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scoutofmymind · 4 months ago

Note

hey babe I’m not the anxiety attack req anon but wow do I need to read that!!!!!

That Funny Feeling — { Luigi x Reader}

Content: panic attacks, anxiety disorder, sweetie boy Luigi, friends to lovers, Disney World (lol), Ms. Anxiety is referred to as ‘her’, Bo Burnham lyric reference, lots of pet names, comfort

Wc: 4,101

Notes: You and Luigi have known each other for over a decade, and in that time, Luigi has found himself rather well versed in handling your anxiety attacks. But what sets him apart isn't just his ability to help you through these moments — it's his perspective on them.

Hello my pookies. This request is super recent but I felt compelled to write it! As someone who struggles with anxiety (especially during winter months) I felt generally responsible for portraying the feeling of anxiety disorder as realistically as possible, and with that being said, please take care of yourself — if you think reading this will cause any anxiety, or trigger you in any way, please do not read!

There’s plenty of other things to read on my bloggy 💕

I deleted this original ask on accident, if it wasn’t already obvious, so original anon (maybe) responded to my Hail Mary with another ask:

Now I’m thinking I had several anons asking about anxiety attack reqs bc the original was just a general request (no mention of an exam or gettin freaky) about reader having an anxiety attack and being comforted by Luigi through being his sweetie self and physical touch.

Anyway, I added a good girl for you, anon. 💋

There it is again, that funny feeling.

That funny feeling.

You still remember the first one.

Where all of it started.

Disney, of all places, where dreams were supposed to come true, or whatever.

You and Luigi were dancing around the Just Friends label, though his willingness to endure a fourteen-hour road trip with your family spoke volumes. He'd claimed the passenger seat next to you without hesitation, making this his third family vacation with yours.

Your parents drove ahead in their own car, leaving you to manage your bickering tween siblings with Luigi as your sole ally.

The separate cars were your mother's idea — a stroke of genius, really.

After last year's catastrophic drive to the beach with everyone crammed into one minivan, personal space had become a priority. Your father had joked it was for everyone's sanity, but you knew it was mostly for his.

Looking back, the warning signs had been writing themselves across your day in bold letters you didn't yet know how to read. Strange sensations you'd never experienced before crept in at the edges — moments where the lines on the pavement seemed to ripple and dance, pulling your focus until the world around you blurred.

There were seconds, terrifying and fascinating all at once, where you felt yourself floating somewhere above your body, so disconnected from the earth that your own name became a foreign whisper in your mind.

The tingling started subtle — a live wire of sensation that would spark without warning, racing up your spine like lightning searching for ground.

It would burst at the base of your skull, sharp and electric, gone almost before you could process it.

These symptoms, these peculiar feelings that should have set off alarm bells, you dismissed as exhaustion, dehydration, anything but what they really were.

Honestly, Disney hadn't exactly topped your travel wishlist — you'd dreamed more of quiet European cafes or hidden mountain trails — but you'd sooner wrestle an alligator than voice any complaint about being at the self-proclaimed happiest place on earth.

Besides, there was something almost supernatural about the way Disney's magic worked its way under your skin, seeping into your bloodstream with each step closer to the kingdom.

The transformation from cynic to believer happened somewhere between the parking lot and your hotel room, as if crossing that threshold stripped away your carefully cultivated teenage skepticism.

Suddenly you were giddy with possibility, enchanted by the little touches that made everything feel surreal — Mickey-shaped waffles that were too cute to eat, chocolate-dipped strawberries appearing like edible rubies on your pillow, and Luigi's laughter mixing with yours as you both sprawled across crisp hotel sheets, talking well past midnight despite knowing tomorrow's alarm would be merciless.

But it was nothing caffeine couldn’t fix.

"C'mon," Luigi's voice carried that edge of concern you'd grown familiar with lately, his elbow gentle against yours as you sat at the hotel's breakfast bar. His dark brows pulled together, creating that little wrinkle you usually found endearing. "That's your second espresso."

You knew exactly what prompted this — either that pretentious health documentary he'd made you watch last week, or those endless conversations with his med school friends.

The last thing you needed was an interrogation before your first ride, especially from someone who'd once tried to survive finals week on nothing but Red Bull and prayer.

"It's basically just a double shot, Lu," you murmured, your voice honeyed with practiced patience. You speared a chunk of pineapple with your fork and lifted it to his lips — a tried and true distraction technique. "People do it all the time." The people in question being you, most mornings before school, but you kept that detail to yourself.

Some lectures weren’t worth inviting, and you were running out of time to get the most out of the breakfast bar, at least with the crammed itinerary your siblings had planned.

The sensation hit you almost the moment you passed under the wrought-iron gates.

The press of bodies, the shuffle-step of crowds being herded through winding queues, it all started to feel suffocating.

That strange disconnection from earlier crept back, stronger now, but you pushed it down. Blamed it on the Florida heat, on too much sun, on too little sleep — on anything but what it really was. But then the world started to narrow, your vision tunneling until all you could see was a pinprick of light ahead, everything else fading to a nauseating blur of color and movement.

You fled.

No destination in mind except away, away, away from the crushing weight of too many people in too little space.

Luigi had been waiting in line for god knows what when he noticed you'd vanished.

He found you later — minutes or hours, time had lost all meaning - wedged between two meticulously manicured topiaries. Donald Duck and Goofy's cheerful forms cast dappled shadows over your huddled figure as you pressed your head between your knees, desperately trying to remember how breathing was supposed to work.

Each gasp felt like trying to suck air through a coffee stirrer, your lungs burning with the effort of simply existing.

The moments after he found you exist only in fragments, like a film reel with missing frames.

Your focus had narrowed to the simple task of staying conscious, counting breaths that refused to fill your lungs properly. But you remember Luigi's panic with startling clarity — the way his usual steadiness shattered into sharp-edged fear.

He'd never seen anyone like this before, and the sight of you — normally so composed — crumpled between cartoon shrubbery sent him spiraling. His voice pitched higher, words tumbling out faster, convinced your heart was stopping or your brain was hemorrhaging or any number of catastrophic scenarios his medical friends had planted in his mind.

It wasn't until you'd gone completely still, retreating so far into yourself that even his increasingly frantic questions couldn't reach you, that real terror seized him.

The last thing you registered was the sound of his footsteps pounding against pavement as he sprinted away, shouting for help.

He'd left you there, alone in your private apocalypse, while the happiest place on earth continued its cheerful orbit around your collapsing world.

Somewhere nearby, a child laughed.

A parade song played.

And you forgot how to exist.

Over the years, you became fluent in the language of your anxiety — learning its dialect of triggers and tells.

Though most attacks still ambushed you without warning or reason, appearing like sudden summer storms in a clear sky, there was a growing anthology of things to approach with caution; hot and crowded spaces, lack of clear exits, too many consecutive nights of poor sleep, too many drinks the night before. Some rules could bend; others were steel-rigid boundaries you'd learned to respect.

Luigi, ever the engineer at heart, remained steadfastly convinced that those two espressos had been the match that lit the powder keg that morning at Disney.

He'd quote studies about caffeine's effects on the sympathetic nervous system, ticking off statistics about heart rates and cortisol levels with the same intensity he once used to memorize roller coaster heights.

You'd let him have his theory — it was easier than arguing, and his concern came from a place of love.

In the decade since that morning in Disney, Luigi has watched you wage war with an enemy he can't see or touch.

For someone whose world operates in binary — in clean ones and zeros, in problems that can be debugged and solved with enough careful coding — watching you battle something so abstract and unpredictable has been its own kind of torment.

"I mean it," he'll say, dark eyes serious in that way that still makes your heart skip, even after all these years. "If I could just understand the variables, map out the function that triggers it..." He trails off, but you know what he means.

Luigi has always believed in learning through data, in breaking down problems into manageable chunks until a solution presents itself.

But you've made him promise never to wish this on himself.

There are some kinds of knowledge that come at too high a price.

Still, watching him move through life without this constant companion of fear sometimes fills you with a complicated mixture of relief and envy; his brain doesn't betray him with false alarms and imagined catastrophes, and it doesn't make him better — you both know that — but God, there are days when you'd give anything to experience that kind of mental quiet, even if just for an hour.

Dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant had become almost routine when organized by Luigi's circle — a mix of brilliant minds who'd evolved from awkward coding camp kids into successful engineers, plus their equally accomplished partners.

The old social anxiety that used to accompany these gatherings had faded to background noise, manageable enough to let you focus on the menu rather than escape routes.

In fact, nothing lately had set off your internal alarm system.

No triggers lurking in dark corners, no unexplained spikes of dread.

For the first time in recent memory, your mind felt.. Well.. Quiet.

Your therapy journal — a habit maintained since the Disney incident — reflected this unprecedented peace.

The past few weeks had been remarkably clear, like someone had finally adjusted the lens through which you viewed the world, even compared to your good years, this period stood out as exceptional. A far cry from that morning a decade ago when you'd found yourself becoming intimately acquainted with topiary versions of Donald Duck and Goofy.

But there she is, joining the table unannounced — anxiety, that vindictive ex who always seems to know exactly when you've finally stopped checking over your shoulder; the moment you dare to relax, to think maybe you've somehow outgrown her, she kicks down your door without so much as a courtesy knock.

It starts in your chest, right after a sip of wine — expensive stuff, carefully selected by the sommelier with his practiced French pronunciation; one moment you're admiring the way the wine catches the light, and the next, your ribcage feels like it's being crushed in a vice.

Oh, fuck.

Your mind immediately launches into its familiar spiral of worst-case scenarios, each thought more catastrophic than the last.

When did you last have wine?

Could you have developed an allergy?

Is this anaphylaxis?

Your throat isn't closing up, but maybe it will.

Should you be able to feel your heartbeat this clearly?

Is this what the beginning of cardiac arrest feels like?

The rational part of your brain — the part that's been through this dance a thousand times — tries to remind you that you're fine, that this is just anxiety's signature move.

But panic has always been louder than reason.

Luigi presses his temple against the side of your head, that familiar gesture of affection he's perfected over the years. Like some oversized, obsessed feline marking his territory, "What you gettin'?" His warmth bleeds into your skin. "You've been here before, right?"

