The first month of my TF-Centric Ko-Fi has wrapped up! The first two pages of my 4Koma is out, I posted a couple videos, illusts, and we're up to our eyeballs in WIPs. Including a very special Mirage animation that I've been working at since February.
If you want in for next month's pieces, and the backlog of prior posts and pages, I invite you to check it out! Your support would mean a lot to me!
look i'm not me if i don't come up with 2 to 20 fic ideas each week that i swear i'm totally going to write. frankly it's a miracle i actually end up writing some of them down
and the fact that some of those ideas actually get finished? mindblowing. showstopping. incredible
Picture it, me, sliding in on socks only to completly beef it and fall face first onto the hard wood floor
Oh hi, didn't see you there~
Soooo I have a new idea, it is a yandere idea but it's actually not an sdj idea. Shock! Horror! I know I know, but listen, writing for technically one thing kinda drains you of creativity, in my experience at least. I'm not giving up on my aus or anything like that, I just need a break from them that way once I do return to them it'll be like falling in love all over again~
Trust the process
Now, I hear you, clawing, screaming at your screens as to what this new bullshit is! I was thinking about making a little yandere town, something with a small community that's all head over heels for you! This idea is not original in anyway at it's base
(I actually remember seeing a blog making a wider scope yan town and I am banging my head against the wall for not remembering their fuckin user name!)
The thing I'm adding to it is that almost all the characters will be based off of y'all's suggestions! If anyone has interest in this than feel free to leave jobs that aren't filled in my ask box and I'll make them into a character, you can leave small personality things too but if another towns person is too similar I won't be using it
I'll be making the mayor of this fine town in the afternoon/evening tomorrow so keep those peepers peeled folks!
as much as we all make jokes about it, it makes sense that wu doesnt tell his students everything. like mfer lived hundreds of years, a lot of shit happens. Like whod expect half the things that come back to haunt him to come back in the first place. give the guy some slack
I don’t want to start anything on someone else’s post so I’m bringin’ it here, but OH boy the knee-jerk reaction of outrage I had to this comment you have NO idea
I’d like to preface all this by saying that I’m noT actually that angry!! I don’t mean this in an overly argumentative or aggressive way, I’m just. buildin off of this a bit! In a! ?? Mildly upset manner!
Take it with a grain of salt regardless, considering my views on Zote lmao
Or just take it all as a headcanon! view it as u will
A TL;DR:
- “clearly” is debatable (when it comes to Zote)
- Manipulation implies intent, and I don’t believe Zote is intentionally doing much of anything but talking about himself.
Main point:
Zote is not intentionally manipulating Bretta
FIRST of all
“Clearly.”
I’d like to argue that it wouldn’t be that clear to Zote. Sure, the player/Ghost knows it, because we found her after she was presumably abandoned and talking aloud to herself about it.
But Zote, on the other hand, finds her in town. Safe. Fine. Not wallowing in Infection, mumbling about how she’s been left behind again.
We have no reason to believe she said anything to him that would have him believe she has abandonment issues. Especially with how shy she is! She hardly talks!
Unless you’re suggesting he should take her shyness as concrete evidence that she has abandonment issues. Which... no? That’d not only be incredibly presumptuous, but also, do u really think he’s that aware of his surroundings/the feelings of other people? Given how he acts already?
Yea he’s got a precept about it. but he also has a precept about telling the truth. so. i mean
My point I’m tryna get at here is: I dunno why you’re so sure that Zote knows about Bretta’s emotional vulnerability. He’s. Talking at her, and she’s listening. She hasn’t said a thing to him that we know of.
She’s being silent and letting him talk, and he could very well take that as her just being really interested in what he’s saying. Which, at the start, isn’t wrong!
(On the other hand! Through Zote’s precepts and the blurbs he gives alongside them, we can tell he has problEms.
He’s literally telling these to Bretta. She’s more inclined to believe he has issues than the other way around)
SECOND of all
“Manipulate” implies cruel intentions. Now this is purely me being biased but I Don’t Like the Use of That Word!
I don’t think Zote is talking at her with the primary objective of anything cruel. From what we see, he talks to her about
1) his “victory” in the colosseum
2) how bad of a person Ghost is and
3) his precepts.
And that’s it.
What I mainly see is people taking the second bit and pointing to it as evidence that he’s intentionally slandering Ghost to gain Bretta’s favor. Which. I guess is possible
but. and I said this in my Zote-bretta rant. Why would Zote have literally any positive view on Ghost? Yeah okay they saved him twice. But Ghost is not entitled to his respect after that. Especially when we can already see he doesn’t appreciate it.
(Yes, he’s ungrateful. I’m not trying to argue otherwise. I’m just explaining what his viewpoint would be)
And afterward, Ghost kicks his ass in the Colosseum. So what’ve we got so far?
- More than once has this person wronged me in my eyes
- they attacked me, humiliating me in front of hundreds, and undoubtedly physically harmed me in the process
Sure, Ghost didn’t have a choice, but that doesn’t mean Zote can’t be upset with them for that last bit.
Bretta’s diary entry detailing what Zote said when he showed up to Dirtmouth:
“Startling warning he brought to the village, one that rung so true: Their white saviour, thought a hero by the bugs, was a vicious beast and this shrouded grey prince was in truth the hero deserved.“
Especially since his latest encounter with Ghost was in the Colosseum,,, uh. i don’t see why he wouldn’t see them as vicious after that display
(Also, Bretta specifies that he brought this warning “to the village.” Assumedly, that means he told everyone of Ghost’s “viciousness.” If your argument was that Zote was trying to gaslight Bretta by making up a scenario where Ghost is the root of all evil... usually, this tactic is done to specifically the victim, and not. just shouted out to a town that would obviously argue to the contrary. But sure yknow I’ll just give you that one, because I guess he could try and manipulate the whole town even if what he’s saying is something he truly believes)
Which brings me BACK to my point:
This mans got delusions of grandeur and the only other thing he talks about is his precepts.
