#Trilogy rental

[suddenlymicah]

has anyone considered henry possessing glamrock freddy or am i being a little silly right now

[mercyking]

Sometimes...I live in a world where Gary King and Nicholas Angel are cousins.

And sometimes...SOMETIMES...Nicholas' uncle Derek is Gary's dad.

[albatris]

more often than not alex struggles w human food bc like. one of the garble's go-to methods of encouraging vampires to feed on human blood if they're refusing is to just kind of. make human food taste like garbage. n in some cases make you unable to keep it down, depending on how dire things are

n like. you still need it to live. so the greeble more or less holds your ability to eat regular food hostage until you give it what it wants (murder). alex, as we've established, is a fucking god of self-control and feeds way less often than any other vampire we meet in the story. n is established as spending most of its time in varying degrees of chronic pain and endless hunger, and all that other garble fuckery that goes on when the garble wants a vampire to do a murder. constantly heightened senses (overloaded senses) especially. n whether or not it's able to eat or taste human food varies from day to day

so I have to make a Point to draw attention to the fact that epilogue alex has gained weight n is pudgy now

alex has had a whole existential crisis about morality and whether it's selfish of it to return to being human when as a vampire it has the capacity and resources to hunt and kill atrocious human predators who aren't being held accountable for their actions, even though this was never the way it wanted to make a difference in the world and it's depressed and having panic attacks and lives in constant misery and blah blah blah

Alex Does Not Want To Hurt People

alex is a gentle soul n wants to help by protecting and healing

there's room in the world for people to beat the shit out of human predators but that room is not a place alex fits, the choice to return to being human is the healthy choice for alex

so yeah alex gaining weight is!! important!! just. it's healthy now and happier and able to relax consistently, it has room for basic pleasures like eating regular food whenever it wants to and not have to think about it

there's a metaphor here I think but it's 2am so I'll leave it there

[genderfluid-druid]

wait Gordon Porlock's favorite Star Wars movie was Return of the Jedi? FUCK YEAH everyone always goes for Empire or maybe A New Hope, or has a convoluted justification for why the prequels are a great tragedy, but man I just think the carbonite and the Han Solo rescue was cool. Also had a crush on Luke in all black with the single glove like c'mon.

(yes i started an impromptu red valley relisten and yes this was the most exciting detail I've picked out this go round, which is not a knock on the other details but merely speaks to the magnitude of this one)

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

SAS: Red Notice’ in Development 🤔

SAS: Red Notice 2 or

SAS: Rise of the Black Swan 2

SH’s film was retitled SAS: Rise of the Black Swan on Netflix to avoid confusion with the Netflix-produced film Red Notice, which was also released in 2021.

Coincidentally Red Notice 2 with Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, and Gal Gadot, are prepared to dive back into their roles. expected to arrive by mid-2025 or late 2025.

SAS: Red Notice is based on Andy McNab’s book, and (SAS, 2) it is SAS: Fortress, and is not SAS: Red Notice 2. it’s a trilogy.

SAS: Red Notice, also known as SAS: Rise of the Black Swan, was a thoroughly mediocre action thriller. Sam Heughan's portrayal of Tom Buckingham didn't particularly stand out. SH will stop talking about James Bond once and for all.

Posted 16th May 2024

@bestjaydee - SH fans tend to reason more on the protagonist rather than the film itself or Andy McNab's book idea. They always overvalue his mediocre performance without understanding the requirements of playing the role. His fans can buy anything he sells or spend much money to get a glimpse of him but they will never make him a good actor.

In comparison, "Red Notice," with its A-list actors, is expected to be a more enjoyable adventure than the "SAS: Rise of the Black Swan" sequel.

@fantasy-sci-fi-tv-girl - If SAS: Red Notice did well in streaming rentals, it was because it found an audience among Outlander fans, who outrageously inflated review numbers. SH doesn't have enough skill to justify her character in the film with a cast that simply doesn't have enough charisma to fully engage viewers.

The important UK Critic's Consensus was Whether it's called SAS: Red Notice or SAS: Rise of the Black Swan, this is a thoroughly mediocre action thriller, that has been done before and executed better, trying to make a weak actor in a spy. Andy McNab's books had so much potential, but they decided to ruin it.

The UK reviews are important because the film is about a British author’s books and they know how the SAS works, and SH was an unequal special forces operator. They could make a second film or three if the new director wants because the Tom Buckingham series is a trilogy. But SH will never be on par with a SAS operator. Although a sequel to Sky Cinema's 2021 original, SAS: Red Notice, is reportedly in development, it's unclear if Sam will return to the cast.

