#I would gut myself first

[winterswake]

As I look out on the water for the last time, I know none of that matters. Who I thought I was will end with me. All that will be left of me is your memories.

[pencilofawesomeness]

What is Twisted Wonderland and how would you sell someone on it?

Ohoho. Ohohohoho. Anon. You have activated my trap card >:D

(I'm about to be soooo annoying/unhinged and I'm sorry. I'm not.)

Alright, so:

Twisted Wonderland is a Disney mobile game made in Japan and co-produced by Aniplex. (Yes, that Aniplex.) I'm not here to sell you on the game, so much as the story, but it is a sort of story-book rpg with turned based fights and rhythm games, where you build character units from a gacha pull. As far as gameplay goes, it's very simple, and most of the emphasis lies on the characters and the story. And it's wonderful.

The on-the-box description of this game doesn't do it justice, per se, but that might be because Disney has a little bit of influence on it and they suck at knowing who their target audience is. It is about a high school based on classic Disney villains—but no, not in the way you're thinking, because I once made that mistake too. It is not a villain school. Rather, the world of Twisted Wonderland is its own entity, with characters built as sort of nods or foils to classic Disney characters. The world itself is somewhat built with these films as its past, and history has become so twisted (ha) that modern society views some of these classic villains as the heroes or supporting characters of their stories, and respect them as The Great Seven. (The seven in question being the Queen of Hearts, Scar, Ursula, Jafar, the Evil/Raven Queen, Hades, and Maleficent. None of them are remembered by name, though.)

The game takes place in the modern era, a society with both technology and magic. Specifically, it takes place in a magic high school called Night Raven College, an all-boys dormitory prep school where the only requirement to get in is a magic mirror that peers into your soul and determines whether or not you can a) do magic and b) kin the Great Seven. And, of course, the player character is a regular-ass human who gets isekai'd in and gets stuck with a talking magic cat direbeast named Grim.

Now. That is the general synopsis. I, on the other hand, affectionately call this the Mental Breakdown game.

See, here's the kicker. The magic system is pretty nifty; while it's functions as a standard magic-is-magic sort of soft system, it has ✨consequences✨

Magic has this byproduct called blot. It's this icky stuff that builds up when you a) use too much magic and/or b) are emotionally distressed. But less so in a "I'm panicked right now" sort of way and more so in a "I have chronic depression and/or anxiety" sort of way. And, when a mage is powerful enough, and sad boi enough, and then goes and uses way too much magic and sad boi juice in one sitting, this amazing phenomenon occurs called "overblot"—which is pretty much a super-powered evil form that turns the mage into the darkest form of themselves and then uses magic until they die.

Naturally, this happens in the game. A lot. The formula is pretty much that each "book" of the story, there is an overblot. One for each of the seven dorms, which are based off of the seven villains/the movies they come from. (And "based on" is pretty loose. Yes you can see the similarities, but these are dumb teenage boys with their own hopes and aspirations, and, sometimes, the game completely lies to you about what character they emulate the most. The guy who's Jafar? Well yes but he's actually just a really stressed out Genie stand in. The Hades guy? Whoops that's Meg. Is that a card soldier or the White Rabbit? Doesn't matter, he's got problems.)

The characters are so well written. I could gush about them forever, and they are the driving points of this plot and it means everything to me. They are some of the most traumatized and messed up individuals, but also, they are dumb teenage boys who do dumb teenage boys things. It is all incredibly well balanced and startlingly realistic for a game that amounts to beating the emotional constipation around people. Mostly because it cannot be beat out of them. The blot can, but they have to deal with their emotions with their own two hands, with varying levels of success.

And the shenanigans!!!! Oh, the shenanigans. I call this the Emotional Trauma game but I have once laughed so hard someone heard me through the floor. It's not all doom and gloom for sure. Sometimes you're watching your friend fall apart because his toxic mother instilled debilitating perfectionism and slowly start making enemies of everyone and sometimes you're sending three of the most gremlin students plus one cinnamon roll to infiltrate a gala that a bunch of weather fairies are throwing in the greenhouse because they stole your temperature regulating magestone to be shiny jewelry and you want it to stop snowing inside your dorm room. And sometimes you can have the exact same character who experienced losing his little brother right in front of him gush about a magical girl sledding anime and all of his gacha games. It is the best of both worlds.

And, that's not all! No, no. We get amazing character interactions. Not just pre-determined friend group interactions, but also random interactions. Yana Toboso (the writer/artist) really likes to stick names in a jar sometimes and make them interact and it is the best thing ever. Every single one of these characters I hold in my hands. Every single one of them gets to have their moment to shine. You can emotionally invest in all of them and be rewarded for it.

The game itself is free and pretty easy to get into. There's not really a bad power creep so you can get through it with what you got. Of course the fun part of collecting cards is that there are stories attached to them that you can watch, and those are also sources of joy. (And it's well documented, so you can find things online pretty easily to catch up and see more.)

