Heartfelt body horror With A Doll That Loves You knife there's a knife hey Don't Toy With Me

Don't Toy With Me is a horror game where you get a new toy and you quickly find out toys don't get along too well. Video has all endings.
Game Info: karmic-punishm...
"Senpai"
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[@ManlyBadassHero]

Welcome to the You're My Favorite Deputy Club, how You're My Favorite Deputy are you?

[@Voidalot]

*You've got A Friend In Me Manly Kun.*

[@rakiahbaker5589]

Oooh! Yandere doll? With a knife? Reminds me of Benny. 🔪♥️💔❣

[@adriannavarrete9332]

I sing, a Crack jokes, make stories about you calm almost witcher methods, and poems

[@walterbrink5391]

Day 38 of asking Manly to play A Cold Love Story through KZbin comments

[@luckyswordsmen991]

I am deputy donut with my pall sheriff Starbucks

[@taylorwright7428]

Aw, I feel like both toys deserved better. Huxley gets most of my sympathy, but also, Dahlia seems very dependant on the owner, to a point where it's sad.

[@DeadHardTV]

The owner is really evil here(

[@samdal420]

Yea ;-;

[@erihtea0719]

Exactly. Dahlia was poorly raised by her owner and maintained the mindset of a spoiled child. It doesn’t excuse her actions but at least we acknowledge the reasons behind them.

[@mitsubachihachi9643]

Dahlia, though I like her, is pretty terrible on her own, but Huxley was right when he said the owner spoils Dahlia too much and she's been practically conditioned to be dependent and jealous when it comes to them. It doesn't excuse her actions but I understand why she's this way.

[@taylorwright7428]

@@mitsubachihachi9643 Yeah, I think she's past the point of changing now, but the fact she was basically conditioned to be like this leaves a bad feeling in my stomach. No matter how much she wants a friend, she couldn't possibly have a friend she could truly connect with, unless they were constantly able to just put up with her walking all over them. Even then, any possible favoritism would draw her jealousy. It's very self-destructive, and serves no one but the owner, which feels very slimy to me.

[@elementallobsterx]

I never realized how terrifying Toy Story would be if Andy silently watched and punished his toys for their arguments. An inescapable, slow burn type of horror.

[@KayMayhem777]

If you don't like THAT then you may as well head for the ocean and start swimming to nowhere... That's EXACTLY how real life can go here on Earth.

[@tallic967]

@@KayMayhem777 what house do you live in where your every move is observed and punished?

[@vinnyart92]

@@tallic967 an abusive one, it seems :/

[@samuellinn]

@@KayMayhem777 Bro your parents aren't normal you should swim to the ocean

[@KAngel32]

@@KayMayhem777 ok nihilist

[@vincentthe1st]

Damn the doll maker just let Huxley die because he didn't wanna get pricked by a comically small knife

[@felixe2007]

Yeah seriously, that actually broke my heart a little. The owner just sat there and watched him get stabbed to death because they didn't want to get cut by the tip of an x-acto knife. Dahlia probably could have done some damage, but no way she was gonna kill them with that. And now poor Huxley had to die as punishment for earning the "favor" of someone who clearly didn't actually give a shit about him at all. Makes me sad thinking about how sentimental he got when the owner gave him gifts and acted like they cared about him, only for the last thing he saw to be their hand pulling away and leaving him at Dahlia's mercy. Poor guy.

[@Inksanity]

@@felixe2007 Even if they were worried about being injured, the owner could've easily pushed Dahlia away from Huxley with a pencil to give them a chance to take him and Wisker out of harm's way

[@propyro85]

That kitchen knife was the size of an X-acto knife blade (I'm going to assume a No.11), and that's more than enough to do serious permanent damage to your hands very quickly. And just knocking Dhalia off him is risky too, since she's porcelain and already damaged ... so you're sort of in a loose loose scenario. Though I have to agree, the owner is pretty crappy to his sentient toys.

[@stacyimagination3936]

@@Inksanity from the perception, the toys are pretty small that mean the knife are twice smaller so it wouldn't be hurt so much

[@Inksanity]

@@propyro85 There are multiple ways to have saved Huxley using household items Multiple flat objects could be used to create a barrier between them, a pencil could be used as a way to hold/push Dahlia back (or push Huxley far enough away to safely grab him), a magnet to hold the knife away, effectively restraining her (at her size, a decent magnet could possibly rival her strength) Or just letting Dahlia crack by forcefully pushing her back, her own weight wouldn't be enough to seriously damage her as shown in her own route, and having to fix damage to her body is better than losing lives

[@raec.9308]

Owner: I can't stand when Dahlia acts out or becomes dramatic for my attention. I know I punish my toys with solitude whenever they act against my wishes but I wonder why she's like this? My brother in Christ, you made her this way

[@mitsubachihachi9643]

The Owner's lack of self awareness is very telling.:/

[@spacemarine6212]

@@mitsubachihachi9643 So this was a super long Sims game, but far more depressing.

[@b-chroniumproductions3177]

@@spacemarine6212 The Sims (in all it's removing-the-ladder-from-the-pool, summoning-the-grim-reaper glory) but the Sims themselves are actually sentient

[@RanMouri82]

Amen! 😅

[@hustle_rose]

the owner is basically a neglectful parent lmao

[@helix9445]

i feel like the reason dahlia has memory problems is that she keeps getting destroyed in some way and then getting rebuilt by the owner, and every time they remake her her personality and memories get twisted a bit. we see that in the ending where she gets burned she's still able to be salvaged and repaired, we can't be too sure that this was the first time she acted in a self-destructive manner.

[@Soroboruo]

That's a really good point. I thought it was a targeted, uh, amnesia process initiated by the Owner, but that makes more sense. And it creates a depth to that comment about the evidence of her previous roof escapade, that there may have been way more damage than we the viewers see because the Owner has already "fixed" it. God, no wonder she's messed up. Aside from all the creepy control experiments stuff and the Owner just being outright irresponsible (accidentally or deliberately) in regard to the toys' wellbeing, can you imagine what it would be like to keep being brought back from functional death to play out your God's little games? No wonder Dahlia is obsessed with the Owner - they're the sole constant in her life at this point, not to mention the one constantly reviving her. And that also explains why the Owner was so certain with one glance in the first run that Dahlia was "irreparable". (Not even... dead. Just impossible to effectively, or economically, repair.)

[@kitkat25195]

Not only that, but the owner says that maybe this time he would fix Dahla to perfection or something in the attic burning ending.

[@delane4160]

ween

[@zosasho8036]

Reminded me of phos ):

[@snackbasket1214]

That's an intriguing take on the memory thing. I could have been underestimating how old the toys were, but I found it odd that Dahlia lost her memories of other housemates like that.

[@MakDemonik]

Dhalia: literally owns the entire house, the only one with a bedroom, makes the limbless puppet sleep in the attic above hundreds of stairs... Huxley: gets one single puzzle to call his own Dhalia: "THATS AWFULLY MEAN, HOW COULD YOU!?"

[@-kxtvxbez-]

LITERALLY 💀

[@starringintheskies]

And then people defend her because she was 'raised that way' This game is basically a metaphor to how some relationships are, so I 100% do not trust anyone that defends her. Because you were raised a certain way doesn't give you the right to be rude to someone and belittle them whenever you can. I don't care if it's all you've ever known, if it is then at least TRY working on it and acknowledge it. Huxley literally explains her actions and they try defending her Not only that but she murdered him out of JEALOUSY, while he murdered her because she was emotionally and psychologically abusing him. They both are in the wrong, they're basically metaphors, Dahlia was ruthless because of JEALOUSY in Huxley's route, and in her route she gaslit him and told him to stay in a box and sleep in it, basically became an (abuser) herself. Huxley is the victim because he was the one being gaslit and tried defending himself, apologized plenty of times but she only cared about HER feelings in Huxley's route (while the gaslighting was in her route). Not only that, he followed her orders because he didn't want to suffer the consequences and the only thing he had for transport got taken away from him. He killed her, which makes him a murderer, THAT'S what makes him in the wrong.

[@AnglosArentHuman]

@@starringintheskies Small problem with this logic is that when you're raised by shit people, you eventually become an adult and get to make your own choices and fix yourself as best as you can. Dahlia doesn't get this privilege. She's a doll stuck with a clearly sadistic owner for at least three decades. The power dynamic is so ridiculously tilted towards the player (having what is essentially God-like powers compared to the toys) that I don't think that IRL relations of any kind are a fair comparison. But hey, knowing the internet, cue someone saying being a past victim of abuse makes me an enabler.

[@MidnaFeetEnjoyer]

it's a matter of perspective. It's just that at the heat of the moment she feels neglected and doesn't realize this, as it's not emphasized in the moment. She feels like it's a sign that she's becoming less relevant and more alone.

[@Skellyender]

@@starringintheskies I honestly think the excuse of her being raised that way is valid. The game purposely shows that the owner is an awful person, hating the character that isn’t the favorite. The owner could’ve easily made all parties happy, but rather antagonized the non favorite.

[@dondon8025]

tbh, Dhalia reminds me of Early Storyboard Woody, who had a much more toxic obsession w/ being Andy's favorite and letting that power go to his head. It's interesting to see how the Toy Owner has unhealthy ideas on how relationship dynamics should be in the Dhalia favorite route, leading to Dhalia developing her current entitled attitude. I wonder how she would be if she had a different owner. There's a lot of interesting dynamics within these relationships, and I can see some of my past flaws in both Huxley and Dhalia's communication.

[@MGrey-qb5xz]

bruh the clown is clearly rude as hell and even smashed her face in, what part of that makes dhalia the toxic one here

[@ntkn]

From what i gather everything, including the house belongs to dhalia. She was perhaps the original toy made by the dollmaker and whisker was the first friend, as in the second toy made to keep her company. So really the dynamic makes sense in the dhalia route because of this snd all other toys are just guests. The issue is that they are all sentient and have no other lives or purpose beyond that house. Its made worse by the fact that other dolls only exist there to make dhalia happy but not necessarily themselves. Since they are sentient with no other purpose its natural they will get mad and jealous of having to basically live only to make one person happy and never themselves. Dhalia is too spoiled and naive to understand this however since the owner always makes her happy. This would also explain why whiskers dislikes dhalia. As the 2nd toy he was with dhalia the longest and is basically sick of her. Because she is happy but he only exist as a pet to her. But again dhali has no idea because he can't talk.

[@seancrosby6837]

Woody was obsessed with being Woody's favorite? lmao

[@EinsamPibroch278]

@@seancrosby6837 Andy he means.

[@dondon8025]

@@seancrosby6837 my mistake. fixed it.

[@heroawesome8495]

I so wish they made cgs of the parts where Huxley was destroyed by the owner and when dahlia was burned in the sink. It would've really solidified the body horror aspect I think

[@redvenge709]

The 'body horror' tag is from the community, not the creator. While I agree with your idea, I'm not sure the creator was going for body horror as much as emotional distress.

[@salvatorecastellitto1375]

I think they probably didn't do the jar scene because they probably didn't want to design a naked doll lol

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

@@redvenge709 yeah

[@JacklynBurn]

@@salvatorecastellitto1375 Yeah when you mention it, probably better that they didn't do art of a figure in a jar. The internet has a bad history with that

[@elvis5384]

@@salvatorecastellitto1375 the WHAT?! I didn't completely watch the video, uhhhhhhhh.