[the-modern-typewriter]

Fantasy Book Recs

For the people who asked for book recs, muhahaha...

(You may be interested in my book tag or my goodreads) The tag definitely repeats some of my favourites because I keep recommending them, but in my defence, they are excellent and I need no defence. 

Anyway, fantasy book recs my love...I know I have a type. We all know I have a type. I was not kidding about the fairytales/retellings obsession.

Also, let’s get it out of the way. Literally ANYTHING by V.E Schwab. I cannot stress that enough. My favourite is The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue, but like. God tier.

I’m just going to go and add Leigh Bardugo here as well. Slightly less god tier, but still great. Especially Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom which is god tier.

Short(er) stories and short story collections

The Poison Eaters and Other Stories by Holly Black

A Portable Shelter and A Rental Heart and Other Fairytales and Things We Say In The Dark by Kirsty Logan

A Spindle Splintered by Alix. E. Harrow

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor

The Greenhollow Duology by Emily Tesh

Wayward Children novellas by Seanan McGuire

Hag (collection with numerous authors)

Beasts and Beauty by Soman Chainani

Novels

The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

Uprooted and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden

Girl, Serpent, Thorn and Girls Made Of Snow and Glass by Melissa Basherdoust 

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Dark Rise by C.S Pascat

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (I think the series goes down in quality, but the first one is excellent and I think can be read standalone)

The Montague Siblings trilogy by Mackenzie Lee

The Folk of Air trilogy and The Darkest Part of the Forest and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Peter Darling by Austin Chant

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

The Binding by Bridget Collins

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J Klune

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper / Blood Countess by Lana Popovic

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (I’m not being ironic, I think the first book is great)

The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Interview with a vampire by Anne Rice

Note I have limited this list to really liked and it was amazing. There are lots of others I have liked and enjoyed while reading.

[strangestcase]

I’m trying to start reading gothic literature, but I don’t really know where to start. What books in the genre would you recommend?

Cracks knuckles.

Start off with a selection of Edgar Allan Poe short stories. There's a reason he's considered the best Gothic writer. Most if not all of his fiction falls squarely into the gothic genre, even his non-horror production. The more you read the better, but The Fall of the House of Usher is one of the best representatives of the Gothic you can find. Also check out his poetry and scientific essays, if you can, the guy was a real Renaissance man. He also wrote one novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, which, along with Lovecraft's In the Mountains of Madness and Cambell's Who goes there? aka The Thing From Another World constitutes some sort of "trilogy" (since each story was based on the one prior).

Then you can move on to other short story selections. Short stories are easier to read and digest, I think, and plenty of fun. I recommend the following authors:

J. Sheridan Le Fanu- Irish writer that took a page from Irish folklore and legends. Madam Crowl's Ghost is a favorite of mine.

R. Louis Stevenson- usually a children's author, Stevenson liked to merge genres and used pretty interesting concepts for his horror production.

Guy de Maupassant- he was commisioned to write, so he often recycled entire concepts and plots, leaving us with many different versions of the same story (and a lot of heavy-handed morals. god bless).

Charles Dickens- predictably enough, he specialized in ghost stories

M. R. James- James' short horror stories have some of the most interesting monster concepts I've ever read, from a haunted dollhouse that recreates the events of a real-life haunting, to a possessed pattern print.

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer- little man puts the "Dark Romanticism" in, well, Dark Romanticism. If you know Spanish, do yourself a favor and read his short stories untranslated.

Elizabeth Gaskell- wrote plenty of good horror stories, and often from a female perspective, which is always a treat.

Bram Stoker- his stuff is very hit or miss, but when he hits, he hits hard. Read The Judge's House for a very nasty ghost story and then toss Stoker into the garbage because everything else he wrote is either comically racist or just dumb.

And now as for specific must-read short stories:

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman- maybe the true monster was medical misogyny all along! (Obvious content warning for graphic medical abuse, misogyny, and domestic abuse.)

What was it? by Fritz O'Brien- short story in the vein of "hey wouldnt it be fucked up if this happened?" Don't read if you have sleep paralysis.

The Open Door by Margaret Oliphant- a missing child, a mysterious door, and forces beyond human comprehension.

The Empty House by Algernon Blackwood- would you spend a full night in a haunted house? (Very paranoia inducing, it's such a treat.)

The Ghostly Rental by Henry James- in which the "ghosts" aren't actually ghosts, but something far, far weirder and cooler.

The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs- this tear-wrenching and suspenseful little tale will forever remind you to be careful what you wish for...

