#axe puzzle room 2

[jadeddangel]

Creepypast & Marble Hornets headcannons:

Jeff the Killer:

100% sneaks into your house/ room just to wake you up randomly to spook you

If he ever took you on a date it would 100% be to the cheapest cinema in town cause my man's is broke

Your the breadwinner, you can make $2 a month and still be the breadwinner

He buys axe body spray and sags his jeans like a middle school boy and you can't convince me otherwise

Opened a nesquick Powdered milk tub with a table saw cause he couldn't get him open

Doesn't know how to undo child proof locks on meds no matter how many times you explain it to him

"No Jeff your not listening. Press down and then turn it," your voice scolded

"I'm trying! Damn you woman!!" Jeff yelled back

Yea, he never opened the jar right

Masky:

It started with you and Tim dating and then when you met masky you trying getting to know him

He ignores you at first, more focused on doing his job then dealing with his other half's lover

He's smart, he'll pick locks open jars and complete puzzles in no time flat

He doesn't make money but Tim does so indirectly he's the breadwinner

He'll start hanging out with you after getting tired of sleeping on the downstairs couch

He's not nice, like at all, he's very blunt and when it comes to any type of criticism, constructive or not, he's pointing out every miniscule flaw

Don't bother lying to him, he can see right through it and it pisses him off

It doesn't matter your gender or your sex. He's turning around when you change any form of your clothes. He's big on privacy

"Masky? C'mon masky, it's just a sweater you don't have to turn. I'm wearing a shirt underneath, " you sighed, pulling your sweater off

Masky shook his head. "I don't care sometimes you don't wear a shirt under them, and i don't wanna see your nipples," masky spoke bluntly

Yeaaaa, if you can't tell your sex life is totally (not) amazing with man

Tim:

As I said before Tim has a job, he Linda needs it to pay for his smoking habits

Speaking of smoking, he hates when you do any kind of drugs, he doesn't want you to end up like he did

He's surprising clingy behind closed doors and really likes being your little spoon

He constantly takes showers and cleans your shared home, even if no one except for you, him and masky will see it.

He has this bad habit of just buying whatever he craves, so when he goes to the store, expect the bill to be rather high

As I said before he's clingy behind closed doors but when it comes to pda the most he'll do is lock your pinkies together

"Tim, pleaseeeee I just wanna hold your hand! Just five minutes, and if you don't like it, you don't have to keep holding my hand. " You tried to bargain

Tim sighed "fine fine but you're giving me your box of cigarettes. Don't think I didn't smell them on you"

He has a sharp nose, so there's no point in trying to hide things from him

Hoodie:

Hoodie was beyond confused when he first met you, he had a whole "who what when where why?" Moment

You and brain both pay for everything so there's not really a breadwinner

Hoodie is rather quiet, it's not because he's awkward or shy, he just has nothing to say

Hoodie Hates coffee, he's more of a tea or energy drink guy

I hate to say this(no I dont), but he's a stoner, he hates all vape or smoking products except for weed

He usually sticks to weed vapes since it's less work and he can be a bit lazy when it comes to that

I mean his hygiene is ok he doesn't really shave or trim any thing but his beard but yknow he do him

Speaking of , he leaves his beard shavings all over the sink and leaves the toilet seat up

"HOODIE! GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE NOW" You shouted to get the man's attention

Hoodie walked in. "What?" He said monotonely

You pointed at the sink and then the toilet "pick up your fucking mess!!"

Hoodie shook his head "Nah I'm good. Thanks for the offer, though. "

You would probably try and beat him up if he couldn't just wollop our ass

Brian:

He's such a sweet boy,it like he's made out of cotton candy

He's mostly did cleaning and cooking on top of his job but after switching back from hoodie, he's out of commission for like a week

He picks up after himself, and does his own laundry and there's never beard trimmings in the sink

He occasionally forgets to put the toilet seat down but it's rather rare

He's not too clingy but he does cuddle up sometimes

HES A FUCKING FURNACE WHEN HE SLEEPS

"Brian pleaseee get off!! It's the middle of summer! It's too hot to be cuddling" you huffed sleepily

"Shhh just let me hold you.." Brian muttered

Ticci Toby:

Your the breadwinner. Period

You think this man has a job? Hah funny

He hates when he tics especially when you are trying to have intimate moments together

You guys have to be silly during sex especially when he has a verbal tic and just yells bird

"Fuck toby right there~" you moaned out holding onto his shoulders tightly

"I'm so c-*whistles* shit sorry~" toby moaned out a bit embarrassed

"Toby it's ok it's normal~.." you muttered a bit trying to keep your voice even

Toby nodded "fuck I lov-Birds!" Toby shouted

You both looked at eachother before bursting out laughing just holding eachother close

Overall aside from Toby's horrible moodswings at times and his "work" you guys have a pretty helpful relationship

Slenderman:

No, Just no

This man is toxic asf when you guys first meet, definitely a manipulator

He tones it down after a bit but still gaslights you into getting what he wants

When he gets angry, please down run from him- he will track you down and may or may not resort to physical violence to get you to learn your lesson

If you ask about the missing children he WILL gaslight you into thinking that's he's told you before and it hurts that you forgot and won't tell you again

Sex? What sex? You think he would let you even get close enought to see that shit happen hah very funny

"Slenderman? Cmon I'm sorry you know I didn't mean to hurt you.." you muttered softly

"No. I already told you, and you forgot.. it is insensitive of you and unwise of me to tell you again, " he responded through your mind. And though he doesn't have eyes, you could only assume he was glaring

He's not healthy for you, but you've got yourself into this for life and there's only 1 way to get out

Eyeless jack:

Just like Jeff he'll sneak into your room

You literally can't get rid of him

He won't talk or anything, just stand and stares

He doesn't cuddle and he barely touches you

He definitely tried to offer you a kidney as a way of telling you he appreciates you

No hygiene whatsoever, he doesn't shave and it takes a month before you even get him to shower

He mostly just grumbles and groans to let you know he understands what your saying

He's really smart, puzzles, locks ,and riddles are no match for him

He's blunt, when he does talk it's rare, bit it's honest and unfiltered

You guys barely have sex and honestly you've probably never seen his face

"Jack, please!! I just wanna see your face, " you whined, laying yourself over his lap

"I said no, and if you keep asking, I'll eat you. Literally, " Jack retorted

Yeaaaa he meant it literally and you could tell

[gremlintheslut]

Kinktober

Day 2 Feminization and jealousy

Axl rose

Summary: realizing he is going to lose the love of his life over what many would consider small or unimportant axl forces himself to do the unthinkable to get her to stay.

Warnings: feminization, self degradation, mommy kink, oral and implied oral (f receiving), over stimulation, anal, reach around hand job, strap on, femme dom

(sorry for the late post I didn't realize till today the schedule posting feature didn't work)

Master list (main pinned)

I can't do this. She is the love of my life and I have watched her flirt with guy after guy trying to find my replacement. I look over at her as she takes off her heels right across from where I'm sitting on the edge of the bed. I know what she wants and maybe I'll learn to want it too. I'll lose her if I don't. "I'll do it" I say to her. "What?" She says turning to look at me. I make eye contact with her and I have never felt more humiliated in my life.

"I'll be submissive" I mumble looking down not wanting to face her. "Speak up Axl I can't hear you" she says clearly annoyed with me. She walks closer to me and puts her ear in front of my face. "I'll be submissive" I whisper into her ear. She looks at me with a smile all her annoyance gone. I feel less embarrassed and more comfortable. "Really?" She looks the happiest I've ever seen her. I nod my head. "Strip naked for me ax" she says before going to the walk in closest. That was the first time she had used that nickname in 4 months before we had our last big fight.

I pull my shirt off and throw it to the corner of the room. I can hear her moving things around trying to find something. I unbuckle my belt and throw in the same general area of my shirt. I unbutton my jeans and unzip the zipper. I pull my pants down along with my boxers and step out of them. I kick them to the pile of clothes and y/n returns seconds later with a box.

She puts it down on the bed behind me and I continue to look at her puzzled waiting for her to say something. "Okay change into what's in the box and tell me when your done" she says smiling before quickly leaving before I can open the box. I open the box and I feel utterly humiliated and I'm not even wearing it yet. A pink lacey bra with a matching micro mini skirt sit folded nicely in the box.

The bra has no padding and is a tight fit. The skirt has elastic and I have no problem getting into but it does dig into my hips a little. I stand in the outfit almost wanting to cry and lock the door to stop her from ever seeing me like this. But, this is what she wants. The only reason we have had big fights and she clearly doesn't love me like she used to is because she wants this every once in a while. She will be happy to see me like this not disgusted. Y/-" I clear my throat "y/n I'm ready"

She opens the door, walks in and closes the door. I'm not looking at her. I can't until I hear her reaction. "You look perfect baby" I'm ashamed to admit but I get a semi. I feel disgusting and now I'm afraid I might actually like it. I look at her and she is unbelievably happy. I have never seen her this happy before. I look down and see she's wearing a strap on. My semi goes to a full hard on. I'm so full with embarrassment. Thank God she doesn't say anything. My face is burning and I'm staring at the floor. I'm sure even my ears are red.

Y/n puts her hands on my jaw and makes me look at her. She goes up on her toes and kisses me. "Thank you ax really thank you" my embarrassment is somewhat washed away. Her hands mover from my face to my shoulders. "Get on your knees" she says her gentleness fading and I obey without out question. She doesn't need to tell me what to do I know what she wants. I lick my lips and put them around the tip of the dildo. I slowly put more and more into my mouth as she plays with my hair and watches.

Not wanting to gag I stop when I know it's close to the back of my throat. She puts her hands on the back of my head and slowly forcing me to slowly go further. Tears fill my eyes and soon spill down my cheeks as I start to gag. She stops for a moment to let me get used to the feeling before making me go further. I hate this. I hate the gagging and this sick feeling I have in my stomach from thinking I'm going to puke. My hard on is completely gone at this point.

She grabs my hair and pulls me off. Thank God. I cough a little and wipe the spit from my face before following her next commands. "Get on the bed" she says and I nod my head doing as she says. Without saying a word she rearranges me into the position she wants me in. On my hands and knees facing the headboard of the bed. She leaves my side momentarily to get the bottle of lube on off of the nightstand which hasn't been touched in nearly 6 months now.

I hear her open the bottle and the sound of the gooey liquid being slathered on something but I can't feel any lube on me. I know what's about to happen and every part of me wants to end this now before anything happens. But I don't. I think of her smile and how sincerely and sweetly she thanked and spoke to me. I feel the lubed up tip of her strap on prodding at my asshole. She pushes the tip in and my eyes full with tears of pain and humiliation.

She slowly pushes the strap on in further. I am filled with disgust as my dick gets hard again. I'm trying my best to convince myself  I don't enjoy this but I don't believe me. I feel her hips bump me as the last inch of the strap on fills me. Tears roll down my face and I hold back a sob. I enjoy this why the fuck do I enjoy this. She reaches around and with the remaining lube still on her hands she wraps her fingers around my shaft.

She starts to slowly move her hands up and down my cock as she moves her hips matching the pace of her hand. She is very gentle clearly not wanting to hurt me. I let out a moan as she hits my g-spot for the first time. It feels so good and the pleasure distracts me from my thoughts. She speed up the pace. The stretching sound of the the lube up toy almost fully existing me and reentering me fill the room. My tears continue to flow but from overwhelming pleasure.

Then I say something I never knew I even wanted to say. "I'm gonna cum mommy" she speeds up in response and I cum all over the bed and her hand. But she doesn't stop nor slow down. I let out a whine of pain. "Fuck stop" I say and she doesn't listen. I'm not sure if I really want her too. My dick feels like it's on fire from the amount of stimulation it's getting and the tip is firey red. I moan loudly not caring if the neighbors hear.

I'm close to cumming again. I want to say "mommy I'm gonna cum again" but the only word I can get it is "mommy" I continue to repeat the word unable to get through the sentence. I blow another load over the bed and her hand. She still doesn't stop. At this point I feel no pleasure and only pain. Everything hurts and I'm begging her to stop in between sobs. I'm so sensitive and I can barely form any thoughts other than "ouch". I go down on my elbows and bury my face into the bed.

I haven't cried this hard since I was a child. I don't even have time to realize it myself before I'm cumming again. She finally takes her hand away from my dick. She places both hands on my hips and slowly pulls out. Once she's all the way out I colap onto the bed and cry. I lay in my cum crying while takes of the strap on and puts it on the bed side table. Climbs into bed and holds me. I calm down soon after. "What is it?" She asks me still being able to tell when I'm not saying something after all the time she has paid no attention to me.

"I thought I was gonna hate that" I say ashamed. "But you don't?" She asks and I shake my head. "I think I loved every second of it" I admit. "You don't seem happy" she says. "I feel disgusting" I say. "There's nothing disgusting about you baby and even if there was I would still love every part of it" she says and I feel way better. I roll over making her fall into her back. "What are you doing?" She chuckles a little. "It's the first time we've had sex in almost 6 months and you think I'm gonna let you go unsatisfied?" I say as I position my head between her thighs.

Words-1640

Thanks for reading💋-gremlin

[dragon-communion]

I'm bored and the acquisition of the legendary armaments bothers me so let's do something about that.

1. Dark Moon Greatsword- flawless, no notes, ideal wedding present.

2. Bolt of Gransax- flawless presentation. However, it feels weirdly easy to acquire, especially since it's been sitting in the middle of Leyndell for a few hundred years minimum. I don't know how I'd fix this.

3. Grafted Blade Greatsword- it's a gimmick blade and I really hate that I have to take it seriously. The weak stapled-on lore is a decent attempt at making it remotely relevant, and I like the fact that the Misbegotten stole it. I feel like there could be better presentation though, especially since it's a clans' worth of swords. Make me fight a coordinated clan of Misbegotten for it or something, drill in that theme of unity and revenge. Or ride the blatant reference and involve a dragon somehow. A fucked up grafted-scion style dragon maybe? That'd be fun. Why don't I have to fight a grafted enemy to get this thing?