[@afieldofroses]

Why has like, nobody mentioned Whiskers? The notes in Dahlia's diary imply he had a stuffed bear friend, who was likely killed or taken away. Whiskers is visibly scared of Dahlia, tensing up when she's upset and being the first to run out of a room when an argument breaks out, implying Dahlia has done something that scared him. (Maybe she killed the teddy bear or the dollmaker kills him cause' Dahlia got upset). The game starts up with her casually remarking to cut his mouth open, Whisker has a missing eye and a very oddly placed stitch line on his head. I feel bad for the other toys but somehow I feel the worst for the one who barely got touched upon.

[@BugBoss1205]

Yeah any sympathy I had for her instantly vanished after it was shown how she mistreated Wisker. especially since she considered him to be a pet.

[@lucas23453]

I feel like if Wisker witnessed the death of his friend, that would make sense if it was her that did the murder, and it would explain why she tears the pages from her diary, she can't bear to think of anyone in a positive light after she has dealt with them. If the Owner tore wisker's friend in half, Wisker might have a similar reaction that Huxley has.

[@A-Dino-Named-Mennany]

@@lucas23453 I think Wisker does cover his head when the owner puts their hand in the doll house, at least when the owner grabbed Dahlia to lock her in her room. Also the owner tore out the pages in Dahlia's diary, not her.

[@milowolfface9392]

Manly does talk about it.

[@aghostbat]

Huxley is genuinely the best character that can talk in this game. Like, in both endings he tries his hardest to get along, and literally only killed Dahlia after she had the creator effectively just rip his legs off. Dahlia is actively an antagonist in his route, literally just breaking the first thing he ever had made for him just because it wasn't hers.

[@rowzee_sidon7813]

I 100% agree. Exactly why I would've chose Huxley over Dahlia any day. And just cause I like him. But then again, Dahlia was sort of "raised" like that. Spoilt. Cause with the owner ripping pages from her diary so she didn't try to remember things (at least it's assumed it was the owner). So she can't TOTALLY be blamed But my dislike for her is still immense 🙃

[@aghostbat]

@@rowzee_sidon7813 Honestly, Dahlia dying ending is the best ending. Both Huxley and Wisker are still alive, and Dahlia finally has her suffering ended. Imo Dahlia is unfixable as a character, so her dying is the only outcome that makes any sense other than everyone else dying.

[@Hauntaku]

Wow, a lot of people don't understand Dahlia. Rewatch the video from the start and see how Hexley introduces himself to her. They do NOT get along at all. It's not because of Dahlia, Hexley is just emo.

[@aghostbat]

@@Hauntaku Ah yes, not getting along with somebody is an excuse to literally cut their face in half for them receiving a present, or for you to order somebody to rip off their legs. Even if they don't get along, Dahlia is a terrible "person" lmao

[@shenronsuper]

@@aghostbat fr

[@barryaaron6665]

I think dahlia's reaction seems disproportionate until you realise she's been through this cycle several times. First she plays the role of a replacement and then twice as the one being replaced

[@tsurifisher]

I really love Huxley. Despite being a clown, he's ironically the voice of reason in the dollhouse. Dahlia puts all of her worth into pleasing the owner, who is actually just a sadistic weirdo with a God complex who uses these sentient beings for their own amusement. As a result, Dahlia becomes entitled and jealous and only cares about being the favorite. Huxley tries to tell her that there's more to life than winning others' approval, and to live by her own purpose. Also I just love the sad emo lads

[@Bridgahid]

I like Huxley and Wisker. I love how Huxley typically just sulks, hides in the dark, and feels lonely (only because I actually typically PREFER solitude and darkness). It reminds me of myself. I also like how Wisker actually helped Huxley down the stairs when Dahlia wasn't looking. BUUUUUUT, when Dahlia pulled out the knife, Wisker just went running rather than at least, like, knocking the knife out of her hand. Wisker was just like "Hell, no! Imma get outta here. Save yourself, Huxley!"

[@minty111]

@@Bridgahid I think Whisker runs because it's implied that Dahlia has cut Whisker before (the weird vertical seam)

[@RanMouri82]

Huxley being the voice of reason seems to be his downfall, because he's a logical creature in an absurd world.

[@Dove9-u-]

I’m not sure if whisker could have helped Him whisker is smaller then her and made of fabric and stuffing and (as pointed out in another reply) has probably been hurt by the doll but, I do wish he could have helped

[@prescibee2478]

Oh god, Huxley is afraid of your hands specifically because he’s a puppet… this game about toys hits harder than expected tbh. Existential horror yay!

[@Soroboruo]

Yeah we've seen people in media being puppeted against their will as a tragic/whumpy/angsty thing, but this game made me think about it would mean for a puppet to be sentient from the start. It may be similar to being a doll, but there is a distinct difference in the expectations of how each is handled, literally. And Huxley repeatedly shows discontent or upset when forced to do things (especially in the first run where Dahlia physically shoves him out of her room when a simple request would have worked fine).

[@Rock_on_R0bita]

I didn't want to say anything earlier because of the horrifying implications behind that, but yeah Huxley's reaction seemed close to that of somebody who's probably been abused/messed around with before being brought to the dollhouse. And the fact that he was a hand puppet too makes it so much worse. Ugh...

[@erikm8373]

I like to think that, in any game with no defined protagonist character (often dating sims and visual novels, but there are some others), it's always the same version of Manly as a character in all of them, and he just leads a _very_ interesting life. He gets home from one of the high schools he goes to, heads off to work at a top-secret government facility, then once he's done, he spends his free time doing stuff like occult rituals trying to summon a cute girl from beyond the stars, or watching his weird dolls.

[@shascircus]

Manly lore manly lore

[@a.k8185]

This type of stuff is very cool to think about honestly.

[@thegrimreaper6150]

Hmm yes lotta manly lore for the lore book

[@techsupport01134]

Huxley crying over the cane made me feel worse than it should have.

[@404_coffee9]

oof

[@SquirreI_Brain]

It makes me feel even sadder because I think it’s the first gift were true effort and care was put into it like the first handmaid thing met for exclusively him and seeing it shattered by someone else who has everything he didn’t and who doesn’t have to fear their owner, unlike him who probably had to and has probably been through a lot of crap in his life.

[@techsupport01134]

@@SquirreI_Brain Honestly, I think Huxley is a victim of some kind of abuse. He doesn't mind other toys, but he is terrified of the human, even just knowing the human is there makes him nervous. I don't doubt he suffered some physical abuse becaue of his lack of legs and fear of being touched. He made a 'jacking' joke, which none of the other toys understood, so you could argue there is a darker form of abuse in Huxley's past. Sadly, the game doesn't go into Huxley's backstory. I wish there was another game that took place in the past.

[@SquirreI_Brain]

@@techsupport01134 yeah all the signs are there of PTSD. I’m not a professional, but there are a lot of signs. I’m just hoping the one ending where they let him live that maybe it got slightly better as in the toy maker person sold him to someone who actually treated him like a human being or something like that because I don’t wanna live with sad, implications because those make me sad.

[@Some_day_i_may_find_a_name]

I think that theory on whisker makes a lot of sense, because he was added to the house along with Theodore, but Theodore vanished and whisker is still alive.

[@suitov]

I thought the detail of Theodore's name was a great touch. Dahlia mentions only once that she seems to remember once knowing a _bear..._ Fun related fact: teddy bears were given their name as a marketing stunt, after the US president of the time, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

[@youdonotcare]

@@reyalfa18 They do taste good though

[@suitov]

My vegetarian butt is /so/ not getting into a veganism debate on a thread about teddy bears lmfao. Not gonna happen. Anyway stuffed toys are one of the truly good things in this world. 🐻

[@angeek1879]

On the menu screen theres a teddy bear on one of the shelves and also a chess board

[@akun50]

Saddest part is that there could easily be a balanced ending. The owner could've avoided the entire scenario (at least in Huxley's route) by giving Huxley, Wisker AND Dhalia each new items instead of focusing entirely on Huxley or Dahlia.

[@Lulu-qp6oh]

Technically that only would've solved so much. Daliah Is beyond saving and mentally messed up due to her circumstances over what seems to be a decade. The mc loves to play god with the way he seemingly controls everything down to her diary , but is an unfair and lazy "god." They were set up for failure from the beginning. The problem isn't the toys but their "god" and his laziness to fully play his part.

[@TheSolBlader]

Bru Huxley got literally one gift and she was already losing it. She was heading the way she did no matter what

[@nuibaba280]

@@TheSolBlader correct

[@hypyu1458]

Or yknow, they can clearly read books and stuff so wouldn't it be an idea to maybe send down a small letter or something to explain exactly what the owner is thinking?

[@papapalps2415]

@@hypyu1458 Oh, oh! Or perhaps even better, if we are just spitballing ideas, how about this amazing idea? Why doesn't he put on his big boy pants, and just use his God damn words to simply TALK to them?

[@cheezit1x1]

I like the never ending parallel for if you leave Huxley alive. He will slowly turn into how Dahlia is. It is foreshadowed in Dahlia's journal about how when she first came to the dollhouse another doll got jealous of her and damaged her face. Dahlia got them back most likely by killing them. Just like how Huxley got back at Dahlia by doing the same thing. And in the 'keep Huxley' ending even the doll maker comments on how easy it is to get the dolls to start relying on them.

[@sussydogwithcheese]

Manly: "she is doing a JoJo pose, leaning back and pointing out, like this..." Me: "I see."

[@AgraelTheDemon]

WRYYYYYYYY

[@pizzabagelzmanning7277]

@@AgraelTheDemon DIO! STAR PLATINUM.... STAAAAR FINGAAAAAAA!!!!!!

[@5KOP]

muda.

[@ryand7817]

@@5KOP ora😔....

[@A_trans_sneasel]

Did you make a jojo reference...out of a jojo reference?

[@sir-ani8927]

Its pretty obvious Huxley experienced past trauma from an owner with the way he reacts to the situation and identifies her toxic traits (or his place in the household in her route). When he has something to say about her behavior in his route it actually is pretty wise, which also fits the theme for a jester. Historically Jesters were allowed to say whatever they wanted without getting punished at all, which they'd use to make jokes and commentaries about the state of the royals from their perspective. To the point where Royalty would actually ask their jesters for advice. I wonder if the game dev choose him to be a jester on purpose because of that idea/theme?

[@a.k8185]

Probably.

[@SleepyLittleFrogOnARock]

Wow! That is an interesting fact and take. I think that could be possible. 😃

[@bigbrainenergyguy]

The history of jesters is actually quite fascinating. They could say basically anything because it would be unbecoming of a king to take offense at the words of a "fool." This meant the jester to give him honest advice. If a duke were openly critical of the king it might undermine his authority but if it came out of the jester's mouth then the king can play it off as a joke in front of the court while seriously considering his words. That's why a common sign of corrupt king is one who executes his jester. If even a fool can injure his ego then anybody could be next on the chopping block.

[@a.k8185]

@@bigbrainenergyguy You have good words.

[@pinkpugginz]

I love Jester history

[@sanamori]

I love Huxley and his overall designs, I was never very fond of clowns but I found him oddly cute with his sprites and the pretty illustrations of him the creator did especially 55:23

[@addyxinwonderland1473]

Amen

[@Aven_colonthree]

I love his sprites most, really captures his mood too

[@lenlenthezeldafan]

He looks like he needs a hug.

