#when we were batter and dedan

[synodicsoma]

Fangamer just released an announcement of making official OFF (game) MERCH!! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?! IM FUCKING KICKING AND SCREAMING IN STUPID EXCITEMENT!! AAAAAᴬᴬᴬᴬᴬᴬᴬ

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[sagegreenprose]

Here are some OFF headcanons centered on elsens that nobody really requested but my friend and I wanted me to write teehee ^_^

Elsens in Zone 2 are really nosy and gossip-prone. However, it isn't malicious-- it's more oriented towards keeping the community safe and alert. In fact, almost all of Bismark is aware of who has damaged what books, besides the Librarian of course-- the culprits are already at risk of getting themself papercuts, it would be so cruel to also get them in trouble too.

Elsens in Zone 3 have a very competitive and toxic work environment. When one elsen succeeds, another elsen is punished. Rations certainly aren't coming out of Enoch-- no, Enoch has it arranged that for every percent increase in rations that one elsen earns, there's a percent decrease for a less productive elsen.

Elsens in Zone 1 have a very cooperative and supportive work environment. The success of one elsen in a district is treated as an inspiration and something to model for the rest of them-- especially if that success gets noticed by Dedan. Dedan might be a loud asshole, but he knows how to make a productive work culture at least-- if only there were clones of Dedan like there are of elsens, he'd be a lot less stressed and pissed off. And unlike in Zone 3, Zone 1's elsens have some days off.

Elsens under the effects of sugar are referred to as "glazed," as opposed to "high" or "stoned." Additionally, that one elsen in Area 1 of Vesper whom we see looking out over the plastic sea was definitely glazed.

I see a lot of people think that wearing the necktie made The Batter be visually perceived as another elsen, but I disagree. The Batter didn't trick the elsens of East Bismark into thinking he's an elsen by wearing a necktie per se; what wearing the necktie really did was give them a sense of security in thinking that somebody there knew the Batter personally and let him borrow their necktie as a way of vouching for him to travel through. That vouching went right out the proverbial window the moment that the Batter began making the elsens there feel ill at ease though.

As a follow-up to the previous headcanon, I also like to think that-- although the valzong-burnt sprite and the overworld elsen sprite stay generic-- there wasn't actually a real prize to winning the Balloon Game in Zone 2's Theme Park, but the elsen in charge of the game knew that prizes were typically rewarded upon completion of those sorts of games, so he'd take off his necktie everytime he had to work the booth just to fix it onto the balloon in the middle. He never imagined that somebody would actually win that prize though, which is another part of why he was so freaked out (and the sound of the balloons popping certainly didn't help his nerves either, even he did know the source.)

Liquid plastic is occasionally referred to as water by the elsens-- primarily the ones of Zone 2 who've read about water in certain books, and then related the concept of water to the liquid plastic that they've got instead. Liquid plastic is not something you want to get on your skin though, and even less, ingest. But you'd find it in the same places you'd find water, so it works out. Reading about touching or ingesting water in books freaks elsens the fuck out though-- combined with the fear of ripping pages, the library might as well be considered full of horror novels.

Elsen clothing is all made of polyester. Thankfully, elsens don't really emit body odor (even when they sweat), though they can accumulate a general funk from where they've been, which they do wash off with a nice metal dust bath. The exception to this is that elsens under immense stress and on the verge of going burnt do have a very slight smell of caramel about them. Burnts themselves have a very strong smell of charred caramel. On that note, the air in Zone 3 can be like a horrible punch to the nostrils to anybody not from there-- especially the farther North in Vesper you get. Sugar consumption can make the sugar smog more tolerable though.

Most elsens do their laundry communally, but some (mostly in Zone 2) prefer to do their laundry themselves and at their own pace. Honestly, everything happens at its own pace in Zone 2, besides trade with the other zones.

Most residents of the Zones, including elsens, make up for a general lack of water by getting all their hydration needs met through consuming meat... Somebody ask me my thoughts on Zone 1 cows please.

Zone 1 elsens tend to stay in their assigned districts for long periods of time, with various promotions scattered throughout. However, if an elsen is starting to become disillusioned or even burnt out with their current stations, there is a process for them to start anew in a different district (though it is lengthy)... Unless they're in Alma, but who would want to leave such a good job?.. Under normal circumstances, your average Shachihata worker can take years to become truly worn thin by their job, but in Alma, it usually only takes a month for the disillusionment and anguish to set in. This is why everybody but those who actually work in Alma sing Alma's praises so high: dead men tell no tales. And a month is not long enough for an elsen to completely deconstruct their preconceived views on Alma (and warn others of the pipedream)-- they'd much sooner just straight-up burn from the sudden influx in disappointment and doubt.

Also, this is not my own headcanon, not at all, but I am 110% a believer in that all the elsens originate from the giant elsen in the Room, forming on that guy like fungus on a log and then falling off... Onto something a bit more original to that though: the other elsens we see in the Room are in direct contact with the big elsen and-- along with having very streamlined, simple routines-- that's why they're so steady and confident. Meanwhile, the vast majority of elsens elsewhere had been taken from their progenitor so quick they can't even remember him, and they remember the Room just barely. So they couldn't even develop that essential part of identity that comes with having a connection to any sort of nurturing figure, though many in Zone 1 have imprinted on Dedan. A few in Zone 3 exalt the Director like that too, though much less directly, and it's almost always from those who have never met the Director. But then you've got the elsens in Zone 2 who've got no guardian that they know of-- no protection nor leadership... Japhet, unlike Dedan and unlike Enoch (who views the elsens more like peons), returned the feeling of kinship though-- which is not so much headcanon as it is canon actually haha.

[zairas-realm-gateway]

OFF ramblings: Batter's Purpose

Content warnings for discussion of canon and speculated canon content: violence, medical trauma, abuse, child neglect, terminal illness, child death.

This post is a basic layout of the general conversations I had with my sister when I showed her the game OFF recently. These are just our speculations, observations, and headcanons.

This post will discuss our deductions behind Batter's in game creation and his opposition to the other characters.

As we all know, Batter (in universe) is created at the start of the game. He has never before existed in the lonely, tormented world of the Zones before. My sister and I discussed why he never existed in the world before that point. We think we have deduced why from the information given in The Room level.

First, we have to note the importance of Batter, Hugo, and Queen. Hugo has manifested representations of his parents in his fucked up world. His father is Batter and his mother is Queen.

Now, my mother is chronically ill, so I've spent a lot of time in hospitals. So, when Batter enters a new location at the end of the hallway when you enter the Room level, my sister and i immediately recognized it as a hospital. It reminded us of many we've been in before and left us uneasy.

In the Room, Batter goes to the small room on the left. This room is returned to many times. It paints a painfully vivid picture:

There is a sick child (Hugo) in the hospital. Probably between the age of 10-17 because they can talk in complete sentences but are still referred to as "the boy". This child is terminally ill and immuno-compromised. You can tell when the note says that his father (Batter's human counterpart) says they can go outside tomorrow but that trip outside never comes. The notes say that his father comes regularly to play with him but he doesn't like his father and wants his mother instead but she never comes to pick him up or visit.

This tells me a lot. It says that Hugo's father (we'll keep calling him Batter) is cold but holds deep affection for Hugo. Based on Spectral Batter's personality, Human Batter probably has difficulty with emoting. Meaning he has trouble displaying and expressing emotion both physically and vocally. To a sick and distressed child, this would appear as if his father doesn't love him despite Batter visiting constantly and playing with Hugo.

This could explain why he wants his mother over his father. Affection and emotional support are needed for comfort when sick. It seems like Queen can probably express emotions in a way that would be comforting.

Or, she would, if she ever showed up.

It's speculated that Human Queen has a job that makes her a lot of money but forces her to work/travel a lot. Spectral Queen's later argument with Batter makes it clear that's she's pretty much phoning it in as a mom. The cadence of Queen and Batter's conversation is that of a divorced couple. If this is true, it sounds like Queen has primary custody but just is never around.

Batter is his most emotional during his argument with Queen right before their battle. He is still flat in dialogue tone but it is clear he is passionate about the subject. He accuses her of taking all the steps of being a mother with none of the emotion, care, or memory for who her actions are for (Hugo). Rather than defend herself, Queen just deflects until Batter gets angry.

To argue the point of Queen doing the right moves with none of the personal touch, I want to talk about the three guardians. It is said the Queen appointed them and I think this really happened.

My sister and I speculate that the three guardians represent the specialists that Queen hired for Hugo while she was away on business. Dedan is speculated to be a surgeon based on his temper and excessive need for total order and demand everyone be efficient at their job. Japhet being a bird, dove, and loving books is probably a priest. Enoch would be a private chef. These three were left with explicit orders to keep an eye on Hugo, which is why they're called his friends in the notes. This would also make them opposing forces to Hugo's father and the hard decisions he has to make. One of those decisions is massive and we believe it is what manifests Batter for the first time.

It's the decision to unplug his terminally ill child from life support.

Now, I see a lot of speculation that Hugo bases Batter on Ballman. But I think that Batter is a dual manifestation of Ballman and Boxxer. This would make Batter both the hero and the villain, hence the choice at the end of the game.

This is what brings Judge into the mix. We speculate that Judge is Human Hugo's high consciousness, the one aware of the pain and suffering of the world. Judge thought Batter was a savior but after Hugo's death, he calls Batter a monster. If Batter is both hero and villain, it makes sense that Judge trusted him to help but was unaware this is the action that would taken. He had no clue that this was the only solution that Batter could see.

If Judge is Hugo and Batter is Hugo's father, then the truth that his father is taking him off life support would paint his father as a monster. A villain that is murdering him.

Meanwhile, Hugo's father had to live with that truth and the reality that it is his duty to keep his child from suffering. And the end stages of terminal illnesses are only suffering.

I feel this is why Hugo takes the form of an infant. Because a child, no matter how old, is always their parent's baby...

