#Video Game Writing

[erielake]

CALLING ALL WRITERS 💗🤓✍️📕📝✏️

Hello! My name is KC Malik and I’m a published writer, indie game developer and editor with over eight years of experience in the writing field. While most of my editing experience has been completely pro-bono, I’d like to offer up my experience to the #writeblr and tumblr interactive fiction communities!

As of right now, I’m working as a game developer on my text-based game Larkin while pursuing a master’s degree in English Education and working as a professional writing tutor. As well as editing my own writing, I’ve worked with editors before and I know what an absolute beast it can be to face such a wall of text. I’ve edited academic work, fiction, fanfics, poems, resumes and cover letters (and of course, interactive fiction 😉) and I would love to help you make your work the best it can be :) With this I offer a variety of packages for editing (all payments through PayPal!)

Please reach out if you’d like to see samples of my work!

RATES:

Under 1k words - $25 + five day turn around

1k-5k words - $40 + 1 week turn around

5k-15k words - $100 + 2 week turn around

Additional Words exceeding 15k - $0.01/word

Faster turnaround - $15/day

[thessaralka]

Normal fiction discourse is great bc you can interpret a character anyway you want but at the end of the day the writer wrote them a specific way and you can't interpret them your own way without losing the integrity of the character unless the author's intent was clearly stated to be otherwise. You are forced by the narrative to have humility and reading comprehension if you want to really understand a character.

The opposite of this is exactly why I fucking hate video game character analysis. The interpretation is up to the player, as opposed to the objective truth laid down by the writer. This is great bc it gives people who aren't creative a creative outlet, on one hand. But on the other hand, it leads to entitlement and laziness in readers and gamers because they've been given an iota of power over the narrative (it's never as much power as they think it is tho, and it's only power over their own playthrough) and they think they own it. Humbling yourself before the narrative of a story is a really important life skill. It teaches you how to accept defeat and disappointment and reality in real life. That's what stories are for, ultimately, to help you do real life better.

At a certain point, your interpretation of a character strays so far from the actuality of the character that you may as well write your own. But because of the lazy, entitlement (and honestly, skill) issue, people who tend to do this aren't creative or disciplined enough to create their own characters. They use and abuse the characters someone else created like Barbie dolls for their own fantasy. Missing out on the lesson of the narrative and a lesson in humility in the process.

[madameevil]

Gotta love the polarizing reviews of "the story moved me to tears with intense choices that mattered" and "I couldn't be a racist asshole so the writing was boring." (heavy sarcasm)

I just need to stop looking at polarizing reviews for my own mental health at this point. It's exhausting. I just wanna play the game and enjoy it without people on the Internet insulting everyone or calling them "shills" if they do enjoy it. I think I'll just vanish until it releases and enjoy all the fan art on Tumblr instead of venturing outside.

(personal rant below cut)

1. Haven't played the game so I don't know if there will be conflicts between party members but also the world is actively ending.

In Origins it was just Ferelden and a slow moving horde that would EVENTUALLY threaten the whole world.

Dragon Age 2 was an isolated conflict that would grow to have impacts on Andrastian Thedas.

Inquisition has an opponent moving really only in Southern Thedas who was constantly getting out maneuvered.

I think all of those allow some allies to be a bit cross with each other. But not really sure I would pick allies who constantly bicker when the threat is what it's advertised to be in Veilguard. If Inquisition took place in the future timeline where everything had already gone to shit, the last thing I would need are characters having a spat in the kitchen pantry. Like that's great guys but we just lost the whole Eastern continent because you're arguing over petty things that have NO MEANING IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING.

2. I have to wonder if part of it is also weeding out people Bioware doesn't want in their communities anymore. Maybe they don't want to give you the option to be pro-slavery because IDK it's super fucked up?? And maybe if you're the kind of person who consistently made that choice in DA2 they don't want you in the community anymore. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ There are less horrific choices that can be presented to the player that are difficult to make for reasons that aren't grounded in "to be a racist, sexist, asshat and to be a human capable of understanding ." If you're mad you can't be the asshat way in this game then, maybe it is best you just leave the series for good.

3. NOT EVERY FANTASY PIECE OF MEDIA HAS TO BE GAME OF THRONES LEVEL DARK. GEEZE PEOPLE. I've recently replayed origin for the umpteenth time and 2 and Inquisition. They're not "dark and serious" games. Even my friend playing through them for the first time is like "People call this dark and serious?" I don't want every media to be dark and gritty. I don't want all fantasy to be Game of Thrones. It's not the end all be all.

