#// or an archive the devs made

[stolas-does-fandom]

The Pupil of The Eye

Dev Patel as "The Archivist"

[tothepointofinsanity]

The graphics look terrible. Dystopian babble words such as “supercomputerist” mentioned. Incomprehensible title. I must play this game.

[baeshijima]

i fucking hate this gane

throws up tears

[simantopia]

FOR REAL?! HOW?!!?!?

srsly speaking! i dunno why woohoo was removed from the game. it's not like the game wasn't afraid to be raunchy, and it's successor, TS2C, had woohoo in it.

there was also this object that is also scrapped from the game. it has animation and can even be interacted with. it appears in the prima guide even though it's not actually in the game. (i was only able to access it through debug cheats) makes me wonder why this, and woohoo was scrapped? especially when both seem to be near completion? (if the woohoo thing is true & you can reenable it)

marriage also might've been planned for the game, too. which it's kinda weird that marriage is not a thing in it? i feel it'd be kinda similar to how you can get an urb to "join your crew" and have the ability to switch over to them -- the only difference is that you're both in love & your married partner would follow you around.

my only guess as to why these were scrapped was because they were nearing a deadline, and even though these are near completion -- they weren't quite ready, and they just didn't have enough time before game release to fix them. urbz went through some development hell. (fun fact: it was supposed to have been released before The Sims 1 Console, and Bustin' Out)

anyway i gotta see if i can enable woohoo in the game... for reasons... :)

[syrupmancer]

Don't get me wrong it's insane that a lot of the leaked pokemon mythology tales have pokesexual abuse but it's fascinating how they went so hard on the gritty mythology aspect. It feels too uncomfortably close to real world myths that in no world it would've made it into any game so you gotta wonder why it was there in the first place, and what other freakass worldbuilding headcanons the devs have while making the games

[yonemurishiroku]

Kinda wanna write something you would hate and then send it to you as a joke, but then again Idek if you hate anything

Ngl this art got me thinking hard for like. two days. srsly LOL.

The first three seconds I was like, "I wasn't aware sending sb those that they hate could be considered a joke", which, in retrospect, shouldn't surprise me that much since this is the internet. And, okay, I guess I should be madder than I am, but I only find this funny LMAO.

Ngl, it's not that I like all the headcanons, prompts, plots, etc... sent to me. Not all of them interest me that much, I mean. Some even make me uncomfortable. Nevertheless, I appreciate the senders' thoughtfulness, creativity, and overall just the bravery it takes to express themselves in their own way. I don't always like the same thing as them, but I'd love for them to keep creating, so I'll keep cheering them on. I'm all for the fandom spirit, really. So there's that.

I reckon it's also a blessing that I rarely get triggered by fictional scenarios. So even if I technically dislike it, I'll just be fine.

It's almost funny - I want to say that I don't hate anything in fanfic, but I do. Not many, but there are definitely tropes, settings, sometimes vibes, etc., which I'd just scroll past immediately upon seeing. But when you ask me, I just cannot pinpoint it exactly. Because sometimes, when I'm not moody and life seems brighter and I'll be like "Well, it's never too late to give st new a chance" and it turns out that I can read that. I don't hate that.

In hindsight, it probably relies a lot on the writing and the plot and blablabla. "Something I would hate" is too encompassing, and on the other hand too specific. I have a taste but it doesn't mean I'll only like those with that taste.

[bl00000g]

Fun fact:

WE HAVE THIS.

AND EVEN IF THE PAGE WILL NOT EXIST IN THE FUTURE, THE DATA OF IT WILL BE STORED AND PEOPLE CAN PUT IT IN A PLAYABLE STATE AGAIN.

I think the saddest part about Unity's godawful news is that a lot of games are going to just. disappear.

it's like Unity is trying to go the way of streaming where the hidden gems and cult classics don't make enough money, so, they're taken offline. except this time it's with games (mostly indie).

to put it in perspective, hollow knight, cuphead, and ori are made in unity. so are night in the woods, tunic, and countless more indie gems. hell, AMONG US is made in unity. if the devs of any of these games can't shell out the outrageous cost, then maybe the devs will take them offline. and we'll just. never be able to play them anymore

it's a sad possibility that I don't think any of us ever had to consider. but now we do.

