#Vampire survivors stages

[stat-strikes-back]

is holocure actually harder than other games like it or am i just really godawful at it for some reason

[knight-of-heart-and-art]

two separate Sammy runs because I had to abort the first one due to framerate issues but like...they're definitely optimizing the game! last time I did a Sammy run it lasted about a minute and a half before the game straight up crashed. this time I got to 3.5 minutes and I was able to quit the run without a crash!

[aamitmorthos]

i love how vampire survivors is a game where all you do is move and the players were like

but what if we don't tho?

[adamnablelittledevil]

"There is Lestat, first and foremost, the author of four books of his life and his adventures comprising everything you could ever possibly want to know about him and some of us. Lestat, ever the maverick and the laughing trickster. Six feet tall, a young man of twenty when made, with huge warm blue eyes and thick flashy blond hair, square of jaw, with a generous beautifully shaped mouth and skin darkened by a sojourn in the sun which would have killed a weaker vampire, a ladies' man, an Oscar Wildean fantasy, the glass of fashion, the most bold and disregarding dusty vagabond on occasion, loner, wanderer, heart-breaker and wise guy, dubbed the "Brat Prince" by my old Master - yes, imagine it, my Marius, yes, my Marius, who did indeed survive the torches of the Roman Coven-dubbed by Marius the 'Brat Prince,' though in whose Court and by whose Divine Right and whose Royal Blood I should like to know. Lestat, stuffed with the blood of the most ancient of our kind, indeed the very blood of the Eve of our species, some five to seven thousand years the survivor of her Eden, a perfect horror who, emerging from the deceptive poetical title of Queen Akasha of Those Who Must Be Kept, almost destroyed the world. Lestat, not a bad friend to have, and one for whom I would lay down my immortal life, one for whose love and companionship I have ofttimes begged, one whom I find maddening and fascinating and intolerably annoying, one without whom I cannot exist.

[...]

But Lestat was calling. Lestat was, or so he claimed, afraid. I had to go. The last time he'd been in trouble, I hadn't been free to rush to his rescue. There is a story to that, but nothing as important as this one which I tell now. Now I knew that my hard-won peace of mind might be shattered by the mere contact with him, but he wanted me to come, so I went.

[...]

Of course I knew the very moment that he left this world. I felt it. I was in New York already, very near to him and aware that you were there as well. Neither of us meant to let him out of our sight if at all possible. Then came the moment when he vanished in the blizzard, when he was sucked out of the earthly atmosphere as if he'd never been there. Being his fledgling you couldn't hear the perfect silence that descended when he vanished. You couldn't know how completely he'd been withdrawn from all things minuscule yet material which had once echoed with the beating of his heart. I knew.

[...]

I didn't fear for Lestat, not really. I had no hopes for his adventure, except that he would appear sooner or later and tell us some fantastical yarn. It would be regular Lestat talk, for nobody aggrandizes as he does his preposterous adventures. This is not to say that he hasn't switched bodies with a human. I know that he has. This is not to say that he didn't wake our fearsome goddess Mother, Akasha; I know that he did. This is not to say that he didn't smash my old superstitious Coven to bits and pieces in the garish years before the French Revolution. I've already told you so. But it's the way he describes things that happen to him that maddens me, the way that he connects one incident to another as though all these random and grisly occurrences were in fact links in some significant chain. They are not. They are capers. And he knows it. But he must make a gutter theatrical out of stubbing his toe. The James Bond of the Vampires, the Sam Spade of his own pages! A rock singer wailing on a mortal stage for all of two hours and, on the strength of that, retiring with a slew of recordings that feed him filthy lucre still from human agencies to this very night. He has a knack for making tragedy of tribulation, and forgiving himself for anything and everything in every confessional paragraph he pens. I can't fault him, really. I cannot help but hate it that he lies now in a coma on the floor of his chapel here, staring into a self-contained silence, despite the fledglings that circle him for precisely the same reason as I did, to see for themselves if the blood of Christ has transformed him somehow and he does not represent some magnificent manifestation of the miracle of the Transubstantiation. But I'll come to that soon enough. I've ranted myself into a little corner. I know why I resent him so, and find it so soothing to hammer at his reputation, to beat upon his immensity with both my fists. He has taught me too much. He has brought me to this very moment, here, where I stand dictating to you my past with a coherence and calm that would have been impossible before I came to his assistance with his precious Memnoch the Devil and his vulnerable little Dora. Two hundred years ago he stripped me of illusions, lies, excuses, and thrust me on the Paris pavements naked to find my way back to a glory in the starlight that I had once known and too painfully lost. But as we waited finally in the handsome high-rise apartment above St. Patrick's Cathedral, I had no idea how much more he could strip from me, and I hate him only because I cannot imagine my soul without him now, and, owing him all that I am and know, I can do nothing to make him wake from his frigid sleep. But let me take things one at a time. What good is it to go back down now to the chapel here and lay my hands on him again and beg him to listen to me, when he lies as though all sense has truly left him and will never return. I can't accept this. I won't. I've lost all patience; I've lost the numbness that was my consolation. I find this moment intolerable."

THIS CHAPTER ISN'T OVER YET AND IT'S ALREADY PEAK INSANITY OMG

[apuff]

my predictions for wwwyf:

the whole band does the family guy death pose on the ground for the entire time slot instead of playing music. the crowd immediately gets lost trying to sing along without them and at some point it devolves into people shouting random parts of songs they like (this is especially funny for the songs that are definitively not in the black parade)

the previous thing but an event coordinator peeks on stage, pokes a few people with their shoe, and starts frantically making phone calls in a hushed but distinctly panicky voice

the concert starts like normal, but quickly devolves into a slapstick comedy performance of looney-tunes-esque injuries to reference the many injuries mcr sustained while doing the original black parade tours and music videos

mcr isn't on stage at all and the only thing you can see is vocaloid-style hologram skeletons doing the skeleton dance

i am in a completely different city at goodwill shopping for pieces of my halloween costume right at the time they start playing the breakdown in mama. as this is my favorite part of the whole black parade, i abruptly keel over from a heart attack in the middle of the store because of the transcendent power of band autism. in the decades that follow, no one will ever be able to understand the cause of my death, but let it be known that if you strain your ears to listen in the graveyard at night, the black parade can be heard quietly, almost inaudibly so, echoing from my headstone.

there isn't any comment about mcr5 the entire time. because we are conspiracy theorists, we take this as a tacit confirmation that mcr5 will infact be happening imminently

at certain points throughout the tracklist, random, or rather seemingly random, lyrics are changed by a letter or a word. this is enough to draw people's attention, and as it turns out, if you type all the changes made into a search engine, the singular result aside from people theorizing about it on reddit is an unknown, sketchy website that looks like it would instantly give you 500 malware and die. the website displays only a single picture of realistic human skull. when you inspect it, hidden amongst the code is a very different type of code, a cryptic string of letters and numbers. as it turns out, this text is actually instructions that have been put through WWII-era war encryptions. when translated, this text gives driving directions. if you follow its commands starting from the wwwyf grounds, you'll be taken on a downright frightening drive through some of the most backend streets & drug dealer houses & decrepit graveyards in the entire southwest. once you're thoroughly lost, then and only then will you be able to find the warehouse. this warehouse is a laburinthine mess of ancient relics, long-lost props from music videos, several very authentic looking vampire corpses, a few questionably stained revolvers, killjoy masks, rubble from the world trade centers, vintage marching band uniforms, a shocking variety of weapons, and finally a single edison tin foil cylinder. survivors from the warehouse later state they felt an overwhelming presence and could have sworn they saw a shadow in the corner of their eyes. after several months in the intensive care unit and several more months in both physical and mental therapy, these brave souls will place the cylinder, with shaking, scarred, and weak hands, into the phonograph, from which, after a torturous second of silence, will echo the first sweet notes of mcr5.

they accidentally point the pyrotechnics at the audience. oops!

some gay shit happens idk

[promptsforyourwhumpfic]

The Grand A-Z List of Whump 3/3

This list contains 194 items listed R to Z

As always, I heavily encourage people to research topics thoroughly when writing as it is important to avoid stereotypes/misinformation. This list's intention is to not glorify/romanticise sensitive topics in any way.

This is a comprehensive list of injuries, Illnesses and tropes - including those from the Whumptober 2023 trope vote!

All submissions are listed in italics, and those who wanted to be tagged will be included at the end. If you have any more submissions: please send them via DM/my ask box.

