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  (...update at the end of the previous page.)
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Apr 13, 2022 08:50
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God, I love this game. 
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Apr 13, 2022 08:54
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Um, aether? Your trust meter is overflowing.
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Apr 13, 2022 09:32
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Why is Tiana getting nosebleeds? I thought she was just faking it before. Oh, perhaps it's a hard-coded thing where that's forced on all participants. If Sean is Aether's father, does that also imply that Aether isn't a person? He doesn't seem old enough, and she certainly gave no sign of recognizing him.
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Apr 13, 2022 10:57
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The first time I played this game, I really wanted to like Sean because Ink liked Sean. I figured there was something about him I wasn't seeing that was going to pop up at some point and blow me away and make me realize that maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all. Nope! He's exactly as horrible as advertised! 
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Apr 13, 2022 12:18
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Welp, looks like Sean is not only still alive, but was in on it. What a prick. Stabbey_the_Clown posted:Why is Tiana getting nosebleeds? I thought she was just faking it before. Oh, perhaps it's a hard-coded thing where that's forced on all participants. If Sean is Aether's father, does that also imply that Aether isn't a person? He doesn't seem old enough, and she certainly gave no sign of recognizing him. I imagine it's a hard-coded thing; especially since their art has Actual Blood.
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Apr 13, 2022 13:36
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Stabbey_the_Clown posted:Why is Tiana getting nosebleeds? I thought she was just faking it before. Oh, perhaps it's a hard-coded thing where that's forced on all participants. If Sean is Aether's father, does that also imply that Aether isn't a person? He doesn't seem old enough, and she certainly gave no sign of recognizing him. I'm hoping it's just a misunderstanding due to bad timing, like, "Yep Aether's dad should be here any minute, that must be him now- oh wait, it's just Sean." "...crap, now you're gonna want to know about Sean."
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Apr 13, 2022 13:37
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Refresh my memory, where did 379 come up?
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Apr 13, 2022 14:35
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It was painted on some hallway art, it's also the date readout on their little pdas
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Apr 13, 2022 14:58
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Holy poo poo! If her father is approaching and Sean shows up, is Aether an AI too?
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Apr 13, 2022 16:28
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girl dick energy posted:God, I love this game. As Anakin once said, "This is where the fun begins."
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Apr 13, 2022 16:29
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Holy poo poo! I appreciate the caution, but there's no need to put speculation in spoiler tags! I'd like to make sure first-time readers are free to discuss and theorise, which gets trickier if things are in spoilertext and they don't know what's safe to read.
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Apr 13, 2022 16:38
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If we go by the theory that this is a VR simulation of some sort, then he could just look like Sean. It'd probably make Sean a red herring in all of this, he's the partner that's the least close to their contestant so he could be impersonated more easily.
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Apr 14, 2022 00:11
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Sean is actually 40 and suffers from a terminal case of babyface
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Apr 14, 2022 06:15
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I just binged this thread over the last two days because the thread title caught my attention. I'm glad I did because this has been an awesome ride, but man, what a place to leave off on.
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Apr 15, 2022 05:26
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im yelling sean like i got bugged out hunting the origami killer
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Apr 15, 2022 05:40
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...So, uh, either Aether is an AI as well, or the answer truly was time travel  Will we get to know the actual password at some point? Possibly after this final (?) confrontation?
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Apr 15, 2022 06:25
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devildragon777 posted:Will we get to know the actual password at some point? Possibly after this final (?) confrontation? The password won't be mentioned in the game itself, although I did hide a hint at it in this Let's Play! (If it helps, I'm not very good at hiding things, and I wanted the hint in place by the time the 'enter password' screen came up.) Rith fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Apr 15, 2022 |
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Apr 15, 2022 07:20
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Doc Hawkins posted:im yelling sean like i got bugged out hunting the origami killer wanted you to know i lol'd IRL I don't think I ever (bothered to) find the password in my playthrough, so now I'm curious. Am I curious enough to comb the thread, though...