[carlyraejepsans]

...ok so. we are. some kind of entity. with the batter as the vessel we've been assigned to. our mission is to "purify" the zones. this is because (or at least, that's what we're led to believe at the beginning of the game) they're being overrun by evil spirits. the inhabitants of the zones ALSO want the spirits gone, the spirits ARE shown attacking them, and they're happy that we're here to get rid of them.

however, the fight that clears the area is NOT necessarily tied to the spirits. it's against the guardian of the area. dedan antagonized the batter, which resulted in him clocking him as an enemy, even when we saw him beat up specters too. bird shit killed the judge's brother and planned to take revenge on his subjects. he was also manipulating the specters, which makes more sense than dedan and firmly sets him as The Antagonist of zone 2. and THEN you get to zone 3 and big guy is fully confused at the idea of being "the enemy" to be struck down. the zone 3 inhabitants are also weirdly trusting of the spirits, as opposed to zome 2 where they panicked at the barest flinch. both of which got completely erased once the batter killed the last box.

and NOW you have The Room, and what is clearly meant to be a child writes about being sick and their dad being there for them. kid also called the guardians by name as if they were friends. i am 99% sure this is kid is the weird homunculus we see after we purify each zone.

im kinda struggling to interpret everything here because i.... don't know what exactly this game is going for? like if it's going to ground all of this in SOME form of concreteness/reality that recontextualizes what we've previously seen or not. because if it is, then "purify the sinners" kinda reminds me of "eradicate the vermin" in perfect vermin, and that game was a pretty bold faced metaphor for cancer treatment. you find the vermin/sinners to cleanse and remove (the religious tones in OFF serving the same function as the fascistic ones from the news commentator in PV) but you end up destroying everything else, what works too in the process.

but at the same time the way the creators talked about the game in the READ ME file seems to state that they want to expand more in the world of the game which... clearly wouldn't be possible if the ending boiled it down to a metaphor. there's also the heavy breaking of the 4th wall and its acknowledgment of being specifically a video game via zach, plus a ton of other stuff that gets thrown out (what is UP with the judge here), so I don't put much stock in that first interpretation.

anyway i just brought the calendar to dedan. i'm assuming he's a stand in for the kid's father. the comments about the mother coming back and fixing everything are... interesting.

[sillyandquiteawkward]

Honestly, the most violent Dedan gets IS just yelling, and i never noticed that before. He makes some pretty big threats, but he's never shown to actually physically harm his employees. There were plenty of opportunities to show that if it were the case, like when the one Elsen was standing in his way, but he just raises his voice and cusses a lot, which my headcannon for that is that he's just hella stressed about the ghost situation when the Batter and Player meet him.

right! he talks big game but the only people he actually attacks are the spectres and the batter and even then he gives the batter several opportunities to fuck off and leave him and his workers alone peacefully. all dedan wants to do is be left alone to file his paperworks and make sure elements get shipped to the other zones so life can continue. if he and his men don't do their job, all life could stop working. you learn about every element (minus sugar) from zone 1 and how they get shipped and sent to other zones. every elsen there knows what they do is the most important job

now no one will fight me over this but if we wanna talk who is violent to their elsen thatd be enoch. who very clearly seeks to actively put his elsen in danger to harvest their bodies for sugar which creates a cycle of dependency. he tells the elsen ghosts are your friends and let's them kill his workers to toss their bodies in the furnace. the whole zone is corrupted by enoch.

japhet also aims to attack his elsen at one point, driven mad by neglect, although he had always been the most kind to his men.

[scarlet-heartstrings]

Entry 17

Alma 2/?

I went to the left first with the Batter, quickly coming across an Elsen who was in front of a walking man symbol. We talked to him, only for him to attack us as a burnt. His last words were:

“And yet I’ve never been ill.”

He was in front of a spot called a “Pedalo Recovery Point”, it summoned this swan boat looking thing we rode to another smaller area in the back. There were other Elsens guarding more recovery points. One in particular guarded the recovery point of a puzzle that took a moment of trial and error between the two of us to solve. The Elsens spoke of not wanting to be burnt, or specters, wanting to be left to work, and that they aren’t productive enough anymore. Their last words were:

“Well, damn.”

“What’s happening to me?”

“If I’m not working… then who will?”

I feel deep sorrow for these creatures, they seem to live incredibly stressful lives. I was hoping Alma would be some sort of haven for them, but it seems it could possibly be even worse than Shachihata. The name means kindness, and home, if only it lived further to that name. Perhaps when this zone is purified, I’ll build a safe place where the Elsens can go, where they’ll be happy just by being there, perhaps I’ll call it New Alma.

I can’t imagine Batter takes joy or pleasure out of having to purify them in their burnt states, so I would hope he would help. It would fit his job after all.

Note: The puzzle unlocked the door, the director, the horsey fellow named Dedan may be inside. Good thing there’s a save box near.

[circus4apsycho8]

more than a hug. | the batter x reader

Fandom: OFF

Pairing: The Batter x Reader

Warnings: jealousy, cussing

It was no surprise to you that the Elsen were very cuddly creatures. Not only that, but they were very squishy, too. You absolutely loved hugging the cute little guys! Who wouldn’t? They were warm, soft, and sweet.

The first time you had hugged an Elsen was after Dedan had finished yelling at the one. You and your beloved Batter had stepped out of the barn before you found yourself rushing over to the pitiful thing. How could you not? The poor guy looked like he was about to cry.

You were quick to scoop him into your arms. “Hush now. He’s just a mean old man. You did nothing wrong.”

He accepted your hug and buried his face into the crook of your neck. You hear him sniffle a little bit. “Th-thank you…hhh���you’re too kind.”

“You’re welcome,” you mumbled, hugging him a little tighter. You heard your Puppet awkwardly shuffle around, causing a deep chuckle to emanate from your chest. A few seconds later, you set him down onto the ground. The little Elsen had a slight blush on his cheeks.

“Miss, th-thank you and your…uh…friend here for purifying the barns. Even if it didn’t get noticed by the Inspector, we appreciate it…” he teeters off when he notices Batter glaring at him. You smack the Batter’s shoulder and smile down at the Elsen.

“You’re very welcome! Take care of yourself, alright? I think it’s about time we got a move on.” Batter remains silent as you bid the Elsen goodbye.

“I will! Good luck with…whatever you’re doing!” the Elsen wishes before the Batter grabs your hand and drags you behind him.

“Thank you!” you yell, waving at him before turning back to your Puppet.

“Dude, chill. You can let me go now,” you comment. He reluctantly releases his grip on you.

“What was that about?” he demands, looking anywhere but at you.

“He was about to cry, Batter! He was scared! I couldn’t just leave him like that!” you retort, rolling your eyes.

“He would have gotten over it.”

You sigh. “Sometimes a little kindness goes a long way, Batter.”

…

The second time you were cuddly with an Elsen is when you and Batter got stuck in the shopping mall maze. Batter was getting extremely frustrated and you just wanted to get the hell out of that blue hellhole.

So, when you and Batter found a lone Elsen who had claimed to be lost, you declared it was time to take a break.

“I’m lost,” the Elsen said, “I could make a fire with the boxes...to ward off the ghosts...but...that would be too dangerous.”

You immediately began to answer, but Batter pulled you back outside for a moment.

“Don’t answer him.”

You roll your eyes, growing annoyed. He couldn’t just boss you around like that. “He’s lost, Batter. We need to help him get out of here!”

“He can find his way out by himself.”

“Batter. He’s scared. Can’t we bring him with us? It’s only temporary. I can do all the talking, too!” you push, trying to decipher how he’s feeling. Batter frowns at your words, and not for the first time, you wish you could see his eyes. “He might attract a Spectre.”

And it was then and there you knew there was something else wrong. Throughout all of your travels, Batter had strived to attract Spectres so he could Purify them. Hell, he’d even shouted out to them in the smoke mines! So why was he so worried about attracting them now? Especially since they were much weaker here, too?

“Since when are you worried about attracting Spectres?” you grill, folding your arms and narrowing your eyes.

He doesn’t answer for a moment, clearly caught off guard. Shaking your head, you look back up at him. “Look, what’s up with you, man? This isn’t like you.”

“I don’t want him to come with us,” he answers. You don’t buy it, but at the same time you know he’s not going to crack just yet.

With a sigh, you say: “I don’t think that’s all, but I know you won’t tell me. Can’t he just come with us? Who knows, he might be of help!”

He remains silent for a few more moments, then: “Fine.”

You grin before darting back into the room. The Elsen looks up at you hopefully.

“Come on, we can help you get out,” you coo, smiling.

“Wh-what about the ghosts?” he asks.

“We can protect you from them. Trust me,” you answer before offering your hand to him. He takes it gratefully before you pull him up.

“Thank you very much, ma’am,” he replies. You hear the Batter scoff quietly from behind you.

“You’re welcome,” you respond.

“Let’s go,” comes Batter’s voice as he nearly stomps out of the room. You roll your ryes. So much for taking a break.

“Ignore him. He’s always grumpy,” you inform, taking his small hand and pulling him behind you.

…

During your trek through the exasperating maze, you noticed Batter was considerably quieter and tenser. Eventually, you had decided that he would tell you about whatever was bothering whenever it suited him. He seemed to be angry too, if the way he was taking out whatever monstrosity showed itself. It was almost like he didn’t want to listen to you but did anyway. His stubbornness grew to the point where you just allowed him to do whatever he wanted with the battles, so you could comfort the Elsen.

And when, finally, you five reached the Judge, the Elsen quickly thanked you and scampered off while Batter spoke to the Judge. You waved at the unfortunate Elsen before turning back to the conversation at hand.

“Is not this publicity so effective and efficient whilst defying the basics of consumer marketing?” the Judge says once he sees you. The two of them are facing some kind of advertisement painted on the wall.

“For silkier hair: the meat fountains of Alma,” Batter reads, clearly unamused.

“Oh, you can read? Anyway, I am glad to have found you. Maybe you can help me unravel the mystery that fate has placed before me,” the Judge comments. He glances up at you and smiles before trotting over to you. You sit down cross-legged against the wall before he crawls onto your lap. Smiling, you pet his soft fur.