That at least vaguely implies that he believes in all the nonsense he’s spouting. I see this less as trying to “manipulate” Bretta and more just - especially since he’s talking AT her - sharing his thoughts aloud. And Bretta’s willing to listen to him.
NOW I’d be more willing to say it was cruel/intentional if Zote literally referred to Bretta at all. But I mean. Given that she can just get up and walk away and he doesn’t even notice, I don’t think he even regarded her as a person.
Which I’m not saying is good! By all means, no!
But he’s not. Manipulating her? It’d be manipulation-esque if even ONCE he acknowledged Bretta’s presence and tried to bring her in to the conversation. Try to corner her into praising him. A leading question ending with “right?” would be enough.
OR if he reacted at ALL to when she tried to leave. Argue with her to get her to stay. Shame her for leaving him, talk bad about her when she’s not there. but does he do that?
No. he’s. literally just talking about his precepts still, and hasn’t even noticed.
which, irrelevantly, pisses me off, since I’d like him to act as a person and feel betrayed by this, but whatever
My point is, for him to be manipulating her, it has to be somewhat intentional. And seeing as he hardly recognizes her as... existing, I find it hard to believe he’s trying to get her to... uh... I dunno. What’s he manipulating her into doing? Giving him attention? Which she was already doing regardless of what he’s saying?
...and.. seeing as he just keeps talking when she’s not there, clearly it doesn’t matter that much to him? Which? Would be odd? If he was taking the time to manipulate her?
Yknow what let’s take it a whole bigger step:
“Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the behavior or perception of others through indirect, deceptive, or underhanded tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at another's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative and devious.”
Is Zote changing her behavior or trying to?
- Not that we can tell. she’s acting exactly the same as we’ve seen. Just with Zote instead of Ghost. He hasn’t asked her to do anything that we know of. If he has, she hasn’t done it. She’s literally just sitting next to him while he talks
Is Zote changing her perceptions?
- Yes! That one I’ll give! He’s changing her perception of him and Ghost! But literally anything someone does could change another person’s perspective, so that’d be a weak point at best.
Are his interests being advanced?
- I guess? I mean. His interest is attention/validation. Which he’s getting! I dunno what that would... advance, though.
Is it at Bretta’s expense?
- Physically, no. Mentally, probably not. Emotionally, yes! At least somewhat! Looking at her last diary entry, she has an epiphany that “Her life's companion would not appear, for they could not appear to a maiden sat idle. She must instead seek them out, must find her love, and free them of their solitude.”
Thanks to uh... her realizing that Zote is an asshole. which. is an odd conclusion to come to but go off, Bretta!
also.... we’ve still got nothing to show that he’s been mean to her in particular, since.... all he’s done is ramble on about nonsense since they met. but ok
I could also see it as manipulative if he acted differently with her than he does anyone else! But! From what we can tell! nope
Other than thriving in the attention she’s giving him by literally just vibing next to him while he talks but. I mean... She’s the only person thus far that’s not given him a reason to be snappy (in his eyes).
He’s not pretending to be nice, he’s not acting suddenly polite or kind. He’s still a brash, stubborn and self-centered prick, even with her. she’s just not arguing. She’s willingly listening.
If she butted in at all I’m 99% positive he would retaliate rudely and shut her down
SO!! what’s the point i’m making i”ve forgotten
Zote manipulating Bretta?
In my humble opinion No.
You could argue that he’s doing so unintentionally, I guess? Since. Again, recap: He believes what he’s saying, he’s speaking it aloud to whoever will listen to him, and that just happens to be Bretta. Who put herself there to listen to him.
So. Sure. I guess he could be accidentally manipulating her since she’s believing every word he’s saying.
(Until she doesn’t, and she leaves, but hskjhgkjh)
Conclusion:
No and I’m eating your toes for saying that
I’m willing to agree if he’s doing so unintentionally. somehow. even if I personally believe manipulation needs intent but khskdjghkjh I’ve been argued on that point before aa
Unless you wanna go with the point-blank of “he’s making her believe that Ghost is evil.”
which sure. fine. yeah. you can have that one. i don’t like that being called manipulation, but I guess in its barest essential, sure.
(though... it’s... mentioned once. in the aforementioned diary entry. and we never see it brought up again, by Zote or by Bretta. so... it’s not very good manipulation lmao, if his MAIN goal was to get Bretta to hate/distrust Ghost and potentially do something with that hatred/distrust. which is. what most manipulators would do, as they intend to gain something from it. he just moves on to talk about himself instead).
-
ALSO I’m not willing to take anything regarding GPZ/the zotelings into account here!!
Why?
It’s Bretta’s fanfiction and therefore none of it’s real. In one of the zoteling entries, Zote gives her endless praise and loving words. look at me and tell me you think Zote is like that in any way shape or form
Friendly disclaimer at the bottom:
i’m not saying Zote is a good person by literally any means. He’s an asshole. Prick. Bastard. I may relate heavily to him and have projected very hard onto him but. i’m not trying to redeem him here.
I just don’t like the use of “manipulation” and this,,, personification that makes it seem like he was preying on Bretta. Especially in a sense where it was tryna justify Zote hate, which I Do Not Like!
and disclaimer 2, for the beginning:
what I’m NOT saying is that bretta needs to be clearer for her emotions to be valid. That’s not my point at all.
I’m just trying to convey what Zote would know based on her actions. Thatse all
side-tangent: how dare you try to elicit pathos out of me by specifying “the emotional, vulnerable girl”
Consider your new kneecaps that were getting built for you eaten WHOLE for that one