The gothic literature "classics", as in, full lenght novels and short novellas, can be a bit difficult to read due to length. My personal recommendations are:

Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley- a foundational text of science fiction with a nestled narrative frame and themes of personal and social responsability, bodily autonomy, and freedom. Young alchemist Victor Frankenstein attempts to blur the line between life and death, and unwittlingly sets off his downfall in the process by creating a humanoid creature he can't control and won't respond to. CW child death, death by axphysiation, incest, description of unsanitary environments.

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by R. Louis Stevenson- it is considered the first modern psychological horror story, and, while it's a mere sixty pages long, each and every one of them is packed with a dark revelation about tight-laced Victorian society. When his lifelong friend writes up a suspicious will leaving everything to a stranger, a lawyer decides to look into it, leading him down a spiral of discoveries all related to a disturbing experiment. CW suicide, graphic descriptions of violence, drug abuse.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan le Fanu- very much a classic vampire tale, with an interesting sapphic spin, in which the predatory lesbian trope bleeds, pun intended, into a twisted love story. Laura is a young girl who considers herself prim and proper, until the day the charming Carmilla stops by the family manor claiming to be her soulmate, sparking off a romance marked by a series of strange events. CW implied sexual assault, gore.

The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde- I consider it an early attempt at daylight horror, and while the plot is mostly romantic drama (canonically bisexual romantic drama!), the descriptions make everything else worthwhile. Beautiful model Dorian Gray's life is changed when he befriends a cunning aristocrat, which prompts him to wish to remain young forever while his portrait ages in his place... and his wish is granted. CW extreme antisemitism, suicide, graphic descriptions of gore and violence.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James- a ghostly classic which is marked by its ambiguity and the opacity of its plot, all which make it all the more disturbing, if a little hard to follow at times. Bly Manor has appointed a new nanny to take care of a pair of twins, but soon enough, she finds out not all is well in the house, and a dark force might be preying on the children. CW implied incest, implied child abuse.

The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen- technically an example of very early cosmic horror, sitting at the intersection between Poe and Lovecraft, and clearly influenced by late Victorian scientific advancements. Some particularly gruesome deaths lead a group of men to slowly uncover the past of a one Helen Vaughan, and nature of a procedure performed on her mother before her conception. CW implied child abuse, suicide, sexual harrassment, human experimentation, extreme intersexism.

And those would be it!

[saintmuses]

❝𝙖 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬-𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣❞

Pairing:

Neil Lewis x Bestfriend!Reader

Summary:

Neil and his best friend were having a movie marathon at Gumshoe video rental store on a Saturday night, and that also included her favorite bottle of wine.

Warning(s): SMUT. Best friends to lovers. Pining!Neil. Dry-humping and I mean grinding. Public space. Reader is tipsy, but it’s consensual. Minors, dni!

Word Count: 694

Neil grunted in surprise when she tripped over her own feet and landed on top of his thighs. “Are you okay, Y/N?” He asked, concern etched in his tone as he reached around her waist to steady her.

She giggled; he could feel his face softening at the sound she made as she turned around forcing her back into his chest. “I’m fine.”

The smell of her hair wafted into his nostrils, flaring in response to the sweet aroma that embodied her.

The woman he adored. The only person he’d ever truly fell for since the moment he met her at the small dingy ass restaurant that Jonathan invited him to come. She was introduced to him as Jonathan’s girlfriend of the month’s sister, and they became inseparable ever since.

She shifted her hips indicating that she planned on standing up removing herself from her position on top of his thighs, but somehow it drove the apex of her thighs onto his bulge, accidentally rubbing her covered pussy against it. 

He stifled a gasp, “Y/N.” His voice deepened with arousal.

“I’m so sorry,” she muttered nervously, trying to remove herself from his lap.

He gritted his teeth, battling the urge to touch her. “Stop” he said with a warning tone, trying to diffuse the sexual tension that was building up.

She wouldn’t listen, “I’m trying to get up.” Her tone held a hint of frustration, making him growl slightly before taking control of the situation.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, and his hand ended up on her inner thigh, pulling it to the side as he dragged her backwards towards him, pressing his chest against her back as he shoved his burgeoning erection into the junction of her thighs. She gasped, her fingers finding his kneecaps, clenching her fingernails into his thin skin.

“This is why I want you to stop,” he said gruffly, fingers tightening on her flesh.

Silence was deafening other than their heavy breaths. Film posters were littered everywhere on the walls, and the television was still operating except it had finally arrived at the closing credits of the first film of Back to the Future trilogy.

