I WAS PLAYING MINECRAFT, JUNE!!!!

Mystic Messenger 7th Summer Event

I was on the money with my speculation. I was right on the money and there is nothing you guys can do to stop me from talking about this photo in its entirety. Oh, my God. I am frothing at the mouth at this very moment because Cheritz gave me everything I could have ever wanted in a photo.

It's Ray DRESSED as Unknown, and that is someone I never saw coming.

See, I have egg on my face because they said Ray in their post last night and I never thought they were going to throw this at me. That's because they've never done something like this before. Usually, when he is mislabeled, it's just one of those things that happen now and again because of marketing or trying to avoid spoilers, but in this case, they actually went out of their way to bamboozle me.

I never could have expected something like this. I am most definitely not complaining because this isn't something I didn't know I needed in my life. Unknown and Ray are my favorites so the fact that they are combined in this situation is sending me. I didn't know I needed this but I'm happy that I have it.

On that note, does anybody have commissions open because I need more Idol Ray in my life? I want my MC to be in the audience cheering him on with a penlight.

When I tell you guys I cried when I saw this, I am not kidding about that. I cried. There are a lot of reasons why I cried and we'll get into that in a second. First I think we need to appreciate this for what it is. I think this is the first time in a long time my speculation has been 100% accurate.

This photo is split into three different parts just as I expected it would be, Rika is trying to pedal the soda, and V is in his believer robes which I joked about because the color was accurate but I wasn't sure if they would actually go through with it, and Ray painted his fingernails and that's sending me to Heaven.

V cannot believe what he is seeing. Need I remind everybody in this fandom that his mother was a musician and knowing that fact makes this a hell of a lot funnier when you consider this was Rika's plot. I would not put it past her to have thought about using music as a ploy to mess with him, not only because it's something they shared with her love of Zen, but because she wants to use everything she has against V.

The context in this situation is amazing. I don't know if any of you have seen the new Twitter thread but I'm going to share it with you.

[Link]

When I tell you guys I screamed, I mean it. I screamed because Ray was so smug when he said he has a cute face. That was a lot of confidence in a short amount of time, and if he looked at me after saying that, I would have melted and done anything he told me to do. I mean, I would already do that in general, he knows what I am.

She literally decided out of the blue that she was just going to sell him out because he has a cute face. I mean, she's not wrong, but that's such a Rika thing to do. After all, it's not the first time she pushed him into being an idol.

So, what I'm going to say here is a little silly. I have to tell all of you the implication of what this photo means. This is Ray and he is dressed as Unknown. He has no means to be able to dress that way without us helping him.

That means the MC is the one that chose his wardrobe for him.

That means we are the ones who looked at him and his princely attire and decided he needed to look like he just walked out of Hot Topic. See, my favorite type of character is a toss-between princely and edgelord, so that's even funnier to me. Saeran Choi is my full package deal when it comes to aesthetics, I swear.

I wouldn't want to change Ray out of his magenta coat to dress like Unknown. Well, I say that, but if I tell him to wear that and he takes off the jacket, then I can put it on... oh, yes. That's the best way to get a boyfriend's sweater.

But it is the single-handed thought that the MC is the one that put him in this outfit that is sending me to another plane of existence. Can you imagine doing that to him? Because that is way more funny to me than the idea that Ray chose to wear that himself. But it is always possible that he did choose to wear it himself because he often says that his taste and clothes are nothing like the outfit Rika gave him.

I also need to point out that that tattoo would have had to have been drawn on with Sharpie or temporary ink. He doesn't have the tattoo in Another Story. That is a fact that a lot of people get confused about despite the fact that we are shown a visual of him in the shower that proves he doesn't have a huge tattoo.

I suppose you could read this as a bonus AU where in some universe, Ray is the one who gets the tattoo first... which, ouch, I don't know if I can handle that... "I proved myself, body and mind, to my Savior so it isn't possible she'll throw me away. If I brand myself with the cause of Mint Eye... I'll... I'll be safe."

But, what that also implies is that there is a picture of him with that tattoo drawn in some capacity lingering in his room at Magenta. It also means that despite the fact that he and Suit Saeran inevitably disappear after not being able to live up to the potential the Savior wants them to, Unknown stumbles across that design.

Ray: QUICK, I HAVE TO DESIGN SOMETHING EDGY FOR THIS OUTFIT.

Ray: A dragon!

Ray: ME for Mint Eye!

Ray: This certainly won't effect anything later in life!

Two and a Half years later...

Unknown: I don't know who designed this tattoo but it's sick. I need it on my body.

It is so gut-wrenchingly painful for me to think about that. It means that a piece of Ray still exists. Unknown does not even know where that tattoo came from nor does he know who designed it. Because he doesn't get to know Ray one-on-one since I personally believe he isn't Suit Saeran. I view Unknown and Suit Saeran as separate people, after all.

The reason why he has the tattoo is because Ray drew it. I have long wondered where he came up with the idea for the tattoo, and it turns out it wasn't Unknown at all. Ray was the one who drew it and I don't know what to do with that information other than cry.

The Savior only gave him a short amount of time to figure out how to be an idol and he said I'm going to have a tattoo. Sure, should we just assume this is an Easter Egg and the artist might not have known all the details involved in the story of Mystic Messenger? Sure, you can think that, but for the sake of my enjoyment, I'm going along with the theory that I'm right, lol.

That's something that an idol has. Ray says. He draws a sick dragon and a twisted ME. That tattoo is so large and ridiculous, but I love it dearly. Ray, honey, You Are My Forever Babe. But I don't know what to do with you sometimes.

[If you want to know how I think Unknown gets the tattoo, I have a post on that.]

Rika looks amazing here and there is no lie about that. I actually really like the outfit she's wearing even though we can't see a lot of it. It speaks to a music festival because of how simple but trendy it appears. She's trying to be that friendly face that can do no wrong. She wants you to buy her homemade soda, and you should do that.

You should do that right now. It's good for you. There's nothing wrong with it.

A little bubbly soda won't hurt you. What do you mean it's burning your throat as we speak? It's not doing that at all! You're just excited by the electric energy of this concert! Drink more soda! I think the important question to ask ourselves here is how many cans of soda did she bottle and does she think it's going to work out as well as she thinks it does?

I don't think we need to talk about the fact that she is wearing a cross necklace. I don't want to unpack her religious trauma right now. I don't have time to do that right now but I will say it made me laugh my ass off. On a side note, her hair looks good here and I'm jealous of it.

This man looks like his soul just left his body.

I don't know what he's thinking at this very specific moment in time but I know he's not happy to realize that Rika has decided to sell out Ray as an idol. I mean that's probably the last thing he expected to happen. But, it makes sense, Rika loves music and if she thought it would work, she would absolutely push Saeran, Ray, Unknown, etc, into doing that for her. But, it hurts to think about V... to think about those complicated feelings he holds about his mother...