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Apr 15, 2022 12:05
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I am! Haven't found anything in Rith's commentary in the last few posts, and nothing in file names, either, as I'm working back. edit: WAIT I FOUND IT, I forgot length was not definite. That was very cleverly hidden! edit edit now that some time has passed: it's GAME OVER, isn't it Leraika fucked around with this message at 07:47 on Apr 16, 2022 |
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Apr 15, 2022 13:36
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Congratulations to Leraika on finding the password!quote:Tiana: What?! Just double-checking the next update, so stand by for that; I should have it up in a few minutes.
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Apr 16, 2022 08:01
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28.1: Finale  The clock is ticking. (Music: All Is Dust)  I don’t understand... ...Sean? Ink stood at the foot of the room, unable to move – unable to think. Sean strolled toward him, not a care in the world.  You gonna let me through, or what?Sean fades off the screen. Taking the smallest of steps to the left, Ink could only stare in disbelief as his friend strode past him.    What’s this about my father? Oh, that.  Me. Yeah.  What’s going on, Sean? Easy, buddy. I just got here. We’ve got all—The screen shakes. Don’t you “buddy” me; what the gently caress is going on, Sean?!  I think I’m going to be sick.The screen flashes red. Ink could feel the blood draining from his face. Little surprise; it felt like half of it was coming out of his mouth.  O-Over? Exit/Corners. The game’s over. Done. Finito. But I’m still alive. And I haven’t escaped— I...Ink staggered backward, bumping into the door behind him. It was closed again. Chk. The screen shakes. Locked, to boot. There was nowhere for him to go.  I can see that. I just...Ink threw his head into his hands. I have so many questions. Hey man, I’ll answer ’em. It’s the least I can do after jerking you around for so long.Sean motioned to the beds.  Here, have a seat.Ink and the others complied. They whispered amongst themselves as they all sat down.  Just stay on your toes for now. I’ll try and think of something while we’re asking them questions. We don’t even know what they want with us. Still, keep your guard up. I’ve got a terrible feeling about this... From the top.  This housekeeping may take a while. We’re done here, so feel free to log off anytime. What are you talking about? Sorry. That wasn’t aimed at you.What the hell is going on?  You’ll understand soon enough. Just sit tight.Taking a deep breath, Ink managed to calm down just enough to stop shaking. Go on, then.   My father would never hurt me. Of course not. That’s why we made sure no harm was to ever come to you. Sean’s fine, see? There was no acid trap back in your Corner. So yeah, it turns out the person behind this has access to tons of cash. Shocker, huh? Nolan isn’t here, though. Just the two of you. Strictly speaking, we’re not supposed to be here, either. Then why—  There was an overarching plan for how things were supposed to go down, but even before the first Corner, you began to screw it all up. We were sent here to set you back on the right path. Sure thing.Ink and Aether practically leapt to their feet at Sean’s nonchalant confession.    I was told you were an engineer, though. And I am, in a sense. But, really, when have you ever seen me do anything even remotely engineer-y? Even you, Ink. W-Well, um...Nothing. Ink had always just taken Sean’s word for it.   The plan was for you Contestants to go through this game in a certain order. After clearing the first few rooms, you were to enter the Red Corner, followed by the Green Corner. Then the Black Corner and finally the Blue Corner. Of course, that’s not what happened. Then, you got on his good side and he gave you that damned choice. Still, that shouldn’t have been a big deal... in theory.  That one was definitely not supposed to happen. At that point, Nolan told us that we had to join you ourselves. It was pretty much the ultimate contingency to make sure that the rest of the game ran as smoothly as possible.    Do you get off on watching people kill themselves?Sean smiled, chuckling to himself.  Answer me, you lunatic! People have died, Sean. Nah. Beth is, um... alive. She’s probably sipping tea as we speak. Rae’s arm isn’t actually gone, either. The music stops.  I’m fine where I am, thanks. I’m not kidding. Your body isn’t going to like this.  The... bug? Ink waited with bated breath for their bleeding to subside. They clearly had something important to share. Finally, Sean spoke.  (Music: Far and Away, 0.5 speed) The screen shakes, with a brief burst of static. Though he didn’t understand, Ink immediately grew nauseous.  