We got new content for senpai in the pitstop, so I'm even MORE pumped to share my whole headcanons surrounding these guys. This is gonna be so indulgent I really can't lie. Said like all these hc posts abt hating sim HASNT been indulgent. I expect this to be long so um ^_^. You're Welcome. This is gonna be a whole mess I can't lie they've just been spinning around in my head
SENPAI AND SELF-AWARENESS
Out of the main love interests, Senpai is the only one out of the six who is self-aware that he's in a game. This has to do with the Spirit's influence. Like I had mentioned in the first post, some of Senpai's rudeness is cranked up by him too.
Senpai wasn't always self-aware. I say it was only a good while after GF started playing Hating Sim that the Spirit embedded himself into Senpai's code. I'll talk more about the spirit under cut.
Senpai tries not to mind it that much. It's kind of hard when everyone else doesn't seem to notice the kid following you around. He hasn't tried talking about this to other characters because there's No Fucking Way he wants to be seen as less than his perfect self. Sighs. Senpai. Some fans notice him slightly acting off but attribute it to his handsomeness. I made a comic abt this that I kind of want to digitalize
WHO IS THE SPIRIT?
Something very important to me that I haven't seen people talk about is the fact that the Spirit has been in that cartridge for 14 years. If we assume that the Spirit was around GF's age... Daddy Dearest Shoved A Whole 5 Year Old In There. And initially, I was gonna change how long/when exactly the Spirit was put into the game but this really opens up lots of opportunities. Technically it's not even stated why the Spirit was put in the game, and he could have been older and had nothing to do with GF than all we know, but for now I'm sticking with #my truth. And if Thorns Pico mix disproves this No It Doesn't. i'll beat up that red splotch don't test me
I initially had a name for the Spirit, but I think I'm giving that to Seven now. Somewhere in those 14 years, he lost his name. His only major memories are the fact GF and DD are the reasons why he's stuck in this damn game + his mother. Until I get a new name for him (he most likely got it from the code of the game), I'll refer to him as "the Spirit"
The worst part about it is that he was just a kid. All he wanted to do was be friends with GF, and because an overprotective dad saw the Spirit as a threat, the Spirit never got to experience living an actual life. The Spirit was kinder back then. Once again, he was just a kid. All those years of isolation hardened him. He was forced to grow and adapt to an environment where no one even acknowledged him for years.
Truly, it didn't have to be Senpai for the Spirit to possess, but because Senpai was GF's favorite character, it had to be Senpai. Senpai was Spirit's only connection to the outside world.
The Spirit's deal is like flowey to me. Mentally, he's old, but he still died as a child.
Regarding his powers, canonically he is able to bring people in the game and hinted to be able to possess more than one person. I also think he can interact with stuff in the games! Not so much the code. He tries, though. I imagine that he somewhat becomes the source of ghost stories.
With the Spirit's soul being put into the cartridge, I feel his form ends up breaking. He has some of his memories of what he looked like mixed with what he's seen around the school. Senpai influenced his appearance a bit too.
SENPAI + THE SPIRIT'S RELATIONSHIP
Senpai is the only main love interest who can see the Spirit, with the latter embedded in Senpai's code. The TL;DR of their relationship is complicated and out of necessity.
Senpai never talks to the Spirit in public. When he's alone (which isn't often, as he likes being surrounded by his adoring roses [I CANT GET OVER THIS BEING CANON I NEED TO FLING HIM!!!!]), he'll respond to the Spirit, but otherwise the Spirit just. Talks at Senpai. His own commentator, guys!
They don't really like each other, but they don't have a choice. Senpai had no one else who he could talk about his self-awareness with, and the Spirit had no one else who could see him. They had to deal with each other in that period while GF dropped Hating Sim.
The Spirit is also somewhat like Amanda to me, with Senpai being his unsteady Wooly. It's not a complete 1-to-1 but you can get the vibes kinda. Senpai has to keep the Spirit from breaking the game just to get out. He is NOT a fan of being an unpaid babysitter.
The Spirit doesn't like Senpai and bothers him a lot, but he also clings to Senpai. He's the only love interest that the Spirit's come to hate the least. In a more grown up, human form, he uses Senpai as a base. Do you guys know how asriel's boss sprites kinda mirror sans. Ya. I'm using 5 million ut references regarding the spirit and you guys have to deal with it
THE SPIRIT'S POSSESSION OF SENPAI
The Spirit's possession is definitely not a standard possession because. Senpai's a whole video game character and I like playing with different logic. Don't look at my here + there school au. Don't Worry About It.
So like I've talked about earlier, the Spirit embedded himself in Senpai's code, BUT the Spirit still stays separate from him. In a sense, the Spirit is somewhat chained to Senpai. He usually stays near Senpai, but will wander around at times, especially when he gets tired of SENPAI'S SHIT.
I imagine that while the Spirit can't manipulate other data, he can manipulate Senpai's. I think he can control Senpai normally, but it isn't something he does a lot. Sometimes to be petty. Senpai's also conscious during this.
WHAT HAPPENED IN AND POST WEEK 6?
The Spirit is watching Senpai through all of week 6 and Boy. Seeing GF was Not a pleasant sight. With Senpai unable to calm the Spirit down (he really needed to bring down BF. Ok.), Spirit eventually snaps and takes over Senpai. The unstableness more or less destroys Senpai's body but in the midst, gives the Spirit a physical form (the one we see in the week). The rest of the code in the game also becomes unstable
GF... doesn't remember the Spirit. At All. Not only is she bad at faces, but the Spirit most definitely doesn't look like how he is back then. You can imagine it doesn't make the Spirit happy. At the end of Thorns, the Spirit was going to take over BF + GF anyway, but DD ended up taking them out (well. He only wanted to get GF but GF grabbed BF too).
DD was going to dispose of the cartridge, but GF refused to let that happen. Not out of compassion but because THAT'S HER SPIN!!!!!!!!! DON'T DO THAT. So DD begrudgingly has to go with that. If something happens to GF again, he's going to decimate the cartridge tho.
Once the Spirit eventually calms down, he slowly starts to put the code back together. Being alone in the void actually sucks more. Upon rebuilding, he brings Senpai back first. Turns out temporarily killing the only guy who speaks to you doesn't do wonders to your relationship. Who woulda thought. Their relationship is. Pretty tense after that and Senpai mostly refuses to deal with the Spirit, which leads to the latter acting up in order for Senpai to deal with him. Neither of them are having a good time.
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There's stuff I still have to workshop here, like how the hell the reject trio ended up with the cartridge for a future story, and I'm still working on how Senpai and the Spirit interact with each other but they Kinda Make Me Sick. In the autism way. Shit is tragic. Anyways that's all my stuff that I remember ^<^ feel free to ask more!
after 5 million years and 5 million redesigns of the spirit's compressed self... the refs are finally here! As an explanation, only Senpai can see the Spirit's compressed form, but everyone can see the unzipped/base form of the Spirit. The latter only happened at the end of week 6