But you're too busy wrestling with your own mind to fully process his presence.

No, you're not dying.

You're not dying.

You are not dying.

But what if..

Stop it.

Please, not here.

Not now.

His words filter through your panic in fragments, like trying to catch radio signals through static.

Been

here,

right?

"Mm-hmm." The sound escapes like a breath you'd forgotten to release, your head bobbing in what you hope passes for a normal nod.

The menu before you becomes your anchor, though the carefully curated descriptions of dishes blur and swim across the page, words dissolve into abstract shapes, then into nothing at all as your vision tunnels inward, focused on the growing storm in your chest rather than the $95 risotto description you're pretending to contemplate.

Around you, life continues its normal rhythm.

Someone laughs at a joke about crypto drama, wine glasses clink, a story about a failed startup makes its way around the table, but you're watching it all through thick glass, separated from reality by an invisible but impenetrable barrier that arrived unprompted and appears to have packed for an extended stay.

"Mm-hmm what, angel?" Luigi's voice cuts through the fog like a lighthouse beam, momentarily illuminating a path back to shore, and you blink to find it again while your shoulders automatically square in an attempt at casualness that feels as obvious as a neon sign. "You with me?"

He's learned over the years to modulate his voice just so — keeping the concern tucked beneath layers of practiced calm. Luigi knows now that panic is a mutiny; your mind's crew turning against its captain, led by powder monkeys convinced each breath might be their last.

In these moments, you're a ship without stars to guide you, your internal compass spinning wild and useless.

He's discovered that once the storm hits, there's no turning back to safer harbors, no amount of retracing your wake will stop the waves from coming.

The panic has to run its course, has to drag you through its depths before it will release you back to the surface.

Like a riptide, fighting only exhausts you faster — you have to let it carry you out before you can swim parallel to shore and break free.

This is what your therapist tells you, what Luigi reminds you, what you know somewhere in the rational corner of your mind that's still functioning.

There's no fighting the abduction when it comes.

Resistance only makes the ship sink faster.

But believing it while you're drowning?

That's still a lesson you're still learning.

Your focus narrows to a single champagne bubble in Luigi's glass, watching it rise with desperate fascination, as if this tiny sphere of effervescence holds the secret to staying grounded. Your chest constricts further, every sense heightened to painful clarity — the scratch of silk against your skin, the too-loud clink of silverware, the overwhelming scent of truffle from three tables away.

Your body screams warnings in a language you're fluent in by now, though you wish you weren't.

The message is always the same.

This is it. This is how you die.

"Just have to go to the bathroom." The smile you manage feels like origami folded from sandpaper, but you place your napkin on the table with practiced grace.

Even as your insides are being shredded by panic, your muscle memory remembers its manners.

You navigate your exit with the poise of someone whose nervous system isn't currently attempting a coup, only to discover what can only be described as panic attack architecture at its finest — a single stall bathroom, complete with what appears to be a leather wingback chair, because apparently this is the kind of establishment where people need to sit contemplatively while powdering their nose.

Some interior designer's questionable choice about bathroom furniture has just become your salvation.

Later, when you're back to being a person who can form coherent thoughts, you'll want to write a thank you note to whoever decided that this bathroom needed a seating area.

Right now, though, all you can focus on is the mechanical process of existing; spine straight against the leather, shoulders rolled back, lungs remembering their one job.

Time dissolves into a blur until a familiar silhouette materializes before you — all black turtleneck and chocolate waves, appearing like a storm cloud in reverse.

Luigi crouches, his words filtering through your panic; a light through murky water. "You didn't lock the door." It's not an accusation, just gentle explanation.

"Worked in my favor, though." His forearms settle across your lap, warm and solid, while his fingers wrap around your torso with practiced care, his thumbs finding their place beneath your ribs, pressing with deliberate pressure — a physical tether to the present. "Feel that?" He looks up at you from his crouch, studying the vacant expression he's come to know like a seasonal forecast. "Where am I?"

Where am I?

The question echoes through the static of your mind like another signal cutting through the white noise.

It's become your lifeline over the years — Luigi's idea, one of his elegant solutions to a complex problem, the kind of simple brilliance that's pulled you back from the undertow countless times.

"You're in my belly." The words come out barely above a whisper, but they're there. You focus on the steady pressure of his thumbs against your skin, the thunderous beating of your heart against them, proof that you're still here, still existing, still breathing.

He hums softly, a gentle "Mm-hm, good girl." that doesn't quite reach through the chaos of your thoughts, but his thumbs pressing steadily into your sternum somehow breach the mutiny of your mind. "Where am I now, darling?"

Your brows knit together as new anxieties stack themselves like stones — the table of colleagues wondering about your extended absence, the inevitable questions about Luigi's disappearance, the mounting social debt of disrupting such a carefully orchestrated evening.

"My chest." The words escape as a whimper, and Luigi's expression shifts with recognition.

He knows exactly where she's made her nest tonight — that malevolent stowaway, that hijacker of peaceful moments, that pirate who turns calm waters treacherous without warning. She's taken up residence behind your ribs, squeezing your heart like it's treasure she means to keep.

"Mm — yeah," he breathes between a gentle nod, one palm spreading wide across your sternum, the other a steady presence on your back.

The pressure feels overwhelming for a split second, like being caught between two closing walls, but then- "Breathe with me, baby." His voice is low, steady. "Breathe in for me."

Through the crackling fizzle of your thoughts, his voice cuts through like a clean line of programmed commands, and you draw air in through your nose, your body remembering this familiar subroutine even when your mind is caught in an infinite error loop.

"Out." He demonstrates, his own exhale warm against your skin as he presses his nose to your cheek. A soft, approving hum vibrating through him when you complete the cycle — one successful execution of this breathing protocol you've practiced countless times.

For the next six minutes, your world narrows to this simple command-and-response; his gentle prompts, your body's gradual remembrance of how to operate its most basic function.

Input, output.

Inhale, exhale.

Reality still feels like you're underwater, everything distorted and just out of reach.

The sensation draws a physical response — your fingers curling into the soft wool of Luigi's sweater, anchoring yourself to something tangible, your brows pinched together. "I'm-" The apology dies as the first tears breach your defenses, and you remember belatedly that Luigi's already witnessed every shade of your darkness.

"Shhh," he soothes, rubbing solid circles into your chest while the strap of your dress slides rebelliously down your shoulder. The scene would be quite the tableau for any accidental witness — especially since Luigi hadn't thought to lock the door after pointing out your own oversight. "We gotta get her out of there." His lips curve into a gentle smile.

The her being that wicked thing that's made a home in your chest, coiled around your lungs like a python, squeezing tighter with each passing second.

"It's always at the worst times." Your voice emerges paper-thin as you stare at the ceiling, fighting against tears that threaten to break free; you know if you let go now, you might flood this whole restaurant with the weight of your shame. "I'm so sorry."

Luigi shakes his head, though your gaze remains fixed upward.

"Look at me," he whispers, nudging his nose against your neck to encourage you to look away from the ceiling while his hands maintain their steady orbit — one drawing circles into your chest, the other tracing constellations between your shoulder blades. When you finally lower your head, he meets you halfway, forehead pressing to yours. "You never need to apologize for this." His nose brushes yours, a gentle reassurance, before his lips find your cheek. "There is nothing to be sorry for."

But there is, and the weight of it sits heavy in your throat.

Because you are sorry.

You're horribly, terribly sorry for all the moments Luigi has sacrificed to tend to you — his hands learning the maps of your distress across chest, head, and belly, working to exorcise that wicked presence.

You've pulled him from meetings, from deadlines, from life itself.

He's tracked your hazard lights down empty highways, found you pressed against brick walls in city alleyways, breathing into paper bags.

He's always been right there, though.

And every episode has refined his expertise, until caring for you in crisis has become as natural to him as breathing — though that knowledge only adds another layer to your guilt.

Sometimes you worry — no, that's not right. You're always worrying — about what would happen if this all fell apart.

If Luigi woke up one morning and decided he was done being your sanctuary, done pressing his thumbs into the spaces where your demons nest, done chasing away the thing that makes your heart hammer and your fingers go numb.

What if one day he craves simplicity — a love story without footnotes, without having to keep a mental catalog of triggers and remedies, without having to scan rooms for exits and quiet corners just in case she decides to visit.

But in reality, Luigi doesn't carry these thoughts at all.

Not even a whisper of them.

To Luigi, loving you isn't a burden — it's as natural as the way his hands know exactly where to press, as inevitable as his instinct to follow when you disappear.

He doesn't see himself as a therapist or an exorcist.

He sees himself as the person who gets to love you, who gets to be there when you're strongest and when you're struggling to remember how to breathe.

Every time he finds you — whether it's in bathroom stalls or behind steering wheels or pressed against alley walls — he’s not thinking about what he's missing; he’s thinking about how brave you are, how you keep fighting even when your mind turns traitor.

He's thinking about how you still show up, still try, still love with your whole heart even though this disorder has taught you how quickly things can shatter.

You see yourself as a compilation of crises.

He sees you as complete.

Where you count the times he's had to rescue you, he counts the times you've trusted him enough to let him in during your darkest moments.

Your fear of being too much is met with his certainty that you're exactly enough.

"You know what I think about?" Luigi murmurs against your temple, his hands still tracing those steady circles. "I think about how strong you are. How you feel everything so deeply, and still get up every morning. Still love so fiercely." His voice drops lower, meant just for you. "Still choose to trust me with this part of you."

One of his hands slides up to cup your face, thumb catching a tear before it can fall.

You're still trembling, but it's different now — like aftershocks rather than the main event. "Remember our first real date? When we decided after three years to stop playing the just friends shit?” He asks suddenly, a soft smile playing at his lips. "When you had a panic attack at the theater, and I found you outside?"

He doesn't wait for your response, knowing how words still feel too heavy on your tongue.

"You apologized then, too. But all I could think was how brave you were, coming back in to finish that awful movie." His forehead presses against yours again. "That's when I knew, you know. That I wanted to be the person that would always find you.” You sniffle gently, reaching your hands to cradle his face into them as he continues, "I'm not going anywhere."