The hotel, the bombs, the danger. None of it is real. Not the “real” you’re used to, anyway. Then... then what—The screen flashes red. Static. What’s going on?Ink could hear the sound of Liza retching behind him. Wiping his bloodied nose on his sleeve, Sean lifted himself back upright.  This place’s unavoidable side effect. The reason we had to kidnap you folks in the first place. So what, this is some kind of... hallucination? Shared dream?  Our internal name for it is “CORNERS”. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge. Your father put in the most work out of anyone.  Nolan’s been working on this project for a very long time; almost as long as you’ve been alive. A number of years ago, he discovered a way to – relatively unobtrusively – send and receive highly accurate neural oscillations. He spent years iterating upon the tech, privately hiring engineers and consultants in small stints, but Nolan was the only person who knew exactly what it was capable of. Hmph. Did Rae tell you that? No, I figured it out on my own while reading TBL’s archives. Too many things didn’t add up; some of the money straight-up disappeared. I’d hoped it was for a good reason. Your father’s technology bypasses the optic nerve and pumps information directly into the occipital lobe. Well, that’s an abridged version of how it works. Our... minds? How’s that even possible? It’s—  Sean leaned forward, resting his elbows against one of the beds. He was scanning the Contestants with a wry smile, probing for a reaction.  Okay. Now what? Now, what colour is the table you’re picturing in your mind? I don’t know... brown? You said it was made of wood. There you go. Now, how heavy is it? Maybe somewhere around 50 pounds? A little heavy, but I could probably lift it. Sorry – what’s the point of this, exactly? Thankfully, we don’t have to explicitly define everything ourselves. Your mind is already a repository for how things should look, sound, and feel. Your brain is even capable of making educated guesses for things you’ve never seen, heard, or done before – all based on past experiences. It’s the reason you could feel the heat of a boiler room. Or sever a man’s arm. Or gently caress a book, if you wanted to. To put it simply, we’re just presenting you with the bare minimum information and your brains are filling in the rest.Having it explained that way, Ink finally understood what was going on. It all made sense. Too much sense. Negative space. The puzzles have something to do with this, don’t they? You’re right, of course. Since puzzles nearly all involve lateral thinking, they’re perfect for priming your brain for the simulation. Take it from us: you do not want to de-sync from this thing.The screen shakes. Static. The mere mention of the word “de-sync” suddenly brought on another wave of nausea. He fought against his body, trying to suppress the malaise that surged through his veins, but it was useless. So that’s... the bug...The screen shakes and flashes red. More static. It’s a bug, all right. The pain is usually enough to whip your mind back into alertness, but now that you— ...now that you know the truth, it’ll only get more and more frequent. CORNERS won’t work like it’s supposed to.Liza stepped forward, the corners of her mouth still red with blood.   But why did you need us to go through this simulation in the first place? Why was Exit/Corners even necessary? And... why us, specifically?  Then what? It’s a demonstration. CORNERS is showing incredible promise, but it’s still incomplete. Flawed. And the money is running out. Mr. Thatcher needed capital from an outside investor to take this technology to the next level. Who? Do I know this person? I’m not at liberty to say. Just know that they’ve got more money than you can imagine and that they were ready to drop an ungodly sum on CORNERS. Then why aren’t they here instead of us? The investor was, understandably, disappointed. But they didn’t back out of the deal. They’d invest if only we could prove one thing to them. The investor in question is... peculiar, to say the least. At that moment, a wave of realization washed over Ink. He’d spent all day searching for the truth, but now that he’d found it, it threatened to smother him.  By making us choose this world over the real one. By having us choose to die here rather than return. Bingo. It was an eccentric request from an eccentric individual, but the reward was too great to pass up.  The better you know someone, the easier they are to manipulate. And, ultimately, we thought it was likely that you’d forgive us in the end. I mean, you will forgive your father, won’t you?  And who’s been making these predictions, exactly? Was it you, Sean? The music stops. Ink clutched his chest, trying his damnedest to steady himself. Be honest with me, Sean. Why have you been hanging out with me for this past year? Did you throw your friend in here at the last minute, thinking he’d forgive you? Or were you just grooming me for this from the start?  