He kind of wanted to learn how to play the violin to get closer to his mother... He's already got complicated feelings about musicians and I don't know if his adopted son here being an idol is doing much good for him. It reminds me of the bad ending in the RAE.

He wasn't particularly comfortable in that situation either and this just reminds me of that. Which is a shame, because that ending is so horrible. It is one of the worst endings that you can get in this entire series.

I don't think we need to get into that in general, but just know that if you want to hurt yourself, aim to get that bad ending. If I can say nothing else, I'm really happy to see his long hair because I think it's the most attractive aesthetic for him. I've always liked that style on him a lot more than the traditional one. I don't know what it is about that look for him but it just works. He's like a wet kitten in a cardboard box.

I can't believe she decided to hold the concert at 7:00 p.m. I mean, I can most certainly believe she would do that, but it feels like spitting in Ray's face. Why would you do that, Rika? I know it's just a cute little Easter egg to remind us of his brother but oh my God that's awful.

I don't think anybody I've seen talking about this has pointed it out but the background colors are literally the same as Ray and V's hearts. It's the magenta and teal hearts. I thought that was a good touch. I do know that it's also in homage to the fact that it's Mint Eye and the building is called Magenta. It's a 2-in-1 package deal. Just like the fact that I got to see Ray dressed as Unknown. This is a two-for-one deal!

I do think it's interesting that they chose to make the penlights white. That means his image color is white. Oh, yeah, idols have image colors that correlate to those penlights so those things are very important! I didn't expect white. But, I didn't expect him to be an idol ever again after that bad ending. I mean that ending is horrible but he has great hair in it so like we're winning and losing.

Best day of my life. I won Unknown and Ray.

Now this is very interesting from pov of someone who played mysme and is now playing the ssum... connection between two goes deeper than I initially thought...

For the context here - June, Jumin's half brother was moved to Jumin's inslad (we all know very well from Mysme btw). Jumin have decided to have his friends aka V and Rika to visit June because June is a talented painter (and if you know you know V used to be painter too). Since V and Rika are still together this all makes me believe this all takes place some time before Mysme but what's most interesting is Piu Piu content on "you must be connected to lab's founder"

For those who played Harry's route (which is a must, it'sonly finished route and despite being long it was... interesting), we have seen silluete of this founder, the one WHO MADE THE SSUM IN THE FIRST PLACE, but we know nothing about him. Yet the fact HE IS CONNECTED TO V AND SO TO MYSME AS A WHOLE is very interesting... ofc I don't think the founder is 707 but I do think he's someone connected to him and ofc to V

Aaand if you've been here since 2016 or played Cheritz first two Pc games you'd know of existence of wizards and since app as a whole can 1) take satellites photos and 2) do deep analysis on what Voice on chats should and shouldn’t be shown for the sake of LI's relationship with MC I wouldn’t be suprised if he was more than just some dude (especially since we know June had to wait a long time for his match unlike for example Henri which makes me believe LI has to be at certain state of mind to be able to get their perfect match... and our founder of Ssum isn't going to do anything less than wholeheartedly...

Bonus - Cheritz isn't even trying to be subtle they want me to call out MY DEEP LOVE FOR V AAAA WDYM HE'S WAITING IN ANOTHER WORLD???!?!?! (V WIZARD CONFIMED OR WTF IS PIU PIU TO BE ABLE TO CONNECT IN ANOTHER WORLD??)

SORRY I JUST GOTTA VENT ABOUT THIS REAL QUICK LOL

Oh you GOT to be fucking kidding me?? LOOOL GOTTA PAY TO SEE THAT PHOTO?? Okay look. I don’t care if there are answers that you have to use batteries on, and that his private account is behind the subscription… but this??? What is even the fucking point. I don’t like that in part of the actual game, there are choices related to stuff that we HAVE to pay for in order to get the context. WHY GIVE US OPTIONS THAT DIRECTLY INVOLVES A PIC THAT FREE USERS CANT EVEN SEE??? Cheritz COME ON NOW??? Let subscription users have their features since they paid a shit ton for it, but at the same time don’t take away the experience from the free players??? This really is just penny pinching at this point… in MM it was so generous… and because I enjoyed the game and characters so much, I was MORE THAN HAPPY to support and buy stuff from Cheritz… for this game, just the thought of putting money into this… where idk if I like Teo or not, actually infuriates me… what tf happened LOOL Also I’m still trying to find out the correlation between the Labs and Teo’s story. Right now the premise isn’t clear to me??? But don’t tell me, I’ll figure it out eventually… it’s hard to not compare this game to its predecessor, but in both characterization and story-wise… I was EASILY much more invested in MM. Simple and straight to the point. Plan a party, fall in love. This game is… talking to some rando… and idk space exploration via forums… 

The micro transactions in the game is such a buzz kill. I know Cheritz wanted to make this game “immersive” with Teo taking breaks between messages and this game being more of a steady pace, in terms of getting to know the character... But to have the constant reminder that if I want Teo to come back faster, I have to pay, if I want to see Teo’s fucking same face selfie, I have to pay, if I want to call Teo, I have to pay, if I want to choose a certain option, I have to pay, if I want him to type faster, I HAVE TO PAY. Do you realize HOW MUCH THAT TAKES AWAY FROM THE IMMERSION LMAOO??? The constant ads, and reminders that for the cool/convenient features in this game… I have to pay. 

When I played MM bc it wasn’t riddled with ads and the characters were so full of personality, it felt SO immersive. I can see into their world and it’s easy to FEEL INCLUDED within the group. Easy to feel for all the characters and their struggles, their joy— whereas Teo… he falls SO short in terms of connecting with me as a player. It’s like I’m stuck on awkward small talk for the past week and it makes it very hard for me to care as much since he’s not really funny, nor expressive, it’s hard for me to gauge what kind of personality he has bc convos are short and usually just about whatever BS he got going on. This is such a long vent— idk why I got set off when I saw that that pic was behind a paywall and all the options were related to that locked pic LOL like I’m not dreading my experience in this game because I GENUINELY want to know what this game is about, but at the same time, it’s not something where I’m highly anticipating when I get to talk to Teo next. Unlike when I go into the MM Chatrooms and I never know what kind of thing to expect— the conversations with them could either go super deep or plain ridiculous where I’m laughing my ass off. I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED!!! 

Day 31 "I'm Ready from Head to Toe"

Oh my, Teo was cute today.... and the bedtime chat.... my face is burning. No bedtime call today but I'm okay with that for once. He was very generous with selfies today. Oh, and did I mention the bedtime chat?

Spoilers ahead.

*********

Waketime: The chat was considerable long. We were talking about the "Muse of Musical" and apparently Zen is going to be a judge on the show. Teo asked us if we know him. There's a paid option which let's us say he's our ex lol. I went for the other paid option though, which comes with a phone call (which is also about Zen, it was kind of sweet).