Your breath catches — not from panic this time, but from the sheer weight of his words settling into your chest.

They nestle there, pushing against the lingering tightness, making space for something warmer.

"But I-" you start, the familiar litany of apologies rising to your lips like muscle memory, and Luigi shakes his head, the movement gentle against your forehead.

"No buts," he says softly, firmly. "Remember what we talked about? No apologizing for the way your mind works." His fingers trace the line of your jaw, steady and sure. "I see you surviving. And I see you letting me be part of that. Do you know how much trust that takes?"

"I keep waiting," you whisper, the words barely audible, "for it to be too much."

Luigi's laugh is soft and tender. "And I keep waiting for you to realize that too much isn't in my vocabulary.“

#this was very… tender #I’m crine #this is my second time trying to post this #I can’t believe I deleted the original post #I seriously wanted to crash out #anyway.. enjoy my lovelies #luigi mangione x reader #luigi mangione fanfic #req #Luigi mangione

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aggresivemenace · 4 months ago

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Oh, to be a Trazyn's precious little treasure... pt. 1.

Warnings: bad written OOC, power imbalance, wattpad ass cringe. Sorry, not sorry. Cringe is my vent therapy. No proofread, we die like warriors. I'm writing it like half awake

• humans always fascinated Trazyn.

• of course, he would never admit it out loud, but they did.

• their entire history is an incredible little tale of overcoming, struggle, and suffering.

• no claws. no fangs. no natural armour like shells or thick skin. no horns. no fast legs. no strength. no poison.

• only thin, warm skin. little brittle bones. weak muscles. addiction to oxygen. carbs, proteins, fats, H2O. just carbon based little things. poor ones indeed.

• and yet Imperium of the Humankind is one of the strongest forces in known universe. this fact alone was fascinating.

• the second thing Trazyn found admirable is how different humans are. one can't find two of the same specimens, and even twins would have differences.

• uniqueness is what he absolutely loved about this race.

• he secretly found humans adorable, like little cute animals. before biotransference, Necrontyr's culture was very pet-friendly.

• necrons are just minds trapped in mighty flawless metal bodies, but their emotions, memories, and other things that sentience gave them.

• maybe they have no souls, but it doesn't matter that they don't experience emotions and feelings.

• so one of the things on his wishlist was to get himself a little human. of course, not just any baselines necrons manage to catch, but something special and peculiar, just like Trazyn likes.

• so he just ordered to present him every baseline captured in action or even bought on black markets (usually humans sold there are some kinds of psykers, mutants and other interesting specimens)

• he looked for something outstanding. mesmerising. beautiful. captivating. something, what deserves to be intact of biological death and rot through milleniums of years.

• and...finally he got you.

• he immediately noticed something captivating about you, among others.

• of course you were absolutely terrified of him, especially because you've never seen a necron, only heard about them from rumours and books.

• just a scared little clump of warm flesh, they got him from some disgusting drukhari hellhole, where everything and everyone could be sold or bought

• Trazyn has no idea why he picked you out of dozens of other humans.

• maybe it was your gaze or eyes in general.

• your face. hair. body type? shit humans call "aura"?

• this question doesn't bother Trazyn. He chose you because he wanted to. you are his now, not a single creature in whole Universe has the right to question him.

• you're a precious part of his infinite collection, so he's generous with you.

• he already has experience and knows how to treat human-like creatures, who are mentally and emotionally similar to humans. Trazyn knows that you need safety, food, and warmth.

• you know, who I am talking about.

• now you're caged in your own room. no doubt fancy and very comfortable, much better than anything you saw in your homeworld. but you're still captured by huge robotic creatures, without any idea what comes next.

• your mind is panicking, and you're going through every single circle of mental hell, trying to catch the poor remains of your sanity fading under pressure of everlasting fear.

• you're not suitable for a conversation and a proper meeting with your new owner. It will come a bit later, as you manage to calm yourself down a bit.

• Trazyn will wait. he has a lot of time at all.

• he already did it once, he knows exactly how to treat you properly, at least he thinks so.

• while you're trying to adapt yourself for new life, he's watching you sometimes, you don't even notice it.

• he's interested in your actions, facial expressions and enjoys his new distinctive things.

• young human woman is a beautiful view to behold, even for a some xenos, especially if they're humanoid themselves.

• he will wait. and then, he will satisfy another of your needs - a company.

• but now... a bit more patience.

#warhammer 40000 #suggestive warhammer #warhammer 40k x reader #necrons #necron #trazyn the infinite #trazyn the infinite x reader #necron x reader

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abigailmoment · 4 months ago

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Hi! I'm Abigail. I write stories and games.

All of my work can be found on my website. Below there's a sampling of stories that are good places to begin.

I have a discord that's very friendly and I'm very responsive on it. I have a mailing list that goes out when I make new things.

I have an Ao3 account of fan fiction that is, at the moment, almost entirely dedicated to vampires from Baldur's Gate 3 being bad at communication. My most active story on it is currently: The Last Will and Testament of Cazador Szarr.

(Note--Cazador is dead and does not appear in the story.)

A visual novel game in development.

You are John Watson. You're very worried about your best friend, Sherlock Holmes. You're right to be worried. Left to his own devices, he'll destroy himself with overwork and cocaine. Don't let him do that.

Wishlist here.

I have a Patreon that is a new experiment. It is very low pressure Patreon. I inevitably, create things. I will put many of them there. If you are interested in subscribing, please think of it as supporting my ability to create in general rather than purchasing monthly entertainment.

If you are in any way financially vulnerable, please don't give me money. I am stable and safe. If you want access to the stories here but can't afford a subscription please message me and I'll give you a free subscription.

That is a general rule. If you can't afford anything I've created, please ask me for it and I'll give it to you.

Read things here.

A text-based videogame. Cost: $3.99

Open Sorcery follows the development of an Elemental Firewall: a fire elemental bound with C++ code to protect a network of people and places. You guide her as she makes decisions and grows. She can learn things, develop relationships, and even gain sapience. Or she can burn everything with fire.

Play on Steam.

Play on Android.

Play on iPhone.

A text-based fangame of BG3. Cost: Free.

Art by @cymk8

There's a monster made of dreams. It has its teeth in your companions. It builds nightmares out of their worst memories and drinks their pain. One of your companions has a very bad worst memory. A long, text-based video game.

Play online.

A text-based videogame. Cost: Free

You're a vampire hunter on your night off. You're getting a manicure, seeing a movie, and eating fast food.

But there's a vampire in this McDonalds. If you don't do something, then in one hour it will eat the cashier.

Play online.

#masterlist

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voxxisms · 1 year ago

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vague wishlist thread ideas sorted by character (types?) i have some thoughts sometimes about things i wanna do with vox, plots && ideas. some of these are vague or more specific, && some are just settings or aus. putting a cut for dashboard sake. might link in pinned, will tag appropriately. might add more later.

general interactions / with anyone

vox at the hotel in either seeking redemption or as an investor

vox being injured or your muse fighting him in some capacity

vox stepping in to protect your muse with the goal of taking advantage of the dynamic. soul contract / employment or even just general favor owing

redeemed vox in heaven?? hello?

overpowered au content. this post sorta explains the vibes. he's super paranoid, very powerful, but surprisingly easy to be chill with if you behave well.

role swap vox with anyone literally. the only real one ive considered is alastor, in depth. he's an old - fashioned box head, perfectly modern inside for efficiency but looks like he belongs in the decades he lived in. very gentle, very empathetic && sweet. contracted to lilith (mine unless someone else wants to contract him) && helps the hotel.

vox being contracted to someone else.

arranged marriages / marriages of convenience

human verse stuff!! from either when vox was alive (1898-1945) or i'm happy to play with timelines in aus

bridgerton au, vox is george taylor, a wildly sickly man with too much money && a rake mostly. a lord by blood.

hanahaki. unrequited love that gives them diseases, any ending.

his self - punishment room being discovered.

vox in therapy lmaoo

fake dating.

with valentino

valentino having to fix vox

their toxic / possibly sweet relationship when they're on

vox being jealous / possessive

a break up?? if they're on / off it feels like something that happens a lot, i find them fun to write

marry each other smh tax benefits or domestic, either

valentino saving vox / vox saving valentino

with velvette

vox saving her in any way

her having to fix him post a fight or something else

vox modeling for her

ship stuff is fine, just as like, qpr stuff or mentorships

vox being over protective even if he really shouldnt be

with charlie

vox investing in the hotel for any reason (be it her askance, his own idea, or someone else's, or even seeking redemption ). might be genuine, probably more for info gathering

vox offering to personally assist in repairing the hotel

vox saving charlie from danger for fun bc its always good to have someone owe him something

with husk

knowing husk in his overlord times ( pre show / au )

vox having invested in husk's casino

vox being husk's contract holder for some reason?? could be fun

vox n husk fake dating for any reason i saw art for it once listen

with lucifer

vox seeking lucifer's creation expertise in early years (he was an entrepreneur once)

vox doing work / helping with lulu world being created as resident like, electronics man

vox making a deal with lucifer in some capacity, not necessarily Big Deal but you know

with angel

vox protecting him

vox saving him from valentino's ire (on acccident or otherwise)

vox having to step in for valentino on set lmaooo

angel && vox bonding over their similar experiences with val

vox caring for angel post a valentino encounter

angel for some reason being under contract with vox (different work/different expectations)

with rosie

the two having been close during vox's active relationship with alastor?

vox doing business with rosie / i.e. providing her with bodies or people from his territory in exchange for allyship

him investing in cannibal town somehow. owning property / providing funds for rennovation

tea parties?? him cooking for her?? her teaching him how to make cannibal - based food??

with alastor

alastor having been a mentor to early - hell vox

au in which the two have always remained working together, i love the concept. very media husbands coded but also not necessary to be romantic.

all the backstory, their friendship pre - show, especially the event that actually led them to split. i like to hc that they several things that slowly pushed them apart until vox invited him to the vee's right before alastor disappeared (this is dependent of course on the alastor / those hcs but)

au where alastor actually joined the vee's

au where vox offered alastor his soul in exchange for them remaining "friends". does not have to be a very sweet dynamic ofc

vox cooking for alastor / other vaguely domestic things

generally reconciling bc yknow

vox dying!! in alastor's arms!! or the other way around!! (not necessarily permanent but yknow)

RadioStatic of all flavors, unrequited/unspoken/QPR/exes/anything.

the role swap from above.

with other vox's i love duplicate interactions

the girls are fighting

playing into the doubling && working together

vox trying to help the other vox get back home properly

other vox (or himself) being a clone on purpose

upgrading / fixing each other

protecting each other

left brain right brain vibes???

au swaps? a role reversal vox meeting a regular vox? timeline swaps? one vox is from the 70's one vox is from modern times? one vox who is still friends with alastor && the other who isn't?