[A-H] [I-Q] [NSFW List]

List below the cut:

R

Rabies

Radiation Poisoning/Exposure

Radio Silence

Ransom Note/Video

Rashes

Recovery

Reducing breaks or dislocations (bonus: out in the field with no painkillers available)

Reflection

Rejection

Reluctant Caretaker

Reluctant Whumpee

Reminded of trauma

Reopened Wound

Repressed Emotions

Repressed trauma resurfacing

Rescue

Rescued by the enemy

Rescues gone wrong

Respiratory Distress

Restraints

Reuniting

Revenge

Ringing Ears

Ritual sacrifice

Rockslides

Role Reversal

Rope Burns

Running fingers through hair (maliciously or comfortingly)

Running Out of Air

Ruptured eardrum

S

Sacrifice

Sadistic Choice

Sartorial constraints

Scars

Scoliosis

Scraped Knees

Scratched corneas

Scratches

Seasickness

Second impact syndrome

Secrets

Sedated

Seeing double

Seizures

Self esteem issues

Self induced injury to escape

Self sacrifice

Self-aid

Self-inflicted injury (to escape)

Semi-consciousness

Sensory Deprivation/Overload

Sentimental Items

Separation

Sepsis

Servitude

Setbacks in recovery

Severed Artery

Shaking Hands

Shipwreck

Shivering

Shock

Shock collar

Shot (gun, arrow, dart, etc...)

Shrapnel (blast/wounds)

Sick/injured at a party

Skull fracture

Slapped

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep Paralysis

Sleeping in the cold

Sleeplessness

Smashing their head into a wall

Smoke Inhalation

Snake Bites

Sneezing

So sick they can barely even stand or stay awake

Significant other taking care of wounds

So weak they have to hold on to something or someone to walk

Solitary Confinement

Special object being ruined/torn apart

Spinal Cord Injury

Split lip

Sprains

Stab Wounds

Stabbed (sword, spear, knife, TRIDENT!, etc...)

Stabbed through the back by the only person the whumpee trusted

Stage fright

Stalking

Status epilepticus

Stiches

Stings (insect, creature, plants)

Stitches

Stoic/Defiant Whumpee

Stoic/Rude/Harsh Reluctant Caregiver!Mentor & Ball of Sunshine Hurt!Mentee (platonic)

Stomach ache

Stomach Ulcers (a cause for vomiting up blood)

Stomach virus

Straight Jacket

Strangling

Strangulation resulting in bruised or swollen vocal chords and loss of voice + the process of regaining your voice and everything that comes with that trauma.

Stress (this could induce headaches/general illness)

Stress Position

Stumbling

Sucking chest wound

Suffocating

Sunburn

Super glued to toilet

Surgery

Surgery gone wrong

Surrendering

Survivor's Guilt

Swollen Lymph Nodes

T

Tachycardia

Taking the bullet

TBI (traumatic brain injury)

Team as a family

Team has a certain amount of time to get to their Whumpee before they’re killed

Team teaming up to take care of sick teammate

Temporary Loss of Sense(s)

Tendonitis

Tetanus

The Final Straw

Thrown from an explosion

Time Loop

Tiny whump

Tonsillitis

Tooth knocked out

Torn Ligaments - Achilles, Meniscus etc.

Torn Muscles

Torture

Touch Aversion/Touch Starved

Tranquilizer Dart

Trap

Trapped (whether this is after an explosion, car accident, natural disaster…)

Trapped Limbs

Trapped underwater

Trauma reveal

Tremors

Trust Issues

Truth spell/serum

Tuberculosis

Twisted ankle

U

Undead (vampires and ghosts and zombies, oh my!)

Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms

Unresponsive

Upper respiratory infection

Used as bait

Usually big, strong and boisterous whumpee becomes quiet and weaker as the whumper conditions them.

UTI (Urinary Tract Infection)

V

Vampire whump

Vampires Thrall

Vehicular Accident

Venom

Vertigo

Very badly hurt and on life support - with slow recovery

Virus

Visions

Vocal chord paralysis

Vomiting/Vomiting blood

W

Waterboarding

West Nile virus

Whip scars

Whipping/Flogging

Whumpee being psychologically tortured via fake escape scenarios so when they are actually getting rescued they don't believe it. bonus point if they still don't think anything is real.

Whumpee dreams of a loved one happily inviting them “home” (They're actually dying IRL)

Whumpee getting the upper hand over whumper.

Whumpee stabbing whumper or beating their head into the ground over and over while sobbing, even when they’re clearly dead because they NEED to take their emotions out.

Whumpee turned Whumper

Whumpee watches caretaker take a bullet/hit/poison for them.

Whumper turned Caretaker

Whumper turned whumpee

Whumper with a crush

Wincing/Flinching

Wing whump

Wisdom Tooth Removal

Withdrawal

Withholding Medical Treatment

Witnessing. (Whumpee sees someone die in a brutal way. Whumpee sees someone get possessed/turned into a zombie/some other horrifying thing and they just stare horrified.)

Working for the enemy

Working through injury/illness

Working to Exhaustion

Wrists rubbed raw

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Wrongfully Accused/Arrested

Wrongfully fired

X

Xeroderma. (Extreme sun sensitivity)

XMRV is a newly identified human retrovirus that is similar to a group of mouse retroviruses (called murine leukaemia viruses, or MLVs)

Y

Yellow Fever

Z

Zombie virus, etc.

Zoonotic Hookworm

Zoonotic illness (It’s a disease carried or transmitted by animals to humans like tularemia or psittacosis)

Zosler (Shingles)

Zygomycosis (Fungal infection)

TAG LIST: Thank you very much to the following people for submitting ideas! (I apologise if some tags did not work, I'm not sure why tumblrs not letting me tag you!)

@I-eat-worlds | @greygullhaven | @letsgowhump | @cyberwhumper @firapolemos05 | @originaldeerhottub | @whumpilicious | @drawing-dinos82 | @carenrose | @stellarinuscronicles | @gottheseasonalblues | @marvelflame2010 | @sowhumpful | @avamcu | @courtneygacha | @lordofthewhumps | @autismmydearwatson | @kuddelmuddell | @the-most-handsome-ginger | @whirls-and-swirls | @painsandconfusion

[optimalmongoose4]

The year is 3122 Vampire Survivors has grown to include every known media property in existence, there is a full-scale 1-1 recreation of Earth in the game as a map, technology far beyond our comprehension has been developed to run the later stages of the game, there are still no vampires.

[the-cypress-grove]

I saw your "So, you want to write vampires..." post, and I was wondering if you can do something like that for zombies? Completely okay if you cant though !!

So, You Want To Write Zombies....

I had intended to turn the "So you want to write BLANK..." into a series so feel free to make requests of different creatures or things to so I can prioritise what you will find useful. I haven't written about zombies in a while so this will be a little rusty. Tell me if I need to change or add anything. With that said, ONWARDS!

Origins

This is more important than with my vampire episode. Most zombie stories are usually set in or around the initial outbreak so it is vital that YOU know how it started even if your characters don't.

Potential Origins you might want to consider:

Experiment Gone Wrong: It was believed to be a cure until patient zero died and rose again.

Experiment Gone Right: It was a biological weapon deliberately created and released.

A Result Of Climate Change: Some sort of virus, bacteria, or fungus was trapped in the ice and, as the icecaps melted, it was released.

Magic: An option for if you're going for a more fantastical setting.

Virus / Fungal Infection: A classic, but a good one.

Aliens: It's a result of alien interference.

2. Build Your Zombies

There are many things to consider when your deciding what traits your zombies will have and a lot of that will stem from your origins. Do they just shuffle or can they run? Can they evolve or change? Can they speak? How is the infection spread e.g. is it by touch, by biting, is it airborne? Are they affected by the cold (with no body heat it might freeze them solid or at the very least slow them down)? Are they affected by the heat (this will speed up the rotting process maybe causing them to fall apart)? Do they congregate in groups? Is there a cure? Can it even be cured? How quickly will an infected person turn? Can they swim / move through water? Can animals be infected or can they carry diseases? What are the zombies senses like e.g. can they sniff people out? How do they hunt e.g. are attracted by noise, or smell?

All these will factor will determine how likely it is for your human character to survive.

Most importantly, what are you going to call them? In most media, zombies are never called zombies.

3. Themes

The zombie genre explores some of the most interesting themes (at least to me), as often the true monsters of zombie stories tends to be what humanity becomes when law and order is overturned. How far will people go to survive? Who are the true monsters; the zombies, or the people left behind?

4. Characters

Whether you have one human character or, more likely, you end up having a group, it's interesting to explore the pack bonding that occurs when these people trauma bond with each other. They go from strangers to a family unit willing to kill to protect each other.

Some things to consider:

Who is more likely to survive the initial outbreak? First responders will probably die first as they will be on the front lines during the initial outbreak. Most people in cities will die. Rural communities / those who live in isolation will be more likely to survive the initial stages.

Humanity WILL change: in order to survive people will become increasingly ruthless and selfish. This is an arc you may wish to explore through a character.

Who will be valued: doctors, vets, anyone with combat experience, will be highly valued by survivor groups. What skills will your groups need/look for? If your story takes place years/decades after the first outbreak are these skills taught and handed down or were they hoarded. What professions are more likely to survive your zombies?

