a ☐ peg in a 〇 hole

HLD is all about the inevitability of death, their attempt with the Immortal Cell backfiring, all the bosses (and Drifter!) having their own ways of coping with the inevitable, the classic DABDA stuff leading to further destruction and ruin not just to others but also the self

And in comes Dead Cells, who you'd expect to disagree because Beheaded is THE immortal cell basically that they all wanted, but no, the entire game CORROBORATES that the methods taken to create him was horrible and he's a jerk through and through because he can't die and can't see the value in life and others because of it

And somehow every boss relates to Beheaded in a way if you factor his backstory in as the King (invading and keeping himself isolation like the Frog, manipulating the masses as he pleases with his power and status like the Heirophant, the advanced technology and experiments it took to make become a homunculus like the Southern Area, and of course the eternally fighting, frozen in time whether one way or another in the Crystal Forest)

all of this just enhances the experience of this ship for me even more now rjkckrc

Drifter is sacrificing his health and sanity in his quest to kill Judgment, having no real idea of how to live other than doing this quest. Is pretty sure he won't survive, but that's okay. He's willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of others because he doesn't see any intrinsic value in himself as a persecuted species that others hate. The most GARBAGE self-esteem ever, and is working himself into a faster grave with the brutal pace he sets for himself. He has an equally sick companion in Guardian, but it's two people versus what they perceive as a god. Maybe if he's fast enough, Guardian can live.

Beheaded is a selfish prick who doesn't value life other than what he can get from it. He's stuck in a loop, so who cares? He may not remember it, but his actions as the King doomed everyone, and in an effort to avoid the death he condemned others to, he cheats it by becoming a homunculus. He's technically not the King anymore, but he still has an ego the size of an ocean and doesn't take the suffering of those he comes across seriously. Why should he? It all doesn't matter in the end. Why not just do whatever he wants?

Now these two get mashed together into a romance, and now they are both forced to CARE. Drifter now has a reason to WANT to survive Judgement. He has to confront the idea that he MIGHT SURVIVE and have to LIVE, which means reinventing his whole outlook on the world and understanding that he deserves to live and be happy too. Running himself into the ground isn't going to help anything, and maybe he should find value in himself that doesn't come from what he can sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Beheaded is confronted with a person he loves dying and there isn't anything he can do about it. For the first time, he CARES. He wants to help, but isn't sure how. Learning to respect the fragility of life, how fleeting it is. Having to unlearn the cruelty, selfishness, and possessiveness, cause Drifter is his own person and won't put up with being treated like a jewel to lock away and hoard. Having to get down to the same level of an average person and absorbing the goodness from Drifter being selfless and kind, but also offering the temperance to help Drifter stand up for himself and not let others take and take until there's nothing left. Teach the cat how to be a little more selfish, in a healthy way. The King becomes a caretaker for his sick lover, when he never cared about anyone else before.

In our RPs this change happens over time and yes, BH will have to let Drifter go. We decided that Drifter survives the Judgement fight since he literally has help this time, but it won't be a long life, or one that is pain-free. There will be lingering issues that Beheaded will have to help Drifter deal with, but mortality will always be on the horizon.

Beheaded will become the King he SHOULD have been from the start.

Drifter will find a reason to want to live and see value in himself.

Together, they'll be a family and be a catalyst for positive change in both worlds. They both just needed their opposite to help balance each other out, and in BH's case, LEARN SOME MORALS. GOSH.

yES YES YES TO ALL OF THIS OH MY GOODNESS

Drifter with unhealthy coping skills breaks my heart but is completely true imo, I like to think under all of that he really does hope he can survive and find a cure because I've seen some canon text that he does want to find one but finds that there is none and leads to the acceptance of his end in the canon game

BH presence makes that underlying desire rise up to the surface and now he has a reason to take care of himself because he has someone that cares about him ueueuueueueuee

BH wouldn't be the same if he wasn't a jerk but now he's a changed jerk <3

Him being a protector of the Blus when Drifter is gone.... ough...... _(߹𖥦߹」∠)_

As for the dead cells world, its rlly messed up but I rlly like the idea of a changed Beheaded (who accidentally got out of the loop because he ended up in Land of Light by messing with the Hyper Light pillar) and coming back to end the cycle there for good somehow as the panacea does exist, (and imagine that, a cure that probably could have helped drifter... but it would have never been accessible to him as without meeting him he would have stayed the jerk that he was and kill the Alchemist) id love to see their reactions to this version of him

Actually yes! Me and WeiszRabbit do plan to turn our RPs into a fic. So far we have 7913 rp posts on Discord, lol. Can't give an accurate word count cause it varies but it's a lot. So much of it is self-indulgent 'what if' type things, so making it into an actual fic will take time to make it flow narratively and fix plot holes. Things like changing and retconning things to make it work better, ect. We are far from 'finishing' the 'main' story, so I guess we'll start working on the actual fic once that is done. There's no rush, but it is in the works.

If anything, RPing is a fantastic way to get a rough outline done that you can build on from. It may end up a series, who knows. It depends on the time we have cause we both work so much ;_;.

