I cause problems on purpose

Neo-Andean Architecture

Designed by Freddy Mamani

Oh how I'll miss you beautiful blue and your delightful, suicidal ass boyfriend yellow

Rose takes the game more seriously than anyone else during the first couple acts. She does what she’s supposed to do. Then, the game dooms them anyway

On some level this is much more ‘traditional’ Shadow Crystal Boss stuff then Pink is on the Normal Route, it’s like that narrative role has been split between Pink and Weird Route Noelle, including the allusions to Gaster (did Pink have those save for being a FRIEND reference as a pink-and-yellow cat and FRIEND also being obliquely linked to Gaster?)

And it’s, like, folks like Jevil and Spamton were implied to be driven to madness and despair over their growing understanding of the mechanics of Light and Dark. Like, it seems like Darkners generally accept that they are based on inanimate objects that designate their purpose, but not all of them are troubled by the ontological implications of it as Spamton was. From a certain point of view, Noelle has just reached the next level of such realizations, by realizing that even the Light World is part of an artificial scripted video game that she now wants to intentionally escape from or at least irrevocably break.

And on some level, she’s not just mirroring a Shadow Crystal Boss’ mindset, she’s also mirroring a lot of the Fandom’s thoughts during the Chapter One era. A lot of us already thought that Hometown was uncomfortably restrictive, unconvincingly idyllic and strangely artificial-feeling, that it was some sort of façade or illusion… or just waiting for the other shoe to drop in some other way. We thought it’s going to be the job of the Heroes to break through this ‘Facade’ in some way…. Although obviously not quite in the way Noelle decided to try it.

But on another level, is Noelle describing the Existential Horror of Being a Video Game Character or just the Existential Horror of Being a Depressed Teenager? All of the experiences she describes, even if we know they kinda correspond to this world being a piece of Fiction and also a Video Game, are actual things people experience in our Real World, it’s trauma, it’s dissociation, it’s depression, it’s living in a repressive environment that isn’t being attentive or considerate of your pain.

I really love it as, like, moving the focus of the Game’s horrors out of just being ‘hey what if Videos Game were real, would that be fucked up or what?’ and directly addressing the real-life experiences that all this Videos Game stuff can be used as a metaphor for. Using a purely ‘this is basically a real-life the Video-Game-Has-Become-Self-Aware Creepypasta’ lens, Noelle is correct in her realization that her world is Not Real and could never offer her the freedom she wants, and she tries to find a glitch, an exploit, to escape it for good. And that is still what is going on to some degree… But it’s so horrifying because it’s clearly also what this situation would be in real-life, just a depressed teenager thinking there’s no other way to escape from her suffocating small town, drowning herself in the lake.

It’s one of the things that make you think, is ‘understanding’ this world to be inherently fake and inherently unfree really the ‘right’ thing after all? Is Noelle actually right about the Light World or are her thoughts clouded by the depression and trauma she’s been clearly struggling with? And were characters like Jevil or Spamton really ‘right’ about the Dark World as well? Depression and anxiety often disguise themselves as insight, after all. And going back to the Literal Video Game, Noelle’s method of achieving ‘Freedom’ also seems clearly wrong due to the paradoxical nature of the ‘Freedom’ in the Weird Route. Noelle believes she can do anything… as long as she’s ordered too, the Player went on this alternative path seeking an escape from the Game’s usual railroading, only find an even more limiting path with even less options.

Are there really no options except marching along your set path in blissful ignorance or giving up on your world and your life entirely? It makes me think of Susie. For Aborted Weird Route Noelle, she became yet another symbol of being brought back to her set path, of how there’s no escape of the fate the world had deemed for her.

But for Normal Route Noelle, Susie has always been a symbol of change, a more positive kind of change than the Weird Route represents. And Susie seems to similarly be a force for positive change for Kris, and a symbol of breaking and changing the rules on a Meta level as well. A symbol for asserting your freedom in a world that’s not even supposed to have any.

And she doesn’t do it by noticing how false and scripted and unfree her world is and rejecting it outright, Susie takes both the Light World and the Dark World at face value, as Real. But instead of just ignoring all the things Wrong with them and doing what she’s Supposed to, she takes her iron-clad believe that it is Real and Free as her motivation to try to break through the restrictions that the Narrative and Game Mechanics try to place on her.

