#I know about the story & I watched part of a playthrough a long time ago

[marblejack]

Watching RTGame Minecraft playthrough and Daniel's genuine fascination with vanilla experience made me reflect on how I view this game. It reminded me how I first discovered it decade ago, had the ultimate Minecraft experience of trying to figure stuff on my own (and miserably failing), then having a knowing friend behind my back teaching the basics™ and slowly getting on track from there. Surely, it's not a new game. And I feel like over the years, as I grew up, Minecraft-the-game slowly morphed into some hybrid virtual medium to hang out with friends for me. It became less of a world I get immersed in and more of an algorithm I'm really good at navigating and using its restrictions to my advantage. In a weird fashion, the only thing I can compare what modded Minecraft is to me is Hatsune Miku, an entity who functionally is an avatar with million faces and myriad stories for you to tell. In the same manner long ago modded Minecraft became a neutral base to create any game in (almost) any genre I felt like playing. It's a welcome development, but what I ultimately gave up in exchange is appreciation for simplicity of vanilla, and I became desensitized to it. Watching Daniel discover all these novelties with almost childlike wonder, I can't help but get nostalgic over how I used to see it, and how I never will be able to go back to it. That's so obvious, but so many decisions he makes I wouldn't, if I was playing. I'm probably one of those people who kept suggesting creating new world, until Daniel put effort in exploring it and discovering all those gorgeous places that I wouldn't. Seeing him roleplay and genuinely engage with the world surrounding him reminded me how decade ago I used to have a small house with a single dog on the edge of the cliff in the snowy taiga. I didn't really do anything to progress the game and was too scared to go into the caves to upgrade my tools to iron, so I tended to my little garden, fed my dog with chicken and wrote something in my only book and quill as a diary. It was all these same actions every single day, but I never felt bored. I felt isolated, but never lonely with my dog by my side, and as soon as sun had set, I was racing to my tiny hut, afraid of mobs, and my dog would feel really sad if one day I didn't return, after all. For some reason, decade later I remember everything to the tiniest detail. The layout of the house, the surrounding forest and what I wrote down back then. Since those times I had countless worlds and multiple projects, I used to speedrun Minecraft for fun and competition, but I remember so little about it all, a blurred memories of something that vaguely happened. But seeing Daniel build his tower, having beef with villagers stealing his sleeping spot, parting sea and for shits and giggles, spending two hours trying to draw a circle that functionally doesn't work for an assumption he lowkey gaslit himself into believing is true, filling out the maps of surrounding areas and looking for Bubblegum to lead home make me feel those exact feelings again. Maybe that's what it feels like to be the knowing friend sitting behind someone's back and teaching the ways of Minecraft. I never got to know what it feels like. After all, who hasn't played Minecraft nowadays?

[dokidokitsuna]

Halcandran Days

Watching playthroughs of Return to Dreamland DX and seeing Halcandra again made me surprisingly nostalgic for this old comic project I had…basically, my idea was that when Susie disappeared as a child, she ended up on Halcandra with Magolor, and they grew up together while she tried to find a way to get home.  At the time, I considered it the definitive backstory for Magolor and Susie in my little gijinka universe, and it’s a large part of the reason why I almost always write these two characters as friends, even to this day. ^^

The script was very character-focused; lots of long conversations between these innocent-yet-edgy children who argued with each other all the time. ^^; I can see why I didn’t finish drawing it, but after re-reading it there’s not much I would change. I think what I enjoyed the most was the bittersweet undertones, like having Susie talk about how much she misses her father and how anxious she is to get home…while knowing the plot of Planet Robobot and that Haltmann won’t even recognize her. :[ Or establishing Magolor as someone scared of everything and desperate to be liked…while knowing the plot of KRtDL and that these insecurities eventually morph into an insatiable desire for power. 8[ Like, even as these kids slowly learn to get along and have lots of cute moments together, they have no idea how much misery lies in store for them in the future, and that fact hangs over the story like a cloud. ^^;;;

Anyway, so this post doesn’t end on such a depressing note, here’s a couple of my favorite plot points: -Susie is the one who teaches Magolor how to lie. ^^ Baby Mags’ collection of research material is his whole world, and at first he doesn’t even understand the point of engaging with things that aren’t true. Susie, on the other hand, was raised surrounded by capitalist BS and knows the advantages of getting people to trust you and believe what you want them to. She actually lies to him a lot throughout the story (usually just to spare his feelings, as one does with a little child) and he resents it every time…of course, as the reader, we know that he’ll eventually come to appreciate and emulate her behavior, now that deception is his trademark character trait. ^^ I thought this was surprisingly clever, considering how long ago I wrote it. -Security Force is based on Metal General for a reason! ^^ Basically, there’s a story beat in which Susie and Mags travel to Egg Engines, where they’re attacked by the Metal General…but when it gets damaged in an accident, they decide to have mercy and repair it, and in return it helps them acquire an Energy Sphere. From that point on, the three remain friends, and Susie promises to get her father to build a robot just like it someday…and as the reader we know this does happen, despite it all. I just really enjoy this story beat; it’s the sweetest and the best-written, and if I ever were to resurrect any part of this comic, that’s the one I would pick.<3

[fennecwitch]

Spoiler-free review of Undertale Yellow:

I don't ever post on Tumblr but this is going here because I really want to talk about this game.

So first of all I wanna preface this by saying that when the demo came out, a very long time ago, I watched a playthrough of it and wasn't too impressed. This made me not very inclined to try this game when it released. But I was wrong. This game rules. (I decided to play this entirely because I found out there was a fennec fox character. Sue me.)

So first of all, if you like Undertale, you will like this game. It's just Undertale, but more! It's more Undertale! I'd even go so far to say that it's more Undertale than Undertale, since by my reckoning it's longer and has more content.

I should also say I have only played the pacifist route. Should I wait until I've played the other routes to review it? Yes. But I really wanna talk about this game.

This game has really amazing spritework. There was one point where I had to stop just to admire the spritework of a scene. Undertale intentionally doesn't have fully polished sprites as part of its charm which is fair. This still keeps the Undertale artstyle but makes it look so cool. There's so many cool animations it's great.

The music slaps so much it's so good I love it.

The writing and characterisation are great. In a way, I'd say it's even more character-focused than Undertale, since you can argue that the entire story is about one specific character. There were several moments that made me laugh out loud and several moments that made me cry. Which is exactly what you want to see.

The gameplay was really fun, especially the battles. There were some really unique battles here that switched up the battle system in ways entirely different from Undertale. It felt more difficult than Undertale too, but not punishingly so, which was also nice.

There's a fennec fox woman.

I will admit the game starts fairly slowly—the demo content (the Ruins section) isn't anything amazing, but once you finish the second section it really starts coming into its own.

One reason I didn't like the demo is because I disagree with how close this game takes place to Undertale in the timeline lore-wise. Which is petty. But honestly, after finishing the game, I can fully excuse that, because it makes for an amazing story.

Characters from Undertale (with one notable exception) are largely relegated to cameos, which I think is the right decision. It lets the game focus more on its original cast of characters and makes it feel much less fanservicey.

