Just some face studies of the Nameless cast while I try to figure out the best face shape and eye shape for the babes, since Chertiz is right around the corner! 😭
I was going to line them all and clean them up, but the marker, um, bled onto Tei and Yuri LOL Practice makes perfect though, I'll be able to perfect them on my paint program!
A Road Paved with Bad Endings - Nameless ~The One Thing You Must Recall~
It’s been eighty years since my last one so to remind everyone this is a series about bad ends in otome games - currently I’m talking about the bad ends in Nameless and I already did Lance’s bad endings. This one’s going to be about Yeonho’s.
Yeonho - Bought Used, Highly Damaged, Needs Proper Care
Oh Yeonho. Sweet. sweet little Yeonho. Made to instill mother instincts in young ladies. Surely his route will just be ADORABLE right...right!?
Okay so Yeonho has some serious issues stemming from an extremely painful past (which is bad enough as a doll but then when translated to human terms YIKES) and most of his route is about confronting that past. Sure there are cute moments here and there, but mainly its just about how to confront the things that were done to him and how to cope in a more healthy way.
One thing I’m not keen on is that with these kind of characters (I will elaborate on this when talking about the bad ends) I wish they just left out the romance aspect altogether. So much of this route is about understanding Yeonho’s trauma and how it affects his view of the world, that its not until the last couple of chapters that the writers were like, “oh FUCK this is an otome game they’re supposed to date” and slapped on two or three romantic scenes. It doesn’t help that in this route compared to the other routes it’s painfully clear that Eri favoring Yeonho can go real bad for both of them if not treated correctly. I’m worried about them is what I’m saying.
If you are suffering from abandonment and/or other forms of abuse, this route might make you uncomfortable. I say they do a not-bad job in confronting trauma, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be the same experience with you.
Also two of these three ending go into the “WTF WTF WTF” end of the bad end spectrum, and they do include implied violence and assault so tread lightly.
Bad End 1 - Unforgiven Doll - Surprise! YOU Are The First Yandere in the Game!
How to Get It
Eri. Basic female protagonist in an otome game. Most female protagonists in otome games range from “blank slate/silent” to “this is clearly a story about this particular gal.” Eri falls closer to the latter half of this spectrum, but she still shows some of those tried and true female lead traits, mainly her naivete. This isn’t just to show innocence in this route though: her naive and relaxed attitude toward Yeonho in the beginning becomes a detriment to Yeonho’s growth. She doesn’t realize until around a quarter into the route that Yeonho’s devotion and to her isn’t just a phase, and she doesn’t know how to confront it at first. Yeonho wakes her up every morning, makes the same rabbit-shaped eggs every morning, texts her every morning, noon and night, and it gets to the point where he refuses to leave her side.
One rainy day, Eri’s friends finally have an opportunity to talk to her without Yeonho around. They’re worried about both of them, and they decide to take the chance to separate them by taking Eri out while Yeonho’s on cleaning duty. Yeonho seems pretty dejected at the idea but still stays for cleaning duty. But then...Eri gets worried and goes back. And its a good thing she did, because Yeonho was waiting for her in the pouring rain.
Now, you don’t have to go back right away though...you could choose to be dismissive and cold when it comes to Yeonho...its not like he’ll ever dislike you for it...
Once Yeonho’s taken inside he’s tending to by Eri. Yeonho’s not looking so great after getting a rain shower. He tells Eri he’s cold and doesn’t want Eri to leave but...its not a big deal right? Leave Yeonho’s side to grab blankets.
Alternatively, you can also be dismissive of Yeonho in earlier parts as well. At one point you can almost push Yeonho into riding big rides at a theme park which you know Yeonho doesn’t like but refuses to admit he’s not having fun. Because its all for Eri.
What Happens
Seeing Yeonho shivering and sad...Yeonho who would do anything for her...Yeonho who would always be hers no matter how cruel she is...something in Eri snaps. She WANTS to hurt Yeonho.
Yeonho doesn’t mind right? He’d never hate her. When Yeonho wakes up and sees Eri...he knows what’s going to happen. And he does let her hurt him. And he cries. All he wants is to be cherished.
