One moment I liked was that Carl and Grace's time having fun shopping, adding so much duct tape to their cart, playing bowling with stacks of aluminium foil, and wearing safety glasses at the checkout doesn't have the typical comedy beat of "acting suddenly embarrassed once someone asks what they're doing." Because this film is about the importance of having fun and building friendships as an essential component of human existence, and bonding with strangers is one of the purest experiences we can have. To undermine it with the typical punchline of "this kinda stuff is cringe" would undermine the thematic center of the narrative itself, and I'm glad the film is mature enough to realize that.
Edit: I see the power of whimsy and the necessity of earnest expression as an essential component of the human experience resonates with a lot of people on here, doesn't it?
My thoughts as someone who has been fixated on Pressure for the last two years + even did official art.
For those of you like me who need to move on but are scared to because the media is close to you.
โโโ
Hi. Since this is going in the pressure tag, I might as well introduce myself. Iโm Cotgar, the artist of the Gotchapon birthday artwork and the most recent Sebastian Solace reference sheet. Iโve been fixated on Pressure since October 2024, even committing personal things to it such as cosplay, merchandise, personal poster works, and two years of fan art.
My statements here assume you know the bare minimum of what happened: Zeal sexually assaulted the previous soundtrack musician, Ren.
โโโ
I want to approach this as a community member first and foremost.
My take? The gameโs done. I personally wish to see no more support for it, as although the main focus of the document is Zeal, Ren mentions cruel involvement from the dev team and their blatant coverups of Zeals actions, painting Ren as โunstableโ. I have promptly left the discords, which I encourage you to do as well.
As for what to do mentally? Thatโs the hard part as someone whoโs been so invested in the lore, story, gameplay, and every other aspect of the game. I literally doodled gotchapon this morning all over my work papers. But as someone who doesnโt wish to support the game anymore, I really find it hard to just cut that off. I am not defending the devs in any way by saying that. I am coming purely from a hyperfixation standpoint where my blorbos are jingling around in my brain.
I would like to say: you will not be incriminated to still love the characters for who they were before this point. I will still forever adore the characters Iโve grown to love. But not the ones who wrote them. Anything with them beyond this point in time is considered Not the characters Iโve surrounded myself with. With losing your sense of humanity as a person and involving yourself in disgusting shit like that, I believe that you lose the right to keep people โdoing what You want with their charactersโ. AKA. If I were to still draw Sebastian, letโs say, I could with no connection to the writers. I will not draw him with his wedding ring, for instance. He does not deserve to be โmarriedโ to a dev self insert. Itโs not the self insert thatโs the problem, mind you. Itโs the dev.
I suggest now is the time to maybe review that list of shows youโve been dying to watch. Check out those games that maybe, if youโre like me, youโve been scared to play because of fear that itโll take over the hyperfixation.
Move away.
โโโโ
My connection and statement as *technically* an artist for the game:
I am horrified. One of the most prevalent things in Renโs document was the use of cute animal imagery to lull Ren into a sense of security. (From my experience), Kat and Zerum do the same thing. It is unbeknownst to me if it was manipulative. That is not my point. My point is that itโs real language used in the dev team, and it does not surprise me itโs being used maliciously. I am more so scared because I began picking up this habit because people I thought were โcoolโ were using it as fun conversation. I am impressionable. I began picking it up. Renโs document showed this to me and I suddenly felt my gut drop.
I will be brief. I have past experience of mental abuse and manipulation. Reading Renโs document was familiar to me. Not to such a sexual extent, but in a manipulation extent. Seeing the bunny imagery sickened me, as it made me realize that trauma flares that I had worked years and years in therapy to get rid of were now validated: I donโt know whether to trust the devs that were smiling and being so polite to me.
I will not work with Pressure anymore. End of story.
โโโ
You are allowed to still like the characters. The lore. The story. But supporting it is different, and I am ashamed that I have for this long. Am I sad that I probably canโt post any more drawings of the silly fish being sad? Oh fuck yeah. That dude fucking rocks.
But this is not about me. To fellow people who feel sad about it too, this is not about you.
This is about being a fucking human being
โโโโ
I await to see what the devs say to try and damage control.