#【 THE BATTERIES ARE DOWN | ( OOC ). 】#【 HEART BEATS FAST | ( WISHLIST ). 】#【 LEE ONE && ONLY | ( AUTHOR ). 】#this took a long time sorry

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amadeusgame · 2 months ago

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Indie Assemble! (+ Updates)

First: exciting stuff! Amadeus is part of Excalibur's Indie Assemble, a Steam sale celebrating indie games all over the world, which you can check out right now here.

Second: below is an overview of last month's work to show that the game is on its way to done (exciting in its own way).

Wishlist on Steam | Follow on Itch | More Links

I will keep this relatively short, because now that I am in the home stretch of actually building out the entire game in full—swapping placeholders, polish, and playtesting notwithstanding—I don't want to spend too much time writing about the process. I just want to get back to work on the game and finish.

The broad strokes of progress from last month are as follows.

Built 3 more scenes, including my favorite scene in Episode 1.

Implemented script and basic mechanics—the game is 100% playable from the start through these new scenes.

Finished 1 new detailed background image. We are well beyond the point where I want to share these, so you'll have to wait and see it. :)

Revised script to tighten the narrative.

Coded a new mechanic juuuuust for one single scene. I wanted to flex my Unity/C# muscles a little and I think this mechanic is very fun. Enjoy.

I've been building 3 new scenes a month for a few months now, and while some are more polished than others by the end of it, I've made significant progress and consistently met the benchmark. Based on this pace, the entire game will be built by the end of June. Two months until that major milestone is achieved.

In July, I will spend some time evaluating what specific, bare minimum requirements are needed to bring the game from "fully playable" to "shippable," and set my sights on those. I may be able to announce a timeline for release at that time, but I would prefer to wait until I am certain about what is doable.

I do want to say that I'm determined to avoid a scenario where I push back the game forever in the vain hope of making it perfect. If there is one thing I learned in grad school, it is how to prioritize what matters in the final stages of a project to get something out there. I obviously can't ship the game in its current state because it has far too many placeholders in the later scenes that aren't aesthetically or thematically consistent with the scenes from the demo. But I am already finding ways to reuse assets I have already made in effective ways to reduce the number of things I need to do between now and completion, and cut less important corners to focus my efforts on the essential things.

At this stage, a finished product will speak more than words. So I will get back to work. Thank you very much for your continued interest in this project.

Stay up-to-date here: linktr.ee/amadeusgame

#amadeus: a riddle for thee #devlog #visual novel #indie game #indie assemble #adventure game

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candycandy00 · 1 year ago

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Choose Your Own Price Fanfic Commissions

I’m now open for commissions!!!!!

If you’d like to request a fanfic from me, here’s how to do it!

What You’ll Get:

A one-shot fic. I never even look at word counts and the idea of being restricted by such a thing scares me so I can only say that it will be a one-part story around the same length as my other one-shots. Look over my master list for plenty of examples (in particular, look over the requests I’ve filled).

I can’t give a specific time frame but, depending on whether or not I’m currently working on something, it will probably take me around 5-10 days to complete it. When we discuss your commission, I’ll be able to give you a clearer time frame.

What You Can Request:

All of the rules on my Welcome Post still apply. No minors, no animals, no scat/pee/vomit. I can do SFW or NSFW. Any genre (though I warn you that I suck at comedy). I’m fine with doing dark content like horror, gore, rape, etc. I’m fine with doing AU’s, sequels to my previous fics, anything like that. If something is a little too far out of my wheelhouse, I might have to say no, or perhaps “dumb it down” a bit. I’m not going to do a ton of research. Like if you want an AU set in a very specific historical setting, please don’t expect total historical accuracy. I’ll do my best to capture the feel of what you want but that’s all I can promise.

I can do Character x Reader or Character x Character. I’m also willing to do “threesome” situations, like Gojo x Reader x Geto for example. But no more than two canon characters per commission.

I’m fine with doing fem, masc, or gender neutral characters. I’m fine with any/all sexualities. I won’t write Reader as a specific race. I can do some specifications such as a chubby Reader, short Reader, etc. as well as some personality traits (example: shy Reader). But please don’t get super specific on the Reader if you can help it.

I will write for the following fandoms: My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, Wind Breaker, One Piece, Blue Lock, Prince of Tennis, Demon Slayer, Black Clover, Bungo Stray Dogs, Kaiju no. 8, and Durarara!!. If you want something from a different series, feel free to ask. It doesn’t have to be anime/manga either. I’m very familiar with Marvel characters, X-Men, Final Fantasy, Persona/Shin Megami Tensei, Tales of series, Horror Movie characters, etc. I might not feel comfortable doing it if I’m not real into the character, or not familiar enough with them, but there’s no harm in asking!

I’m also willing to write for general concepts like “Vampire x Reader” or “Serial Killer x Reader”. You must be able to describe the concept character (the vampire or the serial killer in the examples I gave) and possibly send image references.

Price:

I’m very uncomfortable with the idea of pricing my work, so for now at least, I’m going to go with a sort of “choose your own price” system. Once you read your commission, you can look over my Amazon wishlist and choose an item to buy for me. In case anyone doesn’t know how Amazon wishlists work, when you buy an item directly from my wishlist, Amazon sends it to my address. You don’t have to mail it to me or know my address.

I have a very wide range of items on there, in terms of prices. There are lots of things on there under $10. You can choose what to buy based on how much you enjoyed your commission. And no, I won’t be upset or offended if you pick the cheapest item on the list. 😄 There are some more pricey items on there because this is my general wishlist that I show to family and friends around Christmas/birthdays. Feel free to ignore them.

How To Commission Me:

Here’s how the process will work.

Step 1: Directly message me telling me about your commission. Describe what you want, what characters you want to be featured, any plot/concept details you feel are important, a basic idea of what kinks you would want included, etc.

Step 2: I’ll reply letting you know if I can do your commission. From there we will discuss it further and iron out all the details. You can be more specific about the kind of smut you want (if you want smut), things you want me to avoid, things you want me to include no matter what, all the nitty gritty details. I’ll also give you an idea of how long it will take me to do your commission.

Step 3: I write your commission and post it on my tumblr (and maybe ao3). I can tag you if you like, or you can remain anonymous and I’ll send you a message when it’s posted.

Step 4: After reading your commission (and only after), you look over my Amazon wishlist and buy whichever item you choose for me. Send me a message letting me know you bought something and I’ll confirm that it was purchased (Amazon will display it on the list as a purchased item). I’ll expect you to purchase something within one week of me posting the commission. Unless you have a great explanation, I will be unhappy if you take longer than that.

Why do I want you to wait until you’ve read your commission to buy an item? Because my life tends to get hectic at the strangest times, and anything could go wrong and keep me from writing it. I don’t want to feel stressed and pressured because you already paid me. Also, I want you to be satisfied and to pick an item based on how well I did. Knowing that you can pick the price will motivate me to do my best!

Even if you don’t want to commission me, I would greatly appreciate any reblogs/signal boosts! Thanks!

#Gojo x reader #shigaraki x reader #dabi x reader #geto x reader #jjk x reader #league of villains x reader #x reader #Jjk smut #league of villains smut #fanfiction commissions

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our-magical-world · 7 days ago

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Connect with your DR ☼ 30 days summer challenge

Summer is coming and I hate summer, so I've tried to make a list of little things I can do to make my days a little happier. Sharing for anyone who wants to join! (you can do it any time of the year).

NOTES: These are supposed to be fun, so feel free to change whatever you want or don't resonate with and make it as fun as possible. Yes, OF COURSE you can shift before the last day, this isn't a method, just a list of fun things to make you feel connected to your DR.

DAY 1 - Work on your script. Re-write it, add things to it, decorate it, update it...

DAY 2 - Create a playlist of songs that remind you of your DR, or if you already have one, listen to it.

DAY 3 - Create a vision board. If you already have one, maybe make sub-boards (for your fashion style, cute moments with your s/o...) or do something creative with the pictures, like a collage or a wallpaper.

DAY 4 - Listen to ASMR roleplay audios (if there aren't any specific audios for your DR, find some with a similar vibe, like student, vampire, fantasy characters...)

DAY 5 - Daydream! Spend the day making scenarios in your head and daydreaming about the things you'd like to do in your DR.

DAY 6 - Wear something you'd wear in your DR. If you can't dress like your DR self, try to wear a small accessory in that style.

DAY 7 - Do something you'd do in your DR (hobbies, workout...)

DAY 8 - Eat something you'd eat in your DR (if you can't choose what you eat, create a menu for your DR self and look up recipes).

DAY 9 - Decorate your script. You can do it physically or digitally, but make it aesthetic.

DAY 10 - Read fanfics or dream novels about your DR (or with a similar vibe).

DAY 11 - Write or repeat identity affirmations, like "I am [ DR name ]", "I am [ DR age ]", "I live in [ city/country ]", "I work/study at [ place ]"...

DAY 12 - Play ASMR ambience videos that match the vibes of your DR. You can have them playing in the background while you do things around your room/house, read, work on your script...

DAY 13 - Connect with an object you'd have in your DR. For example, I always wear a tear-shaped pendant I got from my teacher in my DR, so I bought a similar one to wear in my CR and feel connected to him.

DAY 14 - Watch a movie or TV show that reminds you of your DR (if your DR is based on a movie or show, watch it!)

DAY 15 - Draw a picture of your DR self or a scenario. Doesn't have to be perfect, but if you can't draw, you can create your DR self on Picrew or something like that.