How I Feel About This One
Honestly when it comes to otome games I expect there’s always going to be at least one route route where somebody goes yandere and/or the main girl gets killed. But this is the first one I’ve encountered where the the main girl becomes the yandere character. It was a real shock to me, because all of the sudden I wasn’t just causing Eri to be run over by the truck, I’m causing Eri to be cruel. When we reach a bad end, our character’s the one who usually gets hurt the most, not the one who directly causes the hurt.
As such while other endings are theoretically worse for Eri and some of the characters involved in their specific route, this one I just can’t stomach revisiting often. Hearing Yeonho crying in pain and asking to be cherished makes me feel like my hearts being used as a needle ball...so as a bad end its pretty good! 7/10 stop making me feel bad please.
Bad End 2 - Competitor - Now Yeonho’s the Yandere! But Wait! A YANDERE CHALLENGER APPROACHES!!! (how many yanderes are in this game!? the answer may shock you)
How to Get It
So after you stay by Yeonho’s side while he’s sick and assure him that you’re there for him and that you WON’T become a yandere things seem to start to improve. Yeonho’s less clingy, and he’s no longer willing to be pushed around by his fans at school (btw all of the boys got fans because they’re all beautiful doll people so yeah.) Eri’s a little concerned that Yeonho is now being too off-putting, but hey it feels like Yeonho is changing so...that’s something.
Then Eri has to go see her parents at a hotel for dinner (btw her parents travel a lot for work and are mainly based in the U.S. so she rarely sees them thus when they do come by they meet her at a hotel nearby where they usually go to for business.) Yeonho begins to wonder if Eri’s parents, her family, matters more than him, who’s just a doll. How can he assure himself that Eri won’t forget him?
Eri leaves promising that she won’t be long. The visit goes fine, except uh...her parents pressure her into staying at their hotel room for way longer than she planned. It’d be nice if you chose to say you have to go back, but choosing to stay isn’t what’ll cause the camel’s back to break in this one. That happens when Eri returns home to see Yeonho, again, waiting for her outside. It’s not raining, but its cold, and Yeonho looks cold both physically and emotionally.
Now I need to remind you fellows that these boys are not people first: they’re dolls first, people second. Their world is limited by the very few experiences they had on top of a shelf. In Yeonho’s case, his experience was being put on a literal pedestal, used essentially as a stress toy whenever his first owner got mad, left on the floor when his owner got bored of him, then left in a very badly put box for who knows how long to be sent to a new owner who, once again, puts him on a pedestal. Eri takes great care of her dolls, but to Yeonho, this doesn’t mean she won’t abandon him like his previous owner did. Because his previous owner seemingly treasured him too.
And with the previous bad end, we know Eri is capable of the same cruelty as the previous owner. And even without that context what’s stopping Eri from abandoning him too? How can he be permanent in Eri’s heart so that doesn’t happen? Yeonho doesn’t have the means to see beyond his own experience, so he can’t see how he won’t be abandoned eventually, and even though he’s human now he still sees himself as needing to belong to someone. What can he do? He’s not being threatening at this point, he’s just begging for answers.
So what answer do you give? Well, if you were listening to his plea, you tell him that no, he doesn’t need to do anything to earn love, because he’s already deserving of it. Yeonho already holds a place in Eri’s heart, and she means that earnestly.
...Buuuuut if you’re looking for a bad end, dismissively say “eh, just stay by my side like usual.” This’ll calm him down right? His deep-seated feelings aren’t that serious. It’s fine. It’ll be fine. Really, it’s fine.
...So turns out it was not fine, because you didn’t give him a real answer. He still doesn’t know how to be permanent in Eri’s heart. So he’s going to find is own answers. Spoilers: the answer he comes to is bad. For both of them. In more ways than expected.
What Happens
Oh wait, no he’s fine. He was cool with that answer! See, he’s smiling, although his smile is a little off, but that’s fine, because me and Eri are sure that he’ll just go back to his usual self by morning. Time to go to bed.
Fun Fact: There’s a diary entry in Eri’s journal that only appears in this ending. Check it out before Eri closes her eyes. It’ll be awkward to read it after Yeonho tries to choke Eri to de-oh-OH GAWD YEONHO’S CHOKING ERI TO DEATH!
Another Fun Fact: If you want to revisit this bad ending save right after you made the bad choice. For some reason in the Memories (the menu that lets you revisit past events) it starts in the middle of the bad ending!
