#I've been playing Stardew Valley for like. A few months now. And I'm on year 2. And I've just got Haley to be my girlfriend

[anothermonikan]

In my humble opinion, the reason a lot of people find 'comfy games' stressful is because they take the game too seriously. Like. Believe it or not, Stardew Valley is a comfy and relaxing game if you don't treat it as like, a capitalist grind stimulator, same with Animal Crossing

[mushiemellows]

Okay SO I've been thinking a ton lately about the post-monoculture american franchise vacuum and how american art is in this really weird stage. It's happening in all levels, too, like I left working in contemporary art spaces last year because they're struggling to figure out how to present american identity in an outward facing way (rn big name contemporary art spaces are still very much stuck in that 2010s neoliberal palatable acceptability politics rut and they refuse to get interesting with it anyways).

So like, a few different things are coinciding with the way american mainstream media is structured that make it so right now, we are producing literally nothing on a mass cultural level. In some ways, I think that this is a good thing, america needs to step the FUCK back and reanalyze QUITE a lot of things. But regardless, culture is a byproduct of existence and therefore will be created regardless. There's two sides of mass scale art production, internal propaganda (art made by and for the people of the same culture) and external propaganda (art designed to advertise/project the image of/signify/idealize etc for those who are of a different culture). The way art production in america woks (namely: film, tv, AAA video games, a particular caliber of pop record label music) has been so stratified under the creator class of capitalism that the blood flow of culture is being cut off. The way global exporting also works, the mass marketability of a thing outweighs its cultral connections (think like, what's going on with Disney/Pixar movies atm).

It's easy to associate propaganda, particularly internal propaganda, as having strictly a nationalistic context, but keep in mind that I'm using a much broader definition. All art is propaganda because all produced art is an artist trying to establish or normalize a particular worldview. And I am two minds about this (as one should be when engaging with ALL art) but it boils down to like, for example, Captain America TWS. I can both like that film as a film, enjoy the ideas that it plays with, AND maintain a critical eye about how a nationalized protagonist icon is being fed to me (a post-modern aryan buff super hero symbol of america is still an aryan buff super hero symbol at the end of the day. The russians are still the bad guys. the black man still plays support. the tropes are still old. I'm getting off topic)

Anyways, so in terms of how america makes art right now, I think the three things we make quite effectively are youtube videos, indie music, and steam games that go for $15 and under. Everything else is a fucking headless chicken because shareholders and those with the MEANS to make art are only motivated by the PROFIT of making art, and therefore generally do not fund things that feel culturally resonant. But at the same time, America in the 20th century made A LOT of it's money in global art export, so there's this sense of like, lost glory almost. Like the profits are still being made or whatever so this shit's still getting produced but like. I feel more culturally connected to Stardew Valley than I do to the Rise of Skywalker does that make ANY SENSE?!

This is only getting worse because in america, the production of essentially everything gets shifted into in import. We don't make many things (except fucking WEAPONS jfc), we don't grow as many crops as we once did (the majority of crops I believe are for feeding livestock, and the only reason we don't import meat is because it would go bad lol) and the big shift of the last 25 years has been to start importing essentially all of our art (hey! I'm posting this on my blog devoted to the biggest global export comic in the world! What a coincidence!).

This process has only been amplified by the writers/actors strike. We still havent felt the effects of it because of how the pipeline works, that'll catch up in about 6-10 months from now. Last time we played this game, the void was filled by low budget trashy reality tv, but they can't really play that card a second time in a row so it looks like the next move is eastern imported media (kdramas and shounen manga tbh) (Netflix isn't investing their whole pussy into one piece because they think Luffy's brand of leftism is cool, they're doing it because infinite tv generating box prints money) (one of the reasons i like studying this fucking show and fandom is that it has so much potential to be bastardized by ai and bullshit and then the people keep putting the heart back into it and I just think that's neat, but it still is valid to criticize the infinite money printing box is what I'm saying)

There's this really fascinating void that is being filled by export because the means of art production under capitalism prioritize what's cheap over how communities have naturally created culture over the years. I moved 3,000 miles a few years ago and I ate at the same restaurants and bought the same groceries and watch the same movies at the same amc's. If we were living just like 150 years ago that would not be the case, that big of a distance should take you to a culture wildly different from your own in most other contexts (or like. Europe.)

What I'm saying is that I don't want a new face of propaganda, I don't want art assigned to me. I want to live in community and make shit with my hands and i want that to be enough.