This game expands on Undertale's ideas and world in very interesting ways—exploring concepts that Undertale didn't delve much into.

Honestly, I think this game could stand on its own. I think you could play this without knowing anything about Undertale and it'd still work, which is a testament to how good it is.

There's a fennec fox woman! (I'm mostly joking about this, but come on. She's so cool)

If you like Undertale, play this game. It's literally free! IT COSTS ZERO DOLLARS. Here's the link to download it: https://gamejolt.com/games/UndertaleYellow/136925

[seviinoxiel]

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Theory (Spoilers)

I was watching a few playthroughs of the game just to see how people would react to the story and I spotted something that seems kind of odd. I'm sure we all know by now the Disk Pokémon described in the Scarlet and Violet Book, the creature that is said to reside at the depths of Area Zero and is the source of the Terastallization phenomenon. We all saw this image already.

I theorize that the illustration here does not depict the creature accurately and is more of an artistic depiction of it landing on Earth. The huge circle is the Earth. We can see waves and a ship on the right and a cloud and some mountains on the left (probably another artistic flare as we know the creature arrived a million years ago). The oval in the middle with the crown on the top is the shell and the head of the creature can be seen at its left, presumably with a mane and two hands. The transparent part of the Earth symbolizes the Great Crater of Paldea where it first crashed and where it has resided for one million years. I could be wrong and the Pokémon could literally be riding on a huge circle but that's besides the point.

Notice how the creature is surrounded by crystalline protrusions which resembles the pillars of crystal in Area Zero. This is similar to the thing I noticed while watching the playthroughs—the time machine.

More specifically, the time machine when it opens. Such is the case during the cutscene of the AI professors initiating battle and having just caught a paradox Pokémon.

Much more interestingly, however, was what shows up in there during the cutscene when the AI professors are bidding farewells and is about to be transported to their respective time periods.

There is clearly a dark ball, or circle, at the top. It is fairly undistinguishable and obscured by the light but I theorize that it may be the so-called Disk Pokémon, perhaps a simple manifestation or a smaller version of it. It is at the very heart of the time machine. I have a lot more to point out that may support this theory.

We know that the Pokémon was first discovered by Heath at the depths of Area Zero and it was during a time when he was separated from the rest of the expedition team. Interestingly enough, there is another instance of Heath being separated from the rest of his crew and that was when he wrote this.

What are the chances that Heath spoke with the Pokémon itself? He unknowingly recorded the knowledge imparted by the entity. That knowledge being, I theorize, is the time machine, or at least an early blueprint of it. Reason for this being that the time machine room is actually hexagonal in shape with the time machine proper, and the Pokémon if we were to stick to my theory, at the center. Alternatively, it could be for the Tera orb or rather just an instruction on how to utilize the power of the crystals.

We do know for a fact that Heath and Area Zero Expedition occured 200 years ago, a long time before the Terastallization phenomena was first observed which is 140 years ago. An even longer time before the professors cracked the way to use its powers.

This might be because Heath simply didn't know what Terastallization was because it hasn't manifested yet. His writings were shunned as well and so no one really paid much attention to his notes during the time the phenomena was first discovered. The professors held the book close to their heart so they probably were the first ones to put two and two together, for both cases whether it was the time machine or the Tera orb.

Because of this, I do have a sneaking suspicion that the Pokémon has also spoken with the professors and guided them in the creation of the time machine. I also feel like the Pokémon is not necessarily malicious. It is considered the treasure of the Great Crater of Paldea and treasures, more often than not, does not have any inherent evil properties. It's the greed of people that seek the treasure which corrupts.

Anyway, those are just some observations and theories I have regarding the suspected 3rd Legendary, the Disk Pokémon. I honestly don't expect any of these to be completely correct but I think they're still interesting to think about. I've still got a lot of theories and I'll share them when I manage to organize them properly in my head.

[kris-mage-fics]

Okay I gotta ask since it looks so great but I’m still on the fence about it: How scary would you say Scarlet Hollow is? For context, I’m a HUGE baby when it comes to horror- like even the most “mild” scary movies I watch between my fingers. I love a psychological thriller, but that’s about as far as it will go. I was also a kid who read Goosebumps and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark even though they inevitably freaked me out and gave me nightmares for years lol. Would you recommend to someone who loves a good story but is a big Scaredy Cat like myself?

Yes I would, because honestly I'm a big Scaredy Cat too! I wouldn't have even tried the game if two friends on another discord server didn't assure me that it wasn't really scary. In my opinion it leans more into the psychological side than really terrifying. Compared to movies like Saw or Se7en* it's much tamer. (Since I've seen very little horror I can't give a lot of examples to compare SH too.) If you've seen the anime Madoka Magica, I'd say it's similar-ish levels to that, a little scarier because of the more realistic art style. Actually, part of the game is inspired by the anime. I tend to get nightmares easily from things that freak me out, and I haven't had one from playing Scarlet Hollow. Though I have bawled my eyes out, especially at the end of Episode 4! It's just so tragic! There are some kinda gross and gory parts but it's not really heavy, because that's not what the story is about. It's really focused on things like generational trauma, and how the choices of a lot of character's ancestors affect the present. Just exploring those ideas through supernatural happenings and horror. (Is that the definition of Gothic Horror? Idk, I'm not genre savvy when it comes to horror.) You can always try out the demo, which is Episode 1. That should give you a decent idea of how scary it is. Though everyone has a different view on which part is the scariest so far. The devs have an extensive trigger warning list available as well, so feel free to check it out. Of course there are some vague spoilers in it. You won't encounter everything on the list in a given playthrough, since some of it is highly dependent on your choices. But no shame or judgement from me if you think it's too scary. Taking care of your mental health is more important than playing a game! <3 *Yes I know Se7en isn't really horror, but from what I remember, it was pretty gruesome. Granted I watched both it and Saw in my early 20's, so a long time ago. At this point in my life there's no way I could handle watching either of those movies again.

[authoroftwwm]

AAAAAAAAAAAAA BRO I NEED IT

tl;dr is that Professor layton helped w trauma, listed is the journey through the games and future hype for PLWoS

So, I recently got into professor layton (a year ago, to be specific) and I must say, It has helped me SO FUCKIN MUCH WITH SO MUCH TRAUMA--

I have schizoeffective disorder. I have severe PTSD from years of mental and physical abuse from my parents. I have ADHD and may also be autistic, getting tested at 25 years is difficult.