So it turns out the answer Yeonho came to was, “I guess I need to be a yandere” and kill Eri. BTW despite being advertised in the Crobidoll line as “babey” for some reason he was given the ability to see ghosts? So I’m guessing his plan was to have Eri’s spirit tethered to him so she literally can never leave (and thus in his eyes abandon) him.
Funny thing about Yeonho: he’s referenced as similar to a chick a lot in this game. He’s got corn yellow hair that’s feathery and he’s got big ol’ red eyes. Except...when he’s chocking Eri, suddenly his eyes don’t look so cute. His pupils literally shrink. They’re no longer the eyes of a chick, but the eyes of a snake.
So Yeonho kills Eri. Bad End reached. Pretty typical of a bad ending in an otome game, huh?
Well, JUST KIDDING Tei barges in and stops Yeonho from completing the task. Phew Eri was saved. That was close. Good thing someone as kind and dependable as Tei arrived to help her out right...right?
Ha...haha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!
Surprise! Turns out Tei is the Alpha Yandere ‘round these parts.
Friends...may I introduce you to...Bad End Tei? He’s going to be a regular on the series. In fact he’s probably the main character in this Nameless Bad End Journey. He’s a constant shadow that looms across almost all the bad paths we follow. Just remember in this series we’re going to be talking only about Bad End Tei, not all of who Tei is. If you want me to talk more about Tei as a whole character you’ll have to wait until we get to Tei’s bad endings, which, spoilers, have a lot of Bad End Tei in it too. You cannot escape Bad End Tei.
Anyway back to what was SUPPOSED to be Yeonho’s Yandere moment.
After stopping Yeonho from killing Eri, Tei starts by saying he’s dissapointed...at Eri? She really shouldn’t have let herself be hurt. Kinda victim-blamey there Bad End Tei. After all, I’M the one who almost got her choked to death here. No need to blame her!
Secondly Tei wants nothing more than for Eri, his owner, to be safe. But if she does get hurt...it should be him who does the hurting. The reason for this is explained further in later bad endings and in Tei’s Route, but in this ending we discover that Tei is just as obsessed with his owner as Yeonho is. Difference is Bad End Tei doesn’t need to be remembered by Eri, or even have a place in her heart. What he wants is Eri herself, and to have that he wants control of her pain. So when someone else tries to cause Eri pain...well that’s stealing his control of her pain, and that just won’t do.
Unlike Yeonho, who ultimately just wants to belong to Eri and to never be abandoned by her, Bad End Tei wants Eri to belong to him the same way he belongs to her.
It’s ironic that a doll wants ownership over the doll’s owner huh. Feels like maybe bringing dolls to life wasn’t exactly what its cracked up to be.
Anyway if Eri’s going to get hurt, then there was no reason for Tei to have held back for so long. If this was going to happen, he should have hurt Eri when this all started. He justifies that he can hurt Eri better than Yeonho can (weird flex but ok) and its getting late so could Yeonho like, leave? And even Yeonho in yandere mode is taken aback. But then he’s like, “No wait I’M the yandere in this bad ending!” and tries to attack Tei.
Tei doesn’t want to hurt or even touch anyone that’s not Eri, but since Yeonho won’t be good and go to bed he’ll just have to put him down. Even though all the dolls are in human form now, their doll forms are still on Eri’s shelf. And doing things to the doll forms affects their human forms. So, instead of going after Yeonho the human...he grabs Yeonho the doll. And squeezes.
Meanwhile Eri is, quite justifiably, shocked and disgusted by all this. Yeonho’s a yandere? Tei’s a yandere? I could be a yandere!? How many yandere’s are in this game!?
While Tei is committing doll homicide he says since Eri’s good at keeping her hobbies (collecting dolls) a secret from her friends, it shouldn’t be hard to pretend that everything’s fine from now on. Of course, she doesn’t have to pretend she loves him. So long as Tei can have her, he doesn’t care.
After the deed is done, Tei approaches her. Eri desperately wants this to all be a dream, but when Tei holds her face she knows its real. Tei tells her to be quiet and asks if she’d ready. The last thing we hear is a chime, and the scene fades out.