4. Devourer's Scepter- It's just really weird that I can get this in Limgrave by killing a friendly NPC. If Bernahl's that important to Volcano Manor, maybe make him less vulnerable to our merchant-killing impulses? Give us a motivation to not instantly wreck his face for having bad stock, y'know. Some compelling dialogue. Maybe the ability to teleport out if we get him to half health. I don't know how I'd fix this but I want to at minimum have to work for a legendary armament rather than accidentally step on it. I didn't even know the scepter was supposedly special, I just went "huh cool" and shoved it in my chest.

5. Sword of Night and Flame- Speaking of accidentally stepping on weapons! Considering this one is pretty famous in PVP (and why aren't Moonveil and RoB on this list anyway???) I find it weird I can just trip on this sword. I don't even have to kill a guy for it. Give it to Moongrum or something, at least. Hide it behind a cool wizard puzzle, maybe add some kind of fun lock involving throwing an ice pot and a fire pot at a wall or something. I can respect having it in a chest. What I cannot respect is the utter lack of security. Make me use a braincell please.

6. Ruins Greatsword- I like that it's in Caelid, home of Gravity Fuckery and also Dragons. I think more could be done with that. Put it in some kind of research facility in Sellia, maybe earn it from Gurranq somehow, or even have it as an optional challenge for crazy bastards who want to continue Radahn's funerary games. I guess I don't mind collecting it from a Crucible Knight, or even that it's a missable item, but I just feel like it could be positioned somewhere better than Radahn's yard.

7. Marais Executioner's Sword- I approve of this. Am I entirely sure why the executioner's sword is legendary, and Godfrey's axe or Marika's hammer aren't? No. But in terms of acquisition, ripping it from the cold dead hands of the last guy slated for execution is pretty cool. The Shaded Castle is a cool setting too.

8. Golden Order Greatsword- It's lore-significant, looks incredible, and is directly involved with one of the endgame bosses. So please explain why I find Radagon's personal sword that he modified himself in a random cave. I don't care how cool the cave looks, did he drop it off a cliff after Marika accused him of cheating or something? The fact that we don't get this weapon in some sort of setting associated with Radagon is insane to me. Stick it in a fort behind a couple of guards at least. Y'know what would give this sword more impact? Receiving it as a quest reward from Miriel. Radagon's messy divorce sword, a traditional Carian betrothal gift twisted into a monument to Golden Order ideology- receiving it from Miriel, or showing it to Miriel, would be fascinating for character exploration. I wish we could've done more with the turtle pope in terms of exploring and investigating Radagon. Failing that, stick it in some kind of secret room in a library or study in Leyndell. Show me Radagon's office where he pored over Golden Order Fundamentalism and stick this thing behind a bookshelf somewhere like he's ashamed to own it.

9. Eclipse Shotel- I like the setting where we get it actually. I wish it wasn't five seconds away from a very angry ghost so I could appreciate the setting more, but the Church of the Eclipse definitely sets the tone. It could set more of a tone, but at least it's something. I want to know more about Castle Sol and this eclipse, because the ghosts are delightfully spooky and set the ambiance and I enjoy fucked up necromancy, but we don't really get much information. I would've put some sort of death blight enemy next to it, like one of those giant more priestly Wormfaces, along with some sort of astrologically significant structure for getting an eyeful of the moon. Make me believe they're doing weird celestial rituals up there. Who used the shotel, how, and for what? Human sacrifice? Back scratching? I am willing to forgive them for just leaving it on a table, since there's an exposition ghost nearby, but I can't quite figure out the relevance of the shotel in the grand scheme of everything else going on. Is it for killing the sun???

[tegantales]

Basgiath U chronicles: Part 2 of Lumberjack Garrick

He chops wood. I really need to stop and go to sleep now.

“Hey! It's open,” Garrick stopped short just inside. “Whoa, check it out!”

Imogen pushed at his right side to get by. “Let me in and I'll check it out.”

“Sorry,” Garrick stepped to the side and ushered her in briefly touching the small of her back. Had he always made gestures like that?

The cabin was quaint and well kept. It was a single room, maybe 300 square feet. There was a small kitchenette, a wood stove, a table with 2 chairs, a loveseat, and a bookshelf with a number of books, games and puzzles available. And what looked to be a queen sized bed. How convenient.

Imogen paused just inside the door, she could feel her heart rate pick up as she continued to look at the bed. It was unmande but there was a chest at the foot of it that presumably held linens and pillows. She swallowed and turned her gaze towards Garrick, who was rummaging through the two kitchen cupboards.

“We just had Subway an hour ago, Garrick. What are you looking for?”

“Just looking. I can't not look now that we are in here. And my efforts have been rewarded!” Garrick turned around triumphantly, a tin of Tim Hortons hot chocolate held up like a trophy. His triumphant stance made slightly awkward when he smashed the tin on the ceiling. That made Imogen laugh. Serves him right for being such an idiot. A tall idiot. With an idiotic grin on his face.

Imogen shook her head at him, still laughing. “You're such an idiot. What? You want to actually drink that hot chocolate? How old is it?”

“Who cares. But it can't be that old. Bodhi's uncle comes up at least twice a year,” that's right, it was Bodhi's uncle on his dad's side who owned this place. Garrick opened the tin to look inside. “Besides, we might as well stay, there's a bed and everything. You said you didn't want to drive back.” He looked up from his hot chocolate tin perusal expectantly. Did he think she'd put up a fight?

Imogen made a point of looking at the bed, then back at Garrick, working her jaw as she did so. She shrugged as if it made no difference to her, “I guess so. I'll get water bottles from the car for your hot chocolate. How are we going to heat it?”

The cabin had no running water or electricity. They'd have to heat it in a pot in the wood stove.

“I'll go see if there is any wood for the stove,” Garrick set off around the side of the cabin. Imogen retrieved the water bottles and set them next to a pot and two mugs she found. She heard something that sounded like a crack outside and ran to check on Garrick.

CRACK.

Time stopped. Imogen knew she'd always remember this moment.

Garrick Tavis was chopping wood.

Her mouth went dry, her heart fluttering in her throat as she tried to catch her breath. She'd never pretended not to appreciate Garrick's physique. She knew the effort he expended to maintain his build, shoulders that could carry her with ease, abdominals she could play like a piano. It would be rude of her to not notice. And maybe she'd been noticing a bit more acutely of late.

He had the sleeves of his flannel rolled up to his elbows, showing off his tanned forearms, corded with muscle. He was turned slightly away from her and she chose not to interrupt him. For safety reasons, of course. She swallowed as she watched him wind up the ax and came down again on the log.

CRACK

The wood didn't quite split and the ax stuck, Garrick slammed down twice more on the stump. A few dark curls fell onto his forehead as the log finally split. Imogen licked her lips before pressing them together as he turned towards her to get another log.

“Hard wood?” she asked. Her voice came out rough, lower than normal, and she resisted the urge to clear her throat.

[luna--flare]

Zero Escape? I think you'll find I escape plenty

Inspired by this post, I decided to count how many times throughout the series characters actually escape from a situation, including both escape rooms and the Nonary Games as a whole. There's obviously going to have to be some judgement calls about how to count things, so you might not agree with the final number I come up with. Spoilers for the whole Zero Escape series below.

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

For this, we'll be going off the DS version, counting each route from the start of the game, since that's what Akane actually experienced through Junpei's eyes. The Nonary Game starts with each participant escaping from an individual room, presumably excluding Akane and Aoi. So that's 7 escapes per route. Things then diverge into 2 at the first door. For the second door choice, if Junpei enters door 3, nobody else does an escape room at this or the next stage - we'll say this happens once for Submarine Ending. For the other routes, the group splits into two again, and then one final time for two escape rooms back to back. So.

Knife Ending

Third Class Cabin - 7 escapes

Door 4/5 - 2 escapes

Door 7/8 - 2 escapes

Door 1/6 - 4 escapes

Submarine Ending

Third Class Cabin - 7 escapes

Door 4/5 - 2 escapes

Door 3 - 1 escape

Door 2 - 2 escapes

Axe Ending

Third Class Cabin - 7 escapes

Door 4/5 - 2 escapes

Door 7/8 - 2 escapes

Door 1/6 - 4 escapes

The true routes add a bit more because we also go through Door 9, of course. In the Safe ending, while Junpei doesn't go through an escape room, we can presume Ace and Lotus do, and of course in the True Ending Junpei does go through the Library and Study. The puzzle in the incinerator is also presented with a "Seek a way out!" introduction. For the Coffin Ending, we're assuming that Junpei already knows the code from the Safe Ending and goes straight onto the True Ending without replaying, to get a lowball estimate.

Safe Ending

Third Class Cabin - 7 escapes

Door 4/5- 2 escapes

Door 7/8 - 2 escapes

Door 1/6 - 4 escapes

Door 9 - 2 escapes

True Ending

Third Class Cabin - 7 escapes

Door 4/5 - 2 escapes

Door 7/8 - 2 escapes

Door 1/6 - 4 escapes

Door 9 - 2 escapes

Incinerator - 1 escape

Finally, there's the matter of the escape from the Nonary Game overall, which is achieved both in the True Ending, and an escape from the First Nonary Game 9 years prior. We don't know the details of the puzzles in that game, so we can't accurately count how many escape rooms were escaped within it, so we'll just add 1 for the overall escape.

999 Total: 79

Virtue's Last Reward

VLR has a fundamentally different structure to 999 - the player and Sigma only visit each escape room once each, because they jump around the timeline rather than restarting from the beginning. However, bad endings frequently feature people escaping from the Nonary Game, so we do still have more counting to do. Additionally, the number of other players alive to enter other escape rooms varies depending on the route. Let's start at the top and go down the flowchart left to right. I'm using this excellent flowchart by @drailholsac for reference, and it might help you follow along too.

Magenta Door

There are 6 AB rooms escaped from at the start of the game. No matter which of the three Chromatic Doors Sigma chooses to enter, the Lounge, Crew Quarters and Infirmary are each escaped, so that's 9. Going through the Magenta and then Green Door, the Gaulem Bay, Pantry and Rec Room are escaped, so 3 more. If Sigma then allies with Luna, he and Phi escape the Security Room while Dio and K escape the Director's Office - everyone else is dead so that's only 2. Finally, in Luna's Ending, Phi and Quark escape the Nonary Game. Alternatively, in the corresponding bad ending, Luna helps Quark escape. That's 2 more. Quark also escapes if Luna is betrayed earlier, for 1 more.

Total for this paragraph: 23.

Yellow Door

If Sigma instead enters the Blue Door after Magenta, the Rec Room, Treatment Center and Pantry are escaped for 3 more. If he allies with K, then K escapes, but if he betrays, then no one does. That's 1 more. Finally, if Sigma goes through the Red Door second, the Pantry, PEC and Treatment Center are escaped for 3 more. If Sigma allies with Clover, then Phi and Dio escape, but if he betrays her, he joins them. That's 2 more escapes.

Total for this paragraph: 9

Going all the way back to the top, if Sigma instead goes through the Yellow Door and then Blue, the PEC, Laboratory and an unknown room are escaped for 3 more. If Sigma then allies with Tenmyouji, the Director's Office, Q Room and Security Room are escaped for another 3. If Sigma then allies with Tenmyouji and Quark, they escape with Clover, otherwise Clover escapes alone - 2 more. Clover also escapes alone if Sigma betrays Tenmyouji earlier, for 1 more.

Total for this paragraph: 9

Cyan Door

If Sigma instead goes through the Red Door after Yellow, the Laboratory and two unknown rooms are escaped for another 3. If he then allies with Dio, he and Quark escape, while otherwise K escapes alone. That's another 2. Finally, through the Green Door, the Treatment Center, PEC and Pantry are escaped for 3 more. If Sigma allies with Quark, everyone dies and no one escapes, but if he betrays Quark for Clover, then she escapes, so that's only 1 more.

Total for this paragraph: 9

Finally, if Sigma goes through the Cyan Door and then Blue, the B. Garden, Laboratory and Treatment Center are escaped for yet another 3. No further escape rooms nor game escapes occur on Alice's route. Through the Green Door, the Archives, B. Garden and Pantry are escaped for another 3. If Sigma allies with Tenmyouji, everyone dies, but if he betrays, he gets knocked out and wakes up with everyone gone, so we can assume they escaped for 1 more.

Total for this paragraph: 7

VLR Total: 65

And now through the Red Door we get the True Route. The Control Room, Archives, and B. Garden are escaped for 3 more. If Sigma betrays Phi, he opens the door but does not get out, so no one can escape. If he instead allies with Phi, the Q Room, Security Room and Director's Office are escaped for 3 more. At this stage, Sigma and Phi jump into the past and escape the AB Room a separate time earlier than they "initially" did to save Akane, so that's 1 more escape. And after that, everyone escapes the Nonary Game for 1 more, even if they go back inside afterwards.

Total for this paragraph: 8

Zero Time Dilemma

Similar to VLR, we can assume each escape room is only experienced once - decisions split the timeline only after they're escaped. Unlike VLR, other escape rooms aren't even going on simultaneously off-screen, so counting that should be relatively easy. However, there are also escapes from the Decision Game to account for. Notably, it's questionable whether some escape rooms, like the Control Room, actually count as escapes, since the players don't necessarily get to leave the room alive - however we'll say that the game going "You Found It" is enough to call an escape room completed.

Escape Rooms

Biolab

Control

Healing Room

Infirmary

Locker Room

Manufacturing

Pantry

Pod Room

Power Room

Rec Room

Study

Transporter Room

Trash Disposal Room

Total: 13

Decision Game Escapes

Coincide: Carlos wins the coin-flip (we won't count shifting to this timeline later as a separate escape)

Apocalypse: Carlos uses the transporter to go back in time and break Junpei and Akane out of the facility.

Triangle: Sean kills Eric, and Mira escapes with him.

Triangle: Sean tries to kill Mira but Eric takes the shot, and Mira escapes alone.

Triangle: Sean refuses to kill anyone. Eric kills him and escapes with Mira.

Outbreak: D-Team use the bomb from Manufacturing to break through the X-Door.

Ambidex: If Junpei betrays Carlos, it's very likely he escapes with Akane.

Anthropic Principle: If C-Team fail the dice roll, it's likely that Phi escapes alone.