“It turns out that my brother has been living in this area for many years. He has a special affinity for colors of the cool kind. Unfortunately, I have so far failed to cross his path. I have tried to betake myself to the roof of the library, where he resides. However, I found the door closed. Even the long hours of intensive, repeated meowing and compulsive scratching did not do a thing.”

“Aw, I’m sorry Judge. Is there anything we can do to help?” you question, scratching him behind his ear. He mewls in response, flipping over onto his back in a silent request for tummy rubs.

“My request is as follows: if at the bend of a corridor you happen to see Valerie, give him my greetings.”

You nod. “Will do.”

“Okay,” The Batter agrees. “Puppeteer, I’m going to go speak to Zacharie for a moment. Do you mind waiting here while I do so?”

You’re mildly surprised, but you agree anyway. “Uh, no, go ahead.”

“Thank you.” He saunters away, trusty bat in hand with Alpha and Omega following him.

You blink. “That was weird.”

“Eccentric of the Batter indeed,” agrees The Judge, “what do you think is amiss?”

“He’s been acting very…out of character lately,” you muse, “I’m not entirely sure what’s going on.” Is he mad at you? Should you be doing something differently? If so, then why isn’t he just talking to you about it? “I wonder if he’s mad at me.”

“I highly doubt that. Your beloved Puppet could never be angry with you for long,” The Judge responds.

You shake your head, causing the Judge to glance up at you. “I don’t know, Judge. If I did something wrong, he just…he needs to speak up. I guess I should ask him about that, huh?”

The Judge nods. “If you truly believe so, then communication is the sole solution.”

“Alright, then,” you sigh, sifting your fingers through his soft fur.

A few minutes later, Batter reappears in the room, the Add Ons at his side. It was then you realized he didn’t buy anything because you were the one holding the credits.

“You good?” you question as the Judge reluctantly slides off of your lap.

“Yes. We should go,” he answers, although you catch a glimpse of his cheeks, which are…wait, is he blushing? You wonder what the odd merchant had said this time around.

Before you left, however, you approached the masked merchant standing idly behind the counter.

“Ah, buenos dias, dearest Puppeteer. How could I be of assistance?”

“Could I see what you have on you?” you ask. He chuckles.

“Of course, belle femme,” he replies, showing you his wares. You’d grown used to the odd nicknames he gave you.

You ended buying a few Fortune Tickets and some meat, placing all purchased items in your inventory before bidding Zacharie goodbye. Before you can move away, however, the merchant catches your hand in his. You freeze, watching as he lifts his mask ever-so-slightly before he brings the back of your hand to his lips.

“It’s always a pleasure to serve this little ragtag team of yours. Sois prudente, jolie fille.” Releasing your hand, he chuckles at your shocked expression, smirking as he glances at your stunned Puppet.

“Th-thank you,” you stutter before Batter places his hand behind your back and pushes you out of the door.

Once you’re outside, you blink a few times before you’re able to speak again. “Dude. What. The. Fuck?”

Batter shakes his head, probably both at your choice of language and recent events. “Language. I don’t know why he’s…” he sighs.

“He’s so weird. Wait…aren’t you fluent in French? What did he say?” you question.

Batter huffs. “The first nickname was ‘beautiful woman’. The second one was ‘Be safe, pretty girl’.”

Your cheeks grow even redder upon hearing the translation. “W-what? Really?”

He nods, remaining silent as the two of you continue to the park.

“Puppeteer…” he starts, voice soft.

“Yeah?” you ask, looking up at him. He avoids your gaze blatantly.

“I…” he trails off before continuing, “I think we should rest in Zone 0 before going to the park.”

You nod, the exhaustion of getting through the maze catching up with you. “Agreed.”

…

Once you two have reached the abandoned Zone, Batter hurriedly guides you past Zacharie, despite his greeting, and ushers to the upper levels.

“Which floor would you like to stay on?” he questions.

“Here’s fine,” you respond, sliding onto the floor. He hesitates before sitting next to you and dropping his bat onto the floor. You lean your head on his shoulder, causing him to tense up a bit before relaxing.

You hear him sigh again. “I’ve upset you, haven’t I?” His voice sounds uncharacteristically sullen for a man as stoic as he usually is.

“Kind of. I just wish you would talk to me. What’s going on with you, Batter? You’ve been acting weird lately.”

He heaves yet another sigh as you straighten your neck and shift. Batter looks up at you while you move. You end up straddling him with your hands on his shoulders. He stiffens at your gentle touches. From this angle, you can finally see his eyes.

You can’t tell exactly what color his eyes are, so you reach up before grasping the brim of his hat. He catches your wrist gently before you can pull it off all the way.

“Do you mind?” you whisper. “I really want to see your eyes.”

His grip on your wrist loosens before he removes it completely. “Go ahead.”

You smile at him in a silent thank-you before you remove it.

His eyes are a pretty shade of amber. They hold a kind of exhaustion that could only be obtained by fighting for something one couldn’t accomplish.

“Your eyes are beautiful,” you comment, smiling, “why didn’t you want me to see them?”

He bites his lip for a moment before looking away. “I am not entirely sure. I guess I just…don’t want you to see my…my real ones.”

“Your real ones?” you question, tilting your head slightly.

“Yes,” he confirms, placing a hand on your cheek. “I don’t want to scare you.”

“You won’t, Batter. Will you show me, please?” you ask, enjoying the feeling of his hands.

“Very well,” he says, “will you close your eyes for a moment?”

You obey quietly, pressing a hand against his. His hands are much bigger than yours as well as drier and calloused from using his bat so much.

“You may open your eyes now.”

Upon opening them, you find that his amber orbs have been replaced with four eyes. The irises are a deep shade of burgundy while the rest of the eye is a pretty crimson color.

“Whoa,” you breathe, removing your hand in order to trace the skin around his eyes. Even though it’s definitely unnatural for a human, he still looks handsome. “Those are even cooler!”

“You think so?” he questions, still unsure.

“Yes. I mean…I’ve never met anyone with red eyes before. I…I think they look even better than your other ones,” you confess, smiling shyly at him.

He studies your face for a moment before a teensy little smile lights up his face. “Thank you, Puppeteer. Thank you.”

You chuckle. “That’s what you get for having a pretty face. Now,” you lean back a little. “What’s been going on with you?”

His little blush is back, which almost makes you giggle. “Well…it has to do with what I talked to Zacharie about earlier.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I…whenever I saw you hugging the Elsen or just…being affectionate with someone else, it made me angry. I wasn’t sure what exactly why I was; after all, you were just trying to be comforting. I knew Zacharie would have an answer, and he did. He informed me that��I should tell you. I wasn’t sure how. Eventually, he told me that…I was…jealous.”

You chuckle. “If you wanted a hug you should’ve just asked,” you respond, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling yourself to him. Burying your face into the crook of his neck, you smile as you feel him return it with a relieved smile. He loosely wraps his strong arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him.

You note that he smells like…bubblegum? Not just any bubblegum, but the kind that’s sort of stringy? Like the baseball gum. You chuckle, inhaling his scent.

Suddenly, he slides his hands up to your neck and he gently pushes you back a little bit, rubbing the tips of his thumbs over your jawline. You move your hands to his chest, right over his heart. It steadily beat beneath your fingertips. After that, your gaze sinks down to see his lips: they’re dry and chapped, but still so, so kissable.

The Batter releases a grunt before he pulls you forward, and your lips collide. He’s gentle and slow at first, testing the waters. When the two of you break apart for a moment, you go in for another one again; this time around, it gets a little more heated.

His hands slide back down to your waist, where he pulls your torso to his. You find your hands tangled in his ivory white hair. You feel him running his hands along your curves, to the small of your back, then retreating to your waist again.

You’re pulled back by the need for air. As you gaze into his red eyes, you recollect just why you love this man. He had protected you, tried to help you when no one else would. Even when he did get a little snappy, it was because he wasn’t exactly sure what to make of both the situation and his own feelings. It was there when you were looking at him, you realized he felt the same way.

He breathes your name, brushing a hand against your cheek again. You can tell he’s at a lost for words.

“I had a feeling you wanted more than a hug.”

[the-possum-writes]

Story Previews

Just cause I haven't updated anything in a while doesn't mean I stopped writing. Here are some drafts for upcoming stories and chapter updates.

NEW WORKS

Shingeki no Kyojin [Reiner Braun/Reader]

She walked into the dining hall alongside Krista and Ymir, she doesn't look too interested in the conversation judging by the mild expression on her face which didn't take long to change once her bored eyes fell onto Reiner. Causing him to tense up all. "It's her-" the blonde whispers, slowly leaning towards his friend. "What?" Bert abruptly turned his head in her direction but Reiner lowered his head to keep him from being too obvious. "That girl, the one I told you about earlier-!" Reiner whispered. It's now that Bertholdt understood his friend's reaction, shrugging it off since he thought he was exaggerating. Bert took advantage that she were distracted to catch a glimpse at her from afar.

You could feel their eyes on you, however you kept a stoic expression as you grabbed your tray and sat a table away from them between the two close girls and the noisy trio, continuing your meal like the rest.

Reiner thought that was the end of the staring contest and went back to his meal like usual, but it was far from over. The girl kept sneaking side glances at him from time to time, unconciously urging Reiner to do the same, looking away awkwardly whenever the two of them made eye contact. This went on a few more times before Reiner started growing agitated, with his food growing cold the longer he stared blankly at his bowl. Knowing full well she's still gonna be staring at him if he raises his view

Dr. Stone [Tsukasa/Reader]

You slide the door of your patient's room, unprepared to still find him there. "Sorry for interrupting-" was your first reaction. "But I need to check her vitals and such."

Tsukasa didn't pull his eyes from his beloved sister, a real life sleeping beauty. "It's fine." was the only thing you got from him. He didn't iniciate small talk, and neither did you. But he would constantly sneak a few glances at you, or more precisely, the clipboard you wrote down. "How is Mirai? Has there been any sign of improvement?"