Then we were musing about how he might get famous and he needs to be careful of paparazzi which led to this tiny flirty banter.

Breakfast time: Basically talking about his upcoming schedule. Let me just share his selfie with you. I still prefer him with black hair but he looks really adorable here. He also got a new ear piercing! He didn't mention getting a new one though (just like his new hair color, it's just there).

Lunch time: Teo is out shopping and needs our help! I'm not sure if there will be variation depending on choices but I kind of doubt it as I got 4 outfits to comment on. You either say you like it or you don't. Our guy wants to look his best, so he also gets some facial masks.

(sorry for the terrible quality, had to make a collage on my phone)

Dinner time: Apart from getting super fashionable and buying beauty products, our boy is also dieting now. :( What the hell? You are already skinny. And he's wearing one of those printed face masks he got earlier. Of course we are talking again about his schedule for tomorrow. They are having a photo shoot and he's practicing with us for the interview as well.

Model Teo :

And now let's get to my favorite chat: BEDTIME. It's only a tiny segment which made it worthwhile. What has gotten into him?

Context: Teo was outside exercising (in his words: walking faster than usual lol) and told us he'd go home and shower. When we ask him to send us a pic when he's done, the following conversation unfolds:

It's not spicy spicy, but a little spicy. I'm really grateful Cheritz let us make quite suggestive comments.

The day ends with Teo dropping his phone on his face. lmao I guess he was a little too excited? :P

*******

I feel like we got quite some chances today to be a little flirty and flatter him. I for one am very pleased.

And that's where today's report shall end. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

The Ssum Review 2: Electric Boogaloo

So, approximately 50 some-odd days ago, I posted my one week “first impressions” review of Cheritz’s newest phone game, The Ssum: Forbidden Lab. Now, on day 60 of this game (what???), and with a second raffle for merch coming up, I feel compelled to give a follow up to some points and thoughts from my first review.

Under the cut: Heavy Spoilers for The Ssum: Forbidden Lab up through day 14, light spoilers (out of context artwork) up to day 60.

Teo

So first of all, let me start by saying that this game has ruined my life, but like, in a good way.

I thought this was a slow burn simulator (it wasn’t). I thought this was gonna be a chill slice of life (it’s honestly still very slice of life, but some days have been very Not Chill). I thought this was an alien experiment (Ok I still think this is an alien experiment, and we do not have any hard confirmation on that, but I am HOLDING OUT! I WANT TO BELIEVE).

What I did not fully expect was the “slow burn” element to only last two weeks. Some part of me expected this to be a half-year long acquaintances-to-friends-to-mutual-crushes simulator, with both too hesitant to take the next step.

But this boy? He confesses on day 14, and that’s when the game shifted.

I suppose I should have expected this. I did, actually, to a degree: I did not avoid spoilers, I knew a confession was coming. What I did not expect was for the confession to grab me by the cold, dead heart and make me feel an emotion.

I have to give Cheritz credit where credit is due: the confession is a marvel of writing and programming. The degree to which the confession felt so genuine and personalized to the “me” who had played the game up to this point, speaks to how much thought and detail went into tracking player responses through the preceding two weeks. How many programming variables went into those first two weeks alone? How much work did it take? I will likely never know, but some part of me would love to take a look at the source code some day.

The confession and the story following this confession force me to reclassify the game from my previous review: this is not a slow-burn simulator, this is a long distance relationship simulator, and I am enjoying the heck out of every minute of it.

The Forbidden Lab

In the time since that first week of the apps release, an interesting community dynamic has developed in the self contained forums found in the Infinite Universe. Players share information about the game, write and share fanfiction about Teo, make jokes, share their thoughts and feelings, vent about problems, and support each other, all self contained within the apps community. Its astounding to watch.

That said, not all is rosy in the infinite universe. As players run low on the batteries needed to unlock special choices or view paywalled photos, more and more have taken spamming in the various sub forums, begging for help getting more batteries (either by leveling up their planets, earning batteries, or receiving gifts, which can be traded for batteries). It has made navigating the infinite universe rather tedious, as one has to sift through a lot of spam begging to find anything of genuine interest.

The filters used for forum moderation has eased significantly, in the weeks since my last review. No longer do we have to struggle around using everyday words just because they might contain a cuss. We can say “about” again. The word “gratitude” is not blocked, despite containing “tit”. It’s a huge relief.

However, the filter is by no means perfect. For example, I wrote a rather tame short story for the fanfiction community, only to have it repeatedly blocked for “containing inappropriate language”. I poured over the thing dozens of times, and eventually had to resort to test-posting it in chunks to narrow down what section trigger the filter. Eventually, I figured out the two culprits: first, “jerk”, a perfectly PG rated insult that, admittedly, is part of a more lewd phrase when paired with “off”. Second, “snatch”, a word that I had actually forgotten had any sexual connotations whatsoever, and had used to mean “to pick up quickly”. So, that’s frustrating. But it’s still a lot better than it had been.

Glitches

The first month of The Ssum had a lot of bugs, mostly tied in with the timing/scheduling feature. Some players would finish a chat only to be told that their next chat would be available in 24+hours, unable to progress the game at the intended daily pace. Others would complete that days final chat, only for the next mornings wake-up chat to immediately start, and then rushing through the rest in sequence. I ran into the latter bug, myself, which was honestly preferable to me than being forced to wait more than a day.

Cheritz did fix these issues within the first few weeks of the games lifetime, and compensated affected players who submitted bug reports rather handsomely with a substantial supply of batteries. As far as I’m aware, these issues haven’t cropped up again recently, so any new players can join in the game without fear of their games timers glitching out.

Monetization

Cheritz has expanded on the different subscription plans, bundling in the much-covered private account access to both plans instead of just the one, as well as adding in some of the one-time-purchase quality of life features I touched on in my last review to sweeten the deal for players. I’ll admit, with the additional features, I’m slightly more tempted. Slightly. Very slightly. I still have no plans to subscribe in the near future, but may treat myself to one months subscription as I approach the end of the games 200-day initial lifespan.

As a free-to-play user, I’m still getting along just fine without the subscription. Others seems to be struggling, but as I said in my previous review, especially with the support of fellow players in the community, a resourceful player can enjoy the game without needing to spend a penny.

Artwork

I did not go deeply into the artwork last time, but I want to talk about it a little before I wrap up.

From the perspective of someone who’s dabbled in creating visual novels, I absolutely understand the daunting task Cheritz made for themselves, promising 200 days worth of content, including multiple pictures on a daily basis. No single artist could draw that many illustrations with any quality in a reasonable amount of time, and even a small team of artists would struggle to produce that many.