Anyway that's all. Just had to rant into the void a bit.

[acquired-stardust]

Game Spotlight #14: Pokemon Blue (1996)

It's time for another game spotlight! Join Ash as she recalls Pokemon Blue with this essay to celebrate Acquired-Stardust's 151st post. It might be the beginning of the highest-grossing media franchise in the world, but don't take that fact for granted - there's still a lot to talk about! Come read an overview of the game as well as some of how it came to be and why it's so important to so many people.

Few things can be as mainstream and ubiquitous as Pokemon - it is, after all, the highest-grossing media franchise in the world. It seems a commonly accepted fact of life now that every Nintendo platform will see at least one iteration of the series, which in recent years have been marred by various controversies such as the disinclusion of various individual pokemon from newer releases, and it will sell an ungodly amount of copies immediately without losing too much steam in the long run. But this wasn't always the case, and Pokemon is an interesting example of just how much we can take innovative and groundbreaking things for granted.

Time and tide plays funny tricks on our perception of the present. What was once groundbreaking can become so commonplace that what originally made it so groundbreaking becomes almost imperceptible to us. An example I often use is that it can sometimes be hard to look back and distinguish just what made the Beatles and Beach Boys just as innovative and special as they were both in music and culture at large when you grow up in a world so far removed from their immediate influence. So many artists have taken elements of what they've done and advanced them to the point that we take them completely for granted and can come away rather unimpressed with some of those original points of inspiration.

Pokemon is much the same and modern conversation about the first few entries in the series is dominated by the recurring opinion that they're simply not worth playing anymore. Old, ugly, outdated, glitchy, broken and lacking - dusty relics made irrelevant and superseded by their sequels. This is usually the part where I'd tell you that those opinions are all wrong but here's the thing - they're not necessarily. Pokemon Blue (released to the west in 1998) was actually a revision of the original Japanese versions that were released in 1996 and contained a number of bugfixes as well as updated sprite artwork, definitely has some glaring issues. There's the balance which is notoriously botched on many levels, there's the large amount of glitches, the spritework for some of the pokemon (even in this revised version) can indeed be ugly and off-model, and it's certainly true that the game can be seen as lacking in content when compared to the many sequels that have built off the platform of the original with the series now containing over a thousand different species of pokemon as of the time of writing. All of these things are true, but there is still so much to be in awe of and it's hard for me to respect an opinion that discards such incredible games that were not only great for their time but still hold up remarkably well.

A role playing game inspired in part by series creator Satoshi Tajiri's childhood spent collecting things like bugs and frogs, Pokemon's premise and formula are simple enough. A young boy sets off from home, tasked first with retrieving a parcel for his hometown's senior pokemon researcher (functionally the equivalent of a biologist) and eventually with continuing the researcher's life's work in traveling the world cataloguing every species of pokemon (functionally the equivalent of wildlife). For this task you are given a pokemon partner of your own from, choosing from a selection of three different creatures alongside your rival and neighbor, and officially becoming a pokemon trainer. Running alongside the goal of capturing and researching every pokemon species comes the primary narrative and gameplay hook: raising and battling your creatures.

Being a fairly traditional Japanese role playing game, you likely know what to expect from the bulk of the gameplay of Pokemon. There is turnbased combat, a large variety of items, experience points and leveling up which increases the stats of your pokemon. One aspect of Pokemon that sets it apart from many other JRPGs is how highly individualized your experience can be. Obtainable throughout the game are 151 different species of pokemon creatures, each with their own elemental typing, some of which will be strong or weak against other elemental typings. Each of these pokemon are also able to learn a wide array of attacks which also have their own elements as well as a variety of functions. Some attacks, such as the powerful water attack hydro pump, serve as a means to deal damage to enemy pokemon (whether they be in encounters with wild pokemon or in teams headed by other pokemon trainers), while others such as minimize or growl can either raise or lower specific stats of ally or opposing pokemon for the duration of their time in battle.