Trauma: ALL your characters when exposed to your setting WILL be affected. They will all handle this in their own way. It is up to you to decide how they do it and how it manifests. Are they paranoid? Are they mistrusting? Do they try to drink to forget? Do they push others away because they lost people? Or are they clingy?

5. Setting

Your setting will have a great impact on your characters. Cities are likely to become overrun, rural communities are likely to last longer. In the cold, zombies might be slow or stop all together until they thaw. In the heat, they might rot quicker and fall apart.

If your story takes places years after the first outbreak it is likely most stores will have been stripped of their supplies by various groups.

Places where communities might form:

A bunker: is this the beginning where people are afraid? Is this later on when they need to leave when they are running out of supplies? Have generations lived down there?

A boat or a series of boats: it's mobile and zombies are not likely to be able to swim. How do they get their food? How do they get clean drinking water?

A prison: It's defendable, but how did they clear it out?

An old castle or fort: they're built for defence but how do they get supplies?

Hills / Mountain: the terrain makes it difficult for a hoard of zombies to navigate.

6. First Response / First Days

This will be where most stories begin. The response will depend on your selected origins. Who are the first to die? Who is more likely to survive? How desperate is your character to survive? How smart is your character? What is the government's response (do they want to help, will they send in the armies, or will they burn cities in an attempt to contain the zombies)?

Where does the outbreak begin?

How quickly does it spread?

7. Decay of Modern Society

All rule and law WILL breakdown, but how long does it take? This will happen quicker in some groups / people than it will in others. What rules will groups enact amongst themselves?

Have buildings become rundown and overgrown? Is tinned food still good? How have people adapted to their situation? Do cars still work?

8. Supplies

What are people eating? How are they getting it? What about clean water? Medicine?

All this will impact how long your characters will supplies and can add conflicts and dangers for your group. A zombie in a well will taint the water. A store that's been cleaned out will leave your character hungry, desperate, and irritable. If your character is diabetic, how are they getting insulin or NOT getting insulin. What about asthma? Can they find inhalers?

9. Dangers

Obviously, you have the zombies but there are other dangers out there.

Consider:

Other people within their group, other groups, or lone survivors.

The weather

Unstable buildings

Injuries and illnesses

Their own mental health

Eating the wrong plant

Animal e.g. roaming packs of starving dogs

REMEMBER; WHILE ALL WILL CHANGE, HUMANS WILL ALWAYS BE HUMANS. SHOW THE BAD, BUT ALSO THE GOOD.

[demonfox38]

Completed - Vampire Survivors (Base + Ode to Castlevania DLC)

This game makes my brain scream at me.

Like, okay. I'm an average office worker. If I'm not in a meeting, I've got something from YouTube running in the background. Music playlists, video essays, whatever. So, in agreement, in disagreement, whatever—the terms "hauntology" and "dopamine addiction" are consistently in my short-term memory thanks to the video essay portions. The rot of culture by failure to let new ideas bloom, clinging to nostalgia and old symbols. Taxing and abusing neurotransmitters in search of instant happiness. Fun, happy things to ponder while I try to burn these hours of my life away.

Do I think either are threats? Well, unchecked nostalgia, definitely—especially when it's faux 1950s Americana influencing law to restrict the rights of others. Dopamine addiction is a bit more of a mixed bag. Like, you've got to create habits of maintenance, absolutely. Cooking, cleaning, exercise, grooming, so on. But, if you're clever, you can figure out how to use your reward system to help support these habits. Starving it or trying to obliterate it won't help, especially if it causes rebound issues. It's just…ya know. Gaining an appreciation for slower processes over instant gratification and deriving lessons from the struggles of life over bodily abuse and obliteration.

I bring these topics up because I got both "Vampire Survivors" and its "Ode to Castlevania" DLC for the cost of a goddamn cheeseburger. This pixel-exploding throwback of a game lasted me for over 100 hours. Drug dealers and fast-food restaurants would wither and die at such a nexus of cost and effectivity.

Some killjoy could do real numbers discussing hauntology and dopamine addition as the subjects apply to this game.

Should I have gotten into "Vampire Survivors" sooner? Possibly? The communal vibes I absorbed on it were nothing but praise. I don't know if I would have felt brave about trying a Rogue-like prior to playing "Baroque," but I do enjoy a good ol' fashioned bullet hell / shooter, from time to time. It might be lame that it literally took the announcement of a "Castlevania" DLC for me to give this game a try, but hey. This DLC did better about pulling me in than "Dead by Daylight" or "Dead Cells" did under similar circumstances.

What's "Vampire Survivors" about? When I figure that out, I'll get back to you. Most of the narrative I'm picking up is derived from a mix of stage names, enemy bestiary entries, and the surnames of the characters I unlock. Generally speaking, it's about Belpaese and Ladonna kin coming together to endure waves of monsters until the cold, clammy fingers of death come for them. And then, finding a way to break past their power. The powers behind them. The limitations of space and time. Research gone horribly wrong, time and time again. Creepy things hidden at the bottom of towers. Fallen civilizations. Corrupted religious sects. Milk-based magic. Ya know. Wholesome stuff!

In another world—with another particular video game company and their infamously litigious team of lawyers—"Vampire Survivors" may not have made it past its first year. It's not hard to see what game series may have inspired the creation of its lead whip-wielding fighter of the undead. Arca Ladonna may be even more egregious in the video game celebrity look-alike competition. (Don't even get me started on those Blue Venus creatures!) But, the aesthetic inspiration certainly doesn't stop at Konami properties! "Bayonetta", "Batman", "Okami", "Sonic the Hedgehog", "Mortal Kombat"—there's gonna be at least one situation you'll have where you end up snorting with laughter with how close to the copyright line this game rides.

Also, "Vampire Survivors" is the most Italian video game I've ever played. Like, yes, tee-hee on "La Borra" and "Testa di Mano" enemies. Nothing is as fucking authentically Italian as naming a character after Cristina D'Avena. Like, goddamn. How do you top that? Make a stage based on the set design for Dario Argento's "Suspiria" and "Inferno" films? Have playable knockoffs of "Lupin the Third" characters? How about an entire race of sentient ducks running parallel to human society? Call their main hero Duckabolik or something. Goddamn.

Although, there were those ducks in space…

So, I put an RPG's worth of hours into the game without getting much in the way of plot. Obviously, something else is keeping me around. How about that core gameplay loop? It starts simple enough. Move your dude up, down, left, and/or right as needed. Hit enemies with attacks. Pick up gems. Level up. Repeat until you die or you hit 30:00, at which point the game sends a Reaper after you to finish you off for good. Run the game again, continue grinding up weapons, unlock more people and levels, etcetera. So goes this song in a round.

You determine your own progress with this game through the Achievements screen. Look at what items remain, make your next goal, and finish off what you can in your next game. Progress will remove some tasks from this list, but it may add others as more opportunities unfold. Empty out your Achievements? Well, guess what? You'll get an extra round of tasks in a brand-new Secrets screen as well! Clearing that may not get you bonus trophies in Steam, but it may get you some additional levels and characters, too. Ditto the Adventures mode too, while you are at it!

Actually, the Adventures mode is pretty strange, if you don't have other DLC for this game. It's really only two stories? Weird. Seems underutilized. Kind of strange that Konami didn't pitch something for this mode, too…

If you're looking for a general overview of tasks to complete, this may help:

Get through the first five game maps, performing well enough to unlock their Hyper Mode options.

Trigger and kill the special boss in Moongolow.

Pick up the Yellow Sign and use that to start killing Reapers.

Kill the special boss that now spawns in Capella Magna.

Gather all base relics (including defeating the damned Sketamari.)

Harass the final boss for two more relics.

Fight the final boss.

It helps to experiment with different weapons and passive items. Leveling up different weapons unlock different characters, so that makes it an easy sell. Using the correct combination of passive items with weapons may also augment the weapon, giving it different (usually better) properties. Getting proficient with different characters may also unlock Arcana cards, which can grant your character with random bonuses while in a battle. Long story short—don't go stale, and neither will the game.

Also, "Castlevania" fans: go look at the names for those Arcana cards. Come back when you've face-palmed.

Most of the game's complexity comes from making your randomly-assigned resources count. The enemies are simplistic, just ambling towards you. The pressure comes more from managing distance from them and your own powers as the enemy's strength grows over time. (Honestly, the biggest difficulty spike may just come from not getting a Garlic weapon, of all things.) Sketamari is the most complicated creature I had to deal with, and that was more building a viable weapon stack in a short amount of time and preventing any interlopers from building it up than anything else. Everything else is…well. Dodge the shit and don't get touched. Video Game Rules 101.

While aesthetically simple, the game is a glory when it comes to CPU resource management. Lesser machines could not handle the glut of objects and particles being rendered on screen, particularly in later parts of a level. I suppose a creature doesn't need more than three frames of animation when a hundred or so of them are being rendered on screen at once. It's amazing this game is as stable as it is, for all of what it is doing. I've had it chug once, sure. Even had it lock up my computer, one time (although one of my poodles was a contributor to that mess.) But, man. Whatever is going on with managing the location, health, and appearance of all on-screen objects is nothing short of technomancy.

