the easiest of all the characters to try and wrap my head around. I'll probably have a lot more to say about Jax as he exists in canon as the episodes come out [EPISODE 6 MY BELOVED]

but uhhhh yeah, that's all the things i had to say abt Caine. Pls go watch/listen to the fansong Digital Land bye!

[frozenhi-chews]

idk much about starlo actually can you tell me about him :]]]] @ghost--girlfriend

FREAKING STARLO-

There's gonna be spoilers, so-

Okay so, he's in Undertale Yellow, the Undertale fangame that came out in December of last year. And tbh I was preoccupied with other things so. Yeah that's why I didn't get into UTY until the last couple days of January. (But it did mean there's a lotta fanart now so. Huehue)

STARLO HIMSELF THO. HOUGH GOSH I love him. He's the Sheriff and leader of the Fiesty Five, running a small town in the Wild East. He goes by North Star, then, his sheriff persona.

(Sorry for the crappy screenshot, I was taking a very excited video seeing him for the first time in-game)

Like from the get-go you can tell he's kinda a dork. And a lovable one too! In game, he sees that Clover's a human, takes them, and locks poor Martlet (the blue bird girl) in jail. She's a Royal Guard, having her there is a risk. And Star just deceives Clover is gonna be his Deputy. All because they're human! He also says this and it's funny

(He's talking about those scenes in Westerns when humans ride horses into the sunset, but bc he doesn't know anything about the surface, he thinks they're riding into a big ball of fire. And I said that the horses were fireproof too, it's just funny!)

He takes you on all these silly missions just to train you/Clover as his Deputy. He gets you a gun, makes you have a "dual" with him (he pronounces "duel" as "dual"), does a train trolley problem. Says this

Best line in the game, hands down.

When he makes Clover the Deputy, his friends are VERY much upset. Thinking it was just a regular spot. Stars goes to get something, the Fiesty Four battle Clover, he comes back VERY much upset, and they talk about how much he's changed since Clover arrived. One by one they just. Quit. And he's very much upset about this.

You follow him and FREKAING BATTLE TIME-

His theme "Showdown!" is SO GOOD-

Asking why Clover walked into town, talking about how the sheriff stuff is pointless and "monsterkind's hero" is a title covered in blood. Cuz then he's realizing stuff. He wants to make amends and fix his posse. He wants to fix his relationships. Thinking that taking Clover's soul is the only way to do it. Even tying them up in a lasso so it's harder for them to move. (You make him shoot his own lasso) (he's also left handed :3)

Badda bing badda boom, one shot left, and before he shoots you, his childhood friend Ceroba comes around and tells him to stop it. It's a really good scene, her telling him that no one hates him, just the reckless sheriff front he's made. She wants the real him back, the innocent farmer he was. He accepts and just-

HE'S SO FREAKING CUTE????? LIKE OH MY GOSH!!!

Yeah he's a nerd. But gosh dangit I love him!!

You can even go to the farm where he's from and see his family. He's got a brother, mother, and father. Turns out he's a really good singer! Oughh-! Also his mom said he used to have a crush on Ceroba, but was devastated when she got engaged to someone else. Ah, such is heartbreak.

They were close friends, still are

(Also I love how his hand isn't even touching her. Poor mans had such a huge crush on her)

Gosh he's adorable.

He's also a really good friend. He made the Wild East town and North Star front just to make Ceroba and others happy. Give them a slice of the surface when there was none. Distract them, make them happy. It's all one big silly roleplay thing and it does make the monsters there happy.

Also in genocide you don't even fight him. You have a duel and shoot him. If he does it first, he has a BB gun and admits that he's a fraud and thanks you for making him feel cool for a second before Ceroba finds you and comforts him as he's dying.