While you may be tasked with completing the encyclopedia of pokemon by capturing each of the game's 151 species of creatures (some of which evolve into other creatures upon reaching the prerequisite experience level), the ultimate goal of a pokemon trainer is to prove their mettle by defeating strong trainers from around the Kanto region, in which the game is set. Defeating these strong trainers centralized in the game's various cities' gyms will earn you a badge symbolizing your progress as a trainer. Collecting eight badges will grant you the right to progress through the cavernous Victory Road before reaching the Indigo Plateau, upon which you will face the Kanto region's four strongest trainers in a back-to-back endurance battle culminating in becoming the Kanto Pokemon League's Champion. Along the way you will become tangled in the dealings of the nefarious Team Rocket, a band of criminals who seek to use pokemon to further their goals and bring general misery to the inhabitants of Kanto's cities. Players are also able to connect two Gameboy consoles via link cable to battle against each other or trade their pokemon.

If this structure sounds familiar to you, you're right: this is the same basic formula that the franchise uses in every mainline release to the present day. It's easy to take that as meaning that this is a lesser game - a more stripped down and basic (and indeed quite glitchy and unbalanced) experience, but to me it's wildly impressive just how much of the formula introduced in the first generation of Pokemon games remains in place to this day as something that resonates with people to the point that the series has largely not deviated almost at all from it. Game Freak, a studio with experience up until the release of the first generation of Pokemon games mostly creating small scale contracted games, hit a homerun with their first time at bat and created the runaway successful franchise that persists to this day with no sign of slowing down. It's truly remarkable how many of the same basic formula and structure was completely nailed in this first entry.

There are ways Pokemon Blue retains the core of Japanese role playing games, but there are certainly instances in which Pokemon stands out from traditional Japanese role playing games and positions itself strikingly similarly to another atypical JRPG that you may also be familiar with (and has been covered on Acquired-Stardust before): Shigesato Itoi's Mother. And I don't think that's any coincidence. Series creator Satoshi Tajiri actually wrote a fairly critical review of 1989's Mother during his time publishing a successful zine (which would eventually blossom into the company that developed and released 1996's Pokemon), before becoming a colleague of Itoi under Nintendo's banner. In fact Pokemon's first generation of games was developed alongside 1995's Earthbound (the sequel to Mother) and even saw Mother developer Ape, Inc. invest in Game Freak in order to keep it afloat during the games' shockingly lengthy development (taking at least six years). Earthbound also seems to take some of Satoshi Tajiri's criticisms to heart, even if by coincidence, and makes changes accordingly and is widely considered one of the greatest games of all time across the world in part due to that.

The two series have a rich history of parallel inspiration and references to each other, likely through Tsunekazu Ishihara (former Ape, Inc. employee introduced to Satoshi Tajiri in the early 80s who eventually went on to head Creatures, Inc. before ultimately settling in as president of The Pokemon Company). Mother/Earthbound broke the mold by having a JRPG set in a contemporary society which is also utilized for Pokemon's setting. It is also structurally inspired in part by 1986 film Stand by Me, which is directly referenced in the opening minutes of Pokemon Blue. Just as well, Mother final boss Gigue is strikingly visually similar to Pokemon's Mewtwo, a legendary pokemon possessing incredible psychic powers just as Gigue does. On that front the title of the first Pokemon movie (released after Earthbound) is subtitled "Mewtwo Strikes Back", identical to the subtitle of Earthbound/Mother 2 "Gygas Strikes Back". Pokemon also contains numerous musical allusions to Mother, particularly noteworthy in Pokemon Black and White (2010)'s allusion to several songs from Mother 3 (2006).

The experience of playing these games in their time is something that can be hard to truly convey as we now live in a world so far removed from their release windows, but allow me to try and set the stage for you. The year is 1998 and, after Pokemon Blue finally makes its debut outside of Japan, my mother gifted a very young me a Gameboy Color along with Pokemon Blue. It was the very first game and system specifically given to and owned by me rather than the family. The internet is in its infancy, the widespread distribution of cellphones is still a long way off. You are unable to instantly interact with someone across the globe. It is remarkably easy to disconnect from the world and to not only feel isolated but to be isolated. The world is infinitely smaller.

Pokemon Blue, a game about being at harmony with nature, traveling the world and uncovering its mysteries hits on a very relatable level to many people in this time, especially children. Each of Kanto's cities (despite Kanto being a real region of Japan, the Kanto of the Pokemon universe's cities are all named after colors), connected by deep forests and caverns and populated by new and unique creatures as well as people, represents an opportunity for tourism and adventure that your average person is not able to easily see or attain for themselves at the time. Highlights of the tourism aspect of the game that Game Freak has made very clever and authentic attempts to nail are things such as Pewter City's museum and the cruise ship St. Anne docked at Vermilion City. Although the game is a little 8-bit role playing game, it feels remarkably like a real adventure because of details like these.