Monty Hall: If Carlos successfully finds the oxygen mask and saves Akane, she later escapes.

First Come, First Saved: Each team has a timeline where they press the button and escape (though Carlos, Sean and Diana each stay behind), for a total of 3.

Suppression: Mira kills most of the players. Diana enters the X-Passes to open the X-Door, but Mira kills her and escapes alone.

These are mostly taken from a list of game overs and endings, and not every escape happens in an ending (for example, First Come, First Saved: C), so this is the place I'm most likely to have missed something. Nonetheless, the tentative count here is 13.

ZTD Total: 26

Total Escape Count: 170

Resources used

Let's Play 999, by Dragonatrix

Let's Play VLR, by Fedule

Let's Play ZTD, by DKII

VLR Detailed Flowchart, by @drailholsac

Zero Escape Wiki (I really wish there was a better option than the FANDOM wiki though...)

[gerbiloftriumph]

Lost and Found (ao3):

Grandpa's story of the goblin caves started out familiarly enough, but as he spoke, the story started to twist and change. New friends, new conversations, and new ways to use old items transformed the tale, and the young king discovered new ways to be brave in the dark tunnels beneath Daventry.

~*~

An attempt to reinsert the cut lines from the subtitle file. Ch2 has a ton of cut content, and a lot of the lost dialogue is grand, but currently the only way to read it is in a contextless, barely legible slurry in the game files. I'm reconstituting it and fluffing it up and out to make it more accessible.

(2/?)

“Goblins love stories so much that they force everyone around them to playact with them,” Grandpa said. “Do you remember all the stories the villagers were living?”

“Sure!” Gwendolyn counted them out on her fingers. “Wente and Bramble, the bakers, were in the Gingerbread Man. Amaya was the Big Bad Wolf, ready to blow down her house of sticks. The Hobblepots…um.”

“I was never sure either, but I like to think they were Hansel and Gretel, with their witchcraftery and interest in food, but I suppose any sort of witch in any fairy tale would do.”

“Like the witch in Jorinda and Joringel?”

“Now, where did you hear about a rare story like that?” Graham was impressed.

“Mom knows like, every story ever written, I bet.”

“The libraries in the Green Isles are quite extensive. Cassima must have had a good selection of books growing up.” Graham nodded at the mirror. “The goblins knew lots of good stories, too—there was another one that we didn’t talk about last time. A fairly famous fairy tale. I bet you know that one about Jack and the Beanstalk, right?”

“Of course, Grandpa.”

“The version you know probably didn’t have a giant that looked like this, though.”

~*~*~

After being on a diet of vile squishy porridge for a couple days, getting some meat (of questionable origin, don’t think too hard about it) had given Graham a burst of energy that he desperately needed. He was prowling the upper levels of the spiraling stairs, trying to get past a grumbling goblin guard. 

There was a rusty lever that he could push to activate some sort of alarm, making the mushrooms pulse in a bizarre way that he would forget to ask Muriel about. He fumbled in his pocket for the cobwebby rag, carefully folded on itself so the abnormally sticky web wouldn’t ruin his pockets. The spiders down here had to be unique to make something so sticky. He’d have to be careful not to run into any of them; no telling what sort of prey such things would like to eat.

But it was perfectly fine to use a little inventively, he thought, eying the puzzle before him. It was easy enough to trick the goblin guard into touching the lever with cobweb draped over it, temporarily trapping him in place. Graham slipped past while the poor guard struggled to untangle himself.

The new room soared around him, huge and echoey. Cool air pushed his curly hair around. Huge chasms yawned around him, and he cautiously kicked a pebble into one, listening to it plink and bounce against the rock sides. He wasn’t sure if he heard it land, or if it was just more echoes. Something dark and deep down there. Probably best avoided.

Ahead of him, a series of goblins were clustered around the base of a column, all looking up and chittering. One was swinging an axe. A tall line of thick vines was already half on the ground, chopped edges raw in the dim light. It looked like he’d been chopping for a while, but the others were pushing him aside and yelling and pointing up, like he’d forgotten to do something first.

And, standing at the top of the column, high above the goblins…Acorn.

Okay, not standing. He was lying prone on some platform up there, gripping the edge of the rock ledge for dear life, and even though Graham couldn’t make out an expression through that helmet, he could imagine the terrified look the knight had to be wearing. 

“’Fee-fi-fo-fum.’ All right, I said it. Can I get down now?” He wailed, “I really, really don’t like heights!” The goblins ignored him. “All right, fine,” he said, shakily, and continued to recite, stiff as a child rehearsing a school play. “’Be he alive, or be he dead. I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.’ Ooh, yeah, that’s nasty. Wente would not like that.”

Graham could see a little sign next to the base of the column now, with a drawing of a beanstalk on it, and a little golden goose. Of course. Jack and the Beanstalk.

The goblin chosen to be Jack, wearing a tattered leather jerkin, had been chopping down the vines they must have used to haul Acorn up to the top of the platform. He twirled the rusty axe, and Graham’s fingers itched to get hold of it, to get it to Amaya, but he couldn’t risk such a move in front of the four or so goblins glaring at the axe-holder. They pointed aggressively again, and Graham could see a couple of golden painted things next to Acorn. A harp and…yes, a common duck, with what looked like glittery paint dumped on it. It squawked and landed on Acorn’s helmet. He hoped the duck would be okay with the paint on its wings, but it was already dripping off, so Graham suspected the paint was more water based than anything else.

Apparently, “Jack” was doing things out of order and had gotten too excited with the chopping down part. He’d forgotten to gather the giant’s treasures first. A scrambled fist fight was starting to break out between the players. Costume pieces were at risk, though they weren’t particularly quality pieces to begin with. 

“If you let me down, I’ll knit you all sweaters,” Acorn said, swatting a hand briefly in the duck’s direction before clamping back down on the ledge. The duck fluttered back into place on his helmet and pecked at one of the horns on it. “Come on, fun size, you know you want a sweater. Or, at the very least, your Jack costume could use some work. Do you have any fabric allergies? I know a guy…if you’d let me down.”

Since the beanstalk vine ladder was now cut in half, there wasn’t much they could do to continue the game. They turned and walked off in a huff, still pulling on each other’s tattered cow ear headbands and stained costume tunics and normal helmets and snarling at each other. They ignored Graham completely. He stared after them, noting with vague disappointment that they were taking the axe with them. So much for that idea.

“Wait til Princess Madeline hears about this,” Acorn sighed. “Too bad she’s at music night. At least this will make a few good pages for my scrapbooking project. Helloooo! Is anyone else down there?”

“Acorn!”

“Princess Madeline, is that you?”

Graham hesitated. “Does it sound like Princess Madeline?”

“…no, I suppose not.” Acorn leaned a little further over the ledge, knuckles turning white against his grip as he tried to look down into the shadows. “King Graham? Is that you, little buddy?”

“Yeah! What are you doing up there?”

“Learning how to yodel. What do you think? I got pounced by goblins and dragged down here and they put me up here and I’m afraid of heights and I want to get down now.”

“How can you be afraid of heights? Aren’t you the tallest person in Daventry?”

“Somehow, that feels insensitive.”

“Sorry,” Graham said, smiling sheepishly. “But I’m not sure how to get you down. The goblins cut off the ladder.”

“I wish I had my trapping ropes, or something,” Acorn said glumly. “I didn’t think I’d need ‘em on a walk with Whisper. We were looking for a specific flower, for my paint dyes. It’s hard to see on a clear day, but it’s got a glowy edge to it when it gets wet, so, the rain, y’know. He wanted to come, ‘cos I use the dye to print the labels for his hair treatment line. But we didn’t get far outta town before we got jumped.”

“Whisper too?” Something was happening here. He just couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Why did it seem like all the friends he had in Daventry had been caught with him? It wasn’t like there weren’t other knights or villagers in Daventry. Cooper Smith, a man whose name and profession didn’t make much sense at all, hadn’t made an appearance down here, but Amaya and Acorn had. But. Why?

“Yeah, but I haven’t seen him for a while, we got split up in the dark and the tunnels and I dunno, maybe he got away. I sure didn’t, though. Would you hurry up and think of a way to get me down? I’m really just a sensitive artist, you know, I’m not built for whatever this thing is.”

“I’ll think of something,” Graham said.

“Hurry up!” Acorn glanced at the pile of treasures the goblins had left him. “I think I’d rather have a golden harp stolen from me more than my dignity,” he muttered.

Graham paced around the base of the split vines. The goblins had left behind a shovel, which he quickly claimed, though he wondered vaguely if a goblin might protest it as a potential weapon. The dirt was freshly disturbed. He curiously checked it, and he uncovered a handful of beans. “Oh, magic beans!”

(“Magic beans,” Gwendolyn repeated, emphasis on the beans.)

“You know those aren’t real, right?” Acorn said, looking on. “Real ones aren’t purple. Or glittery.”

“Never look a gift bean in the mouth,” Graham said, stuffing them in a pocket. “They could be really beanificial later.”

“I’d smack your feather hat right off your head for that if you were still wearing it. The crown looks nice, by the way. Bespoke craftsmanship. I wish I was into metalworking like that sometimes. But you know how it is. Gotta pick a craft and stick to it, else your closet’ll just fill up with unused tools.”

“It’s, uh. Well. Thanks.” Graham shifted it back on his head, feeling the weight of it again. Best to not get into it now, really. He ran a hand over the vines, but they seemed pretty mangled and destroyed. “I’m not sure I can fix this yet,” he said. “Acorn? Are you okay hanging around up there a little bit while I look for something to help?”

“No, I was thinking of going for a little stroll around the caves. Of course I’ll stay up here, Graham.”

“Uh. Right. Sorry. I’ll be back, I promise!”

“You’d better hurry up. Ya’ll are lucky the bull is retired, or else I might start throwin’ things.”

“Right, right. Sorry. I’ll find something, promise.” And he pushed deeper into the caves, Acorn muttering under his breath behind him.

~*~*~

Quite aside from Acorn’s tower, Graham found all kinds of fascinating things and places he would have loved to poke his nose into. But he couldn’t explore them all properly, distracted by the sound of a scuffle. He hurried past a room filled with strange hexagonal rocks, down a little dark side tunnel that he wouldn’t have even noticed if it hadn’t been for the racket beyond.

He hadn’t gotten far before he realized he recognized at least one of the voices.

“Don’t fret, little rock goblins. Whisper will sign all the things!”

“Oh no.” Graham started to run. Mushrooms kicked up iridescent spores as he dashed forward. They floated down gently behind him. He skidded around a bend, arm flung out to catch a stalactite that dripped nearly to the ground, spinning around the corner, boots scraping, and he slid to a halt, staring.

Whisper stood in the center of a surging pack of goblins, at least a dozen, all pushing and pulling and trying to get him to move, while he stood perfectly steady, giant signing pen in hand, scribbling on helmets with elaborate flourishes.

“No need to push, you crazy little fans,” he chided. “Don’t crowd! Don’t crowd! …okay, crowd. Whisper loves a crowd.”

“Oh, no.” Graham repeated, stepping back. They hadn’t noticed him yet, but somehow he didn’t think he’d be able to keep his balance in that crowd quite as well as Whisper could. He was sick of being tackled.

“Who should I make this out to? Rocky Stoneman?” Whisper asked, jotting something down on a goblin arm. “Unique individual message for you. And unique individual message for you. And unique individual message—” he glanced up. “Graham! It’s been far too long! And I see you’ve earned your mane of excellence, just look at that shiny hat! It’s nearly as good as mine! Well! Whisper has, and will continue to be, a fan. And speaking of fans! Fans, my fans, right this way! Follow me!” He marched forward, pushing past spears and hands without a pause.

“It’s good to see you too, Whisper, but those aren’t—”

“Can we push this line against the wall?” Whisper yelled over the chittering mass. “Oh, yes, I totally remember you from Adventure Con,” he said, beaming at a fierce goblin with a spear trying to prod his arm but failing due to the armor, the sharp point plinking uselessly off reflective metal. “I would love to sign your baby!”

“Whisper!”

“My fan club rocks!”

Graham sighed. “Whisper, that’s not what they are.”

“Of course they are! Who else would they possibly be?”

“Really dangerous kidnappers?”

“Not with cute little faces like that!”

“They’re wearing masks!”

“They’re still adorable. Back up, people, Whisper needs to talk to King Graham!”

The goblins paused, all turning to glare at Graham. He shrank back, hand pressing against his crown to stop it slipping down over his eyes. “No, it’s okay, I’m supposed to be here. I’m, uh.” He searched his pockets frantically, and he came up with a little dustpan and broom a goblin had thrown at his head yesterday. “I’m just sweeping this tunnel!” He swirled dust this way and that, grinning tightly. Which was entirely pointless since the tunnel was nothing but dirt and dust, but no matter. “Just chores! It's fine! We’re all fine! This is fine!”

They seemed to reluctantly accept this, and they went back to trying to push Whisper forward. The knight was perfectly poised and perfectly planted though, and he was not going to be swept off his feet. Probably because he’d practiced sweeping too many other people off their feet.

“So, Graham! What brings you here?”

“Um. They did.”

“Mmmhmm, nice, nice,” Whisper said, definitely not listening at all. “Look, do you think you could help me form an orderly line here? Whisper’s pretty sure he’s signed the same helmet twice.”

“I don’t think they want your autograph, Whisper.”

“Of course they do! What else could they possibly want?”

“Probably to push you into a fairy tale reenactment. That’s what’s been happening to everyone else so far.”

“Everyone else?”

“All the villagers are here, too.”

“Oooh, even the enchanting Miss Amaya Blackstone?”

“Don’t sound so pleased.”

“Yes, well. Fairy tales, hmm? I wonder which one Whisper would get! Which one has the most handsome famous adventuring prince in it, Graham?”

“I could definitely hear you being in Beauty and the Beast for some reason.”

“So long as Whisper is Beauty!”

“Sure. Oh! Speaking of fairy tales!” Graham turned to face the goblins. “Hey! Guys! Um. I mean.” He cleared his throat and upped the dramatics, complete with elaborate hand gestures. “Attention, attention, hear ye, hear ye, and all that!”

