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Neoriceisgood's avatar
Monday, May 9 2022 - 11:54 PM
By: Neoriceisgood

Major idiots.

Well that doesn't sound promising.

31582: ShroomTurtle - Tuesday, May 10 2022 - 12:00 AM

If we talking intruders, Ms Maria over there is the person we know the least about.

31583: Sam - Tuesday, May 10 2022 - 1:23 AM

I feel like Maria's remark is legit. The paladin's present sanity does seem to conflict with her statements and at least merit further clarification.

31584: noname - Tuesday, May 10 2022 - 5:50 AM

@Sam
Ever heard of "The Mask of Sanity"? It was a psychology book published back in 1941 and, though certainly a bit outdated by today's standards, was still an earnest attempt at debunking many misconceptions people had about psychopaths back in the day... For example like how most psychopaths were completely unrecognizable as psychopaths because they "wore a mask of sanity"/imitated other humans in order to obscure the fact that they, themselves, had no empathy, no emotions, no capacity to feel love for another living being, no personality of their own and no humanity... Our dear paladin here may be similar... Do not judge a book by its covers. Do not assume that, just because she's not outwardly a cackling lunatic, that she is in any way "sane." If she says that prolonged exposure to a black crystal mine will kill anyone or drive them absolutely mad, then she has probably given us an honest insight into what the state of her own mind is like... Question is if we're going to get to see what she's like deep down inside?

31585: someone - Tuesday, May 10 2022 - 5:56 AM

"Staying in a place like this will render us mad! I know, I grew up in a place like this."

Kinda reminds me of this old joke from Mac Mahon: "typhoid fever either kills you or makes you an idiot. I know it because I caught it."

31586: Pot of Greed - Tuesday, May 10 2022 - 6:20 AM

Now this is pure gold @noname, that comment literally puts one to think to what extend an insane human being can be distinguished from the rest

31587: Whim - Tuesday, May 10 2022 - 11:18 AM

I'd invite y'all too to think beyond pop culture ideas of murderous psychopaths or a raving, hallucinating person in the midst of an acute mental health crisis. Like "drunk" can result in sleepy drunks, overly friendly drunks, angry drunks, "crazy" can look like basically any way a person can be a person, but to an extent that interferes with living their life.

Ever been sad? Cool, you're so sad all the time that some days you can't make yourself get out of bed to even eat, you'll just lay there and feel empty and weepy.

Ever been anxious to talk to someone? Cool, every single casual interaction can feel like you've been asked to give a presentation on live tv with zero prep.

Ever double checked that you've locked the door before you go out for chores? Cool, make that triple check, and you NEED to do it to every door in your house, EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Intrusive thoughts? Impulse buying? Sabotaging a relationship? Feeling confident? Feeling worthless? Got a superstition? Felt like someone's lying to you? Like to gamble or drink or smoke or play games? All this and more could be how your flavor of 'crazy' manifested. If you get help, maybe it can be managed, maybe you find ways to cope with it, maybe if you're lucky it can be resolved.

My personal guess is that however Shalhia's crazy manifested, joining the Paladins gave her support or a sense of purpose that helped her cope with the scars that her time in the mines left.

31589: Classified - Tuesday, May 10 2022 - 2:09 PM

Theory Time:

Remember when Officer Housten (I guess Spy Housten now) stated that there was a faction within the G.O supplying a rebel group with black crystals?

Page in question. https://www.neorice.com/hoh_tobi_2305

Well I believe the very same G.O faction is not only supplying them with this black crystal from this very mine but also attempting to see if they can supply Espers as well, that is what the smile game is truly about. This would explain why Housten is here to begin with; to kill the host: https://www.neorice.com/hoh_tobi_2301

I believe he here is simply trying to bait out the host and kill them. Perhaps the reason they have magic users in this game is to check whether or not people activated their Esper powers to begin with.

As for the whole theme of trust, perhaps becoming an Esper must involve some great betrayal or breaking of trust? I'm not too sure about this one honestly.

31590: Strannik - Tuesday, May 10 2022 - 2:55 PM

@Classified : Housten says "he has very little reason to kill the host, so no, that's not his target.

But the host would become his target if he is that person who organised the smuggling of black crystals into Vallance.

31591: Classified - Tuesday, May 10 2022 - 11:26 PM

@Strannik
Well Im assuming heā€™s lying, and that yes the host is indeed the guy behind this operation; both the game and the smugglings.


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