When I started Professor Layton, I decided to play in release order--"I want to experience what long time fans experienced." I felt it would be more genuine. So, I downloaded an emulator (yeah i know, bad Vero) and started to play. I wrote down my reactions to each game after i beat them:

PLCB: THIS MAN GOT CHASED BY A FERRIS WHEEL!!!! THATS COOL AF! It was a really fun game, cool story with neat puzzles tHaT wErE hArD aF (i was kind of nonchalant about the games, just getting into them)

PLPB: ayo he got a box OH WAIT HE DED--i enjoyed the gameplay and watching the bad guy be the bad guy. interesting sequel, hopefully luke stays with the professor a long time lol (I jinxed it lol, also felt a bit more connected to Luke as a character and his admiration for Hershel)

(I took a long break after this one due to college lol but now i just play after my homework is done)

PLLF: I didnt write anything after this one. i just sat in silence for about a week, and I didnt eat for a few days. This was when my foster dad died, and i felt strangely as if i had healed a lot. After that week. I guess I just kinda took the time to process the loss of someone who i consider my true father. It was at this point I realized that playing the games had helped. I also didnt mentally process that luke left the professor lol until i watched someones playthrough of the last part of the game again

PLSC: BRO ITS LUKE AGAIN BUT HES YOUNGER AND HAS TRUST ISSUES WTF ITS MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE except luke didnt go through massive trauma (unless you count the ghost stuff and the witch stuff and the house stuff as trauma) yeah i like it very good

PLMM: RANDALL IS WAY TOO FUCKIN HOT FOR MY LIKING I JUST NNNNNGGGUHHUHUHUH also SIBLING BINDING WOOOOOOOOOOO

I am currently playing through Azran Legacy, and I must say it lives up to the hype. Havent reached the ending tho so im trying to not run into spoilers. also I know descole is sycamore im not dumb THEY LITERALLY LOOK ALIKE AND THE BUTLER IS THE SAME WTF if theyre not the same person im gonna spazzzzzzzz

All in all, I plan on figuring out how to a b s o r b all the content from the spin offs (in order to do this i also want to play all the phoenix wright games, wish me luck lol) and will eventually get the Katrielle game.

I have a lot to do in preparation for New World of Steam! I hope im able to do it in time, and also that its just as good as the previous games. I know Quizknock will do a good job, its just whether i will enjoy it or not.

Thank you for reading, sorry for the long post; i have no potatoes to offer but nevertheless have a good day~!

-Vero

[bitegore]

🍄♻️🤔

🍄Describe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “_ + =__”

okay for the sake of my fucking sanity i am NOT going to presume I get any real wiggle room here. or i will do another 400 line proof. because it is fun but oh my god it takes so long.

((Felyx + Taran)(Rex + Haven + Taran) + fake dating)^spite = fireworks

♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP(s)

not sure it qualifies as a "wip" because I haven't actually decided to pull it out of the graveyard of abandoned-works out-of-progress yet - call it a wip-aspirational or something lol - but the more I poke at Haven and Taran's actual story the more fun I have thinking about siccing Rex on the two of them. In like 2020 or 2021, so, a good while ago at this point and at a time I'd describe myself as "rusty" I started working on whatever the worst version of a meetcute is (ending in the equation above) lol. If I recall correctly my endgame then was that the three of them would fall into a stable orbit. I think that's kind of silly now. They're not that kind of people.

other scrapped idea, same story: Rex and Taran were meant to get along. That's not happening. It's a lot funnier if Rex and Haven (both deeply, deeply difficult people to get along with who hate accommodating for other people) can find a way to coexist pleasantly but Taran, resident NormalGuy who is extremely accustomed to unpleasant asshole bullshit, genuinely cannot get over Rex's various fuckeries beyond, like, the civility of "I recognize that you are living in my house now because the other person who lives here really likes you, and I don't want to have a screaming match in my own fucking kitchen." I tend to make Rex tolerable to speak to when I write him on his own because it's narratively difficult to use a protagonist who will just spit anything handed to him in someone else's face, but in this particular setup he is actively attempting to get Taran's genuine actual hatred on purpose because he's under the impression that's the goal and he's having fun with it also, so it lets me just make him a huge cunt asshole too which is more fun than having him show any scraps of humanity anyway :D

ok let me come up with something you have actual interest in lol

The Rex & Casey conversation fic I was working on ran into an unrecoverable roadblock (I decided the premise needed work) and has to be restarted in a different place with a slightly different version of Casey (tragic!), so one of the things I had to scrap to keep it rolling is Rex commenting on the color of the sky. It's really sad for me because I always think it's funny when you have a guy In a hell dimension like "damn... this place is weird.... the sky isn't bright red, it's eerie". But I can't justify The Story bringing Rex into The Real World as a Plot Element now that I know more about how it works, so I

......

Aha. Well. Actually. I can't justify Alan using The Story to bring Rex into The Real World, because I know how he works. Might have fixed my opinion on my own premise.

We'll see, I'll sleep on it. It needs to cook longer anyway. I also realized (aw2 spoilers) (for serious) (skip this paragraph now if you havent at least finished the first run of the game) if it happens in The Story In The Real World it's got to be situated between Saga's first time going through the loop with Alan and the Final Draft, but I still haven't found enough time to watch t full playthrough of Final Draft, so I'm sure when I hit Zane's part in there and then endgame I'll know a bit more about the direction I want to take.

🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet

Anything like that I have, either it's so busy being a concept I cannot write it yet, or I've started it just to make sure I won't forget it XD so it's hard to come up with. And most of the concepts are less "this is the kind of story I want to write", so much as "this is the kind of effect I want it to have". You know. I want to write something ~mind-bending~ or I want to ~do talking animals but cool~ or whatever.

A lot of words to say I'm drawing a huge blank on this question.

I think - and this is something I keep approaching with different stories but not leaning into, because, frankly, I'm the first line of concept-check for myself, and i get bored - I'd really like to try a story that works as one extended record-scratch. You start at the very end, in a scene that means basically nothing to anyone, and then in the events of reading the entire rest of the story you get more and more context until the very end of the book is the exact same scene as the first part, like, down to the description, and then it just loops infinitely. Something you could read spiral-binding style so it doesn't really have a "start" or an "end", just points between chapters with cardboard so you can close it anywhere, if it's a physical book. you know, some experimental shit.

Unfortunately I find time loops boring as hell to write. This would be ONE loop, so it'd maybe be better, but I'm still kind of burnt on being willing to touch another timeloop from how badly I did not enjoy the one I wrote for an exchange like two full calendar years ago. And also I do have other things to be doing.

That's also not a story! That's a plot structure! I might as well say I want to write The Hero's Journey for all it really tells you 😂 at my heart I'm a parodist, I'm going to need to see someone do it wrong and decide to do a better job than they did to really get a fire lit for an actual narrative here. I do love me some themes of insurmountable stupid bullshit you put yourself into on purpose because you decided you could surmount it and then discovered you couldn't, and some futile attempts at some stupid shit for retroactively-really-dumb reasons that weren't worth it, so it'll have that. as seasoning. because what is a permanent stable timeloop but one person committing suicide over and over? I'm only really able to approach the properly frozen-in-sequence ones as either Hand Of God (boring) or Sunk Cost Fallacy On Steroids (fun! interesting! miserable in a slightly unusual way!) so...

....well, it's going to have to keep simmering, because I like what I've got in the broth, but there's no meat in there yet, only spices. It would make a terrible meal right now. But it answers the question, I think.

[plumawolf]

The Fallout Who Regenerated mod adds so much more to the story of Fallout 4 than I first thought.

For context, I haven’t played much of the game myself. I dabbled in it a bit a few years ago, didn’t progress all that much, but I know the story because of playthrough and general curiosity. But recently I’ve had major Doctor Who brainrot again, and only just found out about Fallout Who Regenerated. I thought “A mod for a game I already have where you can repair and fly your own TARDIS? Sign me the fuck up!”