I just think it's neat. (Read: I accidentally became wholly obsessed with this game and its characters and they are all blorbos to me.)

You should definitely fall into this rabbit hole with me :))) It's so worth it :)))

[lunarharp]

lazy scribbling of my baldur's gate 3 characters

[13eyond13]

Went on a little bookstore run today and couldn't resist buying the first volume of Berserk... and god the "Parental Advisory" warning sticker on it was SO NOSTALGIC, I can't remember the last time I bought a piece of media with something like that stuck on it (probably back in the 2000s when I used to buy CDs?) Took me right back to feeling like an angsty badass 14 year old rebel whose parents just don't understand hahaha

[hubbaslubba]

the lore reveals so in the veilguard so far feel like someone blasting you with a gatling gun repeatedly and while i do wish they were presented maybe in more of a measured way - i am finding it amusing to think about what all this feels like to someone who hasnt been ass deep in lore and theories for over a decade. like all this must sound like utter nonsense right?

[monster-noises]

There are things about my struggles with singleness i will gladly prattle on about on this web site in post after post and i Have, certainly;

but there are parts of the struggle I have just a damn hard time posting about despite really reeeeaallly needing to get out so i can maybe go focus on something else for a bit

And I mean this applies to more than just my (really uneventful but somehow just as consuming and complicated) dating life, but right now that's what i'm pacing around my apartment muttering about when i should be making sure my dinner doesn't burn and having my dishes done. So.

[lilacerull0]

making myself sick with these thoughts, but ultimately it's more cathartic than anything else

[clonerightsagenda]

When Father's planning on disposing of Ling, Ed says "you can't, he has people waiting for him" and when Ed is bleeding to death in a mine shaft he says "I can't let all those people cry over me". Something about the selfish desire for individual immortality versus the determination to survive for the people in your life.

[charmac]

PLEASEE POST A NEW CHAPTER OF THE SUGAR DADDY FIC I AM ON MY HANDS AND KNEES 😭😭😭😭😭

Updating All These Nights tonight and then Sugar is next to be updated, promise promise.

[jessaerys]

the only meats i buy from the grocery store nowadays are cold cuts from a brand that's certified humane but this week i got a little bit of pork for the cats (as a treat) and i got sooo sooooo sad thinking about how smart pigs are and how cruel the meat industry is. and although i don't think there's anything wrong with eating meat from animals that have been humanely raised it dawned on me like a brick to the face that becoming vegetarian is inevitable

[hl-obsessed]

.

[flowercrowngods]

on topic of my emotions regarding Idiot Steve…

He should be terrified, but he isn't, not in that moment. In fact, he doesn’t feel anything as he stares at himself in the mirror of his en suite bathroom. He doesn’t know where the panic went, seeing as nothing has been resolved, nothing has changed. Except, well, he has a plan now. A plan that got derailed the very second he saw himself and another piece of reality has settled. Or unsettled. He’s not sure yet.

He gets stuck like this sometimes. Is fully aware of it, but that doesn’t make it any easier to stop, doesn’t make the comments any easier that get flung his way, sniding words from the genius kids or his genius soulmate — Platonic with a capital P. Just one more thing in the Idiot Steve Harrington collection, but this one doesn’t feel like it’s his fault. Actually, it never really does.

this one doesn’t feel like it’s his fault. it never really does

Now, though, it’s staring him in the face. It’s almost comical. We expect you to be great, Mother said where other parents would have written words of love and kindness. 'We expect you to be great. The next few years will leave you traumatised to all hells and back, you will almost die several times and find friends who let you care for them but maybe don’t entirely reciprocate that. We will never hear about any of that and we don’t really care. The last hug you got from me was April 1979, and that was only because I was grieving and you were there. Be great, Steven. And have a pizza for your troubles.'

and find friends who let you care for them but maybe don’t entirely reciprocate that

me writing the time travel au, or just about anything steve-centric:

[samwisefamgee]

anyway played more baldurs gate 3 and can confirm it's d&d if you like less options and never having an interesting person in your party ever. and you can't even be fat. fuck off

[takitori67]

So sad rn when they said they refund your doll because the number of orders were NOT enough

[crucifixcavity]

vent in tags

[mallahanmoxie]

the thing with being an incredibly boring person with very exciting tastes is that you cannot actually put yourself in the shoes of the magic protagonist because, firstly, you would never agree to any quest even if they kidnapped you and, secondly, they'd never pick you anyway you have no skills nor discipline nor mettle and, thirdly, if somehow hell and heaven coordinated their coparenting duties enough to muster up a wretched enough prophecy where you, of all people, was the only one who could fulfill it... then we're all fucked gentlemen because you're getting killed the moment you step out the door