She pushed back into him, “what if I don’t want you to stop?” She questioned him in a whisper.

“You’re drunk, baby.” He chuckled hoarsely as the pet-name slipped from his tongue, rubbing the pad of his thumb across the exposed skin of her taut stomach. “You don’t want this.” He told her while trying to tell himself that.

Guys like him don’t get their dream girls like her.

It didn’t stop him from feeling the hope arising in his chest.

He pulled her hips back which belied his words, while lifting his hips slightly so he could slide her back and forth along the length of his cock. Her breath quickened when he varied the sliding motion with an upward grind of his hips.

He lifted his hips while holding her hips down slightly as he began to grind his cock into her. 

When it wasn’t enough, he placed a land on her upper back between her shoulders, pushing her forward to hold her in a position that had her whine loudly and him groaning. His hand then slid from her upper back to her lower back. Bent at the waist with her hips never leaving contact with his, he bit down a curse as the curve of his cock nudged her clit easily.

She was only wearing graphic tee and leggings which was thin enough to be able to feel the heat through his tracksuit pants and underwear.

He heard her whimpering as his cock roughly dragged back and forth against her fabric covered pussy.

“Neil,” she whined, a keen noise erupted from her throat as she grounded her hips. Her fingertips dug into the skin of his knees.

“You like that, baby?” He asked huskily, his breathing becoming ragged as he grounded his cock into her clit as much as he could with their clothes dividing them.

“Ye-“ she broke as the stirrings of an orgasm began to rise. “Yes.” She whined loudly into the emptiness of the store.

[amplifyme]

5 Things Tag Game

rules! list 5 topics you can talk about for at least an hour without any preparation. tag others to find out their topics.

Thanks for tagging me @randomfoggytiger and @enigmaticxbee!

1. Let's get the obvious out of the way first. The X-Files, Beauty and the Beast 1987, and Sandor Clegane and Sansa Stark from the ASOIAF book series. I will go down with these ships.

2. Need to know what my home state and the federal government requires when it comes to licensing and maintaining various forms of records for a medium-duty rental truck fleet - specifically trash trucks of all types? I'm your girl. Spent almost 20 years doing that, along with a very long list of other organizational and customer service related duties. Sounds fun, right??

3. The following books: The Stand, The Passage trilogy, the first book in The Outlander series, the first 3 novels in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

4. Cooking/baking basics. We're not talking fine dining here, just tasty ways to feed your belly that're (mostly) good for you.

5. The state of the world. I have many thoughts. Engage me with respect, be kind, ask the right questions, and I can go on for hours.

Tagging @daisies-cats-and-spacemen @ladytp @leiascully @kateofthecanals @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly @littlefeatherr @musingsofaquietmind. No pressure, only play if you want to!

[jtl-fics]

Smalls AU please!

WIP Wednesday - Open (8/30/23) | Smalls AU

It'd be nice if Wymack had a son that was her age.

But, alas, she's sure that would have come up in the books if he had a son. Maybe it was in the third book? Regardless, if Wymack has a son she doubts he is very plot relevant.

It’d be wild for a character to only show up in the last book of a trilogy to be Wymack’s hot long lost son.

They reach Wymack’s rental car and she throws her bag in the trunk. Wymack stayed close as a barrier between her and Janie’s dad who had followed and was hovering.

“You’ll regret this.” Janie’s dad hisses.

“Maybe,” she shrugs. The next year for the Foxes would be a turbulent one but, “I’m still gonna do it.” She shrugs as she slides into the passenger seat that Wymack had opened.

She shut the door and locked it before Wymack stepped away.

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[attn-all-pickpockets]

top 5 txf episodes

I loved this prompt but also it was very hardddd, I mostly chose ones that I never shut up about lmao

"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"

This is my girl, this is my ride or die. I was in the Northeast when the first category 1 hurricane hit in like 50 years and I had to drive through the outer bands in a rental car with a spare tire on it and when we got home I made everyone watch this because it's my comfort episode that accompanies me through moments of triumph as well as crisis. Scully befriending the depressed old man psychic is such a great storyline for Scully and this whole ep really lets her shine. Scully has such a kindness and playfulness that she typically only shows with Mulder, but her fondness for the deadpan comedy stylings of Bruckman made her fond of him and her heartbreak when he dies is such a perfect scene. Also I just think of her smile and "there are hits and there are misses, and then there are misses :)" a lot.