[amiibo-king]

there are a lot of things i will never forgive the original last legacy writers for but i think the worst thing that i refuse to forgive is the transphobic pregnant felix "jokes" they used to post on the official last legacy social medias

[cadaveerie]

DRAGON AGE info spreadsheet

i've made THIS SPREADSHEET that has different information about Dragon Age media, such as:

· the canon ages of DA important characters · known info about the DATV companions · where you can find the DATV devs on social media · a tab with relevant links to archived lost media, interesting dragon age posts, official content, and other useful things like this sheet

everything with sources :)

(these images are previews. i strongly advice you to check the sheet itself and not these images for updated info in case there were mistakes, i added new stuff, for links and for better quality.)

some of the things i'll be adding to the sheet next are (probably):

· a sheet with all dragon age media in chronological order (+ relevant links) · visual references (official clear images of the companions mostly, + other things) · more characters in the "character ages" sheet (if there's an interest, let me know if that's the case) · and characters' nationalities (in-game and irl approximations)

keep in mind that there are spoilers all over it, for all games (even datv, who hasn't yet come out at the time of posting this) and for other dragon age media (books, comics, etc.) i did my best to add warnings though!

reach out to me (mostly here or twitter) if there are any mistakes, or if you have any sort of feedback regarding the contents, formatting or accessibility! i'd appreciate it a lot! and talk to me to if you'd be willing to collaborate with me for the upcoming information! i could use the help.

and if the link is broken:

if got it from a reblog, look at the original post and check if it works there (in case i changed it for whatever reason)

if not, just reach out to me (op)

there's more information on the sheet itself. make sure to scroll all the way down and to the right to see all of the sheet :]

i hope this is useful for someone. i did this because most people don't take the time to source their information, and i also find it more comfortable to have most stuff in one place. it took (and continues to take) a loooong time to do this lol it was exhausting. thanks for your attention!

[empty-movement]

Welcome to Something Eternal: A Website Forum in 2023 wtf lmao

It's 2023, and a single belligerent rich guy destroyed one of the primary focal points of uh...global communication. Tumblr is, shockingly, kinda thriving despite the abuse it gets from its owners, but that I will call the iconic refusal of Tumblr users to let Tumblr get in the way of their using Tumblr. Reddit killed its API, removing the functionality of mobile apps that made it remotely readable (rip rif.) Discord, our current primary hangout, has made countless strange choices lately that indicate it has reached the summit of its usability and functionality, and can only decline from here as changes get made to prepare for shareholders. (NOTE: WROTE THIS POST BEFORE THEIR MOBILE "REDESIGN" LMAO)

The enshittification is intense, and it's coming from every direction. Social media platforms that felt like permanent institutions are instead slowly going to let fall fallow incredible amounts of history, works of art, thought, and fandoms. It kinda sucks!

A couple years ago, I posted about a new plan with a new domain, to focus on the archiving of media content, as I saw that to be the fatal weakness of the current ways the internet and fandoms work. Much has happened since to convince me to alter the direction of those efforts, though not abandon them entirely.

Long story short? We are launching a fucking website forum. In 2023.

If you remember In the Rose Garden, much about Something Eternal will be familiar. But this has been a year in the making, and in many ways it's far more ambitious than IRG was. We have put money on this. The forum is running on the same software major IT and technology businesses use, because I don't want the software to age out of usability within five years. It has an attached gallery system for me to post content to, including the Chiho Saito art collection. It has a profile post system that everyone already on the forum has decided is kinda like mini Twitter? But it is, fundamentally, a website forum, owned and run and moderated by us. We are not web devs. But we have run a website on pure spite and headbutting code for over twenty years, and we have over a decade of experience maintaining social spaces online, both on the OG forum, and on our Discord. Better skilled people with far more time than we have can and will build incredible alternatives to what is collapsing around us. But they're not in the room right now. We are. And you know what? Maybe it's time to return to a clunkier, slower moving, more conversation focused platform.