The music is also pretty solid, too. Loops well; doesn't get distracting. Honestly, it sometimes gets crushed by the sound effects, but you can adjust the audio and music tracks to balance it out. I appreciate the soundtrack not being above having a joke or too, as well. (Remember: this is an exceedingly Italian game.)

With this game, you need to pace yourself. If you get every run perfect, you'll be spending somewhere between 15-30 minutes in intense play. (Assume you'll be more on the longer end than shorter.) The circular motions you'll be making can be taxing on your thumbs. Make sure to get up, stretch, and rest your eyes and hands every hour. Your body will appreciate it.

Also, seriously. Take the game's flashing warning to heart. You can adjust some settings to ease up on what is being rendered, but the game is designed to burn like a comet. There's gonna be tons of debris shearing off it, and you do not want that scalding your eyeballs.

For those of you hopping in via House Dracula, the DLC "Ode to Castlevania" provides an additional map, as well as…well, the marketing says 40+ weapons and 20+ new characters, but let me tell you. That plus sign is hiding a lot. Like, 90+ pieces of music, 25 bosses, and several dozen new enemies. Damn.

Much like the base game, you're not gonna get much more in the way of plot. It's mostly pushing as far as you can in a single go, punishing bosses as you gather the strength to tackle them and unlocking your Belmont, Belnades, or buddy of choice. However, there is a fun little treat at the map's end regarding the English opening cutscene of "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" and Death being a goddamn nightmare. Like, damn, dude. I know the breakup of a bromance that lasted a millennium was rough on you, but this is not the best way to react.

Because of the map's ungodly size and number of tasks to tackle, you'd be better off making good headway into the main game before tackling this. At the very least, it will help you to get that time limit lifted with an Endless mode unlock. (You can also eventually invert the castle, if you're into that.)

The loop here is more like:

Unlock Belmonts (generally, in order of timeline, with a few exceptions.)

Use Belmonts to unlock ally characters, beat bosses, and unlock parts of the map.

Push forward until you finally get Richter.

Use Richter to fight Death.

Max out your new wave of characters.

Fight new bosses.

Find the Pile of Secrets and Wood Carving Score.

Continue until all secrets are exhausted.

That should hold you out…Oh, I don't know. A good 50 hours or more?

I can't get over how deep this DLC digs into "Castlevania" characters and songs. Finally, in 2024—after getting booted from two other games!—we have a playable Hammer. And a playable Mina Hakuba. LMAO. I know people didn't have her on their bingo card, but damn. There are all kinds of playable characters here that I never expected to see, whether in terms of capabilities, story fates, or just coming out of the wrong division of Konami Computer Entertainment. I don't know who wanted a playable Vincent, but uh…there you go. Congrats to you.

I mean, what? Am I supposed to be a shithead and ask for the merchant from "Harmony of Dissonance" or someone from Wygol Village? Fucking 80 goddamn characters, and two are the final Sorrow cast members that I was missing. And fucking Quincy Morris of all goddamn people, now that the copyright for Stoker's "Dracula" has gone to hell. Screw it. I'm take the W and leaving on this one.

With the way Quincy looks in this game, doesn't he look a bit like the North American cover of "Castlevania Bloodlines"? It's making me question some things about that box art…

The DLC takes a fair amount of flexibility when it comes to cast powers. Like, you're not gonna get soul or power absorption with Shanoa or Soma, but you are going to get unique boosts for each cast member. Every Belmont gets a unique way to use their whip, so that's neat! A great way to prevent stagnation, for sure. And, hey. Don't like the default weapon your character starts with? You can switch that out eventually, too. Just gotta prove your competence. Meet some achievements. Do the "Vampire Survivors" grind.

Most of the "Castlevania" remixes are pretty solid as well. Just take a YouTube playlist already. Enjoy. (I was particularly tickled by "Wood Carving Partita" and "The Sinking Old Sanctuary," for what that is worth.)

Now, the songs aren't exactly paired with the characters you may expect. Like, Christopher Belmont gets "Beginning", which then throws "Trevor" into "Aquarius", throwing Sypha and Yoko off, and so on. If you get the Magic Banger relic, it's no big deal to correct. It's just funny how preconceptions can make cool music otherwise seem off.

There was one major part that actively pissed me off with this DLC, and it was unlocking Camilla. The flavor text on her unlock secret implies that a Belmont needs to kill her off (either Leon, Simon, or Sonia, whomever you consider the "first" Belmont to be.) The actual method of unlocking her is hitting her with a Nightmare spell. Like…okay? I'm hoping that'll be patched out later, but man. Wasting hours on that only to find out I was being misled was annoying.

I can't say the sweat needed to unlock Brauner was worth it as well. He isn't as immediately frustrating, but he takes way more time than seems necessary. Just go toss the Blood Astronomia and some compatible weapons on Dracula, get him up to the gallery, level him to a stable point, and park him for a couple of hours.

As shit tier as 2024 has been personally, I can't help but be comforted with the "Castlevania" game releases this year. The "Dominus Collection", the "Dead by Daylight" DLC, and the cherry on top, this. I shouldn't have needed such an incentive to play "Vampire Survivors," but I was more than happy to go hog-wild on this game and its DLC. God bless the development team for this game. They may have developed the digital version of a stimulant drug that makes my hands and brain scream, but I can only hope the best for them.

Good people put their fan translators in their credits, man. And poncle's staff…them's good people, that's what.

The base "Vampire Survivors" is currently available for $4.99 USD on Steam, although that price tends to frequently dip down a dollar for seasonal sales. "Ode to Castlevania" tacks on another $3.99 USD. There are additional levels of DLC and expansions past that point, if you want more. I'm not certain if you'll find more vampires to survive, necessarily, but at least you've got, like, actual vampires to survive now. Which, apparently, is a whole ass meme I didn't know about before!

What's the official count on that now, anyway? You don't fight Dracula, so I don't think you can count him. But, there's Walter, Joachim, Carmilla, Orlox, a Jiang Chi, Stella & Loretta…actually, do you count them? I mean, I know the Sanctuary spell works on them, so I'd say yes, but…Or, wait. Shit. Does "Vampire Survivors" mean the vampires you survive, or the vampires that are also surviving alongside you? Maybe I didn't think this through…

Man, counting vampires shouldn't be as hard as surviving them. Ah ah ah!

[ask-dbd-wh-au]

When Y/n dies, do they come back to life somehow in order to help Wally? I noticed that Y/n seems to remember hugging Wally and then dying. Is it possible that they just keep coming back because they're needed for something? Or is it just how that universe works until they "reach the end"? (the end being saving Wally) Or is just by sheer force of will that they keep coming back?

I apologize if this question is strange, I love this AU, despite not knowing anything about Dead By Daylight and I'd love to learn more!

*cracks knuckles*

Alrighty, so let me explain a few things ‘cause many questions like these are easily answerable if you know or have played DBD before! It's understandable if you aren't familiar with the game that this au is based on to be confused or lost about these aspects of its world. So! Let me do a rough summary of how the world of Dead by Daylight (the game) works and its lore!

So, the world that our darling Y/N and Wally find themselves in is neither earth nor the neighborhood that Wally comes from, it's a realm entirely created by the Entity. The Entity is an eldritch, world/reality destroying, horror that captures survivors and killers from various universes and realities to play into its twisted games to feed off their emotions, in a sense.

Many consider it like an Emotion Vampire, it feeds on fear, desperation, rage, hope, anger, and other intense emotions.(Which is why it never allows Wally any comfort or happiness, he’s supposed to be a killer invoking terror on the survivors, not the sad lil meow meow he actually is) When a killer or a survivor becomes numb and hollow of all emotions their soul is all consumed by the Entity and it replaces them with a new victim that its captured.

With that in mind, the way the Entity has these games (or also known as trials) is incredibly integral to how the Entity feeds. These hunts and deaths you see Y/N get chased and killed in are all a part of Trials the Entity creates using worlds it has consumed before as the stage.

Each trial has 4 survivors trying to fix 5 generators so they can power up an exit gate to “escape”. This is how the Entity feeds off hope, survivors think they are escaping the nightmare that is the Entity but in actuality they are just brought back to the campfire just to go into yet another trial all over again, an endless cycle. Opposing the survivors are the killers that the Entity has captured and brought to its realm to bring out these intense emotions from survivors, some killers are more willing than others… and some… well, they learn to obey the Entity one way or another.

The killers hunt and murder the survivors and the survivors try their damndest to try and escape and that cycle repeats over and over and over again until they are emotionless husks, the Entity constantly consuming from them the whole way through. In reality, no survivors remember what happens between trials and campfires, the Entity typically wipes clean their memory so they come in like fresh juiceboxes most of the time.

However, Y/N has always had a habit of writing things down to remember small things. Now that they are in the Entitys realm, they utilized their notebooks to help retain their memories through entries of their past experiences, its the only reason why they remember past trials at all.