2. "Leonard Betts"

If someone asked me what is the episode of The X Files that feels like the quintessential episode, I would say "Leonard Betts", which I think some would think as a weird choice. But this episode is what this show was at the height of its popularity to me. It aired after the Superbowl and the cold open is one of its best with a beheading, followed by the corpse waltzing right out of the morgue. The banter between Mulder and Scully is top notch and full of perfect Mulder quips ("blinked or winked?") and incredulous Scully deliveries ("Mulder, they're worms") and even if the scientific explanation of "evolutionary cancer" is deeply ludicrous from a scientific perspective, it is a great x-file. And the ENDING of finding out Scully has cancer is such a gut punch, just a phenomenal hour of tv.

3. "Paper Clip"

This is on here because I love the Anasazi/The Blessing Way/Paper Clip trilogy so much and I have to shout it out. I will always cape for early mythology because I think the fact that became a muddled mess makes people forget how damn good it was to begin with. So much of the early character work was done in these episodes and they're so compelling. Bringing in real history with Operation Paper Clip and connecting Mulder's father to the people Mulder is trying to investigate was a great move (that they didn't totally deliver on imo, but "sins of the father" is a great idea at the very least) and expanding the scope and complicity in the conspiracy really put what Mulder and Scully were up against in perspective. Mulder relenting and choosing to go out of hiding for Scully so she could see her sister and their conversation in the hospital room after Melissa died are some of my favorite moments of the show.

4. "Folie a Deux"

It's hard to pick a Vince episode and this could just as easily be "Pusher" (which was the episode that got me to seriously ship msr) or "Bad Blood" or almost any other episode he wrote, but "Folie a Deux" is special to me. Mulder's mental wellness and people's belief that he's crazy has been an angle that has always been present and Vince framing this as a joint delusion on Mulder and Scully's part is so fascinating and a fantastic bit or writing to me. Mulder is so discredited and dismissed in this episode and the only person who listens to him is Scully and that's a perfect distillation of their dynamic and the show itself. Also the episode is Marxist to me.

5. "Jose Chung's From Outer Space"

I thought to myself "well I can't have two Darin episodes on here" but…of course I can! This is one of the greatest episodes of TV of all time. Not just of sci-fi or network or pre-00s TV, of all TV ever made. This is one of the episodes that sets The X Files apart from its clones or other cop procedural shows and it's that it can switch genres and tones and bring this post-modern, storyline hopping masterpiece out and no one thinks twice about its place in the show or season. A lot gets said about how funny it is and the melancholic tone Darin brings to his writing, but I find myself so impressed by they way the writing and directing work to make the timeline jumping work and not end up confusing the viewer. I'll eventually talk about this more, but the shot construction to create anchor points between a re-enactment and the scene of the narrator telling this story to Mulder and Scully is so great.

[tobiasdrake]

What games are on your radar, can I ask?

Let's see here....

Not all of these are there to be played on Tumblr liveblogs; While I am having a lot of fun with that, I do have to pick and choose what I think will work with my particular format. For instance, right now I have Mario vs. Donkey Kong as a rental, but that's not a game that I can use for liveblog content. It's just a fun little puzzler.

I use GameFly to rent a lot of my games, but that's only an option for games with physical distributions.

My GameFly Queue:

Airoheart

Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The London Case

Alchemic Cutie

ANONYMOUS CODE;Steel Book

Another Code: Recollection

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy

BELOW

Blade Assault

Crime O'Clock

Demoniaca: Everlasting Night

Dokapon Kingdom: Connect

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons

Elderand

Live a Live

Monster Crown

Monster Menu - The Scavenger's Cookbook

My Time at Sandrock

Nine Witches: Family Disruption

Paradise Killer

Process of Elimination

Record of Agarest War

Stray

Vernal Edge

Yurukill - The Calumniation Games

I also have Xbox's GamePass, so I'm always watching for new games to drop there. GamePass was where I picked up Sea of Stars from.

And then I have a few games that I can't access through either, so I want to play them but I need to scrape money together for them and/or wait for a sale.

To Buy List:

Baldur's Gate 3

The Entropy Center

Inscryption

In Stars and Time

SANABI

The Talos Principle 2

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered

[albatris]

had a dream the title of rental car book two was just KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING

(anyway today was moving day!!! so I'm too exhausted to post anything else. I woke up to post this. goodnight again. be good drivers y'all)

[nkjemisin]

hi!! i just wanted to let you know i adore the broken earth trilogy, i started reading it on a trip to iceland in 2018, and experiencing the story along with the volcano shaped landscapes around me was a transcendal experience and the books changed my brain forever. i particularly remember huddling up inside our rental car when we were at landmannalaugar because the winds were so strong it was too cold and noisy to sit inside the tent or go anywhere at all right then, cradling my kindle in my trembling hands. it was a visceral book reading experience in the best way and i think my memories of both the trip and the read are stronger for it. thank you for writing them!