They stopped chittering and poking Whisper with their spears and turned to face Graham, spears raised in his direction instead. Graham stepped back again, hands now frozen in a pleading defense. “No, no, no, hang on, I want to make a trade. For your knight. I have something much better!” He hoped none of these goblins were the ones that had been playing Jack and the Beanstalk back in the other room or had been part of the arts and crafts team that had painted these ordinary beans purple.

“Better than Whisper! No such thing!” Whisper said, affronted, hand to his chest. His signing pen splattered ink across a few goblins.

“Shut up, Whisper,” Graham hissed out of the corner of his mouth, keeping as wide and desperate a grin as he could in the face of prickling spears. “Now, who amongst you is the wisest goblin? I, as the very important King of Daventry, can only deal with the wisest goblin, to trade for that knight there for these incredible and very real magic beans!” He withdrew the little handful from his pocket.

“You know those aren’t real, right?” Whisper said, eyeing them. “Real ones aren’t—”

“Whisper.”

“All right, fine, it’s your fault for making bad trades.”

One of the goblins started to step forward, apparently deciding it was the wisest goblin best suited to this trading task, but another goblin took great offense at that and shoved him back. Meanwhile, a third had started forward, hands outstretched, and another swatted his arms with a spear shaft. The hit goblin hit back. Another goblin, totally unrelated to the budding argument, decided now was a good time to take revenge for some earlier offense and stepped in. A helmet got shoved off, an ear got yanked, the goblins started wailing and tackling and leaping at each other. Graham ducked to avoid a swinging spearpoint.

“Whisper, come on.” He shoved the purple beans back in his pocket. One or two bounced loose and pinged across the floor, which just added to the chaos as goblins lunged for them. “Let’s go!”

“But, my fans!”

“There’s plenty more around here, don’t worry about that.”

“Oh, all right,” Whisper said reluctantly. He turned and sketched a dramatic bow at the crowd of yelping scuffling goblins, saying, “The building has left Whisper! Adieu! Farewell! May we find each other again at another, more organized, venue!” As he bowed, a stack of signed portraits fell out of his armor, and Graham instinctively scooped a few up to return them later. 

Graham watched over his shoulder as they scrambled out of the tunnel, but no one followed them, at least not right away. He pushed Whisper into an alcove, out of sight in the shadows. A lizard chirped at them and flared bright blue, irritated at the intrusion, casting glittery reflections across Whisper’s armor.

“Whisper, I’m so glad to see you,” Graham said, and he grabbed the knight in a trembling hug, fierce and tight like Whisper would vanish into the shadows and leave him alone again. “I mean, I’m not, you shouldn’t be here, but—do you know what’s happening?”

“Not a clue! But Whisper thinks it looks like more adventure sought out you.” He pushed Graham back a pace and gently tilted his chin so they were looking eye to eye (helmet). “Ready for more adventures?”

Graham shakily smiled, adrenaline starting to fade after the goblin faceoff. “Always.” He straightened his crown, and tried to look regal and expectant and ready, but then his knees gave out and he sank against Whisper again. “Ha…with some help.”

“Whisper can do that!”

[undertale-museum]

Fanfiction Page 1

Page 1 — Page 2 — Page 3

^here

[Updated 15Jan24]

+18 used as shorthand for s3x

*** aka Dead dove do not eat as shorthand for dark themes, kink and/or rough s3x

——————————-

[1] So I think You've Got the Wrong Number

By WhatteauYouDoing (97k)

November 28th, 2015 - June 2016

_Incomplete

Reader, Gaster, Toriel, Sans

~Magi reader pulls Gaster from void~

.

[2] learn to live [series]. (+18 ***)

By I_Write_Sanses_Not_Tragedies

61k words

April 14, 2016 - November 2018

_incomplete

Blue, Stretch, Red

R*pe recovery, domestic

.

.

.

[3] AVA

By Inyahs (356k)

December 17, 2016 - Jan 2024

_incomplete

Anomaly OC, bittybones oc, UTMV ensemble

~ Wise crack hermit goes on adventure with grumpy insomniac bitty~

Note: plot up to Sciencetale lab, lacks character development after

.

[4] sticks & stones (+18)

By oneType (163k)

March 14, 2016 - May 14, 2019

_complete

Stretch, Red, Edge, Underfell Ensemble, Underswap Ensemble

~Stretch gets stuck in Underfell~

TW: discussion of attempted s**cide prior go story

.

[5] Good food, Good friends, Bad laughs

By shyviolet77 (431k)

April 19, 2016 - July 11, 2019

_incomplete

Sans, Frisk, Papyrus

1930s mobtale, Neutral Party Frisk

.

[6] A Puzzle Just For Me (+18)

By neroli9 (696k)

May 7, 2016 - January 13, 2024

_incomplete

Sans, Reader, Muffet, OC ensemble

Mobtale 1930s, exiled royal

Note: very kinky, RACK

.

[7] KR Trilogy (+18, ***)

By Mercy_Run (203k)

October 10, 2023 - Feb 2, 2023

_incomplete

Sans, Red, Edge

idk an sfw way to tag this~ guide

Note: skip wedding, smut from beginning

.

[8] Skeleton Games

By poetax (279k)

November 30, 2016 - Jan 1, 2023

_incomplete

Red, Edge, Reader, Muffet

Feuding neighbors, vampire reader

.

[9] Little Red

By Spectroscope (53k)

@spectascopes

April 15th 2017 - April 14, 2022

_complete

Human!SwapPaps, Human!SwapSans, OC monster

Bittybones, trauma recovery

Note: Stan (H!SS) is trans-masc,

.

.

.

Broken Bones Multiverse [series]

By Lady_kit  (339k)

21 April 17 - Nov 23

[10] Broken Bones

_complete

Stretch, Edge, Blue, Red

Papyrus centric, spicyhoney

- - -

[11] Bone Shards

_discontinued

Stretch, Edge, Blue, Red

drabbles

- - -

[12] Compound Fracture

_2023 Nov

Stretch, Edge, Blue, Red, Slim (Swapfell Papyrus) , Razz (Swapfell Sans)

Papyrus centric, spicyhoney

.

.

.

[13] Ain’t this the life [series] ***

By nilchance (524k)

Date

_discontinued

Sans, Red, Edge

Uptight asshole x shameless tumblr sexy man

(series contains 39 works) -->first

.

 that space pirates AU [series] ***

by nilchance _ 2021 (116k) dddne

- - -

[14] Killing the moon

Red, Papyrus

Brain washing recovery

- - -

[15] starry eyed

Sans, Red, Edge, Stretch, Gaster (AI)

Prison recovery, soulmates, domestic

.

.

.

[16] Doom and Gloom All Up in Your Room

by TrashCollector (95k)

____ - Dec 2023

_

Y/N (room owner), Dust, Horror

Domestic reverse harem

.

[17] Firsts and Seconds

by Skerb (103k)

__ - 2023

_incomplete

Sticks (Farmtale Sans), Bitey/Buddy (Horrortale Sans)

Injury recovery, strangers to lovers

.

[18] Sea of Hope

By Aylish91 (26k)

2021 - 2023 March

Y/N (runaway skeleton), Axe (Horror),

Piratetale, Y/N x Axe

.

[19] Poor Little Meow Meow

By Mystique, TallDumbass (58k)

2022 - October 2023

Y/N (vet), Killer

Fluff and Angst

.

[20] A Lovely House of Bones

By Green_Heart88 (37k)

@greenheartart

2023 - Dec 2023

(Y/N) host, Sans, Paps, Blue, Stretch, Edge, Red

Domestic living + recovery

[satoshi-mochida]

Nightmare House: Reimagined announced for PC - Gematsu

In Sound Mind developer We Create Stuff has announced Nightmare House: Reimagined, a recreation of its Half-Life 2 horror mod Nightmare House 2, rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5 as a standalone game with a revamped story, enhanced mechanics, and new content. It will launch for PC via Steam in 2025.

Here is an overview of the game, via We Create Stuff:

About

Welcome back to Nightmare House. Delve into an action-packed, first-person horror experience based on the legendary Half-Life 2 horror mod Nightmare House 2. No matter where you’re heading or what you’re doing, you can’t help but feel like you’re being watched. Equipped with your reliable axe, tread through the terrors of an abandoned house and desperately look for a way to break free from this nightmare. How long will it take you to realize that escape was never an option? In this reimagined version, we’ve decided to solely focus on the house from the first chapter of the original game. We took the house and massively expanded it into a full-fledged game. There are new rooms, secrets, dangers and deep lore to uncover. She’s waiting for you.

Story

The game begins with the player character waking up in a mysterious, abandoned house. No matter where you’re heading and what you’re doing, you feel like you’re being watched. Search the house to uncover her secrets. Explore every corner to reveal unspoken truths as you overcome the nightmares heading your way.

Key Features

The Legend Reimagined – The original creators of Nightmare House and In Sound Mind are back to re-envision and elevate the Nightmare House experience.

Blinding Mystery – Piece together her forgotten memories. Don’t be afraid. You’re NOT alone.

Additive Scare System – Collect nightmares and scares to challenge them head on. Overcome the terrors to unveil even deeper, unexplored layers of the house.

New Old School Horror – Slash enemies, solve physics puzzles, maneuver through the environment, and force your way around the house. A true early 2000s horror experience, reimagined in Unreal Engine 5.

Music by The Living Tombstone – As part of the original core team, the popular EDM group TLT are back to create a heart pumping soundtrack.

Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.

Announce Trailer

[tdciago]

Fargo: To Wit(t)...

(Originally posted as a reply on Reddit on 1/16/24)

I was also puzzled over how boring Witt seemed in comparison to other characters. So I went back and looked at his official character description.

"'North Dakota Deputy Witt Farr,' portrayed by Lamorne Morris, is the guy when you look up the word 'reliable' in the dictionary, you see his picture. He splits the check down to the cent, not because he’s cheap but because he’s fair. He’s dogged, earnest and Minnesota Nice."

A couple of things stand out. First, the dictionary definition of "reliable," along with the term "Minnesota Nice."

Witt isn't even from Minnesota, as far as we know, but this season began with a dictionary definition of Minnesota Nice. We also had a narrator introduced briefly in episode 5 (Chapter 5), then that idea was dropped immediately. If the word "reliable" is referring to a "reliable narrator," this may be suggesting that Witt is telling this story. That's not my favorite theory, and in fact the narrator has been quite unreliable, because the story has been filled with inconsistencies. But this may be something to consider in the finale.

The part about splitting the check down to the cent, as I've mentioned before, seems to be directly connected to the argument between Gaear and Carl in Fargo the movie. Carl wants to take the tan Ciera, but Gaear insists that they split it evenly.

Carl asks how you split a car - with a chainsaw? - and Gaear replies that one of them pays the other for half. When Carl refuses, that's when he gets the axe.

If we go back to the first episode, we see that Witt had a partner, which seems unusual for a trooper. We haven't seen him with one since, even though he was injured and shouldn't have been on patrol duty alone.

The patrol car is evenly split, in the following sense. Witt Farr means White Bull and his partner is "Iron" Mike Ox. So we've got a bull on one side and an ox on the other. The word FARRier comes from the Latin word for "iron," so there's an iron reference on both sides as well.

Munch, like Gaear, is extemely concerned with fair compensation. It's not even necessarily about money, but what is fair, such as a trade for protection in exchange for room and board. So we have an echo of the movie that relates to Witt and Munch. Munch even shoots Witt in the leg, a callback to Gaear getting shot in the leg by Marge Gunderson.

Witt also represents the answer to the Sphinx's riddle, which Oedipus answered. What creature walks on 4 legs in the morning, then 2 legs at midday, then 3 legs in the evening? The answer is man, who crawls, then walks, then uses a cane. We've seen Witt on crutches (4 legs), walking without aid (2 legs), and with a cane (3 legs).

Since a FARRier shoes horses, I have to wonder if Witt is the upside-down horseshoe with Gator's name on it that brings bad luck to Gator.

I also wonder about a couple of football expressions. Lorraine says no daughter of hers is going down on the one-yard line. Gator tells Witt that someone who looked like Witt blindsided him and tackled him when he was playing high school football. Will Witt make that move in the finale?

[introverted-imagineer]

Renegades (Part 2)

Warnings: Language, Violence, Religious Themes, Romantic Themes. 

‘You cannot ignore me forever, young one’ he said so philosophically. 

‘Yeah? Well I’ve been doing it for all these years so far’ I snarled back

‘And yet, you end up here, in this unhappy place, you can’t escape fate Y/N, it has come to you’

‘You aren’t real, you are an illusion, a ghost, a figment of my imagination’ I sternly retorted, more to convince myself more than anything.

‘People travel great lengths to find me Y/N, I see all, yet people do all to see me’

‘Then why don’t you go annoy those people’

‘Who are you talking to?’

My body jolted at the sudden interruption, abruptly sitting up to find Leif in the same spot as last night, only standing with a curious and concerned look on his face. ‘Nobody…just myself’ I whispered, burying myself into the blanket. I could sense Leif sitting there, that puzzled look of contemplation on his face. ‘I forgot you were there’ I mumbled, more to myself than Leif. I could hear him smirk at the comment. 

That was a rule when I was young…when he first started to appear. Mother put it down to the side effects of the flu…but his visits became more frequent as I grew older. Frightening as he was, his eyes sewn shut, his lips the colour of liquid tar, pale and hooded like a lost soul in the night. His presence however was never as petrifying as it seemed to others. Although nobody else seemed to be able to see him, my mother shook in her boots whenever she caught me talking to him. ‘You are not well Y/N, there is nobody there’ she would say soothingly, calmly brushing my hair back. Looking back though, I think she was more afraid of me than him. The rule was set in place when it became too frequent and too much for her. Never ever let anyone know anything. 

‘Are you going to kill me now?’ I whispered, my eyes averted to the floor so as to not look him in the eyes. That look of his, so painfully intriguing. It would be less troublesome to keep my eyes averted than to find myself encapsulated in his gaze. I could see his feet freeze in place as his feet pivoted in my direction. ‘I won’t’ he said under his breath to himself as he busied himself by adjusting the axe in his belt. It was comforting, even if he didn’t mean for me to hear, but that only applied to my existence confined within these walls. On the other side…that was a different story. 

