#tessenda

[fae-in-the-woods]

Hm, for the ask game, how about- Dmitri or Johnny? And to spice this up, Phoenix Wright. (and maybe one of your ocs)

oops so I'll preface this by saying I do not think about Johnny much at all, so his sections will be a little barebones.

For an OC, since I've only really mentioned one explicitly (still working on that regarding the disappearance intro post...) I'll use my Retold THSC oc, a CCC agent named Epithet! Quick reference, they use any pronouns and have the baneful fox mask as their assigned anomaly, making it so they can shapeshift into any face that's not their own.

favorite thing about them

Johnny: Uh, he's a good character to kill I guess? He can be good fodder for Rupert character development either dead or alive. (This is how I use him in Retold, he is very dead.)

Dmitri: He's a great Ellie antagonist. Even though Ellie's been kind of shafted in terms of story/character, I can always assign Dmitri to be her personal villain.

Phoenix: he's just kind of insane, but it's that simmering insane that lies just below the surface. You think Edgeworth is a lot for pretending to kill himself post losing one single trial? No, he's nothing compared to everything Phoenix does. Also he is SUCH a bitch to people in his own head and it's great.

Epithet: She's a bitch. Genuinely, she is notttt a good person. She believes wholeheartedly in the CCC's mission (which isn't entirely bad!), but she also agrees with how they're going about it (killing Henry, blaming Henry for them being fractured, indirectly rewriting the world...). She's very good at turning from purposefully aggravating and provoking to very cold and clinical.

least favorite thing about them

Johnny: I just don't find him super compelling! He shows up in StD and I think it's fun he can die, but otherwise? He's just another cop character.

Dmitri: If this is Canada, why is he Russian? I dislike the automatic Russian villainization. The Wall would have been better as Canadian.

Phoenix: I don't think I know enough about him to dislike certain parts, but the fandom really often subdues his bitchiness in favor of being generically nice. Nope, he is an asshole and we love it.

Epithet: I don't dislike anything about it, but as a character it's a bit hard to write because it really likes to talk in circles and have unresolved issues about its identity that it refuses to think about. But that also makes it fun!

favorite line

Johnny: I guess his one quote: "Yeah!"

Dmitri: "This is coming out of your paycheck. All of you." I think this sums up his character.

Phoenix: "Exactly, Your Honor! I would like to cross-examine the witness's pet parrot!" This killed me the first time around.

Epithet: While there's no canon for them, not really, here's one from an old fic: (speaking to Henry) "Hold on! And who didn’t die when they were supposed to? We have a job to do, you know."

brOTP

Johnny: him and Rupert? Again, I like focusing on Rupert's government relationships more. But I think they were close.

Dmitri: Dmitri and Grigori. They have a similar leader/right hand dynamic as Copperright, just less charismatic and more evil. I like it.

Phoenix: Phoenix and Franziska. They can be mean to people together.

Epithet: Epithet and another OC I haven't really mentioned, her name is Azimuth and she's another CCC character!

OTP

Johnny: Johnny x being dead for character development

Dmitri: bitter divorced exes Dmitri x Galeforce

Phoenix: A bit generic, but Narumitsu. What can I say, they're just written so well for each other.

Epithet: Epithet is too aroace and full of unresolved issues to have any sort of relationships. He needs to get therapy first.

nOTP

Johnny: n/a

Dmitri: Dmitri x Ellie. Idk why anyone would do this, but weird.

Phoenix: Phoenix and Kristoff. It can't be fluffy, it has to be filled with hate or else I don't see it.

Epithet: I guess Epithet and Henry? They're complicated, but if xe was a real character I could see a fandom boiling them down to a hate-ship when xe and Henry actually got a weird respect understanding thing going on.

random headcanon

Johnny: Johnny is also selectively mute, making his similarities to Henry infuriating to Rupert.

Dmitri: this goes against the game's canon but he hates Ellie wayyyyy more than he hates Henry

Phoenix: He's got some scarring from Godot's coffee burning him.

Epithet: Everything is canon for her... but in Day's fic Clusterhug, there's an AU version of her about what she would have been like without the mask! Her name is Skylar the Dancer. Look out for her in the fic! :D

unpopular opinion

Johnny: I just don't care about him? I was confused when he showed up in a lot of fanwork just because he's not remarkable to me. I can see why people latch onto him, but he's not for me.

Dmitri: I don't know what counts as an unpopular opinion for him, so I'll say his fixation on Henry over Ellie is another example of Puffball's refusal to do interesting Ellie things.

Phoenix: Idk what counts as an unpopular opinion for him either, but maybe I dislike how him and Maya are boiled down to 'siblings'. People can have close, complicated bonds and also be mainly friends. That's good, even. Friends can be messy and completely loyal and crazy for each other. Get aromantic about it.

Epithet: When I say any pronouns, I mean any. Neopronouns, it/its, Epithet does NOT care. He just wants Henry DEAD

song i associate with them

Johnny: n/a

Dmitri: I've Had Enough by Melina KB, where Retold Ellie kills the shit out of him and it's great.

Phoenix: While I don't really have songs for him, one of my favorite fic series is called 'Jack O' lanterns in July' and so I'll say the Phoenix by FOB?

Epithet: Bells of Notre Dame, Bear Ghost cover. It's got fae's accusing nature and dedication to the CCC.

Thanks for the ask!! I love giving my useless opinions :D

[the-irken-pony]

Since I asked why you hated Master Bounty Hunter, I want to know, what's your favorite ending and why?