DAY 16 - Write your favorite scenario, fanfic style.

DAY 17 - Write a diary entry as your DR self. Talk about your first day in your DR or just any random day.

DAY 18 - Watch/read success stories from people who shifted to your DR (or a similar one, if you can't find anyone who shifted to the same DR).

DAY 19 - Write a letter to someone from your DR.

DAY 20 - Write a letter to your DR self.

DAY 21 - Spend a day acting like your DR self (it can be just in your imagination if you can't do it physically, just relate everything you do to your DR and think about how you'd do the same thing there or what you'd do instead).

DAY 22 - Make a to-do list or a schedule for your DR self (what do you have to do on your first day there, or any random day?)

DAY 23 - Go shopping (or browse online shops) and look for clothes and accessories you'd wear in your DR. Create a wishlist or plan outfits with them. You can also find clothes your DR friends would wear.

DAY 24 - Light a scented candle with a scent that reminds you of your DR (or you can use perfume, air freshener, essential oils... anything that makes you smell your DR).

DAY 25 - Visit a place that reminds you of your DR. A castle, a park, a beach, a shopping center... (if you can't go there physically, try a virtual tour!)

DAY 26 - Try to learn a skill you have in your DR but not here! If you can't physically take dancing or martial arts classes, watch some videos about it to get a general idea of how it works.

DAY 27 - Think about gift ideas for your DR friends, s/o or loved ones. Go window shopping if you can (or browse online shops) and look for things they'd like. Make a list!

DAY 28 - Think about the things your loved ones would get YOU as a gift in your DR. You can find pictures and make a little vision board or collage if you want.

DAY 29 - Make a bucket list of things you want to do in your DR.

DAY 30 - Answer one (or more) of those "answer as your DR self" questionnaires (there are many on Tumblr).

LAST DAY - Go shift! (if you haven't already)

#shiftblr #shifting community #reality shifting #connect with your dr #feel free to share more ideas in the comments

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satoshi-mochida · 1 year ago

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VA-11 Hall-A developer Sukeban Games announces ‘Active Time Action’ game .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND for PC - Gematsu

VA-11 Hall-A developer Sukeban Games has announced .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND, an “Active Time Action” game featuring a mix of real-time and turn-based combat. It will be available for PC via Steam. It will be playable for the first time at BitSummit Drift from July 19 to 21.

Here is an overview of the game, via Sukeban Games:

About

A new world and characters from the award-winning studio that brought you Cyberpunk Bartender Action: VA-11 Hall-A. This is .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND.

Evade Attacks, Stop Time, and Kill ‘Em All

Featuring a mix of real-time and turn-based combat, .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND offers a captivating experience for players of all levels.

Getting Personal

Follow the raw tale of Reila Mikazuchi; a killing machine emerging from depression looking to rebuild her life doing what she knows best. A path well-traveled where the consequences are known, but is her biggest foe really in front of her gun?

Key Features

Experience the tightly designed “Active Time Action” battle system, suitable for both newcomers and veterans.

Explore seven meticulously crafted, atmospheric stages with hand-placed encounters, dialogues, and riddles.

Enjoy detailed lo-fi visuals that enhance the texture of this rich cyberpunk world.

Immerse yourself in a gripping storyline waiting to be uncovered.

And here are some additional details, via Sukeban Games’ Christopher Ortiz:

What is .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND?

An “Active Time Action” game, which sounds a little bit like nonsense but we like nonsense. tl;dr, you move and dodge in real time while you wait for an Action bar to fill at a speed determined by character and weapon stats. Once that’s done you can then stop time and plan your offensive.

The genesis of the battle system can of course be traced back to a personal favorite of mine: Parasite Eve, but that’s about where comparisons end. I’ll talk about this some other time.

The pitch: You play as Reila Mikazuchi; a washed out mercenary whose glory days are long gone. In a last attempt at grabbing life by the horns she decides to go back to the life, only to realize the real enemy isn’t in front of her gun.

—The game’s heroine Reila. Designed by me with help from Merengedoll.

The whole game plays out inside these highly atmospheric environments peppered with hand-placed encounters. You’ll be roaming around finding secrets hidden all over the game’s world, as well as talking to quite the unique cast of characters. Not to mention cool boss fights at the end of every level.

youtube

We’re currently aiming for seven chapters; five of which are currently playable from start to finish. Most of the features are already locked in, as well as the story. We highly doubt things will change much from this initial description though we never know… There’s always something we can get rid of to ship it within this lifetime.

Release When?

No idea. I don’t wanna give any time tables here as to not repeat a N1RV Ann-A situation (though we do have an internal one), but we hope it’s sooner rather than later. I was actually gonna wait until we had the entire game built before announcing it Officially, but selling games has become much harder. It’s not 2016 anymore, so if we want this game to have a chance we gotta start now and hoard those wishlists and shit. In short: when it’s done. Do expect monthly devlogs (I’ve been writing them for years now, though I’ve been behind for Very Good Reasons), and progress shots over at my Twitter account and Sukeban’s.

N1RV Ann-A?

No news in that front. Sorry. I know that’s the main event everyone wants to see, but .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND is significantly ahead in development, and I decided to dedicate my full attention to it for the foreseeable future. Once we ship it then the sky will be the limit.

Who’s Working on This?

That would be me as writer and director, with a friend who prefers to be anonymous as the programmer and co-creator (we came up with the story, gameplay and characters together maaany years ago). Merengedoll (of VA-11 Hall-A kids! fame), always the soldier, has been helping me out with character, enemy, boss and production design. Juneji (also from VA-11 Hall-A kids!) is doing the soundtrack and some 3D work; and for the first time ever we have someone managing our asses to move things forward at a nice pace. If you’re familiar with my solo outing then you kinda know what to expect in terms of vibes and story; for better and for worse.

Stray Notes

Spanish, English and Japanese localizations are being planned for day one (hoping for more, but these three are the ones within our current bandwidth).

No downloadable demo planned as maintaining a separate build will probably drive us crazy.

After a couple reboots the current incarnation of the project has been under development for roughly two years, but if we wanna get cheeky, me and the programmer have been talking about doing something like this since high school. It really makes you think.

VA-11 Hall-A, when it came to my contributions to its visuals and atmosphere, was very much a pastiche of inspirations both subtle and in-your-face. This time around I’ve been trying to isolate my brain from external influences as much as possible outside of the initial spark for the battle system and other mechanics. Games take a lot of work to make, so I’d like to deliver a uniquely “Sukeban” experience; whatever it may entail.

For Those in Japan: Play It at Bitsummit Drift!

Lucky people in the Kyoto area can get a taste of the game’s first chapter at this year’s BitSummit Drift. July 19 (business day), 20, and 21. Do come check it out! We plan to exhibit the game at more events around the world in the coming future but we don’t have many details at the moment. Stay tuned. For those who can’t attend, we’ll be releasing the game’s first trailer on [July 19]! This is our YouTube channel.

View the first screenshots at the gallery.

#.45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND #Sukeban Games #action game #Gematsu #Youtube

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machiroads · 7 months ago

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14 & 40 for the fic writer asks!!

14: how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

It's about 🤌 the playlist. I stick a song with the vibes I'm going for on repeat, and let that drive the tone for the scene.

40: If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

I am extremely fortunate to have had several people already draw art based on my fic, which literally explodes my brain every time it happens. It's always very exciting to see what scenes strike the artists' fancies, because it's usually not something I was expecting.

If I had a fanart wishlist, it would probably be:

The rooftop confession scene from ch28 of Nine Lives

Aizawa reading Mic's fortune in waiting on the seasons to change, waiting for the curtain to fall

Any bath scene (probably coming as a shock to no one)

Bonus: Lullabies for Insomniacs writing playlist under the cut

It's a private playlist on YT Music rn but feel free to recreate it in spotify or whatever the kids these days are using

#Machiwrites Bonus Content

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deadlincs · 3 months ago

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𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐒 — independent, mutuals only, canon divergent 𝗷𝘂𝗷𝘂𝘁𝘀𝘂 𝗸𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻 multimuse┊ hired by 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐄 ; she/they, 30

: ̗̀➛ 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 : if you utilize the krp tag i will not interact with you. ✧ദ്ദി( ˶^ᗜ^˶ ) ┊ largely queue based - heavy writing free during weekends┊*personals can follow, but please do not interact with threads, drawings, or headcanon posts!

: ̗̀➛ focusing heavily on 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢 & 𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢 𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨!

mobile guidelines under readmore

𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 : . carrd . interest tracker . shipping call .

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 : interaction call . ask memes . open starters . wishlist . random verse wheel ( higu / nana only for now ) .

𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋 : @tewwor

𝐘𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 : harerazor — hangvn — disvelocitys — ceram1cs — deadn30n — cardiolog1st — hinodae / innategrief — oblyvn — belayadeaths — lustraveil — ofcursedenergy — quietlyblooms — gravesung — mikroteros

𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐔𝐏𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓 : matsumura haruo ( oc from @tewwor )

001 - INTRODUCTION : Howdy! Interactions are only for muns 22+ ( unless I followed you first ). If you reply / interact without heeding this, I will not respond. This is a personal preference, and I ask that you please respect it.

002 — DO NOT INTERACT : I will not interact if you do any of the following …

Incest, stepcest, pedophilia, and rape will not be tolerated and/or written on this blog. If I see that you have written / are writing such content I will not interact with you. I will also block you as well if you are following me and/or liked a starter call.

KRP as a whole will be avoided. As an East Asian myself, such fetishizing doesn’t sit well with me at all.

003 — SELECTIVITY : This will be a mutuals only blog — though I’m willing to write with non-mutuals in regards to your open starters! Only my noted/tagged open starters and/or interaction calls will be available for non-mutuals to interact with. I will be incredibly selective with who I write with non-mutual wise, but please don’t let this discourage you from trying. I’m always looking for more people to write with! If you would like to unfollow me, I only request that you hardblock me. Sometimes I’ll chalk it up to tumblr being terrible and/or forget, so to avoid any issues please hardblock!

004 — DUPLICATES : at this time, i am not duplicate friendly when it comes to hig.uruma hiromi only. i'm more than happy to interact with other canon portrayals!!