[@sr.brigadeiro7718]

HE IS SUDDENLY SO GORGEOUS AM I RIGHT I MEAN LOOK AT THOSE EYES I CANT

[@davidbrevik2537]

Great game, but this hit hard. Most terrifying still is that this feels somewhat realistic. Not the toys being alive, of course, but the owner's god complex about the toys. Far too many people treat folks like their own 'projects' to do what they want. I'm morbidly curious as to how he treats his other 'toys.'

[@AlmaHeartfire]

Really does remind me of a abusive parent picking a favorite child super messed up I get they are toys but by all accounts he needs to take better care of them I think it would've been best if the doll house was huge with a bunch of toys that could balance each other out and make things interesting and the owner making sure they have thier needs met with new items would surely have been a better outcome

[@Soroboruo]

@@AlmaHeartfire Yeah the whole thing with Dahlia and her attitude towards Huxley is not merely toxic but truly abusive by the end, like Red Flags Checklist levels of abusive. And either she was "made wrong" from the start and has always been like that, or was made to be that way. Either way the Owner is the one truly responsible for the results of this situation. You can really see what Huxley means by her being "spoiled" in a way that isn't limited to a child with little autonomy, and the dangers that holds.

[@gabyzz1331]

It's like playing a game and one of you're favorite characters dies, you get upset but not really since they're just a game character, you'll keep on playing

[@meatymaggot]

Honestly the character dynamic was really good. Huxely and Dhalia felt like real people. In the start of it I literally didn't want it to end, they were getting along so well and everything was so happy despite knowing this is a body horror game. Even the arguments sounded like real arguments people would have. The transitions where awesome and the art style gave it a sorta cutesy and discomfort feel. Sorta like the game It's Not Me It's My Basement or Undertale, games like this do so well at making their characters seem real and relatable.

[@gusty7153]

ya now i think about it, undertale was essentially the same as this but with self aware video game characters, and it made a point that you the player were the hero/villain for each route you chose to take

[@meatymaggot]

I'vr already played it lol, though the characters weren't as relatable in my personal opinion

[@charadreemur8884]

@@gusty7153 Hmm sort of. Don’t forget about the neutral runs. There’s Doki doki literature club with the self aware video game characters as well.

[@KayMayhem777]

@Person who hates Bill Nye The Science Guy Well said.

[@ZephanyZephZeph]

I cried when I saw Dahlia shattered, and it tore my heart out when Huxley's spring was taken. The pages are missing because the creator took them out. It is clear the only reason nothing ends well is because the dollmaker never realizes the responsibility of a god, as a guardian, or a parent. Dahlia is left starving for affection and attention and the maker does nothing but attempt to replace himself with someone else. The situation wasn't irredeemable, but the one in power sure was.

[@overlord5032]

moral of the story: do not play god unless you are god

[@ZephanyZephZeph]

@@overlord5032 Well you don't need to be god to create life, you just need to be a parent, but the dollmaker neglected Dahlia so much it created her abusive tendencies, and enabled her as a form of "love"

[@Flammifleure]

Technically I don't think the owner is irredeemable either. They do care about the toys. But the problem -- well, the big problem -- is their desire to control the toys. Theoretically they could realise that's the issue and let go of that desire.

[@ZephanyZephZeph]

@@Flammifleure The question is if the care is conditional to having control over them. The doll maker doesn't seem to be the one to learn either, repeating the story where Dahlia kills another due to insecurity and then removing her bailout to remember.

[@Flammifleure]

@@ZephanyZephZeph Oh, I agree. I'm sure the owner's care is more-or-less contingent on the toys' obedience.

[@MLGHazrad]

I know it's a classic thing to have a kitchen knife as the murder weapon. I wish horror games have more variety of knives than just kitchen knife. If a Doll comes at me with a butterfly knife and they do those CSGO level knife tricks, I'd be amaze and stunned long enough for the doll to get a hit.

[@GLDragon93]

Wait until you realize the Doll could comes with shadow butt-plug daggers!

[@redundantfridge9764]

I just imagined two dolls talking smack to each other on whose knife is better. There may or may not be a Russian curse worse in there.

[@Player-df7ny]

I think they do it on purpose to use kitchen knife, because it's such a dangerous and handy weapon that can kill in 1 hit, yet is very common (can be found in everyone's kitchen), so it can scare people even more, i think, but aside from this, i agree with you, I'd also like some pro fighting in horror games (not just the classic gut stab), also with weapons such as katana, etc.

[@sinny5404]

It not too uncommon for people to collect knives, there should be a character with a knife collection the murderer steals from to use just for variety p:

[@chilomine839]

Nothing beats the yandere knife though...maybe if she had a tiny chainsaw...

[@thatspiritthingthatfollows4229]

I feel bad for Huxley man. In both routes he just tried to just live but he's always getting harmed & it's mostly not even in his own hands. In Dahlia's route he gets bullied then when he tried to fix himself to be likeable to Dahlia by reading her diary, he gets his legs taken away from him & left in a box. In his route, just his existence is what makes Dahlia fucked up to the point of killing both him & Whiskers all because he had the toy owner's attention. When Dahlia got locked up by the owner she was atleast in her room, Huxley got his legs ripped away & he had to crawl into his box (not even in his room because now he can barely move). When he killed, it was because he was betrayed by everyone & he has no one to love him, Dahlia killed because she was jealous. She still had Huxley yet she pushed him away, Huxley had no one in her route. Dahlia got to die in her own hands while Huxley had to die on the hands of the toy owner, the person that only bought him for Dahlia who also is the person who removed his only means of transportation. Every toy is a tragic character but I feel the worst for Huxley.

[@mitsubachihachi9643]

I feel bad for him too. Dahlia takes out her insecurities on him and abuses him and he's alone in this because the toy maker not only sides with Dahlia but also enables her to lash out and the only one who doesn't hurt him is Whiskers - and he can't talk.

[@Late0NightPC]

Agreed. I think Manly was onto something when he said "This is the worst kind of horror". The owner is openly sadistic and literally "playing house" with sapient beings for their own amusement, Daliha's been gaslit and manipulated into being a horribly toxic person, and then that toxicity was further enabled by the owner. They both are so twisted that they are clearly in the wrong, and yet because they hold the positions of authority, "their reality" is what is the norm. So when an actually reasonable and normal perosn comes along like Huxley, he is ripped apart again and again because his logic, while 100% reasonable to us, is "wrong" in their world. He's a sane person trapped in a world of insanity, and every ending has him break because of it. Meanwhile we can't do anything but sit and watch helplessly...

[@JxBlackstar]

Dahlia seems to have Borderline Personality Disorder.

[@EdwardNewgate72]

Thx for the juicy lore

[@phantom-ri2tg]

"Dahlia got to die in her own hands" I would take this as a weak point. He was expecting to die. and you also left out how in the alliterative he lives he is likely to become another Dahlia while Dahlia lives disfigured and trauma-ed. it is not mere jealousy when she let herself burn to death after the act. Also both of them killed the other in part do to jealousy. Huxley did not have anything taken from him that he did not have before. I know Dahlia was the abuser in this situation but I think people are being way to biased against her. you think someone who lived a decent life chose to burn themselves to death just because someone else got some presents? and that wanting owner's attention takes another aspect if you factor the owner only occasionally paid attention to her.

[@ieatfairies]

Manly’s voice is literally perfect for Huxley, it has a bored emotionless tone yet still you can tell what the puppet is feeling. It also matches his personality extremely well.

[@C.G.Souza_]

Agreed :D.

[@accident8357]

So true, I was literally going to write the same comment before seeing this one. Glad to know I'm not the only one thinking this!

[@snackbasket1214]

I can't not imagine Huxley having any other voices other than Manly's.

[@Schrodingers_kid]

So Manly is a clown?Depressed and done clown?

[@christopherrichard1531]

It's also empty, like my soul.

[@foadchode]

-saying that it's "her house" / everything belongs to her -doing things for you and holding the favors over your head to make you feel like you owe her everything -treating disagreements like a personal attack -always saying she loves you and does everything for you so you feel too guilty to contradict her rules -having to watch everything you say around her unless she gets upset, consequences follow -having a false face of joviality when dealing with those above her, but mistreating people she considers "inferior" Dahlia sounds exactly like my mom. No wonder I related a lot to Hux and Wisker.

[@vienna-mf8xb]

I hope you escape from her and have real support

[@pinkpugginz]

I hope you have a good therapist. my stepdad acted the same way

[@amisterblah]

Hope you can get out. My mom likes to gaslight me whenever I try to talk to her about her flaws. Just because I'm a hypocrite doesn't mean i'm wrong

[@Kalebsonyoutube]

Omg twinnums!!! And my dad is a complete pushover (kindaaaa…like the owner) he gets gifts and takes us on trips but barely talks to us, we feel like we love him but we don’t see him enough to know for sure… (KINDAAA….LIKE THE OWNER..???) he’s never the one to hit us tho (that was mother 😋) he never actually laid a finger on me

[@tiaradinaputri6500]

no way i was about to say the exact same thing

[@refrone]

Is Huxley a hand puppet, and that’s why he’s afraid of your hands? Since he hates being a puppet and only being able to joke when he’s being “used”? Edit : What have I done

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

Yeah he is some sort of hand/finger puppet. That's probably why he has no hands, the fingers of the puppeteer can fit inside the sleeves.

[@FeenieVonKarma]

Yeah that's actually really fucked up to think about, that's almost another level of 'body horror'. I am pretty sure they implied he has no legs cos it's a hand puppet hole. 😅

[@SecuR0M]

@ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ uwu

[@violettvi1485]

Yeah i would be afraid of hands too if they were supposed to be shoved up my body in order to make me move

[@toxiathrr]

@ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ayooo, if ur thinking what im thinking... 👀

[@TransformingWing57]

Wow looks like Huxley finally told a joke that Dahlia understood. Cause he had her cracking up at the end!

[@sheiyanejooste7697]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@birdthatdontlie7441]

OH WAIT- that took me a sec to figure out lol

[@doodlebug47]

"Nooooo you can't just smash my porclain doll's head!" "Haha chess peice go brrrrr"

[@IHaveBeenDoingTaxFraud]

@@doodlebug47 😂that has the same energy as me smashing a roblox characters head into pieces and turning their other body parts into a smoothie

[@shanikamensah7288]

This one right here officer

[@WinterFerger]

Aschenputtel is the original version of Cinderella. The one where the sisters cut off parts of their foot to try and put on the shoe. Goes pretty well with the body horror theme.

[@salvatorecastellitto1375]

The original Cinderella predates Aschenputtel by about 2 centuries.

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

@@salvatorecastellitto1375 lol

[@thisusernameisalreadytaken5132]

My copy of Grimm's fairy tales contains that one. Traumatized me quite a bit when I was 13 lol

[@WinterFerger]

Just so no one bursts a blood vessel I was referencing Grimm because her having fairy tale books was mentioned and Aschenputtel is specifically theirs and named.

[@WinterFerger]

@@thisusernameisalreadytaken5132 Yeah it was on of the first stories I read as a kid learning German. I kept going, "Wait, did I read that right????"