So TLDR: Y/N keeps coming back from death because the entity is not done feeding off them.

(on another note as well: Y/N doesnt always face Wally, it's random who you get put with each time in a Trial which is why Y/N struggled to find Wally again so much. Just as Y/N doesn’t always face against Wally, Wally doesnt always wind up in trials with Y/N and is left to his struggles with the entity alone)

Also campfires are basically a respawn point all damage you got from Trials will go away and you basically reset and your memories wiped. Y/N's notebook is incredibly essential to helping retain their memories.

I will say I'm not exactly the best at explaining things but things like google and lore videos on youtube can go even more in-depth about the lore of DBD and how the world works!

Hope this helps and thank you greatly for the ask! I love talking about DBD since its a game I love to play and its lore has always been interesting to me!

-Demi💙

[nalyra-dreaming]

the more I think about it, the more I think fuck it, survival arc for half the Théâtre des Vampires characters!!!! Honestly AR, you can't create the EPIC concept of a troupe of immortal theatre kids and then.... just..... sacrifice them all!? I know it's horror, some death count, sure, but not all. PLEASE, moderation. The later Vampire Chronicles feel a bit like the disturbing last episodes of Llamas with Hats where Charlie has killed the entire world and nobody is left except Charlie(/Lestat*.) *but where's the relation to Lestat? I'll tell you how I see it, and you're free to disagree but even so, I'm still going to want my survival arcs for the vampire thespians (in fanfiction, not the series. I don't make unrealistic demands of series.). :3 How I see it is that Anne Rice wrote all the Chronicles with essentially only Lestat in mind. Even when she wrote whole books for the other characters, it was very often with the ultimate goal of showing how their existence affected Lestat. She deviated a bit with Pandora and Marius, but Lestat was her utimate hyperfocus. This caused her to neglect some of her -in my opinion- more interesting concepts, such as Devil's Minion -imagine a whole BOOK!?- and the Théâtre des Vampires. In the book, Louis and Claudia spend like a week at the theatre before they kill Claudia and in turn Louis kills them all. That's certainly an author's choice. Come ON, a century old undead theatre troupe and you just ....kill them? Don't even explore them (like the series did, at least) instead of taking them on the hero's journey into the modern age? The story potential! THE WASTE! Yes, to be FAIR, when she wrote IWTV she maybe wasn't planning on a sequel. But it's not like she never retconned a death, either. It seems that she liked the idea of Lestat being the lone star of the show, the showpony of the 80s, while Armand losing his community in a roundabout way serves as karma for being mean to Lestat. On top of that, the author has Akasha come along and kill even more vampires, until it ultimately feels like Lestat and Louis are living in an Ark with a few survivors because the story left barely any other vampires alive. Lestat's an actor, he needs not only an audience but also an ensemble to lift him! So, yeah. Fanfiction authors are powerful. That's all <3

:) They are.

And I wished that she had made more of certain aspects of the tale, like you said, DM, or the theater. I have a feeling the show might ... keep some threads alive. I mean, in the books Eleni and Allessandra survive, too!! So I have hopes that the show will fill in the gaps the book left, tbh. I mean, they obviously do fill in so many gaps already... and they had someone survive... :)

BUT :))))

Anne actually recognized that Lestat needed that and wanted that recognition, and the ensemble!! It is literally how the last book ends, the full arc of him being pulled off and being alienated... and then coming to be with his "tribe" (as Benji calls them iirc).

Here is the end of "Blood Communion" - and every time I read the books/parts of the books I am grateful that Anne gave them (and thereby us) a certain closure through it. That certainly wasn't something I expected after ... Memnoch back then.

Under the cut, in case someone does not want to read the actual ending :)

Blood Communion

I sat back and closed my eyes, and the realization I’d been avoiding since that night, that night that I’d brought Rhoshamandes’s remains back, the realization that I’d avoided as impossible, that realization fully took hold of me. Visibility, significance, recognition! All that I’d ever wanted when I took to the rock music stage, all that I’d ever wanted as a boy heading to Paris with a head full of dreams, all I’d ever wanted I now had right here with my brothers and sisters! I had all that I had ever hoped for, and I had it here and now in this place and amongst my own people. The old human story simply did not matter. I had this, I had this moment, I had this recognition, and this visibility and this significance. And how could I ask for anything more? How could I look from right to left, at immortals who had witnessed all the epochs of recorded history, and want more than this? How could I gaze at immortals who’d been drawn to this very spot by something more immense than they’d ever witnessed, and long for more than the recognition they were now giving me? The victory of our own tribe to embrace one another, and let go of the hatred that had divided us for centuries, was my victory. “To the Blood Communion,” I said in my heart. And I felt the cold numbing shell of alienation and despair which had imprisoned me all of my life among the Undead—I felt that shell cracked, broken, and dissolved utterly into infinitesimal fragments. What had been taken from me by Magnus had been repaid a thousandfold. And what had been snatched away that night in San Francisco when Akasha visited death and horror on our rock music spectacle had been given back a thousandfold. And I knew now that I could be the monarch that my people wanted. Because they were indeed my people, my tribe, my family. And whatever happened hereafter wouldn’t be just my story. No, it would be the story of us all.

So yes - go fanfiction writers! There is so much left to be done :)) But thankfully she closed that arc - at least.

[e17omm]

shooting my shot because I'm not really familiar with what your fav game genres are buuuuuut I remember you posting about what seemed like a card game? so what would you say about Wingspan?

I'll get it out of the way now before I go ranting about my favorite games and their genres because its all over the place.

I havent played Wingspan, so I just quickly googled what it was.

I think I would be interested in it if it was a digital game and probably if it was more complex. Its something I'd be willing to try, but I dont think its something that I would play a lot, even if it was on PC. (This is without ever trying it or seeing how its played, just reading about it)

Balatro is the card game you're talking about. Its a rouge-like deckbuilding poker game.

Now, for my favorite games and their genres:

The games I like and their genres dont match at all.

Factorio: top-down, automation base building game.

Helldivers 2: 3rd-person PvE coop extraction horde shooter.

Subnautica: open world survival 1st-person game.

Outer Wilds: mystery space exploration puzzle knowledge-based-progression game.

Haydee: hardcore metroidvania puzzle game.

Honkai Impact 3rd: stage-based action hack'n'slash game.

NieR Automata: open-world action hack'n'slash game.

Frostpunk 2: morality citybuilder survival game.

Neon White: 1st person parkour shooting speedrunning game.

Slay the Spire: action rougelike deckbuilder game.

Vampire Survivors and HoloCure: reverse-bullet hell games.

Now, if I just pick the games I would consider my favorites, rather than the ones I like and play, we get:

Subnautica, Factorio, Helldivers 2, Outer Wilds, Frostpunk 2, Hollow Knight, and NieR Automata.

Survival open world, automation basebuilder, action horde shooter, exploration puzzle, survival citybuilder, puzzle/action metroidvania, and action open world hack'n'slash.

Its all over the place. I dont have a specific genre that I like: I just like games.

And my favorite games, I've played them A LOT.

I "only" have 835 hours in Factorio (which is going to skyrocket once the Space Age DLC comes out in 14 days.) (800 hours is also considered not that much for this crack addiction of a game)

I have 640 hours in Subnautica. Subnautica. Its a 2km X 2km map! A normal playthrough takes like 10 to 20 hours! I know this game so well that I have to mod it to be extremely grindy just so I can enjoy it for longer!

I have 340 hours in NieR Automata. That's a story-driven game! There's 60 hours of content with the DLC!

I have 536 hours in Helldivers 2. That game came out on February 8 this year and I bought it on the 11th of March!

Oh my god I forgot about Persona 5 Royal. Just add turn-based action dungeon-crawler life-sim to the list of genres I like. Oh yeah I also got 467 hours in P5R.

I already have 290 hours in Slay the Spire and I got that game on the 10th of July!

I love these games so much and I can likely go pretty in-depth about why I like them, but I already feel like Im ranting for way too long on this ask that is more or less just asking if I've tried Wingspan.

Again, No, I haven't played Wingspan - but it looks like a game I'd be willing to try if I stayed the night and you pulled it out.

But if you want to know more about any specific one of my favorite games, please send in asks about it and I'd be happy to explain why I like them.

Edit: I forgot about Signalis.

Hey you wanna know about eldrich space lesbians living in a dystopian regime?

[digital-dhampirs]

VnC 58: the case study of astolfo

After a whole year of suspense, the Case Study of Vanitas is back with a bang and so is this tumblr blog. Time isn’t real, so let’s pretend that this analysis came out when I wrote it after reading chapter 58 rather than the day before chapter 59. Let’s go!