How I Feel About This One
So this has to be one of my favorite bad endings. I mean what happens in it makes me go “WTF WTF AAAAAAGH” but in an interesting way, ya know? The kind that makes my hair stand on end. It’s a story in and of itself. The set-up, the plot twist, the monologue, just...mwah. Perfect. It’s exactly what I want in my bad endings.
Plus if you’re doing the bad endings in order, this’ll be the first time you see Bad End Tei. You don’t see Bad End Tei in the routes themselves (outside of his and Red’s, which is only unlocked after you complete all the other routes so at that point you had to have seen Bad End Tei) but suddenly there’s hints of Bad End Tei throughout all of his encounters. I didn’t say this in Lance’s Bad End Post, but a part of me thinks that maybe Tei had something to do with what happened to Lance in one of his bad endings...there’s no proof, but still. He was in the room with Lance by themselves when Eri left so...who knows.
This also hints at also aspects of the story. Bad End Tei’s an obvious hint to who Tei is as a character, but there’s also the use of the doll bodies, and that chime at the end.
Anyway this Bad Ending sets up Bad End Tei’s character in the most dramatic and creepy of ways and if every otome game had bad endings as good (well, not good in that way but-you know what I mean!) as this one this series would never end. I mean, it won’t if I post every four to five months.
Also what makes me appreciate this one is that it cuts off before we see what happens to Eri, and it doesn’t go into detail on what Bad End Tei did to Yeonho either. If we had detailed descriptions of whatever happened I might not have stomached it. Implication are far more sinister than outright statements. This is also one of the only Bad End Tei endings where Eri’s vocal about how messed up this is.
Bad End 3 - Disappeared Yeonho - That’s It. Pretty Anticlimactic Compared to the Previous Endings
How to Get It
So Eri takes Yeonho’s worries seriously and no one turns yandere and Bad End Tei stays firmly in the back of Tei’s mind (btw after you make the good choice with Yeonho once they go back inside Tei gives Yeonho some comforting words. At their worst they can be cruel to each other, but when they’re not at that breaking point they do have this solidarity with each other, both having previous owners before Eri.) Things start to improve a lot. Yeonho can now enjoy things outside of Eri, and is back to being willing to hang out with others. He’s grown a great deal, and the people around him notice. Things are looking up for Yeonho and Eri now.
Of course, then the writers realize, “wait romance” and Yeonho needs to like Eri now. Not as a doll loves their owner, but as a person wanting to be with another person...okay I don’t hate it when its put that way, but I still feel like this wasn’t necessary. Let me remind you, Yeonho tried to kill Eri in a bad ending because of his fear of her forgetting him. He was so desperate to remain at her side, and then things get better, but even after all that he still wants to refer to her as “Master” while trying to pursue a romantic relationship with her. All I’m saying is maybe give each other a little distance for a just a tiiiiiiny bit to figure things out before going into this yeah?
Still they’re pretty cute together in the end. Things don’t get nearly as saucy as it did in Lance’s route, and its all very innocent and sweet. I don’t hate it. Now Tei on the other hand-
Alright alright back to how this bad end goes down. Before Yeonho confesses to Eri there’s a school festival and he has a fortune reading stand. (Also aside from seeing ghosts he can also read tarot cards and talk to animals.) After he read your fortune he tries to make a move, but then a very haughty girl barges in to get her fortune read. Suddenly Yeonho clams up and runs away.
Where did he go!? Eri could check the rooftop, where he’s likely to be at...or she can just give up and see if he came home.
...That’s it. That’s all it takes.
What Happens
So Yeonho never came home. They made missing photos and everything! Where could he be...?
...Yeah that’s it.
How I Feel About This One
Honestly I don’t feel like this one needed to be there. Maybe it’s because if they didn’t, then for the last few chapter there’d be no need for choices. But they did that with Lance! In Lance’s route after the play there’s no choice for the last few chapter, and while he has the shortest amount of bad endings, they both are still creepy and at least a little intense. Why didn’t they do the same for Yeonho?
I don’t know. I don’t hate it. It’s like, nothing terrible happened to characters I love, which is nice, but that’s not what bad endings are for! They’re supposed to make you feel bad and maybe give you the heebie jeebies! Or they’re supposed to fulfill some fantasy in a safe way like they do sometimes in Mystic Messenger! Or be a joke ending where you at least get a chuckle before having to restart! I don’t know! Give me Yeonho joining a ghost detective agency with a cat sidekick running away from his past! Something! ANYTHING!!!