You're not joining a social media platform with the full polish of dozens of devs and automated moderation. Things might break, and I might need time to fix them. The emojis and such are still a work in progress. Because e-mails no longer route in reasonable normal ways, the sign-up process instead happens within the software, and has to be approved by mods. Design and structure elements may change. Etc. The point being, that the forum isn't finished, but it is at a place where I feel like I can present it to people, and it's people I need to help direct what functions and things will be in this space. You all will shape its norms, its traditions, its options...choices I could try to make now, but really...they're for us to create as a group! But the important stuff? That's there. Now let's drive this baby off the damn lot already!

Come! Join us!!

PS. As always, TERFs and Nazis need not apply.

[wolvesroampastelgalaxies]

Edit: All chapters up on tmblr & ao3 :p

Okay, so I got alot of hits on my last FoP:ANW ficlet. Which had me re-reading it frequently. So instead of healing, I desperately wanted to fix this situation. I think I am genuinely affected that Timmy isn’t the MC anymore.

My child hood = 💀

Anyway, I made a continuation kinda. I’m much better at introspection than writing out actions (I think). So if this piece is not of the same quality as the last. Lemme know, I really wanna do this concept justice. :p

On a Wing and A Wish 🪽

 I wish Timmy Turner got back all the memories of his fairies and could be apart of his family forever.

    “What is this?” Dev asks, “Whose Timmy Turner?”

  Peri harshly shushes him, hovering in close while darting his eyes around Dev’s room.

    Begrudgingly, the kid whispers, “What’s the deal? No one is here. What. Is. This?”

  This - was a note looped with periwinkle ink on what was balled up paper. Peri couldn’t believe what he was doing. Sneaking behind his parents’, and worse, the Fairy Council’s back, asking his own god-kid for a wish. He never thought to go through with it, even if he did frequently imagine the outcome. But it was the one thing he’d wanted since his brother left.

  No. Not left. He forgot. They made him forget. He never left us.

  Never left me.

  He sighs, resuming the usual distance. Dev can finally breathe in air that’s not Peri’s cologne and takes in his god-parent’s appearance. The fairy did not look good. Usually quaffed hair was flat and tussled, like he forgot to shower then tossed and turned all night. Which, ew, he probably hadn’t showered or poofed himself clean or whatever fairies do based on the pit stains. Sweat was also causing clammy hands that were attempting to wring themselves dry. His usual calming, lavender eyes were bloodshot from what he could tell. Well, when they weren’t searching for a haunted house jump scare.

    Dev waves his arms, “Hello? Earth to Peri!”

  The beat of wings is audible as Peri jumps a foot higher in the air.

    “Are you broken? Can fairies malfunction?” Dev gets a dimmadome idea, “Do I get a new one if you do?”

  This absurd question has Peri descending from the (literal) high level of anxiety to a level of annoyance. That level being eye to eye with his god-kid, where purple and blue begin a standoff. If there was a movie in the pinpricks of their eyes, it would reflect a tense western gun fight. Peri would have a wand at his holster and Dev would be there, arms crossed and smug as can be. His mouth loaded with the bullet 'I wish…' and Peri would be dead on the dusty road.

  A wing and a prayer is the saying. He had wings, he just needed the prayer.

  Or a wish.

  Peri surrenders, realizing picking a fight will not work in his favor.

    “Fairies can’t grant their own wishes.”

     The ginger scoffs, “That’s it?” He thought his fairy was dense, but he didn’t realize Peri was actually challenged. “Just, have another fairy grant your wish.”

  Rather than meeting with some Peri-fonted, copy-paste of Da Rules, Dev saw as his god-parent open and close his mouth. Pale lips pressing in a thin line. His small body seemed to curl in on itself, shielding not from Dev, but the irony of what he had said.

     Without looking at him, Peri said, “They can’t. It’s not how it works. Only a god-kid can make wishes.”

  The hitch and crack at the word 'can’t' did not go unnoticed by either. Peri flinches. He had spent all week wrestling with the notion. It was only last night that he had scribbled the note down. There was nothing in Da Rules about another kid wishing for someone to not lose their memories. His mom was right, there are a lot of loopholes.

   Peri had hoped and hyped himself up enough that being a godparent would fix him. If he could recreate it, he wouldn’t feel the dreams of his childhood each night turn to mourning. Deep nostalgia for a time that seemed imagined rather than the most impressionable years of his immortal life. Hijinks among his and his parents’ god-kids flooded him with memories. Waves of jealously crashed down as Dev and Hazel shared their youth, times they’ll have forever.

