This scene from 1x05 is one of the many reasons why I will always hype up Belmont Cameli's performance as Garrett on Off Campus. I love this episode. This is more than just Garrett meeting Hannah's mom for the first time. It is a series of micro-expressions that is a masterclass in acting.

Garrett should be on top of the world. He and Hannah just had mind-blowing s*x to the point that "the whole campus heard that." It means she trusts him more than anything. He gave that to her. You see Garrett is happy but then he gets a text from Phil. You then see Garrett deregulate in the background as soon as that happens. All the happiness is gone. He doesn't know how to deal with Phil. All he knows is that it will be more ridicule and demands. Not a word is said but you see everything from Belmont.

Garrett meets Hannah's mom. The first thing she says is that he's handsome which of course he is. It is a compliment from someone who matters. Garrett lost his mom and Hannah's mom is saying he's a good man. Hannah's mom then says that her dad is a huge fan of Garrett. He follows the games. He's a super fan. He hypes up Garrett every chance he gets. Most importantly he's happy even when Garrett loses a game. The love is unconditional. He's proud of Garrett no matter what.

That kind of praise from a father figure is something that Garrett has never heard before. Phil has always had strings attached. In his mind Garrett could never measure up. Garrett was never enough. In this moment he is. It doesn't matter if he wins or loses. He is enough for Hannah's dad and that is everything to Garrett especially after getting that text from Phil.

First there is the progression -

Terrans bind together in a war effort against the Affini, where concepts of domesticity represent their humanity and integration into society. Simultaneously there is the status quo brought about by establishment, where Terran institutions are trusted and faith is placed in them. Communality is valued, though not at the expense of individuality, but through a collective identity of what it means to be a Terran.

Second there is the regression -

After the Human Domestication Treaty is signed, domesticity is refused in favor of feralism. The status quo via establishment is brought down intrinsically (a literal surrender signing human lives away, if you subscribe to the idea that becoming a floret constitutes a removal of personhood). Resistance takes precedence over establishment, as free Terran movements fracture communality to make way for individuality. I admittedly know little of the lore concerning the immediate response of the HDT being signed - but given the common occurrence of feralists being portrayed as individual or tribal holdouts living in comparably more rustic circumstances, I think a reasonable assumption would imply that feralists aligned Terrans did not form a tight bond of resistance, but rather pockets of dissent circumstantially focused on the more immediate self preservation. Faith is lost in institutions as the signing of the HDT is seen as betrayal - and the dialectical inversion of direction in the Terran government (fighting for the preservation of humanity -> surrendering humanity) is mirrored in the regression of humanity (a largely united society against a common goal becoming a tribalized society, individual preservation taking priority over a more humanity-centric drive for progress)

Next comes the rebuilding -

Following a shock to the dialectic phase between “progression” and “regression”, there’s a return to form. Feralist movements find ways to gather and unite in their common goal, a push is made to get back on track in terms of the advancement of humanity with the focus on preservation of the “Terran spirit”. Establishment becomes a status quo, but in a muted form - where adherence to the systems in place are trusted with suspect acceptance. Feralists are depicted to have contingencies in the fallout. Trust exists with the lining of hesitance, but this also sees a return to domesticity. Trust breeds a form of contractualism now built in the paradigm of the feralist resistance, and in that contractualist framework society begins to rebuild and take a recognizable shape. With that rebuilding, communality arises as feralists work towards a common goal of “preserving the Terran spirit” or fighting to remain “free Terrans” rather than individual preservation. This constructs a sort of plateau, where the common assumption of dialectic patterns provide comfort - the concept of conflicting concepts sparring to reach a more perfected reality is seen, and some peace might be found in the observation that hardship for free Terrans has bred resilience and potential.

Finally comes the cessation -

The “rebuilding” phase acts as a microcosm of the progression phase, but muted. Feralist movements create a simulacrum Terran government, mirroring the goals in the initial progression phase. This, in the context of an indomitable foe embodied by the Affini Compact, is going to enter a decaying repetition where the muted feralist movements iterate through their own waning progression and regression phases, until no noteworthy iterations of this pattern can be detected. At the point the cyclical progression/regression phases are unnoticeable, effectively human society ceases to exist.