Anyway overall I really do like Yeonho’s route in its emotionally heartfelt moments and really disturbed by the intensity of some of its bad endings (which make them pretty good in my book!) Now we move on to Yuri’s route where I need to turn off Yuri’s voice in the options menu to pull through it! WAHOOO!!!
SHIN--What? New dolls are invading our turf?! And, not only are they virtual, they're ball jointed!! Not soft, or cuddly like us. SUBARU-And they're real life counterparts run a lot of money, we're affordable. Yes, my little angry car, you are, but AmiAmi's shipping always gets me. (Plus the fact the mailman never comes by when I'm home, meaning I have hike to the post office to get you guys.) In other news, next to being utter DiaTrash, Cheritz owns my soul, heart and wallet. I...even have a MM tattoo on my back...sigh... Sigh.
A oneshot I started a bit ago that I finished yesterday finally! A small dive into Tei and my OC Nightingale for the lil Nameless AU! It's their first official meeting at Banjul, as coworkers that is, a perfect little writing for the start of a career! Also a small disclaimer on Nightingale's part, she is not healthy either LOL
→ The sound of soft classical music whispered in the ears of both the customers and workers of Banjul.
→ While the shop has always been a soft retreat for darling Nightingale, who had an energy drink in hand after taking another huge swig, it has never been quite so busy.
→ A good distraction? Perhaps.
→ But not with the ways the customers looked at her with irritated eyes as she handed them their drinks and desserts.
→ She would have been offended, she was quite upset at first actually, but now she was both annoyed and curious.
→ What in earth was with the sudden shift?
→ Nightingale was busy scrubbing a cup when the owner walked up to her.
NIGHTINGALE: "Oh, Hobin. Are we behind?"
→ She went to put down the cup quickly before he stopped her,
HOBIN: "Not at all, actually. Though, there is another thing I need help taking care of."
→ He had her full attention, her visible eye wide and face determined.
HOBIN: "We had a new hire start about 2 weeks ago,"
→ He starts, glancing over his shoulder as to see where they were.
HOBIN: "You've been so busy we haven't had the chance to introduce you two."
→ She couldn't help but tilt her head at the off meekness of his expression.
NIGHTINGALE: "Is he a server?"
→ The cup had long been put away, her hands now finding each other.
HOBIN: "He works in similar position as you. Which is why I must ask,"
→ He gestures to the orders on the counter ready to go out,
HOBIN: "Can you lend your eye for aesthetics to him? He could use your guidance."
→ Her eyes blink in almost disbelief,
NIGHTINGALE: "S-Sure?"
→ Now her eyes were searching for this newcomer, curious as to what he looked like.
→ She had to keep her face in check to not make a frown, but Hobin wouldn't hire someone with no aesthetics?
→ Right?
→ She was so lost in her head, then she blinked and it felt like they appeared, though she was just looking at their shoes first.
HOBIN: "— She's the heart of our presentation, as well as baking."
→ Her face flushed bright pink at the genuine praise, but quickly switched to shock when she looked up.
NIGHTINGALE: GNNHK?!
→ A genuine sound of shock to pair with the recoil at the face of the man before her.
→ Both men were startled by the sudden motion but as she tried to regain her professional front, the man with that brownish orange hair chuckled.
NIGHTINGALE: TEI?!
→ The only thing that would come out of her mouth, looking at him like he walked in with 6 legs.
→ He seemed bashful, like he wasn't expecting a big reaction.
→ She wasn't sure how though.
HOBIN: "Do you two know each other?"
→ He seemed more surprised by that than the noise that her mouth.
NIGHTINGALE: "S-Sort of."
TEI: "You could say that "
→ They both answered at the same time
NIGHTINGALE: "He's my friend's second cousin… twice removed?"
→ She could not remember the lie that Eri came up with, her eye full of tangible confusion.
NIGHTINGALE: "Yeah, something along those lines…"
→ Tei was laughing under his breath at her, something that made her almost deflate in embarrassment.
TEI: "We actually see each other quite often. We will get along just fine, if you're worried about that Mr. Hobin."