  Peri could not live eternity drowning.

  The human boy felt awkward, it never occurred when he wasn’t the most grieved one in the room. Dev knew, though not consciously, that grief was not just losing someone. It was being lost yourself. Each day happened, it was not unnoticed, but it wasn’t remembered.

    “Well….what would I even be wishing for? I was taught not to sign something before reading it, err wishing.”

 Peri’s wings flutter briefly. Was Dev considering it? What was he supposed to say? He gathers himself as much as he can to stop shaking from nerves.

    “Timmy Turner is someone really important to me. Like, he’s kinda the whole reason I exist.” He pauses, waiting for Dev’s reaction.

    “I thought the green fairy was your dad?”

    “No, not like that. Although, I guess he did wish for my dad to get pregnant.”

    “Your dad was WHAT?” Dev shouts but Peri is quickly on him again, hand pressed tight over the kid’s mouth. Dev only briefly struggles to push him off, dramatically gasping for breath.

    “It’s complicated okay? I just, it would mean everything to me, to my parents, if you could wish this.” Peri interjects before Dev can close curtain on his overreaction.

     Cutting a glare that isn’t so much as throwing the knife but threatening to, Dev straightens himself. “What’s in it for me?”

  Whatever miserable feelings Peri has disappear into steam when he reddens from frustration at the kid’s incredulousness.

     "'In it for you?!' You literally have anything you have ever wanted at your finger tips. You have ME! A fairy! With an endless amount of wishes. There is nothing I can’t give you if you want it!” Peri hisses. He might pass out, all the breath pushed from his lungs at this nightmare of a child. He takes a deep breath.

    “It’s a favor. I’m asking a favor Dev.”

  The kid did feel a little stupid saying that. It was such a habit. He’s never been in a situation that wasn’t an exchange. It’s not like Peri was going to stop granting him wishes if he said no. And besides being less annoying, there was nothing more the fairy could do if he said yes.

  Dev sighs, he knows he’s going to make the wish.

    “Do you know why kids get godparents to begin with?” Peri’s tone is drained of any animosity. It sounds hollow, like an echo instead of the real words.

  He isn’t sure if Peri is looking for an answer, but Dev is still feeling sheepish after his own selfishness.

     “No...”

  Fairy eyes are known to have a slight shimmer in their iris’, as if they held infinitesimal pieces of glitter. Dev hopes that it’s just the light magnifying the effect in Peri’s and not him on the verge of tears.

     “Because life isn’t fair. When life isn’t fair, kids get fairies. The fairies stay until life gets better or they grow up. But,” he falters then, a strained attempt at composure, “but they always forget.”

  He flutters down onto the side of Dev’s bed. Wings mirroring his melancholy as they droop. This is not a reserved sadness, it’s not something you can leave till nightfall, not anymore. Not now that he has to face it every day, worse that’s of his own volition. It’s a lonely feeling that twists and winds itself so tight he can’t stand it. Something had to be done.

      “I just can’t forget.” And there is a tear now, one he hopes his god-kid cant see with his head bowed.

  Hesitantly, Dev sits down. It’s rare for them to be on an even level when he’s not hovering. Peri is so small compared to the 10 year old, who feels like moving an inch might shatter his fairy.

      “Was he your first god-kid? Is that how, fairies like, reproduce or something? You run out of fairies for kids and when you need more you just…..your dad?” Dev can’t decide between disgust, curiosity, or confusion.

  Peri chuckles, plugging any leaks he has with a sniffle. He guesses he’ll get a few awkward questions on that later.

    “Eh, no. We grew up together. He’s kinda like - he’s my brother.” The statement is the only solid thing he can cling to. That one simple fact.

  He’s my brother.

    “I know it doesn’t make any sense, and it’s a lot to go over. But I promise if you do this for me, I will explain everything. Anything you want to know.”

  There is another thing that makes Dev feel like an idiot, and that’s his dad. Anytime there might be a sliver of a chance for him to pay attention or choose Dev over some money scheme, Dev falls for it every-time. A swell of hope and admiration fills his chest and then he’s getting the breath knocked out of him when, surprise, he’s never his dad’s choice. Peri was right about life not being fair. And it doesn’t just seem unfair for humans. But, if he got a fairy to even it out for him, maybe he could try too.

