#I think there's a visual novel about this I can't remember

[tsupertsundere]

Seagull's cries just kind of add and mix well with the ambience of crashing waves tbh

it really wouldn't feel right without them! when you don't hear the seagulls cry...

[huesofvioletandpurple]

[ID: Ace Markey from Danganronpa despair time, saying "What is this, some sort of "Devil's Pubes?" in annoyance. End ID]

holy shit umineko reference ?!!!?!??

[rebound-valentine-vn]

What kind of yandere is Otori?

I'm gonna ramble a bit since this is still a question I can't put down in just a couple of words (that and also I like rambling-)

to make things simple, I'll be basing this off of this Yandex I saw someone mention in a server I'm in!

there's gonna be a lot of text under the cut so bare with me here-

How doting is Otori?

They tend to be overly doting by the influence they got from all the romance media they've consumed

in general, Otori practically sees it as the principal of things to be caring to the people you love

However they don't necessarily feel the need to be a knight and shining armour to everyone else, just casually friendly chatter is enough

but caring about the well-being of others, they are more selective with it. still friendly, but not exactly the same level of care as they are with the person they love or whoever is close to them

on the scale, that makes Otori a level 4!

How does Otori feel with the PC's feelings towards them?

even within the game, Otori doesn't need to be in a romantic relationship with you, so even if you turn them down, they're completely happy just being around you

It just really depends if you're spending time with them at all ^^;

if you barely spend time with them (whether on a romance route or not-) Otori will get paranoid and desperate, wanting validation and confirmation from you that you care about them

While on the opposite side of the coin, spending ALL of your time with Otori will lead to them feeling like you don't need anyone else when they can fulfil to your needs at any point and time

besides! you already spend so much time with them, what's the difference with spending every waking moment with them? it'll be just like getting married (or well- that's how they think it's like)

it really just depends on how much you give them. but overall, they don't find it necessary for the PC to love them romantically. It will hurt them a little, but they'll continue to be the PC's friend. and by nature, will probably fall in love with someone else over time

that was a lot of text but to summarise, Otori is a 3 on that scale!

How delusional is Otori?

this was a bit of a tricky one. but in some way, Otori has a sense of logic

a weird sense of logic but a sense of logic nonetheless

They're fully aware that the things that they do aren't normal... if they do it to the extremes of course

the reason why I say this, it's because they have some level of delusion that they justify their considerably worrying habits (i.e. manipulation, stalking tendencies, obsession, co-dependency, ect.)

because through their perspective, it's only okay if there's a limit

for example, Otori views following someone home or putting a tracker on them as a big no-no. but when you coincidentally go to the same place, for them, it's completely fine if you follow that person around for a just a bit

making Otori's delusion scale a number 2!

How would Otori react to the PC doing something they don't like?

Otori would probably get slightly annoyed by it and act slightly passive aggressive towards the PC

They won't hold it against you, but they CAN get slightly annoyed at particular things. if there was a good reason as to why you did/acted that way, they'd brush it off their annoyance and understand

with situations like these, they probably wouldn't bother pushing you to act a different way or to stop you from doing particular things they didn't like. as long as there's an explanation behind it, they're completely fine with it

overall, they wouldn't mind it that much afterwards. leaving Otori to have a 2 on this scale!

How much does Otori hide their Yandere tendancies?

Being aware about their behaviours to some degree, they feel like even though in their eyes it's considered fine, Otori would still try to keep it under wraps as much as possible, not wanting to scare you away immediately

even if you question it, they would either have an alibi for it or completely deny it. even if you have proof they do it, they would just respond with—"Huh... I didn't know I do that, Sorry, cinnamon..." and they would start hiding it even further so you won't notice

like earlier, this also depends on how much time you spend with them!

if you spend all your time or little to no time with Otori, it's more likely they'd slip and start acting more possessive or obsessive unintentionally

I would say Otori's a 1 on here considering they keep it well covered throughout the first day, but this could change if I ever progress the story or change it so it happens slowly throughout the day

How does Otori deal with jealousy?

I've been mentioning it throughout this ask that they're reactions vary depending how much time you spend with them, so I might as well get into detail with how Otori reacts when you give your attention to someone else :D

I said they'd get desperate for your attention and affection if you ignore them, but this isn't for every time you focus on something else-

Otori is completely fine with you focusing on something or someone else, as long as you don't fully ignore or avoid them

the less time you spend with them, more likely they will slowly spiral, feeling like they're being ignored because they did something wrong or they're not good enough, asking from time to time if you want to hang out with them

they won't care that you're paying more attention to something/someone else, they just don't want to be ignore basically-

I was about to say Otori's jealously level is a 3, but I don't see Otori seething all that much either (well at least at the start of the story-)

so for now I'll say Otori is a 2. though, I don't think they'll just accept being lead on

How impulsive is Otori once it comes to their obsessive urges?

Otori only sticks to what seems logical to them; this can vary over time though

in other words, Otori WILL play it safe, but can change their mind depending what they deem is "playing it safe"

and by that I mean they view following you around for only a short time, manipulating others to do things they want, stealing things from you (if the two of you are close), ect.

but if anything drastic happens, they might think of excuses as to why it's okay to do something that shouldn't be excused (i.e. stalking, kidnapping, drugging, manipulating others, ect.)

That being said, Otori is a 3 on this scale!

this took longer to type out than I anticipated BUT Otori's code turns out to be 4322123 :D

[archaeren]

How I learned to write smarter, not harder

(aka, how to write when you're hella ADHD lol)

A reader commented on my current long fic asking how I write so well. I replied with an essay of my honestly pretty non-standard writing advice (that they probably didn't actually want lol) Now I'm gonna share it with you guys and hopefully there's a few of you out there who will benefit from my past mistakes and find some useful advice in here. XD Since I started doing this stuff, which are all pretty easy changes to absorb into your process if you want to try them, I now almost never get writer's block.

The text of the original reply is indented, and I've added some additional commentary to expand upon and clarify some of the concepts.

As for writing well, I usually attribute it to the fact that I spent roughly four years in my late teens/early 20s writing text roleplay with a friend for hours every single day. Aside from the constant practice that provided, having a live audience immediately reacting to everything I wrote made me think a lot about how to make as many sentences as possible have maximum impact so that I could get that kind of fun reaction. (Which is another reason why comments like yours are so valuable to fanfic writers! <3) The other factors that have improved my writing are thus: 1. Writing nonlinearly. I used to write a whole story in order, from the first sentence onward. If there was a part I was excited to write, I slogged through everything to get there, thinking that it would be my reward once I finished everything that led up to that. It never worked. XD It was miserable. By the time I got to the part I wanted to write, I had beaten the scene to death in my head imagining all the ways I could write it, and it a) no longer interested me and b) could not live up to my expectations because I couldn't remember all my ideas I'd had for writing it. The scene came out mediocre and so did everything leading up to it. Since then, I learned through working on VN writing (I co-own a game studio and we have some visual novels that I write for) that I don't have to write linearly. If I'm inspired to write a scene, I just write it immediately. It usually comes out pretty good even in a first draft! But then I also have it for if I get more ideas for that scene later, and I can just edit them in. The scenes come out MUCH stronger because of this. And you know what else I discovered? Those scenes I slogged through before weren't scenes I had no inspiration for, I just didn't have any inspiration for them in that moment! I can't tell you how many times there was a scene I had no interest in writing, and then a week later I'd get struck by the perfect inspiration for it! Those are scenes I would have done a very mediocre job on, and now they can be some of the most powerful scenes because I gave them time to marinate. Inspiration isn't always linear, so writing doesn't have to be either!

Some people are the type that joyfully write linearly. I have a friend like this--she picks up the characters and just continues playing out the next scene. Her story progresses through the entire day-by-day lives of the characters; it never timeskips more than a few hours. She started writing and posting just eight months ago, she's about an eighth of the way through her planned fic timeline, and the content she has so far posted to AO3 for it is already 450,000 words long. But most of us are normal humans. We're not, for the most part, wired to create linearly. We consume linearly, we experience linearly, so we assume we must also create linearly. But actually, a lot of us really suffer from trying to force ourselves to create this way, and we might not even realize it. If you're the kind of person who thinks you need to carrot-on-a-stick yourself into writing by saving the fun part for when you finally write everything that happens before it: Stop. You're probably not a linear writer. You're making yourself suffer for no reason and your writing is probably suffering for it. At least give nonlinear writing a try before you assume you can't write if you're not baiting or forcing yourself into it!! Remember: Writing is fun. You do this because it's fun, because it's your hobby. If you're miserable 80% of the time you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong!

2. Rereading my own work. I used to hate reading my own work. I wouldn't even edit it usually. I would write it and slap it online and try not to look at it again. XD Writing nonlinearly forced me to start rereading because I needed to make sure scenes connected together naturally and it also made it easier to get into the headspace of the story to keep writing and fill in the blanks and get new inspiration. Doing this built the editing process into my writing process--I would read a scene to get back in the headspace, dislike what I had written, and just clean it up on the fly. I still never ever sit down to 'edit' my work. I just reread it to prep for writing and it ends up editing itself. Many many scenes in this fic I have read probably a dozen times or more! (And now, I can actually reread my own work for enjoyment!) Another thing I found from doing this that it became easy to see patterns and themes in my work and strengthen them. Foreshadowing became easy. Setting up for jokes or plot points became easy. I didn't have to plan out my story in advance or write an outline, because the scenes themselves because a sort of living outline on their own. (Yes, despite all the foreshadowing and recurring thematic elements and secret hidden meanings sprinkled throughout this story, it actually never had an outline or a plan for any of that. It's all a natural byproduct of writing nonlinearly and rereading.)