You keep a straight face, flipping the previous pages from last week's checkup and comparing eachother. "Nothing out of the usual, she's stable so that's a relief in itself." Tsukasa maintains his emotionless face, but there's still hope

"Either way, thank you doctor." Your view went from the clipboard to Tsukasa, giving him a sheepish smile. "Oh, I'm not a doctor. I'm an intern."

CHAPTER UPDATES:

Planters in Crime ch. 4 [Fern/Reader]

"I didn't know they kept organizing wizard battles."

"Neither did I, rumors say they brought it back about a year ago."

A few more steps and another minute of silence pass before Fern spoke again. "Don't we need a password or something like that?"

You wave a knowing finger at him. "Already got that covered, I know just the person who'll kindly tell us." Fern walked alongside you as you push through bushes and tree branches, the trek though this part of the forest felt isolated and remote. Where are you taking him?

"I doubt any wizard is gonna spill the goods-" he scoffs, but you don't reply immediately, instead giving him a somewhat mischievous smile.

"Oh, we don't need a wizard."

The claustrophobic plant life around the forest  eventually parted away into a small clearing, revealing a little makeshift wooden cabin in the center. The thing looked like it would tumble at any second, and yet you approached it with a sense of familiarity. Fern followed along behind you down the barely visible dirt trail, climbing the few steps before knocking briefly. No response. You knock a bit louder this time, impatiently tapping your foot against the ground when you didn't receive a single response.

"Looks like they aren't home." Fern crosses his arms over his chest.

"Or at least that's what they want us to think." you tap a finger to your temple knowingly.

Pocket Thief ch. 31 [Katakuri/Reader]

It's already late. The sound of ravenous drinking and partying soon replaced by the serenity of singing crickets and the cloudy night sky. It only took a few jumps to arrive at Katakuri's territory in Wheat Island but that didn't mean the trip was pleasant and calm. "This is the last time you use your devil fruit under the influence of alcohol." Katakuri muttered under his breath, still feeling dizziness and motion sickness in his stomach.

"What are you talking about, I'm perfectly fine jellybean-" you grin, leaning against him with a bottle in hand. 'Besides, If i didn't drink anything I wouldn't be able to stand your mom's big ass whining.' you mentally mused to yourself, or at least that's what you thought.

"I heard that." You jump in suprise. "Since when can you read minds!?" you almost trip backwards if it wasn't because Katakuri reached out to the bottle in your hand. "I can't read minds, you're just thinking out loud again." Katakuri grunts with the shake of his head, forcefully taking the sake bottle away from you.

You waltz inside his mansion as if you owned the place... Which considering your current status, it's not too far from the truth. Katakuri's mansion is massive, so many doors that lead to so many rooms, elaborate columns leading to high ceilings, if it wasn't because of the candy themed decorations you could've confused this place for the home of a noble. Despite how grand it may seem, it feels void of life of sorts, like no one actually lives here. During your admiration of the home and your own drunken stupor, you failed to notice the lone maid standing next to Katakuri. "Take her to her bedroom and prepare her for bed, she's too drunk to even think straight." Katakuri ordered.

"What? Separate bedroom?" Although your senses are a bit fuzzy you were still able to catch a few words from the conversation between Kata and the maid. "Who the hell are you calling drunk? I'm perfectly fine, watch me do a backflip-" but the maid rushed over to you before you could pull a cool trick or hurt yourself. "Miss, please don't." the maid begged, ushering you to follow her.

"Wait, we're not gonna share a room together? Katakuri? Katakuri!" you shout while the man walks away from you.

Coding Error ch. 20 [Batter, Zacharie, Sugar/ Reader]

You should've seen it coming when you first stepped out of that elevator. The high roof with a glass ceiling, the office themed room where the secretary kindly but effortlessly told you to leave, the pedalo rides on display and even the amount of guards your team had to face before reaching the end of the hall. All the signs were there but you didn't expect your assumptions to come true. Batter kicked the door open to reveal a man hunched over a work table, minding his own business until the abrupt sound pulled him from his work.

"What's all this ruckus?" the man exclaims.

You gawk at the man, unlike Batter who's already holding onto to his baseball while Zach keeps a hand on his sword and Sugar pulls out her hand puppets. You unconciously take a step back. "...Dedan." There he is in all his glory. Sunken eyes, enormous teeth and striking height.

[ash-imagines]

if player restarted the world of OFF & did not do the mission again and most characters gained knowledge about what have happened, do you think the judge would b super judgemental but nevertheless happy that his brother is alive? (i imagine valerie would leave tiny bird/japhet alone in this timeline) do you think enoch's god complex would falter a bit after knowing that he's been killed once?

I think it would be a lot for (almost) everyone to process. Zacharie and The Queen already know to an extent, so they aren't surprised, but everybody else has to come to terms with some pretty big stuff. A lot of them would probably still have a bone to pick with Batter, since I'd wager he's not giving up the mission for anything, but he's harmless while you're in control. Getting them to understand you as The Player and what your intentions are or were might be difficult too. Maybe you truly didn't know what you were getting into when you and Batter were assigned to each other, or maybe you're lying to gain their trust so you can sabotage them. Some of them will be quicker to trust you than others. We all know Dedan is too stubborn to back down right away.

In any case, the tragedy that would have happened has been avoided! Maybe it's the wake-up call they needed to start fixing the biggest issues in all the zones. Maybe they'll remember what's important.

[thesourtastelingers-blog]

Something's Off

Title: Something's Off

Trigger Warning(s): Blood and maybe a swear word

Fandom: Off

Pairing: Yandere! The Batter x Reader

Word Count: 2635

You're a fanatic in playing RPG maker games and to this day you sworn to not break your title.

And now you're playing Off. Great.

It's addicting to say the least, you've finished the game three times now, and you're gonna replay again and again until you get sick of it.

You pressed the 'A' button to trigger the yes option to restart the game again since you finished it yet again. You stared at the time in your laptop and it says '2:30am' how long have you been playing? Well you just started at the morning, finished the game at early noon and rinse and repeat, 'til nighttime comes by.

'Why am I playing this at 2:30?' You mentally asked yourself

'Yeah, I'll be starting the game tomorrow. I'll just play Mad Father.'

You clicked away at the 'Off' tab, but it wouldn't close itself.

"Huh? That's weird..." You commented; focusing at the screen infront of you

You desperately tried anything just to make the tab close. You've powered it off but it wouldn't budge, you restarted; doesn't work. After that you just aimlessly stared on the screen.

You're scared yet tired since you thought this must be one of those lame Creepypastas lifted back to life and so they could haunt you.

"Great... I can't do anything." You groaned as you leaned back on your chair; defeat evident all over your face

Then you heard a quiet static and a text box appearing at the game.

'That's weird, I didn't press 'new game' yet.' You cautiously thought

The text box contains The Judge and of course texts. The texts read 'Why must you leave us just to play another pathetic horror game?'

You widened your eyes "How the hell did he know I was about to play Mad Father?" You questioned yourself

You're too tired to continue but you just decided to press on the 'A' button.

'Your puppet is patiently waiting for you. He's excited to meet you again.'

That's cute and creepy since he knows someone is controlling him.

'But... What if I told him you're going to play another game and you'll replace him?'

What? No... You wouldn't replace them.

'I bet that game never had an amazing cat and an amazing merchant.'

'Mad Father doesn't have cats or merchants.' You thought

'You'll forget us, won't you?'

What? Forget them? Well you'll never forget the characters since you played the game three times in one day.

'What am I thinking? Of course you wouldn't! Right?'

This gets creepier after each text box you've read.

'I hope you have fun toying with those char-' The Judge got cut off by your mom harshly closing your laptop

"(Y/n)! Go to sleep you disgraceful teen." Your mother told you

"Fine! Fine! You insolent slut." You muttered the last part

You flopped on your bed and you fake sleep. Your mother fell for it since she exited your room; rudely slamming the door behind her.

Then you heard static yet again but it's louder than the previous one.

You went back to your laptop and you opened the laptop to see The Judge again.

'Well, that was rude...'

'But, I hope for you to have a goodnight's rest (Y/n) or our dear puppeteer.'

Then your laptop completely shuts down.

