Web Video / Tactical Cupcakes

T.C. and the main LORE characters. ^{From left to right} Ruv, Tankman, Senpai, T.C., Sarvente, Sky

Tactical Cupcakes is a content creator with an ongoing series of videos focused around the game Friday Night Funkin'. Her videos started off as demonstrations of the game's songs but quickly formed detailed lore and an expansive cast of characters.

Has a mod based on the LORE series called Muted Melodies, which sees T.C. meeting Boyfriend and Girlfriend.

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Her videos provide examples of:

• Adaptational Heroism: Several characters who were antagonistic in their sources go on to become close friends of T.C., most notably Senpai, Sarvente and Sky.
• Adapted Out: Boyfriend and Girlfriend are nowhere to be seen in the main series. They are mentioned by a few characters, though, such as Pico and Big Brother. The couple eventually did appear in the Muted Melodies mod.
• All Just a Dream: Sky's abilities allow her to share dreams with other people, leading to several episodes taking place entirely inside a dream.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: Senpai, Sarvente, Ruvyzvat, Sky, DRIP SPIRIT, Lia, Updike and Cloud have all had playable appearances in the series. The BETADCIU ^note But Every Turn A Different Character Is Used videos are this taken up to eleven.
• Arch-Enemy: While T.C. is quick to make friends or acquaintances out of the people she encounters, DRIP SPIRIT is someone she tries to avoid whenever possible. The Drip is even considered to be her biggest weakness.
• Author Appeal: T.C. is a huge fan of OMORI, and tends to use music from the game in her videos, and at least one character from the game in her BETADCIU videos.
• Back from the Dead: The DRIP SPIRIT manages to defeat T.C. while possessing Sky, but with the help of King it doesn't stick.
  • Tanner and Marie are turned from ghosts back into ordinary humans thanks to Sky's powers.
  • Lily Engrave is brought back to life as a zombie because of Myra's loss of the Life Runes she was carrying on to.

• Big Bad: The DRIP SPIRIT is a recurring enemy who often possesses the main characters and turns them against each other.
• Bilingual Dialogue: T.C. is selectively mute and usually speaks through sign language. Most of the cast understands it well enough, though there are some exceptions like Tankman.
• Bland-Name Product: In one video, Tankman invites Senpai over for a game of Extravagant Destruction Siblings.
• Bottomless Magazines: No matter how many times a character shoots in a song, guns almost never run out of ammo. Almost, as the Two Hearts episode shows Updike and Fever just so happen to run out of ammo as soon as the previous rap battle ended.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: T.C., Senpai, and DRIP SPIRIT all frequently make jokes referencing the fact that they're in a game/youtube video.
• Brick Joke: In the GTFO video against Lia, T.C. fails to escape through a boarded-up window because her agility level isn't high enough. Much later in Down Bad she does advance an agility level, prompting a textbox telling her she can navigate boarded-up window shortcuts.
• Cast Full of Gay: Many main characters, antagonists, and side characters are LGBTQ+. Several episodes include characters who fall for same-gender characters, and characters who use multiple, or gender neutral, pronouns.
• Chekhov's Gun: In Just Some Fluff, Updike turns off his phone to focus on spending time with Cloud, leaving him oblivious to what's going on at work, until he sees that Smiler has breached Greater Good's containment.
• Chekhov's Skill: Sarvente teaching T.C. the exorcism song Parish comes in handy when the former ends up being possessed.
• Cutscene Incompetence: During rap battles, the characters are able to dodge attacks with ease, with few exceptions. In cutscenes, characters often forget their own agility, often requiring an ex machina to save them from a gun they could've dodged before.
• Defeat Equals Friendship: Most of T.C.'s enemies don't stay enemies for long, with even a ruthless gang member ^note Rosie giving her an honorary spot in the gang.
  • The DRIP SPIRIT averts this, as it just comes back every time with more of a grudge.
• Demonic Possession: The fate of anyone attacked by the DRIP SPIRIT.
• Demoted to Extra: Selever makes no major appearance here outside of being possessed by the DRIP SPIRIT.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Did you just beat Death ^note King in a rap battle?
• Duels Decide Everything: Almost all conflict in the series tends to be resolved through rap battles.

Sky: I'm going to sing at you, since that seems to solve all of our problems.

• Extranormal Prison: Updike runs an organisation known as The Greater Good, which is both a science facility and prison for those with supernatural properties.
• Flashback: On occasion, T.C. recounted the events of being kidnapped by Lia. These episodes often served served the purpose of showing remade versions of sprites and music, as the original events happened in very early LORE.
  • In Reflection, Skylar is asked about her absence, after helping defeat Lia in a mall. It cuts to a flashback, as she tells them how she encountered SOMETHING HEARTBREAKING as a consequence of using her manifest powers.
  • Lily Engrave in Requiem has a moment where she reverts back to her human form when reminiscing of her pop idol days one last time before she dies.
• Gender Bender: In an early episode, Ruv accidentally orders the wrong drink at a pub, which turns out to be a gender swap potion that turns him into a woman. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for Sarvente to reverse the effects with an antidote.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Zardy suddenly confronts T.C. in Bushwhack as she's making her way home. He's not implied to exist anywhere else in the series, and T.C. doesn't bring up the encounter afterward.
• Guns Are Worthless: Though used multiple times in LORE's dramatic moments, guns usually don't bring the user's desired outcome. The most notable example being that the targets almost always dodge the bullets when shot at, or are saved through luck.
  • Another example of guns not bringing a desired outcome would be Pico accidentally shooting T.C. in her leg when not meaning to.

• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Despite her talent, T.C. is quick to make jokes and sarcastic comments at her own expense. It's always either her doing it or the other LORE characters.
• Killed Off for Real: Garcello is killed by his smoking habit in the mod featuring him, and afterwards only appears as a ghost.
  • Lily Engrave also suffers this same fate in her home mod when she regains her memories.
• Lampshade Hanging: One Running Gag in the series is T.C. talking about the plot of the current video and a second character chiming in asking what plot she's talking about.
  • The dialogue for Centre Stage in the Muted Melodies mod has BF referencing the "obligatory third song transformation" common to fan mods, with T.C. responding by saying there's no budget for one.
• Love Triangle: A long running arc had T.C. and Ruv both falling in love with Sarvente, with T.C. feeling disheartened whenever she perceives the possibility of Ruv winning. The arc ends with Ruv and Sarvente getting together, which T.C. doesn't take well.

• Nothing Is Scarier: Lia's appearance in the holiday episode only features her voice in the beginning, with her singing from offscreen. When she properly shows up mid-song she has no notes, adding to the effect.
• Oh, Crap!: In the Run video, when T.C. realizes she's outmatched.
  Drip Sky: "Sounds like a great idea to me. Let's run with this one!"
  T.C.: "Nice refer-"
  T.C.: "Wait."
• Only a Flesh Wound: In the Takeover video, Updike shoots Ruv in the leg to stop him from fighting. Likely justified, as Ruv is stronger than a regular human.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: In the remastered DRIP SPIRIT week:
  DRIP SPIRIT: "I will break you. By. Any. Means. Necessary."
• Put on a Bus: Sarvente and Ruv depart from the rest of the group in "Parish LOREmix", and don't show up again afterward. This was done because of the Fanwork Ban on Mid-Fight Masses content.
• Red Herring: The "very important item" Taki wants retrieved is simply a rubber duck he kept as a childhood memento, named 'Dukki'.
• Running Gag: With LORE episodes often switching from different characters and arcs, brief "Meanwhile..." narrations are a common occurrence. However, alterations are commonly made, some of which including:
  "Nicewhile"
  "Pleasantwhile"
  "Delightfulwhile"
• Ship Tease: Ice Cream Cake ^note T.C. and Sarvente is touched on in several videos, most notably here. Unfortunately, it was eventually sunk due to Real Life Writes the Plot.
  • Senpai later has moments with Tanner from the Ghost Twins mod after the latter is made human again.
• Shout-Out: T.C. is a huge fan of the games Banjo-Kazooie and OMORI, and her spritesheet has multiple references to both, as well as her experiences with Runescape and Runescape Classic.
  • The opening cutscene of Gospel is a direct reference to the final battle of Omori as well as the drip Omori meme.
  • Ruv gently opens the door to the church early in the Takeover video. Unsurprisingly, things take a turn for the worse before the end of it.
• Steel Ear Drums: Not only do the characters keep singing when threatened with gunfire, the gunfire itself do not pose any threat to characters' hearing.
• Sudden Video-Game Moment: In Down Bad, a notification appears saying that T.C. advanced an agility level after avoiding a swipe from Lia's knife.
• Surprisingly Creepy Moment: True to the game this series is based on, episodes can quickly jump from lighthearted humor to flat out horror with the appearances of Lia, the various SOMETHINGS, Tanrie, and so on.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When Ruv approaches Updike and Lia to force them out of the church. As strong as he is, he's unarmed and they both have weapons, so Updike simply shoots him before he can do anything.
• The City Narrows: Several misfortunes have occurred in alleyways in LORE, often being major (and spoiler heavy) moments, including: Garcello's death, T.C.'s first encounter with Updike, and several moments relating to DRIP SPIRIT.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: The series is mostly a lighthearted slice of life, but the antagonists are generally dangerous killers or personal demons, and (aside from DRIP SPIRIT) usually have little in the way of comedic traits to lighten the mood.
• Villain Episode: DRIP SPIRIT, Lia, and Updike all have episodes dedicated to their own adventures, some of which don't even mention the protagonists. Most have the antagonist themself starring as the player in songs.

• Wham Line: When T.C. is being beat down by a Drip-possessed Sarvente.
  "T.C. will not succumb."
  • In Run:
  T.C. Succumbed.
  • Later in the same series, we get this:
  "DRIP SPIRIT became AFRAID."
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: LORE has no confirmed location, with hints of American, British, and sometimes even Australian culture. Likely influenced by Tactical Cupcakes herself being an Englishwoman who lives in America.
• World of Technicolor Hair: Several characters, whether dyed or natural, have unnatural hair colours. This includes the main characters, T.C. and Skylar, as well as the now defunct Sarvente and Ruv.