If Weird Noelle’s behavior in Chapter draws comparison between her experiences and the Ontological Horror that is the existence of Darkners to make it feel like truly no one in this Game World is free, when Susie draws comparisons between her experiences and the experiences of Darkners when she empathizes with them, it’s to try to assure them that they are real enough that change and hope for them is always possible.

…But also that’s not as simplistic and straightforward as Susie would like to believe either. We have seen the limits and the flaws of her attitude, as well. Especially in the last two chapters. Her difficulty in accepting Gerson’s death, her struggles in navigating the conflict with the Flowers in Chapter 5, and what is, by now, feels like willful ignorance of Kris’ Double Agent nature. Thematically speaking, Flowery seems to exist to demonstrate the limitations and dangers of just trying to Fake It Until You Make It when you’re supposed to be Ontologically Doomed, or just trying to believe hard enough in doing the impossible. I think there is a reason why fans are worried about her essentially choosing to move into Castle Town even if we agree that the Dark Worlds are real to some degree.

But I still feel very strongly that whatever the characters need to achieve true freedom, even it does actually involving ‘breaking’ the game or the world to some degree, it can’t come from a disregard and destain to the Dark World or the Light World, to Castle Town or to Hometown, it has to come from a burning hope that it all matters and it’s all real, even if the metaphysical laws of the universe are ‘supposed’ to say otherwise, even if Freedom truly seems out of reach, even if it is a world that is fleeting, even if it is dangerous. Because Reality can be all of these things, it can feel like all of these things, and that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter either. And I dunno what will be of poor Weird Noelle from now, but I hope that in the Regular Route, Susie can prove it to that version of Noelle.

So, your landlord/parents/home inspector/favorite movie star is dropping by, and your place is a disaster. You don’t have much time to clean it up. You’re in emergency mode. Let’s get started.

Don’t panic. Panic leads to fear, fear leads to procrastination, procrastination leads to the dark side. You can do this, but you have to stay calm.

Unlike maintenance cleaning, we’re not looking to completely unfuck one space at a time. Instead, we want to decrease the overall mess in stages, spread evenly across the whole area that we’re concerned about. If you think your home is at Level 10 filth, we want to bring the whole thing down to a Level 9, and then down from there. One really clean spot in an otherwise messy home is not going to be helpful here.

Get prepared. You’ll want to shut the computer down (or turn the modem off if you need your computer to play music). Trust me. Get your music going. Gather up trash bags, your vacuum and mop, some rags or paper towel, sponges, and other cleaning supplies. Use what you have on hand. Don’t get distracted running to the store and spending an hour browsing cleaning supplies. A multi-purpose cleaning concentrate or a jug of vinegar will be just fine.

Breaks are very important. Depending on your time constraints, work in 20/10s (20 minutes working, 10-minute break) or 45/15s. But take breaks because otherwise you’re marathoning, and marathon cleaning is no one’s friend. Keep hydrated, don’t forget to eat, and check in with yourself frequently to make sure you’re physically doing OK.

Make your bed. This will be your home base if you get overwhelmed or need somewhere clear to take a break.

Start with the garbage. Going from room to room, throw out anything that is obvious trash. Once you fill a bag, take it out. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Move on to dishes. Gather the dishes from all over your house and bring them to the kitchen. If you can, start them soaking in a sink of hot, soapy water or start loading the dishwasher. After the dishes are all in one place, spend one 20/10 getting started getting them under control.

Now it’s time for your flat surfaces. Countertops, tables, dresser tops, etc. Clear them off and wipe them down. Don’t get distracted in too much sorting and organizing. We’re in crisis mode here. There will be time to get in-depth once this is all done. The same applies to cabinets and closets. Unless you have reason to believe people will be opening closed doors, leave these alone for now.

Attack the floordrobe and shoe pile. Get your clothes either put away or in the hamper. Start a load of laundry if you need to, but keep in mind that laundry and dishes have three steps: wash, dry, and put it away, goddammit!

Get random stuff up off the floors. If something is trash-worthy, throw it away now rather than just move it around a bunch of times. Otherwise, put stuff where it belongs.