Oh, wow, that sounds amazing! I've been wanting to visit Eyjafjallajökull there for years now. Maybe one day. But glad my books made the experience better for you!

[bluetomorrows]

I want longer games with beautiful graphics and how dare you suggest that I'm kidding

So that whole "I want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less and I'm not kidding" thing is making the rounds on Twitter again and since I don't like to give genuine opinions on that site I'm gonna talk about it here.

In short, I disagree with the sentiment. I DO want game developers to have higher pay, reasonable hours, and deadlines that aren't cruel. I want an end to the crunch that infests AAA development. But a lot of people who post things like that don't understand what it means for a game to be short or have bad graphics. Frankly, this isn't even as much me refuting this statement as it is a chance to rant about those topics.

Game length is a funny thing. When video games first transitioned to the home, the experience was essentially the same as the arcades that were so popular at the time. Atari games were mostly short score-based rounds or head-to-head multiplayer. Even games like H.E.R.O. and Adventure which deviated from that structure to do a version of the more traditional single-player progression we're used to still didn't last very long. It was a mix of both the limitations of the primitive technology and what players had come to expect from the arcades. When the NES came along expectations changed. People didn't want just arcade games, at least not the kind from the 70s. At launch Super Mario Bros. was the clear stand-out game, far surpassing its arcade-like counterparts in critical and commercial success. They wanted bigger and better experiences. So now games have to last, they have to have that progression that's standard now. This evolution was much more smooth and slow outside of North America where there was no video game crash. However, North America's explosion in video game renting also helped push forward this mindset. If you can just beat a game in the rental period before you have to return it to Blockbuster, then you're never gonna purchase it and give the game publishers the returns they really want. So how do you make a game last on still primitive hardware? NES developers came across two main options: bullshit difficulty, and replay value. The former was easier to implement. If the game was insanely hard, then naturally it would take you more time to finish it. The latter required actually talented game developers. A game should be fun to play, and ideally more fun every time. The basic idea is as you get better at the game you'll be able to have a more satisfying experience playing the levels.

Let's take the NES Castlevania trilogy as an example of these schools of level design. Castlevania 1 is a brutal game, but that's really only your first time. When you replay it you now have a grasp on your own controls, but also the patterns of the enemy. You know how to use the sub-weapons effectively and when to spend hearts on them. The visceral gameplay flow here will make you feel incredibly badass but only when you've mastered it, the first time around you'll be weak and scared. The controls are very precise and one wrong move can cost you a lot, but you'll learn the best strategies to deal with it. Castlevania 2 employs the BS difficulty on yourfirst run. The solutions to the puzzles are obtuse and NPCs will give you strange and sometimes misleading advice. You need a player's guide to get through it. But there's the ending stinger. Gaming's first alternate ending. Depending on how fast you beat the game you'll get 3 different endings. Only by mastering the game can you achieve the best ending and see Simon survive the game, therefore encouraging you to replay it to achieve the true ending you want. Castlevania 3 combines the great replayability aspects of both games. It keeps the visceral skill-based gameplay of the original while taking the idea of different content in different playthroughs from Simon's Quest. There are now multiple paths to take to Dracula's castle, and the option to recruit three other characters to your group, although only one can travel with you at any time. 2 primary routes plus 3 possible character combinations mean 6 pretty unique experiences of the game, on top of the inherent skill progression the player experiences through gameplay.

The multiple pathways of Castlevania III's map

So how long is Castlevania 3? Like 3 hours? Not really. Because you're not expected to put it down after that first playthrough. It'd be ridiculous considering how much cartridges cost. Is Castlevania 3 a short game? Yes, but really no. It's a thing I see people very often struggle to understand. Classic Sonic games for example were designed specifically around replayability, the speed-based gameplay being inspired by Yuji Naka seeing through 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. tons of times and seeing how fast he was doing it. Doing the same thing faster is a very easy way for the player to feel they're improving. So many people play these games once and dismiss them when they're not really getting the full experience. If you watch a newbie play Sonic and an experienced player play the same stages it's practically a completely different game.

However when Sonic was coming out a new type of game was starting to appear on the market. Games that didn't need to figure out ways to make themselves last longer than they could, but instead could just last.