005 — SPECIFICITY : I ask that you specify which muses ( yours and mine ) you’d prefer or at least a top 3 for starter calls. Please don’t ask me to choose for you, otherwise it will either go ignored or I’ll dm you to clarify.

006 — TRIGGERS & WARNINGS : If you’re not a fan of dark / mature themes such as violence, gore, body horror, etc. I would look elsewhere to interact. If you have a trigger you’d like me to tag, please let me know! All other content will most likely be present, but I will tag in the following format — trigger tw

All ns.fw / usfw things will be tagged as: * & lemon.. limes.. spices.. etc — usfw.

*N.sfw threads will not be put under a readmore unless you request so.

007 — RELATIONSHIPS : While I have an immense love for romantic ships, all forms of connections are welcomed here! I’m always open to platonic connections regardless of age. Romantic connections will have a max age difference of around 10 years for my comfort.

008 — MISC. INFO :

Mutuals may reblog ask memes from me if you intend to send something my way. Non-mutuals, please reblog from the source! I also ask that you reblog any inspo posts from the source blog instead of mine.

YOU DON’T NEED TO MATCH THE LENGTH OF MY REPLY EVER! I always prefer quality over quantity! This especially goes for any threads where I’m writing more than one of my muses.

Want to continue an ask meme? Go for it! You don’t need to create a new thread since asks are trimmable now.

I do have the tendency to hop around threads quite often. My reply speed can vary depending on where my attention is, but if I follow you please know that I am genuinely interested in interacting!

* please don't assume things about my characters ( within reason ) — canon or oc. i understand that there are quite a few more popular, beloved canons i write and i'm very, very glad that we all love them! i am a little less glad when i have folks push ideas of said canon characters without discussing anything first ( personality traits, reactions, etc. ) & go off of something just by canon material alone. as much as i wish to stay as close to canon as possible, i simply don't think that's something i can adhere to & am fairly divergent with certain things. i don't make it a habit to implement headcanons and impressions onto others' canons and i just ask that you do the same with mine. everyone writes these goobers differently in their own way, and i just ask that you respect my personal take on them without pushing your own views / assumptions.

starters & interest. i know i slap out interaction calls like no one's business. i also understand that i don't finish every single thread that i start. sometimes tunglr eats notifications and is super mean about it. sometimes life gets into a tizzy and unexpected hiatuses happen. i see you, i hear you, it's also happens to me, but when i make a few starters ( more than 2 ) and they go unanswered for an extended period of time or no interest is shown in general ... i will be less inclined to make you one in the future. especially if it's something we've plotted before / lengthy. i might switch to sending you asks or even ask if writing on disco is better instead. you can / should always take your time with things, but please communicate that with a like or ims, etc. so it doesn't come across as disinterest to me.

009 — CREDIT : promp template by gloomglimmer

#* & rules of procedure — pinned .

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amadeusgame · 1 year ago

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A Small Developer's Next Fest Retrospective

This write-up is mostly intended for people working on their first indie game who have no idea what to expect from an event like Steam Next Fest going in with a relatively small following and wishlist count. Almost all of the advice and available information I have seen is geared for games that have wishlists in the 4-5 digits, which is decidedly not me. So I am publishing my numbers for reference.

For full transparency and disclosure, Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~ Episode 1 ~ Waltz went in to Next Fest with 137 outstanding wishlists. This number was huge and hard-earned for my standards, even if it's a number that most studios consider "nothing." If there is one takeaway from this writeup, I hope it's that "nothing" is highly contextual, and any number you worked hard for is substantial.

As the Fest wraps up, the current outstanding count for Amadeus is....

259.

That is almost double what I started with. THAT'S HUGE!

It is incredibly important to keep perspective in mind when analyzing numbers like this. If you go in to Next Fest with 40k wishlists, getting ~120 more will feel like absolutely nothing. But if you go in with under 150, 120 is remarkable and significant. So whatever amount you have in anticipation of Next Fest, set your expectations based on that. Don't compare yourself to a super polished game made by a team of 30 people and a budget.

What follows is a lot of numbers and strategies and analysis of what I tried and how I think it went.

This write-up is going to be split into three sections.

The first is "Strikes Against Amadeus," in which I will outline all of the things I did that were not-optimal. You can decide whether to learn from that and avoid the same issues, or understand that doing them anyway means your numbers will suffer (as was my approach). This first part is very writing-heavy and has a lot of speculation and subjective commentary from a small solo dev POV.

The second section is "What Apparently Went Well," discussing the things that I think contributed to the game almost doubling its wishlists. Clearly, I did something right!

The final section is just numbers and data. Numbers on wishlists, wishlist deletions, correlations between stream viewership and wishlists/stream viewership and timeslots, etc. Feel free to skip directly to this part if you just want data.

I. Strikes Against Amadeus

Things that certainly contributed to it not doing as well as it might have.

Unpolished demo

Capsule art doesn't really show what the game looks like

Inconsistent gameplay

Streaming mistakes

1. Unpolished Demo

First things first—I ignored a very key piece of advice about getting the most out of Next Fest. Ignoring it was the correct choice for me, but I am aware it almost certainly had a negative impact on the numbers.

The advice: do not enter Next Fest until your demo is basically release-ready, as polished as it will ever be.

Next Fest is showing your game to a massive audience who are checking out hundreds of games. If you want your game to have a chance of standing out it should be the best it's going to be. And you only get one Next Fest for your game.

Why did I ignore it? Because I am a solo developer with limited time making a game that will never feel polished, and I wanted to focus on the big picture of my game's eventual release.

I am aiming to release the full game in October. If I waited until the following Next Fest, that festival would also be in October. I already know from releasing the demo that a release is MASSIVELY time-consuming and stressful. Do I want to deal with the stress of participating in a week-long festival while I am also dealing with the stress of a release? Absolutely not. I decided it was better to enter the June festival so when October comes my attention is not divided.

Given that I'd decided on the June festival, I was faced with another decision: I had already made many mechanical and writing improvements in my test build since the released demo. Should I update the demo build with those improvements before the Next Fest, so the demo feels better?

For similar reasons, I decided no.

Pushing an updated demo build would probably require a dedicated week just to test & troubleshoot all platforms in case something broke, and I am deep in the middle of development to finish the full game. Taking a week off of development to release a slightly more polished build for Next Fest felt like bad prioritizing.

I already know my game is a bit scrappy, and unlikely to do Big Numbers no matter what. More importantly, it doesn't matter HOW many wishlists I get if I don't actually finish the full game for release. So I focused on just continuing to work on my game.

If you choose to enter the Fest with an unpolished demo, as I did, you do need to accept that this means a lot of people will pass on it who may have given it a chance if it was more finished.

If you are anything like me, you might also need to prepare yourself for getting stressed out when you find yourself with 200+ people watching your unpolished game in real time, in silent judgement, causing you to become hyper-aware of every flaw and imperfection.

2. Capsule Art Doesn't Showcase Game

I knew that my game's store visual assets are not, shall we say... optimized. You can barely read the game's subtitle in it. It's also one of the only capsules in the whole Visual Novel category of the fest that doesn't clearly show what any of the characters actually look like.

I DO think that it looks unique, which is a large point in its favor, but I should probably consider making the protagonist or other discernible-at-a-glance art visible so people can see what the game actually looks like. There are so many hundreds upon hundreds of games in the Fest to scroll through, and a lot of people might scroll right past mine even if it's a game they would like because the thumbnail shows them nothing about how the game itself looks.

I'm not a graphic designer and my budget for this game is $0 + all my spare time, but it might have been pertinent to learn a little about graphic design principles in much the same way I have learned a little about animation principles to create Amadeus's walking animation, etc.

...That said, I am kind of attached to the non-optimal thumbnail just because it really does look different from all the others. Sometimes standing out isn't a good thing, but hey. This game exists because of unmarketably niche self-indulgence. I still feel that it suits it in a way.

3. Inconsistent Gameplay

This is something inherent to my game that I will absolutely not be fixing, but it is worth addressing.

Amadeus has scenes that are pure visual novel with minimal, if any, player input. These largely just feature text, character sprites and/or CGs, music/sound, and... that's really it. There are barely any choices or interactions to speak of.

It also has scenes where you control Amadeus and interact with the environment via point-and-click (or WASD) gameplay. These portions were inspired by my love of games like Zelda and Paper Mario, and for better or worse, I basically refused to compromise on the vision of actually walking around and controlling a little guy in my game.

These two gameplay experiences, in all honesty, have very little in common with each other.

Important note: I scripted every mechanic in the game myself, which means that neither of these very distinct scenarios feel polished (the visual novel scenes don't have pauses after punctuation in the shipped demo - I only figured out how to do this very recently; and the point-and-click scenes have janky pathing where Amadeus walks against walls not-infrequently). This means both gameplay types introduce potential friction/frustration because they're unpolished. This also makes the player experience very inconsistent between scenes.

The reason I draw attention to the inconsistency is that I noticed, during my livestreams throughout the week, a particular pattern in viewership.

It seemed at first that I would accumulate viewers during the point-and-click segments and they would drop off dramatically during VN segments. I attributed this to an elitist "VNs don't have GAMEPLAY" attitude and shrugged it off, until I noticed on a later stream that the exact opposite pattern was happening.

On that later stream, I accumulated viewers during long VN segments with no "gameplay," and they dropped off dramatically when it transitioned to a point-and-click gameplay segment.

That's when I realized that it's not a matter of one part of the game being Better To Market than the other; it's a matter of people generally valuing consistency. This bodes very well for people making pure visual novels, or otherwise hybrids that are more cohesive than mine is. The fact that my game feels like two different games awkwardly shoved together is, understandably, off-putting.

This is also not an aspect of my game I have any intention whatsoever to fix. The jarringly different gameplay experiences in it are a core part of its identity as a visual novel inspired by Sonic Adventure. However, it is probably worth noting that this doesn't make it very marketable.

(Maybe I should put Solea in a mech in Episode 2?)

4. Streaming Mistakes

This is probably the #1 thing to fix for next time I participate in a Next Fest, and the easiest adjustment to make now that I know better.