'How did The Judge know my name?' You asked through your thoughts

You flopped back on your bed again and you closed your eyes; waiting for a dreamless night.

~~~

You woke up not on your bed but on the ground. You see an oh so familiar cat walking his way to you.

"Judge?" You asked as the feline happily purrs

"My oh my dear puppeteer, we didn't know you would visit us after you would abandon us for another game!" The Judge purrs at your leg

"Gahhh! How'd you know my name anyway?" You asked The Judge

"Hohoho~ You're such a naïve person, don't you agree yourself?"

"What do you mean?" You gritted your teeth

The Judge seemingly ignored your question "Your Puppet would be given a certain mission or task and so he needs his Puppeteer to guide him."

You were about to say something but The Batter walks in the conversation

"Now, Batter this is your Puppeteer! Who has been guiding you on your journey. Their name is (Y/n) (L/n)!" The Judge explained to The Batter

The Batter emotionlessly stared at you "You were the one who controlled me, even if I had my own mind. I don't need help from you..." He commented with a monotone voice

"All the regretful endings we've been..." A shadow casted upon The Batter's eyes

"Batter! Don't say that! You still need your Puppeteer nonetheless." The Judge claimed

"I'd like to feel as if I weren't always harshly pulled by strings..." The Batter stared/glared at you

"But you still need th-" "If that's the case, fine. I'll just escape this horrendous world by myself." You cut The Judge off

You walked off to the first puzzle of the game and since you memorized it beforehand, you successfully completed the said puzzle.

The Judge reappears again and he walks up to you.

"You should regret your decision of walking off alone, dear puppeteer." The Judge nuzzles your leg

"I don't care at all. If I die here, then that's good. No one's gonna attend my funeral anyway." You bluntly said

"You'll regret it..." The Judge eerily said as he disappeared

Then a bat appeared. You took the bat as if it were a signal that The Judge gave you a weapon.

You didn't really took his words seriously. You bet The Judge was lying.

But the thing you noticed was that the the spectres looked more gruesome than ever before. The spectres were more off than the first or third time you played the game and the Elsens were the ones who drastically

changed, they were bloodier than usual. The change is really creeping you out.

"This might be an update or a Halloween skin..." You muttered as you walked up to a familiar merchant

"Ah, our puppeteer came to visit us!" Zacharie said as he rummaged to his sack of wonders

"What would you like Mon Amie?" He asked as he pulled out all of his items

"Just three luck tickets." You responded

You noticed Zacharie's mask had a smudge by the side and his mask had a crack on the bottom.

You've been staring quite some time you didn't notice Zacharie was waving the luck tickets and The Batter approaching behind you.

"You're concern about my mask, aren't you (Y/n)?"

What's up with NPCs knowing your name?

"Ah, I'm sorry." You apologized as you took out your credits to pay for the luck tickets

Zacharie snickered "Now, don't be. I've noticed that you're concerned about my mask, it's quite a horrifying story." Zacharie dryly chuckled

And The Batter cleared his throat to get both of your attentions.

"Ah! Amigo! I didn't noticed you were there!" Zacharie greeted the stoic savior as beads of sweat appeared at his face

"What do you need?"

"Abaddon's Meat."

"Huh? We don't sell that." More sweat appeared on Zacharie's face

"You're lying."

"Wait... How did he know that early in the game?" You asked yourself

The Batter raised his bat; supposedly to hit Zacharie

Zacharie just stared at the bat and in the inside he's frowning.

Before The Batter could hit Zacharie you stopped them.

"STOP!!!" You yelled at The Batter and so The Batter lowered his bat

"I'll be going for now, stay safe amigos!" Zacharie quickly disappeared with his items

Well, you saved Zacharie from The Batter.

"Why were you about to smash Zacharie with your bat?" You cautiously asked The Batter

"Just for you..." The Batter responded as he walked away from you

"HEY! YOU IGNORED ME!" You shouted but The Batter wouldn't turn his back

You sighed as you continued your merry way to get out of this world.

You noticed this world really took a dark and sharp turn. The spectres are weaker but looks more creepier or gruesome, it's creeping the shit out of you. You really wanna go home.

Welp, you did noticed something Zone 1 and that is when you were about to face Dedan, apparently he was already purified but here's the catch, blood was dripping allover the floor. You did assume The Batter already purified him but why blood oozing allover the floor?

~~~

While you were in Zone 2, the Judge kept asking you where is Valerie and since you've already played the game you knew Valerie was controlled by Japhet. You felt pity and sorrow to the poor feline at his brother's death. You knew The Batter purified Japhet before you.

~~~

Finally you're in Zone 3, the sugar factory or where Elsens resides. You encountered The Batter, again, but this time he got smudged with blood.

Now, you're ready to face Enoch. While you were about to enter the room where Enoch is at, you saw The Batter repeatedly smash his bat towards Enoch, and he has no time to react as blood kept oozing out of his head.

'Is that his 1st or 2nd battle?' You mentally asked yourself as you hid away from their sights

The Batter purified Enoch and then he walked out of the room and he might've noticed you considering he has four eyes.

Everything really gets creepier and stranger all of a sudden.

What you first noticed is that Zacharie is more and more beaten, when you asked about it his excuse is always "It's a lengthy story, (Y/n)." And you're just too concern for his well-being. You asked him if he could just use his healing items but he always responds with "No mi amigo! You can't fathom what merchant would use their own items for their own good? And so it's purpose is to sell!" You're really, really concerned.

Now that Valerie was dead The Judge holds a straight face and is more mesmerizing than usual. The Judge would often blame you for not controlling your puppet, but in reality Valerie just ate Japhet and he grew into an absurd size deeming Japhet as a parasite.

Hugo and The Queen are also dead, which quite struck you the most. You can't do anything about it, but what you noticed while you were in the room, The Queen presumably left a letter for you and it read:

'You're such a peculiar entity in this world our dear player, I have mistaken you in your past playthroughs with The Batter. Oh, and The Batter is a fool at games, he's the one who obstructed the world. Now it was never your fault for killing me in the past, it was the fool's fault. I have laid a curse for the fool, for he was busy doing his "sacred" mission. I may rest peacefully for I have forsaken you our dear player.'

Now that note pulled your heart strings. A stoic man like The Batter couldn't even care for his own family!

And you see another note in the same room and the note read:

'FiNdiNg yOu, deaR plAyer...'

Oh, and it's smudged with blood. Who could've wrote this note?

The first letter pulled your heart strings, while the second one sorta killed the mood and it's creeping you out more than expected.

~~~

And now, you're at the very final stretch of the game, where The Batter would turn off the switch or he would change his mind, but you're the one who does decisions. Without The Batter in your strings there's no doubt he would not turn off the switch.

The Judge followed you and both of you saw The Batter about to turn off the switch and he is bloodier than the previous times you've encountered him. You unexpectedly used your strings to get ahold of The Batter.

"Puppeteer, would you fight alongside with me? Or go on ahead and make The Batter turn off the switch?" The Judge sternly gave you two decisions

You looked back at The Judge and you carefully thought out the situation

"I would like to fight alongside with you." You looked at The Judge straight in the eye

And then The Batter ultimately change to his Bad Batter form.

The Judge called out to his other friends to fight alongside Bad Batter.

But... Bad Batter easily crushed all of them, except for you.

"What are you gonna do you monster?! You've killed your wife even your son! Go ahead and turn off the switch you selfish person!" You said as blood dripped from your mouth

And then for some reason Zacharie appeared and he held an Abaddon's meat.

"Amigo!" He weakly called out as he threw the Abaddon's meat with all his might towards you

But Bad Batter slapped the meat before you could take it and he knocked back Zacharie ultimately letting Zacharie bleed to death.

"Z-zacharie!" You weakly shouted as tears flowed down your face

You pathetically laid down at the ground and Bad Batter stared at you.

[topurify]

                                                    THEORY NOTES.    .  .  . THAT’S PRACTICAL. 

the batter’s world view.

It’s abundantly clear that the Batter himself has some questionable views and morals but a lot can be discovered from the gameplay about this. The most telling moment to me in the beginning of the game is the response that the Batter has to Dedan, and how after one interaction he witnesses he comes to the conclusion that Dedan is “evil” and must be purified. This is laughable to us as the player because it’s so extreme for one little interaction, as an adult you realize that things are more complex than one view on things so judging someone’s entire character on one bad day or interaction is incredibly childish and unfair. Notice also how I said childish, as this is deliberate. It’s clear that in many aspects the Batter’s view is black and white, this is symbolically pushed through the black and white color schemes of all the characters in the game. Perhaps this was a stylistic choice but in my eyes this was a very intentional choice that foreshadowed what was to come.

In terms of the Batter, his viewpoint is the same as Hugo’s in a lot of ways. Why? Because Hugo controls this world, he is the one who created it all, who made the Batter and the Queen and everything in the world there and his childish, black and white view on things is reflected in the toxic worlds of OFF. From sugar being bad and getting people addicted, to judging someone entirely off of one interaction. So, how does this reflect on the Batter’s worldview specifically, as he is clearly based off of Hugo’s father? There seems to be one morally shakey view that covers nearly all of the Batter’s choices and perspectives.

A world that is suffering is better destroyed than left to rot. Sacrifice it all for the chance of a new beginning. Even at his own expense. That does not mean he doesn’t feel guilt and pain from what he and the puppeteer did, but because of the Queen’s lack of care and neglect (as mentioned in the ending of the game) the child was pushed to the edge and therefore the Batter was “forced” to take action.

I personally view this as symbolism for the real-life interactions of Hugo’s mother and father. His mother was kind and loving but neglectful, she gave him what he wanted but not what he needed and his father was the opposite. He focused on what he needed and wanted to give him what he wanted but knew he couldn’t live like a “normal kid” because of his illness. So he had to be strict. When his mother had him, she neglected his needs because she wanted him to live as much life as he could, to be as happy as he could before he died. Unfortunately, because of this, Hugo’s health declined rapidly until his father eventually managed to get Hugo back from his mother and get full custody. Being a child, Hugo, of course, reacted negatively and viewed his father as destroying his life and effectively killing him.

hugo.

The relationship the Batter has with Hugo is often viewed as the Batter being the father and Hugo being the son and in some way it is. However, Hugo made the Batter, quite literally created him in the image of his father. Notice though that the views of their relationships are different depending on the Queen’s view and the Batter’s. The Queen views Hugo as her child, while Batter in the final fight refers to the area as “the cradel of my father” meaning he does not view the same relationship but rather views Hugo as the creator and technical father of him who was neglected and therefore pushing the Batter into play.

It also should be noted that if the Batter is aware of the player, and the one who made him, then that means he would be aware of the man he was built off of and what Hugo thinks of him. Hugo had literally cast him into nothingness until the Batter gained his puppeteer and left to complete his mission.

the rotting world.

The world of OFF, though colorful and interesting, is no doubt a very dystopian future type of thing. From the behavior, views, and society of the Elsen themselves as seen from some official art descriptions by Mortis Ghost

Once again in terms of our world, this view is very childish and simplistic as well as inaccurate. However, for the Elsen this is true and is very much real. On top of this the “Guardians” of the zones themselves have grown corrupted and cruel to the individuals in their zones and the Queen has done little to correct this.

In a way, the entirety of the Batter’s mission was a mercy kill of sorts. Which is why morally the game itself is confusing and frustrating. The morally questionable actions and choices made are enough to make anyone stop to ponder if what they were doing was right or wrong and that’s precisely what the ending did. It signified the reflection of the Batter and The Queen and the rotting world onto the real-life counterparts of Hugo’s father, mother and the world he was living in before his father either took him away or had to decide to pull the plug. ( Hence the name of the game, and the ending )

the blame.