The screen shakes. You manipulated me! But I didn’t lose – none of us did! Nobody chose to die in the end! Beth was murdered, but that shouldn’t count, right? And the rest of us all came through. Nobody gave up.(Music: All Is Dust, 0.5 speed)  Exit/Corners’ success or failure doesn’t hinge on a single person. Rather, the success or failure of the Exit/Corners project is based on the average outcome of all Corners.  We engulfed a man’s present with such incredible pain that he was pleading to have you end his life. We took a young woman with a bright future and gave her even greater sense of purpose. Ink instinctively turned to the screen closest to him: one of the monitors on the machines to his right. It began to flicker and pulsate as if it knew it was being watched.  Sent’s voice echoed from the ceiling. It had lost the lively inflection that Ink had come to expect: it seemed far more robotic.  It had been a while since Ink had seen Sent actually appear “in person”. Ink refused to approach the screen; he didn’t want to step away from the only door leading out.  Hello again. Is this the part where you goad me into killing myself? Because that’s not going to work. Yes you would. If those two ordered you to, you’d kill me in a heartbeat.  They may be my masters, but they don’t have complete control over me. Then why have you done so many awful things?  As my creators, they are capable of subjecting me to anything they wish. Torment. Torture. Even death, if such a term can be applied to me. Torture? How’s that even possible?  That’s what it means to be sentient. So all of this was just to avoid punishment... I have nothing to do with this... person. Of course you do. You all do. Remember how CORNERS works? We only provide the outline; your collective minds fill in the rest.  Pretty incredible tech, huh? So he’s it, then. Your magnum opus. The crown jewel of Exit/Corners.Sean laughed, a smug grin plastered on his face.  Just when Ink thought he’d had it all figured out, a knot lodged itself in his gut. Then... then who—A sharp glare from Sean was all it took to cut Ink off. Not that it truly mattered. Deep down, Ink already knew what Sean was about to say. 
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Apr 16, 2022 08:10
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Junpei posted:As Anakin once said, "This is where the fun begins." 
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Apr 16, 2022 08:39
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 Looks like I was on the right track, sort of, as to why the blood stuff was happening but, uh, this was not what I expected at all.
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Apr 16, 2022 08:44
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...Wow, Sean's an rear end. Also...if the Contestants filled in the dots for Sent's...personality?...then who exactly added the whole "Sent is in love with Ink" bit? Poor Ink, he's just been jerked around the entire way =( Leraika posted:I am! ...Um, can I ask what the hint was? I wasn't able to find it myself >-<
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Apr 16, 2022 09:01
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Rith posted:
'Neat', huh, Tiana? devildragon777 posted:...Um, can I ask what the hint was? I wasn't able to find it myself >-< Answer: Go Away / Metadata Error / Operator Value / Escape Room
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Apr 16, 2022 09:02
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devildragon777 posted:...Wow, Sean's an rear end. Also...if the Contestants filled in the dots for Sent's...personality?...then who exactly added the whole "Sent is in love with Ink" bit? There was a point at which some segments were given not strictly canon names. edit: bold is not spoiler
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Apr 16, 2022 09:10
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Holy poo poo, Kinu. You were right.
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Apr 16, 2022 09:24
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Quackles posted:Holy poo poo, Kinu.
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Apr 16, 2022 09:28
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God drat it!! No!! Stop it!! Go back!! I'm not sure whether I'm madder that I was right or that he actually no poo poo called himself a social engineer jesus CHRIST sean
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Apr 16, 2022 10:45
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Some people get nausea in VR, or even sometimes just playing first-person games on a monitor. Their eyes tell them that they're moving, but their inner ear is telling them otherwise. The disconnect between the two disorients them. So the idea that knowing this is a simulation could mess with their bodies isn't so far-fetched. Clever use of the different style chapter headings for the password hint. I did notice the style change, but since it came up before the password did, I didn't go back and read them again.