[@GyaruRespecter]

Also I made an earlier joke comment, but for real though, the game is actually a pretty great example of how different love/friendship can impact people. Dahlia is obviously the toxic overbearing ex-girlfriend type that thinks the world is falling if she doesn't get her way, but one unique thing about her is that she feels genuinely depressed unless she's "given" the same amount of care that she shows. She clearly puts a lot of effort into being the "favourite", and what makes her hate Huxley the most is how effortless he "gains" favors with the owner by not trying too hard, and just being himself. For all of Dahlia's talk about how the owner's love is something that fulfills her and gives her life meaning, she ironically has a more direct and almost materialistic belief in what "love" is, as the narration says she expects the owner "owes" her things whenever she does things right. It's like being a good doll is a job to her, not something that she does because she simply enjoys being with her owner and has faith that her owner enjoys her company back. It's tragic in a way, it almost feels like Dahlia could turn into a good person by just realizing that her owner does care for her just because she's there for him, rather than because she does things "right" or is an over-zealous perfectionist. Dahlia's toxic, but calling her simply 'entitled' might not be the right term because from her perspective, yeah, she's totally putting in the effort, and now she's being "abandoned" by someone who just walks around without "working" like she does. She learned to appreciate the wrong things in life and relationships, and her envy is all a product of that. She's not the perfect doll, but she has a more complex mindset than the average yandere. Huxley is far, far more mature in comparison, but he doesn't have it all figured out either, and can be read as someone with depression who has difficulty loving himself, as well as believing that he can't be loved by others. His belief that meaning comes only from you yourself sounds inspiring at first, but it's not like he has a high level of confidence or is totally fine with being all by his lonesome. Rather, he has difficulty caring for other people because of how he's been pretty much abandoned, and developed an apathetic attitude because there's no way to know if someone else cares for him for sure. So even if it hurts, he just closes himself off and gets by without putting in too much effort, as it's the "safest" route to take. If you don't expose yourself or put your guard down, there's no way you'll befriend or fall in love with others, but there's no way you'll get hurt either. He befriended Wisker very quickly, but I wonder how much of it is just A) to feed into Dahlia's paranoia that "everyone is leaving her", and B) because Wisker is desperate to be with someone who isn't an envious paranoiac. Hell, even the owner gets in on this. More often than not, relationships are depicted as either toxic or loving with no in-between - either you're a loving person or you're an abuser. I've seen very few stories in games deal with people who are just abandoning, apathetic or detached without it being part of a grander abusive/manipulative route. It's clear that the owner doesn't see either Dahlia or Huxley as loved ones, just "projects". But at the same time, they're "projects" that matter to him because of the time and investment sunk into them. It's possible the owner doesn't "care" for them as Huxley fears, but at the same time, the owner sees them as an extension of himself. It's not even like he's COMPLETELY out of touch with morality, or of the massive power imbalance between him and the dolls; in all the endings, the owner acknowledges his mistakes, understanding that it was HIS spoiling and enabling that made things escalate to the point that they did, and seems to genuinely want to learn from his error, even if it's for the sake of his own projects and goals. He clearly states that he wants to be "undefiable", which can bring to mind a controlling parent or guardian. But from his point of view, how can a parent discipline his children if they don't believe in the paren't authority at all? It's an unique take because the owner is not portrayed as a sociopath or manipulator trying to hurt the dolls to satisfy his own ego because of his lack of real attachments, but more as an overseer, possibly as an utilitarian that sees the doll as "interesting" rather than "loved ones", while still showing some care that undoubtedly paints him as truly invested in their development. There's no "love", only "favourites". Or, to put it in a more blatant and obvious way, he's the player. If a character you like dies in a game - because of your own choices, no less - you'll be sad about it and try to do better, but it's not like you lost a REAL friend, right? You can always try again. Get characters that are similar to the last, maybe even customize them to fit the same niche if that's possible, with the knowledge that they'll be better than the last "batch" due to your new knowledge. Why get worked up over your toys? If you want them to be better than the ones from yesterday, you have to remain in control; not only of your emotions, but of their behavior, too.

[@sharkshock5397]

great essay

[@justapassingbycommenterrem5642]

In a metaphysical way the player here is depicted as "God" In many ways similar to other 4th wall breaking games. I notice that dahlia and Huxley are also equivalences to how people react to believe and religion. Dahlia is the traditional conservative Christian and Huxley is the existentialist, seen through their behavior and view of the player. You can also equate that as a relationship because religion can also be seen in a way close to a relationship. I'm not gonna try to jusge which view is "the right one" Or whatever but here's the main difference when it comes to the "God" Here, he isn't perfect. He tries his best to maintain peace but he has his biases, he makes errors, is unkind and unfair at times and shows favouritism in his creations. So to me the game read as "how would 2 people who have completely different views when it comes to religion react to an imperfect god, how they interpret the things he does do and how they respon to that." Here's the ironic part though their endings have them do things that are opposite of their ideologies, Dahlia burns the house and herself (effectively taking control of her own life and choosing to end it (existentialism) ) while huxley kills dahlia and lets the player decide if he lives or dies, parallel to each other one is choosing to die and can be saved and the other is choosing to live and can be killed. Pretty deep stuff huh

[@Willowisp927]

@@andersn4931 Since you couldn't even write a single line of text correctly and thinks several paragraphs is a book, I'd say good luck in life doing anything that isn't about pure physical force.

[@hanin_gurl]

@@justapassingbycommenterrem5642 Agreed!

[@hanin_gurl]

While i mostly agree, your last sentence about comparing your favourite character to this is a bit different. Mostly because these dolls are sentient. They have feelings, they act realistic, they are suffering. If you were to compare them, they would be humans. He's using the dolls more as a show he can watch. He has the most smallest care in how much suffering these dolls are holding. I honestly do not like the creator at all. He is definitley the bigger antagonist. So i might have this bias.

[@AbhorrentRose]

Really I quite love how much depth is in Dahlia, like she's a terrible person but only due to isolation, dependency, and being enabled. You can tell if it weren't for her environment she could have turned out a lot better and learned to deal with other people. It's sad how she went out of her way to get Huxely comfortable but that considerate side wanes over time. Almost like she has best intentions but just cant understand. I also get uncomfortable when I see Dahlia trying to gaslight/manipulate Huxely and Wiskers, having someone you care about do this to you when you dont know better was greatly captured in this. Though part of me would like more endings and one where Huxely is able to neutralize or fix Dahlia. However the four endings we get are good on their own.

[@pinkpugginz]

all the characters have depth and are well written. the writer of the story is amazing

[@fruitymcfruitcake9674]

The creator is making a good route!!

[@aname6794]

@@fruitymcfruitcake9674 Really? Can you tell us more?

[@princessbeexxxx]

This game was precious in a twisted way. Huxley is best boy. Also, we(the player) is terrible. I mean geez...

[@sheikhjaved9203]

ikr, we were like "dahlia is sad, Lets continue doing that!"

[@NeonSonOfXenon]

We're the worst character

[@sharkshock5397]

the dollmaker is the one to blame anyways they would prefer to pick over another instead of balancing things out but honestly i think that fits the narrative more since the dollmaker while not exactly a child is very childish about their approach on one character during the entire game

[@Willowisp927]

@@sheikhjaved9203 The thing is, either we 'spoil' her or we are making her 'sad'. She is beyond repair.

[@noreingravity]

In the ending were you choose to keep Huxley they mention that they were gonna make him trust him even if he was a difficult one, because Dahlia used to be one too. That means she too opposed the toymaker at some point, but after literally two decades of manipulation, gaslighting (by destroying pages of her diary to mess even more her bad memory, since she said a lot of stuff she can only know happened because she wrote them downshe

[@ninjahunterx7497]

It's sad how Dahlia could have been so much better, if only she actually understood that others have their life too. Hucxly and Whisker is totally good.

[@alexkatc59]

Huxley is dick. He stole diary. He harmed her. He killed her. In second route he deliberatly provoked her.

[@hanin_gurl]

she's definitley brainwashed by the dynamic the owner has created. Doesn't excuse her actions at all, but it really shows that there is a bigger antagonist and that's the player's persona in the game.

[@ninjahunterx7497]

@@hanin_gurl Yeah, he should have been way more responsible. Since, these are sentient beings. Should have put someone with Dahlia as a friend at the beginning. So, she won't feel like it's just her own house. Also, could have given them more to do outside the house as well. Even if he didn't do those, there was another way to save her after all those years. That is by transferring her to another dolls house, who is kind and willing to help. By doing this Dahlia won't be able to be entitled as she owns the house and would be just a visitor in her mind. So, she will probably become less aggressive over time.

[@somdudewillson]

Huxley was very much not totally good. He stole her journal, escalated the ensuing verbal argument by physically attacking and injuring her, and, y'know, _murders Dahlia._ (Yes, she told him to sleep in his trauma box, but she makes no action to actually make him do it or make any threats to that effect either.)

[@ninjahunterx7497]

@@somdudewillson That's also true, but it's clear that Huxly has gone through a lot of trauma in his previous life. She, made him into a prisoner in a place, he should get equal footing. If anything, he was pushed to that state by Dahlia and the owner. While, Dahlia and the owner is usually bad in their behaviour and Huxly was not.

[@soullessginger168]

Can I just say, all the characters in this game were developed so well- Like when Huxley kills Dahlia, it's for a good reason. She crossed the line when she asked for the owner to rip his spring off, and the owner is messed up for doing whatever some doll says. The owner provoked many of the fights, they could have put the gifts in the attic to prevent any toys getting killed.

[@suitov]

This was a thoughtful, gruesome game. Huxley is so beautiful that I fell for him right away, so I can see why the toymaker chose him. Dahlia's design is nice too. Old-timey flavour with damage indicative of a long history. I agree with you that Dahlia didn't have much to redeem her in the end. There were some moments of desperation that made me feel bad for her, but at her worst she was just awful. Wisker's fear of her left no room to trust her even early on, and Huxley... she coaxed him out of his shell, got him trusting her, then turned nasty, and he clearly didn't know how to handle it. The way he responded to being forced back into the box was heartbreaking and too relatable. (The actions afterwards, maybe not so much. But hey, you know what they say about dead dolls' shoes.) So I think some more self-awareness on Dahlia's part wouldn't have gone amiss. But _could_ she realise that this was a pattern with her? Clearly her memory has some issues - as the toymaker says, she _is_ an antique. Maybe dolls age. More to the point, she's had her mind messed with - *ten years* alone each time she failed to get along with a new toy, not counting Wisker who coped by avoiding her, and having her aide-memoire censored. Does she even remember what she's like? I definitely see that it was on purpose that the game has no good ending, no route where you walk the line and ensure equality (I think you're right and the dollmaker low key wants the drama). All the same, I wanted there to be that option. I hate when toys are damaged. I watch a ton of old toy restoration videos.

[@sharkshock5397]

I think anyone that wouldve been Huxley during the Dahlia route would also do the same thing. Its essentially what happens when you push someone to their limits too far

[@alexkatc59]

Huxley is dick. He stole diary. He harmed her. He killed her. In second route he deliberatly provoked her.

[@cheddarchemist5644]

The way they fight and the owner doesn't interfere reminds me of something not discussed often: sibling relationships. Huxley and Dahlia are siblings, the owner is the parent. Whiskers is more of the silent sibling that gets caught up in their fights and just wants peace. It's become a norm in our society for siblings to fight. It's so expected, that *sibling abuse* is overlooked. We never talk about siblings being abusive. Why have we ever normalized this toxic behavior in families?