‘Am I the only one left?’ I timidly questioned, my only ounce of protection being the blanket I desperately wrapped my body into. He took in a deep breath, one that encapsulated the whole of his body as it heavily moved up and down. He turned around as if offended by the question. ‘Maybe you should just focus on yourself’ he huffed as he reached for the door, slamming it shut behind him. The board jiggled behind him as I could hear the wooden plank slide back into the place where Mother Brynhorn had done before. 

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

I hated this place, I hated everything about it. From the windowless rooms that served more as torture chambers, to the mice that scuttled through the gaping holes in the stone-cracked walls, to the daily routine of silence and prayer that made one's knees cripple each day. But most of all, I hated the people. The evil, cruelness that radiated the walls. Christians, they called themselves, a people living truly under God’s rule. 

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Love, however, did not apply to farm girls who saw things that others could not… 

Outside this existence, I was just a daughter to a humble family. Christian, rural, a child amongst many. The youngest of brothers, a welcome blessing to my mother as she had said. Father had not too much to say on the matter of having a girl, but there was one thing that was undeniably true. Once I was born, my father barely ever touched my mother again. 

‘Danger comes to you my child’ 

‘Didn’t I just tell you to leave me alone’ I snarled as the poltergeist stood in the corner of the room. 

He didn’t say anything, just stood there, looking into my soul through his. He didn’t need eyes, he clearly had something more powerful. But as mother says…it’s not real. 

‘The God’s have sent me to you, it is no choice of mine, nor is it yours’ he murmured in a tone that sends shivers down my spine. 

‘Well you just tell the Go…’ I begun to lecture, before I looked up to see his presence disappear. A piercing screech scraped across the outside of the door making my teeth chatter. The door flung open to reveal Leif stood there, another man by his side watching over. 

‘You must come with me’ he sa himid quietly, a sensation of dread in his voice. I grounded my feet flat on the floor, clutching onto the lumpy mattress as I adamantly shook my head in disagreement. ‘you must’ he said, taking a step forward. I took in a deep gasp as anxiety and panic took over. Whimpers came out as I stuttered, pleading to be left alone. Dying alone in this room of starvation, cold, eaten alive by rats was more desirable than facing the Vikings on the other side of the door…their King in particular whose brief encounter was enough to haunt my dreams forever. I could hear Leif inhale a deep breath, his strong hand then clasping onto my upper arm, prying my body from its place, practically storming out the door and down the corridor. 

My terrified cries of pleas went unnoticed by the Greenlander, his counterparts loitered up and down the corridor, laughing at my cries of distress. Leif however had his gaze fixed upon the task at hand. Taking me to my death. 

I collapsed to the floor with a loud thud, the door to the grand hall slamming shut behind me as Leif took a step back from the large circle of Vikings stood in a circle around the ceremonial throne. My body shook as it collided with the cold wooden floor, my teeth sounding as they slammed together chattering as my chin shook. My state of despair was pleasing to the Vikings as they roared in laughter, downing sacramental wine as if it were water. A muffled shout sounded from the ceremonial throne. I slowly looked up to find Elder Aefentid tied to the seat, his mouth gagged by the ropes that usually rested around his waist. His look mirrored my petrified state.

‘Well, I didn’t expect to see you here young one’ that deep haunting voice taunted. The Vikings in the room went silent, standing to attention as the doors to the hall slammed shut. Every eye in the room was fixated on the man behind me. I kept my head down. 

His footsteps loud, paced forward incredibly slowly, coming closer and closer to me as I sat knelt on the floor with my eyes glued to the floor. I body jolted as a gentle brush of fingers danced on my head. His thick finger swirled the locks on top of my head, wrapping them around his finger. ‘And yet, here you are’ he noted, as if it were a grand performance. His body slammed to the ground, as he knelt next to me, clutching my neck within his palm, forcing me to look at Elder Aefentid. His petrified eyes looked back at mine. I let out a wail, letting out a deep cry. The King chuckled to himself, wrapping his other arm around my body, pulling my body into his embrace as he placed his lips upon my temple. ‘Shush, shush, shush’ he cried, performing to the spectators around him. His cruelness not escaping me. His grasp around my throat slightly tightened threateningly. ‘Tell us child, who is the man in the chair?’ He beseeched. Hot tears fell down my cheek as I tried to shake my head, but the King's hand held onto my neck rigidly, trapping my face where it was. His clutch tightened even more, stopping the already weak airflow from travelling to my lungs. ‘I will ask you again, who is the man in that chair?’

‘E..El…Elder Aefentid’ I choked out in a whisper. The King shook his head, his eyes averted to the ground, dissatisfied with the answer to the question he so desperately sought. ‘He is the leader here’ I whispered. The King's demeanour changed from one of dissatisfaction to genuine pleasure as his mouth broke into a grin, a deep laugh emitting from his stomach. The King stood from the floor, his hand unclasping from my throat, using my head to hoist his balance from the ground. The Vikings around him joined in with his laughter as the King paraded around the circle. ‘THIS MAN, A LEADER!’ He cried to his subjects. Their roars of laughter emitting even louder. However one stood apart from all the others, quiet, stone-faced, impassive. Leif Erikkson stuck out like a sore thumb. 

Canute walked up to the constricted man in the ceremonial throne. Elder Aefentid, yesterday a powerful malicious leader, today a prisoner in his own home. The King mockingly ripped the rope from Elder Aefentid’s mouth, his neck whiplashing at the speed and strength which he did. 

‘YOU VIKING SCUM, GOD WILL SEE TO IT YOU ALL ROT IN THE DEEPEST DEPTHS OF HELL’ he screamed, his throat slightly raspy in his delivery. The Viking King rounded the throne, looking undeterred by his verbal assault. The King stood there, leaning against the side of the throne, his arm extending, pointing his finger directly at me. ‘You speak old Norse, tell me what your leader said’ emphasising the term leader in a tone of disparagement. I could feel my jaw drop from beneath me, while my muscles clenched and my throat closed. ‘What. Did. He. Say?’ He demanded, taking a step forward between each word toward me. 

‘He urges you to seek Christ’ I retorted. The King seemed sinisterly pleased. ‘THIS MAN CLAIMS TO SERVE GOD’ he cried to the Vikings. This seemed to spark a different response. Instead of a roar of laughter, the Vikings responded in anger, grunting and yelling. The King walked toward Aefentid, reaching into his shirt, and pulling out a bejewelled crucifix tied to his neck. I could swear his eyes popped out of his skull at the thought of Christian Vikings. The King chuckled at Aefentid. ‘KING ÆTHELRED WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS’ he cried. 

At his threat, his attention was captured by everyone in the room, even Leif Erikson directed his gaze toward the bound man. ‘Æthelred’ The Viking King repeated, lowering his gaze to look directly into his prisoner's eyes. ‘What did he say child?’ His voice called, not breaking contact with Aefentid as they stared at one another. ‘H..he says the King will seek justice…’ I stuttered out. ‘FILTHY LITTLE VIKING BITCH’ Elder Aefentid cried, leaning to the side in order to catch my gaze, making sure his words penetrated my very soul. The Viking King turned around, all eyes in the room now directed at me as I sat on the ground in the middle of the room. ‘And?’ The Viking King questioned, his hands gesturing toward me. ‘He is displeased with me’ I whispered. 

The Viking King simply nodded, standing back up to his tall figure, grasping the rope from the ground, and shoving it violently back into Elder Aefentid’s mouth. ‘While I am displeased myself…’ he spoke, directing his gaze between Leif and me, his disappointment more directed at Leif. ‘Your speaking our language is very….opportune’ he said, scheming as he spoke. I could see out the corner of my eye Leif’s chest rise and fall deeply, whether it was out of relief or frustration I didn’t know. ‘Your life will be spared for now, you will spend your days helping me …refine my knowledge of the saxon language’ he said, wiggling his finger satisfied with his cunning plan. ‘But if you should be unsuccessful, or deceitful, you will suffer a fate worse than death’. His plan struck me to my core, I was a farmer's daughter, now a postulant, now a teacher to a Viking King. Which of the three was worse, I couldn’t be sure, but I was terrified at the thought of spending my days alone with the Viking King.  Elder Aefentid continued to scream profanities and muffled screams at the occupants of the room, but his cries went unnoticed by the Vikings as they busied themselves. Behind the throne, out of nowhere, he appeared again. The hooded figure stood solemnly beside the throne, unnoticed to everyone else, nodding his head at me. 

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

A new beginning had dawned on the Monastery. I was so used to silence, that even the sounds of people talking outside in the corridor put me on edge. I had not seen any of the sisters or brothers since Elder Aefentid sat in his mighty chair, only he was puny. 

I spent the days confined to my tiny windowless room. When the King demanded it, I was escorted to the Monks Library where the King required me to translate words, and passages and teach him to communicate in the Saxon language. So far, it had been fine, but The Viking King, Canute, made sure I knew what was at stake. He was always armed and made it known he had no issues punishing his property. I was still a servant, a prisoner, the only thing different being the man who demanded everything. 

It seemed an age the since the Vikings had first come. Some days it seemed there were more, other days less. The Viking’s clearly weren’t here for a sabbatical, nor to raid. The Monastery seemed however, a convenient stop in their greater plans. As time went on, their faces became more familiar. Sometimes they’d leave as a group for days, others would go individually. Leif Erikson seemed to have disappeared altogether…  

While King Canute had demanded I help him refine his knowledge of the Saxon language, from our first private meeting it seemed clear that he didn’t really need all that much help. His intention was unclear, but there was something sinister about his presence as if he were probing for something more valuable than language. As each session went by, the King was more curious about concerns of the Monastery, the fields around, and why nobody else seemed to live anywhere near here…how often travellers came through. I spent more time answering questions than I did teaching him anything. 

The King sat concentrating as he studied the symbols and texts of parchment that the Monks spent their days so delicately scribing. 

‘Tell me child, what is the relationship between your leader and King ÆTthelred?’ He asked cautiously. ‘I don’t know, the sisters aren’t allowed to converse with the brothers’ I muttered. The King turned around, coming back to sit at the grand table in the middle of the library. ‘What is your connection with the Saxon King?’ He probed. I almost wanted to chuckle at the absurdity of his question. ‘I don’t understand?’ I whispered, my shoulders tensing as his nostrils flared in an unsatisfied manner. ‘I mean, do you work for the King?’ He said, reaching his hand across the table, clutching my wrist and squeezing it tightly. I could feel the blood flow to my wrist stop, my wrist turning pale under Canute’s clutch. ‘He comes here for communion and spiritual cleansing occasionally…only the Monks have been in his presence’. His grip loosened, but the clutch on my wrist remained. ‘The Queen comes sometimes too, but only Mother Brynhorn is permitted to speak with her’ I exclaimed. ‘Who is his Queen?’ He questioned, his grip tightening again, cramping my hand. My fingers curled into themselves, rigid and stiff at the pain. ‘Queen Emma of Normandy’ I seethed out in pain between clenched teeth. 

His grip released as he smiled pleasingly to himself. ‘Normandy was founded by Vikings, did you know?’ He said more as a statement rather than a question. I shook my head. The truth was, I did know this as Elder Aefentid had cast cruel words at the Queen, but keeping this information withheld was likely to stop more questions and threats from King Canute. The King shot up from his seat, pushing the chair across the room behind him. 

The door slightly opened, and a familiar face crept in. As our gazes connected, it was evident the shock upon my face, as his at mine. Since the grand hall, Leif Erikson had seemingly disappeared.  Our concentrated stares were broken by Canute rising from his seat at the table. I stood to attention as the King’s chair scooted against the floor with a loud scrape. 

 ‘Ah, Leif Erikson, just in time, please take the prisoner back to her room’. 

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

Leif Erikson spared no mercy in escorting me back to my small room. His hand clutched my arm as he strode two paces ahead of me as he walked down the corridor, dragging me alongside him. He constantly clutched the hilt of the axe on his belt. 

When we arrived at the boarding wing, Leif roughly opened the door, taking a look around to see the Vikings still watching him. He thrust me forward, shoving me onto the lumpy mattress. A few of the Vikings stood watching, chuckling to themselves as they prompted his vulgarity. ‘Good luck with that one Greenlander’ they called, lifting their goblets in a cheers motion, throwing a surreptitious suggestive wink in his direction. I could feel my heart beating fast, their euphemism did not escape me.   The Greenlander nodded his head, stepping into the room cautiously, and closing the door behind him. 

I scurried back on my hands, retreating into the corner of the room, clutching the bottom of my skirt so as to somehow create an extra layer between us. Leif took a deep breath, his eyes glancing up and down at me. His eyes captured mine, but his face showed no emotion. I could feel my body shake. He gently reached down, undoing the belt that sat around his waist, loosening it, and untying it slowly string by string until it came off. ‘P…please no….I….I….I’ve never’ I stammered. He lifted his eyebrow quizzically. As he took a step forward, I let out a yelp, closed my eyes, and cradled myself in a protective state. The end of the bed dipped as he sat down on the edge, he let out a loud sigh as a rustling noise emitted. I sat there, cradled into myself waiting for him to pounce, lay his hands on me, or even say something. But it was just silence. 

His hair was tasselled and knotted, coming out of the bun I remembered it had been in before. His face was smeared with dried mud that cracked on his forehead, indicating a level of stress as his brows creased. His clothes were uncomfortably damp, chafing against his body. His gaze locked to the floor, seemingly defeated, yet relieved at the same time.  

We sat silently, I sat there looking at him trying to piece the puzzle together of how he ended up in such a state. It had been weeks since I had seen the Greenlander, as Canute constantly referred to him as. He sat there, his elbows leaning on his legs, sitting there, solemnly content in the silence. ‘Leif’ I whispered, being careful not to move nor startle him as he sat silently in a meditative state. He let out a grunt, shaking his head slowly as if to say please. 

‘I wouldn’t do that to you’ he whispered, wiping his sleeve across his nose as his neck dropped further down. 