Unpopular writing opinion time: You don't need to make a detailed outline.

Some people thrive on having an outline and planning out every detail before they sit down to write. But I know for a lot of us, we don't know how to write an outline or how to use it once we've written it. The idea of making one is daunting, and the advice that it's the only way to write or beat writer's block is demoralizing. So let me explain how I approach "outlining" which isn't really outlining at all.

I write in a Notion table, where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry. I do this because it makes writing nonlinearly VASTLY more intuitive and straightforward than writing in a single document. (If you're familiar with Notion, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If you're not, imagine something a little like a more contained Google Sheets, but every row has a title cell that opens into a unique Google Doc when you click on it. And it's not as slow and clunky as the Google suite lol) (Edit from the future: I answered an ask with more explanation on how I use Notion for non-linear writing here.) When I sit down to begin a new fic idea, I make a quick entry in the table for every scene I already know I'll want or need, with the entries titled with a couple words or a sentence that describes what will be in that scene so I'll remember it later. Basically, it's the most absolute bare-bones skeleton of what I vaguely know will probably happen in the story.

Then I start writing, wherever I want in the list. As I write, ideas for new scenes and new connections and themes will emerge over time, and I'll just slot them in between the original entries wherever they naturally fit, rearranging as necessary, so that I won't forget about them later when I'm ready to write them. As an example, my current long fic started with a list of roughly 35 scenes that I knew I wanted or needed, for a fic that will probably be around 100k words (which I didn't know at the time haha). As of this writing, it has expanded to 129 scenes. And since I write them directly in the page entries for the table, the fic is actually its own outline, without any additional effort on my part. As I said in the comment reply--a living outline!

This also made it easier to let go of the notion that I had to write something exactly right the first time. (People always say you should do this, but how many of us do? It's harder than it sounds! I didn't want to commit to editing later! I didn't want to reread my work! XD) I know I'm going to edit it naturally anyway, so I can feel okay giving myself permission to just write it approximately right and I can fix it later. And what I found from that was that sometimes what I believed was kind of meh when I wrote it was actually totally fine when I read it later! Sometimes the internal critic is actually wrong. 3. Marinating in the headspace of the story. For the first two months I worked on [fic], I did not consume any media other than [fandom the fic is in]. I didn't watch, read, or play anything else. Not even mobile games. (And there wasn't really much fan content for [fandom] to consume either. Still isn't, really. XD) This basically forced me to treat writing my story as my only source of entertainment, and kept me from getting distracted or inspired to write other ideas and abandon this one.

As an aside, I don't think this is a necessary step for writing, but if you really want to be productive in a short burst, I do highly recommend going on a media consumption hiatus. Not forever, obviously! Consuming media is a valuable tool for new inspiration, and reading other's work (both good and bad, as long as you think critically to identify the differences!) is an invaluable resource for improving your writing.

When I write, I usually lay down, close my eyes, and play the scene I'm interested in writing in my head. I even take a ten-minute nap now and then during this process. (I find being in a state of partial drowsiness, but not outright sleepiness, makes writing easier and better. Sleep helps the brain process and make connections!) Then I roll over to the laptop next to me and type up whatever I felt like worked for the scene. This may mean I write half a sentence at a time between intervals of closed-eye-time XD

People always say if you're stuck, you need to outline.

What they actually mean by that (whether they realize it or not) is that if you're stuck, you need to brainstorm. You need to marinate. You don't need to plan what you're doing, you just need to give yourself time to think about it!

What's another framing for brainstorming for your fic? Fantasizing about it! Planning is work, but fantasizing isn't.

You're already fantasizing about it, right? That's why you're writing it. Just direct that effort toward the scenes you're trying to write next! Close your eyes, lay back, and fantasize what the characters do and how they react.

And then quickly note down your inspirations so you don't forget, haha.

And if a scene is so boring to you that even fantasizing about it sucks--it's probably a bad scene.

If it's boring to write, it's going to be boring to read. Ask yourself why you wanted that scene. Is it even necessary? Can you cut it? Can you replace it with a different scene that serves the same purpose but approaches the problem from a different angle? If you can't remove the troublesome scene, what can you change about it that would make it interesting or exciting for you to write?

And I can't write sitting up to save my damn life. It's like my brain just stops working if I have to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen. I need to be able to lie down, even if I don't use it! Talking walks and swinging in a hammock are also fantastic places to get scene ideas worked out, because the rhythmic motion also helps our brain process. It's just a little harder to work on a laptop in those scenarios. XD

In conclusion: Writing nonlinearly is an amazing tool for kicking writer's block to the curb. There's almost always some scene you'll want to write. If there isn't, you need to re-read or marinate.

Or you need to use the bathroom, eat something, or sleep. XD Seriously, if you're that stuck, assess your current physical condition. You might just be unable to focus because you're uncomfortable and you haven't realized it yet.

Anyway! I hope that was helpful, or at least interesting! XD Sorry again for the text wall. (I think this is the longest comment reply I've ever written!)

And same to you guys on tumblr--I hope this was helpful or at least interesting. XD Reblogs appreciated if so! (Maybe it'll help someone else!)

[directdogman]

Dialtown is the most USA-core game I've ever played. It's so fucking American that it's scary, and I've lived there my entire life! Like, this feels fundamentally tied with the game's themes and narrative, that's how extreme it is. And it's not even alienating OR nationalist?? It makes such genuine commentary? And then there's so much other shit to think about too; Dialtown has a very real identity outside this that anyone could love?

One: I am VERY impressed that you have done the USA and its people this well. I am actually astounded, bewildered, and chuffed. I've never felt so seen by a video game, culturally-speaking. I didn't even know there was a culture to see.

Two: WHY did you do that. Dialtown is like USA Culture Absurdified: The Visual Novel. What drove you to make a game this rich with American culture and ideas???

Hello!

It would've been odd for an outsider (non American) who enjoys reading up on history to make my setting nationalist or alienating. America is a country with a lot of serious issues. You can't really study how America is (and has been) internally run without facing glaring and obvious systematic issues. DT's setting is one of scarcity and most of the main characters you follow in DT are kinda just scraping by without much hope for true mobility/advancement. A lot of Americans (especially younger generations) would agree this sorta encapsulates the national mood of the country right now.

Of course, the systems that run a country don't define its citizens - many of the finest people I've ever known are American and are victims of the whims of those with power, not willing participants in this system. I could be wrong, but that's why I think the setting connected with a lot of people. We all know Randys, Olivers + Karens, people who've fallen through the cracks in some way. To them, America's spirit of self-determination isn't about individual identity - it's more "you're on your own."

Why I chose to set DT in America would be a novel length answer in of itself, but it mainly came down to history + narrative opportunity. I wanted to set the game in the epicenter of where the phone-revolution came from and Crown likely couldn't have pulled his plan off anywhere else and probably not during any other time. It had to be 1960's America.

Of course, some parts of DT are sorta universal and were inspired by the the Great Recession and what followed. I remember there was an area not that far from my house that was full of green fields when I was born and when I was a kid (and when real estate boomed), stuff started being built there. Parts of it looked really nice, not quite like anything nearby. Like the future was coming. Then the economy crashed and stuff was left sitting there, half-built for like a decade. Skeletal, unfinished buildings. DT is much the same.

There's a feeling that the city could've been something better and while things could be more equal, it does feel like there are no easy solutions to fix everything - unless someone very smart and determined somehow bypassed every safeguard that was set up to halt radical change and enacted a genius plan to somehow eliminate scarcity. It happened once and might never again.

I don't think most people understand the intricacies of stuff like global commerce all that well (myself included), but when you're sitting looking at a half built neighbourhood mere hours after speaking to a friend who just kicked out of rented accommodation and doesn't have a stable family unit to fall back on, you'd have to be a real dolt not to understand that things aren't great right now. Most people are scraping by and feel if they could just get affordable housing locked down, if they had maybe one good opportunity - maybe there's hope that things could change for the better.

The end of DT isn't really utopian, things don't massively change for the better and indeed, the town has a lot of rebuilding to do. But, a collection of lonely people are now looking out for each other and through the relationships they have, now feel like they have a place in this world. That no matter how bad things really get - they aren't truly by themselves anymore. Most individuals don't have the means to significantly advance change on their own - but you can live your life, love those around you and support others and plan for when the opportunity to affect change comes about.

I guess that's what life is, in America or anywhere else. Sorry I rambled for so long. Hope this answered the question!

[meo-eiru]

Do you have any tips on starting a VN is really wanna make one but have no idea how to actually start I have a few ideas but the writing and planning out is what overwhelms me and starting things is always a struggle how did start the process on your VN?

Well I'm no pro by any means so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I'm sure everyone has a style they find more productive but I'll talk about how I personally go about it as an artist who prefers drawing over writing (I'll be using the stuff I made for a now scrapped vn idea)

I usually like to draw a simple storyboard to get a gist of exactly where I'm planning to start and the story I have in my head. It's a very simple and quick step and don't be afraid to make some changes on the first version you drew.

For example here I have the start of the story and the 3 endings with the main diversion of the story line.

Then once I'm done with that I make a more detailed and longer storyboard of the actual game. I decide exactly where the options appear and where they lead to. This one is important, I usually go back to check what I decided on quite often, don't think "oh I can remember this no problem", you probably won't. Write down notes.

