boxmitl

AA. 21. 🏳️‍🌈 @boxmitl on tt & twit

[phil-pokr]

Vere CH1 spoiler

GIANT FOX!!

[boxmitl]

Vere being up to something 😳😳 with his collar off 🤔

[boxmitl]

The foxy traits Vere has (spoilers mentioned):

1. Obviously playful. Very playful, can't sit still. Imagine how painful it truly was for him to be imprisoned and locked in a room when he had less freedoms.

2. All of the li's except for Ais (lol) feed the mc. Foxes feed their mates and bring them food. I'd imagine it would be very disrespectful if your mate rejected the food you so graciously gave them. He literally gets upset if the mc rejects the cookie. Accept the cookie. He thinks the mc is a potential mate.

3. "Don't let him show you his hole" yes this is an innuendo but I like to think this was literal (especially since Baselia already thinks Vere and mc slept together). Foxes dig holes and hide food there. I like to think that Vere has a secret hole he hides stuff in.

4. Possessive. Male foxes mark their territory during mating season. Vere marks the mc to deter competition and will probably know if mc is in danger.

5. @foxyannon's wonderful observation that Vere mangled up the soulless more than necessary as a gift to mc. Male foxes actually do gift their potential mates carcasses (to eat) as a courting tactic.

6. Male foxes are called dogs lol

7. The knot joke in the demo. He's got to have one idgaf

do you think Vere's eye liner is natural?

yes

yes with extra steps

no bro wtf (translation: im boring)

Voting ended onMay 24

[boxmitl]

I honestly just assumed the use of the Choker’s eyes in Ais’s scene was just because it’s a placeholder cg lol

Yeah, it's likely a placeholder. I think it would be interesting to tie in an unnamed, otherwise forgettable character that no one would initially expect to re-appear. He's super generic but it was set up in a way that could make some sense to reuse. Just a fun idea. Or boring one 🤷🏽 lol

[boxmitl]

This is a useless, far fetched observation but whatever

I noticed that the few traits we see of the red eyed person in the mc's room (in the preview) looked as familiar as the traveler in the very beginning of the demo.

I don't recall a confirmed death in the demo. Just that the souless stabbed him in the stomach and threw them to the side. Survivable enough.

I once saw a theory that I think was genius which is that Ais was the one who brought the mc to Kuras clinic, and that makes a ton of sense for so many reasons but I wanna focus on the fact that the wagon tipped over in the marshes near Ais' house, assuming he was near by.

So, it's possible that this traveler drunk from the spring to keep from dying. Ais has enough of a heart to do that. I interpret him as having a soft spot for the vulnerable (this is one iteration of oni mythology where they aren't malevolent, but helpful and protective).

As for why this traveler would be in the mc's room, might be because they blame the mc on their almost death. Remembering they tried to help before accidentally touching the mc and going crazy. Could be interesting to tie in a forgettable character into something unexpected. But far fetched, like I said since this could in fact just be another place holder sprite🤷🏽.

[boxmitl]

Messy Absalom sketches. Still trying to figure out how I wanna do his design.

[boxmitl]

I got lazy with this

[boxmitl]

Y'all we ain't NEVER gone hear the voice actors they got.

But what kind of headcanons or predictions y'all got for the characters voices?

[boxmitl]

In defense of Ais (preview spoilers):

I've noticed controversy about Ais' character in the preview which I've been surprised about. Ais is a consistent character thus far in my opinion. Because of common criticism I thought why not make my own case for Ais.

I believe the marketing of the game always had Ais as a dominant kind of character, and this was driven home in the demo. That was always supposed to be his archetype and that was always the appeal. So I was surprised when I saw people genuinely complaining about the way he was acting in the preview. If anyone finds it corny or a little cringe that's completely fair and I see where you're coming from, and to some extent can agree, it just doesn't necessarily mean that something is poorly written.

In addition, I saw some felt the mark was missed in comparison to the demo, and I disagree. He had the same short way that he speaks combined with the same demeanor as in the demo.

In his character card it says that he "lets his emotions rule him". We see that if he feels a certain way in the moment he will act on it. If he feels genuinely annoyed with the mc in the moment he's likely to express that. This is a major character flaw that I can see potential development in where he learns to actually have some self control, for his own sake and also being cognizant about the way he reacts to the people around him he cares about.

Some people expressed the distaste of Ais going to the brothel and the implication that he might have gotten services there. I somewhat agree and disagree. I agree in the way that if he were real, I'd be turned off and disgusted. But this is a fictional world where sex work and receiving those services aren't taboo or potentially inherently exploitative in a way that mimics the real world. In TS it seems like a gray area, rather than reprehensible which I think adds to the already questionable morality that Ais has, combined with the loneliness he said he hates. Even with all that said, if you hated this and don’t fw Ais anymore because of this scene that is justified.

Speaking of Ais' loneliness, a lot of people felt like the pacing was way too fast for the preview in general (it was) but I think for a character like Ais it can work. Remembering that he is lonely and craves connection which causes him to get attached far too easily; what was basically a confession to the mc toward the end of preview before he goes cold, makes sense for him to do. He felt like he was losing the mc, someone who at that point- did not know the full scope of how violent and brutal he can be, in addition to unpredictability as said in another character card:

This shows the viewers where Ais is mentally (ill), with how he is already attached and drawn to the mc- who wasn't so naïve to not point out that they only just met. By the end of the demo he becomes extremely distant towards the main character and tells them not to talk to him again unless they’re ready to drink from the spring. Probably because he doesn’t want the mc to be around him when he loses control of his own body to Ocudeus, who is possessing him. This is where that unpredictability comes in again, because just minutes prior, he was seeking out the mc.