hey so im posting this here because i know alot of people here don't use twitter but literally right fucking now a huge document cane out about zeal (the creator of pressure) having done some abhorrent shit to the ex-composer Ren/Nolongernull
I need you all to fucking read it, heed the warnings because its fucking graphic and read it. its fucking important
https://x.com/i/status/2041948615254437960
do NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE make this about pressure and the characters. a real fucking person was hurt and that matters way more than a roblox game. Do not make jokes about this too or say some bullshit like "heh zeal had it coming" because thats just being a fucking DICK and if you still do do those things then fuck you and everything you stand for
I can't blame people for it tbh but I honestly feel like gabriel gets characterized as outright Mean too often, even by his own voice actor sometimes. And I do get it, he's not exactly nice to v1, but like. That's v1. That's like a specific circumstance where he is Going to be extremely aggressive and catty. But otherwise, I don't think it makes a lot of sense to make him a prick to everybody. Stern? Sure. Stubborn? Definitely. But he is described as being popular/beloved/well-liked by everyone in heaven and he's also specifically called a socialite by the terminals. Alongside that, humble AND popular enough that when he wasn't present in heaven for a long enough period of time there was a cultural shift toward vanity because he wasn't swaying the masses as much anymore
Like, part of the reverence from other angels is definitely gonna come from him being an archangel, and an incredibly important one, but he's still the most friendly and essentially chill out of the roster as far as we know VVV
Alongside all that, there's also the fact the terminals say that Gabriel allows the idols to exist (which the ferryman carved) when the rest of heaven would have had them destroyed in an instant for being a perversion of something holy & we can extrapolate from that and assume that Gabriel sees value in their art and perceives shades of gray that others don't. Because he like. Actually cares about the values he's supposed to uphold rather than just following a set of rules. Which is obvious given what he does to the council, I just think it's neat that it shows up before that character arc.... PLUS the fact he rescues the ferryman and is so kind to them... auuuuhhhg.
That's not to say he's never an asshole, he very clearly is, but I feel like that's more situational. I think his outrage at being bested by a machine comes less from thinking he himself is particularly awesome, and more of a generally ingrained cultural belief that he, as an angel, is powerful and close to God, and that God is good and unable to be bested, so why should someone close to god be defeated by an inanimate object that aims to mimic life? V1s very existence is probably viewed as heretical. Maybe I'm reading too deep into it, but his taunts also feel more general. They're not 'I'm better than you' they're 'that which is holy is better than you'. In this way, I think him being described as humble by the terminal makes sense. His pride is more about his culture than his own abilities. Obviously that anger becomes more personal and pointed during his second boss fight, but that's . Because he loses everything and is on the brink of death. So. I dunno I think that's a fair reaction
it's obvious he was groomed by the council into doing horrible things and was blinded by his devotion to the father, but he still bends the rules in slight ways and (as per the terminal entry) basically isn't as much of a boring loser as the rest of the higher ranking angels lol. From everything I can see, even before the events of 6-2, he was always more of a boundary-pusher who Did His Own Thing and was kind and outgoing. He seems like a genuinely empathetic character who cares about what he's doing in a way the other angels don't. Extremely loyal, yes, extremely ruthless, yes, because he was basically just a living weapon for a while who was being puppeted by the council (much to think about in relation to v1. The parallels. Different post for a different time) but when separated from them and their will that is being funnelled through him, and him believing that their will is his own... Aaauuuhhg. Idk. Just food for thought I suppose
authors notes; yayy thanks for requesting oomf!!! this is for u oomf ok!!!! and for my hqlings who are starved for his content!!! throws a feast to the crowd (some hcs are from oomf also, so CREDITS TO THEM OK!!!!)
tags; tooth rotting fluff, drabbles/more on headcanons, bits of angst if you squint, romantic hq, hcs sprinkled in (mostly oomfโs hcs everyone say thank you to oomf)
โ hq, who subtly melts when around you. your presence warms his carefully, built up exterior, a soothing cure to his weary heart.
โ hq, who always thinks of you to calm down at stressful times. his mind aches from the multiple teams he has to manage simultaneously; the image of your smiling face stills his racing mind, the thought of coming home to you after an arduous day just maintains his sanity for just a bit longer.
โ hq, who comes home to a warm, loving dinner thanks to you. his stern, work-mode persona immediately cracks as he wraps his arms around your waist from behind, snuggling his face into your neck; your scent a grounding feeling to him.
โ hq, who checks up on you a bit too much on the intercoms when youโre on an expedition on your way to the crystal. itโs also always convenient when he monitors you, talking to you; distracting you from any dark thoughts, even if he may seem stern. (ex-rp!reader)
โ hq, who is such a softie and a total romantic at heart, in contrast to his stern persona when handling his urbanshade duties. always expect on any anniversaries, dates, or any holiday; there will be a well-thought romantic dinner with a bouquet of your favorite flowers, whether at home or a nice restaurant out.
โ hq, whoโs always so busy that he barely comes home. the bedโs other side was always so cold, the sheets not helping either. it always leaves a sinking, empty feeling. but you always know that he would always come home.
โ hq, who misses his sense of touch. sure, he could feel with his robotic hands, but he wants the authentic feel of your warmth, your skin against his own. he misses it.
โ hq, whoโs insecure about the replaced robotic parts on his body. he tries to always hide it with his coat(despite one of the sleeves being ripped off, showing his mechanical arm), but you always reassure him. pressing soft, chaste kisses on the cold metal would send shivers down his skin, your reassurance making his heart flutter, and his frayed mind calmed.
cough sorry noticed u uh.. liked my fic and uh,โฆ.โz also like grieferโฆโฆโฆ hes da best plant boy ever trustโฆ
waahh,, hi!!! ur stuff so awesomesauce i like it a lot :) plannin 2 read more of ur fics cuz i am intrigued!!! and yesyes griefer theme bcuz we love griefer here,, ^_^ hope u have awesome day u seem very cool!! yay!!