Which is funny, cuz he didn't seem all that opposed to literature shooting an innocent child and throwing TNT at them!! All for breaking up his posse too. Although he kinda did it himself, and he is a lot more emotionally charged. But it's still crazy to think he would lasso and shoot at an innocent kid, but in Genocide, faced with a literal murderer, he just shoots you with a toy gun. Like DUDE YOU HAVE YOUR OWN REVOLVER. USE THAT!! Even if it's not a fight and just a QTE, at least have him shoot the kid-

That sounds weird out of context

He's just. I love him. I love him so much, this adorable guy who's trying his best to make others happy. Just. I love him!!

Shoot for the stars, Space Cowboy

[barbthebuilder]

I also wasn't taught about those labels and didn't know about them for most of my life. Around my teens I became quite engaged in lgbtqia content. I guess it spoke to me. I could relate to it despite not considering myself queer at the time. I slowly learned about labels, did research etc. I was even more involved since I had realized I'm bisexual. Nonbinary identity seemed strange but intriguing at first and after some time it became something I kinda.. looked up to? The proudness that emanated from those people and how freely they expressed themselves was admirable. I especially liked genderfluid people and envied them. It felt like something incredible, something right. I was completely cis tho mhm.

One day a funny thought came to me: What if I'm nonbinary? I laughed it off at first but after giving it some thought I realized I didn't really have the same connection to femininity as other women I knew. I started to question some things about myself. Of course I did a "am I nonbinary?" quiz and watched some videos on how to figure it out. Soon, I realized my perception of myself would shift. One day I felt fully feminine and I thought that maybe I was overreacting. But the day after that was the first time I looked in the mirror and realized I saw a man. And I felt extremly euphoric when calling myself that.

I also experimented with pronouns and noticed my preference would change too.

At first I didn't connect the dots. Like, guys, I literally thought to myself: "geez, genderfluid people have it easy. They don't have to settle on one speficic gender". After that, it hit me: I was genderfluid. Holy shit. The best feeling ever.

It all happened really fast for me - in a span of three days. But my journey continues. I'm still struggling with gender expression, my queed identity, gender dysphoria and there is coming out, of course.

Anyway, that's just my experience. Yours may be very different and still valid so it's okay if nothing I've said resonated!

How did y'all know or even consider you could be genderfluid? I am confused and grew up in a household where that term didn't even exist until I was 18. Currently looking a therapist who has more "knowledge" on sexuality and identity I just want another POV <3

[sanzu-sanzu-sanzu]

Hiiiii.🙈

Just came here to say that I love your Songs About Toxic People so much.❤️ I've been obsessed about the Bonten Executives ever since I caught up with the manga and it's just so sad how we don't have enough content about them yet.🤧

I love all the Bonten Executives and my favorites are Sanzu and the Haitanis.🥺🤧💕

It's funny because I don't even know how that happened and I didn't notice it right away but the next thing I know I'm simping after the three of them so hard and for days my mind has been filled with nothing but thoughts of them ever since. Oh, the struggle. (😂)

The lack of content about them almost turned me into a fanfic writer right then and there (🤣) because I seriously wanted to read something about an OC who's also the only female executive in Bonten and I almost wrote it down myself, I swear.😆 I have never written something before in my life. Never. That's why I am soooo glad to find Songs About Toxic People. You have no idea how you saved me from the thirst I've been having ever since I got introduced to Bonten!Sanzu and Bonten!Haitanis and how you silenced the raging thoughts in my head about them if only for a little while, may God help me.

Now. About your absolutely beautiful and wonderfully written fic. Let me just say that I love everything about it.✨ The characterization, the little details about OC, their interactions, the dialogue, everything, is chef's kiss in my opinion. English is not my first language and (I'm guessing your's isn't as well? If I'm wrong, please ignore this but if I'm right then) I admire how beautiful your narration is. The words you use and the way you can create an image in your readers' minds using your descriptions is amazing.❤️