He sat in silence for longer, the room becoming darker as the sun set outside. I gently got up from the bed, circling in front of him, kneeling on the floor between his legs. Up close, his face was one of utter exhaust. His eyelids dropped as he tried to hold his eyes open. He could barely acknowledge my presence as he sat there, his body swaying as if it were about to buckle beneath him. I gently reached up to the collar of his damp coat, gently untying the strings, trailing down his chest until the fasteners were undone. He sat there rigidly, not saying a word, not making a move. I gently ran my palms under the fabric of the coat, my hands pressed against his solid, large shoulders. I pushed against them, almost revelling in the feeling of the sheer tightness of his skin. I ran my palms down his arms, sliding the coat off his body, gently peeling it from him. His shirt underneath, although still intact, was ripped and muddied. Whatever activity Leif Erikson had been up to, it wasn’t a leisurely trip. His arms limply fell from their resting place on his thighs as he allowed me to slide the wet coat off his arms, freeing him from the constricting material. His chin tilted only slightly, enough for our gaze to connect again through his drooping eyelids. 

Nothing needed to be said though, his exhaustion was clear. I gently grasped onto his shoulders again, pushing him down into a laying position on the mattress. He let out a gentle sigh of relief, grateful for even the comfort of the world's lumpiest old mattress. I grabbed the blanket from the end of the bed, draping it carefully over his body. 

By the time the blanket had draped over him, Leif Erikson was solemn in slumber. 

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

‘Y/N you’re sick, you need help’ my mother pleaded with teary eyes. 

‘You promised it wouldn’t come to this, you swore we’d never tell’ I screamed back, scuttling along the floor and gazing up and my mother in fear. 

‘I couldn’t keep it from him, he saw you, this is the best thing for you’ she breathlessly exclaimed, crawling toward me pleading. 

‘It’s time to go Y/N’ My father sounded from the other end of the room sternly.

‘Please…Please don’t do this, it doesn’t need to be like this’ I screamed. But he stood there, firmly in place, firm in his hand, firm in his decision. 

‘They are already here Y/N, you are going’ he said sternly, stiff in his body language as if to say this conversation was annoying more than anything.

I could feel my head hit the back of the wall, there being nowhere else to escape to. 

‘She’s in here Father’ he called, turning around to greet those once strange eyes, but now so familiar. ‘Elder Aefentid, we are so grateful, our daughter needs more help than we can give her’. My father's tone changed so matter of factly as if he were a helpless man trying so hard to help his daughter. I couldn’t help but feel this was all too convenient for him. In his clutches, Elder Aefentid stood in the room, a bible in his clutch, a crucifix held firmly in his grasp. 

‘Do you see him now child?’ Elder Aefentid questioned as he cautiously tip-toed into the room. Of course, I could, he hadn’t left all day, only stood there warning me that my fate was to unfold. I shook my head ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about father…’ I whispered through teary cries. 

‘DO YOU SEE HIM NOW CHILD?’ He screamed. 

‘Y/N’ 

I bolted up with a scream. I could feel my limbs unstick from one another as the feeling of cold sweat engulfed my body. The room was black, the floor cold beneath me, the only break of light coming from a single candle. The orange hue gently lit the face of Leif as he sat on the bed, his eyes full of unease. 

‘You were yelling’ he said matter of factly, his tone clearly masking confusion. ‘I wasn’t yelling?’ I said questioningly, but I had known this to happen before. ‘You were yelling’ he said again in a much calmer tone, the light flickering in front of his face. I took in a deep breath, taking in every crevice of his face, the way his jaw chiselled, tensing and relaxing as his throat bobbled as he took in a deep gulp.  I nodded curtly, as if to say I know, but I don’t want to know. 

Leif sat on the bed, his legs over the side as he sat at the head of the bed. ‘How did I get here?’ He solemnly questioned, grazing his fingers over the mattress as the blanket lay gently across his lap. ‘You tell me, you were awfully tired’ I whispered back, shrugging my shoulders as he looked down at my place on the floor. There was something intense about his gaze, the way his eyes flickered up and down my body, a sense of curiosity and uncertainty as we sat between the flickering of orange. It was improper for me to be alone in here with him, but knowing there were plenty more Vikings on the other side of the door, I can’t lie in saying I wasn’t grateful for Leif’s presence. 

His demeanour changed as he directed his gaze back to the floor, uncomfortable with the obvious query that loomed over us both. Where had Leif Erikson been all this time? Whether the details really mattered, but why he had come back, that was the mystery. 

‘I will leave’ he whispered gingerly, slowly playing with the loose thread of the blanket that draped over him. His movements were slow, unwilling. When he rose from the bed his knees cracked beneath him, a gentle seethe of pain emitted from his teeth. ‘You’re hurt’ I breathed, getting up abruptly to steady his frame as his legs slightly wobbled beneath him. ‘I am fine’ he said as he stiffly straightened his rigid back, that cracking as well. ‘Just stay’ I whispered abruptly as I grabbed onto his biceps. As I stood there, only the smallest gap between us, his body towered over mine, his head dropped naturally as I looked up to meet his gaze. His eyes flickered, as mine did his. An eeriness of caution, waiting for the other to do something. But one thing was clear, I wasn’t willing to move, nor was he. ‘I um…’ I stuttered, as my fingers seemed to linger onto his skin much longer than was friendly. 

*SLAM*

My palm flew to my face as I let out a shriek, my body jumping in fright at the sound of a pound against the door. Leif Erikson didn’t seem to even startle. My hands flew from him as I took a step away. The murmur of slurred singing in old norse could be heard as metal clanged against one another. Leif strode toward the door, poking his head out as I silently shook in my shoes, awaiting whatever the Vikings were doing. He silently closed the door, pressing a finger to his lips as he turned toward me. ‘Too much mead tends to bring out the lively side of Vikings’ he whispered in amusement. His smile seemed suppressed as he let out a long breath through his nostrils. I smiled back gently, tilting my lips just enough to show I appreciated his attempt at humour in my state of scare. 

‘Maybe I should…’ he trailed. I simply nodded. ‘I would appreciate it’ I said. Leif quietly untied the fasteners of his belt, letting the tight fabric fall to the floor. I gently sat down at the end of the bed as he uncertainly took a seat at its head. The light flickered in the pitch-black room, only offering glimpses of one another. 

I could feel a tingle deep within my stomach. My brain was telling me all the things I should know. This is improper, this is immoral, this is a disaster waiting to happen, and God will punish me. But something deep within my body shook, an urge I couldn’t shake. Like a roaring fire in my stomach that set my heart alight. I could feel the rhythmic pounding of my heartbeat turn to pulsate so strongly that radiated down my torso all the way down to my legs. I squeezed my thighs together, a poor attempt to suppress that pulsated between my legs. I could sense a tenseness as the blanket shifted beneath me. I glanced down to find Leif’s fingers nervously digging into the bed. My body involuntarily shivered as if something shot down my spine. ‘You are cold?’ He whispered, breaking the tense silence that encapsulated the room. ‘A little’ I whispered back, digging into the blanket with my fingers. Leif reached down to the ground and grabbed his coat, only to let out a dissatisfied breath. ‘It’s still wet sorry’ he said defeatedly. 

The room retreated into silence again, the only sound emitting being a gentle sizzle of the flame as it burnt the candle. The feeling of desire was uncomfortable, but the obvious silence of awkwardness was unbearable. I gently grabbed the blanket from Leif’s side, draping it over both our laps as a symbol of peace. Leif seemed taken aback but relieved at the notion of not having to sleep on the floor. 

The mattress was thin, our arms and legs pressed against one another tightly as the width of our bodies overcrowded the tiny bed. I could hear Leif breathing, as he could probably hear mine. Just as short and nervous as each other. 

‘There is no need for any more nightmares Y/N…nobody is here but us’ he solemnly whispered. I could feel the tears prickling in my eyes. The sincerity in his voice had a gentle shake to it as if he was nervous but his desire to say it was more important than the thought of making a fool of himself. It was as if another entity had taken over my body, without thought, fear, or contemplation I felt my hand reaching down beneath the blanket, scuttling underneath the surface blindly until my fingers finally found what they were looking for. 

As cautiously as my shaking fingers were, our fingers entwined loosely, as if neither of us was certain that this was okay or not. But even in their loose entwined grip, neither of our hands moved until sleep took over. 

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

[lena-cant]

Signalis Review

Content Warning: ommetaphobia, unreality, description of violence

Signalis is a classic-style survival horror game in the same vein as the original Resident Evil games. It hit digital storefronts a little less than a month ago after being published by Humble Games. The game is a classic survival horror game in its truest sense, inheriting design decisions that most AAA horror games have abandoned decades ago and refining the formula to near-perfection.

[Image ID: Signalis’ title screen, featuring a blue eye which follows the cursor, as well as options for “continue,” “settings,” “credits,” and “quit.”]

1: Resident Evil walked...

Am I really about to say that Signalis is straight-up better than any survival horror game of old? Well, maybe, but stay with me on this.

Signalis’ gameplay is most comparable to the original Resident Evil games. You navigate Elster, the main character, through a series of cramped areas with limited resources and ammunition, with the goal of collecting all of the items and information you need to complete the next puzzle at-hand. Later in the game, a lot of the puzzles get very non-linear, in such a way that you are spending a lot of time going to various places around the map, scouring every area for items and documents that you have no way of knowing if they’ll actually help you progress. On your way to solve these puzzles you’ll have to figure out a way to avoid, or, all other options failing, fight your way through these enemies.

[Image ID: A screenshot of Signalis.Elster points a pistol at a gaunt humanoid in a dark room. On the edge of the screen, a large-looking man is pointing a weapon with a laser sight at Elster. On the ground behind Elster are the dead corpses of other enemies, including one that appears to have a large sweater sleeve instead of a head.]

The enemy design is pretty typical, but there are some unique highlights. They’re all zombie-like creatures with static-y visages and a want for your death, but not all of them are created equal. There are some with shields, some that are really good at rushing you, and some of them are silly little guys with one comically long sweater sleeve instead of a head (you can see one lying on the ground in the screenshot above.) Most enemies, especially in the early game, can be run around no problem, but this isn’t without its own consequences (put a pin in that.)

Combat generally feels good, but its not without issue. Unlike classic Resident Evil, I don’t feel like I’m fighting the controls just to move around or perform simple game actions like “shoot a man.” However, later in the game where there are higher-intensity encounters with more enemies, the limitations of the control scheme definitely show up. For me, anyway, this added to the experience. Signalis’ controls operate on a nice middle ground where they’re perfectly usable until the exact moment where you need them to work well the most, which is a great vibe for a survival horror game.

Throughout the game, the game rates you on two axes: Overclustered vs. Fragmented and Hypersensitive vs. Catatonic, conveniently displayed at all times on your status menu. These ratings are for, respectively, how much killing you do and how much damage you take. If you kill more enemies, you’re more Fragmented, if you take more damage, you’re more Hypersensitive, and vice versa for the other to ends of each respective axis. This rating has no direct gameplay impact but it does have impact on a few story-related things later in the game. Other than that, it’s a neat way to get a sense of what your Signalis playstyle is. Personally I ended up hovering around Overclustered, Catatonic for most of the game, but towards the end I started shifting towards Hypersensitive instead.

[Image ID: A 2-axis chart in the shape of a hexagon labelled “Diagnostics”. The X axis is Overclustered vs. Fragmented. The Y axis is Hypersensitive vs. Catatonic. The current rating is all the way towards Fragmented, with a slight lean towards Hypersensitive.]

I found the game to be relatively easy all things considered. I only died a total of five times in my playthrough, and three of those were to barbed wire fence that I couldn’t see properly because I didn’t bring my flashlight (long story). If you’re experienced at survival horror games or other similar games I’d recommend tuning the difficulty up a notch from “normal” to “survival” mode.

Puzzle design is probably the standout feature of Signalis’ gameplay. What starts out as a series of pretty by-the-numbers keyhunting puzzles morphs over time into a series of mind-boggling sequences that were genuinely very difficult for me to keep track of, with series upon series of sub-puzzle building up to one ultimate puzzle (honestly usually its just a locked door that needs 6 keys or something) for each area. Often times, you’ll be presented with a puzzle and hints but you’ll need to backtrack through all of the other areas in order to find items that will actually help you complete it. And of course, this backtracking is another opportunity for the enemies to sink their teeth into you. My favorite one of these is one in the middle of the game where you find a hand embedded into the wall, and have to place rings on its fingers based on a series of obscure clues. The rings themselves are scattered all over the level, usually locked behind other puzzles that you have to solve. Nothing in the game is so complicated that you’d really get stuck, but they’re hard enough that they make you feel clever for figuring them out. They aren’t really hand-holdy either. There’s a puzzle early on in the game where you’re given a cipher for a safe’s keypad, but not all of the digits. As far as I can tell, the only way to progress is to brute-force the keycode, which luckily isn’t hard as there’s only one character missing from the cipher that we care about.

One of my favorite aspects of the game’s puzzle design is the radio receiver. This is an item that you receive early on that allows you to tune into different frequencies. Initially, you only use it for simple things like intercepting a radio broadcast with the key code to a safe, but later on you start using it for much more involved puzzles and it feels really gratifying whenever you end up using it. There are also enemies in the game which are caught in feedback loops, with copies of copies, roaming the area. You can only defeat them by tuning into their frequency and determining the origin of the loop, and destroying that one, which is a really neat way to integrate the radio into combat.

[Image ID: Four enemies outlined in red circles face down Elster. Visual glitches appear on the screen, like static and the word “VIDEO” in large bold in the upper left. Elster is tuned into radio frequency 202.000 Khz in an attempt to determine the origin of the feedback loop.]

One thing that does detract from the puzzle gameplay is the limited inventory space. I understand that in games like these, inventory space is limited to disincentivize the player from hoarding resources, but I think that Signalis ends up taking it a step too far. You are given 6 total inventory slots, each of which can hold one item or a stack of a few consumable items. If you want to carry a healing item, a weapon, ammo for the weapon, and the flashlight (and trust me you do want to carry the flashlight), you’re left with two inventory slots for key items or anything else you pick up on the way. There were multiple points in which I went to unlock a new area and had to backtrack all the way back to my safe room to put items back in the box because there was more than one item in the locked room that I needed. You do learn to live with it though, and by end-game I started taking riskier setups (just a gun with no backup ammo, no healing items, etc.) in order to make the full use out of the inventory space that I had. This inventory system also shines during boss fights, where managing your inventory space can become a fun little minigame in its own right. This is especially true for the final boss.