But the artwork depicting Teo is… inconsistent. The art style used looks distinctly different for the majority of the first major arc of the game (roughly the first 30 days of story) versus the second major arc (the next 30 days of story). The difference is best illustrated with examples found by the community: a couple of pictures originally rendered in one art style were later found to have changed to the other art style in an update during:

Side by side, the changes in the updated art are easier to see: The face-to-head ratio is smaller, his neck is longer and more slender (less realistic and more stylized), his body feels more proportionate. The skin on the pre-update art style is much more washed out and airbrushed looking, while the updated art has more shading and detail. To me, the updated art style also looks more expressive. The updated art isn’t perfect, but it manages to distance itself from the uncanny valley by edging a little closer to a more stylized look.

The artwork starting on the 32nd day has much more in common stylistically with the pre-update version of the above example. The art comes across as slightly unpolished but still pretty cute at best, and downright uncanny valley nightmarish at worst, looking more like stickers of eyes and a mouth slapped onto a blank face and airbrushed to oblivion, with nary a nose in sight. I can’t speak for the artwork after day 60, and I have no expectations, good or bad, but I hope that we might see that “post-update” art style return sometime in the next 140 days of the games story.

Final Thoughts

All things considered, though, it is undeniable that I have greatly enjoyed this game. The narrative has had ups and downs, weak days and strong days, but it’s all part of a journey. That’s slice of life for you. Not every day is gonna be jam packed with excitement, that would be exhausting. There’s joys to take from sharing the little things with someone, and that, I think, is the experience this game is trying to give.

“Good” and “bad” are subjective terms that are difficult to define in the context of a review. Ultimately, a proper review should come down to “do I like the thing, or not”, and the answer for me is, unequivocally, “I like the thing.”

No, this game will not appeal to everyone. The usual appeal of an otome game is choice, having an ensemble cast of characters to choose from. That way there’s more likely to be someone for everyone. Trying to make one fictional boy into a one-size-fits-all just isn’t going to work. People have different taste. I have seen many players of this game express boredom or annoyance with Teo. They’re valid. I can’t even say they’re wrong.

But man, I enjoy the heck out of this boy. This game is far from perfect, but I’m having fun, and that, I think, is the part that matters.

tomorrow is my last day with harry, so here are my thoughts

at the beginning of this i prepared myself to not get attached. i was ready to play for 2 weeks tops, just to get the feel of his route and then stop. i tried teo’s route. tried for 70 days. the ssum was just not for me. i didn’t want to get annoyed at the game, didn’t want to feel the same negative emotions.

i was cautious about putting my emotions in the game, but after some time i realised i was in too deep and there is no going back. i guess me and harry are similar in this regard, he also was skeptical in the beginning and he also was afraid to get attached. it’s kinda funny.

unfortunately (or maybe forthright), i realised that the emotionally stunted carrot man wormed his way into my heart and he’s been living there for a couple of months now.

i don’t know if i like this route just because i enjoy harry’s character so so much. or maybe it’s because right from the start the chats are between multiple people, so the conversation can flow more freely and not be a constant monologue of one person (mc just can’t contribute much to a conversation). or maybe it’s all because i love slow burns and building of a relationship, and the fact that for the 99 days (still don’t know for sure what happens tomorrow) mc and harry just getting to know each other and building their trust in each other, maybe that excites me. i don’t know. maybe i will find out if/when cheritz release more days.

but what i DO know is that for 99 days i had a great time and i will miss my carrot man greatly

for some reason these were the things that i saved on my phone. it’s not much, and he definitely comes out as just an asshole if you have no context (in some ways he is). BUT he also is the person who didn’t know how to care, who was afraid to care, who grew and worked on himself. and we as players could see this growth during 100 days. each day he became more open and less afraid to just act on his feelings. and i can’t wait to see him again in our 100 day since we started talking.

V’s After End - Where the Message Fails

So I have now gone through both the Forgive and Judge ends of V’s After Ending, and throughout my playthrough, there was something that I felt just wasn’t working. Now that I’ve completed the entirety of V’s After Ending (or shall I call it Rika’s After Ending, because that’s what it felt like), I want to talk about what makes this ending unsatisfactory.

Before I start, I just want to say that I still really appreciate Cheritz. I can see how hard they have worked on this game. They have tried hard to address certain issues and discuss messages they want to send. The way they handle these issues is very debatable and done poorly in ways, but considering this game is first and foremost made in South Korea where the issue of mental health has quite a ways to go, props to them for trying at least?

Some of the messages they were going for in this After Ending are interesting and can be valid in more minor scenarios. The thing is… I strongly believe they do not work in the context of Rika and what she has done.

Basically, this game makes you either forgive Rika and be sympathetic to her, or makes you feel bad and as if you are being cruel if you do not.

In the Forgive End, the blame for Rika’s actions is essentially not placed on her. The story puts the blame on her mental illness, as well as all the traumatising circumstances throughout her life. Through Yoosung reading up in a psychology textbook, he comes to the conclusion that what Rika did was not entirely wrong and that she didn’t do bad things on purpose, as her mental illness is what caused everything.

Because of this conclusion, Rika is not held accountable for her actions. At the end of this After Ending, Rika has learned to find happiness and goodness within herself, “becoming her own sun”, and is living her life. The only consequence of everything she has done in this game is that public perception of her is bad. The severe crimes she has committed are not dealt with, and she does not even face any legal consequences.

There is also a lot of discussion throughout the After Ending that questions whether justice is really something that is needed. Zen in particular continuously raises the point that it would be better for everyone’s own mental and emotional health, as well as their individual growth, to forgive what Rika has done, and not hold onto any negative emotions in their heart.

Now I see what Cheritz were trying to do with this After Ending. They want to send the message that holding grudges and hate within yourself hurts you. They want to point out that unless you understand the other person, you can’t really judge their actions as being wholly good or bad. Who decides good and bad, and who decides whether something is just?

Now these are some interesting questions, and I actually believe that this can be valid in certain scenarios, provided the scenario is not nearly as major as the one in this game. The entire message Cheritz tries to send in the After Ending falls apart when you look at what Rika has done.

Rika’s actions, that this game wants to forgive and not concern yourself with justice over, includes:

-          Manipulating people around her to be extremely dependant on her,

-          Physically abusing her partner, including purposefully blinding him, to make him prove his devotion to her,

-          Taking many vulnerable people into a cult,

-          Drugging and brainwashing said people,

-          Raising a child to be exploited and carry out her will for her personal gain, breaking down this child and his worldview and his trust in people he loved so that he would turn against everyone else and be obedient to only her, while also forcefully drugging this child in the process,

-          Attempted murder (stabbing V, making Saeran explode Magenta)

Not to mention that throughout the Another Story routes, she repeatedly denies any of these actions as being wrong, stating that it is needed, under her delusion that she needs to release her devil and it’s the only way these people can find Paradise. She was offered help many times, but she refused it and continued to do these awful things, justifying herself as she did so.