Your "show, don't tell" skills in writing is very beautiful, very admirable, and it's also my most favorite part of your story. I love it very much, seriously. That skill is the one thing I lack that made me give up in being able to write something of my own.😌 I realized that when it comes to writing, there are so many factors to remember and consider in order to make it interesting and engaging for your readers. Worldbuilding, character development, pacing, to name a few. But the hardest for me to master is the one thing you're so amazingly good at. And I admire you for that. That's why whenever I come across a writer like you with such excellent "show, don't tell" skills, I always make sure to make my appreciation shown. ❤️

Another thing I love about your story is the OC.😭 God, I love her so much. She is everything I've wanted to see in a fic that involves the Bonten Executives. She's a badass, she's feisty, and she perfectly fits right in with the other characters. I could just cry with how perfect she is in my opinion and you made that happen.😭❤️ I'm very satisfied with her character and I want to thank you again because I just know that if I did followed up on my need to write my own fic despite my inexperience, I just know that I'll end up disappointing myself and possibly even hate the plot idea because I was not able to meet my own expectations so thank you, thank you, thank you.❤️

She is amazing. You are amazing. Your whole fic is super amazing. I am glad and relieved that I don't have to write my own because yours already exists and it's so perfect.🤧

A female Bonten Executive, and the only female one at that.🥺🤧😭 I am so incredibly happy that the idea is finally out there and someone finally wrote it and that someone is also such a good writer. 🙌🏼

Kudos to you and I hope I can do more than just read and then say thanks. I believe you deserve more than that because I've been looking for this exact content you made and I've been looking for days. And now that I found one, even just the one, I'm relieved because it's already perfect on its own.😌

It's possible that it would take a long time for other writers to write something like this: a female OC that involves the Bonten Executives, my favorite flavor.🤧 It makes me sad, but no matter. I don't mind if I have to reread Songs About Toxic People again and again and again like how Sanzu takes drugs I'M SORRY for a long while because it's enough to satisfy my hunger and my thirst for the time being.❤️

Wow. This got super long. My bad. 😅 I did not mean for this to happen. I hope you don't mind this long ass appreciation message. I love leaving this kind of messages to writers like you.😊

Anyways, yeah. I just came here to tell you that. I hope you're having an amazing day and that you're safe wherever you are. Please take care of yourself. I'm looking forward to more of your works and what you can come up with. I am super excited! 😁

Best of luck and God bless.

- ✨

helloooo :”( this one took me a quite a while to answer because i just couldn’t stop gushing whenever i’d open my inbox huhuhu but you have no idea how much this truly means to me and i wish i can write better words at explaining how this made me feel. <3

first of all, your obsession with the bonten executives is COMPLETELY understandable i’m literally on the same boat as you my friend hahaha with sanzu being my main guy <3 they’re just so hot and dangerous but i also think there’s something kinda funny with all those guys being together LMAO (especially sanzu and the haitanis…add in a dead-eyed manjiro omg..)

just like you i am quite sad about the lack of content on them hahahaha it’s the main reason why i started writing about them in the first place, actually! (also because i'm just obsessed with sanzu) but that was more at the beginning when i still mostly relied on ao3, and then i got more active on tumblr and now literally everyday there’s new fics about them and that makes me extremely happy 🥺 i always did think that the bonten executive OC would make for such a nice flavor so i just latched on to the idea, and i also wanted to keep it a little more casual because i’m not the best with dark themes hahaha but it also helps me imagine the bonten execs in friendlier, more human, more everyday settings—a very fun exercise when you can’t stop thinking about them!

i am beyond happy knowing that you’re enjoying my fic to the point of sending me this lengthy message (whose length i don’t mind at all!!!) 😭 painting a picture with words is one of my favorite things ever when it comes to writing and i just…tear up when people enjoy my descriptions and the interactions and the little details huhuhuhu you have no idea. i didn’t even know i was doing a ‘show, don’t tell’ manner of writing until you pointed it out, so i gotta thank you for this cause it made me think more about how i write (in a good way!), so thank you, i super appreciate it.