I used character cards that RSS made years ago and I usually wouldn't use information that viewers would have to find outside of the immediate material, but from the little I know about these kinds of games, promo character cards are normal to introduce the character and reference, correct me if I'm wrong.

I also think part of the issues with many fans finding the characters have become inconsistent is the large time gap of canon content that puts a lot of fans in a position where we'll just kind of forget. I don’t think Ais was poorly written, I think the writing in the preview could have been better if this is what is what to be expected from his actual route, if you catch my vibe.

I'm not the least bit worried about the direction RSS is taking with Ais. He is the first character they made and he is front and center in almost every cover piece that's like... their golden child. I'm not saying writers can't fuck up their own characters because I've definitely seen some crazy character assassination before, I'm just saying that as of now, I'm not concerned about RSS doing that. now i'm dick riding. Whatever.

Feel free to weigh in with your own opinions and interpretations. I'm genuinely interested to hear them, especially if you didn't like Ais in the preview, I'm not here to argue.

[boxmitl]

Touchstarved preview chapter spoilers:

I heard of spoilers months prior from Kickstarter backers, before getting a chance to play the preview myself and from what people were saying I was concerned it was about to be too fast paced.

But after playing, it was fairly fast paced but it fit. Number one, it was a preview and might not actually be what is to be expected from the pacing in the final product. And number two, I think it's important to remember the kind of universe the story is set in and who the characters are. They're all kind of insane and really off so of course crushing on the mc crazy style is not off the table lmao.

Seriously, from everything we know about the characters over the years plus the demo I felt like the devs really delivered in character writing. I honestly was surprised by how good I thought the preview was, I liked that they threw in some horror elements.

The MC's writing was also better imo and I liked it a lot. I overall love the direction they're taking and i'm usually not into vns so ts has been new for me and I love it.

[boxmitl]

This was basically the preview lol

[boxmitl]

I thought it would be fun to make an oc just for background noise or an extra love interest for Burn The Midnight Oil. I think it would be interesting if Dante had an RO that was also a hellhound, reflecting him in some sort of way but not too much.

His name is Lowell Hyde and he works for the SSF. None of his coworkers suspect he’s a hellhound, everyone just thinks he’s edgy.

I read that it’s unusual for hellhounds and werewolves to wear collars from Melli but I had to commit, maybe I’ll go back and change it later. I also made his jacket similar to Abraxas’ because of the SSF association I’d think Lowell would really like his personal space, Abraxas’ I mean lol.

I’ll toss around ideas undercut:

I can imagine him working as a cadaver “dog”, but I definitely think of that more as police work than secret agent. Lowell has mastered imitation from observing werewolves and their behaviors, and he claims the “lone wolf” omega story, to explain his way out of why he isn’t involved with a pack. He hides his identity because of the previous retaliation.

Personality: Lowell is energetic and is quite talkative so much so that he tends to say off the collar things; he also likes to share his curiosities. He tends to read other personalities quite well, necessary for his job. He tries to keep busy to stifle his loneliness and the excessive sadness surrounding his amnesia. Lowell can be impulsive, and tends to run away from some of his issues because he's scared to try to remember some of the things he went through and can be highly anxious and aggressive when questioned, cornered, or triggered. He sometimes struggles to find a sense of self and feels out of touch and out of place with other people, though he tries to hide it. When he becomes friends with someone, he can become very clingy, so as a partner he’d be of course head over heels. He also has a jealous streak.

Hobbies: In Lowell’s spare time, he likes to cook, and he likes to hunt outside of the city as risky as that is. He also tinkers and fixes vehicles. If he finds himself thinking too much, he will journal about events that happened in his day and how he felt about them to avoid confronting any part of his past. He’ll also doodle a little on the page, connecting to what he’s writing about.

backstory : Lowell was born as a premature puppy to hellhound parents, gaining his affectionate name “Lowell”.

As a child, he was stalked by a wizard and eventually abducted. He was able to survive the brutal attack but ended up traumatized because of the event and developed amnesia. His mother retaliated afterwards and mauled the wizard. Years later, a much broader revenge campaign against his parent was launched amongst different wizards, taking both of their lives, leaving a teenage Lowell behind. His parents' deaths worsened his amnesia, and he struggled to remember when, where, and how they died. After Lowell became stable years later he started working with the SSF in hopes of finding other hellhounds, despite hiding his own identity as one. I can imagine he struggles with retrograde (not being able to remember events that occurred before events/trauma) and Dissociative (blocking out important information about oneself after trauma, memory gaps) amnesia.

Here’s just some things I went off of based on the demo. This was fun, I always love making ocs

[boxmitl]

Dante from burn the midnight oil. Love him bad already

[boxmitl]

Dante from burn the midnight oil. Love him bad already

[boxmitl]

Has any one ever thought that Vere's tails are locked away at the Senobium? Assuming he's a kitsune, and considering that mythology, what if the elites that have him imprisoned did so by somehow taking eight of his tails? Specifically eight because if my memory serves me right about some lore about kitsunes- cutting off all nine tails results in the death of said kitsune, and we know they do not want him dead, just weakened enough to control.

Also, the more tails a kitsune has the older and stronger they are, with nine tails being 1,000 years old and the most powerful. We know Vere is old asf, as well as wise (don't know how exactly) and we also know he was very powerful. Powerful enough to be viewed as a god.

I just feel like that would fit with the story assuming the developers follow lore like or similar to this. Hopefully so, idk.

[boxmitl]

Vere x my oracle mc, Absalom.

🙂

[boxmitl]

Ais should have a big club I think