Yes, flying the TARDIS is cool. The new Doctor Who themed tracks added are just *chef's kiss.* Go look them up on youtube.

But holy shit.

The premise of this game is already so angsty. But here’s a bit of how I imagine my character’s experience from her pov went when I started a new game with the mod installed. Beware: this part is long and will contain spoilers for both Fallout 4 and Fallout Who Regenerated.

My husband has been murdered, my son kidnapped. I’ve been frozen for who knows how long. I get out of the vault, desperate to see my baby again. Right away, I see Codsworth, still trying to clean a house that’s been abandoned for what he tells me has been two centuries, and he gives me a holodisk from my husband. I don’t listen to it immediately. I'm too desperate to find at least one other person in this desolate hellscape. But I pop it into my Pip-Boy anyway, for later.

I find a stray dog, the first friendly face I've seen in this place that isn't made of metal. I find the Minutemen not long after when I follow the sound of gunshots. I help them out with the raiders, defend against the Deathclaw attracted by the gunfire. The old lady with them says she’s psychic and that my son is alive, and I’ve never been much of a believer in that kind of thing, but I’ll take anything at this point. We all head back to Sanctuary, a not-so-merry band of survivors armed only with pistols and a rifle scraped together out of junk.

We arrive back at Sanctuary and set up camp. It's not much, but the little life returning to my old neighborhood gives me some comfort. I am not alone.

I'm cleaning out the root cellar of another wrecked house, searching for anything that could be scrapped and repurposed, because we still need a way to purify water. And that is when I hear it. Whispers, in a language that I don't understand, but I get such a familiar feeling. Something compels me to look down at the shelf I just searched, really look at it. And there, glinting in the dim lamplight, is a golden pocket watch, and a silver key.

Curiosity overwhelms me. The key looks rather unassuming, but the pocket watch is decorated with many circular designs, overlapping and intertwining in intricate patterns. It feels familiar in my hand, and is surprisingly warm to the touch. The whispers grow louder, and it's almost as if they're inside my mind itself...

The moment I open the pocket watch, it's as if I'd been looking through a pinhole my entire life, but someone has just ripped it wide open. And I remember everything.

I am a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasterborous. I came to this planet to hide, hide so well that I would forget my true identity. It takes a few moments to recover from the sheer flood of memories and information, but when I am, it's like I've been reborn. And the first thing I must do is find my TARDIS.

It's not hard to hook up the TARDIS key to my Pip-Boy so I can create a homing signal to its location. Anticipation clogs my throat, my hearts beat faster as the signal gets stronger. I rush past the other settlers, ignoring their worry and questions. And I see it. I see it.

The Chameleon Circuit is completely busted, judging by the exterior, which has reverted to the generic silver cylinder shape. But when I open the door for the first time in centuries, I can feel her in my mind. She hums, pleased to see me again after so long. As I check on her systems and assess the damage (and there is quite a lot), I find myself smiling again. In fact, as I step into the TARDIS depths to look for the instruction and repair manuals (I always lose the damned things... an infinite ship with infinite possibilities, but I'd never thought to use any filing cabinets...), I feel almost giddy. I trail my hands along the walls, passing by rooms I haven't visited in years.

Finally, I reach the library. It's much more bare than it used to be - the TARDIS had to clear quite a lot of space to preserve her systems while I was away, mostly due to the damage she sustained upon landing. When I approach the writing desk in the middle of the room, I see that the TARDIS has already taken the liberty of presenting the instruction manual, in holodisk form for my convenience. I smile and thank her for it. She hums jovially in return.

However, when I open my Pip-Boy, there is already a holodisk inside. My stomach sinks when I remember that it is the one that Nate, my human self's husband, intended to give to me. Against my better judgement, I play it. When it is over, Nate's "We love you" and the last of Shaun's gurgles leave me feeling hollow. I feel the vastness of the TARDIS. Vast, but so very, very empty.

Even after I repair my TARDIS, I cannot leave. I will not, not yet. Because even though I am my true self again, that human version of me still grieves so deeply for her murdered husband, and cares so fiercely for the son that she lost. Even though I am not his mother anymore, I still feel the love that she felt for him. I cannot run away from this. I must find Shaun again.

[gauntletqueen]

I haven't watched your KH streams (I caught part of one live but watching VODs really stresses my attention span, plus I didn't find you until you were already near the end of II) but I was wondering if you had any experience with any of the related Square-Enix and Nomura library like Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, Super Mario RPG, Bravely Default, Theatrhythm, Dragon Quest, etc?

Nice question :> I'm not as big a Squenix fan as a lot of others, but I've played a fair bit of their games! Time to make a stupid long post about it :)

When it comes to Final Fantasy, the usual turn-based combat is hard for me to stick with, usually, but: - I've watched playthroughs of FF7, I hate Cloud for realsies and Sephi as a joke. The game has a lot of great visual designs and its length was very impressive for the time. I am against the "remake". - I have played through FF15 (more than once). I recognise its flaws but appreciate the characters and interesting story even if it's not told that well safhghaf - I've played ~200 hours of Acclaimed MMO FF14, including the entire base game story, and I recognise it does what it does very well, which is master the classic MMO formula, which is not for me sfahghaf - Also FF Explorers on the 3DS, that one's pretty fun :> - I know a bit about other Final Fantasy games through osmosis and watching other playthroughs like I did with 7, but the info didn't stick as well sfahhgaf

I reeeaally wanna play TWEWY sometime!! I actually have the DS game cartridge, but I just. Haven't found the time and focus for it hsgafghjaf. It seems super cool though, both in stylization and gameplay.

I've played through Super Mario RPG when I was little! I love its graphics style and the funny quirky tone of it, plus the sound effects are so fun!! Wish they'd acknowledge it beyond a Geno Mii costume :/

Also Nier, I've only played Automata but I've seen the entirety of Gestalt (that's the western Dad-ified version of the original Replicant that got a remake a while ago) and love them for their wild world building, extremely tragic stories and how Fucking Obtuse they dare to be, I think that's cool and fun :>

I've never played Theatrhythm, Bravely Default or Drakengard (Except Nier I guess)

I've only played One Dragon Quest game, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime on the DS! As I understand, it's part of a series in Japan, but this one's the only one that got localized in the west. It's one of my favorite DS games, it's sooo fun and unique!! The mainline turn-based games don't grab me at all so I never bothered playing any of them safhghgasf

I have played the demo of the original Octopath Traveler, which has a cool aesthetic but bored me to no end asdfhgfagshj

I think that's it? I can't think of other major Squenix JRPGs. I like the settings and kinds of JRPG stories a lot of their games tell, but their gameplay often doesn't grab me ghasfhgaf. Hope that was informative or fun or something, thanks for the question!!

[beantothemax]

Welcome to 4 Braincell au Hikari’s Chapter 5

The Chapter Begins with Hikari looking over at the Resting Grounds of Ku’s Warriors. A mirror to what Hikari was first doing when he was 18.

(Ritsu: Ready?

Hikari: Hah. I would say yes but that would be a lie.)