This game wants to treat judging Rika for all of that as if it is on the same level as judging someone for cutting you off in traffic.

But how can we possibly not view any of what she has done as bad? How can the game say that the concept of justice isn’t something that needs to be applied here? In what way does understanding her mindset diminish the seriousness of what she has done?

How can all of this be forgiven so easily, with the perpetrator getting away with it all and facing hardly any consequences?

Based on the original 5 routes and Secret Endings, I do not think this game originally set out to try to excuse Rika in this way. If it did, I think they would have made her actions much less extreme to start with. But since Rika has been getting more attention lately, and thus more fans and more demand for her happy ending has emerged, Cheritz is pushing for more sympathy for her now. Rika’s newly released backstory has added a number of new circumstances to further try to absolve Rika of blame for her future actions and elicit greater audience sympathy for her in order to do so. However, while mental illnesses and a traumatic past and life can be an explanation, they are not a justification for everything that Rika has done.

In addition to all of this, forgiveness is portrayed as something that must be done in order for everyone to get the best possible outcome. The Choi Twins’ plot with their father is dealt with and resolved and they get their long awaited happy reunion, and MC and V get married and raise a child together.

The Judge End aims to create a sense of discomfort among all the characters because Rika was not forgiven. Luckily, the end wasn’t so bad that it prevented the Choi twins from reuniting or from V and MC remaining together (although they do not get married in this end). However, characters are still portrayed as being unhappy, and regretful over what has happened with Rika (who ends up in a coma) and feeling as if they did not make the right choice nor did they get closure.  

The Judge End also really tries to hammer in the idea that the player is being too harsh. They include a dream sequence consisting of Rika being beaten down by every character, stating that everything that has happened throughout her life is deserved. The ending makes it seem that since you didn’t want to forgive Rika, then you must want her to be forever suffering, being hated by everyone in the world and only existing in complete hopelessness by being a shell that lives in her own self-isolation and darkness.  You as the player are made out to be cruel for inflicting this end upon Rika for not forgiving her.

This entire After Ending would have worked better if it tried a more balanced approach between these two ends, instead of forcing a message onto the player that should not be applied to a case as extreme as Rika’s. Instead of one end resulting in Rika getting away scot-free and the other with her being dead inside, perhaps they could have allowed for Rika to face the proper consequences of what she did without everyone being made to feel bad about it? Maybe letting the player hope for Rika to be better and find inner peace, but not actually needing to forgive her in order for that to happen?

The message that victims of serious harm will only find peace if they forgive and don’t concern themselves with the idea of justice is a harmful one. The idea that mental illness and life circumstances take the blame away from an individual’s severe actions is false.

I can only hope that Saeran’s eventual After Ending does not follow the same direction as this one.

update : rambling thanks

a lot of good friends have deactivated in the past 2-3 years... (i have been inactive so idk why or where they went...) esp after tumbly went downhill and honestly not many will read this either, i’m expecting 2 people maximum to see this rn 😂 but if any old mutuals or followers do search for me in the future, maybe they’ll see this! It’s just a long rambling of how the time here affected my life 😅 MysMe had been a turning point in my life, the way I see it... The game itself was a way to distract me from my grieving, loneliness and many other struggles that had suddenly come all at once. Many of my mutuals are familiar with the game - we had to play everyday in order to unlock endings. The game took my mind off all the painful things in my life that I didn’t know how to deal with. Thank you @cheritz. It helped me get closer with a friend, and she introduced me to tumbly which she had been very active on back then... i still didnt use it much but after finishing all Mysme’s happy endings, I wanted more of their stories. I stumbled upon the headcanons & fics on tumbly and soon joined @/mysme-fics to write my own... I became good friends with them over time (we still talk frequently today). The readers who enjoyed my writing, left comments/tags and kind messages in the inbox also cheered me up a lot. The community was really warm back then ☺️ Joining the @zenfanzine was also fun. We no longer stay in touch (although I’ve maintained a good friendship with one writer!) but the first few months had been filled with joy, games and silliness. I also adopted a flirty personality, whatwith all the Zen talk 😂 And that fed into my real life as well... i’d jokingly flirt with that irl tumbly friend, and then with other friends... I think I started to brighten up more in my irl social life as well (context: i’d transferred schools and i’d been too sad & grieving a lot and didnt have the heart to socialize, but naturally i’m actually probably quite extroverted 😅) And then the following school year... i don’t even know what happened but somehow I made more (close) friends?? And there was a really nice guy who I thought I could like but even when he asked me out twice I felt like I didn’t want to date him and so I didn’t respond to how he felt... for months... (but my dumbass still thought i liked him lmao uh) Instead i got to know his friend, and when we started to really talk and know each other, i realized i really enjoyed talking to him and being with him. And for the first time, I wanted to date someone (specifically him). That was over a year ago, and I’ve probably never been happier. (The kid me was probs quite happy too, I’m guessing.) He supports me in so many ways that you’d get tired of me listing everything... and he’s also brightened up my household— learned games to play with my family & spends a lot of time with us & helping with chores... and his parents are also cool with our relationship (which i struggled with in my first & previous relationship)... and the communication is great (a reason i was attracted in the first place) and he always demonstrates that he means what he says. And we’ve basically never fought... we always talk things out and theres never been yelling or guilt tripping or ignoring or other things that happened a lot with my ex.... And i just felt happier. So i could be nicer to those around me and expand my social circles even more, regain my confidence, regain some strength... Even if he and i end one day, i’ll always be grateful for the light he brought into my & my family’s lives. Though i hope there’s no end to us. But point is i think it was all a chain reaction. Ofc there were other influencing factors but mysme & tumbly were large ones. And a lot of the people who were there, helping me on this path, didnt even know the difference they made in my life. Nothing is perfect and there’s still a lot to struggle with... but i do know i’m in a better (mental) place than a few years ago... and it’s thanks to those i encountered here 😊 2019/10/22 R.I.

All of this information is also available on our FAQ page, but we’re posting it here as well to make it more accessible to mobile users. ^^

What’s this zine about?

This zine will focus on the overwhelming parallels between the twins throughout their lives, even while they’re apart for years. Contributors will be assigned a time period in the twins’ lives and will be creating a piece that reflects the relationship between the twins at that point in time. For periods of time where the twins were separated, artists may be assigned one twin and partnered with another artist who is assigned to the other, so that the two of them can create a two-page spread of coordinating pieces that reflect the parallels between the twins’ lives while they’re apart.

What do you mean by ‘assigned a time period’?