[@RX0_GundamUnicorn]

I have a lot of collected broken toys, there's one time I found a head of a broken dino bot (colored orange and doesn't even have a moving jaw), picked it up, repainted it, split the unmoving jaw, made a jaw mechanism and attached it to the head and now im currently for a perfect body to be washed ashore the same way I found the head

[@DondonII]

I believe dahlias journal was the only way she could consistently keep up with her actions. And have a place to vent to, soon after however it's removed. I believe this is due to the doll maker reading the journal themselves and realizing what's going on, thinking it would be best for everyone to forget he simply tears the pages out and has dahlia forget. Due to how nothing really happens in the dollhouse eitherway, it's just how she described her memory slipping with rose.

[@rock7146]

some youtubers rarely dont cut out a couple of scenes, but you dont and we appreciate that

[@hellspawnedhero1123]

I’ve seen a couple games where he cut out a scene or two

[@nexmorrison4802]

@@hellspawnedhero1123 Maybe, but from what I've seen it's usually a s3x scene that can't be easily censored (or something along those lines). Nothing to really make a game shorter, multiple playthroughs aside.

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

@@nexmorrison4802 sometimes he cuts parts where he needs to do a long puzzle. And i recall that time he was playing The Gray Garden when he made a cut because he had to defeat around 23 enemies, it probably would have boring to leave that fotage.

[@jeremyhall2727]

Yes we do

[@jeremyhall2727]

@@hellspawnedhero1123 hentai stuff 🤷🏾 guidelines rules

[@Mat69420k]

Huxley: How about another joke Dahlia? What you get when you cross a depressed clown, with a owner and a doll who abandons him and treats him like trash! I'll tell what you get, you get what you fuckin' deserve!

[@rinyaskyline]

- The last thing Dahlia heard before being curbstomped.

[@Chadmiral]

Lol

[@demon_xd_]

Some other comment said that there was a big DTWM update in the works with a new “good” ending, but after seeing this now I want Huxley’s Joker arc

[@dragondastan4763]

Huxley takes great pleasure in saying that. Dahlia isn't sure what he means but she figures it out soon enough. Huxley grabs literally everything and smashes her until she becomes a doll with no face.

[@Rain_boot]

@@demon_xd_ Do you know where they got this info?

[@FalselyProfound]

Love the little detail of Dahlia making a quiche for breakfast the morning after she fights with the Owner. Given she woke Huxley up to do so, I like to think she deliberately broke routine and didn't ask the Owner what to have.

[@DeadstreaK_]

This really messed with my heart dude, this seemed more like a sad fairytale than a horror story. Like, I felt more like I wanted to do something so fuckin bad than really terrified over what I was watching; not that I wasn’t but, y’know. I really really hope that there’s an update that adds a secret happy ending. If at least, one that’s hidden very well.

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

Exactly

[@ZorotheGallade]

It's all quite a tragedy. Huxley is clearly traumatized and snaps when under pressure, Dahlia is manipulative and needy, and the owner of the doll house treats toys that they know have their own personality and desires like animals they have to condition to their life, ignoring or neglecting the fact that makes them frustrated and they end up taking out that frustration on each other. And in all that Wisker is just watching everything unfold while being powerless to do much of consequence.

[@Yamaha_Piano]

Why are dolls never hungry? cuz theyre always stuffed

[@alessandrawesley9629]

That startled a laugh out of me! Nice pun!

[@Significantharrassment]

Hehehehehe (sans noises)

[@KarnageKardinalStudios]

Lol

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

Leave. Get out.

[@Yamaha_Piano]

thank you to the 30 people who enjoyed my joke

[@AN6_Miro]

Even with how awful Dahlia acts as a result of her obsession, its hard for me to really fully blame her? Her diary definitely implies at least some degree of essentially being gaslit by the Owner, and if what we see of the dates is correct it seems like shes been living alone with almost no actual company for a few decades. It very much read as someone with massive abandonement issues as a result of that. Shes desperately clinging onto someone who only sees her as a project in the grand scheme of things, and when they give her company to placate her genuine-seeming loneliness, the lack of actual 2-way-communication with the owner and her attachment make her afraid that shes going to be replaced and act out in response, or she kind of just passively enforces her way of things on them because *thats how things have worked for her and she has no reason to believe that she is doing something wrong.* It makes sense that shed get obsessed with the only thing she CAN really get obsessed with under those circumstances, and it seems that the Owner sees her as a favorite generally and will prioritize her wishes, but they also see her as a *toy* so she doesnt get any like, actual emotional connection? In the Huxley Branch, it feels like the Owner seems to view Dahlias behaviour as "acting like a victim on purpose" to make them feel sorry for her, when she most likely *genuinely* felt hurt because it felt like she was being replaced. Also the thing about Lucille definitely gave me the impression that it, whether intentional or not, kind of seems to form a little parallel with Huxleys arrival, with things initially going well until the current "Main Stay" acts toxic (or, well. Assaults) the more recent addition to the house. Dahlia seems to at the very least genuinely think Lucille pushed her with malicious intent, and it seems to have resulted in some permanent damage to her body, and it doesnt seem like the Owner actually took it all that seriously.

[@Willowisp927]

The thing is, even if you were abused, it doesn't justify you being a complete douche to others who are innocent. And no, I will not buy the card the the world was wrong and Dahlia was right every single time. It's her fault for THE WAY she did things, not because no one understands the reason behind this. Huxley even tried to confort her and clearly wanted to be left alone, but she insisted on destroying everything (even Wisker) because she felt that she was more important than everyone else, even more than the Owner. The Owner is the main evil, but she is also to blame for her own actions and is beyond repair.

[@mongoose9851]

A person can be both an abuser and a victim of abuse at the same time. Actually, that's often the case irl. That's why there are cycles of generational abuse within families- parents abuse their children who then grow up into parents that abuse their children who then grow up into parents that abuse their children, and again and again.

[@ForemostCrab7]

Wisker being affraid of Dahlia might also be why he does not want to have a mouth, cause then he would risk arguing with her.

[@Inspiration_Inspires]

i also find that’s why he was able to live in the same house as her since he can’t verbally disagree with her since she takes it as a personal attack

[@sophie0918]

Preferably I like Huxley, his sarcastic personality is really fun for me

[@milkshakedemanga8653]

Same, adored him since the start

[@derekfelson5509]

Wisker likes to play with crumpled up pages more than the things she makes for him, and the diary is missing a lot of pages. I really like that little detail.

[@jayncraft1233]

That dollmaker just an awful person. Can't he just give love to both equally? I honestly understand dahlia at that last part.

[@horsefuneral27]

you what now?? 😀

[@jayncraft1233]

@@horsefuneral27 you heard me uwu.

[@overlord5032]

@@horsefuneral27 they said understand not agree

[@horsefuneral27]

@@overlord5032 true but she literally murdered hux for something he had no control over 😭😭 that’s completely irrational

[@dmolegend1699]

🤨

[@CrazyKoopaCat]

the worst character is the toy owner. It's like he purposely threw the balance out just for entertainment's sake, though he does it less when favorin huxley versus when favoritin dahlia. It's kinda obvious that Dahlia was shown favoritism over the doll she shared the house with previously before whisker and theodore. I absolutely relate to huxley and like him the most. And you really pick up on Dahlia's issues early on. her patience and what not.

[@-R.E.D.A.C.T.E.D-]

Dahlia is the representation of the owner. Like a child to a parent. The child's personality and beliefs is morphed by those who takes care of them.

[@kimchi8022]

Hi manly, I just wanted to say thank you. I’ve always loved pixel horrors and indie horror games in general growing up. But for years I thought there was only IB,Mad Father, Witches house and that was about it. I was sad about it for awhile. But when I discovered your channel, I felt like I hit the jackpot. There’s so many amazing horror themed games out there that I didn’t know of.. I really want to thank you for playing Your Boyfriend too. When I watched your YB video, it gave me the suggestion for Sunny Day Jack. The game isn’t fully released yet, but since I’ve discovered it, I’ve joined the devs Patreon, discord and above all that, a community that I love. It’s so awesome being part of something with people that share the same interest and are also all waiting to experience something together. On top of that…I feel really happy. I was going through some emotional problems but lately they seem to have subsided. Thank you so much for everything :)

[@intelligentduck9255]

Girl my favourite is Misao

[@otaku-roblox398]

Glad your manly enough to explain all of that

[@jeremyhall2727]

I know it's going to be awesome 👍🏾

[@Arcueid_Brunestud]

The Crooked Man is another good RPG Maker horror game.

[@EmeraldAshesAudio]

MBH videos are really good for game recs. I am clearly the niche demographic for this channel, haha. If you like YB & Sunny Day Jack, you might be interested in the demos for Invite Me In, My Dear Hatchet Man & 14 Days with You. There are a surprisingly large number of horror romance games in development right now, and I found those to be among the more intriguing ones.

[@TheFreshPrinceOfSaiyans]

I wonder if her fall has something to do with the “memory loss.” Like, hinting at brain damage. Could be why she had memory lapses and problems controlling her emotions.

[@OrangeBotton]

That's what I thought!

[@ashlirabid9614]

It's quite a possibility.

[@Soroboruo]

I think a lot of ppl blaming Dahlia for overreacting in the Huxley route need to remember: this is not her first rodeo! There was a time when *she* was the Secondary Character in the attic room, where she was the less-favored toy, and then she rose to her laughable mote of power through a combination of factors. Previous toys becoming violent with her and getting taken out, taking out other toys herself, etc. Now she's seeing Huxley receive favor where she is not and she knows that means her time is coming to an end. She is completely materially and emotionally dependent on the owner's good graces, and she refused to be replaced. What Dahlia does isn't *good*, but it's very obviously behavior that has been rewarded and reinforced over time, especially compared to the start of her diary. The Owner, willfully or no, has set down the law and it's kill or be killed in this dollhouse. Hell, either route makes it clear that the other toy is or is becoming an accessory to the chosen one. Dahlia refers to Huxley as a 'gift' at the start, and it's less metaphoric than we might originally think. Dahlia cannot be condemned for monstrosity unless we accept that the experiences that made her that way are monstrous, particularly the actions of the owner. The Owner doesn't even comment about intervening during Huxley's murder until Huxley is already a lost cause; anyone can see that Dahlia was losing her grip and she's obviously been violent with the other toys in the past, but the Owner takes no moves to prevent her very obvious course of action by, say, removing the knife block?? Either the Owner is doing this deliberately (very possible, considering how all of Huxley's gifts are delivered in a way that unsettles Dahlia and lbr, could have been put in the attic or along with a shipment for her instead of being placed in the middle of the house for her to trip over), or the Owner doesn't care enough to stop things when they go horribly wrong, except for the sake of whatever the point of their "projects" may be.

[@PersonMan000]

I agree with you. In fact, I feel like when Huxley kills Dahlia, that becomes Huxley moment of transformation into a destructive monster like Dahlia. Not only did he coldly plan the murder, and smash her head in with no remorse, he even wore her face as a joke, practically mocking her corpse, something even Dahlia doesn't do. This is the moment Huxley, through trauma and abuse, becomes a monster, the same way Dahlia became a monster through her own trauma and abuse.