HOBIN: "I actually wasn't, but that is good to hear."
→ That bluntness was to be expected…
HOBIN: "Nightingale, he will be in your care for a moment, can you handle that?"
→ He did have a large amount of trust in her despite her odd appearance and eagerness to hide her arms and skin.
NIGHTINGALE: "Don't worry, I'll have him seeing the art in food as soon as possible!"
→ A genuine smile from her, one Tei only sees in front of Eri usually.
→ Tei's green eyes shifted from the smile to the rest of her.
→ Questions filled his mind, and as Hobin walked off, he fully intended to ask them.
-------
TEI: "So, Nightingale,"
→ He stops her as she finishes the touches on another dish she was showing him.
→ Nightingale looks up from her hand and meets eyes with Tei's green ones,
TEI: "When did you start working here?"
→ A question she should have expected; she looked around cautiously.
NIGHTINGALE: "About a month before you came to be."
→ She paused for a moment, realizing that the wording was strange.
NIGHTINGALE: "Well, more so before you were given flesh?"
→ Again, bizarre wording.
→ But Tei could appreciate it, to a degree.
→ She was honest, even if her words tend to be bound in an unusual tone and meaning.
NIGHTINGALE: "I'm surprised you decided to work here. Aren't you in a club? Or multiple?"
→ His facade was dedicated, she knew this, he knew this.
TEI: "It's… better here."
→ Not too quiet, but a nice distraction compared to school work.
NIGHTINGALE: "… I understand."
→ She nods, something that almost confused him.
→ Her ability to see into his emotions frustrated and irritated him often, but more often than not…
→ It confused him.
→ Her desire to protect Eri was the same as his, she knew of his dirty thoughts, or at least had to have an idea.
→ Yet, she has yet to act against him, to warn others or to hurt him.
NIGHTINGALE: "Though, I don't think you'll be able to get away from your head here soon, well, in some regard."
→ He couldn't figure her out, and that frustrated him more than anything.
NIGHTINGALE: "I guess your fans found out where you go after hours."
→ She connected to dots already.
TEI: "… Maybe that's for the better."
→ The tone shift, the hazy look in his eyes, she caught on to that too.
→ Of course she would.
NIGHTINGALE: "…"
→ The "Prince Sunshine"'s face had fallen, a crack in the mask.
→ She frowned, eyebrows furrowed at the lack of snark.
→ She sees the way he acts with Yuri, the way he could manipulate the situation with ease.
→ Soon, they found themselves equally confused and frustrated.
NIGHTINGALE: "... You can't be working like that."
→ She bluntly states, not to push his misery aside, but rather to cover their whole conversation in sand.
TEI: "What?"
→ She went back to piecing together a small cake, whipped icing in hand.
NIGHTINGALE: "You came to hide, right?"
→ It was a vague statement, one that if you were passing by, you wouldn't understand.
NIGHTINGALE: "If you focus on them, they'll get worse."
→ It almost like she was speaking from her heart.
→ Her hands worked in precise twists, ones he was getting the hang of now.
TEI: "It's not something you should worry about."
→ He followed her hands' movements,
NIGHTINGALE: "Telling me what to do never got anyone anywhere, I'll tell you that."
→ There was a tinge of amusement in her bird-song like voice; it lifted a shame in his shoulders.
NIGHTINGALE: "But…"
→ Her hands stilled,
NIGHTINGALE: "Questions and feelings… We can confront them later."
→ Her smile was strained, her eye sorrowful.
→ But it quickly was brushed away,
NIGHTINGALE: "Look! You already have a better hand!"
→ Tei looked down at his handiwork, and it was true.
→ His ability to learn quickly just from watching proved to be useful once more.
NIGHTINGALE: "Now, let's finish up this lesson. Your fans surely want to see you on the floor."
→ Her tone was teasing, but her head shook.
→ Tei could only nod, thinking about what she said as she showed techniques and styles of dressing and folding, as well as dumb tricks she learned along the way.
→ Maybe she was right about that.
→ Thinking and the emotions that come with it…
→ It could be rescheduled.
→ Right now, he could focus on everything else; ignore the gnawing at his heart.
→ He wondered why she would know about such things, the kind girl next to Eri that helped sew clothes for them as dolls didn't seem the type to be damaged.