The periods of time we plan to cover in the zine are as follows:

Childhood - while they both live with their mother

Adolescence - after Saeyoung leaves to join the agency, while Saeran is alone with their mother

Mint Eye Era - Agent 707 & Unknown, either pre-game or during Seven’s route

Post-Mint Eye - the period during the secret endings, after the twins are reunited, but before their reconciliation

Post-Game - after the game ending, with both twins living happily ever after

Depending on the final results of the interest check, we may also include:

Post-V Route (hopefully both judgement and forgiveness endings, as the twins have slightly different fates in each)

Post-Ray Route Hypotheticals

Contributor applications will ask applicants for their number one choice of which time period they’d like to create for, as well as three alternate periods they’d be willing to create for, and the mods will do our best to assign contributors accordingly and fairly!

Is this a choic*st zine?

Absolutely not! The zine will be centered around the deep platonic and familial bond the brothers share. Any contributor ideas which hint at choic*st will be rejected by the mods.

Can we include [ship]?

With the exception of possibly including Saeyoung x MC in the Mint Eye Era, Post-Mint Eye, and Post-Game pieces, or Saeran x MC in the Post-Ray Route pieces, we do not intend to feature any ships in the zine.

Can we include characters other than the twins?

Depending on the context, other characters may be included in zine works so long as they are not the prominent feature of the piece. For example, a piece set during the Mint Eye Era might show Seven being given orders by Vanderwood, while Unknown is being given orders by the Savior. Keep in mind, all contributor ideas will need to be approved by the mod team to ensure they match the theme of the zine!

Where will the proceeds be going?

This is going to be a non-profit zine. Proceeds will go first toward the production & shipping of the final product, and then the remainder will be donated to charity.

What charity?

That is still to be determined! We will make an announcement as soon as a final decision has been made, and approved by Cheritz.

How will contributors be compensated?

Everyone who works on the zine will be offered a free physical copy of the zine, as well as a free digital version of the zine, if they’d like. Merch artists will also be given a free copy of any merch they design.

How many applicants will you be accepting?

The current estimate is between 25-30 artists, 5-8 writers, and 3-5 merch artists. Final numbers will likely depend upon the total number and quality of applications received, as well as which time periods applicants most want to create for.

Will there be guest contributors?

Hopefully! We will reach out to potential guest contributors closer to the application dates.

Who are the mods?

Magefeathers is the current project organizer. They are currently helping to organize the Bad End Zine and Choi Sandwich Zine, as well as doing massive amounts of research into zine production in their free time! They will be in charge of our social media pages and finances, and will be responsible for packing and shipping the physical zines and merch bundles.

Sevenzerosevenextreme is our co-organizer and writing mod! She is currently the main project organizer of the Bad End Zine and has also done tons of research into zine production. She will be responsible for beta reading and editing the writers’ contributions and helping to format them for publication.

We also plan to open moderator applications for a merch manager and two graphic designers. Please stay tuned for more info on what these positions will entail as the application period grows closer.

What’s the schedule for this zine?

The current plan is to open both moderator and contributor applications in the Fall, after the mods’ currently ongoing projects have wrapped. We plan to have mod applications run for 3 weeks and contributor applications run for 6 weeks, so that mods can be chosen and announced before contributor applications close, and mods will still have a chance to weigh in on contributor selection.

Our interest check will close on June 1st, and we hope to have a solid schedule worked out by that time! In the meantime, we thank you for your patience and understanding!

Thank you for your time, and for supporting the zine! Any other questions not covered here may be directed to our ask box. Please make sure to reblog our interest check HERE and/or retweet it HERE. We can’t wait to see this zine become a reality!

I have to tanks @crueeel for this piece of art.

That discussion 'bout whether it's Suit or Unknown during V's route is very interesting. I'm pretty sure Cheritz wanted it to be Unknown at first, since this was before any talk about Ray's route, but it certainly does not make sense in the context of the story now lol

It basically comes back to the whole problem with: 'are Another Story and Casual/Deep stories connected?', which, honestly, is just another issue with continuity in mysmes universe... Either way, you have to fill in the blanks yourself, since the canon does not do that for us. Before the existence of Ray's route, it was definitely Unknown. You can look up old fanarts and fics before the release of Ray's route, and people absolutely perceived him as Unknown. He had the same manner of speech as him, he uses the same chatroom username and his voice acting is different from the way Suit talks. But with the release of Ray's route, it created this inconsistency we have now. It does not make sense for it to be Unknown, cause now Suit came into the picture, but it is also quite confusing since (at least in my eyes) he acts way different from Suit. So you have to fill in the blanks yourself. I believe that's partially why some people came to believe that Suit and Unknown are the same person... It's confusing when details like that are changing so drastically. This is not the first time that happened as well: if you try to write up a list of continuity inconsistencies in the overall story, it's going to be long one.

In my opinion, you can go both ways with this. Whatever fits your story better. It is an inconsistency in the writing and you can shape it whatever way you want! Whenever I write something about V's route, I use Unknown, but I certainly have to change up a few things in canon for it to work. Considering what we have now, it makes much more sense for it to be Suit, that's for sure. And I REALLY love how you explained his motivations during those events! But it definitely wasn't like that from the beginning... Being an oldy in the fandom is fun, cause you can remember those things changing quite clearly xD

I think the twins and Rika/V suffered from those inconsistencies the most for sure

Honestly, I don't know, either. That's why I said that it's really up to the player to decide if they feel like it's Unknown or Suit Saeran. I've just got in my head that it won't make sense to me otherwise if I'm not able to piece together everything in a way that makes sense to me personally. I'm a stickler for universe details, and we know that Cheritz can forget things and erase things very easily without any regard to past information. I've been here so long that I've seen so much change in regards to every character, especially Saeran as he grew from a mysterious person into something much much more layered and complex.

I always imagined the bits with “Unknown” in V were meant to be a big part of foreshadowing, and that's because I started thinking about that so much harder after Ray Route came out and I started to note similarities. Well, I felt like they were similarities. With Cheritz record on facts, you're right, it could very well be the implication of Unknown. I like to make things make sense in my head and Cheritz really makes us work for the information that we want to flesh out in the stories we create.

With no context for Suit, you’ll never know it’s him. See, I explain away the difference by saying that because Suit Saeran emerges differently due to the events in V Route, it changes how he reacts to things somewhat. That makes more sense to me! But, that’s because I write connect AS and CS/DP routes and if I don’t do that, I’ll lose my mind over here. Even though, it’s more likely that we should view them as alternate universes to each other and they’re not meant to be something that interlock. 

inconsistencies are everywhere. We, the fans, have to cry to make our own theories and assumptions with the information we have on hand, and then we have to change that and adapt after they say “hehe, actually, this is what really happened.”