Once that's done I basically dive into writing the actual script, while following the story line I had decided on beforehand.

Visual novels are quite easy to code but they are very dialogue heavy, and dialogue writing is very different from writing normally. You can't just go "he said she said", you need them to come directly from the character. Don't be afraid to spend as much time here as you need.

As I said I'm not a pro, for example Sel is a writer and not an artist and I know she just immediately starts with the script after some planning, writes an overall script and adds in more details every time she goes over them.

There are no strict rules to making vns, there isn't a schedule you're forced to follow. See what feels easier to start with and go from there

[cardsweetheart]

Idia tired of always being the one to get flustered. Yumi is so flirty with him and he never has any idea how to counter it. He can barely think straight when she's all up in his space.

It's not until they're hanging out in his room, separately playing their own games, that he hears a noise over his headphones. He spins around in his chair and sees her face going red, even though she's trying to hide it with her phone. Her legs kicking in the air. It was classic fangirling behaviour, but he's never seen it this bad from her.

He moves from his chair and shuffles his way over to join her on the bed. She does her best to turn her scream away. Jokingly screaming that he's not allowed to look. He's not allowed to see what she was playing.

"You've seen my game library, it's nothing worse than me." He insists. "Besides, if you don't show me I'll just check through the dorm wifi files."

With a suspecting glare on her face, "You can't do that."

Idia takes the moment of weakness to swipe at her phone and sneak a look. He sees the classic visual novel UI. Dialogue boxes, stock background image, a heart meter in the corner made sense for Yumi's taste in games.

Her voice shrieks out, "GIVE IT BACK!" She reaches for the phone but she is still on her stomach and out of range.

"What's the big deal? It's just a dating sim. I've seen you play a hundred of these."

He clicks to let the next set of text scroll across the screen. The character sprite popping back up. There is a small flash of blue before a pain hits him near his knees. He crumbles onto the bed and Yumi steals her phone back from him. He watches her frantically exit the game and shove her phone under whatever bedding she can get her hands on.

"Ow?" He shouts.

"I'm sorry! I panicked." She yells back. Her tone shifting quickly back to a pout, "You should know better though! I don't judge you for your mains. You can't just take a girl's privacy like that you know. I didn't take you for the type Shroud."

She was doing it again. Leaning into his space. Talking in a tone that made his heart race. There was no way he was going to let her get away with having the advantage. He just needed something to break her chain combo. Throw her off. Let him get a few attacks in before she's back to destroying him.

He shifts his weight so he's sitting up, facing her. He has no idea what he's doing. She was so much better at this than he was. He's a fighting games guy, not an otome player. His eyes dart to the heap of blankets she'd piled together to protect her phone. Maybe that was it. Maybe he didn't need to be himself at first. He could get there some day but he couldn't back down now. He needed something that was going to knock her out. He reaches out to dig under the duvet.

Her own hand lunges forward to block him, and he catches it. It is taking everything in him to follow through. He can feel how sweaty his palm is immediately but the look on her face is enough to fuel him forward. She's not pulling away. He could do this. His mind is working through the haze to the back of his mind to try to find any love interest line he could remember.

"I wouldn't dream of invading your privacy Yumi. I just want to know more about what gets you so riled up."

Yes. Perfect. That was smooth right? Not cringe at all. She's not looking at him in disgust. Her cheeks are starting to go pink. That was it. He did it. He's won.

His hand doesn't let go. A speechless Yumi was a rare sight and the way she was looking up at him had him pushing himself closer to her. Moving against his own brain's screaming. What are you doing? What is happening? Shut up. Shut up. Quit while you're ahead!!

"You really should be more careful." He says but his voice doesn't feel like his own, "We're in my room, alone. In my bed of all places. You can't be that stupid to not know the implications."

Implications?! What was he saying right now? Where is this coming from? Why was he calling her stupid?

"I'm the house warden of a different dorm. There's so many ways I could take advantage of the situation."

He would never! Maybe. Would this count as-? She does look really cute under him like this. How is this working? It's like some cheesy limited edition vignette.

"It's your own fault anyway you know? You're not like any other girl ive ever met. I've spent so much time thinking about you. The sound of your voice. How you'd look in my clothes. Your lips. If they'd taste like those peach candies you're always eating. What the rest of you would taste like. Knowing that if I got you under me like this- If I got too close, I won't be able to stop."

He doesn't know how but she's on her back, him caging her in. When did that happen? How? Who was he right now? Did someone hack his body and add some kind of confidence mod? His every nerve was on fire. She was so close to him. Like he could lean down ever so slightly and they would kiss.

"Tell me to stop." He whispers.

It's a plea. He can't control himself. He's not sure what powerup he unlocked but it's too OP for him. It's more than either of them can handle. Sure, this is what he wanted. her a blushing mess, but he didn't expect to get this far.

A loud slam comes from the entrance of the room. A startled Ortho stands in the doorway. An amused expression on his face.

"I heard a commotion and wanted to confirm you two were okay. Don't let me interrupt!" Ortho says as he closes the door behind him.

Idia was going to throw himself into the Styx. He finally takes a breath and feels like he's in his own body again.

Yumi's rolled herself over to scream into a pillow. Curled up in on herself. It was the same noise he'd heard before and he's almost certain he saw some kind of relationship bar go up above her head.

[r-aindr0p]

Thoughts on book 6 while it's still fresh in my mind because that was a lot :')

The whole story in general is great to me tbh It's one of the rare visual novel format games where I actually take the time to read the main story but book 6 felt very special for many reasons

I think it's since everyone in the teams (minus the fools that came to get grim and bring Vil his cosmetics) Has overblotted already and they know how it is, they were already more or less in the process of working on themselves and somehow kept on thinking things through during the long descent into tartarus. In every book there's a sense of urgency during the overblot phase, and there too but it takes them so much time to actually reach down and realize what's has been happening for the last 4 to 5 hours that they had time to experience conflict and bonding. I did every single battle in every hangar to read all these little interactions, the bickering, kicks and compliments.

It was exhausting in the best possible way.

Making a bullet list of what struck me from this point because I have trouble explaining things clearly especially when there is a lot of things :')

Battles : so many, poorly rewarded in gems but great reward in interactions actually

Ost : 10/10 will remember, I love synthetizer sounds and Ignihyde/book 6 did not disappoint

Jamil mumbling the whole time trying to have a strategy against the phantoms while Leona casually keeps ripping into him (and firing spells at him because he's in the way, cats are assholes so this checks out/pos)

Riddle and Azul both wanting to be right in their explanations everyone yaps and no one listens

Pomefiore was vibing though and I loved that for them

Jamil you had 3 hours you could've slept it doesnt take that long to gather supplies for two please sleep

Azul so exhausted he slept on Riddle's shoulder, aww :)

So uh...? Did the phantoms lure Ortho to merge with them or was there and Actual part of late Ortho down there....? Either way, eerie, I like that

Robots getting a heart/soul is one of my favorite themes ever I am so happy for the little guy

Also Ortho has the same seiyuu as Mikaze Ai from utapri who is a singing robot i am going insane about that (and he sings the op song for kono oto tomare but that's unrelated) Love that seiyuu

Sobbing for Idia because he must've felt really done with everything and desperate to be able to actually Overblot (Au bord du gouffre, et au fond du trou as I'd say in french idk how to explain this)

Please Idia share things, it's scary to think about it but it's actually not that bad and sharing your interests feels great, you already do that in a way at the board games club, continue this way

Vil was the MVP throughout the whole book honestly beautiful in every way hearing him genuinely cry and then laugh in such a short span of time threw me off positively

More Rook lore hello wdym "oh I have several family villas and a bunch of siblings" WHAT DO YOU MEAN SIR

Unfortunately I remembered Grim has the same seiyuu as h*talia england so hearing him cry felt weird for a second, happy he's back though

Hey wdym "we renovated the whole ass dorm and every single room but lmao not yours though"

Mickey apparitions feel so off everytime it pulls me out of the immersion in the story because it's so goofy (it's like hearing donald duck take damage in Kingdom hearts battles I can't take it seriously it's too funny)

Fuck legend of the underworld.

That's about it ! And I'm probably forgetting a bunch of other details right now but I loved book 6 despite my complaining posts :") I have trouble knowing how I feel in general/processing my own feelings and put words onto them but I like stories like this because it helps with that ?? I really feel happy and sad and other things, and realize it the moment I feel it ?? Once again I don't really know how to explain it but it's a positive experience.

Thanks for sticking along with my yapping and during my speedrun of the book :')

Minor book 7 stuff under the cut

Wdym I need to level up good cards for book 7 ???

Is it that hard and hellish ?? I barely crawled out of the 6000 tartarus fights 😭

Well I hope you can choose whoever unlike the teams in book 6 because I'm about to create the dream team called "Oops ! All Rook Hunt !"/hj

Anyway here's my ssrs, what's painful is farming for the spell materials honestly but My Rollo is maxed out and well taken care of ✨️ Malleus and Lilia do decent damage as well and have their spells either maxed or at 8 each. Though I tend to level up cards based on their looks and favorites rather than how useful they are :)) I have no idea if there's a single healer in there I'll check it out later.