It's hard to pin the exact fav, bc all of the ones in the top 3 could easily swap out for each other.

1) Jewel Baron

I talk about it here and here, but tl;dr of it is that I like how it characterizes Henry and sort of illustrates the conclusion of his "corruption arc". He goes from stealing out of necessity (BtB-StD) to screwing over people to feed his greed bc the ruby is right there (PBT) to screwing genuine allies over for no reason at all (GI); Jewel Baron follows this "corruption arc" to its natural conclusion. There's even a bit where he tries to screw over the player for giving him the teleporter! Also Crossing the Pit reference.

2) Toppat King

By and large I like this one for its slice of life potential. I enjoy the thought of the core 4 interacting as a group, and I enjoy thinking about them interacting one-on-one. That said, I really enjoy this one because the B plot revolves around Reginald's character arc and gives him probably the happiest ending of all of the routes.

3) Toppat Recruits

Pardoned Pals is mostly the same, but its ending isn't quite as satisfying as Toppat Recruits' is, which is why I don't list both of them.

Toppat Recruits (and Pardoned Pals) are the perfect followup to Convict Allies in a way the other CA routes aren't, specifically because of how it incorporates the Wall. It plays with the same dual-choice mechanic that was present in CA, and gives Dmitri a super satisfying death scene. Additionally, the fails are all plenty entertaining, and there's even a bunch of meta stuff happening with one of them.

[daydreamingjackalope]

Drew this before you were on tumblr, which is based on Howl so-

It was on a thsc whiteboard

Yes I recall!! Thank you so much for sending it again to me so I can immortalize it on my blog :)

I love that you drew this scene; it’s such an underrated scene from Howl tbh. Thank you so much again!!

[asktoppatpurgatory]

Hi, Terrance! How ya feeling?

he's doing badly

[digital-roots]

I am assuming you are the creator of Penny Copperright.

If so, I want to ask permission to draw her with my non-thsc oc, Penny. Because they share the same name and wear green.

I will share the art if you accept.

Yup, i created Penny yes

Aww i feel like i know who you are from a thsc whiteboard. I would love to see your art :))

[the-irken-pony]

I am curious, why do you dislike Master Bounty Hunter?

I'll keep it below the cut for people who'd rather not see negativity about it (and bc it might get long).

First of all, its intro is WAY too long.

MBH's intro is ludicrously long for how short of a pathway it is. The opening credits sequence right before the title drop (parody of Metal Gear Solid games, particularly 2) feels like the perfect precursor to your first choice screen, with mayyybe a tiny bit of additional leadup. Except it continues on for another minute or two so that Henry & John "Frog" Pilksin can have their codec conversation with Galeforce. (Imho, the codec conversation, along with the MGS parody gang's intro, would be better suited to come after your first choice.)

Most pathways with long intros, even the shorter ones like Revenged, TCW, or Valiant Hero, make them distinct, interesting, or substantial enough that you aren't just there waiting for the chance to make choices. MBH does not do this.

Then there's the rest of the route after the intro, which all feel way too short in comparison with not much of interest happening the whole time, despite the intro's huge buildup.

Hell, "does too little with too much buildup" basically describes the route to a T. Both the route as a whole, and each section of the route.

The first obstacle is Kayn West standing guard, who gets converted to a government agent. He isn't seen turning against the Toppats he used to be allied with, he's just told to stand guard.

The parody trio are set up to be allies to Henry during this route, with each of them having a different skill. They let Henry do the work for step 1 and then are all killed after trying and failing to help once. Eel does hack into the security cameras, but still. (Puff even said he regretted killing them off.)

The parody trio try to distract RHM so that Henry can slip by unnoticed… but he's caught! Except after Henry is dragged through the ground a little bit, he just… explicitly opens himself to attack?

Immediately following this is the aptly named Cheap Fighting Combo. Mildly funny gag but for the leadup? Ehh??

After he effortlessly beats up RHM, Henry is spotted by some other Toppats, who are quick to corner him. He gets away by summoning Charles with an ocarina and just tossing RHM into the helicopter like a sandbag. Unlike in SBO, where the Toppats are rendered unable to fight back because their weapons were blocked off, or TT where they're captivated with Henry & Ellie's dancing/music, here they just... don't bother to fight back at all.

Like I said before, MBH does have one of my favorite gags (Dance-Off), but beyond that the fails are 50/50 for me.

Last thing I'll talk about is something that bothered me since I played through the route for the first time: Ali Gene, one of many parodies of pop culture characters--this one references Ali G from Da Ali G Show. I won't go into detail because I know nothing about the show, I'll just say that if you encounter the THSC parody without the original context like I did then it just looks like a blatant racist stereotype, and even among the other parody characters he sticks out like a sore thumb.

[flowerbarrel-art]

Out of curiosity on your fairy au, is Rupert, Johnny, Reginald, and RHM fairies or not?

Also, cool art!

Thank you! 😄

Rupert and Johnny aren’t, and Reginald and RHM aren’t either. If they had been then Terrence would probably still be leader (or fairy Reginald would be leader of a flock of fairies somewhere).

I kinda want to make Terrence a fairy now, which would mean the leadership passed from Sir Wilford straight to Reginald. I think it’d be fun to make Randy a fairy too but I’m still thinking about that. I might still just draw them all as fairies sometime.

Thanks for the Ask!