[@Jdmj1703]

​@@PersonMan000 I thought that too! That Huxley is different from the Huxley from before (when things weren't that problematic in the house)

[@huntercraft5674]

@@Jdmj1703 He even throws the liner "Im your new favorite now" or something like that

[@d.o.p.d.o.p.1775]

Dahlia has a bad memory though, so idk if she would have remembered being the underdog anyway.

[@RainbowTeddy9417]

This is actually such a pretty good horror game to be honest. It’s such a shame it’s underrated.

[@o.s.1406]

I really want more of these characters.

[@jpqgg]

im honestly very excited to see fanworks based off this. i think an interesting idea would be Huxley starting to get treated like Dahlia (aka spoiled), but Dahlia doesn't have the option to get violent because of the owner preventing her! its a bit weird how ive came up with 5 ideas based off this story alone in under 24hrs..

[@macelyamanyaklkyapyo4177]

I'm actually happy that this game is underrated, don't get me wrong, the only thing i'm sure about fandoms is more populer = more of weird side. There is a weird and awfull side in EVERY fandoms, especially in popular games. So if a game stays underrated, then the posibblity to attract weird side is less. I'm honestly scared of some weirdo making nsf-w of Huxley and Dahlia. It would be a nightmare...

[@blackandwhitecats4243]

@@macelyamanyaklkyapyo4177 Yo,I wonder what the tags will be for that "art".

[@macelyamanyaklkyapyo4177]

@@blackandwhitecats4243 it's actually a good question- YUP I'M WONDERING ABOUT IT RN-

[@SerotoninParadise5]

The toy owner truly is cruel, why couldn't the portrait been like a "family" portrait? Or give them a bigger house with their own customized rooms. Perhaps even as Dahlia suggested, making her a parasol and gifting Huxley his cane, or possibly even make him his own wooden legs and hands that way he wouldn't have as much trouble around the house and to avoid allowing Dahlia to make him feel indebted to her "generosity". I honestly love this change of concept though since there's hardly any that will show the true horrors of all the things that could go wrong.

[@bee.2392]

I think this game is a great representation of mental illness, specifically PTSD. If you push aside the murders that is. I’m not sure if the creator intended it to be a good representation of PTSD or not, so I don’t necessarily see it as problematic, especially since it’s toys and not people. Each character (imo) has PTSD in some way though and it’s shown differently depending on who it is, which is amazing. Huxley seems to have issues with past owners, as seen by his bleak outlook on purpose and his flinching/full on hiding at human hands. He tended to use comedy as a way out of his pain, given, it was dark humor (which literally, same). So that is his coping mechanism. His symptoms was the hiding and mindset obviously, ALONG WITH a fight or flight response to more mundane things and being more emotional. In Dahlia’s route, when he pushes her and cracks her leg, I do genuinely think it was an accident. It seemed more like shock/regret, which could definitely make an argument for it having been a fight or flight response. As for Dahlia, she definitely *should* have PTSD from all the things that happened to her my GOD! So it seems like she had murdered multiple people in the past, yes, but let’s take that out for now, mostly because I don’t wanna end up excusing murder. So if we look at the past she has in her diary, she didn’t seem to remember murdering the other toys, which in her mind it would simply seem like they would’ve been taken away which the only constant being the owner. Thinking about this it makes sense why she has such a toxic obsession over the owner, because she’s so scared of this one and only constant being taken away from her like the rest. Which now, it makes sense why she had gotten so jealous over Huxley. She was terrified of being abandoned by the one constant in her life. She couldn’t deal with it emotionally. Heck, even Wiskers has PTSD! The toy that came with him got murdered before their very eyes, or least that’s implied. He seems to be more so of the flight side of PTSD while the other two seem to typically choose fight. I don’t think I need to explain this much, seeing as he is terrified of Dahlia and more so attached to Huxley in both routes. Although I do think he’s attached to Huxley seemingly from the start because it’s a change. Rather than living in a house with he very person who traumatized him and murdered (assumedly) his best friend in front of him, he has a new person, someone to distract him from Dahlia’s presence and find comfort in. It’s quite sweet, their relationship. At least in my opinion. Sorry for the complete ESSAY for this haha, I just have PTSD myself and it really is hard to live with. It’s nice to see multiple representations of it in one piece of media, mostly because that way it’s not just one person’s PTSD people are exposed to, but multiple. It’s nice to know that if someone were to play this game and notice all their behavior’s that it wouldn’t just be one single representation for all the millions of people will PSTD, because everyone handles it differently. It’s quite comforting. Plus, I get to relate to someone in one of my favorite content creator’s videos. Now that I think about it, maybe it’s not the best I’m relating to someone in Manly’s video. Yknow. A horror genre gamer. The genre where either people die or or murdered… 😅

[@crowzy_crowz]

loving these theories

[@vienna-mf8xb]

I love your theories and how it help you! I hope you have a good life bro

[@lilmao4482]

For the Dahlia part, remember that her diary implies that she’s been through this situation countless of times, on both hers and Huxley’s side. The most obvious one is with Rose(?), who literally tried to murder her (most likely to keep the owner’s affection). Her reasons for murder aren’t excusable, but it’s understandable- the owner has basically confirmed for her that in order to SURVIVE and keep his affections (not get taken out of the toybox) is to make sure you’re the only one they love. I have a theory that even the years in Dahlia’s diary are false, and she just asked the owner what the date was. I’m not sure why the painter was taken out, but its heavily implied that Dahlia had killed, hurt, or somehow caused the “fuzzy man” (bear? It’s Whisker’s ex-friend) to also get taken out of the box. Tl;Dr in case I was rambling: the reason for all of the bloodshed in the dollhouse is because the owner has both enabled and enforced the rule of “kill-or-be-killed”

[@runzumarun4925]

I've been in a relationship with someone who constantly needed reassurance they were loved and cared about more then anything...so dahlia went from thinking she wasn't worth the owners time..to being their number 1but she saw that she only got attention when she got hurt or ignored...dahlia lived for the owner so when the thing she lived for is turning even a little bit of attention from her she felt abandoned..so Huxley had PTSD and abusment issues while Dahlia had abandonedment issues

[@Chaos7887]

Would have appreciated a good ending, where both Dallia and Huxley became friends, and there was peace. I get that this is a horror game, but even horror games have potential to have a good ending.

[@countcock5694]

I think the dev wanted a bitter end to be inevitable for the sake of the game's lesson. Its sad but its very fitting.

[@PK_Scratch]

1:17:17 I think she ultimately knows who to apologize to deep inside, so she is correct in apologizing the the owner who plays god. I mean she survived 30+ years of ownership under someone who very clearly treats the toys as replaceable objects. Her "love" of the owner is probably just part of her coping mechanism to try and stay sane and a very heavy stockholms effect. I mean, if you were living in a place where someone could pop your head with two fingers, kept you inside a house with no means of exiting without their intent and their ever present omnipotent influence on your life and who comes and goes... Yeah, it's no wonder Dahlia. And even from the owners viewpoint, she has to make up with him, not with Huxley, as is shown by what he immediately says afterwards too. And she knows what happens when abandoned. It means you're on the chopping block. As far as she's aware, the attitude she has kept her alive and kept the interest of the owner, so like it was said in the spoiled her ending, the owner was enabling this and causing her to become the way she was. Paired with an agonizing loneliness, it's guaranteed that any interaction that happens in the toy house would end in tragedy. Which is to say, this game could have a few prequels for each of the previous tenants and the slow descent into madness. And she has to be at least partially mad to show no fear to what is essentially an eldritch horror being, made of flesh and not porcelaine like herself, who has full authority over her small world and unknowable amounts of other ones outside her toy house. As for 1:19:50 this would work, but not in Huxley's situation. He clearly knows they're toys based on the Dahlia route, he's clearly afraid of you who is a godly like being to them. So his speech rings ultimately empty in the context that they are literally sentient toys. And Dahlia here clearly understands, if you don't entertain the owner. You're out. And it's fairly clear Huxley's not exactly friendly with Dahlia. As Dahlia noted, when she was locked in her room for multiple days in a row, Huxley clearly has no care about it despite knowing personally how it is to be stuffed in a box. In the end, both toys were fairly twisted in their own ways and the owner made things worse, with none of the participants showing any real empathy (and I know people like Huxley, but think a bit on some of his actions, he's not really doing a lot of thinking about Dahlia's circumstances, even after reading her diary and from his route, it's clear he's very defeatist in some ways and has opted to just completely abandon everything, so he's really just going with the motion and just living in the moment, but that also includes without much care of future consequences, only about immediate consequences). At least Wisker got away though in one of the routes. And oh no. He put the doll in a jar, don't google that. Her final mental snap to me indicates she realizes that the madness of loneliness was likely keeping her well and alive. Even if the only company was an alien being, it was better than the sudden fear and knowledge of being replaced. Though I guess in the end she opted to just end it all, likely it all came rushing up including all the memories she repressed and it broke her. Maybe she broke in the same way in the past and the owner remade her, creating those blanks in her memories. In short: Huxley is friendly but lacks any empathy or forward thinking. Dahlia is mentally broken and deep down knows what is needed to live. The Owner is definitely playing Sims. Every ending is exactly what you'd imagine with an Owner like that.

[@theequalizer694]

And is wisker just a victim?

[@rinyaskyline]

Ehh. Huxley was previously owned, and seemingly previously abandoned. His outlook is not only reasonable, but something Dahlia should have been open to. But she drove herself down the path being the toymaker's only favorite, and it blinded her to the point of thinking she can do and say whatever she wants to the other toys knowing to that they'll be punished if she so chooses as long as she's the favorite. It's also worth noting that while Huxley is rather pessimistic about his life in the dollhouse, he still tries to be friends with Dahlia in both routes. He reasonably gets sick of Dahlia's attitude and actions in his route, while only attacking Dahlia after making the toymaker take everything from him. He doesn't even go to any extreme lengths, like burning down the dollhouse, but rather he does what he does and then let the toymaker make the decision if he lived or died because he was content with knowing that he did what he wanted to do. He also left Whisker, who did nothing in both routes, finally escape and maybe be happy somewhere else. Huxley and Dahlia are both very tragic, but Huxley was kind at heart and (largly) passive in his actions. Dahlia, as seen in her diary, only likes things her way. She may be the biproduct of a horrible person, but that doesn't exuse her behavior.

[@Me_When_A_Funny]

Man, get this doll a hug. Cause I feel like if there was a good ending it’d literally just be Huxley giving Dhalia a hug

[@alex_ho]

Unironically, the best ending for either of them would be for Huxley to convince Dhalia to abandon the owner and they both escape the Dollhouse together with Whiskers.

[@overlord5032]

@@alex_ho nah they need the owner to maintain them so I think the best ending is if the owner seeks therapy and stops being an asshole🙃

[@dmolegend1699]

@@overlord5032 W

[@lvrboi92]

I have a theory regarding Huxley's heightened fear whenever the narrator's hand enters the dollhouse. He's always had A HAND INSIDE of him, up his rear end. As realistic as these "toys" are, I can imagine that would cause severe trauma, adding another dark and sad layer....

[@Useless-DPS-Lizards]

55:20 Damn Huxley really hitting that weakspot, I'm not one for horror but I did enjoy this. Really was sad the endings you get but that's how it's gotta go in these types of games.

