The Host

* Close Your Eyes
* Red Haze
* My Hole is a Mouth of Dirt
* Feast Your Eyes

**The Host** is a reoccurring character throughout many Yai Gameworks titles, most notably appearing in *Close Your Eyes* and its many versions.

## Appearance

The Host's most notable appearance is that of a game show host with green skin and a striped green suit with slicked-back hair. He also has a wide grin on his face. Another notable form that he has taken is a massive mouth full of giant teeth, as seen in *My Hole is a Mouth of Dirt*.

## Biography

The Host is suggested to be a creature known as the Grinning Demon, a being that once summoned can do almost anything that a person desires appears, with the price being that they are to be taken away by him some time after the contract is completed. However, it is stated that the Grinning Demon merely wants to talk to them and will always protect and be there for them, even if they don't want him to. He refers to other entities known as "The Folks", whom are implied to be his masters. Conversely, other entities in the Yaiverse could match the description for this entity, leaving it uncertain which one is the Grinning Demon.

The Host is shown to be near-omniscient, as well as capable of manipulating reality and possibly the perceptions of his "victims" to a certain extent, most notably the Marshmallow Monk. While he seems to be immortal, he is not invulnerable, as shown in one ending of *Close Your Eyes* where he is shot in the head and temporarily killed or incapacitated by Marshmallow, though he soon returns as a blob of flesh and kills them.

Throughout the games in which the two appear, The Host's relationship and obsession with Marshmallow grows more twisted and darker over time, seeking to prove to them and his invisible (and possibly fictional) audience Marshmallow is actually a wicked creature. The Host does this by psychologically and physically torturing them, rescuing them from being executed to then serve as a contestant in his twisted "game". It is implied that Marshmallow experiences most, if not all, of the different endings in the various versions of *Close Your Eyes* due to a time loop created by The Host.

However, despite The Host's cruelty, he adamantly states (except in one particular ending of *Close Your Eyes*) that he'll always keep Marshmallow safe and be there for them, something which aligns with the Grinning Demon's rules (and showing that they are undoubtedly the same being). It is also shown that The Host has been searching for someone like Marshmallow for a long time, referring to them as their oneironaut and seeking to use them for an unspecified goal.

The Host has also appeared to other characters throughout the Yai Gameworks franchise, most notably Rockette and Simon.

### *Close Your Eyes*

In *Close Your Eyes*, The Host appears to Marshmallow Monk infrequently and enters them into questionnaires as a "contestant". During these questionnaires, The Host cryptically asks Marshmallow Monk to "close your eyes", even going as far as trapping Marshmallow Monk in a room and not letting them out unless they do as they're told.

### *Red Haze*

In *Red Haze*, The Host dresses as a construction worker and becomes "Construction Host". He can be seen by Rockette seemingly starring at a wall in his construction attire. During this scene Rockette says "I think you're in the wrong part of town, bud", but The Host replies with "I'm exactly where I need to be", suggesting there is a deeper reason to why he came to the Lighthouse Apartments. After calling her by name (something that she didn't give him), Rockette leaves and completes the run. Following this, Rockette returns to The Host on subsequent runs, wearing different outfits while he shames her for her past and the choices that she's made, as well as indicating that he remembers her separate runs. In the finale of Ending H, Rockette is told that she is too easy, her problems are fixable, and she is not who The Host is looking for as she isn't "broken enough".

### *Take the Dream IX*

After Take The Dream IX's school scenes, The Host, assuming his reaper form, grabs Gwen and drags them to the *Close Your Eyes* world. After fighting the train, Gwen meets The Host who soon sends them to the next world after a quick questionnaire. during this questionnaire, Gwen is told to "close your eyes", possibly making them similar to Marshmallow Monk, indicating that Gwen is an oneironaut as well.

### *My Hole is a Mouth of Dirt*

In *My Hole is a Mouth of Dirt*, The Host as the giant mouth found deep underground.

Near the end of *My Hole is a Mouth of Dirt*, Simon speaks with the mouth. During their conversation, the mouth disapproves of Simon's faith, claiming "The Saint is no saint, even if he claims he is". He proceeds to talk about Simon's life story, somehow knowing it, and declares that he needs Marshmallow Monk. Simon refuses to give them to the mouth and escapes, going through a door and waking up in his room.

### *Feast Your Eyes*

Unlike in *Close Your Eyes*, since Marshmallow Monk's eyes are closed, as stated in the game's description, The Host behaves very differently and no longer asks Marshmallow Monk to close their eyes.

#### Act 1

At the very beginning of *Feast Your Eyes* Act 1, a sped up clip of *Close Your Eyes: Redux Final Expansion* plays where Marshmallow Monk repeatedly obtains different endings while The Host talks over about the true nature of failure. This scene is more focused towards the player, seeming as if Marshmallow Monk doesn't actually experience this scene. A short while after this scene, Marshmallow Monk meets The Host on a stage, where The Host tells Marshmallow Monk about the story of the spider and the fly. Marshmallow Monk gets asked which one they think they are. If Marshmallow is the fly, then "they are in The Host's web", and if Marshmallow is the spider, then "they must catch The Host in their web".

Marshmallow Monk is told that they are needed for something, and that they are The Host's oneironaut. After this, Marshmallow's noose is swapped for a chain. The Host also appears at the end of Act 1, when photorealistic green arms reach out to Marshmallow, and throws them into Kokoro Love Sick where The Host has taken on the role of Marshmallow Monk's father.

#### Act 2

At the start of Feast Your Eyes Act 2, The Host "makes breakfast" in the kitchen, while he is doing this, any attempt to enter the kitchen will result in The Host redirecting Marshmallow Monk to the front door, if Marshmallow Monk tries to enter the kitchen after their interaction with Valerie, The Host will react differently, telling Marshmallow Monk to hang out a bit in their room, they will say this even if Valerie isn't present.

The Host later appears at the very end of Feast Your Eyes Act 2 in some mining tunnels, he says that he and Marshmallow Monk haven't had a talk in ages, that Marshmallow Monk is perfect, and that they are exactly what he's been looking for, a image of The Host with a ripped up suit, what seems like shedded skin around his head and patches of white skin in place of where his usual green skin should be is then shown as Marshmallow Monk approaches The Host.

### Beloved Juice

The Host makes a mysterious appearance in the house basement in Beloved Juice, he seems to have some level of control over the events of Beloved Juice and even breaks the forth wall talking to the players / stream chat. The basement sequence is ended after The Host returns Beloved Juice Girl back out the basement, but not out the house, The Host's motivations behind this are unknown.

## Trivia

* The Host is voiced by the game's creator, AestheticGamer, and is one of the few characters voiced in *Close Your Eyes* and other titles.
* Oneironauts are individuals who can travel through dreams (resembling lucid dreaming in real life), and in fiction this often includes travelling into other people's dreams. While it isn't clear if the so-called "oneironauts" of the Yaiverse are only travelling through dreams (perhaps between worlds as well), it suggests what The Host possibly wants from these beings: the ability to move between dreams and/or realities.
* The Host's Official Steam Trading Card cryptically states that The Host is good friends with Marshmallow Monk possibly extending The Host's relationship with Marshmallow Monk to more than just "The Host's obsession".