—

What I wanted to highlight here is an insight to how the “horror” (or rather, I would call it suspenseful) elements of the HDG universe take shape. Human experience is suffused with a layman’s understanding of dialectic patterns, “what does not kill me makes me stronger”. The recount of human history, and the assumed progression of humanity to reach the characterization of human society in the Terran Accord, implies a defining dialectic pattern to human existence. The archetypical “dialectic refining” presents itself in the common form. This constructs a narrative that is familiar and comfortable to the audience, because it mimics classical storytelling archetypes (something something heroes journey something something the Iliad and the odyssey).

Consequently, the story takes place in the interruption to the comfort assumed by the “dialectic refining” cycle that is assumed. The introduction of the Affini compact poses the question “what happens if an [assumed] unstoppable force (dialectic refining presented through humanity’s progression) meets an immovable object(presented by the insurmountable war against the Affini Compact)?”

This creates an inversion. The dialectic patterns that strengthened humanity - and narratively construct comfort for the audience - are poised not to be strengths, but to become weaknesses. The “cessation” phase of the dialectic inversion presents a corollary to the adage “what does not kill me makes me stronger”. The very core of dialectics - challenge begets improvement - is eroded. The symbol of progression becomes a symbol of decay, where the items that constructed narrative comfort come to foreshadow the root of the (overarching/environmental) narrative’s discomfort.

There’s a lot of ways I could take this thought, but to sum it up

- the narrative’s dialectic pattern is presented as a refutation to the commonly accepted image of progression. What does not kill the Terran Accord (and feralist movement) only weakens it, to make it that much more susceptible to further decay.

- the narrative techniques to present comfort in a story are reversed, instead used to present the ultimate narrative discomfort

These two observations are what creates such a suspenseful setting. Storytelling constructs an expectation of a protagonist finding some sort of realization, inspiration, or plot-relevant Macguffin that reinforces the narrative pattern of trial resulting in advancement. In HDG, the storytelling continually plays off the reader’s expectation of some miraculous boon (I.E. - the trials a protag faces leading to the strengthening of will to overcome said trials) that precipitates a protagonist’s victory and does not deliver on it - it undermines it. The expectation of Terran progress (the continuation of the Terran accord) is undermined quite literally by the trials not leading to advancement. The expectation of progress in preserving a Terran spirt (even in a waning populace) is attacked as the progression and regression phases cycle within the decaying “cessation” phase. The expectation of a personal triumph via a protagonist is undermined as every avenue to advance from each trial is countered by the innumerable techniques of Affini domestication.

TW: MENTIONS OF CHILD LABOR, SLAVERY, IMPLIED SEXUAL ABUSE, IMPLIED DEATH

So this came to me while I was watching a video about jesters in history, but I personally wouldn't put it past Eden for doing it at all. None of them seem like "good" people exactly, so this is related to that. So, for years Eli didn't have parents. She lost both to the quiet rapture (not like she knew her father much anyways). I mentioned that her FIRST time learning that love could hurt was after losing her mother, but I still intended on leaving the rest up for interpretation. I also mentioned how Eli has killed in the name of love before and knows her way around the law. Loopholes and such. So my thoughts are that she was taken in by someone (I can't decide if I want them to be male, female, old, young, or anything like that) and moved into the C.O.I where she was essentially treated like a slave. Like the idea is that before they're old enough to get real jobs (16-18) they're just seen as more slaves, property, or servants. The C.O.I is made up of a majority of bad people in more ways then just rapists as we know, so I wouldn't put it past them to have children, who are smaller and can reach tight spaces, be involved in repairments or just slave work. Think of Victorian era British cotton factories where the children would go underneath the machines to collect fallen cotton so none goes to waste because they were small enough to fit.

She was a child after all and children cannot be paid, nor did they have authority, but work still needed to be done around the station. Everyone else was already busy, so the living children and teenagers were put to work with cleaning and entertainment. Take that however you will, but just know that its not JUST limited to anything sexual. Entertainment also could include things typically seen in jesters such as jokes or general acts of humor, or things separate from that such as dance or art. It was not just limited to sexual abuse, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few bad apples who did do such things.