Anyways, in summation, Franky's one of the best post-modern caricature the american man ever penned to paper because he processes the external projected propaganda while also acknowledging that the real fun shit that is kinda commendable is when we're dirty angry kinky fuckin rock and roll queers and true freedom comes from relinquishing positions of power in this essay I will...

[carrs-universe-writes]

Hi! It's certainly been a while, hasn't it?

I'll spare everyone the details, mostly because it's nothing interesting. But the short story is this: I spent most of the last couple months getting sick repeatedly, only to then have another mental breakdown that landed me in the psych ward for a weekend.

So I've kinda shelved writing for a moment to focus on myself. But on top of that, some things have happened outside of my health that have led to me having to learn to code the games myself. I can't get the current builds on twine from Ivan and have to start completely over, which is fine. I'll be able to change a few things. But anyone that knows anything about me knows I'm technologically illiterate, so. Uh.

I would love to work on it right now, but not only do I have to learn to code, but learning is put on hold while my doctor and I iron out the kinks of my medication. I know this last year has been a lot of me saying "its coming I promise! Soon!" But unfortunately things just haven't been going my way.

It's been stressful to think about how long all the WIPs have been on hiatus while I just play Stardew Valley and try not to have a panic attack every night, but I can't do anything but be patient with myself. As irritating as that is for me. I'm not the most patient person.

I'll be back when I can, don't be shy about asks or anything of the like, I'm happy to answer. But writing is on hold for a while.

[lilypadding]

Hii! I haven’t really been active here for some time sooo how are you? How have you been? :)

HIIII!!! honestly I haven't been very active here either, I just hop in every so often. I should go back to the time when this was my #1 social media cause that was a lot easier to digest than twitter LOL

(this ended up being longer than i thought so I added a read-more)

I've been okay generally, I feel like I'm in a bit of a transitory period in my life where I'm trying new things and attempting to get myself to chase dreams that feel very far away. I just recently got on my Summer break from school, so I'm grateful for that! I was planning on taking another summer course, but I dropped it last second because it's technically not a requirement

I posted a random scene that I've been wanting to post on AO3 because I wrote it a while ago, it's basically an AU where Nagito is a fem musician and the whole premise is that she's popular (and so is the rest of the DR cast and some others, like just generally a fame AU cause I dig the idea so much) but it hasn't gotten many interactions since it primarily involves a rare-pair. (I've been so into Taylor Swift's music and her rise to stardom, it's been a recent fixation for me so I completely blame that on that AU/snippet of a fic.)

I have SOOOO many fanfics sitting in my documents of this rare pair, like 99% of them have fem nagito, and it mainly stemmed as an "inside joke" between my partner and I but now it's like second language to us and it's this weird thing where this version of fem nagito feels more like an OC if anything, cause the more deviations you take from canon the more creative liberty you impose on them and all that. I always feel a little bit like I'm lying when I post that content, because I love writing canon Nagito and writing him as accurately as I can muster because I'd like to think I do a good job, but then I remind myself that fanfic is entirely optional and I may as well post things that feel completely unique to me and even "out of character" because what's the harm in it? most sensible people will just click off if they don't like it.

Like, I posted this fic titled "3 years different*" on AO3 which was ANOTHER rarepair AU fem-nagito thing (Like, a different AU to the musician AU one) which, again, stemmed between my partner and I and I didn't expect anyone to read it and enjoy it but I got a pretty nice comment on the second chapter that warmed my heart and made me feel like posting was slightly worth it.

and I just love the rare-pair and I love my version of fem nagito that has shifted and grown - and while it's SO much fun to kinda have a little fandom AU between my partner and i, it gets sooo lonely being the only 2 people who are a fan of this hyper specific fandom-amalgamation we created??? like I'm only touching on it lightly here but THE LORE we made runs ridiculously deep, I've considered what a video-essay on it would look like trying to cover EVERYTHING and it would be A MESSS but it's so fun

in my personal life I've just been filling my time with animal crossing, I don't know if you're anything like this but I swing between all of my previous fixations when I don't find a new one and I just ping-pong between getting really sucked into one thing to another. like, a few months ago I was OBSESSEDDD with the sims 2. before that I think it was stardew valley. Now I'm back on animal crossing. I finally have a Switch so I've been decorating my island from SCRATCH for the first time ever, it's fun but I also find myself running out of ideas so quickly so I end up running around my island aimlessly wondering what I should do. I love building on animal crossing with long-form youtube content in the back.