So who is to blame for what was done, was it the puppeteer, the puppet, the creator? The only blame that can be said for the world Hugo made would be the Puppeteer and The Batter, in the real world, it would be Hugo’s mother. The Batter knew what he had to do, he knew that he would be despised as the villain when the Puppeteer was assigned to him and he set out to complete his mission, but he did what he had to do anyway. The reason I say the Puppeteer was also to blame, despite the lack of understanding until the ending is that the Puppeteers (or players) stayed. As Zachary continuously reiterated, this is all a game, no one was making us finish playing it except our own interest and the Batter knows this. He knows full well that the player could leave at any time, refuse to finish the game, refuse to fight. But we all did anyway. Whether we clicked auto or not, we still watched what happened and allowed it to occur, until the ending decision was made. In fact, I think that’s why it was made so clear to us that we were playing a video game, so we would know that we were in fact guilty of the same “crimes” the Batter was. I say it like that because it’s honestly such a morally challenging thing to pick apart and judge when it comes down to it, and it really depends on the world view you have that determines your stances on what happened in the game and all the purifying done.

The Puppeteer cannot exist without the Batter and vice versa, they were tied together cosmically built for each other for this story, and there is no running out on your own story.

[auraticflow]

Just a small guide

I always had this guide for OFF fangames (I’ve never played the real OFF) or OFF for leveling regarding places and bosses, so here’s what I usually play by! You might find this useful in your experiences.

This advice mainly applies to fangames that are basically the OFF game but with a different character or something. I find these levels come naturally if you fight every single enemy you come across without fleeing, and perhaps with a bit of grinding.

Barns: Level 3ish

Reaching Dedan (Post Office): Level 5

Fighting Dedan (Alma, Boss): Level 7 (No higher than 15, he becomes a bit of a pushover if you’re any higher. This idea applies to the other bosses too.).

Returning to the Purified Zones: I do this and tend to run away from every encounter, just to get the items. But you can also go after beating Enoch.

Japhet (Valerie Encounter): Level 10

Exiting the Mall: Level 12/13

Japhet (Boss): Level 15 (No higher than 25)

Sucre/Secret Boss in Zone 0: May face after Japhet, would receive valuable experience for Enoch’s Boss. But it will be difficult.

Enoch: Level 20 - 25 (No higher than 35)

Sucre/Secret Boss and Purified Zones: May face here.

The Queen / The Final Boss: Level 25 - 35. It can help immensely to be at 40. But any higher and the fight can be a bit underwhelming instead.

Amusing Story: A friend and I were playing Continue/Stop/Rise and we had the Batters around Level 45. That final boss was a complete nightmare. But then I replayed it with another friend. Level 45 and we just hit “Auto” and the Batters won on their own. We then experimented by manually having them use their standard attack - no competences. The fight was over faster than with our manual strongest attacks or auto on.

What levels do you guys prefer to be at when you get to certain parts of OFF Fangames/OFF itself? Reblog it and write down your numbers!

[tanblaque]

What's your theory about what's going on in off?

Warning: Lengthywriting ahead with spoilers.

(I actually wrote a whole articleto answer this, anon! It nearly reached six pages on Word, but I had to cut itdown. And I think I took advantage of this Ask to make an analysis. Do forgiveme. I love this game so much.)

Let’s establish, OFF takes placein a world that is very unnatural and dystopia-like, specters plague the land,occupants breathe smoke, water is made out of liquid plastic and solid plasticmakes out other objects, and  meat is theonly thing edible. Nameless inhabitants with the same dress code live theirlife in fear of the ghosts, and under the tyranny of the Zones’ ruthless and corruptedGuardians, withstanding a never-ending life of work.

You, the Player, control theBatter, an emotionless holy man who seeks to purify the world.

In general: OFF is about a fatherridding all hopes, dreams and affection for his terminally ill son. We play ashis persona, but we are in the view of his child.

It protects the books, but it can’t read them. Maybe we’re all protecting something, but we just don’t know what… or maybe we’re ruining it. - Elsen, Zone 2

Hugo

Hugo is sick. It is hinted in theevents of the Room when he mentions being told by his papa, and his sound clipbeing a cough. He had to take pills, and he wasn’t allowed to go outside. He lookslike a baby, but he probably didn’t grow up well, he also has no trace of hairon his head or eyebrow.

Each time you enter the Room, thesurroundings change. First, a smiley face made out of chairs is present; next afrown with tears, a bunch of computers with floors that hurts, people going toand fro, but you can’t touch them. And then the room itself turned into aprison cell. This is a manifestation of Hugo’s feelings towards his dwellingplace, dark, isolated, frightening, and lonely.

Sundays were probably special tohim in a way, considering most of the calendars noted “Sunday” and the Batterkeeps some Days with himself too as well.

There are six personalities

This game delves into psychology andmany symbolisms, which involves the characters themselves. If you would notice,most characters in the game are male except the Queen and Sucre. This supportsthe idea that all the male characters are manifestations of the father’sdifferent personalities.(I’m referencing the inspirations of this game being, SilentHill 2, where every character faces manifestations of their fears, an ill Mary;Brazil, with Jill and Sam; The Wizard of Oz; Killer7 etc.)

The Batter is dressed in abaseball uniform, manifesting how Hugo viewed his father as an enemy like the antagonist,Ballman, in his comic book. He is a Puppet, representing the Decision, beingstripped off of all emotions and empathy so that he can fulfill his goal topurify. What does purifying mean? To hide. And what are the specters? The truth.The truth that Hugo is dying. This is to achieve peace. Most parents wish tohelp their child continue living life as comfortable as possible despite their incurableillness. Talking to a kid about death is the most difficult thing to do.Valerie and the Judge are the father’s subconscious mind, the Judge being thewise conscience, and Valerie being judgment.

However, the father realized thatthe truth was undeniable. The specters were too many and the only way for themto come to an end was to finally turn the switch off, which belongs to the lifesupport of his vegetable/comatose son.

Dedan is a tall, foul mouthed, andill-tempered man. He is the guardian of Zone 1 which supports all the otherZones with its production of the elements that is vital for their world tocontinue living. He works endlessly to supply the needs and is loyal to theQueen. Dedan represents the father as the provider, who works hard to support hisfamily, and protect them. He has regards for time as hinted in the Room:Chapter 4 and his competencies. Overworking probably took the best of him. Andthus the Batter finishes him.

Japhet is a firebird thatmanifests the father’s other role who gives the pleasures and a future to his family.At some point, Hugo and his mother became engrossed with all the troubles thatthey forgot about what the father gave them, ‘peace’, 'security’,'entertainment’, that being the abandoned Mall, Library, and Amusement Park. Inthe Room: Chapter 4, he was a small humble bird, but then grew into one ofthose god-looking mythological creatures full of pride. His taking over Valerieis a symbol of being held by back his judgment, only to tear it to shreds and toallow his arrogance to get the best of him, lashing out at his people to hurtthem. He knew of what he became and is guilty of it. Thus following afterDedan’s downfall.

But that was me! It was I who made it all like that for you! Are you all so blinded by your pathetic fear of living? - Japhet

Enoch represents the father’shard attempts to feed his family sugar-coated lies, telling them thateverything will be okay, denying the truth of Hugo’s illness, even to the pointof chasing the Batter down and breaking through pipes just to stop him fromtelling the truth.

Zacharie manifests the father’spassive attitude. Careless, and being preoccupied with messing you around, he’sa deceiver. A man who wears a mask and has a heart stuck to his shirt. Sugar isanother representation of Hugo’s mother. And she’s nothing but boss hidden deepin Zone 0, obsessing over the lies. The two are manifestations of the fatherand mother’s relationship. Despite having killed Sugar, Zacharie just simplyremarks, “It’s better that way.”

The Queen

The Queen represents the mother. Beautiful,loving, powerful, and the light of Hugo’s world. She’s the Batter’s parallel,having add-ons of her own, and being much grander as compared to his simpledesign. The battle against her is an important one, as we get hints on whathappened. If you would notice, it seemed similar to a couple fighting, referencedby their dialogue, and the soundtracks played during the chapter, “Woman ofyour Dreams” and “The Meaning of His Tears”. Each word she said hurt him. Notonly was she berating him, she was also fighting to keep the lies but lost.

The Batter’s confrontation with Hugo

Each blow of his bat symbolizedthe father finally telling Hugo of his situation, however, still giving him theassurance that “There will be no more darkness”.

Unfortunately, all these eventshave already happened, and Hugo was just having flashbacks of his life. And we,the Player, spectated. We were only allowed to actually intervene when we weregiven a choice, to side with the Batter, or the Judge.

The final clash with the Judge represents thefather and his conscience. This very moment was beyond Hugo’s reach, and is nolonger a memory, but was actually taking place in the present. The father hadto make a final decision, and you were in his shoes. Pull the switch and thefather ends Hugo’s life, as well as his. Choose either way and it’s nothing butregrets, and a life of loneliness.

OFF did a good job in usingsymbolism in its narrative. It actually nearly covered most topics. Examples arebureaucracy, environmental problems, sickness, family, and imagination butstill not resulting in clichés. It’s bizarre, comedic, yet dark. Simple butstill complex. This game never ceases to fascinate me, truly the best horrorRPG.

But remember, it’s just a theory!Nothing is right or wrong, it’s all up to you. Thanks for reading.

I noticed thiswas pointed out already in @krazehcakes’ post, but I thought the exact same waybefore even reading theories online. Screenshots are property of Panzer’s textwalkthrough.

[rocksinmuffin]

sadistic + yandere batter unable to resist his pure puppeteer?

When you started this whole journey, this game, you knew nothing of this world and its inhabitants. All you knew was that a disembodied voice assigned you to guide the Batter and that it was his duty to purify the spirits from this world. But you were so sure that you were the good guy and that your Batter must be good, too. And the Batter was so trusting and willing to follow your every command that he must have known you were good too.

And, at first, everything was okay. Spirits attacked, harassed helpless citizens, so you felt no remorse when you set Batter after them. Dedan, too, was a menace and had proved himself willing to leave his people to die, so you had felt a sick self-satisfied feeling when Batter’s bat cracked through his skull.