But for now I will harrass Sam until I get at least one ssr perfume in his lootboxes so I can uncap savanaclaw Rook once more and have him forever locked up in the guest room with Rollo, the closest thing to croissant de lune I'll have in game hhhjgfje

[kruxton]

ok so ive gone through with the touchstarved demo (i forgot what backstory i chose 💔 not sure if this matters to what i'll be yapping about) and leander's route was the last one i did - went crazy about the other 4 too but i need to talk about HIM

this guy is FASCINATING. objectively fascinating. out of all the 5 characters this guy baffles me the most. token nice guy that is a bit... TOO nice, right? and so as ive done with the rest i take notes about interesting dialogues or scenes cause i like fleshing out the characters in my head completely, and this guy???? i wrote about him 10x more than the others. and i dont even like him as a romance option yet. he truly is just such a compelling character

warning for spoilers (?) of the demo

im just going to preface this with the fact that i have maybe only played a visual novel like once before this and that was YEARS ago. i dont know if im reading too much into it all and that everything's just a 'that's how it works in these games' thing or not so!!! there's that. AND i only just discovered this game a few days ago (on the same day they updated actually) so the fandom discussions r very new to me

so by the end of the demo you're given the option to follow one of the characters after the drink at the bar, and no matter who you choose you're going to end up talking about the other 4 as well. something different I noticed for leander's dialogue was that for every person you'd ask about, he would always ask what you thought about them first. every single one. none of the others did this, they would just speak their mind, but leander ALWAYS ASKED FIRST. and the two options you had were to say something positive or something negative about them

and depending on how you answered those questions, leander's response was STAGGERINGLY different. whenever you would choose a positive answer (eg: saying Ais was 'honest' instead of 'a jerk'), leander would go "yadda yadda sure but that guy's dangerous and not to be trusted" - essentially. im generalising to make my point but this was the vibes he let off. and his character would be all pissed and frowning, worried for the MC's safety, acting all protective and shit.

but then u turn around and redo the dialogue option, choosing the negative one instead, and without fail leander's reply would be 'haha yeah but he's not all that bad.' (again, generalising). even so far as to say he's seen mhin's 'soft spot' before, and saying the senobium was cruel for imprisoning vere (which, by the way is completely contradictory to what he would say if we chose 'I feel bad for him.' (positive option) - he literally says VERBATIM that vere 'should be caged'). and i can't help but feel like this must be on purpose. the devs HAD to have done this on purpose its too good of a character trait to just be some sort of writing flaw

and by character trait i mean his whole nice guy shtick. i think its all an act and he's a lying two faced bitch. yup.

a line i remember distinctly was him lightheartedly saying he was jealous and wanted to keep the MC all to himself, which im going back to now after playing through all the options in this scene and like. oh i GET him now.

this man gets jealous whenever the MC shows affection for literally any other character and bites back with something to incriminate said character in MC's eyes. but if the MC says something bad about anyone, he has to keep up his shtick and be the mediator again. the nice guy that gets along with everyone.

now that ive written this i realise that this might literally just be a Very Common Archetype that i just rarely indulge in, but I wanna finish this off with the fact that I still think his story and personality is easily my favourite, and being able to sort of decipher this part of his story through the mechanics of a visual novel with multiple routes is SO Fun. its like damn i wish i could do this in real life to see if people are lying to me or not

anyways the touchstarved demo is peak i cant wait for when the game releases YAYYYYY

[platypusundercover]

Datv is a great game.

It's got it all: dynamic gameplay, a strong story, great companions, immersive banter, awesome skill tree and companions skill, easy loadout management, narrative consequences and choices, visuals, fantastic character creator, new developing lore from previous games...

Sure some things could be improved, not every game is perfect and you can't please everyone. But tbh it's doing a lot more right than it's doing wrong. And for the chaos that production was, the devs did one hell of a good job.

I'm especially thinking about gameplay and the fighting mechanic which has improved SO MUCH. Do you remember playing mage in any other games??? you stay put and auto attack until you had enough mana to cast a big spell. That was it. Now?? 2 weapon choices, you can dodge, parry, combo?!! And it all feels amazing. I need people to realize it's insane and that must have taken a shit load of time to tweak and I am so grateful bioware chose that path. Dragon age isn't only the lore, narrative and romance. It's not a movie. It's not a book. It's not an interactive visual novel. It's an ACTION rpg. Action. And they did a damn good one. Shout out to the people in the back that are less in the spotlight but just as important to make a great game. Programmers, Testers, Game designers, level designers, animators. The ones that get into the thick of it to make the creatives' dream come true as best they can with the time they're given. They're the one in the trenches, and I appreciate their work so much.

Next time you play take time to notice the little things. How the camera feels when you move it, how your character moves and respond to your inputs, how the attacks chains depending on the direction you're aiming at. Notice the decor, the way the environment is shaped, how it feels to navigate it. Those things are really really hard and take years to perfect.

Dragon age the veilguard is an amazing game.

[guardian-of-time-if]

Do you know any other IF with gender locked?

Hi Anon. Unfortunately, I don't know too many. I made a list way back when I started the blog, but a lot of these haven't been updated in a long time. (I wanted to link the ask, but I have searching the blog for a good 15min and can't find it.) Below the cut, I've included the ones I can think of/enjoyed in no particular order.

(I also only included ones that are genderlocked female, so let me know if you like me to add ones that are genderlocked male as well.)

Unless otherwise specified, links go to the author's tumblr page, and the games have both male and female ROs.

Devil on Your Shoulder and A Pirate's Pleasure by @lisafoxromance: Both of these games only have male ROs, but I loved them both a lot.

Bride of Shadows by Motrish: I've talked about this one a few times before, and it was in my last list of recomendations. It's one of my current favorites. (Also only has male ROs)

Sense and Sorcery by Zodak01: It's been a long time since I played this one, but I remember liking it. As far as I'm aware the author doesn't have a Tumblr, so I've linked the COG forum page instead.

Scarlett Sorceress by Vance Chance: This one isn't my usual style, but I did actually enjoy it. There is currently a whole public beta on the COG Forum, so you can try the whole game. I don't think this author has a tumblr either, so the link is to the forum page.

Seven Kingdoms the Princess Problem by @azalynestudios: This one is a visual novel and on the pricer side, but I did enjoy it a lot.

I just realized this list is much shorter than I expected. I know of a couple others that haven't been updated in more than year, so I left those off the list. If anyone else has any other recomendations for generlocked games, let me know and I'll add them to the list.

I've also heard that visual novels tend to have a lot more female genderlocked games, but I don't usually play visual novels unless they are specifically recommended to me or made by a creator whose other work I like.

[dommnics]

It’s official…the cast for Carrie has been released…any thoughts?

Very, very exciting stuff! I am so unfamiliar with the majority of these actors, aside from Samantha Sloyan, Amber Midthunder, and Matthew Lillard. But that's a great thing! I'm looking forward to being introduced to them as these characters in this world.

I can't stress how excited I am to see how much more these characters will be fleshed out, and what different directions Mike Flanagan will take for them. The story is stacked with an array of female characters who come from wildly different perspectives and backgrounds, and I'm so interested to see how much more nuanced and complex they can be in an eight episode format vs a two hour film.

Summer H. Howell as Carrie White:

Like many, I'm bummed but not entirely surprised that yet again, we have a thin, conventionally attractive actress representing Carrie for a fourth screen adaptation. Really missed opportunity to set her apart from the past Carrie portrayals visually, and also to connect back to how truly vicious the pig's blood prank is with that context. With that said, it's a new Carrie, and I am very excited for Summer to put her own fingerprints on this character, and from what Mike Flanagan has said about her in a recent interview...

... it makes me all the more excited to see what she'll do with this role. I'm curious how y'all interpret the last bit of this quote? Could she be an angrier Carrie? In the novel, I felt she was expressing (internally mostly) a lot more rage through the story, which was softened in Sissy's portrayal, but I could feel it with Angela and Chloe. I think this is a great opportunity to explore that even further with Summer. I'm also super interested to see how her physical acting will be, especially with the telekinesis. So far, the most unique version in this area has been Chloe's portrayal - using her hands, and even her movement was sort of animalistic and predatory, so I hope they get really creative with how Summer will physically represent her use of the TK.

Samantha Sloyan as Margaret White:

I'm kind of curious who the other runner ups for this role would've been, but definitely no concern here, because we've already had a glimpse of what her Margaret could be through Bev Keane. But because she's already played a similar character, it would interest me to see how Samantha will make Margaret a much different character from what she's already done before.

Siena Agudong as Sue Snell:

While I'm not familiar with her, I'm really happy with this casting due to the fact that Siena is partly Filipina! Being Filipino myself, that's a little win in my book! I really appreciate this character, and the morally grey aspects to her. I've previously spoken about it on here before how the 2002 version had my favourite version of Sue (so spunky and kind, but with bite in a way that felt really natural and authentic), and I am very excited over the potential of how this character can be expanded and explored further. With all the characters, this new take has the opportunity to create a defining version of the character out of all the adaptations. Sue has plenty of areas that the movies did not have the space or time to fully realize, and I hope that what Siena does in this role can place her as being the definitive Sue Snell. What also interests me is how involved she'll be in the final acts of the story. I struggle with picking a stance of whether I like her sneaking into the prom and eventually witnessing the destruction, or being at home, and slowly realizing there's something going down in the town. But I have hope that they'll stick closer to the way the novel's final moments play out, with Sue being an active presence in Carrie's final moments.

Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen:

Dark haired Chris! That was my first thought when seeing this casting hahaha! I remember being so excited when Portia Doubleday showed up in the Carrie 2013 trailer with dark hair. It's honestly an inconsequential detail, but I just like the visual connection to her book self. Apart from that, I'm unfamiliar with his actress, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she'll do with Chris. I'm not familiar with how Chris is handled or fleshed out in the musical, but so far my favourite interpretation has been Portia's. Despite not having a bunch of screentime in the 2013 movie, I really felt that she managed to give Chris a lot more nuance and even fragility that I didn't get from the previous versions.

Thalia Dudek as Emaline:

This just makes me super curious who Emaline will be in this story. Will she be a version of one of the existing characters from the novel, or someone entirely different? Maybe Carrie won't be a total loner in this, and Emaline could be the one friend she has in the school? Curious what y'all are speculating for this character!

Amber Midthunder as Miss Desjardin:

I loved Amber Midthunder in Prey, and it was cute to see her show up in the live action Avatar series. Apart from those, I haven't seen her in anything else that I've watched, so I'm interested to see what she'll be like in this role. The way that the 1976 movie expanded and re-interpreted this character from her novel self was really well done, so much so that the 2002 and 2013 versions followed suit in varying degrees. I like the push and pull aspect of her character, where she pities Carrie, either from a place of annoyance, and also genuinely wanting to help her. I think that makes her character more interesting than just straight up being a sweet teacher (and she has teeth and means business in all three versions, which I love!), and feels like it nods to her own background a bit - maybe she was a mean girl herself back in her school years, and that could be a really compelling angle to write this character, from school bully to being a teacher (it happens so often!)

Matthew Lillard as Principle Grayle:

I'm actually surprised more at the role that Matthew Lillard is playing, because I was actually expecting it to be announced that he would be Ralph White, when his role was initially hush hush. I'm happy to see in the Carrie universe, and it just makes me curious to see if this character will play a larger role in the story or not. It's also always tickled me to see how each version has done the post showeroom talk in the principal's office, and how Carrie's powers are introduced during this scene. We've gotten Carrie flipping an ashtray, pushing a steel desk, and shattering a glass water dispenser. Makes me curious what she'll do here! Crack a window maybe? Explode a laptop for that modern flair?

Josie Totah as Tina Blake:

Tina coming back makes me happy! I'd have to double check, but I think this character in the novel does not have the prominence she has in the movies, basically being Chris's right hand. Chris being the main antagonist, but with Norma/Tina being the nasty little follow up is something I've really enjoyed throughout the three versions, and they've all had really interesting and unique demises at the prom. I hope that Josie's Tina will have a similar role in this new version. It also makes me curious now how the dynamic of the female bullies will be in a 2025 world.

Arthur Conti as Billy Nolan:

I have not seen Beetlejuice Beetlejuice yet, but clearly I have to now, just to see what Arthur Conti is like. Billy's such a gross, threatening, little creep in the novel, and apart from John Travolta's take on Billy, I thought the 2002 and 2013 did a decent job of getting this across. I'm looking forward to his dynamic with Chris in this version, and I hope that Arthur Conti can bring a frightening presence in this that I felt the 2002 and 2013 were able to do with their Billy.

Joel Oulette as Tommy Ross:

I wonder how audiences will respond to Tommy's character this time around. I've noticed that first time viewers of Carrie usually have a hard time following whether or not Tommy and Sue are in on the prank, and what kind of agenda they're acting on, so I hope this version paints a clearer picture of these two characters and where they're coming from. I do appreciate the inclusion of people of color in the main cast so far, so while I'm not familiar with Joel Oulette, I'm happy he's our new Tommy.

I'd love to know what y'all are thinking, and I wanna hear some theories and speculation from everybody too!!

[gffa]

Hello! Thank you again for answering my question about Jedi quarter doors having locks. I was wondering if personal photos are a thing in the gffa? I think I remember Ezra maybe having a picture of his family and there are of course paintings and portraits of people, but I can’t remember of personal photos are a thing. Thank you in advance if you end up answering!

Hi! This one took me a bit, because I really had to think about it, and ultimately I've come to the same conclusion: It's kind of up to you! You're right that Ezra had a holo of his parents but I don't think we've ever seen it in universe as anything but a holo. (You can find it as a picture in some reference books, but they're not in-universe.)

In Attack of the Clones, there are a couple of deleted scenes where they go to Padme's house on Naboo and all the pictures on the wall (including one in the dining room, as well as Padme's bedroom) are holos as well:

On the other hand, Hera has the physical painting of her family and Luke and Rey had the old Jedi physical books/texts, so we know physical forms do exist! But we don't really see that much paper in the GFFA, sure, it exists in books/comics as flimsi (or flimsiplast), but we don't really actually see it much, which-- oh, wait, okay, so you have just sent me down an awful rabbit hole here, because! I always assumed that flimsi and paper were the same thing--and they probably are to most authors in Lucasfilm, I'd bet--but the novel "The Rebellion Begins" by Michael Kogge says they're actually different things:

Which blew my mind! But doesn't answer the question, other than that paper and flimsi were pretty rare, but not totally unheard of. So that made me think, okay, personal photos were a thing, because physical material seemed to be seen as extremely rare/outdated, but then I remembered, there are posters plastered all along the walls in The Clone Wars in the Underworld:

I guess we can't say for sure those are paper or flimsi, but they sure do look like it to me. And the animators probably weren't thinking that hard about worldbuilding (flimsi has only ever appeared in the comics/novels, I think...?) so I think it's a mistake to try to insist that Star Wars is coherent when it comes to these things, and thus that ultimately means: Up to you! We've never seen paper/flimsi personal photos in Star Wars that I can remember, the two instances we do have in visual media are digital pictures, but there's content in TCW that such a thing could exist if you wanted, so pick whichever works for you! If pressed, I would say that someone could go out of their way to make a paper/flimsi photo of someone, but it would be an effort on their part and considered hundreds of years out of date, but, you know, some people like old-fashioned, less efficient things because they like the feel of them!

[restless-mama]

Sol Exposed

Back at it again! Encouraged by my beloved friends from the 14DWY Discord server (I love yall!), I decided to write Sol (from The Kid at the Back, visual novel) fic. Sol belongs to @fantasia-kitt and Christine belongs to me. Female pronouns and etc are used. THIS FIC CONTAINS SPOILERS TO TKAB!

Summary wise, sometimes you just can't do what you want and think you can get away with it! Christine finds out what her crush has done to her and she wants to get even. She exposes him in at least three ways. His naughty deeds, his body, and his feelings.

Warnings: Stalking, Drugs, Handcuffs, subby Sol

Banner belongs to @arklayraven

It was late but as your typical college student, Christine was tapping and clicking on her laptop as she sits at her desk browsing the internet. A glass of orange juice sitting by her laptop. Her phone lights up with a notification. Her lamp on her nightstand was still on emitting light throughout the room. It was Sol, her current crush. He wishes her goodnight and that he’ll see her tomorrow. A high pitch giggle escapes her lips while she kicks her feet a little. If only she could confess her feelings to him. Yes, she had a crush on Crowe in the beginning. She felt it would be better off if Crowe and her remained friends.  Grabbing her phone, she sends a reply biding him goodnight and reminding him to not stay up so late. She was aware of him staying up in wee hours of the night, doing God knows what. 

She looks through some false nails to buy since Halloween was around the corner which is her favorite holiday. Christine orders a set of false nails from an Etsy seller of the name AnastasiasNails. The set of nails were in a coffin cut set with black lace and red small false rubies as designs. 

Another thing she had to order was a costume for the Halloween party her school hosted. She decided to purchase a black gothic lolita dress. It was a halter dress with a bowknot on the halter neck which exposed the rib-shaped cutout on the back. The skirt part of the dress was laced tiered ruffle. After placing her orders, she looked out of her window. The lock was still broken, and it reminded her to look at the hidden cameras she had set up in her apartment. Some of her laundry has gone missing, like her favorite pair of panties. Also, items disappearing and reappearing around her house. Then there were a few mornings with some dried substance on her stomach. A few times she notices bruises on her neck and/or collar bone. However, she doesn’t remember a thing.  

Christine pulls up the footage as her fingers wrapped around the cold glass of orange juice. She sip from the glass that consists of the fruity, tangy drink. Her finger clicking on the mouse to fast forward on the video. Suddenly she stops and watches to see someone climbing through her window with the broken lock. Her brown eyes widen and swallows hard. A surge of anxiety and fear coursed through her body as she continues to watch the hooded figure walked out of her room. Her eyes darts over to the camera recording that was in her kitchen. 

Her brown eyes studied the figure and noticed how tall he was. He was most definitely taller than her which she was only 5’5”. She watches in horror as the figure opened her fridge door to take out her orange juice and twist open the top. Then they took out a pill that looked very familiar, opened the capsule and dropped the powdery medication into her juice. Christine drops the glass that she was drinking out of, onto the ground. She watches in silent horror as she realizes her drink has been spiked. No wonder why she has been sleeping so well lately. 

“Son of a bitch!” Christine curses as she stands up. Her body was shaking a little from what she has watched. She was about to move to grab a nearby towel to dry the orange juice off the carpet, until the figure’s face caught her attention. The brunette stands there in shock and turns her head back to her laptop screen. Their eyes looks very familiar... They were orangey-red. 

“No...” Christine whispers. She knew who those eyes belonged to. ‘He... he wouldn’t... would he?’ The brunette thought her herself.  