  Besides, he was going to-do it anyway.

    “Hey Peri?”

  He rubs his eyes with his sleeve for good measure and gives a mosaic smile of all the shattered hurt inside.

    “Yeah kid?” 

  Dev takes a breath.

    “I wish- “

[fanimplaytion]

I need everyone to look at this Evelyn fanart. HELLO?! THANK YOU SO MUCH 💛💛💛 @TIREDWEIRDOO on Twitter and other socials made this!!!!! She's so so pretty, I love the way people draw her ((more fanart sharing to come!!))

Her Dimmalore is that when she lost full custody and visitation rights of Dev through her divorce, she put her energy into making her employees feel like family, almost. And despite her and Timmy literally being 3-4 years apart in age, she treats him like family and a top student student: she's his mentor first and boss second! She's giving him motherly parts and looks at him with fondness because he's also her BEST intern she's had.

I also figured out how to link specific chapters on AO3!

[historicallyaccuratecheese]

I know this isn’t very in line with the usual “haha magnus archives worm lady” posts I usually make, but this is very important to me and I want to spread as much awareness as possible.

One of my favorite games of all time is Dead Cells, a fantastic indie roguelike developed by Evil Empire. Recently, it was announced that it’s upcoming 35th update would be the last one for the game. Now, let me start off by saying that on its own, this isn’t what I’m upset about. The fact that Dead Cells has gotten as much support as it has over the years is quite frankly incredible, and 35 updates, most of which have been free and very high quality, is an amazing amount of support. Rather, I am more concerned about the circumstances behind this announcement.

The announcement was…off, for a number of reasons. For one, Update 35 has been in Alpha and Beta on Steam for a while now, and it’s not exactly an update you’d expect the entire game to end on. Still quality, but not exactly a “grand finale.” Also strange was how long it’s been in alpha and beta, as it seems to have been in development hell for over six months. And finally, it’s clear that there was so much more planned for the game. For example, 2023 was said to be the biggest year for the game, and yet we only got two updates. Granted, one of those updates was very big, but not nearly big enough to really live up to the title of “biggest year so far.” By all accounts, it definitely seemed like there was some sort of internal issue that cut the planned lifespan of the game short. If so, that would be very unfortunate, but I would have been willing to accept there was probably nothing that could be done. However, recently some information about what actually happened has shown up, and….yeah I’m pissed.

For those who didn’t know, Dead Cells was originally made by a team named Motion Twin, but after the fourth update, most of the people working on the game left to form their own team, Evil Empire. Evil Empire has developed every update for the game since that split, and yet, they are rarely credited as the makers. Motion Twin is the company that promotes all of the new updates, as if they made them, and unfortunately very few people know which company actually makes the game. Recently, Motion Twin announced a new game called Windblown (proclaiming it was made by the same team as Dead Cells, when it certainly wasn’t), and based on recent interviews with Evil Empire, we learn that Motion Twin pulled the plug on Dead Cells against Evil Empire’s wishes. Evil Empire loved making the game, and planned to continue updating into 2025, expanding the gameplay and lore, yet Motion Twin decided to pull the plug, either to promote Windblown (which if so…why? You can have two games?), or simply out of spite towards Evil Empire, which seems unfortunately possible due to the fact that the devs do not seem to have the best relationship. And to add insult to insult to injury, Motion Twin straight up lied by saying that Dead Cells stopped development because they “don’t want the game to feel bloated”. ….THEY DON’T EVEN MAKE THE GAME WHAT THE HELL?!

So yeah…this is a really terrible situation. Dead Cells is a game that means a lot to me, it’s helped me through some very tough times and there are many other people who hold the game dear to their heart. So please, anything from a simple reblog to making your own posts about the matter goes a long way. Spread awareness about what’s going on. Tell people about how Evil Empire has put so much hard work, love and dedication into the game, and wishes to continue. Tell people about the lies that Motion Twin have been telling. Pressure the two teams into splitting away from each other entirely, so that Dead Cells might get a chance at continuing development. (Be respectful about it though, don’t commit any forms of serious harassment.) It would seriously mean a lot to me and many others, and I would greatly appreciate it :).