Everyone is getting ready for the final battle ahead of them and we get the scene where Ku’s citizens are willing to fight by Hikari’s side to overthrow Mugen. We also get the scene where Benkei is shown to be alive and a scene where Ritsu semi-lightly punches Kazan from keeping this a secret from all of them

This is also the moment when Hikari looks around and realizes Rai Mei is missing to which Kazan only cryptically says that it’s all part of the plan.

(Hikari: …Alright. If you say so Kazan.

Kazan: Do you still doubt the idea that we would not abandon you when the time comes to fight? My Prince, I hope you didn’t forget our scuffle in Stormhail.

Hikari: No no. I didn’t. I just need to clear my head a bit and remind myself of that.)

Ritsu, Hikari, and Kazan all then discuss the plan on how to get through the walls of Ku and the answer Kazan provided is met with Hikari having flat surprise while Ritsu is giving the biggest “WTF” look ever. Hikari and Ritsu both trust Kazan but you know it makes sense that skepticism that attacking the front gates and making a sandstorm.

Jokes on you Ritsu it works. He can control the winds without magic. Stop glaring, you’re just mad you don’t have that good of control on your wind magic and it took Kazan zero magic to do this.

Immediately when the storm clears they all rush through as in canon.

And just like in canon, when Hikari strikes the bell, Clan Mei comes out of hiding and strikes Mugen’s forces.

The thing that changes is that Hikari, Ritsu, Rai Mei, and Kazan canonically all go inside the Castle to defeat Mugen. Extra bonus points if you go and put them all into your party because that would be very good story telling and very satisfying to watch.

We get one less boss in the boss rush because that’s fair. Benkei is busy beating the hell out of Ageha and it’s great.

The moment they all reach the throne room the confrontation happens. Mugen probably tries to dramatically reveal that Kazan was the reason why Ku fell in the first place and. And Hikari, Ritsu, Rai Mei, and Kazan just stand there because. Because that’s been revealed months ago. They talked through that months ago.

The funny version to stop Mugen from talking is Ritsu just throwing a rock at the man and saying he’s an asshole. The more serious and likely version of events is Hikari stepping forward and saying something about how he knew about that long ago and that he chooses to put his trust in Kazan despite everything. Today, he fights for his friends and for peace.

We then cut to “In Pursuit of Kingship” music and cut to “Journey for the Dawn” music in the boss fight against Mugen.

First phase of Mugen is then down and we then get the lovely show of Hikari’s Shadow possessing him. Immediately we have the friend’s take notice and grow concerned.

Here’s the thing though, Mugen is very much gearing himself up to strike Hikari down in his inner turmoil so. Here’s a gambit: Trust that Hikari can conquer the Curse and just focus on defending him from Mugen.

Meanwhile Hikari is doing an internal battle against his Intrusive Thoughts. And so that the Curse battle doesn’t look absolutely stupid like it did in my playthrough (I overleveled Hikari and the Curse only did like 50 damage at a time in my 7000 health pool), the Curse scales with Hikari’s level.

So this is actually distressing for Hikari despite him trying to remain calm. But he keeps his ground and tries to go forward.

And then the Curse tries to take over Hikari and well-

(Ritsu: Hikari, when we first met, I told you that I would etch my name in history, and I still intend to do that. However, I find that there is no glory in walking that path alone. If you allow me to do so, I wish to walk by your side as we rebuild Ku and lead it to a brighter, better tomorrow.)

(Rai Mei: Throughout our youth, we have been told that war will always be by our doorstep and we do best to prepare for it at all times. I accepted this because I thought it was the only way for my Clan to survive. It is thanks to you that I now know better. To truly change things we must challenge the system itself with our heads held high. No longer will I be afraid.)

Oboro: …Oboro. My real name is Oboro. There is still so much I need to tell you and much I am hiding but I believe I can at least share that with all of you. For the longest time, I believed that the world is sick and cruel. And now…I have my doubts on how true that is. If you believe that you can all make the world better and softer, then I’ll live for that world. I’ll live for that world and for that tomorrow.)

Hikari blinks and rushes to Ritsu’s aid as Mugen’s sword comes down.

The moment it shows that Hikari conquered the Curse you can see disbelief just go through Mugen and Oboro while Rai Mei and Ritsu just express joy.

These emotions only last so long as Mugen goes and snaps out of it and just expresses pure anger and grabs the Darkblood Blade.

Cue the grotesque transformation of Mugen and having the final battle be at hand.

Once that battle is finished. We have the gang just go and announce Mugen’s defeat and Hikari’s victory. And the moment that’s settled and the four of them go back inside the castle to go and just pass out for several hours.

Several days later and it’s the day of the Coronation.

(Oboro: The crown suits you better than I could have imagined.

Rai Mei: Indeed. It suits you Hikari.

Ritsu: You look like a fucking dork.

Oboro:

Rai Mei:

Hikari:

Oboro: You er…do look a bit silly in that attire I will have to admit.

Rai Mei: It’a actually quite big on you… I find that your previous clothes were a better fit in a fashion and personality sense.

Hikari: I’m glad to know that no matter my status, you all will find a way to tease me.)

And we get the scene where Hikari ends Imperialism and grants independence to the Kingdoms and Colonies (And I say colonies because 100% Ku had those) Ku controlled.

It soon skips to the hill overlooking Ku and the four friends all looking out in the distance. Peace is going to be a huge effort and will take time…but at the very least, it is closer today than it was yesterday.

(Oboro: A toast to new tomorrow- Wait one second.

Oboro: *throws a crescent moon pendant out into the endless sands*

Oboro: Okay then. Now. A toast to new tomorrows.

Ritsu: Heh. Another secret K- Oboro?

Oboro: Mayhaps.

Rai Mei: When you’re ready, you can tell us. But for now. A toast.

Hikari: A toast. To friends we have made and the tomorrow we shall bring.)

Bonus Ending Card Image: It’s just all of them sleeping on a couch soundly while Benkei quietly puts a blanket on them. They need sleep let them have this.

KIWI IM PICKING YOU UP AND TUCKING YOU INTO BED AND GIVING YOU A PAT ON THE HEAD THIS IS AMAZING AND HILARIOUS AND PERFECT AND I LOVE IT AAAAAAAAA

just!!!!! so many things in this!!!!!!!!! aaaaa!!!!!!!

Kiwi i adore all the little character moments and interactions you inject into these, as always. swing the characters being a little silly or having a glimpse of your commentary during these asks is always a delight to see

the whole time kazan’s doing his whole sandstorm thjng rigsu’s just kicking pebbles and mumbling about he could totally do the same thing with his wind magic.

mugen dramatically revealing that oboro is the reason Ku fell and. the entire gang just being unfazed becuase they talked through taht months ago and then ritsu just throwing a rock at mugen and calling him an asshole is delightful. they’ve all had enough of his shit at this point

AND THE CURSE FIGHT???? SOUNDS AMAZING????? the curse actually scaling with your level and therefore being an actual threat is cool enough but,,,,, the little dialogues from all his friends,,,,, and,,, and hikari breaking past the curse just in time to stop mugen’s sword from hitting ritsu,,,, and ritsu and rai mei being so so proud of him,,!!!!!!!!!!

after the fight ends and everyone calms down the four all just. get into one big bed and sleep for like 3 days. they’ve earned the rest.

the ‘You look like a fucking dork’ from Ritsu made me actually burst out laughing that is PERFECT he would absolutely poke fun at his best friend’s getup during his coronation

also!!!! oboro throwing away his crescent moon pendant!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah!!!!!!!!!

and the ending card image….. they’re all very eepy. let them get their honk shoo mimimimimi

Kiwi your au’s once again inflict Emotions onto me im going to be thinking about this for. like the next 3 days this is stellar

[gaiussaidno]

okay so, what the Hell was happening in bridge curse: road to salvation??? i think i understand it, sort of?? is this right??