As always, although it’s been a while, this post will contain massive spoilers for VnC 58 and is intended for those who have read up to this point in the manga!

intergalactic tea party

Chapter 58 begins with (an absolutely stunning shot of Vanitas’s tarte tatin) a quick recap of the plot so far and where the main cast is at the moment— Domi and Jeanne tragically finish their conversation offscreen; Domi and Noé have an adorable reunion; and Jeanne leaves the hotel alone, likely to report on her successful mission to a worried Luca. Jeanne looks adorably carefree as she heads out and I pray for a flashback to her conversation with Domi in the near future.

Moving rapidly along, we cut to the Archiviste Noé caught a glimpse of last chapter, traveling through the border between worlds. We learn that she’s familiar with Comte and likely Luna as well, and she and Comte sit down to have a very Pandora Hearts flavored tea break. Comte says that mystery Archiviste hasn’t travelled to the human world in ages, making it very unlikely that she was there explicitly to see Noé, although it’s possible she was (like Comte) waiting in the shadows to intervene if the fair fight reached a certain point.

Mystarchiviste in turn reveals that Comte’s existence is “unstable”. The only context we really have for that term is Vani and Misha, artificial followers of the blue moon lying somewhere between human and vampire… Comte certainly acts like a vampire, but maybe he’s actually something much more in between? My half-theory half-headcanon is that his obsession with Luna stems partially from feeling commonality with another being who doesn’t understand their own existence…

Speaking of Luna, Comte taking their form has interesting lore implications (can he take the form of anyone he’s met, or is there another requirement that has to be met first?) and also interesting fanfic implications but let’s move rapidly onwards to the real meat of chapter 58.

the chasseurs are insane

A majority of VnC 58 takes place in an extended flashback, as Astolfo reflects on his past. This flashback confirms a lot of what past chapters have implied about Astolfo— he was consumed by self hatred and guilt following the vampire attack, to the point of attempting suicide. The whole flashback could easily read as yet another parallel to Vanitas, who, after finding himself as the sole survivor a second time in a row, turned to a path he knew would culminate in his own death.

We meet two fun new characters during this section of the chapter— a guy wearing an earring (I was half-wondering if this was a younger version of Olivier’s assistant, but their eyebrows and earrings are different, so he’s probably one of Gano’s homeboys) and Charles.

Earring guy is suspicious. He might have some sort of plot relevant past (cough cough, No. 7- [i am escorted off the stage]), he might be an average chasseur with a vampire related incident in his history, or he might just be your standard issue psychopath. My favorite Mochijun Flavored Detail this chapter is the panel where, under the guise of breaking up Mira and Gano’s brawl, he moves to block Olivier’s line of sight and path to Astolfo. It’s just so Mochijun and i missed her so much—-

Charles is neato, but he sort of has this vibe where he’s not meant to be the star of the panels he’s in. It’s like Astolfo isn’t fully looking at him. Even though Charles is trying to inspire faith in Astolfo here, the only light Astolfo sees is Roland. In his double-page introductory panel Charles is exclusively lit by light coming in through the door as Roland opens it. Roland, meanwhile, looks like a savior, the light behind him blinding, and Astolfo bursts into tears when he sees him. I’m so excited to watch their relationship collapse as this flashback continues..!

Through Charles’s conversation with Astolfo, we learn a very interesting piece of lore: when a vampire bites someone they aren’t injecting an aphrodisiac or poison with their fangs— they’re actively rewriting their world formula, and sometimes these effects are permanent. I feel like I should’ve been able to riddle this out, given the whole mark of the blue moon thing, but the fact that this happens so frequently throughout the series, and that Jeanne has rewritten Vanitas, is feckin shocking and feels like it has some very interesting implications for the series. Perhaps Archivistes are unique in that, rather than rewriting with their bite, they read what’s already there.

I honestly don’t have many other thoughts on Charles. He gets carried around and nobody’s allowed see him, possibly implying that he’s become sicker/ his existence has gotten more unstable ;) since he originally became a paladin. Maybe he’s the head honcho Roland and Olivier are working against, maybe he’s actually dead by the time we hit the main plotline. At this point, it feels like he could move in any direction.

interpretation, extrapolation, being wrong, that’s the mochijuncycle

Vampires rewrite the world formula when they bite others, often leading to devastating and permanent consequences for those they’ve bitten. Misha and Vanitas aren’t the only two unstable beings in existence— while we’ve never heard of VnC vampires turning humans with their bite, maybe once a human has been rewritten enough times they too become unstable. Maybe Comte, in constantly changing his name and shape, has been rewriting himself to the point of instability. Maybe Noé struggles to rewrite because, as an Archiviste, he was born to simply read and record.

But you probably shouldn’t trust me on any of this because, as always, this is 100% my biased initial interpretation of Chapter 58! I hope you’re all as hyped to see this flashback play out as I am, and I’ll see you (hopefully somewhat) soon for VnC 59!

[nintendowife]

It's game over for 2023. Time to talk about the best games I played during the year. I finished many enjoyable titles on various platforms, crossing genres and time to visit even decades old games. I finished a total of 38 games this past year. And because I apparently didn't have enough choice for devices to play all these games on, we got an Xbox Series X to our household on Christmas week.

Anyhow, here are the winners of my personal Game of the Year 2023 awards. *drumroll*

1st place: Vampire Survivors (PC)

My addictive substance of choice. Doesn't shine in the graphics department with modern tech. Doesn't try to impress with thought-provoking narrative. The incredibly simple yet satisfying gameplay however is engineered to perfection. A true masterclass of game design.

+ Infectiously fun, action-filled reverse bullet hell roguelike gameplay. Just one more run! + Bold artistic identity. + Humorous touch in character/enemy design and fun nods to other videogames. + Superb soundtrack. + Tons of quality content for an incredibly cheap price. Free updates and paid DLC with even more content. - The flashing effects can go a little overboard and cause discomfort. - Later stages of game can lag even decently powerful hardware.

See my posts about Vampire Survivors

2nd place: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Wii U Virtual Console, originally on Game Boy Advance)

A classic Castlevania that holds up nicely even 20 years from release and on a big screen. With a bit more memorable music and a small quality of life improvement, Aria of Sorrow would have earned the coveted 5/5 stars in my book.

+ Balanced and fun gameplay with a good sense of progression. + Top tier level design with a concise map. + Nice art style in environments, sprites and character portraits. Great animation and enemy design. + Fitting music and audio. + Good story. - Lacks item to warp to last save room or outside castle.

See my posts about Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

3rd place: Touhou Mystia's Izakaya (PC)

Chill vibes managing your restaurant, gathering ingredients and talking to characters by day turn into frantic cooking and serving action by night. This game got its recipe right.

+ Fun, rewarding gameplay loop mixing leisurely action and challenges testing your attention. + Enjoyable story with funny events. + Wonderfully cute pixel art. + Catchy music. + Lots of content for a low price. - Starts slow, even a bit boring in the beginning before you get special customers and unlock more recipes. - Final battle had annoying RNG. - English translation could use a little polish.

See my posts about Touhou Mystia's Izakaya

Honorable mention: Crimson Shroud (Nintendo 3DS)

This surprisingly challenging table-top RPG inspired game impressed me with its quality and satisfying gameplay. This is a hidden gem worth visiting.

+ Challenging gameplay with long and brutal battles make for a rewarding experience. + Good, well-written story with two endings. + Cool art direction with 3D models mimicking table-top RPG figurines, pretty illustrations. + Great music. + Game's length is just right to keep player invested. - Overall difficulty is higher than usual for JRPGs and Game Over wasn't a rare occurrence on my playthroughs. Slight frustration ensued due to having to retry the long battle from the beginning. - Confusing equipment UI (comparison of current vs new gear).

See my posts about Crimson Shroud

Honorable mention: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Nintendo DS, played on 3DS)

Unique experience with tricky chain reaction puzzles and fantastic characters. Prominently fluid and amazing animations - I can't believe it's a Nintendo DS game! This is no trick - it's a treat.

+ Inventive gameplay and mechanics, perfect fit for touch screen. + Interesting story that definitely doesn't forget humor despite the grim subject. + Memorable characters (Cabanela and Missile were my favorites). + Awesome art style and marvelous animation quality. + Great music throughout the game. - I almost lost interest at some point and got impatient to finish the game. - I guessed one of the key plot twists but luckily that didn't put a dent on the ending.

See my posts about Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Honorable mention: Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360, played on Xbox Series X)

Entertaining cover shooter with varying missions. The game never had a boring moment and the length of the single player campaign was just right. I'm looking forward to playing Gears of War 3 next!

+ Fun gameplay that sets expectations for other shooters. + Interesting setting and story with some cool events. + Fun dialogue that made me chuckle many times. + Good music and great English voice acting. + The challenge on Normal difficulty was just right for me. - AI controlled companions got stuck occasionally, leaving you alone in dangerous enemy territory. - I didn't always understand the mission objectives in the hectic situations. - Cutscenes can't be skipped (thankfully this is not a Kojima game).

Honorable mention: Signalis (PC)

Atmospheric sci-fi survival horror paying homage to older games. Puzzles are different from usual and require attentive skill and logical thinking to solve. This game deserves a sequel.