You think that’s when things changed between you and the Batter. When your roles shifted. He sensed that satisfaction in you, that dark glee from defeating a powerful enemy, from killing someone who you’re sure deserves it. Before you had been moving straight from one goal to another but now the two of you would linger, hoping to run into more ghosts that you could fight and kill and gain experience from. It was a solid strategy, if not the most clever. Become so strong that even the toughest enemy will go down in one hit.

Batter killed and killed under your command and you were proud of him and he saw that pride and basked in it. Let it wash warm over him like fresh blood splatters after every kill. And never did you stop to think about the wrongness of the situation until the burnt elsen. The one in the subway.

You had killed them before. Remorselessly, even, despite knowing what they were. But this one… This one did not attack. It begged for help. And you saw its pain and for the first time began to question everything you knew, everything this world had presented to you, and you looked to the Batter and begged for help as well. And the Batter struck it dead.

When you asked him why, with teeth bared and eyes full of angry tears, he replied, “We helped the only way we can.”

It’s the first time you’d ever looked at him and felt anything but pride. Now your cup runneth over with emotion. Disgust and horror and guilt knowing you made this monster what he is. Regret, knowing if you had done things differently perhaps this man might not have twisted into the monster before you; long-limbed and bulbous-headed and distorted nightmare proportions. And fear that perhaps he was this monster all along but you had blinded yourself until now.

He’s determined to finish what the two of you started; to purify this world, whatever that may entail. At this point, you think he’s just going to kill and kill until there’s no one left but him and you. You’d be worried he’d kill you too but now that the wool is lifted you can see the hungry look in his eyes after every battle, the way fresh blood makes his pupils dilate and his nostrils flare and his eyes focus on you like starving dogs stare at table scraps.

When he approaches you after his latest battle, monster tongue lolling and fresh gore still clinging to him, it isn’t the thought of death that has you shaking in fear.

[grass-skirt]

So it's gotta be the kid's coma dream, right? And the Batter is something like an immune system or the chemo or something shutting down the brain bit by bit? Or do you think it's something else?

(Lotsa spoilers here for anyone who hasn’t played OFF yet but is planning to, so watch out) 

I don’t have a hard idea of what I think the world of OFF actually is. Mortis Ghost has made it clear that it is very open to interpretation. It sounds like he has his own idea about it, but he has no interest in sharing it specifically because he wants players to be able to think about things and come up with their own interpretations. So when things are super open to interpretation like this, I don’t really commit myself to a specific interpretation and look at is mostly as an ambiguous canvas that we can draw numerous interpretations from. 

ANYWAY, looking at the interpretation that the world of OFF is the body/mind of a terminally ill child… if anything I would interpret that Batter not as as form of treatment like chemotherapy, but as death itself in some form. Because the guardians of the zones… they kept things running, right? If anything they would represent whatever treatment the kid was receiving–something that came with painful side effects but kept the child alive. Dedan’s zone made the smoke, plastic, metal, and meat that made up their world. With the exception of meat, those are non-biological things associated with factories, pollution, and artificial constructions. They’re unnatural but they were necessary for the world to exist. Zone 2 could easily represent the brain, as it was the location of the great library, the center of knowledge. Yet Zone 2 was filled with books with torn pages, an a guardian who was in mental decline and the people couldn’t even recognize who he was anymore. I’m not even sure how to touch of Zone 3 and it’s themes of addiction and the recycling of dead bodies. 

But in any case, the Zones of OFF were dirty, barely functioning places… but they kept the world in existence. Without the guardians and what they were responsible for producing/maintaining, the world stopped existing. It became “purified”, and purification basically equaled death. I remember the first time I “purified” an Elsen in the game. Before that we had only purified spectres, who were intangible ghosts. I was expecting that the Elsen would be freed from the corruption that was possessing it, but nope–it simply died. The Batter couldn’t “purify” anything. He could only kill things. That was his whole mission. To shut everything down. No more plastic, no more torn up books, no more suffering, no more dark to be afraid of. No more anything at all. 

That interpretation is a pretty obvious one. What’s in greater question though is why. Was the Batter representative of the child’s inevitable death? Did he have no feelings about anything at all because he was simply a force of nature–the inevitability of death overcoming a child’s struggle to survive? Or was the Batter representative of the child’s own father, with the Queen representing his Mother trying desperately to keep Hugo alive? And in that case, was the Batter a figure of mercy, allowing the child to finally be free from his constant suffering? Or, we could imagine that the Batter represents Hugo’s father giving up on him prematurely–deciding on his own that Hugo wouldn’t be able to survive, wouldn’t be able to make it through, and decided to put an end to things himself. 

Again, I’m not really committed to any one of these interpretations. But I do like to be able to consider all the possibilities and look at the different potentials for what things could be. Like, Mortis Ghost confirmed that the Batter didn’t actually look like that warped monster in the special ending–it was just our impression of him that had changed. And I like that a lot because it opened the door to the possibility that nothing we saw as a monster in the game actually was. All the corrupted Elsens? The ones who got angry at us, the ones who were going through withdrawal, the ones who were broken down and pleading for help? Did we only see them as corrupted monsters because that’s how the Batter saw them? Was the Batter really destroying creatures that needed to be destroyed, or was he so dedicated to his misguided, moral crusade that he went around destroying any perceived corruption whether it actually needed to be or not? (And if that’s the situation, then that enables the interpretation that the Batter was Hugo’s immune system, but a dysfunctional one that ultimately killed him in a blind, misguided attempt to do its job) 

We’ll never know, and there isn’t really a correct interpretation anyway. But it’s interesting to consider it all and try to make the best sense of it we can 

[offtheories]

It's a Mad World

Okay so this is a long one, warning you now, and is spoilerific. 

First off, I want to just post these things to go with one of my points:

The map of the Zones in the Nothingness: 

And this is an image of nuclear radiation spreading into the ocean after the fallout from Japan’s factory explosion: 

Okay so I haven’t played OFF myself, but I’ve been watching a playthrough by a youtube gamer. I kinda glazed over it initially even though I knew the game was interesting, open for interpretation, and a lot of things I usually enjoy just because I was working on a project and it was good background noise while not distracting me too much.

After about six of nine parts of the way through I started paying attention again and saw how much the game had changed and was listening to the player himself exclaiming about what was going on and how he wasn’t sure if the character he was playing was actually a good person.

  So I started watching it over again and also read several fan theories about the world and plot of OFF.

  The theories about Hugo being a sick little boy or the Batter being a deranged father didn’t quite pique my interest just because they seemed rather…obvious. And overused. Like the theory about Ash being in a coma after his first battle with Pokemon, or Frankie from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends being a mentally challenged child who has literally imagined the world the show exists in. To me personally it just seems too easy, like the horrible story that ends in “it was all just a dream”. The deeply unsettling world and dialogue of OFF seem too thoroughly engineered to make you think to let “it’s all just a sickly little boy’s fantasy” really be the answer. And in my opinion it doesn’t give enough credit to the many small nuances, major traits of the world, and details that come along in the story.

  The theories that intrigue me most are the ones that actually seem to make sense with how the world works instead of just discounting the odd colours and bizarre “four key elements” as negligible. Like the theory that the world of OFF is post-apocalyptic of a nuclear disaster, where humans have survived, but just barely, and have been forced to adapt to new ecosystems created by the mutated world.

  For instance, the bizarre colour palette, the fact that people breathe smoke, and that a primary food source (meat) is harvested from cows and even rivers. All of these are similar to colours associated with “nuclear” colour schemes, neons and sharp contrasts. The Nothingness shows small splotches of colour in an empty darkness, which, if you look at nuclear fallout in infrared vision on a map, you can see that they look similar - the green being areas where the nuclear fallout has dampened a good deal, the red centers the place where it remains active - or even referring to the Guardian of each zone, located at the center of them all. The rest of the world is shown as black, because there is no life left to show up on the map. It’s completely cold and dead, and hence, like anything utterly cold on an infrared heat map, it’s black.

  SPOILER WARNING

  As for the major plot, as the gamer goes through the game, “purifying” the zones of their spectres, when returning to zones that have already been purified, the gamer finds the zone washed out and empty of all colour, the citizens gone - despite having been “saved” from the spectres - and in their place, “humanoid” monsters have replaced them.

  Some key details I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen other fan theories mark into account:

  The Batter, throughout the game, is consistently asked and assumed to be working for the “Queen”. However, AT THE VERY beginning, he OPENLY declares to The Judge that no, he is NOT working for the Queen whatsoever. Considering he is “observed” by the player, who is considered to have some important authority in this game, and even is given important tasks to perform beyond the fourth wall that The Batter could not do himself, it can be assumed the Batter was sent by someone ELSE, someone completely different - it could be the player themself, or yet another source entirely. Whatever the case, the Batter is NOT working for the queen - the people who ARE we later find are the Guardians of the Zones, and, a key character, Valerie, The Judge’s younger brother.

  The reason this is so important is because when the Batter finally encounters Valerie in Zone 3, Valerie tells him outright he is in control of the Spectres that are terrorizing everyone - and Valerie SAYS he is sent by the Queen to bring justice to the zones.

  Rewind back to the previous three Zones that the Batter has cleared. As I watched, I noticed that while the Spectres appeared in many places and directly interfered with the work of the citizens there - simply by terrorizing them and chasing them out of their work spaces - none of the Spectres were once, by any of the citizens there, to have directly actually HURT anyone. The only person we ever saw the Spectres directly attack was Dedan, the first Zone’s Guardian.

  Yes, there ARE citizens encountered that begin to attack the batter, and we see their heads replaced by some sort of straight black explosion going off screen. BUT all of these citizens before attacking seem to be behaving oddly - not aggressive, but different from usual, and some of them ask for help, and some of them simply say they aren’t feeling well. But again, no citizens have reported to the Batter once to have seen any Spectres attacking people, touching people, or “possessing” them in any way. They simply tell him they’re scared, too scared to go near the Spectres.