TW: mentions of suicide, preggo lady in a horror context, murder, and general death??

spoilers for the horror game under the cut:

okay if i'm getting the general idea of the story based on watching One playthrough:

-a long time ago, a young couple in college was madly in love and they wanted to meet at the bridge at night one day to elope??

-the guy never showed (not sure why), so she yeeted herself off le bridge. she forever haunts the bridge and kills people who do the lil urban myth of counting the steps on the bridge.

-jumping to the future, there's a group of kids setting up a horror walkthrough based on said ghost.

-POV switches between the 6 college students who all got drama going in their friend group. they're part of some club together and they're making a horror walkthrough by the bridge because they want to give their college more attention and be more popular than the competing colleges?? they are rehearsing the horror walkthrough in the middle of the night and decide to have one of the group Actually do the urban legend thingie and all goes to Hell!! bc the ghost lady shows up and scares everyone off, intending to chase all of them down and kill em.

-we get pieces of the story from each of the characters' POVs as they're running around from the actual murderous ghost, thinking she's a prank that the other members are playing on them. and it seems the two main characters of the friend group are DeCyuan and HsinChiao, just bc they seem to have more information or unknown relevant history than the others, who seem really confused about what's going on.

-one by one, all the friends start dying as they grab key pieces of the story (literally lore, but also actual physical items important to exorcising the vengeful spirit). with only DeCyuan and HsinChiao left, we learn that the ghost was a young woman at the college who met her boyfriend here. they quickly fell in love, the woman got pregnant, then they unofficially married each other bc her rich parents wouldn't approve, and planned to elope(?). but the man never showed and well, you know what happened to her. she successfully manages to kill all their friends and possess them and she tries to do the same to the last two survivors.

-it's revealed that DeCyuan was leaving hints for everyone to find out about the ghost and how to exorcise her because he didnt want the ghost finding out about his plans to save everyone and get rid of her. DeCyuan reveals he and the group of friends have been living in this limbo, re-experiencing the night his and HsinChiao's friends all died years ago. technically he and HsinChiao are "alive" (?) but trapped in this spirit realm with the lady ghost and their friends whom she killed and holds hostage. he and HsinChiao are the only ones who can remember the night and what happened. he's been waiting for the opportunity for so long to make the plan work.

-HsinChiao is revealed to have big regrets over getting her bff in the group killed bc it was HsinChiao's idea to do the urban myth. (at least she seemed to be the one suggesting it for more views). but it's never really explained how her bff died i think?? (from HsinChiao's POV it's like she doesnt Want to remember, it's a vague sort of accident) until we learn what DeCyuan knows. HsinChiao seems to be the first and easiest one for the lady ghost to possess and we learn that it's because she used to date DeCyuan who broke up with her and started dating someone else in the friend group. it made her super depressed, that plus her bff dying threw her into a spiral. and she also has mental health issues according to a document DeCyuan finds in her room, though he says he had no idea until that moment that she was taking meds for her mental health. HsinChiao felt unlovable and like she ruined everything and i guess was enough of a negative force for the lady ghost to latch onto and relate to.

-DeCyuan tells her they're running out of time and she needs to unlock the basement to get to the realm where the ghost is, exorcise their friends' spirits, and kill the ghost and its heart with a divine sword. she does it for her bff and manages to free everyone And kill the ghost. it seems the ghost was using the spirits of the friends to fuel herself, this limbo, and a giant throbbing glowing heart that looks like a baby. the ghost herself appears naked and pregnant when she is chasing everyone. HsinChiao successfully kills her and gets free of the basement with information about who the ghost was and her whole backstory.

-she gives this information to DeCyuan who tells her he can go free himself from this limbo and be alive again, but she can't because she entered the ghost's realm or something. idk man not really sure. but she gives DeCyuan a slap and he runs free into the light.

-it's suddenly daylight at the college campus and the bridge and HsinChiao turns around to see all her dead friends free and happy, chatting together in the sun. on the stairs, she sees the lady ghost in a more human form, standing in the breeze for a second before fading away. when HsinChiao goes to be with her friends she hears a voice and it's her bff on the stairs. they have a touching reunion before they all move on from the peaceful afterlife (now that they're free from the bridge curse) to rebirth.

-end credits reveal DeCyuan did make it out of limbo and is alive, probably, and there's newspaper cutouts of the history of the urban legend and how it was True and based on a tragic story of the lady ghost. and the families of the lady ghost and her unofficial husband decide to give them a ghost marriage to set their spirits at peace.

i think i got the gist of the story?? i feel like i'm missing a lot of nuances and missed some things

[thelostjournals]

The hope that turned into a dragon

This is the story of the constellation's dimmest star and how it

We both hesitate to call it dying. But maybe this is what death is.

Maybe we'll learn more with time, as we decipher the stories of the other stars. For now, here it is:

Like steps polished by the feet of generations, like pebbles shaped by shapeless water, stories and constellations smoothen with time.

I had two stars very close to each other: my darkest and my second-brightest. Siblings, convicted by the lines the mortals drew in their minds, to be ever distant.

The dim star, they used to say, shines from a deep abyss that separated the observatory from the rest of the city. The abyss was as deep as the sky seen from the observatory was high and as dark as the sun was bright. But in every darkness, they said, there is a light, no matter how weak.

The smallest star wasn't the smallest; she was just the farthest from the Earth. I am vaster than the mortals imagine; that at least didn't change with my ascension.

The furthest star missed the mortals the most. She yearned for them for eons, feeding on the stories told about her, stories of hope and dim lights that are enough, and ached to live on the small rock that was so far from us.

Each story made her heart wider, the gas that was her body spreading in the emptiness of space, blooming into a nebula, until all that was left of her glorious, shining body, was a hot, hard heart among colorful clouds. There was no light in it anymore, and the nebula, beautiful as it was, wasn't visible to the mortals not yet.

Mortals stopped telling stories and the farthest star was no longer a symbol of hope.

It broke her.

I watched it, I felt it, the hard, hot iron heart crack open. I felt the dragon coming out of it. I felt her spreading her wings because, for a short while, they were also mine.

Then she flew towards the planet she longed for, the one that believed her to be hope incarnate, and she was no longer mine. She was her own.

The star was no more, and the imaginary abyss was no more. My stories became ones about a city on a mountain, the observatory just a place on the mountain peak, accessible to all who had the stamina and wits to climb through my districts.

I was smoothened.