I also want to start doing fan edits again!! I used to be really into it in 2020 (I Wonder why with the state of the world then), but I'm trying really hard to dabble more because playing around in After Effects and making transitions is genuinely a lot of fun. I hope i get into it more consistently

I'm also looking forward to a concert that I'm going to with my partner soon! I've never been to a concert so it'll be my first! I'm excited to dress up and hopefully know the words to the band !!

IDK why I'm just rambling LOL I got so excited to see this question in my ask! You're so sweet for reaching out and asking!! How have you been?!?! I want to know!!

[thewanderingace]

Oh my god I downloaded Stardew Valley the other day (finally. I got a coupon for a few download so I thought why not) and I am having SO MUCH FUN!!! I'm totally addicted!!

I've not been in the best headspace for like a month now. Just no energy for anything and really down. This game has been perfect. I totally get why people love it so much now. It's easy to play, there's lots to do but it's 100% chill. Apparently in super slow at it based on the few times I went to the wiki/reddit forums when I had a question and everyone has more achieved than I do right now at this point but it doesn't matter! Who cares! You can go at your own pace and its lovely! There's not wrong pace to go at! As someone who never games even a little bit this game has been perfect for me. I love it.

I just started year 2 and I've got an upgraded house, some chickens, a cow. I suck at fishing so much but mining is fun even though I'm only at floor 55. I haven't some much in the Community center cause I get distracted by interacting with the villagers and farming and just walking around enjoying the vibes. I wish the days lasted longer because I feel like I blink and it's midnight.

Speaking of the villagers, I LOVE THEM! I'm gearing up for marriage right and I'm torn between Shane, Abigail or Leah. But in all honestly I think I'm probably gonna go with Shane. I did not like him at first (he was so rude!) but now I'm utterly in love with this depressed, suicidal man who is trying so hard to get better and who loves pizza and his little chickens and his aunt and god daughter and wants to do good by them. I want to take him to my farm where he can quit JoJo Mart and just be happy amongst my farm animals all day.

Sidenote I love that you can marry either gender. Leah, Abigail, and Emily are my favorites of the bachelorettes. They have such cute interactions with my characters that I wanna die. Like Emily and her little smooches or Abigail hanging out in cemeteries practicing her swordplay or me encouraging Leah to put on an art show.

I'M OBSESSED!!!!!

[queenaeducan]

8 & 24!

8. Game of the year?

I actually don't think I played too many (new) games this year so the competition is admittedly not steep. If I took games I've also watched I've experienced GoW:Ragnarok, Hades, and Horizon Forbidden West. I also got super into Stardew Valley for like a month but I've technically played it before, it just works like Sims where I play it hours a day or not at all.

Anyway of the games new to me this year it'd be Hades. I actually did play it too. My only complaint about it is that I've had Hypnos at full hearts for like 60 runs and still haven't triggered dialogue to unlock the last few tiers or even give him ambrosia.

24. Have you kept your New Years Resolution?

My resolution was to read more, and I think I have! I finished my first book in an embarrassing amount of time and have been reading more fic. Ending the year with a Game of Thrones reread (just the first for now tho I want to move onto ACoK later) and I'm hoping to start a book called City of Brass in the new year bc I have a friend who recommended it!

[wave2tyun]

HI HI HI I’m working extra hours this month so I get little to no time to go online☹️ but like I’m getting paid extra so👀👀

BUT HOW ARE YOU MY BEAUTIFUL ALEX

I’m going on a trip Saturday and I hope I find cool stuff at the mall (I’m looking for Sanrio things)

MY BEAUTIFUL LIAAAAAAAA<3333🩷🩷🩷 GET THAT CASH!!!!!! MAKE THAT MONEY!!!!!!!! BUT TAKE CARE TOO AND JUST REPLY WHENEVER YOU'RE AVAILABLE, DON'T STRESS OVER IT :(((((((💞💞💞💞 sanrio!!! :0 DID YOU FIND ANYTHING?? :00 i'd love to see (if you're comfortable showing me ofc!!)

and a completely, purely scientific question: what's your favorite sanrio character??🧐 you remind me quite a lot of my melody!😚🩷

i'm doing mostly okayyy, just frustrated cause i've been feeling quite very low on energy lately and i don't get why😭😭 i sleep well at night but my energy just kind of crashes literally 2 hours after i wake up- and i can't take naps cause the heat makes it too hard to fall asleep during the day:( so i've been trying to do stuff that doesn't require that much effort asbdhjas i got my hands on some oil pastels for the very first time and I'M OBSESSEDDDDDD they're so much fun to draw with!! i've always been a bit afraid to play around with colour and they are really helping me get over that :0 i've also been continuing to play stardew valley here and there and now i'm only a few days away from finishing my 1st year😋🙏

[xpiester333x]

A list of all the games I played in 2022:

A list of every game I played in 2022 with my hours and my ratings for no reason other than I like making lists and its fun :D. Also because I've been working really hard at my back log and this is satisfying to look at!