[Image ID: An inventory screen that looks like it’s running on a CRT monitor. 4 of 6 slots are taken up by Repair Spray, a Flashlight, a Pistol, and Pistol Ammo. The flashlight module is highlighted, and a readout reads “A shoulder-mounted flashlight module. Powered by internal Replika power supply when installed.]

All of the gameplay comes together to produce a really solid whole for a survival horror game. Combat is challenging, especially later on, but never so frustrating that I felt like I wanted to give up or take a break. Puzzle design was good and made me feel clever for figuring out all the solutions. There’s enough to love in the combat and puzzle design that you could probably go through the game with just those, but Signalis adds a cherry on top of the gameplay with an incredible and distinct visual style.

2: New/Old 2D/3D Style

Signalis has a pretty unique art style, comprising mostly of a pixel art aesthetic with limited 3D in the gameplay overworld, with pixellated CGs and PS1-looking 3D for story and puzzle sequences. The visuals were immediately striking to me, with a distinctly grimy feel that brings out its retro-scifi aesthetic.

[Image ID: Elster stands in a room lit by a single green bulb above. There is a closed cryogenic pod, connected to a series of pipes in the background. 4 CRT monitors output unreadable information. On the right, there is a pennant with a Penrose triangle, with the phrase “Penrose | 512″ written on it.]

One of my favorite aspects of this game’s visual design in moment-to-moment gameplay is how thin the distinction between 2D and 3D assets are. For most of the game, it’s pretty difficult to tell if something is rendered in 2D or 3D. I think that all of the characters are 3D models, but honestly if I was told that they were 2D sprites I would totally believe them. The filtering on the 3D elements of this game is done superbly, to the point where most of those elements just look like 2D spritework in their own right. The visuals give everything an atmosphere that you can just bite into, which brings out the best in the game’s ability to invoke tense situations.

[Image ID: Elster points a gun at a humanoid figure, which is chopping meat at a kitchen counter. There is only one light source, which illuminates only part of the room in a dingy yellow light. Counters around the room are all covered in blood and meat.]

Outside of the moment-to-moment gameplay, several areas that require finer interaction are rendered in a 3D first-person perspective. These also look wonderful, as the PSX looking 3D is a great counterbalance to the dingy pixel art of the sections where you can free roam. I don’t have much to say in words here so I’m gonna let the visuals speak for themselves a little.

[Image ID: A first-person perspective of the cockpit of a spaceship, with three monitors and hundreds of buttons. The ship appears to be crashed in a snowy wasteland. A pop-up on screen shows a polaroid photograph of a woman with white hair, and text reads “Pick up Photograph?”]

[Image ID: A first-person perspective of two arms, jutting out from a wall. One is clasped over an opening in said wall, while the other holds out the back of its hand towards you.]

[Image ID: A first-person perspective of a CRT screen, which shows a keycard embedded in what appears to be a skull. Text at the top of the screen reads “BILDM ROEN - OBJ D” and on the right there is a control panel with arrow keys which has wires jutting out of the top.]

The 3D visuals captivate me in a way that I can’t really describe. Maybe I just love the PSX horror aesthetic that this game nails so well in these moments.

In cutscenes, the game uses a combination of 3D animation and prerendered 2D CGs which are usually striking. The pixel art in the CGs is gorgeous and brings across the emotions of the characters incredibly well.

[Image ID: A close-up of Elster’s left eye. It’s bright blue and stares off into the middle distance.]

The 3D animation in these cutscenes bring across a similar vibe to the first-person puzzle environments, a crunchy PSX horror feel that really brings out the most of the game’s setting.

[Image ID: A spaceship crashed in a snowy wasteland, rendered in 3D. Its wing features an insignia with a compass, three stars, and a wreath of wheat, evocative of the flag of East Germany during the Cold War.

As far as visual options go, there are a few. The game defaults to 50 hz, likely because the developers are European and that was the standard in Europe during the era of gaming that they’re borrowing their aesthetic from. It also features a CRT filter and a film grain filter. The film grain filter is just intrusive in my opinon, it doesn’t really add much to the experience. The CRT filter is very cool and looks good, but it also makes some (admittedly mostly superfluous) text unreadable, which is a definite drawback.

[Image ID: The same cryo-pod room as earlier, but with the CRT filter turned on.]

Overall I have absolutely no issues with this game’s visuals. It’s got a striking style and really knows what it wants to be. There is a slight amount of dissonance between the various aesthetics of the Anime-style CGs, the 2D overworld, and the 3D first person segments, but I think that dissonance adds, rather than detracts from the overall experience. This aesthetic is only enhanced by the sound design, which is phenomenal. I have little to say beyond that for the sound effects, but I would be loathe not to mention the soundtrack.

The music that plays during combat is heavy and grimy, adding to the frantic and tense atmosphere that the game so carefully builds up. The game also features several classical compositions by various composers, which add immensely to the artful feel of much of the story content. The game makes heavy use of Rachimaniov’s The Isle of the Dead Op. 29 as well as Chopin’s Preludes, Op.28 - No. 15 “Raindrops”, along with a few other pieces which are listed in the game’s credits. These classical compositions really add emotional weight to the scenes, as well as giving them deeper meaning.

3: A Dream About Dreaming

(This description of the game’s story contains no major spoilers, although it does relay some information learned early in the game.)

Signalis is described by its creators as “A Cold-War Eurasian Retrotech-Sci-Fi take on Cosmic Horror,” and that just about sums it up. The game takes inspiration from Robert Chambers’ “The King and Yellow” and Lovecraft’s “The Festival” to deliver a lethal dose of cosmic horror bullshit that I just loved playing through.

The setting of the game is... a little weird. It takes place in a spacefaring nation of some kind, which doesn’t have a name mentioned anywhere I could find. I have taken to calling them “Space East Germany,” because, well. Look at their flag.

[Image ID: A feminine figure in a black and orange jumpsuit stands holding a flag featuring a compass, three stars, and a wreath of wheat embossed on a black, red, and yellow horizontal tricolor. Text above reads “WUNDERWAFFEN UNSERER NATION” (Superweapons of our Nation)]

Most text found in the game world is written in either German, Chinese, or Japanese, with a few bits of English sprinkled in there (as a treat) (don’t worry, the game provides a translation for all of the important bits). This aspect of the setting has little impact on the game as a whole, mostly just bringing across the aforementioned “Cold-War Eurasion Retrotech Sci-Fi” aesthetic. The meat of the games setting (sometimes literally) comes when exploring the game on a deeper level (also sometimes literally). The vast majority of the game takes place on a mining colony called Sierpinski in the outer reaches of a solar system that is implied to be out own.

The main character, Elster (German for Magpie), is a Replika. The game doesn’t go into great detail as to what this means, so I’ll tell you what I know. In the setting there are two types of people: Gestalts, and Replikas. Gestalts are, as far as I can tell, normal biological humans, while Replikas seem to be human consciousnesses repurposed in artificial bodies to perform specific tasks, which varies from model to model. Most Replikas are made to forget their human selves, though its shown that some can come to remember their pasts. Effectively they are humans who have been repurposed into slave labor for the government. If this strikes you as very Blade Runner, I think it’s supposed to.

Elster arrives at the aforementioned mining facility in search of a Gestalt friend (they were roommates) named Alina. Or was it Ariane? You’re not sure. She made a promise to that Gestalt and she hopes to fulfill it. Unfortunately, much of the facility has gone offline due to a breakout in a new kind of disease. This disease initially only infected the Replika security captain, Falke (Falcon), but it has since spread to most residents of the mining colony. Infected Replikas are turned into aggressive, barely-real, mindless zombies, while infected Gestalts seem to merely have been killed. This doesn’t stop you of course. You need to find her. You remember your promise. You need to fulfill it.

[Image ID: Block text which reads “GREAT HOLES SECRETLY ARE DIGGED WHERE EARTHS PORES OUGHT TO SUFFICE, AND THINGS HAVE LEARNT TO WALK THAT OUGHT TO CRAWL.” in all capitals.]

[Image ID: A young woman with dark, braided hair is bent over her left hand, staring at it. In her right hand she holds a kitchen knife. Tears streak her face.]

[Image ID: Block text which reads “REMEMBER OUR PROMISE”]

[Image ID: A pale, slender young woman with long white hair and red eyes. Chromatic aberration around her gives her a sense of unreality.]

If you can’t tell from the above Lovecraft quote, the game wears its influences on its sleeve. A copy of Chambers’ “The King in Yellow” is even a major macguffin later in the story. This isn’t a bad thing though. Signalis has enough of its own identity that it can easily flaunt the things it references without letting people mistake its influence for imitation.

Over the course of the story, you meet a cast of Replikas and Gestalts who are all just as confused as you about the events on Sierpinski. Many of the Replikas are fighting against the the disease, trying to remain connected to what humanity they still have. A gestalt named Isa searches for another named Erika - her sister. As you cross each of these characters’ paths, a web of relations and interactions begins to form. Each of them is an essential piece of this mystery, just like you are, Elster.

[Image ID: A dark-haired young woman who carries a knife hides behind a pillar from a man wearing body armor and a shotgun. Text at the bottom reads: “Adler: I’ve done this countless times before.”]

As Elster descends deeper into Sierpinski, she faces greater horrors, as the rules of reality themselves seem to break down around her. The walls start to feel alive and the monsters she fights get even more deformed and unreal than they already were. She starts seeing visions, of places and people far removed from her current location. A radio tower in the snow. A grim isle where a lone boat waits.

[Image ID: Jagged rock formations close around the shore of an island with a lone boat and lantern sitting at its edge, and tall evergreen trees just beyond the shore.]

[Image ID: The Painting Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin. Jagged rock formations close around the shore of an island with a lone boat and lantern sitting at its edge, and tall evergreen trees just beyond the shore.]

Yeah it’s uh. This kind of game.

It’s also worth noting that the game has quite a few endings. Three of them are unlocked based on your Diagnostics score by the end of the game, while a fourth, secret ending is unlocked by going through a long sidequest throughout the game. All of the endings are, in their own ways, perfect caps to the beautifully tragic tale of Signalis.

4: Conclusions

[Image ID: Block text which reads “HAB KEINE ANGST.” (Be not afraid.)]

Signalis is a stunning and evocative piece of cosmic horror media that will leave you considering the world around you. Along with that, it’s an incredible love letter to classic survival horror games like Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark. If you’re at all a fan of these old games, or survival horror or cosmic horror in general, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Even if you’re not a horror fan, there’s a lot to love in Signalis and it makes itself accessible to people with all levels of skill.

What criticisms I have of the game are washed away by how immaculately it comes together. The interplay between the gameplay, visuals, and storytelling works so well that its impossible for me not to enjoy it.

It’s deeply moving, a little terrifying, and gave me a lot to think about, and that’s really all I want from a game.

And remember: when you think you beat the game: no you didn’t. It’s that kind of game.

Good night, Elster. Good night, Ariane.

[Image ID: A close-up of Elster’s face, with barely-readable diagnostic visuals in German and Chinese all around her. Her face is segmented, giving her a robotic look.

You can buy Signalis on the following storefronts:

Steam | Humble | PlayStation 4/5 | Xbox | Switch

Signalis is also available on Xbox Gamepass and Humble’s Choice subscription.

[silversiren1101]

🥊: best part of combat? worst part of combat?, 🛡: favourite build, or party setup?, ❤️: any npcs you liked, or even wished you could romance?

🥊: best part of combat? worst part of combat?

So I actually love combat in these games, lol, but I do have specific enemies that I just loathe encountering and specific encounters that are just trash.

The stuff with the woundwyrm is just not fun no matter how much you prebuff. Getting caught on the openworld map and all you can do is run around until she flies away and hope no one dies just sucks. Threshold is just terrible at the end with all the gallu stormcallers. Vavakias in general are horrible enemies that pierce through fear resistance?!

Still, I love when a custom build just comes together. I'm playing on Challenging right now and the early levels are wrecking my shit but I'm pushing through. Feels like solving an ultimate puzzle.

🛡: favourite build, or party setup?

My ideal party!

Minovae: Fighter 20/ HK 4/ Bard 16. Shield bash based two-weapon fighter with ridiculous AC, a gazillion attacks, and her bard song to keep her friends up and fighting. LOTS of teamwork feats to wreck house with her beloved.

Regill: HK 2-3/Fighter rest of the way. Depends on how I'm feeling for the specific build. Regardless he's full armor feats, dex to attack and damage hooked hammer for a million attacks. LOTs of teamwork feats for the same reasons above!

Nenio: Wizard 10/Loremaster 10. Fully into maxed out illusion school DCs and spell favoritism on Weird and Phantasmal killer. Mythic feats buffing the shadow schools since they're evocation/conjuration but count as Illusion and thus used her maxed DCs.

Daeran: Oracle 20. No reason to multiclass him he's VERY good as is. Give him extra mystery of Bones for Bone Armor to make him tougher, focus on Conjuration and Necromancy. Ultimate undead slayer (that map with all the Bodaks on it? Or the room with Kestoglyr? DESTROYED), and also some juicy extra damage from some of the offensive necromancy spells and saves. You can lean a little into summons too with this if you like!

Arueshalae: Skald 20. Yes I use the respec mod on her, but skald fully fits her personality and story and being able to give all of my martials Pounce is so amazingly strong and hilarious. Mostly focused on buffing and rage songs. Give her Sense Vitals and have her use a starknife for full flavor.

Wenduag: So many builds for her... whether it's the Cult Leader War Priest or Rowdy Rogue or Demonslayer Ranger though... she's always rocking the dual throwing axes. Unstoppable war machine. Beloved beloathed. Never not a party pillar.

❤️: any npcs you liked, or even wished you could romance?