Before Next Fest, you are encouraged to sign up for 2 hour-long slots during which your game will receive a spotlight on the streaming schedule. This grants it a significant boost because the stream schedule is right there on the main page of Next Fest.

I've seen a lot of debates about when to schedule these and I do not have enough data points to draw any strong conclusions other than "definitely take advantage of this and schedule two, on two separate days." I've published my own numbers in the data section.

If you take no other advice from this write-up, take the following:

Test streaming to Steam before the Fest.

Publish your scheduled stream events before the Fest, so they appear on the schedule in advance.

Start streaming at least an hour before your spotlight time begins.

Continue streaming until you are back down to what an average, no-spotlight stream viewership for your game looks like.

My biggest "mistake" was really that I had no idea what average, no-spotlight stream viewership looked like because I scheduled my first stream at the start of the fest. I did start about an hour before the spotlight, and was steadily climbing in the double digits of viewers. I assumed this was with no boost (as my spotlight hour hadn't started). During the spotlight I averaged around 200 viewers, which felt insane. After the spotlight, I kept going for another half hour and it went back down to a little over 100, and since I was kind of exhausted and stressed I cut stream.

The next time I did a stream with no spotlight.... I averaged, um, maybe 8 viewers.

This was a very important lesson.

I still tried to do streams just about daily, mostly at night when I had time (and since there were fewer streams total, these seemed to do very marginally better anyway; maybe averaging closer to 10 viewers); but not very long ones. I didn't want to stress myself out trying to maximize exposure when I knew my game would never be a smash hit on release anyway, especially since the story won't be finished until all 5 episodes are out.

These smaller streams were really key in helping me figure out what viewers were looking for, though. I kept a close eye on viewer count while playing to look for patterns. More on that in the "What Went Well" section.

My second spotlight stream was on Saturday, and this time I started streaming about an hour and a half before it started. The beginning was pretty average, maybe slightly above average, but right on the hour-before mark I saw a pretty sizeable boost to an average of 30ish viewers (compared to 10ish, that's significant!), and then the hour itself saw a peak of around 400 viewers and an average of around 350, which is almost twice as good as the first stream, and just totally nuts. After the spotlight hour ended, I stayed live for another 2 hours because it was still in the triple digits and I knew that I would never get those numbers again. I eventually cut stream with still over 70 viewers because I was exhausted and needed food, but boy, was that a learning experience!

If I had kept going for another hour or so on Monday's stream (not that I knew better at the time), I really think the numbers from that day could have been even stronger.

II. What Went Well

This section covers the 4 major things that I think are working in my game's favor and helping it gain some interest.

Unique aesthetic identity

Additional marketing efforts

Good tagging

Adapting Livestream Approach

1. Unique Aesthetics

It's impossible to put a number on this, but I believe the fact I am a musician and an artist well before I am a programmer means the game has an aesthetic vision that stands out. It looks and sounds very unlike almost anything else I can immediately think of, including its clear influences. And because I have coded the mechanics myself instead of using an engine built for that purpose, I have made my life harder for no reason, and also made a game that feels unique.

If you can't be marketable, be memorable! Not a lot of people proportionately are going to find or be interested in Amadeus, but I like to think some of the people who saw it were captivated by the heart I've put into it and the clear vision I have for it.

2. Additional Marketing

This will be further outlined in the numbers section below, but on most days of the Fest I did some shilling elsewhere (mostly on Twitter) to try and get the most out of it. I have no way of knowing whether this was successful, but I will note which days I did which external shilling in case it is insightful.

I sincerely apologize to all of my Twitter followers for all that spam, by the way. You only get one Next Fest...

3. Good Tagging

This was almost certainly invaluable. There are SO MANY games participating in the Fest that anyone just scrolling through upcoming games will never see mine, as it's almost at the bottom in terms of wishlists. But the whole point of the Fest is to connect gamers with games they want to see, including really specific ones.

Steam has an awesome tagging wizard to tag your game on their store to identify really specific factors that people might look for. People browsing the Fest can use tags to filter for games that sound appealing to them in particular. So even if there are thousands of games, someone looking for a very specific type of VN/point-and-click that Amadeus fits the bill for should be able to find it.

(Even before the Fest, I am certain a nonzero number of wishlists came from my game being tagged "werewolf.")

4. Adapting Livestream Approach

Related to a point above, on what didn't go so well... in my second spotlight stream, I was able to get a lot more eyes on my game from knowing full well how much the spotlight hour mattered, by starting earlier and continuing later.

I had also learned from paying close attention to viewership patterns during the smaller streams over the week that certain behaviors on stream tended to drop viewers like flies. Opening menus too much instead of just letting VN scenes play out turned out to be a big no-no! I thought they'd want to see GAMEPLAY AND INTERACTION(TM), but it turns out viewers do not want to see adjustment of text speed sliders or opening of a backlog on someone else's pace; viewers want to see the game so they can decide if it's one they want to play or not.

I learned from this, so by the time my second major spotlight hour came around, I knew that the optimal way to play for viewers was just to toggle on the auto button and watch the Sonic Adventure 2: Battle 180 emblem speedrun world record VOD on another tab until a point-and-click segment came up.

III. The Numbers

Data from streams, wishlists, demo plays, etc.

I showed the overall total wishlist numbers from "demo launch on Steam store" to "right now" at the top to show just how much Next Fest has helped, but here is another view of that: wishlist adds and removals per day, since demo launch through Next Fest:

The big peak you see on the right, from Day 1 of Next Fest, is the single biggest day ever for wishlists the game has ever had. INCLUDING LAUNCH DAY.

I saw so many people say "Next Fest isn't going to help you if you're a tiny game with 50 wishlists," but, I mean.... I'm a tiny game with ~130 wishlists, and it has helped massively.

Zooming in on the Next Fest week:

I'll transcribe the exact numbers, for both wishlist adds and deletions, because the deletion number is interesting too:

Sun Jun 09 - 3 adds, 0 deletes Mon Jun 10 - 38 adds, 1 delete - Scheduled Stream 1 Tue Jun 11 - 19 adds, 4 deletes - Unscheduled Evening Stream Wed Jun 12 - 16 adds, 0 deletes - Unscheduled Evening Stream Thur Jun 13 - 9 adds, 1 delete - Unscheduled Daytime Stream Fri Jun 14 - 10 adds, 0 deletes - Unscheduled Evening Stream Sat Jun 15 - 24 adds, 4 deletes - Scheduled Stream 2 Sun Jun 16 - 16 adds, 0 deletes - No Stream

Adjusting for Additional Marketing:

It is probably worth noting that on the following days I made a lot of annoying Twitter posts shilling my game trailer on blue check accounts asking people to post their #indiegame. I have no idea if this influenced the numbers, but here is the amount of shilling per day:

Mon Jun 10 - 1 original post advertising the stream Tue Jun 11 - 2 original posts advertising Next Fest, 11 replies to "show me your indie game in Next Fest" blue check engagement bait posts (I am sorry) Wed Jun 12 - 1 reply to "show me your indie game in Next Fest" blue check engagement bait post Thu Jun 13 - 1 reply to "show me your indie game in Next Fest" blue check engagement bait post Fri Jun 14 - 1 original post advertising the stream Saturday. Lots of unrelated posting about Sonic the Hedgehog Sat Jun 15 - no posts Sun Jun 16 - 1 original post saying "it's my birthday play my game" that got more engagement than usual (5 RTs)

Important data points:

The two biggest days for wishlist deletions - ever - were Tuesday and Saturday. Presumably Tuesday is because it is the day following the most adds ever, and people got around to playing and decided "nah." Presumably Saturday is because it was the first weekend day where people got around to trying the demo and decided "nah."

The two biggest days for wishlist adds were Monday and Saturday. These correspond exactly with the days of my 2 scheduled streams. While I have heard that generally wishlists start high and taper off as the week goes on, the Saturday stream clearly had a massive impact on wishlists. That said, although it had almost twice as many viewers, it did not have nearly as many wishlists, implying the stream was far from the only factor.

Sunday performed above average and I did not stream at all that day.

Thursday performed the lowest throughout the week, and I streamed around midday (other days I streamed at night).

My extrapolations from these data points:

Small non-promoted daily streams... may not really matter; considering how well Sunday performed on a day I didn't stream at all, it seems that the boost I got from doing those small streams could be negligible.

That said, I recommend streaming late at night and not at midday if you are a smaller game for unscheduled streams.

It is difficult to tell if Thursday's low performance was due to the lower-than-average stream attendance from streaming at a more competitive time, or if that is just expected on a Thursday. Also, with numbers this small, some fluctuations may simply be statistically insignificant.

The "worst" day of the fest was still WAY above average for the game, and 4 days of the fest did better in wishlist adds than any other day except Day 1 of demo launch.

I obviously cannot say how well this scales to games that go in with 400-1000 wishlists, or games that go in with 50-100. But hopefully this helps!

I also want to show some metrics from the streams, including the times and whether they were spotlight streams or just extra streams. BEHOLD. DATA:

That comes out to the following "average viewers" (total/length):

(All times in Pacific.)

Mon: 53.0 viewers/min - 1:15PM-3:33PM - spotlight 2PM-3PM Tue: 5.04 viewers/min - 9:00PM-10:31PM Wed: 2.68 viewers/min - 9:40PM-10:41PM Thu: 2.09 viewers/min - 10:54AM-12:53PM Fri: 3.21 viewers/min - 9:14PM - 11:45PM Sat: 33.6 viewers/min* - 9:34AM - 2:46PM - spotlight 11AM-12PM * this is much lower than monday only because the stream started well before spotlight and continued for another 2-3 hours after the spotlight ended, whereas Monday the stream only lasted a little longer than the spotlight hour.

Here's how the spotlight hour affected the Saturday stream, so you can see the boost in the hour before as well as how even with the drop-off after, it's a significant boost:

The boost at that first vertical boundary is it going from ~10 viewers to about ~30 viewers on average, then it is probably obvious where the spotlight hour itself starts. Notice that even with the sharp decline after it ends, it still tapers off to well above the average before the hour.

This is why I think it's essential to stream an hour before your stream starts, and continue well after the hour ends until viewers have truly tapered off to nothing significant. You'll get way more eyes on your game than you would any other time of the Fest!