I only rated the games I finished or gave a good shot at. If I played a game for 30-40 hours but didn't officially finish it, I think I still deserve to rate it. If it was only a few hours tho, I left those unrated for now.

I meant to post this last month but honestly I wanted the ability to add a read more because I PLAYED A LOT OF GAMES THIS YEAR.

Unpacking (completed) - 4 hours - 8/10

Darkwood (not completed, too spooky) - 4 hours - N/A

Lost Ark - 47.5 hours - 6/10

Garden Paws (not completed) - 29 hours - 8/10

Skyrim (not completed) - 12 hours - N/A

My Time at Sandrock (not completed) - 35 hours - 8/10

Wildermyth (not completed) - 3 hours - N/A

SCP: Secret Laboratory - 27 hours - 9/10 (with friends)

Stardew Valley (completed but not really) - 300 hours - 10/10

Little Witch in the Woods (not completed) - 1 hour - N/A

I'm On Observation Duty (completed) - 4 hours - 8/10

I'm On Observation Duty 2 (completed) - 2 hours - 7/10

I'm On Observation Duty 3 (completed) - 4 hours - 9/10

I'm On Observation Duty 4 (completed) - 6 hours - 10/10

I'm On Observation Duty 5(completed) - 12 hours - 9/10

Among Trees (I didn't abandon this game, it abandoned me) - 4 hours - 6/10

Stray (completed) - 10 hours - 10/10

Lorelai (completed) - 7 hours - 6/10

Calico (completed) - 6 hours - 4/10

Oxenfree (completed) - 6 hours - 5/10

Sudocats (completed) - 6 hours - 5/10

The Room (completed) - 3 hours - 8/10

The Room 2 (completed) - 3 hours - 8/10

The Room 3 (completed) - 7 hours - 6/10

The Room 4 (completed) - 5 hours - 9/10

Death & Taxes (completed) - 5 hours - 5/10

Little Nightmares (completed) - 4 hours - 10/10

A Building Full of Cats (completed) - 3 hours - 5/10

Bear & Breakfast (not completed) - 30 hours - 8/10

The Mortuary Assistant (completed) - 5 hours - 7/10

Tacoma (completed) - 3 hours - 5/10

Donut County (completed) - 2 hours - 5/10

Spiritfarer (not completed, barely started really) - 2 hours - NA

Resonance of the Ocean (completed) - 30 minutes - 4/10

100 Hidden Hares (completed) - 21 minutes - 5/10

Persona 4 (completed) 100 hours - 9.5/10

Wanted Raccoon (abandoned) - 1 hour - 0/10

Potion Permit (abandoned) - 6 hours - 3/10

Littlewood (not completed) - 4 hours - NA

Among the Sleep (not completed) - 2 hours - NA

A Little to the Left (completed) - 5 hours - 7/10

Zodiacats (completed) - 5 hours - 5/10

Save Room (completed) - 2 hours - 7/10

A Castle Full of Cats (completed) - 2 hours - 8/10

How to Bathe Your Cat (not completed) - 35 minutes - NA

Ever Seen a Cat? (completed) - 1 hour - 5/10

Hidden Shapes: Cat Realm (completed) - 5 hours - 6/10

NPC Problems: Vertex Coloring (completed) - 2 hours - 6/10

Hidden Cats in Paris (completed) - 30 minutes - 5/10

Ralph and the Blue Ball (completed) - 19 minutes - 6/10

Persona 5 (completed) - 130 hours - 10000000/10

Final Fantasy 14 - 1,975 hours (this year, almost 16k hours on record, and ever ongoing) - It's aight.

I plan to go back and finish the not completed ones one day, they just got temporarily forgotten for one reason or another. I have terrible ADHD so if I stop playing something for about a week I'll just forget it exists for a while so.

Some were very short, some were very long. Some were great, some were not so great. All in all though I accomplished what I wanted to this past year. I played more games, I worked through my back log.

Can't wait to play even more next year!!!