Hi Elly, sorry to bother you with old news but I wanted to talk with somebody who understands. It’s about Jihyuns AE so I understand if you just want to erase this and move on with your day. It’s just that I got into it with somebody because they were complaining about ‘entitled’ fans from Cheritz. (Part 1)

But when will people realize this wasn’t a bout a kiss cg. This whole mess with the disappointing AE was because they made us pay a ridiculous amount for something that wasn’t what we wanted. This was about showing a character down our throats (Rika) during another characters story. And trying to ‘redeem’ a villain in all the wrong ways which is basically just excusing her. (Part 2 ^^;)

Like give Jihyun the story where he makes peace with his past while separating him from Rika, make her irrelevant because your past doesn’t define you. And let Rika be a villain, let her be the birch you made her. If you’re gonna redeem her do it like you did V and Saeran. Give her a proper route but don’t try to excuse her with crappy writing in somebody else’s AE.

(Last part I’m sorry)That’s like making Lucio of the arcana a hero in the middle Asra or Julian’s route. Like “my bad I did shitty things to you but my mom didn’t love me so forgive me?” It doesn’t work that way. Anyways, I don’t mean to trouble you and do sincerely wish you only the best. Thanks for being here.

~~~~~

After I made my initial posts about why I was unhappy and had emailed Chorizo etc, I found screenshots of the email I got from Chorizo on instagram, basically held up as an example of entitlement etc etc, which was both infuriating and hilarious. The people screenshotting it had clearly been on my blog. They had clearly been in the tags. Five minutes of research would have made it pretty clear that 1) my initial email was incredibly polite and 2) Chorizo were handing out the same copy paste message to everyone who emailed them. But of course, it’s easier to get a reaction when framing a post entirely out of its proper context. 

And that, right there, is exactly why debating with people like this is an utter waste of time lmao. They’re coming from a place of emotion and wanting to protect their love for Mystic Messenger over even the most reasonable complaints. I’ve yet to see a single person hopping out of their way to defend it without cherry picking arguments (like screenshotting out of context posts), generalizing everyone who hated it as hateful, or complaining that people who hated it were greedy and entitled for doing so. If we were complaining that V didn’t get a kiss or any screen time in…like..idk…Zen’s after end, it would be a reasonable conclusion, as we would be asking for preferential treatment over what everyone else had. Almost all of the hatred for V’s after ending comes from wanting to be treated the same.

If you can’t make the point without having to strip your receipts of all of their meaning, invent false narratives or over exaggerate what’s actually going on, maybe…just maybe… you need to rethink the argument you’re making. 

And as for the Ratka stuff, djfgd, what I’d give to be Chorizo’s chiropractor. All this backpedaling and bending over backwards must have done them an injury.

An analysis of the V AE

I feel like I should make a post of my own about this topic, seeing as there’re a lot of disagreeing opinions on the matter, though the majority seems to be slanted in the negative direction.

I did not hate the V After Ending or Rika’s backstory; in fact, I really enjoyed them and felt they settled a lot of questions I had pent up. So I’m going to give a fair warning before I begin this post: if you love V and hate Rika, we have disagreeing opinions, so read at your own discretion.

First of all, V’s presence, or lack thereof. Let me explain why I was okay with this, or even a little relieved at that. I personally don’t like V at all. His character is very well built and developed, sure, and he plays a significant role in the RFA’s story, but that doesn’t mean I like him as a person. To me, he’s far too obsessive, creepy, and hypocritical for my taste.

To elaborate, his relationship with Rika never sat well with me ever since I went through the entirety of the Secret Ending. He had this tendency to put himself on a pedestal, an infallible beacon of light Rika was supposed to put all of her faith in. He may have acted in a way that could be considered selfless, but it went a step too far into the narcissistic direction, where he believed he could fix everything on his own. Rika didn’t need someone to just accept her the way she was, she needed someone to help her help herself. Because the way she was wasn’t okay. V essentially let her believe that there was nothing wrong with her darkness as long as he was there with her.

It’s not okay on any level that V pushed his love so hard onto Rika, telling her that he’d still love her even if she blinded him or destroyed him. It’s a huge red flag that she’d ask a question like that in the first place, but he ended up encouraging her rather than shutting her down. And in the end, he admits that his love wasn’t even love at all, but an obsession. That’s all well and good for him to realize it, but he just rubbed major salt in Rika’s wounds, and there are a plethora of better ways he could’ve gone about fixing his mistake.

Even the way that they got together bothers me. According to Rika’s backstory, when Rika stops showing up to modeling sessions with V, he straight up shows up at her house. The way his words are phrased indicates clearly to me that she hadn’t shared her address or personal information with him at all, but rather, he found her house by following her home god knows how many times and pseudo-stalking her daily activities wherever he could.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not in any way trying to put V down to raise Rika up. I will never excuse the horrible things she’s done nor blame V for them. This is simply my analysis on V’s character, and why I personally dislike him.

The V route destroyed my soul as I struggled to get the good ending. I hated being a jerk to Ray who was so clearly in so much pain, and I hated not being able to scream at V for all the bullshit he’d been pulling. When we found out he just straight up left for two years, I was done. I was fully prepared to completely ignore the After Ending if it meant I didn’t have to just shrug off his grievances and be all lovey dovey with the guy. But seeing as I essentially worship any and all Mystic Messenger content, I decided to give it a go. And boy I was not disappointed. V almost didn’t exist until the last episode, and I was elated I could focus on the other characters.

The other characters were so much more interesting anyways. We got to see new sides of them that we always knew existed, but never actually experienced. We saw Yoosung’s heart-wrenching confrontation with Rika, Saeyoung’s agony over losing his brother, Jumin’s oddly calm distress in the absence of his closest friends, Jaehee’s coldness towards Rika, hell, even Vanderwood’s hidden affection for Saeyoung and the value he places in the life of another human being. Everything felt so unreal, and yet it was all perfectly in character for each and every one of them.

And now, on to Rika. Rika was oddly tame for this, and it makes sense to me in the context of the AE. She’d been detained, and told time and time again just how wrong she was. There was no more room for her to believe her methods were correct, so she just...deflated. I see people all over arguing about her attitude and complaining that Cheritz is trying too hard to redeem an irredeemable character, and I can’t bring myself to agree with that. Just like I can’t bring myself to love Rika, I can’t bring myself to hate her either.

Rika is an immensely complicated character. There are parts of her that I find interesting and cool, and there are others that disgust me. Her backstory brought a lot of herself into perspective, and now her character makes more sense. The fact that she preaches on and on about having a devil inside her is perfectly plausible with how her mother and the pastor used to talk to her, and how she stood up for herself by accepting their religious talk and turning it into a weapon. If they truly believed she had a devil within her, she could manipulate them into believing she herself had power over them. And unfortunately, this carried on into her adult life where she could justify her own actions as the devil inside her acting of its own accord.