I honestly have a lot more data points, but this post is getting long enough as it is. If you have any particular questions please feel free to send them my way. My primary goal is to put numbers out there for a game with a very small following, because I want small creators to have some data points on which they can base expectations for their own experience.

I hope you find this helpful or insightful! And if you're interested in a visual novel/point-and-click hybrid about a shithead teenager werewolf getting trolled by Witches in a super metanarrative-y game about memories and trauma, you know where to find it.

Good luck out there!

#Steam Next Fest #indie game marketing #indie game development #indie game #devlog #misc updates

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terrorbitch · 11 months ago

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i feel like writing starters. like this post for a short, one-liner starter from annnny of my muses. will either do something based on your wishlist orrr a meme you've reblogged.

#indie rp #indie smut rp #indie lesbian rp #indie bi rp #indie horror rp #starter call

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henlp · 9 months ago

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Octopath Traveler II

I think its biggest problem comes down to bloat. OT2 really feels like a needless exercise in padding a working formula, yet it didn't seem to have done much for improving the quality-of-life features.

The most blatant example really is the new Day/Night cycle. Sure, you can control it with a single push of a button, and there are demonstrable changes to combat when you do so... but with Path Actions? What prior to release I thought would've been a great way to make each individual traveler able to stand more on their own, eventually devolved into redundancy. The first game already had, in essence, only four kinds of actions that you could perform in two different ways; OT2 pumps that to FOUR different ways. And I don't know if I managed to last longer than most, but I quickly stopped caring about using Mug or Coerce to find enemy weaknesses around the halfway point.

Which really begs the question: how many people, realistically, are gonna be playing this game without picking up every traveler? ESPECIALLY as their first (and likely, ONLY) playthrough? Look, Team Asano TRIED, I can concede that much, since the four different ways each action can be done (Level, percentage chance, exchange, battle) are distinct, and do technically allow you to perform certain Path Actions earlier/more easily, if you have that particular traveler with you sooner. But with almost all Path Actions being located in fast-travel spots on your map, and no real impedements to your backtracking, I don't see the point.

That's the big one, to be sure, but the bloat is everywhere: splintering Story Chapters into several different sections, spread across the map (which again, is not gonna be much of an issue UNLESS you're not picking up every traveler nor following the recommended level thresholds); a bunch of sidequests that are almost exclusively about jumping from one place to another, then back again; how at some points, the stories fucking drags ON and ON, after the point is made and no further character development is being achieved.

And of course, one of the biggest (optional) sins in turn-based RPGs: utterly anemic grinding. I can't believe I'm saying this (but it's true), FINAL FANTASY XIII had a better idea for 'hidden' grind spots during its very linear story progression. Sure, it all goes to shit in the postgame, but the clever implementation of particular enemy groups and spawn locations to assist players in exchanging time for power, is something that more TBRPGs should implement to alleviate optional grinding. Thank you, Lightning, now get back in your cage.

Octopath Traveler 2 isn't a very hard game, mind you, and neither is it super easy (except the final boss, whom I trounced with no strategy; conversely, the superboss whooped my ass, until I found the perfect cheese strat to serve him). The difficulty balance is VERY GOOD; it's just that optional gap for max level, that is so infuriating to achieve, when it's blatantly obvious how it could've been implemented, and WELL, to minimize these frustrations.

And with all that said... I'd still recommend the game. It's a really, REALLY good turn-based RPG, one I think fans of the genre should absolutely get into. Yeah, it still has the same problems with the stories of each traveler not really intertwining, but the writing is simple yet coherent, while not being up its own ass. And I'm only as harsh as I am, because it is a sequel, so it should've been either the same, or better; not this odd sidestep with more money pumped into the visual effects and spritework. Just be mindful that, while you ABSOLUTELY should play the original first, you might get frustrated if you notice the game wasting your time (and I checked: 120+ hours in OT1, nearly 160 hours in OT2).

So with that all out of the way, I'm just gonna go through my previous 'feature wishlist', and see what's been implemented in OT2. Please look that up for context on each bullet point.

Keeping traveler locations hidden on the select screen and world-map: NOT ADDED;

Avoiding map area redundancy: Not really;

Leaving enemy HP visible with Analyze: NOT ADDED;

Organize inventories: NOT ADDED (automatic);

In-game encyclopedias: NOT ADDED;

Unique weapon sprites: Kinda? Not every weapon, but a lot;

Changing Job sprites: NOT ADDED;

Better ways to farm stat-increasing items: NOT ADDED;

Formation changes outside of taverns: ONLY added during the final stretch of the game, and for pre-epilogue;

Escape Rope-equivalent item/skill: NOT ADDED;

More varied sidequests: DEFINITELY NOT ADDED;

Better map/radar: NOT ADDED;

Cait Den questline & secret grind zone: DEFINITELY NOT ADDED;

Artifacts seller/collector: NOT ADDED;

Monster wrangler shop: NOT ADDED;

Character-unique subjob incentives: Not added, bit of a pipedream;

'Tavern Stories'-type sidequests: relegated to Travel Banters, without any actual cutscenes or visuals to accompany them.

#octopath traveler 2 #octopath traveler #videogames #RPG

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choiceofgames · 5 months ago

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Author Interview: Amy Griswold

Deep beneath the earth, the dragon is rising! Quest into mysterious underground caverns and forests to learn magical secrets, draw strength from friends and family, secure alliances that can save your home, and carry on the heroic legacy of Stronghold!

Stronghold: Caverns of Sorcery is an interactive fantasy novel by Amy Griswold, where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based—380,000 words and hundreds of choices—without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

Choice of Games editor Mary Duffy sat down with author Amy Griswold to talk about the upcoming game and some of her other works. Stronghold: Caverns of Sorcery releases Thursday, January 30th—you can wishlist it on Steam today, it really helps, even if you don’t plan to purchase it on Steam.

We’re returning to the world of Stronghold: A Hero’s Fate. This is something of an indirect sequel, right?

Yes, it’s a chance to revisit the town founded in Stronghold: A Hero’s Fate with a new generation of characters facing new challenges. The influence of your town’s founding hero determines the starting situation of your town and the personality of your grandparent, the town’s current leader. But for players who want to jump in without playing the first game, there’s the option to choose a preset backstory or make detailed choices about your town’s history when you begin the game.

How was it for you picking back up the threads of the Stronghold universe?

I really enjoyed revisiting the world of Stronghold and getting to explore some corners of it in more detail. In Stronghold: A Hero’s Fate, the goblins are mostly seen at a distance, and the dryads are enigmatic forest protectors. Stronghold: Caverns of Sorcery takes a closer look at both goblins and dryads, with befriendable (and romanceable) goblin and dryad NPC companions. It was also interesting to write a game primarily focused on sorcery. In Stronghold: A Hero’s Fate, it’s possible to never engage with the lost magic of your ancestors at all. In Stronghold: Caverns of Sorcery, the player character and their friends Corbin, Zoe, and Fox are all sorcerers, and “I use sorcery!” is the obvious way to approach a lot of problems. This required making the magical system more complex and varied, with options to focus on the knotwork of goblins and dryads or the experimental science of alchemy as well as rediscovering your ancestors’ lost arts.

Between these two games you published The Play’s the Thing with us, which is a fantastic game, and a fantastically different setting. Tell me a bit about the inspiration there, because within the Amy Griswold canon we’ve also got one of my all time favorite games, The Eagle’s Heir, which is a wonderful Napoleonic alt-history. You seem adept at jumping around in genre.

I like changes of pace. The Play’s the Thing was a fabulous chance to play with a bunch of dramatic tropes that would probably be over the top in a Stronghold game — wicked rulers, troubled heirs, long-lost siblings, and a deadly curse! plus a dancing bear! — while at the same time exploring what it’s like to try to make art that means something while the world is falling apart around you. The Eagle’s Heir is a swashbuckling steampunk adventure with airship racing and dastardly plots, but it’s also about how personal choices can shape political change. And both Stronghold games are fantasy adventures built around the tropes of classic tabletop games, and are also about how your choices influence other people in a small community. To me, the Choice of Games format is well suited to games that let players soak up the atmosphere of a particular genre, while at the same time exploring the reasons why choices and stories matter.

What surprised you most about the writing of Stronghold: Caverns of Sorcery?

I kept finding edge cases carried over from A Hero’s Fate that I had forgotten were possible and needed to be accounted for. What happens if the original player character has no children (biological or adopted) and no nephew, and then chooses a protégé as their heir, and then their protégé dies, leaving no one the right age alive to be the grandparent of the player character in Caverns of Sorcery? Etc.

There’s a dragon in this game. Choice of Games is a dragon-heavy publisher. Please say a bit about your dragon.

Dragons are useful because they give player characters a problem to react to in interesting ways. It’s hard to ignore a dragon. The dragon in Caverns of Sorcery was imprisoned by your ancestors centuries ago in the caverns near your town. It would very much like to escape, set your town on fire, and feast on the survivors. What else the dragon wants is possible to explore over the course of the game. But this isn’t, at its heart, a game about a dragon; it’s a game about a situation where doing nothing will lead to disaster, so you have to try doing something. What kind of “something” is up to you.

In addition to writing interactive fiction for us, you’re also a prolific novelist, I’d love to tell our readers about other works of yours they can enjoy.

Fans of the steampunk world of The Eagle’s Heir may enjoy the gaslamp fantasy mysteries Death by Silver and A Death at the Dionysus Club (with Melissa Scott), in which metaphysician Ned Mathey and detective Julian Lynes solve mysteries and navigate the fascinatingly awful world of Victorian London and its gay community. And for sci-fi adventure, I recommend the Stargate Legacy series, a virtual fifth season of tie-in novels set after the end of the Stargate Atlantis TV series (start with Homecoming by Jo Graham and Melissa Scott.)

What are you working on next?

I’m working on revisions to a science fiction novel, Gyre, that’s under contract for probably sometime in 2026, and I’ve got a couple of historical fiction projects on the back burner as well.

#choiceofgames #interactive fiction #choice of games #booknerdlife #interactivefiction #books #stronghold #dragon age #fantasy creature

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