Due to the technical limitations of the NES and its contemporaries, the first games to really challenge the ideas of length at the time were RPGs. The main gameplay was turned-based combat, something not very intensive for the system so more resources could be given to the world maps and story. The drawbacks to RPGs in this era are that many still padded gameplay with ridiculously tough enemies and high encounter rates, and the ones that really pushed things forward with grand worlds and stories often never left Japan due to the higher-than-usual cost to localize them for other markets. Still, the effects were felt. These games didn't need to be replayed to make you feel like you'd gotten a full experience. They were able to last, while still holding on to some of the replay philosophy these developers learned during the previous generation.

The massive map of Mother/Earthbound Beginnings for the Famicom/NES. The game drew praise for the fact that every NPC had unique dialogue.

This genre would really come into its own in the next generation of systems as developers across the board were given more freedom in game length due to the improved hardware. Games outside of RPGs could still take inspiration from their world design and how simple action gameplay could only be one part of the design and mechanics of a game. With the advent of the PlayStation 1 and SEGA Saturn and the insanely higher amount of space afforded by CDs, developers were no longer limited by technology and could design their games to be as long as they really wanted.

Also the N64 was there.

This laid the groundwork for the "long" games we're seeing now, something far too complex for me to really analyze. The point is game length was now something a developer had to choose, not something chosen for them. Sometimes they even give the player the choice, allowing them to beat the "main game" or do side content for 100% completion. I'd say nowadays it's strange if a game releases without any side content for you to do. Replayability was becoming less and less important to developers. The only real push back against this came with the adcent of games specifically calling back to the NES and SNES era, specifically by indie devs, a movement that has one grown in popularity as we've entered the 20s.

So here's what I'm getting at: what is game length now? What does it mean for a game to be long? How many short games are truly short? How many truly short games are good?

Well to answer that question I made a spreadsheet. I compiled a list of 50 of my favourite games and the information on them on howlongtobeat.com. I've used this site before and generally, it's accurate, the player base isn't too skilled or too bad at games. In the cases where two versions of a game were listed, I chose the one I played, unless both versions only had very minor differences, in which case I chose the one that had a larger data set. For each game I noted how long it took to beat the base game, the base game plus some of the optional content, and how long it took to get 100%, as well as what option of the three I would recommend to others. I also listed the style of replayability of each game. Whether it was based on skill improvement, alternate paths, or had little replay value. Mind you just because a game was listed as having little replay value doesn't mean you can't replay it and have fun, if the game is good then the game is good, but it just means it wasn't really designed for that.

I tried to have a varied set of games to measure, first-person and third-person, and on-rail shooters, rhythm games, RPGs, action games, and puzzle games are all included, but there may be a bias towards platformers as it's what I've played the most of.

The results were rather interesting. Keep in mind that the games chosen are all ones I consider to be quite good, so this is supposed to represent what the average good game does. I found that the average base game lasts about 9 hours, extended to 14 hours with extras, and 25 hours if you go for 100%. I recommended completing the main game + extras about 50% of the time, with the other two paths each taking up about a quarter. Overall the average time I recommended spending with each playthrough was 15 hours. The longest recommended playthrough went to Super Mario Odyssey with 62 hours as I recommended going for 100%. The shortest time was surprisingly another Mario game, that being Super Mario Land at only one hour. But I think that's actually a perfect encapsulation of what this was trying to prove, as Odyssey has little replay value, while Super Mario Land has the skill curve via repeat playthroughs that I talked about earlier. More games weren't really built for replay value than I expected, in fact I expect the number is a bit inflated as I play more retro and arcade games than the average person. But the market has shifted, content outside of the main campaign is now the lasting appeal. But the question I ask is, should it be? Now there are some games on my list like Spyro: Reignited Trilogy and Yakuza Kiwami where I feel as though if you're not going after all the side content you're kind of missing the point of the game design, however there are other games like Doom (2016); a game that has more post-game content than the base game, yet all that content is completely pointless. Sure you unlock some cute figures and a couple extra skills, but searching around for obtuse secrets just feels like the antithesis of the design of that game, which should be fast paced reaction based action. The addition of it here has always confounded me. My best guess is they were trying to replicate aspects of the original Doom, where exploration was a much bigger part of the game, but here it doesn't work. I WOULD like to play more of Doom (2016) so I can get better at the main game, not so I can find all the doodads, and a game like it should find ways to encourage replay.