The spilled juice was longed forgotten. The young college student sits back down and continues to go through the footage. He does leave her apartment but comes back late at night when she was in bed, asleep. Once again, he sneaks in through her window. She watches him pick up her arm and drop it, confirming that she was in a deep, drugged sleep. He pushed his hood down to reveal his black hair with green highlights and his mask was pushed down under his chin. It was indeed Sol. In the footage, he kisses her face close to her lips. He strokes her hair, tucking a strand of her messy dark brown and red hair behind her ear. She watches him suckling her neck, creating the mysterious bruises, which she realizes were hickies. Then the unthinkable happens. How could he...? He was so kind to her. So protective and caring. 

Christine watches in shock and....arousal? She couldn’t believe she was getting turned on by the sight of Sol doing this to her while she slept. This type of behavior wasn’t acceptable for normal standards, yet she could not deny the surge of pleasure course through her veins as she watched him. The tip of her tongue darts out and laps her top lip, imagine how he would taste. Perhaps she was just as crazy as him... Maybe... She should get even. 

~*~ 

With little effort, it didn’t take much lure Sol back to her apartment. They both had an assignment to finish anyways. Christine, being such a lady, offered Sol something to drink. Once they finished their refreshments, they retreated to her bedroom.  Christine sat down in her chair as the taller man sat down on her bed as he drew her. She could feel his red-orange eyes trace every bit of her body. Her heart pounded in her chest as she keeps it together as she suppresses the need to make him beg. It’s only a matter of time now. 

Sol wipes the sweat off his brow as he notices he has gotten hotter than usual. A surge of lust rans through his veins. He forwards his brows as his eyes bore into his drawing of his beloved. He usually could control his urges when he’s near her. Something was wrong. His heart begins to beat faster, and his pants felt a little too tight against his body. His body is getting hotter by the minute. 

“Sol...?” Christine’s voice could be heard, and the artist looks towards the direction of the voice. He jumps and gasps as he realizes she was inches away from him. His face becomes more flustered. Another surge of pleasure rushed through his body, especially his member. How did she get so close? When did she get so close? The brunette couldn't help but giggle, he noticed the tone of it was more... menacing.  

The brunette moves in closer to him. Her lips inches from his lips. “Are you okay...? My little stalker?” Christine confronts him. His eyes widen in shock.  

“Fuck...!” He whispers. Before he can explain himself, she presses her lips against his in a passionate kiss. His pencil and sketch book drops to the carpet floor as she pushes him down onto her bed. Her hips rolls against his member through the fabric of their pants. This earns a muffled groan from the taller man. Seizing the opportunity, she got a hold of his arms and handcuffs him to the bed frame. 

Sol looks up in shock at his the woman above him. “Christine... let me-” A delicate finger pressed on his lips shushing him from explaining himself. Christine staddles his hips rubbing her groin against him earning a moan from the man below her. His skin was so sensitive and hot. Her scent on her bed was driving him insane more than usual. He wondered what was going on. Then it dawned on him that he didn’t get like this after he drank something she gave him. No... his own beloved couldn’t do this right? She wasn’t capable? Or was he wrong? 

The woman on top of him breaks the kiss. "I added a little something to your drink... Just like you did mine but mine is an aphrodisiac.” Christine giggles. She looks down at him with her caramel eyes full of mischief. “I put hidden camera around my apartment Sol... I know everything... And now, it’s my turn to have my fun with you~” Her soft hands moves under his shirt, pushing it up as she touches his tone torso. As if her touch left a trail of fire in her wake.  Her fingers reach to his pierced nipples and strokes them with her fingers. 

“Ahhh! Christine!” Sol pants out with his face flushed with red, choking down his moans, trying to remain quiet. He was panting and sweat formed on his forehead. His eyes half-lidded and full of desire.  

“Someone’s very sensitive, aren’t they?” Christine said seductively and playfully, “Tell me Sol...” She darts her tongue out and swirls her tongue around his pierced nipple causing him to squirm and whimper uncontrollably, “Is this what you wanted me to do to you? To take this big cock of yours?” Her hand undoes his pants and pulls out his thick, long member and strokes it very slowly. She had to admit... She was impressed by the length and size of his erection. 

The green haired artist looks up at his beloved with a mixture of shock and desire. He hadn’t expected her to be so brazen and forward. “Yes.... Yes! This is what I wanted...” Sol whines out as his throbbing cock leaks precum onto her hand. His own obsession with her was bad enough but with the aphrodisiac running through his veins took it to the next level. Without any hesitation, she pulls off his pants and boxers off.  

“You’re so hard for me...” Christine teases. She sits on her heels and lowers her head over his veiny member, which still leaking with precum. Her lips parted around his wide cock and sucks off his salty seed. She sticks her tongue out and traces the thick veins on his member. Sol’s eyes roll back into his head as he feels Christine’s wet tongue swirling around the over sensitive tip of his cock. He could feel shivers down his spine while his body becomes overloaded with pure pleasure. 

All he could think of was her. Her scent. Her touch. Those lustful yet mischievous, caramel eyes. His fantasies were becoming a reality, but this exceeded his expectations. “Oh fuck, Chris...” Sol gasps between labored breaths, his eyes hazy and burning with desire. “You make me feel so goddamn good...” 

His needy words and pleas were music to her ears. The brunette could feel the surge of arousal shoot down her clit. Christine takes his cock into her mouth sucking him in and taking him deeper into her mouth. Her brown eyes shot up at him to meet his red-orange eyes, maintaining eye contact as she sucks his dick. Sol watches Christine takes his throbbing member deeper into her mouth, swallowing his erection with ease. He gasps loudly at the sight, like he was in a trace. He finds himself utterly captivated by her beauty and the way she seems to relish having power over him. His hips buck involuntarily, driven wild by her experienced oral skill. She takes him deeper in her mouth and into her throat, deep throating him. She swallows, causing her throat to squeeze around him, earning a straggled moan from Sol. 

Suddenly, Christine pulls away. A mix of frustration and confusion could be seen in his eyes as he watches her pull away. “W-why did you stop?” He whines between heavy pants. 

The corner of her lips tugs upward into a smirk as Christine gives Sol a seductive look. Her hand reaches down to the hem of her tight red shirt and slowly pulls it off revealing her breasts in a black lacy bra. She could hear him tug hard against the cuffs. Metal clashing metal. He lets out a long ragged, breath and looks at her hungrily, unable to contain the raw lust burning through his body. His mouthwatering. His eyes never leaving her body as she slowly undresses in front of him. She removes her bra, releasing her breasts from the confines which earns a breathy gasp from him. Her hand finds her hair tie on the end of her brain and removes it, letting her brown and red hair free from the messy braid. 

“Oh God... Pumpkin..” Sol pants as watches her remove her black ripped jeans and panties. Just looking at her nude body, his face was burning from lust and desire. “You’re so beautiful... Please Christine. Take the cuffs off. Let me touch you. I need to touch you.” The green haired handsome man begged. His voice was hoarse. His eyes never left her nude body. They always reminded her of lava and she could feel the heat of his gaze burn onto her skin. 

“No...” Christine denies him and straddles him, rubbing her wet cunt on the underside of his shalf. Sol trembles beneath her and whimpers out her name. She had to admit, her name coming out of his mouth sounded like music to her ears. “You been a very, very bad boy, Sol... I think I’m going to make you beg for forgiveness.” She rolls her hips slow against his throbbing member, earning a needy moan from him. “Or I won’t let you cum.” 

“Fuucckkkk.....!” Sol cried out low as he pulled hard against the cuffs in desperation again. Metal raddles against one another. His body quivers in need. His aching cock was getting harder and hard to the point where it began to hurt as his body reaches to its limits. It needed a release. He HAVE to cum. He couldn’t even think to control himself any longer. His mind clouded by what his body needed. Their eyes met once again, and she could see his pupils blown wide with desire.  

“I’m sorry Christine! Please...” Her stalker chokes out, “I’ll do anything! Anything! Just please, please! Make me come... Let me come!” 

Christine giggles lowly. “So needy and desperate...” She teases him, “You look so cute when you’re at my mercy...” 

Before he could respond, the brunette slips him inside of her warm cunt, earning a throaty groan from the man beneath her. A gasp escapes her lips as his wide cock stretches her pussy walls. Perhaps she may have underestimated his size. Christine forwards her brows and bites her lower lip as she takes all him inside her. Sol watched her intensely and couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“Guess I’m a lot more to handle than you thought, huh?” Sol pants out still flustered and desperate yet still able to give her a smug grin. Christine narrows her caramel eyes at him. She pulls herself up until his tip was barely in, she slams down hard in a fast motion taking all of him again.  

“Fuck!” Sol lets out a surprised yelp as his soulmate slams down onto him with force. The cuffs rattle once again as he yanks against them again. His head is thrown back onto her pillows, inhaling her sweet floral scent. God... She smelled divine to him. Her walls tighten hard around him, giving him a hard squeeze before as she starts to move up and down his veiny cock. Suddenly she slams down onto him again and they both let out a moan. Her fingers find his pierced nipples and begin to stroke them as she rides him. She kept her pace unexpected and erratic, driving him into her cunt. 

“Ohhhh fuck...! Pumpkin... You feel so fucking good..” Sol rasped out with his eyes hazy, his face still red, and his mouth slightly agape, drool starting to hang out from the corner of his lips. Christine couldn’t help but moan as his thick girth rubs her sensitive walls in the right places. He was the thickest she had ever taken. 

“Ahhh...” She pants, “You know... You could have asked. I might have said yes... Instead of drugging me...” She whispers as she slams her cunt up and down his cock. She begins to increase her pace, bouncing wildly on him. It was pushing him towards the edge.  