[lee-pines]

This is my fanfic that I started on AO3 a while ago.

Summary

Peri is assigned to a six month old Dev as an experiment. It does not take long for the baby to wrap Peri around his finger.

“You, uh, wanted to see me, Jorgen?” Peri said once he teleported into Jorgen's office. Jorgen was looking through his filing cabinet with his back turned to Peri.

“Yes. Here Peri-weri” Jorgen said. He tossed an oversized file over his shoulder. With a frightened gasp, Peri dodged it before it could squish him.

“Who names their kid Development?” Peri asked as he looked at the name on the file. They had done this before. They looked over old Godkids’ files to familiarize Peri with them.

“Your new Godson's parents,” Jorgen said. He turned to face Peri who was giving him a megawatt grin and practically shaking as he bounced up and down in the air.

“Really? You're finally giving me a Godkid?” Peri shrunk the file so that he could look through it. He opened it to the first page as he said “oh, I'm so excited I… why's he so young?”

The age was the first line in the file of all Godkids aside from the name. According to this, his Godkid was six months old. Five years old is usually the youngest that a kid would be assigned a Godparent because at that age children are typically able to understand that if they talk about fairies they will be taken away forever. More or less.

“The Fairy Council and I have decided to try something different. An experimental program.” Jorgen said gruffly. “Giving neglected and abused infants Godparents as a way to prevent unneeded suffering and to prevent children going down the wrong path.”

“And Dev and I are going to be the guinea pig for this?” Peri raised an eyebrow.

“Dev?”

“I refuse to call a baby Development,” Peri shook his head.

Jorgen hummed in understanding before saying “that’s one way to say it. The Fairy Council and I believe that you would be a good fit for this new program.”

“I was under the impression the Fairy Council didn’t like me very much,” Peri said as he continued to read about his Godkid. Dev was born to Erica and Dale Dimmadome. He was essentially being raised by AI drones. Dale was ‘much too busy’ with his business to be bothered to care for his son. His mother only came around when she wanted to. Her time home was marked by loud fighting combined with things being thrown as well as hands. “Why would they want me to do an experimental program? Another one.”

“Are you questioning them?”

“Everyday of my life,” Peri said, raising a brow at Jorgen to demand answers. Everyone knew that Jorgen had a soft spot for him and Peri was known to use it to his advantage. Jorgen was nowhere near as scary as others made him out to be. He was just no nonsense.

“There were several Godparents’ names that were brought up to participate,” Jorgen said, “including your parents.”

“They’re retired,” Peri reminded, “and last I heard they were in Ancient Rome” because his father was absolutely obsessed.

“Yes, anyway, your name was brought up several times before we all agreed that you would be the best to trail this idea,” Jorgen told him.

Peri wanted to continue to question the decision. Why him? Why for his first Godkid? Jorgen promised that he would have an ‘easy case’ for his first Godkid as Jorgen knew that he was nervous. This seemed like the exact opposite. He was going to be a guinea pig in an experimental program. His belly squirmed with anxiety. He could not screw this up. He would never be able to face Fairy World again if he failed.

So, Peri nodded. “Got it. Do you have anything else for me?”

Jorgen shook his head. So, Peri used his wand to teleport to his new Godson’s house. The only thought in his head was that he hoped that he would not mess this up.

…

Peri was almost expecting an alarm to sound when he arrived in his new Godson’s room. After all, this was a billionaire’s highly secured house. Security seemed to be skipped in the baby’s nursery as the only sounds were Dev’s sleeping sounds.

The nursery was surprisingly bare. No toys or bright colors. The walls were plain white and the floors barren hardwood. Nothing comforting. No blankets or stuffies. The only things in the room were a white crib with golden accents, a white changing table, and a white and gold dresser.

So bare. So lifeless.

It caused Peri’s heart to break.

Peri’s attention was brought to the crib when Dev yawned. Peri floated over to the crib. Dev’s bright blue eyes stared up at him, looking him up and down as if trying to figure him out.