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Apr 16, 2022 11:56
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I really, really don't understand how Sean is being so blasé about manipulating his "friend" so extensively - I wouldn't blame Ink in the slightest if he gave Sean a virtual and then physical beatdown after this. How the hell can you trust someone that betrays you like that, regardless of the compensation afterwards? A VR simulation that only really works if someone is placed there without their consent has some loving terrifying implications in what this is supposed to be used for, and I'd break a friendship over someone building something like that on that point alone. And yeah, Aether's not as flawless of an AI given the oddities she's experienced and had others comment on - I'm betting that the "precognition" is just data Aether is accessing without having a natural reason to know it. That's going to get jarring quickly, especially if someone's not in a situation that doesn't give them any time to question things that are going on. I don't think their benefactor is going to be as impressed as Sean and Tiana are expecting them to be.
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Apr 16, 2022 14:15
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devildragon777 posted:...Wow, Sean's an rear end. Everyone involved with the creation of this project is a terrible person. devildragon777 posted:Also...if the Contestants filled in the dots for Sent's...personality?...then who exactly added the whole "Sent is in love with Ink" bit? Maybe it's conflated with how Aether was interacting with him?
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Apr 16, 2022 16:33
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girl dick energy posted:Hint: You might have it easier to find if you check the OP. Leraika posted:There was a point at which some segments were given not strictly canon names. Thank you both! I don't thnk I would have found that out myself ever  dervival posted:I really, really don't understand how Sean is being so blasé about manipulating his "friend" so extensively - I wouldn't blame Ink in the slightest if he gave Sean a virtual and then physical beatdown after this. How the hell can you trust someone that betrays you like that, regardless of the compensation afterwards? A VR simulation that only really works if someone is placed there without their consent has some loving terrifying implications in what this is supposed to be used for, and I'd break a friendship over someone building something like that on that point alone. Sean seems to have either zero idea how humans actually function or he's very willfully ignoring it in favor of a rosy "they'll forgive me!" view. I'm not sure which is worse to have in the guy who's your "people person"... (Alternatively, he's just doing the weird undergrad thing of assuming they know basically everything from a few classes, but Sean seems to be a bit farther along?) I don't think it only works without consent, but that they don't have time or funding to continue without putting what's essentially a buggy & dangerous prototype into "beta testing". Which doesn't say good things about anyone's sense of ethics, here, but presumably the tech could eventually be used without the feedback errors. Still terrible. Blueberry Pancakes posted:Everyone involved with the creation of this project is a terrible person. Yuuuuup. Blueberry Pancakes posted:Maybe it's conflated with how Aether was interacting with him? ...I never thought of that, but you'd think they maybe don't want their new AI to influence the prototype or the game itself...I wonder if that means te fear of Sean and Tiana came from her as well, what with the abusive father figure thing Sean was "roleplaying" as. =( I feel pretty bad for Sent & Aether now too...
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Apr 16, 2022 20:04
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Sent and Aether are shitton more compassionate and empathetic than Sean, Tiana, or Lisa's father.
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Apr 16, 2022 20:28
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Sent and Aether are shitton more compassionate and empathetic than Sean, Tiana, or Lisa's father.
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Apr 16, 2022 20:58
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Sean strikes me as the sort of person who's cruised through life on being intelligent and charming
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Apr 17, 2022 00:57
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MagusofStars posted:Unless we find out that Aether was ALSO part of the plot and/or a representative of the mystery wealthy investor. You mean Aether Irving?
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Apr 17, 2022 01:04
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Leraika posted:Sean strikes me as the sort of person who's cruised through life on being intelligent and charming I know I said I had already played the game but this was never confirmed nor denied, its just a personal reading on Sean: I always just clocked him as a straight sociopath.
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Apr 17, 2022 01:08
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 23:31 |
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Junpei posted:I know I said I had already played the game but this was never confirmed nor denied, its just a personal reading on Sean: I always just clocked him as a straight sociopath. Big same. Quackles posted:You mean Aether Irving? Especially when he does things like this to basically make fun of Ink.
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Apr 17, 2022 06:52
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