“I know... Ahhh...” Sol moans as his eyes roll to the back of his head, “I’m sorry, Christine...” He sounds sincere even though he sounds so fucked out of his mind. He could feel her warm juices which are mixed with his pre-cum flow down his cock and balls. His balls tighten as he draws near his climax. It didn’t help that she was near her own peak and her walls became tighter and tighter than before. 

“Ahhhh... Fuuuccckkkk...” He groans lowly. His eyes find her face and a surge of pleasure shoots down his hard cock. Before him was his beloved with her face contorted in bliss with her puffy lips parted. Her eyes half lid as she rides him in abandonment. That sight alone threw him over the edge. “Christine...! I’m going to cum!” Sol bucks his hips up wildly to meet her pace, trying to catch his high. They began to move in sync causing both parties to cry out in pleasure. His balls tighten. He could feel the intense pleasure coursing through his veins. His back arches as he releases a torrent of his pent-up seed inside her tight walls. Christine was not far behind him. She moans out sweetly as she cums hard against him member. Her walls gripping him like a vise, milking every drop of his seed. His name leaves her lips as a whisper.  

“I love you, Christine! I love you so much...” Sol whimpers out his confession as he rides out his orgasm. He could feel the heat leaving him a little. It seems that the aphroditic was wearing out. Just a little.  

“Y-you love me?” The brunette breaths out, trying to catch her breath. Her warm caramel eyes looks down to catch his hazy gaze. It was time for Christine to become flushed. Her heart pounding against her chest. “Why didn’t you just say so...?” 

Sol sighs and looks at the woman on top of him, “Shit I don’t know... You looked like you have a crush on Crowe.” He said Crowe’s name with such venom. Was he jealous all along? 

“I had a crush on Crowe.” Christine corrected him and crossed her arms, squeezing her tits together. “Past tense, Sol... Besides, I have a crush on you.” 

“Wait... What?” Sol couldn’t believe his ears. She then slowly pulls herself off him which makes him whimper out in disappointment.  

“You heard me... Now let me uncuff you.” Christine said as she moved to take the key from under her other pillow and uncuffs him. She assumed that he was done and the aphrodisiac had wore off. However, once the cuffs were off, Sol’s large hands were on her waist, and he gently pushes her down onto her bed. A gasp escapes the woman’s lips as the green haired man pins her down by her wrist. Her brown and red hair scattered on her bed. A blush forms on her shocked face. Sol growls lowly at the sight of her. He could feel his blood rushes down to loins, making his member erect once again. 

Her caramel brown eyes meets his red-orange ones which are filled with so much burning desire. She could just simply melt in his gaze. She can’t deny her own desire, especially being held down by him. Sol leans in, their lips just inches from one another. She could feel his hot breath against her cheek. His short green hair tickling her skin. "What happened? You were so bold earlier...” He teases and whispers lowly, “Or you like being held down do you?” 

Before Christine could answer, Sol crushes his lips against her roughly. His cold lip piercings rubbing against her soft lips. She parts her lips, allowing his tongue in as they both kissed passionately. Then she felt the cold metal of her own hand cuffs being applied on her wrist. All she could do was just submit to his power. They continue their heated, passionate kiss until they both break away to breathe. They both pants and gazed into each other's eyes. Sol then pulls away to sit on his heel and removes his two shirts, along with the long black key necklace he had on. After tossing them aside, he lowers his head down to one of her nipples and suckles it into his mouth.  

A sharp gasp was heard followed by a moan as he swirls his tongue around the bulb. Her body arches back. She felt his hand slip down between her legs, his index finger rubbing against her entrance, teasing her and smearing his cum around. Christine moans and squirms beneath him. Sol releases her nipple with a loud “pop” then parts her thighs with his large hands. He growls in delight as he admires his own cum leaking out of her cunt. His member growing harder at such a delectable sight. 

“Fuck... You look so cute when you’re filled up with my cum...” He groans lowly as he rather his own seed with his own fingers and pushes them into her pussy making Christine cry out in pleasure. 

“Sol!” Christine cries out. She could feel her falls stretch to accommodate his thick fingers. His fingers begin to stroke her sensitive walls making her throw her head back in pleasure. Her hips roll to meet his thrusts until he pulls his digits out of her and brings them to her puffy lips. She obediently parts her lips, letting him push his fingers into her mouth. Her tongue swirls around the digits to lick and then suck off the cum off his fingers. Once they were licked clean, he pulls them out of her mouth as a string of saliva was still attached from her tongue and his wet fingers.  

The green haired men then push his fingers back into her wet cunt and curls his fingers repeatedly, searching her sensitive spot. A sharp inhaled gasp was heard from the brunette. She was never able to find her own g-spot with her own fingers, but it seems Sol’s fingers were far better. They were longer and able to reach the right spot in her cunt. Her body trembled in delight. Her back arched and she began to moan uncontrollably.  

“Oh my GOD!” Christine cries out in pleasure as her tight walls tighten around. Suddenly, she cums and squirts all over his hand and forearm. Sol doesn’t let up, he continues to drive his digits into her franticly, making her soak her bed sheets beneath her. His name continues to leave her mouth in such debauch manner as she cums and squirts repeatedly. 

“Ahhhh! It feels too good!” The woman whimpered and moaned wildly, uncontrollably. Her walls spasm and contract against his fingers. 

“I just got started and you’re already falling apart.” Sol said lowly, a playful smirk tugged on his pierced lips as he teased her. He then lowers his mouth and stroke his tongue against her clit making Christine roll her hips. A straggled moan escapes her lips. The sounds she made were like music to Sol’s ears. He pulls out his own fingers and replaces them with his tongue, sucking and lapping up her liquid gold. She tasted so divine. She sounded like an angel to him. Just like how he imagine she would.  

Christine feels his then laps up to her clit once more and suck gently onto the swollen clit. She could feel electricity courses through her body from his administrations. Shivers shooting down her spine. She gazes at him, watching him with her half-lidded lazy eyes. He could hear her pants for air. His pierced lips brush away from her clit and onto her thigh. She could feel the coolness of the small metal. Teeth gazing over the flesh, he bites down softly and sucks forming a soon to be small bruise on her thigh.  

“This is how I will make you feel every night.” Sol pulls back and gazes at his mark in admiration. “That’s what you will get for being mine.” He pushes her legs up until her knees meet her chest and parts her legs with his large hands. Christine moans as she felt him rub himself over her clits and wet folds, teasing her. She makes a rasped out a desperate moan, “Please... Don’t tease me...” begged Christine. Her eyes pleading him. Her face flushed red, and her eyes barely opened. 

Sol chuckles softly and slowly pushes himself in, inch by inch. He could feel her slick and wet pussy envelop him, wrapping around his thick member. Christine moans softly as she involuntarily contracts her walls around him, pulling him in deeper.  

“S-shit... you’re so tight...” Sol growls lowly as his cock is swallowed by her warmth.  Unable to contain his desire, he quickly pulls back until his tip only remained and drives his thick member deep inside of her wet folds with one forceful thrust. The brunette cries out in bliss as he filled her completely.  His hips begin to move rhythmically, thrusting himself into her tight walls again and again, fucking her hard and making her scream in pleasure. “And you’re all mine. Mine to take. Mine to fuck.” 

“Yes.. Yes! I’m yours... Only yours! Please don’t stop! Harder. Sol.... Harder!” Christine moans out loudly as he obeys her command and buries himself into her in an unrelenting tempo. His name leaves her lips repeatedly like a prayer, making his heart swell with emotion. She gazes up at his face and her heart flusters at such a delectable sight. His face was contorted in pleasure. Sweat drips down from his brow. Some of the ends of his green hair wet from sweat, sticking against his cheek. A blush was formed on his face. His mouth a gape as he pants. His eyes sadly shut. She wanted to see those beautiful, lust filled red-orange eyes of his. 

Her hand shot up and placed on his cheek, stroking it. He snaps his eyes open at the sudden touch, recalling that he did cuff her. Apparently, she quietly uncuffed herself earlier. “Keep your eyes open Sol... Let me see those beautiful eyes of yours. I want you to remember how I look while you fuck me...” She purrs. 

Her words cause a surge a desire to run through his veins as it adds more fuel to need to please her. Sol places on of his large hands on her shoulder and one on waist. HE holds her in place as he slams into her wet folds in pure reckless abandonment, giving into his primal instincts. Christine's eyes rolls to the back of her head and cries out his name. Her hand slips off his cheek and onto his shoulder, digging her nails in. The sounds of skin colliding, along with lust filled noises from the couple could be heard throughout the room.  

“I’m cumming!” Christine moans out, her walls tighten hard around him earning a low growl from Sol. Her cunt gripped him like a vise and then she squirts all over his member and his groin.   

“Fuck!” Sol chokes out as his pace becomes brutally fast as he chases after his own orgasm. The scent from her sticky fluids overwhelmed his senses. Her tight walls tighten around his thick cock, driving him to the edge. He thrusts into her once more until he unleashes a torrent of his seed into the warm, wet pussy and sending himself in a lust filled Eupora.  “I love you Christine! You’re mine... All mine!” 

They both gasp and pants to catch their own breath, trying to normal their breathing. Sol then buries his face into her neck, nuzzling her. “Mine...” He breaths. 

“Yours... just like you’re mine...” Christine whispers in his ear as she runs her fingers in his green hair.  