Take another 20/10 or 45/15 to catch up on more dishes, if needed.

Head into the bathroom. Pour some cleaner in the toilet bowl, fill the sink with hot water and cleaner, and either spray the tub and shower with cleaner, or fill the tub up with some hot water and add cleaner and let it soak. Put everything away that’s out and shouldn’t be, clean the mirror, counters, and toilet seat. Sweep or dry mop the floor. Wipe down the sink and tub/shower, and give the toilet bowl a scrub. Mop the floor.

Sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

Vacuum everything you can, and sweep everything you can’t.

Walk outside of your house (don’t lock yourself out, please). Walk back in and see what catches your eye first. Go and deal with that.

If you’re being inspected or your landlord is coming in for repairs, spend time on whatever area they’ll be focusing on.

Give the whole place one more once-over and pay attention to anything you’ve missed so far.

It’s an old trick, but if your place is a little funky-smelling, put a pan of water on the stove on low heat and add some citrus or cinnamon or vanilla. Don’t leave it unattended or forget about it.

Take a shower, put on something clean, and eat something.

You can do this. It’s overwhelming, yes, but it is not impossible. You just need to do it. You have a list. You have directions. You have a whole bunch of Internet strangers who have been there before and who are cheering you on. You can do this, but you need to get started.

When the emergency clean is over, borrow or buy yourself a copy of “How to keep house while drowning”. It is a straightforward, compassionate book on how to stay on top of cleaning while dealing with any number of crises.

As a recovering hoarder myself, one of the skills you will need to work on is reducing your “clutter blindness”. OP’s leaving the house and coming back in is a great start. I also suggest, when you are in a room and are triaging cleaning:

If you have to step around something (or you stepped *on* something), put that object away

If you touch a surface with your hands, check for crumbs, dust, grime, etc. Clean it immediately, if possible. Easy spots to be blind to are the pull chain on a fan, or buildup around faucet handles.

Sit/stand where a guest would and pay attention to where your eyes naturally rest. Any clutter, dirt, etc? Pay special attention to spots like toilets, where someone may be lingering.

You’re not aiming for spotless here - just building your awareness in the places you spend the most. As time progresses, you may also get better at seeing the dust bunnies in corners or crumbs stuck beneath a couch cushion.

In response to a popular comic that's been floating around.

Headcanons are not activism. Ships are not activism. Fandom engagement at large is not activism. Punching down on someone for relating to a character in their own way, especially by claiming the way they are relating to the character is inherently not progressive, is reductive and damaging. Believing those who disagree with you are bigots and what they bring to the conversation is wrong or irrelevant is reductive and damaging. Telling any group that their headcanons 'overpower' fandom and are 'an epidemic' is reductive and damaging.

You are ostensibly telling someone they're playing with their dolls wrong. We are well past the age to be fighting over who gets the swings at the playground or whether you should go through the monkey bars forwards or backwards. Turning exceedingly minor fandom disagreements into a moral crusade, using the opportunity to feed into existing discourse about vulnerable groups, and refusing to listen to the voices of the group you are harming by mislabeling them all under a pejorative reactionary term to de-legitimize them makes you a bad person. Be better.

Never have I been this invested into tumblr sexyman contest before. Its just...so dang funny. XD

Part 1

So of course, I NEEDED TO DRAW SOMETHING! To celebrate for my favs! I love how close it was for both of them. Shows how beloved these two characters are for everyone.

P.S: contest is still ongoing, so go vote for Caine or maybe your other favorite characters over at @sexy-people-contests-2026 who made it to the next round.

Tumblr contest by @sexy-people-contests-2026

Not propoganda, but the people need to remember how incredible the rng was for this.

"What if Stratt didn't force Grace to go?" Then the Earth dies.

"What if Yao and Ilyukhina had survived?" Then they all would have died in space, not enough food to get to Earth or Erid

If the Taomoeba hadn't escaped then Grace would have never seen his best friend again. Returning to a world he loves but no longer recognizes.

If the stars weren't dying then Grace never would have met his best friend at all. Living content but alone.

Project Hail Mary is a hopeful story. It is a story of friendship and what it means to be brave. It's a story about saving the world.