[@CatNamedSteve05]

watching this is so painful. I wanted so badly for Huxley to get through to Dahlia and maybe some altercations but in the end the Doll maker dude just kind of leaves and they all live together being happy

[@christinehurley2487]

So, it's clear the owner definitely messed with the diary, they even said in the crepe choice "I'd just tear the pages out if I used my fingers" they know from experience And it's clearly referranced in the diary, Dahlia wasn't the first doll in the house, and, like Huxley, when the previous home owner started being mean and jealous she was confused and upset because she thought they were friends, and initially mentions the other doll hurting her and the owner "not believing" her, despite the fact that we see the owner very heavily monitors them, then after having to fix her the owner seemingly has grown more attached to her now and the other doll disappears... It's clear why the diary is so heavily tampered with, as Dahlia probably took some time venting and dealing with the fact the owner could switch favorites on a whim and simply get rid of toys he deemed too troublesome, with the pages gone though, you could almost interpret it as the owner protecting her, as opposed to just punishing the other doll for acting out Dahlia, who maybe can't remember prefectly clearly (whether that's from the roof injury or a trauma response is unknown) does still seem to understand her life is dependent on her onwer, something Huxley *doesn't* understand as he seems to think they can just live together and almost ingore the owner, though we, and possibly Dahlia, know that eventually just watching everyone get along and play together would get boring for an outside viewer All though every ending seems to imply that things went "out of control" and the owner will simply have to try better with the next dolls it's clear that they create these same situations on purpose, seeing as Dahlia turned out the same as the abusive doll before her, so much so that it had to have been identical situations that made them that way, and the fact that there were simple solutions to getting the dolls to get along I mean, it's clear they can read and the owner can craft things to their scale, if they had *wanted* to be understood they could have easily been, but it's much easier to keep the dolls afraid if the owner is more like an unknowable god to them They see Huxley afraid of them but have no problem reaching in and doing whatever they want anyway, even if those things seemed to be nice, it's still a show of power over them, a very clear "even though this is your space I still control it" Hell, even getting to control if Huxley gets to walk or crawl as the spring can be taken or gifted whenever the owner pleases, much like a god that you have to keep appeased There were no happy endings here, but there never would have been, they wouldn't have ever satisfied the owner, and so the most telling of all the endings is really "You spoil her" Because Huxley understands exactly what the owner did, that he made Dahlia the way she was, and he could either do the same to Huxley or break him for being defiant and he was resigned to either decision (having previously stated that, as a puppet, there was nothing he could do about his situation except to refuse to play along) (implying if you did choose to keep him he could very well have been thrown out later for not doing what the owner wanted) And as far as easy solutions to the toys getting along, even without the owner getting directly involved in that... Well, it was a bad sign immediately when it made you pick a favorite, if it was ever going to work there shouldn't have been a favorite, Dahlia even said it herself, she didn't care that the owner gave Huxley a present, she cared that she didn't get one, and continued to not get any as the owner made it increasingly clear they had moved on from favoring her, if she hadn't snapped it would have only been a matter of time before Huxley became the bossy one with their all powerful god now on his side (and in fact, that's why he had to kill her in her endings, because he knew that she could, at anytime and for any reason, ask the owner to get rid of him, and rather than live like that he took the choice out of her hands entirely) The fact that there was no choice the player could make to lead to a happy ending, despite the owner being all powerful ruling over the dolls implies there was never meant to be one.... And so of course the owner *did* have to pick a favorite, because after all.... It isn't really a game without a winner and a loser, is it?

[@ebagentj]

As a doll collector, I of course know all my dolls are inanimate and don't care of how much attention I do or don't give them (or I would have been stabbed in my sleep since they're all still in their holiday clothes because chronic pain and inertia has kept me from changing their outfits), but on a surface level it did make me wonder (and Toy Story did, too) what my collection would be like if they were animate and personified. Especially since I have so many of just one brand of doll that I try to "spoil" equally (if just for the sake of having even wardrobes for them). Also, one thing I caught was I think Wisker preferred Huxley partially because Dahlia mostly seemed to treat him as a pet, making him sleep in a pet bed and picking him up by his scruff and such, while Huxley treated him like an equal, talking him and doing puzzles with him and such. I have no doubt Wisker saw at least whatever fate befell Theodore (presumably the Teddy bear that came with him) and that's a reason he doesn't want to upset her, but especially in the "Dahlia favorite" route he was trying to make his preference for Huxley and how he treated him like an equal a secret out of fear of Dahlia's reaction, and cowered back to acting like just a rabbit when she was watching.

[@alexkatc59]

They are alive, you fool!

[@crabrangoo]

RIP Huxley, he was a real one. Will be missed 🙏🕊 stan Huxley.

[@Hauntaku]

Dahlia did nothing wrong. Rest in pieces, Hexley.

[@crabrangoo]

@@Hauntaku excuse me

[@o0Scarrow0o]

The fact that huxley is referred to as 'broken' a couple of times and how he has this fear of the owner that the other two don't have makes me think he actually used to have legs and his original owner probably played to rough with him or something and accidentally (or on purpose) ripped his legs off

[@mogenoof]

well, he's a hand puppet, so the og owner probably moved him around without his consent, and above that shoved their entire hand inside of huxley so i'd assume that that would traumatize anybody

[@Sweetrad]

Fun fact. A story where the main character is referred to as "You". As in You the reader Is considered a story told in the 2nd person

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

Cool

[@alexs.7956]

Daaamn, the art in this game was so good! I absolutely loved it, and the character design is cool. Huxley carried the "body horror" Part, and I honestly empathized with him a lot.

[@fuy1648]

After ending 2 I realized that the owner makes literally everything theirself and probably has some sort of way to give souls or sentience to the dolls they make. This is why dahlia has so many tiny books, it is to be expected after 30 years of owning her. Imo.

[@gerickollarena]

This Owner is terrible, he really doesn't understand how to split attention It's either one or the other, no wonder he only makes crazy people

[@ashlirabid9614]

Maybe the owner is on the spectrum.

[@Cam-im8io]

@@ashlirabid9614 if it was a austist it wouldbe covered in mess and useless stuff

[@ashlirabid9614]

@@Cam-im8io I can tell you know nothing about Autism.

[@leaguerear2974]

A Titan just peeks in through the window and says "Hey everyone, this is ManlyBadassHero".

[@Candy-im1kp]

bro Huxley crying freaking shatters my soul

[@JotaDeeMeO]

No... no happy ending? This was sad. I loved Dahlia's design but indeed she was spoiled rotten to a bad degree. Huxley is generally speaking the biggest victim here.

[@azzikko2688]

Fun fact, Indian in the Cupboard *is* an Isekai, but for the Indian. The toys that get brought to life are actually real people being brought forward in time. The story is actually super interesting. I highly reccommend it, there's like three books.

[@charadreemur8884]

:0 Wait I remember reading that book for school or something! It was a long time ago but I’m pretty sure it was a good read. Calling it an isekai though, is hilarious but it fits.

[@ichigoeater]

You mean a reverse isekai, right? Where people from other worlds are isekai'd into ours. I don't think that actually counts, though, since it's just time travel. Though, people count A Yankee in King Arthur's Court as an isekai, and Arthurian Legend takes place on Earth, so maybe it does count. Completely different time periods may as well be different worlds.

[@lefandomtrash7746]

Dahila: Gaslit (removed diary pages so she can’t remember- even mentions her being angry over it being tampered), having been in this exact cycle of abuse before, isolated for long periods of time, rewarded for adapting to the cycle of abuse, attachment issues. Huxley: Isolated, bad experiences with owners, gets manipulated throughout the game (no matter the route), not the best at deescalating situations (not his fault though bc his reactions are understandable), abused. Whiskers: Likely witnessed his best friend get murdered in front of him, knows of Dahlia’s abusive habits, has likely been on the receiving end of the abuse, physically cannot speak out. All of them: Isolated in Dollhouse, knows they’re being watched by Owner, displays sentience and pain. Literally never given any reassurance over anything. Being played with like a bad Sims game instead of being treated as sentient beings (that happen to be toys) with their own autonomy. Trapped in the cycle of abuse. “Why does every project end in failure?” 😶

[@Strikerkong]

I'm not going to pretend I wouldn't start a dictatorship with my Warhammer models as my enforcers.

[@blakeboi9306]

When i heard "clown soup" I was like "are they about to pull some cooking companions shit?"

[@Aven_colonthree]

Jevil wtf

[@dontatmeimmoody2895]

Dahlia’s behaviour when you give Huxley a gift reminds me of when you have that one really needy and jealous friend in high school, maybe one that insists they’re your best friend and hates when you give attention to someone else. She reminds me of someone I know. It’s too real.

[@crystalcryptid2022]

This game hit TEN THOUSAND downloads last night. And it looks like you're a big part of the reason why. Thank you for playing this, and games like this. You always seem to make videos on games not many people have heard of. And now that you have so many people who see your videos, a lot of people get exposed to games they might love, but never would have found without you. There's also the game devs this affects. Don't Toy With Me's dev? She said she never thought something she made would get this much attention. Artists pour a lot of time and love into what they make, and for something like this to happen to something they've made? It feels amazing. Keep up the good work.

[@Vladdislavv1]

I was always a fan of novel horrors, especially when there is no good ending, that just fits in the game perfectly, like it should be with the horror games. The part that I like about novel horrors is that they don't rely on the things like jumpscares and all that "spooky" stuff, but more on psychological aspects. And huxley's ending where he kills Dahlia just feels so tragic. Basically, you're left with a house, in which, recently, a doll that loved you died because of someone who went through a lot of emotional pain and now went to get his revenge. After that, you're just left with a dollhouse with that one doll, and you must just live with it... Or just rip it instead, causing even more murder. Makes me have feelings that I can't even describe...

[@Hauntaku]

There is a good ending but it's not exactly a good ending. After destroying the dollhouse because she felt guilty and alone, Dahlia is rescued by the owner and probably given a brand new dollhouse with nobody else. She'll have to live alone until the owner eventually gives in to her demands and the cycle will likely repeat. Luckily, she's quick to forget probably because of past trauma. It's a very interesting story!

[@zionthedragon8866]

@@Hauntaku That's not a good ending though? But given your previous comment up above, it makes sense you would say one of the bad endings where it is dahlia living is "good". I could say the one where Hex lives is good. Nothing says she felt guilty or shows it, that's your head canon unless the author said somewhere otherwise (which if so, proof it with a link). And if the cycle repeats with her hurting MORE toys, how is this a good ending? Makes her MORE of a villain. And she never once forgives? She says she will forgive Hex for *HER* bad actions (which hex was wrong to push her) through force of violence, aka "appeal to violence" fallacy, which thus she isn't a kind forgiving person, and it doesn't make sense for HER to be the one needing to forgive. It is up to HEX, BUNS, and a tiny pathetic degree the PLAYER to forgive her. Not the other way around for the abusers to forgive the abused for trying to be independent and not basically depend on their attention and let their world revolve around said abusers. You are honestly starting to sound (keyword, SOUND, I am not saying you are) pretty terrifying, like as if you are like dahlia, this sort of manipulative, narcissistic, murderous, zero accountability person. Which frankly I ask you to seek help if you really think like this. Sure, hex wasn't perfect, but the owner and dahlia were absolute MONSTERS here. One is of the owner's own making, and other is the owner themselves.