The Flicker and the Fade is harder for me to play than You Are a Beacon. The prompts are more, well, nebulous (I won't see myself out, this is my blog, sorry), and imagining stars is harder than imagining people. Also, I decided to use watercolor paint while playing this game, and I'm not good at it. This project is all about doing imperfect experimental things, about being playful, not professional but nobody said it comes easy.

The fact that my father was a physicist and that I remembered that hey, stars have life cycles, I need to research it, or he will come back from the dead to haunt me, didn't help.

I like the fact that the game is challenging, but also makes playing it way slower. Especially since I want to write it only when I feel like it.

So, I struggled with this first star, yesterday I even left writing mid-entry not knowing where I want to take the story, and then, a few hours ago I saw the sentence "I promise not to make boring art" somewhere and I asked myself what would be the least boring and most wacky thing to happen and the first word I thought of was dinosaurs.

Of course, the star changing into a dinosaur didn't fit the world tonally, but the dead star's core being a dragon egg is, at least to me, SUPER COOL. So here we have it.

This is the second entry in my playthrough of The Flicker and the Fade, a beautiful yet challenging game you can find here: https://nyessa.itch.io/the-flicker-and-the-fade

The playthrough is a part of an impromptu worldbuilding project my "let's play a lot of solo journaling games" turned into - hence the intro, which is written by a character from the previous game, You Are a Beacon (to be found here: https://radiantfracture.itch.io/you-are-a-beacon). You can read the whole playthrough in previous entries.

[dutyworn]

Wren full playthrough part 7. No notable mods for this part. (full modlist linked under the readmore along with other generic information about this playthrough)

youtube playlist / tumblr masterpost

I timestamped this on Youtube over two months ago apparently, so I don't remember as much commentary for you guys here as I usually do, not wanting to rewatch it yet again this moment LOL.

Highlights and timestamps:

00:00 Planet scanning.

04:53 Therum.

10:28 Refinery. I totally have a license to drive the Mako. If you see it do a little ballerina impression on its rear end, it's lies and slander.

21:30 Combat. I still maintain that the combat scene here after the cut scene is the hardest combat of the first game, if doing it on a low level Shepard. By the way. Did I tell you (I posted about it at least twice and I probably will again) my recording corrupted and I had to play through that TWO TIMES? You better appreciate it my guys (I joke).

32:28 Meeting Liara.

42:30 Post-mission brief.

General disclaimer: This is not meant to be a 1:1 to my roleplay portrayal, even if it can be used as a reference for choices and just as a general “people can watch this if they are interested/wanna know Wren/the game more” fun thing. In gameplay, I tend to exhaust dialogue options; for a lot of asking questions, Wren actually would already be aware of the answers so sometimes it’s more about wanting to show the dialogue (for people not familiar with the game) and gaining XP, other times (mostly when conversing with people about their personal experiences) she asks about things she is aware of because she wants the story from the person themselves (e.g. she might know something about someone else’s culture, but she’s going to ask anyway if the questions are welcome, to learn directly from the other person), and to show care. Also, gaming dynamics obviously have their limits.

I record everything. I edit out redundant getting lost on the map (happens a lot more than you might expect), repeat dialogue, and/or speed through leveling up, modding equipment, etc. If I am reading something while playing, I keep the text in my edits for long enough for me to be able to read (I’m a slow reader). Stuff less relevant to the story, such as planet descriptions, I keep in the video but only very briefly so that the information is there and readable if the video is paused.

I mainly record for my own reference/screencapping etc. purposes.That’s why there also are no subtitles, though I will record clips I specifically want to share with subtitles on.

You may use my videos freely for anything you wish, such as screencapping your muse if you play someone from the games etc.

I play with a galore of mods! Here’s my list of mods I currently use in this playthrough for the first game.

I always include clickable timestamps on Youtube, if you want to watch, but want to skip some parts.

[wjrp]

TwoBitGameTours 1: Bitey Farm Animals, Sim Pathfinding, and God

(written 13 May 2023 at 8:14am)

Sims…Sims are weird little simulated people, and sometimes they drive you clear up the wall.

Much like children or pets…or computers. (Or other groups of beings/things, I’m certain.)

So, a few years ago, I was playing the Sims 3. My Sims at the time had a toddler. They’ve gotta be taught how to walk and talk (you’re supposed to anyway..). Right. I can do that.

So I directed this kid’s mom to teach her kid to walk, I think it was. (I’ll call her Mary because I’ve forgotten what name I gave her.) Kid’s room was off to the side, relatively near their house’s stairway. So this chick picks up her kid. Cool. We’re on our way.

So she walks over to the top of the stairs, puts her kid down… then walks down the stairs without said kid.

Then the “frustration” or “I can’t do that” bubble pops up.

Aaaugh. Why’d you leave your kid at he top and you at the bottom?

It’s funny now. I mean, it was kinda funny then, too, but mixed with “why are you like this”.

If anything, I was frustrated at EA (Electronic Arts) for this pathfinding snarl that happened.

(I really don’t know how difficult programming pathfinding is, but EA is massive. It just felt below their capabilities.)

At the time, I wasn’t thinking too hard about any of this, and figured out how to get her to teach her kid to walk or whatever it was.

Thinking about this now, I didn’t hate her. Not just because any life she had existed in my head, and I rather liked the story I told myself, but like..

She’s wasn’t stupid on purpose. (She isn’t anything on purpose, to be fair.) 

Sometimes we just do not get stuff, and I think God might be unhappy about it, but not every mistake is intentional. Sometimes we blunder about, and get it right eventually. I think God might have rather more patience than I give Him credit for.

——

A few years later, I was playing a Minecraft modpack called Agrarian Skies 2.

(Modpacks are what I like to call “custom content”. It’s stuff that the player base makes, and shares with others.)

Anyway. The story behind AS2 was that the world was wrecked all except for your little teeny floating island in a whoooole lot of nothing. 

This is a very different experience from a typical Minecraft playthrough. In single player, Minecraft can feel a little empty, but it’s got nothing on the potential loneliness of a skyblock playthrough.

There is nothing. No cows mooing, no villagers running around looking like Squidward, nothing. And it takes long enough to get the supplies to make farms, and places for different creatures to pop in to existence. Enough that when you see the first farm animal, you are really happy to see it. (Or at least I was.)

This is where I should mention that this modpack has a thing that makes the farm animals bitey/hostile.

But I realized something, in the midst of this experience of bitey farm animals. And I pondered the same thing with the Sim family in the midst of writing this.

God still loves us. Even when we’re like some bitey Minecraft cow, He’s like “Yay! My kid. I love them. I want to care for them and give them help and support. They are entirely loved just as they are.”

(I mean…I don’t think God might speak quite that informally/colloquially, but I hope you get what I mean.)

And that’s what I still wanted to do, even after watching a pen of sheep all collect on one side trying to bite me. Protect them from being eaten by a wolf (by never setting up the conditions for one to turn up, I think.). Feed them. Get the wool and make stuff.

I realized that God wanted to be kind and loving, even when we, his spirit children aren’t those things at all.

—

I’ve shared the Minecraft part of this in a Fast and Testimony meeting some time ago, but I felt I should share this online.