+ Intriquing sci-fi story with an impactful ending (there are multiple endings too). + Great art direction, appealing PS1 era inspired retro graphics with skillfully crafted pixel art. I very much enjoyed the nod to Ghost in the Shell. + Unique, well-designed puzzles and good level design. + Great atmosphere. - A bit clunky combat. - Tiny inventory space forced me to backtrack more than I would have liked. - Annoying design choice to not include a map in a couple of areas.

See my posts about Signalis

Nominees for my personal Game of the Year 2023

Only games I have finished in 2023 have been included (looks like I played a lot of games starting with the letter T).

An Arcade Full of Cats (PC) Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (3DS) Assassin's Creed: Revelations (PS3) Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea DX (Switch) Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Wii U Virtual Console - GBA) Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (3DS) Crimson Shroud (3DS) Detective Pikachu Returns (Switch) Dordogne (PC) Fitness Boxing (Switch) Gears of War 2 (Xbox Series X - Xbox 360) Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (3DS) Immortality (PC) Kuru Kuru Kururin (Wii U Virtual Console - GBA) Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk (PC) Liberation Maiden (3DS) Need for Speed: Most Wanted U (Wii U) Piofiore: Fated Memories (Switch) Pokémon Art Academy (3DS) Pokémon Rumble World (3DS) Scorn (PC) Shadows Over Loathing (PC) Signalis (PC) Sticky Business (PC) Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch) Tekken 7 - Definitive Edition (PC) Toem (PC) Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction (PC) Touhou Mystia's Izakaya (PC) Toukiden 2 (PS Vita) Trinity Trigger (Switch) Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (PC) Umurangi Generation Special Edition (PC) Unpacking (PC) Vampire Survivors (PC) Volcano Princess (PC) We Love Katamari REROLL+ Royal Reverie (PC) Ys: The Oath in Felghana (PC)

Wishing you all a fabulous New Year 2024 with happiness, health, success and cool gaming experiences!

[lunarflare64]

hello i would very much like 2 hear abt blood&sugar. whats it about :O

!!!

Unskippable cutscene activated

To start things off, we have everything stored in @blood-and-sugar for organisation, and we're starting to have a pretty elaborate masterpost system so its not that hard to find anything, but! An introduction to everything is for sure needed!

We are reluctantly putting it under a readmore for everyone's health 🤣

Its still in the stage we call "the sandbox" where we are just gonna keep fleshing out the world and the general timeline until the actual STORY story fully comes to us, but we do have quite a lot to work with already and you can probably tell which parts are going to be key in the actual story

This is a story about incubi, succubi, and hitmen. The incubi and succubi belong to a species called the concubines, and they come from a parallel pocket dimension, a sort of reverse earth where the sea is land and the land is sea. The major natural gateways are places like the Bermuda Triangle, but minor gateways can be found anywhere by familiars, and pegasi can create their own gateways whenever, and pegasi magic is vital for concubines who travel between dimensions, it makes it so the interdimensional travel doesn't pulverize them. This magic is given by tattooing pegasus blood onto the back, giving them wings

Concubines come to earth primarily to harvest the emotion that, when left to their own devices, would only seep through the cracks between dimensions very slowly, and they need it to be able to reproduce so a shortage of it results in a major drop in population. We'll probably go over the specifics of it another time, this is already getting lengthy

NOW FOR THE ACTUAL PLOT

We have a few groups with their own thing going on, the OG 4 and the Nightclub Crew largely deal with Indigo (succubus) and Lilly (human), who fucking hate each other, because Lilly is a hitman with a very good reputation thats being ruined by Indigo, who always coincidentally kills her marks (it really was a coincidence for a good while there, a major one since Lilly travels all around the world for her hits). Indigo's whole deal is that she's a newbie on the scene and has an ego the size of the sun, and its completely unearned. She can convince people to sleep with her easily, but she's a pillow princess and really fucking bad in bed in general, which tends to make people laugh, which tends to make Indigo angry, so she kills them. Very reasonable proportional reaction, definitely.

There's another situation in these two groups, more the Nightclub Crew specifically, but that needs the other groups explained first

The other two groups are the Rice-Carter Family and the Vampires

Connie Rice-Carter is a 76 year old human, and her wife Viva Rice-Carter is a 482 year old concubine (concubines live to 500, so Viva is retired and on the way out). Viva is supposed to spend her retirement in the concubine dimension, but she likes humans and refuses to give up earth so every time they catch her she escapes. The reason why she's not supposed to leave? The same reason why Briar Rice-Carter exists. Concubines reproduce around the ages of 400 to 450, and its (sort of) done asexually, so retirement is needed so no eggs (did we mention they lay clutches of 3 eggs?) are laid on earth. But whoops, escapee Viva underestimated the energy she'd gathered, and one final clutch was laid on earth, with one survivor (not that surprising in unideal conditions), our boy Briar. Connie took in Briar's egg, and went to great lengths to keep him hidden and safe until he reached a life stage that looked like a regular human baby (which usually happens 13 years after hatching), before officially claiming him as her own and raising him in human society (she'd had 3 kids in her previous marriage, so Briar has human siblings he grew up with). Viva wasn't around a whole lot herself because (along with being actively on the run) concubines don't actually raise the eggs they lay, they have a specific job for that and if they don't sign up for it parenthood isn't even remotely on their radar. Viva's attempts to help when she WAS around also fucking sucked, 0/10 parent, literal cults have done better (thats next).

And now the Vampires. Yes actual vampires. Blood/energy consumption and all. But also not, because vampires are actually human concubine hybrids, made by collecting concubine blood and having a human consume it. The few that know about this don't typically find it appealing or ideal, but there is a portion of those few who belong to cults. These various unrelated cults consume concubine blood on purpose, and sacrifice either the parent or the child. Naturally, the vampires raised in these conditions don't come out mentally stable. They have 0 personal connection to their concubine heritage, and, hating that the race IGNORES vampires stuck on earth and forced to live horrible lives, a group of vampires eventually gathered, and started killing every concubine they came across. The leaders of this group are the twins, Jody and Tanner Robbins (mostly its Jody leading though). The only concubine they haven't outright killed is also the only concubine that kinda gets them, Briar.

Briar is stranded on earth too, and while they have a good relationship with Viva, her part in raising them fucked him up a little. He's not against the vampires' plan (he knows it'll fail, that it wont help, but he doesn't care), and on occasion he even kills with them. He gets particularly attached to Tanner, and the two have ego fuelled boasting contests, simultaneously fighting and showing off. They'll get together eventually, give them time.

And now Elias. Elias is one of the few concubines on earth who isn't a harvester. Instead he's a hunter. A bit like an assassin, but he also captures alive on occasion (he's caught Viva before, but basically every hunter has, its no great achievement, and they all know she's gonna escape again). He was sent to deal with the vampires, but when he tried to kill them, they just as easily tried to kill him back, and that unfortunately hit a spot hidden deeeep down inside of him that made him find it adorable, and after a few attempts to kill them, he gave in and adopted them (they hate this turn of events just as much as he does), becoming their mutually reluctant mentor/father figure.

Unfortunately, with all these concubines and vampires gathered in one city like this, it drew in the attention of someone EVERY hunter has on their kill on sight list. The immortality seeking cannibal (and Viva's former mentor from when SHE was a newbie), 612 year old Emvianyí. She eats humans, vampires, and concubines. Anything that would give her more energy to hold her form together (for concubines, dying of old age is dissolving into mist. Forcing your form to stay together for so long tends to make it dense and brittle though, so Emvianyí is covered in jagged cracks). Her goal is to find the home of the pegasi, because their lungs are said to contain the key to true immortality (at least for concubines). She's an absolute menace, and the only concubines she DOESN'T want to eat are Viva and Briar, because she still cares for her student, and that extends somewhat to her son (she sees him as her grandson, he does not see her as their grandmother)

Viva, life living and retirement enjoying old bat that she is, has long since accepted and embraced dying of old age, and she's pissed that her former mentor is both ruining her fun and trying to drag her into extending her lifespan. In return, Viva decides that she is going to drag Emvianyí to the afterlife with her kicking and screaming. She is going to FORCE Emvianyí to accept her mortality, and regardless of if it means having to kill Emvianyí herself or keeping her in the house like an indoor cat, Viva is going to live her final years peacefully with her wife

But there's one last factor. In the Nightclub Crew there is a little nobody coworker named Neal, he had no idea his friends and coworkers were living such insane lives. He got ignored and forgotten a lot, and him being an absolute doormat, he never said anything. He felt pretty neglected and isolated in the group, and when he found out about the concubines and everything going on with them, things even his human "best friend" Quarren was deeply tied into, he kinda lost all hope of ever actually fully being welcomed into the group. Just not interesting enough. Too plain, too normal, nothing interesting would be brought to them by him. In comparison to their lives, Neal has absolutely nothing worth paying attention to.