I make a special note in the file of Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland and how it encourages replayability. Beating the game 100% unlocks "Extra Mode" a version of the game that is nearly identical with the one difference being that Kirby has half the health. I do dislike this approach in other games I love; Super Mario Galaxy and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze both got "Main + Extras" scores instead of "100%" scores because they pull this at the end of the game, but I don't mind it so much here. Kirby is supposed to be a breezy relaxing game, where taking damage shouldn't be that much of an issue, but this flips that on its head and legitimately changes the way the player approaches the game. But Extra Mode isn't the real thing I want to highlight, what really elevates the replayability of Nightmare in Dreamland is what you unlock after beating all of Extra Mode: Meta Knightmare. Meta Knightmare swaps out Kirby for Meta Knight, and even though he doesn't play dramatically differently from Kirby with the sword ability, he nevertheless again encourages the player to approach the same stages differently. This more serious character should cut down enemies like butter and speed through stages without breaking a sweat, and that speed aspect is even more encouraged by Meta Knightmare removing the ability to save and prominently displaying how quickly you completed the game. Things as simple as a change in aesthetic and scoring change how the game is played and give the player more unique experiences out of a game that's "only two hours long". Mind you this doesn't involve creating tons of side content and extras, it's small changes that have a massive psychological change in how the game is played.

If you want to check out the list yourself I've linked it here. Special cases where games extend playtime through other means are noted where necessary, although they aren't common.

I think the vast differences between games on this list really highlight a point I think I already knew: Games should be as long as they need to be. Typically video games are made to be played for fun, and making long games or very replayable games typically suits that goal, but ultimately gaming is an art form. War & Peace would be a worse story if it was very short, just as The Great Gatsby would be worse if it dragged itself out for another 300 pages. The idea that games SHOULD be shorter isn't something that supports game developers or players, it's something that speaks down to the idea of games as an art form.

So yeah, I don't want shorter games. I don't care if it takes me forever or if it's over in an instant. I just want the games to be good. If I want some specific length then that's my problem, not the developer's.

I think I've made my point about game length being fluid, but that's only half the statement, what about graphics?

Since the dawn of time (1992), man has sought the best and most realistic video game graphics. In olden times, neanderthals were amazed by the 3D worlds of Wolfenstein 3D and Virtua Racer, "games will never be more realistic than this" they said. Now we know that they were stupid fucking cavemen who didn't know how butt ugly their games are, they don't even look like real life. Not like Tekken, now THAT'S some real graphics.

This happened to my buddy Eric

Of course, then we realized that Tekken was also dog water graphics when the PS2 came out. And now it's 2023 and all the PS2 games look fake and gay and actually, I think Wolfenstein and Virtua Racing look pretty alright. This is a point I specifically want to address because when I see people parrot this opinion when they say they want "games with bad graphics" the examples they point to for games to aim for are titles like Hades or other more stylistic, non-realistic games, typically by indies.

This is very frustrating because those games have great graphics.

Why the hell should good graphics mean realistic graphics? Just like with pacing game graphics should be whatever the hell they need to be.

Here are some games that have good graphics in them I think

It's not about the horsepower or however gigaflops per tera butt it can render, it's just about good art direction. Good art direction can be realistic, completely stylized, or somewhere in between! To say a game like Hades has bad graphics is... how do I put this?

Basically, fuck you.

When going for realism the most common obstacle is not entering the uncanny valley, and when going for a more stylized approach the the most common obstacle is making sure everything is still clear to the player at all times.

And no, I don't want games to look bad. And that goes for both

Stylized

and realistic

Just let games be games man. If you truly believe that they're a unique art form capable of creating meaningful experiences, then let them do what they want. You can say developers should be treated better and you're right if you do, but that doesn't mean they have to make more boring art.

[tinkabelle24]

List five things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last ten people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your followers, mutuals, and all the wonderful people on here!

Thank you so much for reaching out! I'd love to get to know you better 🥰

Five things that make me happy:

My found family, in my personal life and online. Most of my biological family aren't great people, so I'm grateful to have my fiance and his family to lean on, as well as the lovely people I've met here and on Discord ❤️

My house. My fiance and I bought our forever home right before the housing and rental market in our country skyrocketed. If we didn't snag this house and interest rate when we did, we'd likely be putting most of our income into rent/mortgage right now.

My granny. I've been writing creatively for 14 years 👀 My paternal grandmother, who was more of a mother to me than my actual mother, is an author herself (a published one, at that!); she helped me discover my passion. Love you granny! 🫂

Music. I listen to music just about every waking moment of the day 😅. I have a playlist for almost every mood and have dedicated ones for my stories. I just really, really love music 🎵

Watching The Cornetto Trilogy whilst attempting to devour an entire BBQ chicken pizza. If you haven't seen The Cornetto Trilogy yet, you really should - it's amazing 😁