“Hey, Kid,” Peri said, in a quiet tone with a gentle smile on his face. He reached down to pet through Dev's fluffy, curly hair. “My name’s Peri. I’m your Fairy Godparent.” He knew that Dev could not understand him, but it would be rude not to introduce himself. Right?

After a couple of seconds, Dev smiled with a giggle. He reached up to the fairy.

“Hey there, Kiddo,” Peri said, with a slight chuckle. “I bet you wanna get up, don’t you?”

Peri was about to do just that when there was a crash heard right outside of the door. It sounded like something glass hit the wall. It made both Peri and Dev jump.

“I’m allowed to see him whenever I want! I’m his mother!” Peri heard a female voice shriek.

A male voice responded, but Peri did not pay attention to it when his Godkid let out an ear piercing wail. It did not take a genius to realize that Dev did not like the loud noises.

“Let’s get some soundproofing in here. What do you think, Dev?” Peri asked. He took Dev’s continued wailing as a yes. Peri waved his wand and they could no longer hear the fighting outside of the room.

Dev’s cries did not die down like Peri had hoped. Peri swallowed, wondering how he could fix this without upsetting the boy further. He had once asked his mom and dad how they knew what to do with him when he was a baby. He was the first baby born in a thousand years. They had no experience with babies. Any fairy who had long since forgot. His mother said that she followed her instances. Everything else lined up or was found in books.

Peri’s instances were telling him to hold Dev. Before he could overthink himself into paralysis, Peri sat down close to Dev’s head and gathered him in his arms. It was awkward as Peri was not that much bigger than Dev, but he could hold him in his lap with Dev’s head supported by his arms.

“Shh, Dev, everything’s going to be okay. I’m here now. I’m going to make sure everything’s okay,” Peri said, stroking the baby’s back. “Shh.”

Peri continued to shush Dev until his scared tears dried up. Once again, he looked up at the fairy holding him. With tears still fresh on his face, Dev smiled.

“There you are,” Peri smiled back. “See, I told you, everything’s okay.”

Everything was not going to be okay, it seemed as Peri saw Dev’s AI drone caregivers. They scanned the crib, before an ear shattering alarm blared in the room.

“Intruder. Intruder. Intruder,” the drones shouted.

“I am not an intruder,” Peri grumbled. Of course the loud noises caused Dev to start wailing again. “I just calmed him down,” Peri said angrily. He was about to wave his wand to make the drones disappear when he saw the door knob turn.

Peri transfigured himself into the mobile over Dev’s head. The lack of physical touch made Dev cry harder, but there was nothing that Peri could do.

Dale entered his son’s room when he heard the intruder alarm from the Au Pairs. He silenced them before looking around the room. There was no one else in the room but him and his wailing son. At least the Au Pairs listened when he told them to quiet.

“There’s no intruder,” Dale said to himself. The Au Pairs could be malfunctioning. That was the last thing he needed after his wife caused all that commotion. At least that gave him an excuse to leave the room. He told the Au Pairs to follow, saying that he would check them.

Once Dale left with the Au Pairs, Peri teleported to the position with Dev in his lap.

“Hey, Kid,” Peri said, rubbing his Godkid’s back. “There’s no need for all that. We’re alone now. We can have some fun.”

It took a few more seconds, but Dev eventually calmed down.

“Remind me to keep you away from loud noises. Alright, Kid?” Peri said with a smile. “Now, let’s liven this place up.”

Peri waved his wand.

[aquatark]

My previous post made me realize that not a lot of people here are aware of Endless Ocean's bowmouth guitarfish glitch fiasco, which I think is a shame because 1) it's an interesting look into this game's history, and 2) I find it really funny... long-winded explanation incoming!

So! you see this guy?

You can place him in the game's aquarium, right? I bet if you've played the game, you've done it without even thinking twice!

...Well, in the initial Japanese release of Endless Ocean (known over there as Forever Blue), you couldn't. In fact, attempting to place this little scrimbly in the aquarium crashes your game.

Now this isn't too bad, since you can just press the reset button and continue your game normally, right? well... if you happen to leave the aquarium and save the game after having opened the creature placing menu, selecting a bowmouth guitarfish, and then closing the menu without placing anything... then congrats! you can never use the aquarium again, because it autoplaces whatever you left in that menu on your next visit! :D

In case you're wondering what this looks like in action, this video taken around the game's launch showcases it well, while also using the game's MP3 playback feature to put some anime music in the background, which I think adds to the experience:

So... how does this happen? How could something like this make it into the final game?

