2021-10-10 15:10:47 ¶ ●

I guess if trickster mode is an illusion, it’s worth thinking about what this means for “grimdark mode”, which presumably has the opposite effect; rather than augmenting reality to coat all the tough meat with palatable candy, it provides the vision to pierce through the lighthearted and see the gritty truth beneath? despite its dark associations, it is of course the result of Rose attempting to cut through to the truth with her light powers… and Rose’s very symbol is a squiddle with its saccharine expression cut away to resemble what the horrorterrors truly are underneath.

I spent a little time before I thought about this wondering what the “meat” version of trickster mode would even be, and joked to myself that the eldritch meat-world from Song of Saya was a good fit, but it’s really an apt comparison; the eldritch horror genre is all about the mind-bending truth behind our reality… I suppose while the cherubs are paradox space’s masters of fiction, the horrorterrors represent truth, which might be a reason Lord English is so at odds with them?