At least until Emvianyí comes along. She doesn't invite him really, its more, he heard her talking about what eating a pegasus can DO, and he invites himself along. Emvianyí, luckily, finds this amusing, and encourages his power hungry desperation. He eventually tries out cannibalism for himself, but since he can't gain power from eating a concubine or vampire (all he's gonna get out of that is a baby), its very slow going. Not really much to be gained for him from that in the short term. He helps Emvianyí escape tight spots with hunters, and generally navigate earth since she can't really pass as a human anymore (the cracks in her skin + when concubines reach old age they can't hide their wings, tail, or horns anymore, and their skin turns an odd bright colour. Their hair also typically becomes misty, but Emvianyí herself is too brittle and dense for that one)

AAAAAAAND THATS ALL WE'VE GOT!

We're pretty proud of it so far, considering this is only two months worth of on and off worldbuilding, and its the first time an original idea of ours has ever left the ground

Again, for more details like the actual full cast or a bunch of memes or a really interconnected masterpost system in its infancy (we would NEVER have tried to make it if the blog had been any older than it is, it would just be too much too organise, its the kind of thing that needs to be done from the start), its all at @blood-and-sugar

[via-the-ghoul]

;) here’s a completely normal Monster High AU where absolutely nothing bad happens (it is comically obvious that I am lying)

[Image ID 1: a pink rectangle with a drawing of a Monster High skullette at the left side. Her bow is torn, she’s sweating, and she wears a teal face mask. Teal text is to the right of her, reading: warning: the following contains:

body horror

gore

disease

characters from a children’s franchise in a horror situation

Not suitable for children or the easily disturbed. End ID.”

[Image ID 2: two individuals in front of a grey background. The one on the left is a pale green, and crawling on the ground, as their lower half is missing, and wearing a turquoise plaid dress with “Zap” written on it in yellow. Their long black and white striped hair drags behind them, tainted with blood. Their eyes and nose are missing, and their mouth is completely black, in a hollow grin. They have a blue plaid tie and are missing a hand. They’re covered in blood. The figure to the right is brown with wolf ears and dark brown hair in a bun with a purple tuff of it in the front. Her eyes are golden, and so are a pair of glasses she wears. She wears a black jacket, a belt, dark purple pants, black boots, and a purple face mask. She looks stern, and carries a baseball bat, both it and her covered in blood. A pale green hand lies between the two, and both of them plus the hand have text besides them. Said text, starting with the green individual, then the hand’s, than the one with the bat, reads as follows:

“Frankie Stein

Status: infected

The infection, known as the Power Wasting Curse, manifests in Frankenmonsters as them losing the ability to control their body parts. As such, most of Frankie’s body is missing. At this stage they have no control and seek to spread the infection until they fall apart.”

“However, the one uninfected part of Frankie, their hand, managed to be removed before it could be infected too, and is now the only part of Frankie controlled by them. Luckily Ghoulia was able to teach them mourse code. They usually just hang around Clawdeen whenever she’s at Monster High as Frankie isn’t allowed to leave.”

“Clawdeen Wolf.

Status: Uninfected

Clawdeen is in charge of the usual patrols outside Monster High, which has been converted into a shelter for survivors. Clawdeen looks around for other survivors in hopes of finding her family, and later Draculaura when she goes missing too.” End ID.]

[Image ID 3: Two individuals in front of a grey background. The one on the left side is sitting down, while the one on the right does a cutesy post, putting their pointer finger from their left hand to their cheek and slightly raising one leg. The left one is a pale turquoise, with a fish tail wrapped around their legs. They wear a black hoodie with pink stripes, a turquoise middle section, and a turquoise fin at the top. They have short fizzy multi-colored hair, said colors being blonde, green, turquoise, and pink. They wear blue shorts revealing their left leg is bandaged, and their hazel eyes paint a somewhat frustrated expression. The right figure has a black and pink gothic lolita dress, a cutesy black hat with a purple bow, white gloves, a black umbrella in their right hand, pink boots, and a face entirely covered in shadows. There is text at the sides of both of them, the sections from left to right reading:

“Lagoona Blue.

Status: uninfected (but injured)

Lagoona broke her leg trying to run from an infected while on a trip with Clawdeen. Luckily Clawdeen managed to get her back to Monster High uninfected, and Lagoona usually stays there now. She’s worried about Ghoulia and Clawdeen’s mental state.”

“Draculaura

Status: Unknown (missing)

It has been 2 weeks since the Power Wasting Curse started spreading, and a week ago Draculaura went missing while on one of Clawdeen’s trips. They were forced to abandon her to get Lagoona back to safety, to Clawdeen’s distress. Since infected vampires eventually turn to dust and no one’s found any trace of her most monsters other than Clawdeen think she’s dead.” End ID.]

[Image ID 4: Two individuals in front of a grey background. The one on the left side is sitting on the floor, their left hand chained to something offscreen. The one on the right side lies on the floor frantically writing something on a piece of paper with a worried facial expression. The one on the left is covered in bandages, the left of their face the only part visible, showing a dark and solemn eye. They wear a teal face mask and a pale teal hospital gown, and also have dark ashy skin and black shoulder-length hair. The one to the right has grey skin, with some rot on the right side, and short blue hair. They have white glasses, a grey striped shirt, a short red sleeve and a short black sleeve, a prosthetic arm, red and black pants, and blue sneakers. Their left arm is bandaged. There are two sections of text for each individual, reading from left to right:

“Cleo De Nile

Status: infected

Cleo got infected by an attack in the back by an infected Deuce. It can’t be removed, but Ghoulia’s managed to keep her in her lab and prevent her from losing control of her rotting body. Cleo’s been going through it and Ghoulia’s the only one who knows she’s still ‘alive’.”

“Ghoulia Yelps

Status: uninfected

Ghoulia is almost always in her lab, frantically trying to find a cure. She cannot lose Cleo, no matter what. She never really talks to anyone anymore unless they start the conversation. She doesn’t know what she would do if she lost Cleo after everything else.” End ID.]

[Image ID 5: Two individuals in front of a grey background. The one of the left walks to the other side, looking worried and carrying a flaming stick. The one to the right leans to the left facing the camera. The one on the left has orange fire hair, pale yellow skin, orange fire horns + tail, and a very scared expression. They wear one pink heart earring, a pink tank top, a black jacket, black and red fingerless gloves, black pants, and red boots. The one to the right has pale green skin, dangling lifeless green snakes for hair, rocks in their eye sockets, fangs, green scales on the left side of their face + their shoulders, and rotting arms. There is blood all over them. They wear a torn black tank top with a white eye design, black pants with knee holes, and no shoes. There are two sections of text for each individual, reading from left to right:

“Heath Burns

Status: uninfected

Abby and Heath were going to visit Marisol when the infection hit, and ended up lost somewhere in Monster Picchu due to the train crashing. Heath is very scared and hungry, if it wasn’t for being with Abby he probably wouldn’t have survived.”

“Deuce Gorgon

Status: Infected

While not patient zero, Deuce was one of the first people to get infected. Patient zero had gone missing in the catacombs and Deuce had gone to look for them. The infection messed up Deuce’s natural protection against his eyes, though luckily all that did was turn his eyes to stone, blinding him. Other infected gorgons have been killed by the infection, but somehow, Deuce is still alive, though he’s certainly not in there anymore.” End ID.]

[Image ID 6: Two individuals in front of a grey background. The one to the left stands still looking at the camera with a face of rage. The one to the right run to the right carrying a large bloodied ice shard in their left hand, and a phone held up to their face in the right one, a suppressed look of worried on their face. The one on the left has cat ears with holes, short orange hair with black stripes, glassey green eyes, a foaming fanged mouth, pale orange skin covered in orange stripes, and a black striped tail. They wear an orange spiked collar, a black jacked with orange striped sleeves, dark pink pants, an orange belt, black striped bracelets, one pink and one green fingerless gloves, and black boots. The one on the right is fat, has short white hair with blue and purple accents, blue sclera and brown purple eyes, freckles, and darker blue hands. They wear a pink hat, a purple shall, a blue jacket, white fluffy sleeves, pink pants, and dark blue sneakers. Both figures have blood on them. There are two sections of text for each individual, reading from left to right:

“Toralei Stripe

Status: infected

Toralei is one of the more dangerous infected. She is filled with rage and has attacked several people. Most scientists looking for a cure claim her to be a lost cause. Any day now, the curse will eventually kill her. Do not approach.”

“Abby Bominable

Status: uninfected

Abby’s been trying to contact Marisol, as she keeps coming in and out. She’s keeping up her usual tough vibe, but is secretly very worried about Heath and Marisol. Luckily they’re in the forest outside Marisol’s home, but it’s very large and neither of them are used to this environment.” End ID.]

Here it is. The Monster High infection AU, or I guess, curse AU, so I didn’t have to worry about the fact that logically 60% of the cast would not be able to get sick. At all. If you have any questions I’d be happy to share!