[smiledotdeer]

(( I feel like talking about myself outside of the few asks I sent in for that meme, so here we go!

Hi! I'm Sunny! Nice to meet you!

I live in Texas. Yeehaw.

I hit the big 3-0 this year. Specifically, on January 19th. Woohoo!

Speaking of my birthday, I share it with my grandfather! (The month and day. Not the year. LMAO.)

I have two half-brothers. One is 21 and the other is 17. They both share the same father.

My favorite color is green!

I LOVE horror! Movies, books, creepypastas, analog series on YouTube, etc. etc.! I can't say I've ever been truly AFRAID of anything in the genre, though; merely varying degrees of unsettled.

I also love video games! I played WoW for the LONGEST time (15-16 years), but I unsubbed this year due my interest finally dying out. Nowadays I play Tower of Fantasy, Genshin Impact, and FFXIV! I also enjoy The Sims, Stardew Valley, Starbound, Splatoon 3, Minecraft, and countless others.

I have a very wide range in music taste. As long as it isn't loud and mindless screaming or rap, I tend to enjoy it! My Spotify's "general music" playlist is a mishmash of varying styles from Celtic to pop to metal to oldies and everything in-between.

I also have an Alastor playlist on Spotify that I've been slowly building up for a while now; not for music HE enjoys, but for music I believe fits his character. HMU if you want the link!

I struggle greatly with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and very probable autism on a daily basis. I find it difficult to properly express myself, as well as share my ideas or even just ask people to do things with me like write or play games, even though I really want to because I hate feeling lonely.

The 1999 live action version of Animal Farm is, oddly enough, one of my comfort movies. I put it on very often and usually wind up falling asleep to it.

I am 100% a cat person. I love dogs, too, but cats have my heart. Black cats are my absolute favorite.

Some other things I love: coffee, Coca-Cola, pixel art, desserts, snow, pine scented candles, yellow roses, rats, snakes, rain, the smell of gasoline, bell bottom jeans, fake nails, puns, hugs, and singing.

My childhood TV shows consisted of The Magic School Bus, Are You Afraid of the Dark, The Bear in the Big Blue House, Little Bear, Blue's Clues, and Franklin.

I think that's enough for now, haha. Starting to run out of steam. I hope y'all enjoyed learning about me a little bit! 👉👈 ))

[angelcolored]

A Post About My New Favorite D&D Character

So I'm currently in a D&D campaign with some friends in a fantasy!AU of Stardew Valley, and in the campaign I'm playing as my new favorite D&D character, Rize.

(Art by @finchminch my wonderful DM)

Rize in an Eladrin, with skin the color of mahogany bark, and hair that from a distance looks in color like a spider's web. Their parents, along with about a dozen other Eladrin, left the Feywild a few years before Rize was born. They libed in a small, self-sufficient community for a few decades, but when they suffered a few harsh growing seasons and winters, a greedy corporation (Joja, for SDV fans) saw their opportunity to exploit their community, and offered to employ their workers, offering them resources in exchange for more-or-less giving up their way of life.

The corporation recognized Rize's talents in hunting, tracking, etc and saw in them an opportunity. They told Rize that they wanted to 'save' other communities, but some 'evil' people stood in their way, and asked Rize to... take care of those people.

Rize then spent most of their young adulthood working as a hitman in a society they knew next to nothing about.

(More art by @finchminch !!!)

After doing Joja's dirtiest work from the shadows for years, Rize stumbled upon an awful secret that made them question everything they'd done. They ran, and recognizing they couldn't return home or risk harm coming to their family, fled to a small farming community to try to turn a new leaf and start over... they moved to Pelican Town, and tried blending in as a simple farmer.

(Farmer!Rize art by @finchminch I love this sketch btw)

Things went fine,, for about a month. Since then, Rize has stumbled headfirst into trouble during a nearby cave-in, met a whole crew of colorful characters who banded together to save the life of their friend, and they've been slowly revealing to this new group that they're not the humble, peaceful farmer that they want to be.

In gameplay terms, Rize is a Rogue - Mastermind, level 3 right now. I LOVE this character and I love the way that as we olay the game I get to watch them evolve from thinking they're just a living weapon, to being a careful planner and strategist who does their best to solve problems before they ever have to draw a blade. The campaign is fun and my friends' characters are amazing, we get to explore lots of very real world themes like jealousy and trauma and love and death, while also cracking jokes and throwing punches at our bard for making stupid puns all the time. I've never felt this connected to one of my OC's before so I wanted to write up a post about them and share their story!!