LET ME KISS A HELLKNIGHT OKAY IT CAN BE REGILL OR YAKER IDGAF BUT I WANT THAT BLACK ARMOR RATTLING ABOUT SOME QUAKY KNEES.

[undeadorion]

I've been playing Resident Evil 4 (the og version, not the remake) and I am both relieved and frustrated that I didn't buy the full version.

Without even looking into it, I can see that Something happened in the making of the game. Probably some executive demands or a dramatic change in the writing team.

There was some absurd nonsense in the first 3 games, but it all made some sort of sense. There were mazes and puzzles and "you must acquire an object to get through this door" that's pretty standard video game stuff. But it was blended into the world. So you didn't see a maze, you saw a police station that was absolutely wrecked so some paths were blocked. Or a substation overgrown by some vile thing that created artificial walls. Keycards to get into secure areas. Those keycards being found in logical places like on dead staff members or in an office.

Then there's the castle in RE4. Blade swinging puzzles. A "key" that's a stone disc hidden away at the end of mine cart ride that you have to jump off of at top speed to avoid plummeting to your death. The sewer exit blocked by a series of massive swinging axe blades. A character falling into a "trap" that planned on a character resting against a wide, completely flat wall at the exact right spot. A mounted turret gun INSIDE the castle. Mind you up until now it was borderline medieval weaponry, crossbows and axes and catapults.

Then there's the giant mechanical statue of the old man child. At first it moves its hands to act as intermittent bridges. Which you shift with a single off-center switch on its back to move in a different pattern. The ONLY reason that exists is so the player can access a switch to raise a bridge from the water. But then the statue suddenly starts chasing you down the hallway. Are intruders such an issue they had to build a massive attack statue deep in the castle past the grinder and the slicer and the pounder traps?!

THEN! there's monsters that are absurdly difficult to fight. Unless you bought the one-time use rocket launcher. Which you can keep buying so long as you have the money. All the giants you'd fought up until the castle were straight forward. Shoot them a bunch, they drop to their knees and you shoot the parasite on their back when it pops out. Then you're given 2. You can drop 1 of them into a lava pit. But then the machine locks up and you're left with 1. There's a zip line across the top. So it seems like you use the zip line to quickly cross the room so you have time enough to shoot the other giant and make it drop. But no. I unloaded over 150 bullets and only got it to kneel twice. But then I reloaded my save and bought the rocket launcher. And that took it out in ONE HIT. The same with Salazar's monster form. I kept dying over and over. Until I got the rocket launcher. Shoot the eye of the thing to expose Salazar, and a rocket launcher to the face ends the fight.

One of the coolest moments in RE3 was the big badass gun moment. Because it felt earned. After fighting Nemesis over and over and barely escaping, and now he's the size of a goddamn room, after scrambling to charge up the gun, you finally fire it into his mouth and kill him for good. You didn't just buy the gun with coins you found lying around from a shady merchant stalking you through the castle.

Then there's the whole reason Leon is even IN the castle. There's no fucking reason for it. They just kept moving the pickup point and for some reason decided he needed to go through the castle for it and all the while with the person he's supposed to be rescuing getting kidnapped multiple times. They could have kept the whole castle thing and still had him make the first pickup point. Only he hands off Ashley and says someone needs to stop these people. It's that simple. Then it's not a long, drawn out fucking ESCORT MISSION.

Finally, when you get to the island after the castle, they remembered they were making a Resident Evil game and it make sense again. But it feels like a completely different game, now. Before all the enemies were either masked cult members or random villagers. Now it's all soldiers and dudes in gas masks and naked bald dudes without a sign of a villager or cult member anywhere. It's so bizarre.

I hear the remake made some of the combat parts better, and added stealth options and the ability to block and removed most of the QTEs. But if the story's the same, I would have regretted dropping $30 on it.

[dragondevinity]

Immortal Hiccup au pt 5/6

Chapter 5

This is now httyd 2 timeline no one knows about hiccup and toothless being mates (well the twins knew but had somehow the decency to not tell anyone in the tribe)

The duo are in the clouds when a masked individual on a four winged dragon appears.

Things happen similar to cannon.

Hiccup was dropped into a dark room full of dragons, hearing the whispers of them, but he acted as if he couldn’t understand the dragons until toothless was dropped next to him as well.

(Yes he did the thing with inferno)

“Could it really be after all these years, is it really you Hiccup??” The masked figure asked

Ok now we skip until toothless gets tackled by baby dragons.

“So this is where you have been all this time” hiccup said as he was entranced by all this beautiful place had to offer.

“Help!! The baby’s are attacking me!!!” Toothless nearly screached while hiccup started laughing at him as well as Valka.

“Hiccup please help me get them off!!” Toothless pleaded “ugh fine I’ll try to get them off of you” hiccup stated failing miserably.

“Hiccup your really good at reading his emotions” Valka said not knowing that Hiccup could understand all dragons.

Skip to after defeating drago because I have no idea what else to put until here.

“So when are you telling the villagers about yourself and us being mates hiccup?” Toothless asked, hiccup froze for a minute due to the last part of the sentence “should I tell them or leave that out” hiccup stated as his face started flushing a tinge of pink. “I understand but all the dragons already know so why not the village?” Toothless questioned

“I’ll tell them after I’m ready ok?” Hiccup told toothless “ok I’m fine with that” toothless said a bit worried about that and something else that could happen very very soon…….

Oh how the tables may turn next chapter.. what will happen will there relationship be revealed or will something more reflected happen??? Find out next chapter bye~!

————————————————————————

Chapter 6

Hiccup was suddenly woken up by his mother, “Hiccup I have a really important question for

You” Valka stated, “what is it mom” he asked puzzled, “so I’ve been putting the pieces together about this for a while now, but are you able to understand all dragons”she said with a slight gleam in her eyes, “was it really that obvious” hiccup asked, “so it’s a yes” she said happily as hiccup just nodded his head yes.

“Would you mind teaching me how to talk to the dragons properly” Valka stated getting more of a gleam in her eyes, “sure mom” he said ‘not like it took me nearly 50 years to learn how….’ He mumbled to himself loud enough for his mother to hear.

“What do you mean it took you nearly 50 years to learn you’re only 20” Valka stated in confusion at her son, she knew he has always been somewhat too wise according to Stoick but this was different, “explain to me what you mean Hiccup please” she stated to him still shocked.

“Promise you won’t tell a soul even my sister when she’s back ok” hiccup asked and Valka nodded being open minded,after explaining she was shocked but mostly understood why he hid it, ”so you’re over 1000 years old but can change your looks to any age desired” she said being amazed, “yeah that’s pretty much it about that part of my life” he stated not knowing what was about to happen, “now may I ask why you and toothless seem way closer then best friends hiccup” his mother asked waiting for the answer she knew would be said sooner or later, ‘me and him are mates…’ he mumbled still loud enough for his mother to hear, “hah Gobber owes me and Stoick a new axe each” she said with a smirk on her face, “wait you and dad knew about me and toothless being mates” he asked surprised, his mother just nodded while still smirking, “ besides you and toothless being mates everything else is not going to get talked about with Gobber or Stoick ok, and nothing will be told to the villagers until you’re ready hiccup” She said, “thank you mom, still abit shocked you knew about me and toothless though” he said and his mother laughed at that last bit, “what can I say I’m good at figuring things out most of the time” she said finishing the conversation so hiccup can go back to his nap.

Incase I forgot to mention Stoick did live in this since hiccup pushed him out of the way at the last possible second and they thought that hiccup living would attribute to the fact that toothless had just enough will to make the plasma blast unlikely to kill him.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 1.29

Holidays

Axe Day (French Republic)

Blue and Pink Day

Bowling Green Massacre Day

Bubblegum Sculpture Day

Carnation Day (a.k.a. Red Carnation Day)

Curmudgeons’ Day

Feast of Overdue Expectations

Fields Day

Freethinkers’ Day

Gab Union Appreciation Day

Hall of Fame Day (MLB)

Holiday of the Three Hierarchs (Greece)

I Don’t Like Mondays Incident Anniversary Day

Jigsaw Puzzle Day

Martyr’s Day (Nepal)

Milton Friedman Day (California)

National Colin Day

National Day of Remembrance for the Quebec City Mosque Attack (Canada)

National Day of Transgender Visibility (Brazil)

National Lady Gaga Day

National Police Anniversary Day (Philippines)

National Puzzle Day

Nevermore Day

Oprah Winfrey Day

RNLI SOS Day (UK)

Romeo and Juliet Day

Sahid Diwash (Martyrs’ Day; Nepal)

Seeing Eye Dog Day

Thomas Paine Day

Victoria Cross Day

World Automobile Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Gnocchi Day (Argentina)

National Corn Chip Day

Pork Belly Day

Potato Day

Sugar Cone Day

Weisse Beer Day

5th & Last Monday in January

Cyber Monday (Russia)

Aukland Day (New Zealand) [Monday closest to 29th]

Nelson Day (New Zealand) [Monday closest to 29th]

Northland Anniversary Day (New Zealand) [Monday closest to 29th]

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day [Last Monday]

Independence & Related Days

Constitution Day (Gibraltar)

Kansas Statehood Day (#34; 1861)

Larsonia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning January 29, 2024

Bierfest Kunstmann Valdivia (Chile)

Dark Beer Festival (Leighton Buzzard, UK) [thru 2.2]

St. Moritz Gourmet Festival (St. Moritz, Switzerland) [thru 2.3]

WSWA Access Live (Las Vegas, Nevada) [thru 2.1]

Feast Days

Andrei Rublev (Episcopal Church (USA))

Anton Chekov (Writersim)

Aquilinus of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Barnett Newman (Artology)

Blue and Pink Day (Shamanism)

Charge Candles by Moonlight Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Concordia I: Irene’s Day (Pagan)

Constantius of Perugia (Christian; Saint)

Curmudgeons Day (Pastafarian)

Dallán Forgaill (Christian; Saint)

Edward Abbey (Writersim)

The Equiria in the Campus Martius (a.k.a. The Pacalia; Ancient Rome)

Francis of Sales (Christian; Saint)

Gamelion Noumenia (Festival to All Gods & Goddesses; Ancient Greece)

Gildas the Albanian or Scot or the Wise (Christian; Saint)

Gildas the Wise (a.k.a. Badoncius; Christian; Saint)

Happy Hedgehog Day (Pastafarian)

Hesiod (Positivist; Saint)

House Blessing Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Juniper (Christian; Saint)

Paddy Chayefsky (Writersim)

Parade of the Unicorns (Everyday Wicca)

Patrick Caulfield (Artology)

Romain Rolland (Writerism)

Sabinian of Troyes (Christian; Saint)

Sabrina T. Pagebottom (Muppetism)

Samuel Worcester Rowse (Artology)

Sulpicius Severus (Christian; Saint)

Sulpitius I of Bourges (Christian; Saint)

Theo Wujcik (Artology)

Valerius of Trèves (Christian; Saint)

Valero’s Feast (Spain; Saint)

Vasant Panchami (Celebrating Saraswati, Hindu goddess of knowledge)

Willy Wonka Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [6 of 71]

Prime Number Day: 29 [10 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [7 of 37]

Very Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [8 of 60]

Premieres

Alice, by Avril Lavigne (Song; 2010)

All My Sons, by Arthur Miller (Play; 1947)

All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque (Novel; 1929)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Pt. 2 (WB Animated Film; 2013)

The Beggar’s Opera, by John Gay (Ballad Opera; 1728)

Donald’s Tire Trouble (Disney Cartoon; 1943)

Doorway to Danger or Doom in the Room (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 94; 1961)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louise Stevenson, adapted by J. Comyn’s Carr (Play; 1910)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Film; 1964)

Fantasia (Animated Disney Film; 1941)

Faust, complete play, by Goethe (Play; 1829)

Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand/Sie Liebt Dice, recorded by The Beatles (Songs in German; 1964)

Kung Fu Panda 3 (Animated Film; 2016)

Matinee (Film; 1993)

Million Dollar Carton or Jack in the Box (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 199; 1963)

My Little Buckaroo (WB MM Cartoon; 1938)

Out and Out Rout (WB MM Cartoon; 1966)

Peaceful Neighbors (Color Rhapsody; 1939)

Pests for Guests (WB MM Cartoon; 1955)

The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe (Poem; 1845)

Rock-a-Bye Gator (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1962)

The Seapreme Court (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1954)

She’s All That (Film; 1999)

Skelton Frolic (Ub Iwerks Cartoon; 1937)

Sleeping Beauty (Animated Disney Film; 1959)

Two at One Blow or The Devil Beheader (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 200; 1963)

Up at the Villa, by W. Somerset Maugham (Novella; 1941)

Window Pains or The Moosetrap (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 93; 1961)

Today’s Name Days

Gerd, Gerhard, Josef, Valerius (Austria)

Tvrtko, Valerije, Zdeslav, Zdravko (Croatia)

Zdislava (Czech Republic)

Valerius (Denmark)

Valmo, Valter (Estonia)

Valtteri (Finland)

Gildas (France)

Gerd, Gerhard, Josef (Germany)

Varsamia (Greece)

Adél (Hungary)

Aquilino, Costanzo, Valerio, Vitale (Italy)

Aivars, Valērijs (Latvia)

Aivaras, Girkantas, Valerijus, Žibutė (Lithuania)

Herdis, Hermann, Hermod (Norway)

Franciszek Salezy, Gilda, Hanna, Walerian, Waleriana, Waleriusz, Zdzisław (Poland)

Ignatie (Romania)

Gašpar (Slovakia)

Valerio, Valero (Spain)

Diana (Sweden)

Gilda, Goldie, Sheldon, Shelley, Shelly, Shelton, Ophrah, Oprah (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 29 of 2024; 337 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 5 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Luis (Rowan) [Day 9 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Yi-Chou), Day 19 (Ren-Chen)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 19 Shevat 5784

Islamic: 18 Rajab 1445

J Cal: 29 White; Eightday [29 of 30]

Julian: 16 January 2024

Moon: 86%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 1 Homer (2nd Month) [Hesiod)

Runic Half Month: Elhaz (Elk) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 40 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 8 of 28)

Calendar Changes

Homer (Ancient Poetry) [Month 2 of 13; Positivist]