Turns out, this is due to how Endless Ocean categorizes creatures internally. Each creature in the game falls into a category, depending on the movements and behaviors the developers wanted to give them. For example, "migrate" type creatures follow a set of coordinate points creating a route around a stage, whereas "swim" type creatures simply swim around the area in which they are placed within a certain radius. Think of a whale shark's movements versus that of a butterflyfish - they have very different AI telling them how to behave.

Now, trying to load a creature of one type as a creature of another... does not make the game happy, to put it lightly. It doesn't know how to handle the request, and so crashes to prevent further weirdness from ensuing. There is only one byte (literally the second smallest unit of digital information storage you could use) per creature responsible for telling the game what type to load the creature as, and this includes when placing creatures in the aquarium. A slip of the keyboard caused a dev to type the wrong number in this byte, making it attempt to spawn bowmouth guitarfish placed in the aquarium as "swim" type rather than their correct "migrate" type. Literally one wrong number caused the game to crash, and for ears to bleed across Japan.

Since the aquarium is unlocked so early in the game, people discovered this on day one, in their first play session... and since Endless Ocean was a launch game for the Wii in Japan, that's even worse. It's not exactly a great look for your brand new console to have a game break so bad you can't use a mechanic anymore. And Wii game crashes are not pretty. So, Nintendo put out a statement on the day of release, notifying people of the problem, how to avoid it, and saying that a recall would be put in place. A week later, they released another statement, which stated people could apply to have their games replaced with an updated version, which would be mailed to them free of charge, by either phoning in or filling out an application online. This service continued up until 2020, over ten years after release! They really didn't want any copies of the broken version around... good thing we have archives of it!

The updated version even has different box art, with an added blue bar at the bottom, showcased in this incredibly crunchy image:

I love picturing Nintendo executives freaking out after a humble diving game causes such a mess they have to print the game again, losing them a lot of money and causing the game to get a lot of negative press...

I've seen old forum threads talking about the game as if it's garbage before it even came out internationally, because this situation was pretty much the only major news coming out about it. Can't have helped sales, at least...

Anyway, the game was patched to fix this glitch, along with a few other minor tweaks, and it was this version of the game that got translated worldwide. Japanese fans love joking about the whole ordeal, and I can see why! For example, on the bowmouth guitarfish's Niconico Pedia page (for which the closest equivalent in English would be something like Know Your Meme), this is recounted comedically as "...probably the most notable moment for the bowmouth guitarfish in the history of the internet", which is probably true! There's even image macros about it!

So yeah. The bowmouth guitarfish's reputation was forever tainted, and some Nintendo execs to this day probably wince when they see one.

tl;dr - A developer for Endless Ocean typed one number wrong in the code, making the game explode if you place a bowmouth guitarfish in the aquarium. Nintendo had to recall the game, and that specific fish has lived on in infamy among Japanese fans ever since.

Next time you use the aquarium, try putting a bowmouth guitarfish in there, and be grateful you can at all!

[beneathsilverstars]

one, so sorry to people following me for my bi shallan fame, this is only like the third time i've posted about stormlight archive in the last three years

however, two, stormlight people you should play hit indie game In Stars And Time!! it's a 20-40 hour rpg available on steam, switch, and playstation. I like it for a lot of the reasons I like bsandy's work - unique worldbuilding, fun twists, and compelling characters with interesting arcs and relationships. the dev is actually a cosmere fan! ISAT is on a less epic scale obviously, but it tells a heart-wrenching story very well while making excellent use of its medium.

it follows mysterious traveler siffrin and their friends, who have finally made it to the last stage of their quest, the king's stronghold... only for siffrin to die on the first floor. but, then he wakes up again from his nap the day before! he's in a timeloop, and can try again however many times it takes to beat the king. but what will it take? and who is the weird star helping them? and why is the timeloop even happening? and how much longer will they have to go on, repeating the same day, the same lines, the same battles, the same deaths, trying not to worry their friends, trying not to miss any clues, trying not to break down?