[@Willowisp927]

@@zionthedragon8866 Don't take that person seriously, as they needs some serious help or are (hopefully) trolling for attention. They were justifying Dahlia murdering and constantly abusing Huxley on another discussion, claiming that Dahlia was a 'good' character and that Huxley was a 'whinny emo' and everything he suffered was only his own fault. Lol, what? Most people are comparing Dahlia to a sick abusive ex, so I guess 'Manga Mouthful' is one lol, if they ever did actually get someone to be in a serious relationship with them, eh.

[@zionthedragon8866]

@@Willowisp927 I know. At first I thought it was like two comments they said (one more up above and this one) but as you scroll on, they are everywhere. So I kind of snapped and responded to everywhere they left a comment. I have been a victim of sorts similar to hex by a dahlia, and the fact they support the abuser (I don't mean this to sound -ist or whatever, just something I notice which society seems to promote here) who happens to be a girl, and I think because BOTH the fact: they may be like Manga mouth her, AND possibly the fact they are a girl (people usually and easily simp for girls, even the most unattractive one, be it physical or mental, and I noticed girls who relate to a character will get super defensive and attack any who criticize the character. Because my psychology class taught me that this is basically self-projecting and justifying their own bad behavior), the viciously defend them. I even said I hope they never meet people irl (because of them possibly snapping like dahlia and start killing friends, random civilians, family, partners just for the fact they could look away from them and heaven forbid interact with another living creature. This screams narcissistic sociopathic behavior to a T. All I can say now is heaven help those who deal with this person irl, *IF* they really act and believe like this and treat others this way. If this is a troll, then this is going way too far imo.

[@Willowisp927]

@@zionthedragon8866 Good points and I completely agree, mate. Anyway, I hope you find a nice person unlike someone like this, if you already have not found that is haha. Have a good day!

[@shawnheatherly]

I loved this. Toy Story made horror, of course things worked out as they did. Huxley and Dahlia were doomed by the simple fact that their owner was cruel. I do agree Dahlia is infinitely less sympathetic than Huxley though, she's just so hostile no matter what you choose to do or how Huxley responds to her. On the flipside, Huxley is sympathetic regardless of the route; the worst he does to upset her is some snide remarks, and they're always in response to her being cruel. The culmination of both routes are fantastic, the limited CGs don't detract from the events.

[@somdudewillson]

Uhh, the worst he does is very much not just snide remarks. He steals her journal, which she relies on because of her forgetfulness, and then physically attacks and injures her during the following argument.

[@eleenajackson2915]

Okay let me say this. Huxley.. is the best character I've ever seen! The first ending when he ripped Huxley in half. I screamed "Huxley noooo!!!" Huxley is such a sweetheart.. 🥰

[@fangirlme33]

LIGHT SPOILERS OH MY GOSH HUXLEY HAS SOME BACKBONE FOR BEING A PUPPET, MY GOD, DAHLIA, GET DUNKED ON. This game is so depressing and amazing and the trauma and mind games is stellar. The double metaphor with Huxley being a puppet with Dahlia wanting him to be that way, just a grateful houseguest who does what she wants while she feigns being a gracious host, it's *mwah.* Great game, love the art, and Manly is always a stellar let's player who finds these neat titles to share with us. Oh man, did I not expect to praise the dickens out of a game about living toys today.

[@horsefuneral27]

FR HUXLEY REALLY MANAGED TO BE CORRECT *AND* HIT DAHLIA WHERE IT HURTS LMFAO

[@Shar3dAccount]

*_i love your vocabulary omg the usage of stellar is 🤩🤩_*

[@Chadmiral]

It's understandable why Huxley killed Dahlia in his ending while she was asleep. She has the advantages of having a structured body,better mobility,dexterity,and slightly better physical strength. Huxley doesn't have any frame to back up his physical strength,and since his introduction,it's been mentioned multiple times about his low mobility. Though he seems unbothered this disability,just another drop in the ocean for him. Though I do fault Huxley for snooping around with Dahlia's dairy.

[@StoicVeR]

The way I interpret it, Dahlia is spoiled because the Dollhouse owner tried (too hard) to bond with her, since she was difficult. Huxley is referred to as a 'broken' puppet, and the reason he's fearful of the owner is because he was maybe broken in the past, due to his defiance for performing and telling jokes. So, that's why he's all despondent and doesn't care about anything, until the owner starts giving him attention and gifts.

[@AlyceMalyce]

As someone who owns a ball jointed doll, I am one of those people who get very excited over perfect replica miniatures that fit my bjds scale. She's 60cm and I love how it looks and enjoy the idea of treating her well due to a belief that good energies, or spirits may inhabit anything but are drawn to human looking things. So treating things well is important, but it's not a popular belief or scientific.

[@pinkpugginz]

I love this

[@mondsternleinch.5253]

This is something very subtle I noticed, but they actually change the character artwork EVERY TIME you klick to a new sentence. Which means they manage to have a slight shift in emotions every single time. This just goes to show how well paced this game is.

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

I am forced to point out that it is not every time, not even mentioning that they obviously freeze when the narrator is the one talking.

[@TemmiePlays]

I watched as I read this. it's not even sorta every other sentence. it's just typical ren'py engine asset rotation

[@StoneHavel]

First time seeing a visual novel?

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

@@StoneHavel yeah lol

[@PanzerIVAE]

It's just RenPy Every single action or line of dialogue you can designate a change in art. "character" "dialogue" #art

[@Blu_Maryze]

This made me hold my breath unconsciously I feel really bad for Huxley :C But damn also you get the real feel how the MC is the creator of this little hell, the fact that they don't realize how they're causing it too is within itself a tragic-comedy

[@charmainelee5085]

i can't help but laugh everytime Manly does the 'hmm' sound whenever he's feeling sus at Dahlia for the things she say HAHAHAH 😂

[@aisadal2521]

Heartfelt horror, Manly's specialty, get it while it's still hot 🥰

[@chilomine839]

This game has a gallery. There is only one type of game genre that has waifu and galleries and I can’t say it here.

[@grimreaper2438]

@@chilomine839 why can’t you say it here 👀

[@chilomine839]

@@grimreaper2438 Imagine if you will the types of videos KZbin likes pulling down.

[@celswolf]

You are like a cruel god. Like when your SIMs are swimming and you delete the ladder from the pool.

[@micahbruce4547]

I have never related more with a character in my life. What happened to Huxley in Dahlia's route has happened to me before and pretty much went exactly how it did in the game (besides the whole murder but or course) and it almost makes me think that the game devs must have gone through an experience similar to what happened in game or know someone who has gone through that experience.

[@loiiysailor1177]

Dahia is pretty much what happen if Woody is an antagonist becomes a jealous monster that no one was to be with , his actions cause harm around him, differences between her and Woody, that Woodly learns from his actions Dahia dose gose thourgh with her awful actions that she cause

[@KaLa1865_]

I'm really glad I pushed through and watched this whole thing. This style of horror is so unique and I feel it takes skill and creativity to pull off. Despite the overall wholesome/light atmosphere and friendly art, things still somehow turned dark. I'm most impressed at how disturbing the "body horror" aspect of it was, despite them only being dolls. The sudden dark imagery in contrast to the wholesomeness we were exposed to before it definitely adds to that. I'm also really intrigued with the kind of person the Dollmaker is and the kind of person Dahlia is. The main aspect of horror in this game seems to be the rising unease as we spend more time observing Dahlia. The mystery of the previous dolls already foreshadows this and I liked the way they built the downhill of Dahlia's relationship with Huxley and us, considering her personality. I find the route where we side with Dahlia to be most disturbing, in that despite our (the players') morals, the Dollmaker had adapted to Dahlia's personality and even, in a weird way, "inherited" her way of thinking, simply to give her whatever she wants. It literally felt like we're trying to control someone who was being controlled by Dahlia. I like that it was pointed out that we were playing "God". I guess in the grand scheme of things, I can agree that we were the main antagonist; the way we talk about having the burden of remaking them in certain endings definitely felt more like a "bother" rather than a tragic loss. I thought that was very interesting. This is just my thoughts but I definitely feel motivated to stick through these subtle "horror" games more now. There's a lot of dialogue but there's something about this slowburn that's refreshing to see.

[@pinkpugginz]

I love all the dialogue

[@enigmastudiosgaming]

I can totally understand Dahlia's feeling upset at being replaced. But clearly she has a basket of mental issues, and yes, I have to agree that the REAL antagonist in this story is the Dollmaker. Huxley didn't deserve his ending, that is true, but I think that the Dollmaker could've easily shaped events to help soothe them both. In the end a strangely compelling story, and a very sad one! It would be interesting to see into the larger world of the game, what was happening in the other dollhouses. It could easily have been a series. Or maybe will yet be?

[@buttons551]

Yeah, the Dollmaker is the root cause of everything. At times he seems caring but that's surface level as he seems so cold about their feelings. They definitely didn't communicate well with Dahlia about things because they make their presence known to her regularly but doesn't really talk to her. Much better communication would go such a long way with her.

[@wakaitsu]

I mean, try to look on situation from Dahlia's side. Dollhouse is the only place she knows. Dollmaker is the only other intelligent being she knows. And that is ALL. All there is in her world. Imagine never leaving your house, not even by means of internet or phone, with the only other person in your life being your father, who's constantly occupied by his work and doesn't pay much attention to you. That's Dahlia. A lone, scared to her porcelain bones toy that clinges to her "today" and fears any "tomorrow". It is really a sad, sad image.

[@corpsehandslauren]

24:30 Yes, and no. Yes I love her because I make and collect dolls like her. No cuz I'm not fandom trash :p But I'm *so* loving this game! It reminds me of how I and a lot of other kids played with their dolls. Lots of "realistic" (read: toxic and melodramatic) relationships and horror stories where one doll is the serial killer and the other ones are the victims, so this isn't "ironic" for me. Fun times...and Manly's commentary has me really laughing my head off this time ❤️

[@siegwardinspirit]

Yeah it's pretty interesting. A world where toys actually have feelings like kids ascribe to them in pretend play, but the owner still just treats them like objects of entertainment instead of tiny people, which leads to conflict between the toys and between the owner and the toys.

[@runedoom]

Hi, fandom trash here. If you want to watch a həntai with a doll somewhat similar to Dahlia, look up tiny evil episodes 3&4.

[@hdnfbp]

I love how manly moved to a pose at 30:24 to exemplify even we tho we don't see him doing it

[@tomboyenjoyer.]

Right now I think it's the mc's fault not the toys because he started choosing favorites It was bound to happen by the time there was a choice option

[@Forgemno]

How is it favortism to give a guy a bed or cane?

[@erihtea0719]

@@Forgemno Without context of the owner’s thoughts, I would have thought of the gift as just a nice present too lol

[@erihtea0719]

In response to the main comment, I think the favoritism was inevitable. It’s just that owner made it way too obvious and unintentionally provoked Dahlia.

[@Forgemno]

@@erihtea0719 lol. But he gave her a house. That beats a bed. I thought it was a pity thing or maybe a welcome gift. I assume he was put there so she wouldn't be alone. I could be reading it wrong.

[@Hauntaku]

@@Forgemno Dahlia asked for a new friend and got a complete jerk for a roommate but she tried her best to be friends with them. Her diary entry about him was pretty sweet but then he murdered her in that route. I consider the true ending to be the one where Dahlia survives.