She found the warp core around her mid-late teenage years as well, roughly 15-17. This could have been from the fact that she was always put to work around the entire station. We don't know how large the station is exactly but we can take a guess with the fact that it has an infirmary, prison, mechanical plant, etc. So she likely found the core while entertaining someone or cleaning. Though I haven't decide which quite yet.

There is also a massive gap of her story from 8 y/o to roughly 21 y/o that was because no one cared to document property. After all, if they did it'd be essentially wasting paper on something like a chair or a damn wrench. It was useless to keep track of, if you will. My final thoughts? I believe that the C.O.I had a time frame where children and teenagers were used for slave labor and as jesters when the Quiet Rapture first took place. But it no longer happens now due to the fact that everyone who was a child when the rapture happened are all adults now.

Who knew that the spawn of my sona and Mudeline/Mudson(OC by @diggitydoggo) would end up like this? I mean. Yeah. I get it. Both their parents were SEVERELY absent for different reasons. One of them did quite literally FORGET ABOUT PUDDLE’S EXISTENCE. That’s bound to do a number of them. And the other one is SUPER UNEQUIPPED to parent.

------- ⬇️ Clear Text Below ⬇️ --------

Showstopper has fleeting mini interactions so absorbed in his infatuation and obsession with becoming even more apart of Amaras life he forgets his only real sorta human interaction ignoring her entirely, leaving her genuinely worried when before he would just say at least hi every morning to her after they became proper friends, she doesn't say much now in fear he suddenly hates her but when she does try it's cuz she hasn't heard from him in weeks at all

but Amara who's become a regular interaction for him now when he's in his human Alec disguise, mentions something about friends potentially how she would hope hers would be okay, smthn smthn, something that Showstopper would hear and suddenly he's remembering how he was. Kinda shitty to he darling friend "Mysty" and rushes off to go check on her cuz he left his phone at home, Amara finding it endearing and becoming abit fond of him from it yes, but also it showcasing how he's changed enough to realize Scarlette could be hurt and he wouldn't know

They conversate he feels horrible now for hurting her she says it's fine she didn't think he'd wanna talk to her again etc etc

Now? Now he NEEDS to talk to her everyday again, gameplay you are forced to form a bond with this online friend, in showstoppers shoes as he has never properly gotten to know her until now

He wants to know the person behind the screen, not just the artist, not just a "Fandom friend" he distantly only interacts based on Fandom or creative stuff, he wants to know Her. And it's symbolized by a silhouette of what he's imagining her to be like and it changes everytime he sees more stuff about her

Hes seen her room before from photos so it's the backdrop

Hes just finally invested in his friends life and trying to make up for it

And he finally properly worries for her too, compared to before when she was just some "outlet" to have interaction with

And in the end the dynamic is a very sweet thing to me, I should be allowed to experiment with dynamics and ship them sometimes cuz they make me ILL!!!

Showstopper and Scarlette, if they met before, as kids,,, they coulda finally had friends.. but, at least they met at all

Scarlette helps that loser show so much growth compared to when he was just a loner chasing someone because he was desperate

She gives him someone to care for other than Amara, other than himself

She gave him his default jester form he adopted as his

And he in return became a loyal and good friend to her when it was needed

because he started to recognize her own issues and piece together how to help her

Tagged by @incaseofart!! 💖

Rules: color all that applies to your OC and their vibes! Whichever section you get the most in is your OC’s archetype, although you can also add in whichever section you get second in to create a subclass of sorts! (Ex: the heroic maiden, the sagely monster, the outcast hero, etc!) Feel free to name it as you see fit, discuss your results, and add some vibe inspiration if you’d like! ✨

Tagging if you want! No pressure, and feel free to just pick 1 character: @koinukodotpink @sootyships @vircheism @hanafubukki and anyone else who wants to join! :3c

Blank template [via google doc] here or via @/antivan-sprig 's tumblr

I'll be doing this for my s/i ocs Rin [charademanics], Lan [baldrsky], and Symphore [virche].