from a photo
Redspringstudio gave leander the sleepy green eyes and big man tits to distract from the horrific crimes he is probably committing.
His bloodhounds are wayyyy too obedient to him.
They riot for a magic trick and disperse immediately when he says so. Someone wants to fight MC the moment we mention the senobium but they shut up and leave the second Leander says so.
He is commanding them like Sims.
He is giving red flag central and baby, I cannot wait to quilt myself a cape from all the red flags this man is dropping and follow him into the woods.
I'm gonna have so much fun dissecting this psycho once the game is out.
TELL ME WHY
I'VE PLAYED THIS DEMO OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN
BUT NEVER HAD I EVER PICKED THE "HESITATE" OPTION FOR LEANDER
I'M A DUMB BITCH HOLY SHIT
BUT I CAME INTO A NEWFOUND REALISATION:
THE MC'S CURSE PROTECTS THEM, IN SOME WAY
(unless I'm the last person in the fandom to notice that, good job me)
If you pick the "Touch him" option, he only says "I told you there's nothing to worry about"
BUT HERE, he comments "That's one hell of a curse :D" meaning he definately feels it and it possibly affects him
Yes, the MC surely has ptsd of some sort and could assume Leander's hand was going for their neck like mrChocky but i highly doubt he was initially going for their shoulder
I believe the MC's curse doesn't affect whoever they touch, but whoever touches them
It's quite a bit of a strech, yes, but still a possibility:
Leander doesn't do the dramatics above if the MC touches him first
MrChocky was the one who touched the MC first and got he affected
And thus I bring in another question: What about Oracle!MC?
"The priests claimed your touch bestowed enlightenment, but a visiting mage revealed your curse for what it is."
It wouldn't be illogical if the priests' words were true; if the MC touches someone, they are "bestowed enlightenment", but if the MC gets touched forcibly/accidentally, the one who touches them goes mad
But that would also mean we'd have the choice of giving Leander more power if we choose to touch him
Also, somehow all the backstory mages seem to have a good understanding of the MC's curse [have seen it/it has been recorded before], or are at least able to recoognise it in order to reveal it to them. Plus, the Alchemist!MC's mage [who was "exiled from the Senobium"] planned on cultivating them as a test subject, meaning not much must be known about said curse.
"It's unlike anything I've ever dealt with," says Leander, a mage who has never stepped foot in the Senobium.
"We can find answers together," Leander promises later on.
Then he stops
He waits for them to touch him
Then he freely unwinds their bandages, allows them to touch his hands, his cheeks, he moves his hands over theirs because they've already accepted him touching them
He could have figured how the MC's curse works, or he could have dark-magic-ed his way into the Senobium files before the MC returned to the Wick again.
Image: Screenshot of an ask back in January 2024, with Red Spring Studios explaining the difference between Monsters and Soulless:
Caption: "How are Soulless different from Monsters?" "Though they come from the same world, Soulless are feral beasts driven purely by bloodlust. No one knows why Soulless lack sapience, but there are some who believe that they’re sinners reborn as punishment for their wickedness."
To contrast with today's loredrop:
Caption: "Does the curse have long-term effects?" When it comes to humans, MC’s touch results in the permanent destruction of the mind. Soulless are a different story. The curse seems to only pacify them for a short period of time.
SOULLESS WERE ONCE HUMAN/IS THAT WHAT'S GONNA BEFALL MHIN IF THEY CAN'T FIND A SOLUTION FOR THEMSELF?!
Please feel free to add to this y'all I am SCREAMING—
media literacy would automatically go up 100% if people knew how to consume stories without self-inserting themselves into the characters' shoes. "if i were him..." you're NOT. you may relate to his story, his past, his traits, his quirks, his identity but the moment you start treating the story accepting what you feel/think as what the character feels/thinks, you're misunderstanding the story.