  As the Batter progresses deeper into each zone, the Spectres and various other monsters cluster more thickly around each Zone boss. Now, all of the Zone bosses are still in place - Valerie has left each of them there either without confronting them at all, or simply not addressing them yet. The ONLY Guardian Valerie ends up attacking is Japhet, who obviously defeats him.

  Now consider how Japhet defeats Valerie - he doesn’t say that he killed him, only is using him as a puppet - like he’s possessed him.

  For a second, take the Batter out of the scene and picture it as what we know so far: Valerie is an envoy sent by the Queen with an army of Spectres to assist him in “bringing justice” to the Zones. He moves past Dedan and several areas leaving behind only Spectres that cluster near the Zone Bosses - individuals that while being “Guardians” of the Zones are clearly abusive or negligent of the citizens that live there. If Valerie is performing an investigation, he’s determined that the Guardians are part of the injustices going on, and appears to be keeping the public away from dangerous areas where the extremely powerful Guardians would easily abuse, hurt, or kill them while in their “unjust” states. However, Valerie doesn’t stop these Guardians or eliminate them - for a reason.

  Moving forward, Valerie has finally confronted a Guardian, Japhet, and lost. His investigation has come to a sad end. We can assume that Valerie either found reason to believe Japhet was the root of injustice in the zones, corrupting the other Guardians and making them abusive of their wards, or that during his investigation of Japhet, Japhet attacked him first as he became aggressive when he found that Valerie was there to end whatever is going on - whether Japhet IS in charge or not. Whether Valerie initiated the attack or not, it came to the same end.

  If Japhet is capable of possessing people, he could easily be suspected as having been the one warping other Guardians, and as a result, certain citizens of their zones. Nonetheless, the Queen’s own investigator had reason for not killing them himself - and I suspect the reason why is the radiation fallout inhabiting their zones.

  If we stick with the post-apoclyptic theory that everything is mutated by radiation and existing in a state of fallout, where some “supernatural” rules exist - after all, the spectres seem to be outright ghosts and there are talking cats and whatnot - then it’s reasonable to assume that perhaps while things exist in a sort of ecosystem with radiation, it’s not quite successful. Aside from the spectres there are physical monsters. There are talking cats. There are mutated people - Dedan, Japhet, Sugar, and the enormous fat guy boss are evidence of that. Dedan, Sugar, and the big guy could easily be warped humans that survived the initial fallout (perhaps the queen is too) and possess a prolonged lifespan along with certain abilities. The key ability shared among them is possibly the ability to keep their zones protected from too much radiation.

  Now bring the Batter back into play.

Once these Guardians are gone, the Zones lose their colour - radiation and heat will peel paint off walls and blacken it, warp colours, kill plant life, resulting in colourless worlds. As the Guardians die, radiation floods the Zones they were protecting with their power. The remaining humanoid race, previously existing well enough, are quickly warped into “humanoid” monstrosities - while the Spectres could be classified as monsters, they were never classified as “humanoids”. These new humanoid monsters are much more powerful than any of the Spectres ever were, as powerful as Japhet himself. If the Guardians draw their power from radiation as well as direct an excess away from their Zones, then the newly contaminated humanoids have that power dispersed amongst their new monstrous forms, accounting for the huge jump in power.

  I mentioned that Dedan, Sugar, and Big Man at the end look like warped humanoids that survived the first fallout. However, Japhet is apparently a bird - like the Judge and his brother, Japhet could be a bird mutated by fallout. Perhaps, like the other Guardians, he’s from the first fallout, accounting for his size and power. Like the phoenix, he’s risen from the ashes, earning him his name as a bird of fire. 

  The Batter is a new factor not intended for the mechanisms of this world at all. He’s completely disrupting things on his holy crusade that seems almost unwarranted. Yes, the Spectres are a nuisance, and yes, the Guardians are corrupted, but even with Valerie’s demise the Queen obviously knows something is going wrong and seems to have things handled. So why is the Batter here, taking everything apart? When returning to the Zones after they turn grey and infested with new, horrible monsters, he never remarks on any of this or asks Zacharie, the Judge, or other recurring characters about what’s going on - so maybe he knew it would happen or maybe he didn’t, and that means he either doesn’t care, or knew it would happen and felt it was right.

  I’d like to briefly address the existence of the citizens - how they’re all identical and all have the same apparently timid demeanour, and the same single-minded attitude about “work”. Some of them comment, either at death after being “purified” or while performing their tasks, that they would rather be in Alma, or that somewhere, things are better, and if they work hard enough they’ll get there. This clearly reflects the current attitude of our modern world, that as long as we work hard, don’t complain, don’t get fired, and just keep doing what we’re told, we’ll make it to the green grass and the nice house and a comfortable retirement.

  Each Zone has a distinctly different appearance, purpose, and Guardian. Yet all the citizens are identical. If we’re going really strictly with nuclear fallout, perhaps these drones are clones of the same individual, all imprinted with the same basic personality to maximize productivity and minimize disruption. The Zones need to function, and the citizens are really more like cogs in a machine than actual people. They can feel fear and their only differences are based on the Zones they’re in and the work they’re supposed to perform. They all wear the same clothes because they’re not complex enough to care about individuality or need it. Maybe they’re even not intelligent enough to notice. There’s no designation between genders, and you never see any children anywhere. All we see are asexual workers in formal clothing going about their tasks with dedicated routine. They never project any concern for family members they may have or each other - they get distressed over their tasks not being finished or being interrupted. No children and no apparent gender would imply this is a race of humanoids that doesn’t reproduce and doesn’t need to - they’re made in a factory, just like the factories they work in. In one Zone, the bodies of those who die there are turned into sugar, but all the other Zones have no such system or mention of disposing of the dead. If you want to be really morbid, perhaps the Zone of liquid meat is the liquified remains of thousands of dead clone citizens, liquidated and refined to feed themselves underground or somewhere else, then pumped through pipes to this zone where the rivers surface, the meat is harvested, and the cycle continues.

  No Zone is self-sufficient. Each Zone contributes to the whole “world” of OFF, building the ground under people’s feet, producing the smoke they breathe, the meat they eat.

  Getting back to the story, I haven’t seen much beyond this, but what’s happened so far convinces me that while things were going wrong, and maybe the world was run in a horrifying way, it’s the barest remains of what used to be, and it appears the Queen is trying to keep the world alive in whatever way possible. The identical citizens are an echo of what the modern world was, but her system is beginning to break down and she sends Valerie to resolve it. Enter the Batter, whose origins are unknown, whose handler is unknown, whose intentions are unknown - but he’s got his own identity and appearance, is larger than the citizens just like the Guardians are, and gradually becomes as powerful as them. It’s possible he is like them - an original human from the first fallout. And because of him the already shaky system is becoming utterly shattered.

  At this point I have two theories of the Batter’s origins - one being that with the presence of ghosts, supernatural elements, and the circle entities that accompany him to assist, possessing no personality or thought of their own, may be symbolic of halos, and from here you can speculate it’s some actual divine intervention come to finally put to rest the world that should have died long ago, or an outside entity who, like the Queen and the Guardians, is a survivor and has encountered her world and found it so despicable, they send the Batter, their own agent, to end it. To “purify” it. The Circles accompanying the Batter are entities sent with him to assist him as his challenges grow. They help him with assassinating the Guardians of the Zones.

  This means that the radiation kept at bay will take over and warp and finally kill the citizens and nuclear fallout will continue on its due course. It kills, but eventually it fades, and if the Guardians of the Zones do manipulate it, perhaps they and the Queen have in fact kept the radiation alive to preserve their system, give them their power, and fuel the unnatural ecosystem they’ve adapted to. Instead of accepting their own deaths and letting the radiation take over until it finally disperses and the world begins to renew itself, they’ve kept it alive and used it. The Batter is sent to purify this world of the poison that creates it while destroying everything else. He switches the world “OFF” to turn off one last nuclear generator that produces radiation and supplies the Zones with their power. This world is finally dead. It “falls into Nothingness”. As Enoch says at his defeat, “without Guardians, this world is doomed to fall into the Nothingness”. Into death, but into a natural death, instead of unnatural life. The natural world is finally allowed to rebuild.

  One other theory I have is that the Batter was once a worker of one of the Zones. He did his job, worked his way up, and once he reached Alma, he discovered the horrifying truth of how this world functions. He was intelligent enough to get promoted through Zones - if such a thing is possible - and his intelligence allows him to comprehend how wrong this world’s system is. Instead of becoming a part of the Queen’s plan and perhaps joining greater ranks, as the Judge and Valerie have, he rebels and goes all the way to Zone 0. He brings with him a relic of the old world, which we see is not outlandish - one of the Zones has plenty of relics, such as rollercoasters in a theme park. It could be the bat is not a simple bat at all, but a weapon designed to combat more powerful forces. If Zacharie, who also has his own appearance and identity, and yet is not an agent of the Queen, possesses an upgraded bat later in the game for purchase, it’s possible he did once work for the Queen and became upset by her system and left her. However, he did not have the motivation to destroy the world, simply exist in it on his own terms. The Judge, who apparently doesn’t even know Valerie is in Japhet’s Zone until he sees him possessed by Japhet, could also be a former agent of the Queen. After Valerie’s death, the Judge is clearly out of his mind, and it’s possible both he and Zacherie are a little bit mad.

  The Batter takes his own name, and like Zacherie and the Judge, is a little bit mad. Mad befriends mad, and the Judge asks the Batter who the person is that’s with him - that being the player. The Batter now possess a split personality after asking for a name, and receiving it. Later on, he asks this part of himself to do things that normally he wouldn’t be able to comprehend, because with realizing how broken his world is, the former citizen can only survive through a controlled madness. And he seeks vengeance, and freedom through mercy killing. He’s literally gone postal, going around smashing up the world with a bat, having confronted how empty his existence is and being confronted with a horrible answer.

  That’s all I have so far, and that’s what personally makes sense to me.