We do want to do an RP where they go into the Dead Cells world and try to save things. Mostly to work with the idea of Beheaded having to work through the lingering bits of the King in himself that remain and to fix his mistakes. So to prepare im playing the game. It's fun but I'm not very good at it ahahaha.

Drifter was at that state where he does want a cure, because every living things WANTS to live. But he just figured that he shouldn't get his hopes up, especially when he got sicker. But now he has an asshole therapy dog that makes him sleep and eat and take care of himself along with smooches so maybe it's okay to hope a little :O

*loudest YEAH BOIIIII*

omg... i miss them so much....

HLD is all about the inevitability of death, their attempt with the Immortal Cell backfiring, all the bosses (and Drifter!) having their own ways of coping with the inevitable, the classic DABDA stuff leading to further destruction and ruin not just to others but also the self

And in comes Dead Cells, who you'd expect to disagree because Beheaded is THE immortal cell basically that they all wanted, but no, the entire game CORROBORATES that the methods taken to create him was horrible and he's a jerk through and through because he can't die and can't see the value in life and others because of it

And somehow every boss relates to Beheaded in a way if you factor his backstory in as the King (invading and keeping himself isolation like the Frog, manipulating the masses as he pleases with his power and status like the Heirophant, the advanced technology and experiments it took to make become a homunculus like the Southern Area, and of course the eternally fighting, frozen in time whether one way or another in the Crystal Forest)

all of this just enhances the experience of this ship for me even more now rjkckrc

Drifter is sacrificing his health and sanity in his quest to kill Judgment, having no real idea of how to live other than doing this quest. Is pretty sure he won't survive, but that's okay. He's willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of others because he doesn't see any intrinsic value in himself as a persecuted species that others hate. The most GARBAGE self-esteem ever, and is working himself into a faster grave with the brutal pace he sets for himself. He has an equally sick companion in Guardian, but it's two people versus what they perceive as a god. Maybe if he's fast enough, Guardian can live.

Beheaded is a selfish prick who doesn't value life other than what he can get from it. He's stuck in a loop, so who cares? He may not remember it, but his actions as the King doomed everyone, and in an effort to avoid the death he condemned others to, he cheats it by becoming a homunculus. He's technically not the King anymore, but he still has an ego the size of an ocean and doesn't take the suffering of those he comes across seriously. Why should he? It all doesn't matter in the end. Why not just do whatever he wants?

Now these two get mashed together into a romance, and now they are both forced to CARE. Drifter now has a reason to WANT to survive Judgement. He has to confront the idea that he MIGHT SURVIVE and have to LIVE, which means reinventing his whole outlook on the world and understanding that he deserves to live and be happy too. Running himself into the ground isn't going to help anything, and maybe he should find value in himself that doesn't come from what he can sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Beheaded is confronted with a person he loves dying and there isn't anything he can do about it. For the first time, he CARES. He wants to help, but isn't sure how. Learning to respect the fragility of life, how fleeting it is. Having to unlearn the cruelty, selfishness, and possessiveness, cause Drifter is his own person and won't put up with being treated like a jewel to lock away and hoard. Having to get down to the same level of an average person and absorbing the goodness from Drifter being selfless and kind, but also offering the temperance to help Drifter stand up for himself and not let others take and take until there's nothing left. Teach the cat how to be a little more selfish, in a healthy way. The King becomes a caretaker for his sick lover, when he never cared about anyone else before.

In our RPs this change happens over time and yes, BH will have to let Drifter go. We decided that Drifter survives the Judgement fight since he literally has help this time, but it won't be a long life, or one that is pain-free. There will be lingering issues that Beheaded will have to help Drifter deal with, but mortality will always be on the horizon.

Beheaded will become the King he SHOULD have been from the start.

Drifter will find a reason to want to live and see value in himself.

Together, they'll be a family and be a catalyst for positive change in both worlds. They both just needed their opposite to help balance each other out, and in BH's case, LEARN SOME MORALS. GOSH.

yES YES YES TO ALL OF THIS OH MY GOODNESS

Drifter with unhealthy coping skills breaks my heart but is completely true imo, I like to think under all of that he really does hope he can survive and find a cure because I've seen some canon text that he does want to find one but finds that there is none and leads to the acceptance of his end in the canon game

BH presence makes that underlying desire rise up to the surface and now he has a reason to take care of himself because he has someone that cares about him ueueuueueueuee

BH wouldn't be the same if he wasn't a jerk but now he's a changed jerk <3

Him being a protector of the Blus when Drifter is gone.... ough...... _(߹𖥦߹」∠)_

As for the dead cells world, its rlly messed up but I rlly like the idea of a changed Beheaded (who accidentally got out of the loop because he ended up in Land of Light by messing with the Hyper Light pillar) and coming back to end the cycle there for good somehow as the panacea does exist, (and imagine that, a cure that probably could have helped drifter... but it would have never been accessible to him as without meeting him he would have stayed the jerk that he was and kill the Alchemist) id love to see their reactions to this version of him

rocky “um. its lab grown”

Tenna art by @9Aaaalt29 on twt