i also hope you do get to write if ever you wanna! manifest the things you’d like to see in the world—something like that! hahahaha but also yeah, it can be fun and the possibilities are endless and it’s fanfiction so you can always do you <3

again, this really just made my day and i’ve saved it to my notes to read for when i’m feeling meh hahaha. i gotta say in advance tho that my updates might not come as regularly as before cus (1) life and also (2) need ken wakui to reveal more about my favorite bad boy sanzu LOL so we get to know him better.

and here’s to hoping more people write about oc’s that are bonten execs! so you’d get to have your share of this genre of bonten fic! hehehe you deserve it <3

THANK YOU SO MUCH, i hope you’ll have a nice day too 🥺 and take caaaaare. MWAH.

ps. oh yes, you’re right! english is not my first language hahaha.

[mouse-on-venus]

heyoo mouse!! apologies I just saw the ask you sent! ...well. actually I was like 4 paragraphs down writing an ask but then tumbLR CRASHED- anyway. hellsite(degoratory).

BUT LMAO that aside,, YEAH it's wild how the time flew by man !! I didn't even realize it'd been a year since the animatic yesterday (today? depends on your timezone ig,, the 12th-) until I saw all the posts about it and. W o a h.

Surprisingly enough the animatic wasn't my first exposure to the dsmp, but it was the thing that kinda made it from a casual thing I liked to like. "HOLY SHIT I am obsessed with this now", yk? I actually first heard abt it through my friend who got into it, and was like. "huh this is cool. I'll probably get bored of it in like a few weeks tho" ...and well. Now we're here in August 2021. safe to say I was a Tiny Bit Off LMAO

BUT YEAH the animatic is kinda what kicked it off for a lot of people, me included and like... holy shit hats off to SAD-ist. it was wild seeing her grow since then, and I'm so happy for her :]] slash Very Parasocial™

and also I totally get the not watching the actual streams thing,, even now I barely watch that many, ngl,, I have quite the small attention span so </3 hard to keep watching for that long,, BUT HAJFH that stream as your first stream must've been an Experience, to say the least,,

speaking of first streams, I think my first one would've been like... either mid-august or sometime in september. I'll have to see if theres some way to like,, find that out LMAO. but as for when I joined the fandom, I don't actually remember the exact Day but I think it'd be around late july? The oldest thing I could find was a fic I read (a dnf fic too... Many Things have changed LMAO) on jul 30th, so I count that as my Fandom Anniversary :]] Though I definitely got super into it around mid august 2020!

LMAO apologies for the huge ramble!! That got a lot longer than I intended- writing this made me realize that I'm technically a Fandom Og which... 😳 whoah okay. but yeah it's been a hell of a year!! Honestly still hasn't hit me it's been that long, but all the anniversaries of everything coming up kind of just slaps me in the face JSHDJGH But ya!! :] hope your day was good mouse!!

Helloo and no worries! Tumblr Is Not A Functioning Webbed Site </3

I totally agree with you on the whole not immediately getting into the fandom, it definitely took me a really long time to finally admit that I was a fan lmao. I didn't understand any of the lore or characters, I even told myself that my mild obsession would only last a week... So that was a complete lie DHSKSN

I also find it funny how, for me at least, the source material came after the fandom?? Idk,, what i mean is that I used to engage in the dsmp Entirely through fan works... Fanartists and animators singlehandedly gave me my entire understanding of the story LMAO (which is probably why I didnt understand a lot of the lore since it was so out of context... I thought dadschlatt was canon for so long </3)

BUT from there I just slowly got to understand the story and the actual content creators, I felt like a whole historian trying to understand season 1 DHDJDN. My brother introduced me to Wilbur, then I found others like Tommy and eventually That Speedrunner Guy started to make more sense, and I slowly got to where i am now.

As for my first fan work? I honestly don't know if I could find it...the first post i made about it was my own (bad) fan art so there is definitely some undocumented stuff that I might not be able to find lmao but I will try

In short, I am certainly not a fandom og in the traditional sense, but i have been around for a long time LOL. Anyway very nice to see you in my inbox as always :]