Maybe it’s because somebody needs it. Maybe that someone is you?

Maybe it’s because I have a hard time actually getting to church. (Chronic illness. It is…unfun.)

But hi Internet. Here’s a thing that I thought of, that maybe someone is asking for.

Even if it’s just me, then it was worth the effort. If it’s you, then I am happy to brighten things for you.

I think that experiences like these are totally possible, presuming the game is clean enough for the Spirit to be there. 

I think that video games and their characters matter. That’s because the people who carry their story of Bessie the cow or Mary, the mother of many, matter. Video games don’t have to be useless fluff, and in fact they can teach you a lot. Or let you make a story. 

Mary may have no life outside the one you carry in your mind. She is 1s and 0s, just numbers.

But you, my dear. You are real. Your feelings are real, even if Mary, her toddler, and her puzzling behavior are just code. A scene, empty of thought, still affects you, because you are that thought.

And those thoughts exist. And since you matter, so do they.

Books and plays and other ways of sharing stories have existed for a long time. People who have no lives outside the mind of many..or one, still can soften hearts, and strengthen feeble knees.

Video games are just as capable of that. 

<3 Windy/WJRP

[silent-lily]

i saw your reblog! GOOD LUCK PLAYING OMORI MAN !!!! hope you have fun!!! i know we haven't interacted all that much but still, as a mutual, don't hesitate to scream at me about this game if you ever feel the need to do so! also beware of spoilers! this game will indeed fuck you up but don't we all love to be fucked up by a particularly good storyline sometimes !!!!

also if i may ask, what's your favorite silent hill game? and should they be played in their particular order, or is it ok to just pick any part of the series and enjoy the ride from there? i remember watching a silent hill 3 stream a while ago and absolutely loving that game, never played the others though; i would love to get deeper into the series and that's why i decided to ask you about that :P

HEYYYYY!!!! Thank you, I don't know how far I am in the game but I am certainly having fun! RPG Maker games have always been one of my faves, so Omori just took its rightful place amongst the other well-known gems :) I usually just scroll through Tumblr, reblogging stuff /w comments in the tags but if the need arises - I will gladly scream at you haha. I love love LOVE games that may fuck you up a bit (or not a bit) - psychological horror is one of my faves.

Okay, now THAT is a question I love to hear, as well as the second one. Long-long talk ahead, so I'll put it under the cut for convenience.

My faves are the games that are considered "Classic Silent Hill quadrilogy". Yes, all of the four - even though, if I'm perfectly honest, SH1 and SH3 are THE Faves actually, mostly because of the "Fucked Up Cultist Bullshit" parts of the series and the familial connection of the protags (in SH1 we play as the father, in SH3 we play as his grown-up daughter) who I love dearly. Also Alessa, the one who brought The Fog World and The Otherworld to life.

Many people consider Silent Hill 2 a good part to get into the series (as in to see what the series is all about, its main themes and its "psychological horror" style), and I agree! BUT - if you want to know the actual origins of all fucked-up stuff of that small town you better go with the first part, Silent Hill (1999) (or even another part about which I'll talk in a bit). There's no actual PC version of it out there but there are hacked PSOne versions which can be easily emulated.

Now, SH1 and SH3 are directly connected via story and characters, SH2 and SH4 are mostly standalones BUT connected together via some plot details. So I advise to follow this order of playing because it goes along with the canonical chronology of events:

Silent Hill 1 -> Silent Hill 3 -> Silent Hill 2 -> Silent Hill 4: The Room

(also for the love of everything DO NOT PLAY THE HD COLLECTION VERSIONS OF SH2-3; they're horrible and glitchy as PC ports and the voice acting was changed and it's WORSE than the original; look for Enhanced Editions)

All games that came after these four are considered of, well, lower quality and not as well-thought through. Which is true BUT: - Silent Hill Origins may also be good to look into because it's a prequel to the first game but better to just watch a playthrough in my opinion before going to the first part (I had too much of a hard time emulating it and... eeeehhh I didn't really like the gameplay even if it tried to be like in the "classic" ones); - Silent Hill Homecoming can be looked into as well even though it's the most hated one of all the Silent Hill games, story-wise and gameplay-wise. For me, I actually found some interesting details in it that I liked (again, mainly The Fucked-up Cultist Bullshit) so I don't hate it as much as any other SH fan. Again, though, better just watch the playthrough - the game, even if it has a port for PCs, is awfully broken and HARD to play by yourself.

There are also in the Main Series: Silent Hill Shattered Memories (a reimagining of the first game minus The Cult Stuff) which is... not that important to everything in the Main Storyline, it's basically an AU; and Silent Hill Downpour that can look kinda plain and boring after everything else because it copies plenty of the tropes that were in the previous games. They may be ignored (but in the end it's up to you of course - you may look into them as well).

So yeah, here we go! The games can be divided into two types basically (with SH Shattered Memories as an outsider):

Shit happens because of The Local Cult, involving innocent bystanders (chronologically - SH Origins -> SH1 -> SH3 -> SH4 The Room -> SH Homecoming);

Shit happens because people with heavy burden get trapped in their own nightmares and inner demons brought to life (SH2 and SH Downpour).

Tl;dr What's the best order to PLAY: SH1 (emulated on ePSXe) -> SH3 (Enhanced Edition) -> SH2 (Enhanced Edition) -> SH4 The Room (Enhanced Edition or GOG Ver.)

What's the best order to WATCH AS A PLAYTHROUGH for the story: SH Origins -> SH1 -> SH3 -> SH2 as a small breaker but it's needed -> SH4 The Room -> SH Homecoming

That's all! Oof sorry for THAT many words but... yeah Silent Hill series has been my love and passion for 15+ years so I LOVE to share things about it! Feel free to ask more stuff too! :)

(it would certainly be more noticeable how much inspiration was drawn from these games into creating Omniphobia after watching through all of them haha)

[just-cant-stop-writing]

So you know She-Ra, right? The gay cartoon that has the evil cat woman and the eight-foot-tall superlady and also destroyed me emotionally i will never recover. A few weeks ago I learned, that its actually a reboot of an 80s cartoon She-Ra The Princess of Power.

So you know Gone Home, right? Well, you probably dont. The fandom for this game is one of the tiniest Ive ever been in. In this game you play as Katie, a 22 year old young woman, who returns home after a year abroad only to find her family gone and have to search for clues to find out where they went.

Throughout the game, you find journal entries from Sam, Katies sister and the actual protagonist of the story. For the purposes of this post, the only thing you need to know is that Sam is a lesbian and a huge part of the story is about her coming to terms with it and spending time with her girlfriend.

In one of her entries, A Very Long Phase, she speaks about coming out to her parents and says this:

I mean... you've known, right? Like... I'VE known. I've known since like, She-Ra.

At the time of my first playthrough i had not yet watched the show, but my mind immediately went to the 2018s She-Ra, which... would be impossible. The games story takes place in 1994-1995 and the game itself came out in 2013. So I just assumed it was some sort of coincidence.

But now I know.

And Im just really happy that the sapphic experience of simping for superhero princess women echoes through the decades.