~Later~ 

Christine runs her fingers through her wet hair, applying her hair product into her hair in front of the bathroom mirror. Her black towel wrapped securely around her torso. Sol was still taking a shower. At first he didn’t want to take a shower, stating that he wanted her dried fluids to remain on him which earned a look from Christine. He eventually relented and agreed to a shower. Christine went first and once she was done, Sol have already put on new bed sheets after removing the ones that were stained with their fluids. She felt so embarrassed but Sol reassured her that he just simply wanted to take care of her. 

The sound of water being cut off could be heard, indicating that Sol was done taking a shower. He steps out and dries himself off with one of Christine’s extra towels. He steps in in view of the mirror and dries his green hair. Christine’s brown caramel eyes traced his naked form in the reflecting surface. His body was slim but toned. His tight muscle flexing in his arms. She also notices a good number of old bruises that have faded to yellow.  

“Enjoying the view, pumpkin?” Sol said playful, shooting a smirk at the mirror as he dries the side of his head. Christine blushes and drops her gaze. She grabs her perfume to spray on her wrist, as he chuckles behind her. As she rubs fragrance on her wrist and neck, Sol wraps his arms around her from behind and bends down slightly to rest his on her shoulder to nuzzle her neck. She could feel his bare chest on her back, his hot breath on her neck. 

“Hmm...” He inhales her scent, rubbing her nose against her tender flesh. “No wonder why you always smelled so good...” 

Christine could feel him getting semi-hard and she elbows him gently. “Behave yourself. Sol.”  

A low chuckle emits from his throat, and he kisses her temple. “For now... But I’m pretty sure you’re hungry. What does my soulmate wanna eat?” 

“Soulmate, huh?” Christine giggling and turns around to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him close, “Surprise me. I always enjoy your cooking. Just don’t spike my orange juice again...” 

Sol laughs and picks her up to kiss her lips. He knows that she’s not going to let him hear the end of it. 

[zachdefense]

can't stop thinking about how Gnosia is the absolute weirdest game I've ever played from a design perspective (complementary). How did they ever make a single-player social-deduction roguelike visual novel with rpg elements? How did they make it so good?

It's a classic Werewolf/Mafia game in space. The roguelike nature means it's actually a puzzle you have to figure out each time, instead of just picking up on story hints and foreshadowing. And you not only get to learn things about the other players, you have to get to know them to know how to read and manipulate them. Where other games need you to learn "After you dodge twice, the boss is open to attacks", Gnosia needs you to learn "Jonas will always trust Kurushka, so if you're suspicious of her then you should make sure he doesn't have many allies either" or "People really like Otome so don't accuse her of anything before building up some goodwill of your own". It's been a couple years since I played it but I still remember all of these character interactions because they're not only fun characters in the story, but understanding them is integral to the actual gameplay.

And speaking of gameplay, the rpg elements are just perfect. Your stats are things like "Draw less attention from the imposters when you're outspoken in trials" and "People trust your accusations more". By putting those things in plain text as stats they can be changed, it makes the player keep them in mind as game mechanics. If you get killed off early, it feels less like "wow the rng sucks" and more like "maybe I should accuse people less and so I don't get targeted, even if it means more people getting killed". It's a great way of making sure that these mechanics aren't just tutorialized once and forgotten, but that they're top of mind as solutions to problems.

They made it all mesh together so well. And I haven't even talked about the story yet, the story is also real good, but the design is just *chef's kiss*

[maleyanderecafe]

Hell Trap (Visual Novel)

Created by: marikatti

Genre: Horror/Thriller

The story and artwork in this game is gorgeous. I think this might be the same artist as Paper Cuts because the artstyle seems strikingly similar. This visual novel goes into rather dark topics like suicide, rape and revenge, and it is really beautiful how the story is written so far. There is a prologue and two parts of the story as of writing this.

The story starts out with Yul recalling a childhood memory of being in the snow and walking home. He is interrupted by his sister who teases him, but feels distressed that he cannot remember her name. After some comments about how they were opposites, yet they were two peas in a pod, Yul points out her mismatched shoes. His sister promises that the two of them will be together and that they will take care of each other, something that Yul is happy about. We get a time jump to when the two are in high school. His sister plays with a friendly cat at the front of the school before the two go inside. At lunch, his sister tries to talk about him getting more friends at school, something that Yul sees as useless as he already has his sister. During lunch, Yul's sister ends up in the infirmary, after throwing up, though tries to reassure her brother it was just lunch. Yul immediately doesn't believe this as not only did they have the same lunch, but his sister has a strong stomach. After school, as they walk home, the two lament about their current situation. The two of them are living by themselves, as their dad refuses to give money for them to live with him. The two talk about their future, about how his sister is trying really hard to study well and get good grades so that she can provide for them in the future, along with the various part time jobs that they've been taking. They know their father will stop sending them money the moment that they become adults. Yul tries to get his sister to tell him what really happened to get her in the infirmary, but she refuses. At night, she has a nightmare, and while Yul is trying to wake her up, she hears her talk about how she no longer wants to be at school. The next day, Yul ends up evesdropping on her sister talking to the principal. We see a flashback of Yul's sister working at school after hours on her homework, when a teacher named Blanche comes to talk to her. Blanche talks to Yul's sister about her troubles, and offers her a way for her to make her money. She agrees, desperate for some more money, but retracts when Blanche suggests her to use her body. Blanche then pounces on her and rapes her. Yul ends up bursting into the professor's office after hearing this, much to the principal and his sister's surprise. The principal doesn't help her and instead berates her, stating that women can't be rapist and that Blanche is a good teacher, much to the sibling's dismay. Soon after, Yul's sister jumps off of a building, dying in front of Yul, with Blanche coming over and scorning him.

After the death of his sister, Yul attempts to change his appearance by dying his hair so that he isn't reminded of her every time he looks in the mirror. He grows extremely agitated and distraught, and even starts killing animals, starting with the cat that Yul's sister petted at the beginning of school. He is still not satisfied, until he sees Blanche's daughter at school one day. Yul upon seeing this starts to formulate a plan on how to cause the most pain to Blanche- by killing her daughter. After graduating, Yul follows Blanche's daughter around. First by seeing that she hangs out with her mother on Saterdays, and then by following her and learning her schedule. He does this for three years, learning everything about her and what she does in order to find the best way to kill her. On the day of the kill, Yul follows behind her, planning to choke her and bash her head in when she goes into the alleyway. All seems to be going well, at least until she suddenly screams out that she forgot her phone charger and runs in the opposite direction, leading to her getting hit by the bus instead. In shock and horror, Yul is completely undone, angry that his kill was taken away from him. He ends up helping to call the ambulance and even gets to check in on her during the accident. In an attempt to revive, her he ends up staying and wishing that she'd wake, and she does end up doing so. While talking to the doctor about who to contact, she ends up responding very negatively to the suggestion to tell her mother, something that catches Yul off guard. Afterwards, she thanks Yul for saving her, even introducing herself as Mila. Yul starts to develop some mixed feelings on the scenario, though still decides to go with his plan of killing her. He ends up sneaking into the hospital and night and tries to choke Mila on her bed, but recoils, as he realizes that her reaction with her mother's mention was unusual. He ends up leaving her alive a bit longer to find out what exactly her relationship with her mother is like.

Starting out, this visual novel does a really good job of setting the tone of the entire story. The artwork is beautiful in each scene, with the start with various exaggerated and cute types of facial expressions from Yul's sister, symbolizing her innocence and her general happy outlook on life, contrasted with later after her assault. Most of the story is told from Yul's point of view, with vivid thoughts on his sister's death and his attachment to her, wanting to stay by her side, not wanting to be friends with anyone else and of course, seeking revenge for her after her death. We see that his sister's death is so painful that he can no longer remember her name, and even changes his appearance so he is not reminded of her when he looks into the mirror. Everything for these two has been pretty tragic for a while, having to live on their own, having little to no help from parents or other relatives and of course, the lead up to the sister's death and Yul's eventual lead to revenge. The dialogue and inner thoughts of Yul really give such a powerful feeling in this entire visual novel, with the kind of tension that really wants to make you see more of it, all with a beautiful and striking black and white artwork. It really is beautiful. It's hard to predict exactly what will happen next, as I did not expect Mila to be hit by a car and fully expected her to die or almost die by Yul's hands.

It's hard to say whether or not Yul is a romantic or platonic yandere for his sister, since she does die pretty early on. I will wager that Yul is more platonic though considering he does seem more dependent on her, rather than lusts over her but regardless, he does very clearly care about and love her. Regardless, much of his revenge plot is driven by the fact that Blanche caused his sister to die, and the agony he feels afterwards. Considering he doesn't kill Mila by the end of chapter two, it is possible that he could develop feelings for her as well, as his realization that her and her mother's relationship isn't as amicable as it seems. As a yandere, he's mostly just a bit clingy initially, but after her death pretty much goes straight into more sinister roles, killing animals to try to sate her hatred of Blanche and of course stalking Mila to kill her as well as meticulously learning her schedule just to kill her. Those last ones aren't specific to yanderes themselves, but he does incorporate a lot of traits from there to get his revenge. If he does possibly fall for Mila, then these traits might come back not to try to get her killed but possibly to protect her. It is always fun to see how these more thriller like stories go.

Overall, while this is still in a demo state, it is extremely promising and is a thriller/horror type story that really keeps you on your toes. As this creator did likely create Paper Cuts, I can see their expertise in writing this as the thriller aspect of Paper Cuts really kept you on your toes. I highly recommend it and look forward to new chapters coming out in the future.