The other major factor that plays into her heinous actions at the Mint Eye is the fact that she was physically uncomfortable around people who didn’t need her help, because she believed bright people would see the darkness inside her and be repulsed by it. Her interactions with Yoosung are proof enough. She was drawn to the Choi twins because they needed help, and she was more than happy to help if it meant they’d see her as a savior rather than a devil. But as time passed, she grew to believe that Saeran would leave her the second he didn’t need her help anymore, and she knew that Saeyoung would be the one to help him do it. I believe that’s why she manipulated Saeran to believe that Saeyoung had abandoned him. Then she beat him down mentally until he became completely reliant on her, and she felt safe knowing that he couldn’t possibly leave her that way.

Understanding Rika’s actions doesn’t absolve her of blame, but it does bring me to the realization that there was a method to the madness, that this wildly absurd ideal of hers was something that was instilled into her brain from the day she was adopted, and reinforced by the people around her. So, as a person, I would never be able to stand in her presence, but as a character, I enjoy how thoroughly she has been developed and explained. It’s not bad story writing to me, nor is it some kind of excuse to justify her actions. It’s an explanation for us all to understand why she is the way she is, and how by forgiving her, we not only rectify the hatred within ourselves, but we can also change her perspective and grant her the opportunity to make things right. Which, she does. She turns herself in, though not before unleashing the prime minister’s secret and publishing a video that addresses her crimes. It’s a good ending, whether you hate her or not.

The Judge Ending begins a little harshly, and I was initially shocked at the portrayal of the characters in the MC’s dream. However, it continues peacefully, with an arguably good ending of everyone moving on and learning to cope. I have seen people say Cheritz guilt-tripped us into forgiving Rika, but after playing both endings, I can tell you that is not the case. By choosing the Judge answers, the other members do not admonish you by any means. They continue to act in character, with Yoosung whole-heartedly agreeing with you, Zen respecting your responses even though he disagrees, etc etc. And the Judge Ending is most certainly not a Bad Ending. It’s probably more of a Normal Ending, which I would argue counts as a Good Ending, just a little different. Cheritz knows there are some people who would forgive Rika in a heartbeat, and others who would rather die. The V after ending respects both sides, and I didn’t have much to complain about.

The only one thing I have to complain about, is the way the MC treats Saeran. In the V route, once you’d chosen his route, you’re basically locked into choosing answers that are harsh or uncalled for towards Saeran. And in the after ending, you can choose answers that show concern over his well-being, but you never get the chance to interact with him again. I wish at least that after Saeran’s tearful reunion with Saeyoung, he could’ve had one with the MC too. I was worried sick over whether or not he’d survived, and I would’ve given anything to just chuck V out the window and choose Saeran in the end. The poor boy needs all the love he can get.

Anyway, before this gets way too long and annoying, I’ll end it here. This post was mostly supposed to focus on V and Rika, so I hope my perspective can be understood. Thanks for reading this far, and let me know if you agree or disagree with my opinions! I enjoy having respectful debates.

tl;dr: V is a creepy narcissistic stalker and that’s why I hate him. Rika is a terrible person but a good character, so I don’t hate her and I don’t love her. V AE cockblocked MC and Saeran interactions and it sUcked.

Can I get ur opinion on what was said at the Otakucon Mysme panel in which it was said that Rika purposely made it so that Yoosung was dependent of her?

I wasn’t really inclined to talk about this because it really upset me, but I guess I should. So like, I wasn’t there so I don’t know exactly what was said or the context, I only know what I’ve read from Tumblr, and what people have been saying is that the creators said that Rika’s influence on Yoosung was toxic and she purposefully made him dependent on her to make him weaker which. I hate it.

This was always a controversial opinion, but I was always really fond of Yoosung and Rika’s relationship. For me, it was something bittersweet and something that that humanized Rika and made her more complex, because I saw her influence on him as being mostly positive. You could argue that he was always too dependent on her, but I honestly never saw it that way cause like. He was young and Rika was his idol, and she also motivated him to do well in school and got him interested in volunteer work and inspired him and like, those are all good things?? And I didn’t see the fact that he was so lost after she died as a sign of him being unhealthily dependent on her. That’s a super normal reaction to grief especially considering how important Rika was to him 

I know that Rika is…. Rika, and I’m not saying she wasn’t toxic to other people in other ways but I really just didn’t see her relationship with Yoosung that way, and I honestly still can’t make sense of this new reveal with how their relationship looks to me in the game, but it doesn’t matter how I see it. Cheritz said her influence on him was toxic all along, so I guess that’s what we’re all accepting as canon now. Everyone hates Rika so much anyway so it’s not like anyone is going to question it and it’s not even something I’d want to argue with people because well, how would that make me look? To me it feels like something I really liked about both Yoosung and Rika has been tainted, thinking about their relationship now just makes me uncomfortable and upset and I don’t know what to do with it now. And I feel upset with myself too, because I was apparently supposed to see their relationship as toxic and I didn’t, and I still have a hard time understanding it that way, and I’m frustrated because I feel like that doesn’t say good things about me

Plus like. This completely ruins the ending of Yoosung’s route. Before, I saw the ending of his route as being about him accepting that Rika did good things and did have a positive influence on him, hence why he still said such nice things about her in his speech, but also accepting that Rika was not infallible and there are people that were severely hurt by her actions, hence why he’s stopped holding a grudge against V. Of course there’s still the issue that Yoosung doesn’t know the worst of what Rika has done, but that’s an issue in just about every route. They can’t go too deeply into the story every time or there would be no mystery for the rest of the game, so we have to just take each route for what it is and try to ignore what it means in the broader context of the main story. For what Yoosung’s route was, I thought that was a really satisfying conclusion to his character development. It seemed he had found a way to treasure his memories with Rika while also accepting that she was flawed and that he didn’t know everything about her. And that’s good! That’s a good ending! But now with this Reveal, all of that is ruined! Because it turns out Rika’s influence was never positive at all, and Yoosung never realizes that! The person he was most inspired by had a toxic influence on him and he never knows it. The person he became a vet for had a toxic influence on him and he never knows it! That’s?? so depressing and awful how am I ever supposed to see his ending the same way again?? And it’s my favorite ending too so I’m just. I’m so upset!!

I feel like most of my complaints at this point sound really petty, like I’m just angry that the game isn’t doing exactly what I want it to do or following my exact interpretations. But man, it really does feel like my faves are always the ones getting screwed over. I don’t even have it in me to be angry anymore, I’m just sad and tired

ll If you ship Jihyun/V and Saeran in a ROMANTIC way after V’s After Ending, unfollow me right now.

Yes, a certain scene can come off as very shippy when taken out CONTEXT. But keeping the actual canon and story up till now into consideration, it becomes very clear that Cheritz uses the word ‘love’ in a platonic or familiar way. 

Jihyun is a father figure for Saeran and the latter sees him as such. Don’t try and twist this reality just for the sake of “yay sweet BL/Yaoi”