Another aspect of Pokemon Blue being a very particular experience of its time is many of the details surrounding the aforementioned Mewtwo, the result of a genetic experiment and attempted cloning of the pokemon Mew. A detail of this subplot lost to time is that the world was grappling with ethical concerns and implications surrounding the 1996 cloning of a sheep named Dolly, the first time a mammal had successfully been cloned. Although two years had passed since Dolly's cloning and the release of Pokemon Blue outside of Japan it was still very much something on people's minds at the time. Ethical concerns about training pokemon to battle each other may have been brushed aside, but this was certainly a fascinating element to Pokemon Blue at the time the conversations around cloning were more contemporary. An interesting sidenote is that the exact date of Dolly's birth (July 5th) is referenced in a diary laying around in Cinnabar Island's abandoned Pokemon Mansion as being the date Mew, the pokemon from which Mewtwo is cloned, was discovered.

On the subject of Mew, Pokemon also leans very heavily into rumors and self-mythologizing. It's one of the very last games I remember being a 'playground rumor' type game, the sort that would become extinct as computers and the internet became more widely adopted. Rumors of secret items and pokemon swirled and dominated discussion around the games, and helped the first generation of Pokemon games become a true obsession in large part because there was substance to many of these rumors. Mew, the hidden 151st pokemon, did indeed exist, and is only obtainable through clever manipulation of the way the game is programmed and stores data. Similarly, a popular exploit involved specific actions that would allow the player to encounter "Missingno." (pronounced 'Missing Number'), a glitched out sprite that would enable various further unintended glitches such as making a certain item in your bag infinite in its usage or even scrambling graphics and corrupting save files. There's even ways to access the fabled Glitch City, an unintended scrambled version of Fuchsia City.

It is factors like these that combine with how strong the games are that lead to many children playing these games to become deeply interested in programming in a very hands-on way. The internet (and computers for that matter) being in a less advanced and proliferated state also does contributes to something else extremely important: a whole generation of kids growing up playing these games began to think about them less as isolated bits of entertainment and more as software - collections of data and numbers and values, all of which could be manipulated (and indeed created) by individuals. The hobby of glitch hunting became a phenomenon unto itself as countless kids began to experiment with the games to see what unintended glitches could be discovered and reproduced, alongside probing the game for leftover graphics and sound effects from the game's time in development that weren't ever meant to be seen by players.

All this is to say that Pokemon Blue is something like lightning in a bottle. Developer Game Freak, headed by video game superfan Satoshi Tajiri, clearly understood exactly what they were doing in a way not many people making games seem to, especially in the modern era where many big studios are stuck dealing with executive meddling in an effort to chase capitalism's curse of infinite growth. Tajiri understood what made video games not only fun but what makes them so interesting, and to be able to produce a work the quality and scope of the first generation of Pokemon titles to the level they did with as little experience they had actually making games is nothing short of a miracle, and the result of that miracle is the spot people have in their hearts for these games. Each pixel became evangelized, each bleep and bloop of the game's sound burned into people's memories forever.

Children decided to get into programming because they experimented with Pokemon glitches and were so grabbed by the revelation that software programming was even a thing, which is another aspect of the cultural impact that has been lost to time given the advancement of computers. It wasn't that long ago people assumed games just sort of 'happened', oozing up out of store shelves in complete forms for our consuming. The story and text are straightforward enough that many children used the game to learn to read their native languages, and to this day use them as adults to help learn foreign languages. Pokemon Blue was not only an incredibly charming and deep experience (especially for a handheld system, one of the small handful of times a handheld game has rivaled and even been head and shoulders above many console games of its era in quality), it also radically shifted the way in which people thought about video games and software as a whole, and the connection people have to it is a reflection of that.

Just as well, Pokemon also blossomed almost immediately into a multimedia franchise at this time with several different video games (including releases on the Nintendo 64), a suprisingly quality and fun anime directed in English by the director of Snatcher's English release Jeremy Blaustein and even featuring the vocal talents of his late transgender sister among many others, as well as a trading card game that continues to be not only relevant but extremely popular to this day. All of these releases combined to create the phenomenon of "Pokemania", obsession born of the ability for people to consume the series in various different forms all to a fairly high quality standard, that ensured a launch into the stratosphere. Pokemon also contributed significantly to the ongoing paradigm shift in the west spearheaded by television titan Toonami with the broadcast of Akira Toriyama's mega-hit series Dragon Ball that saw Japanese media (particularly anime) begin to gain widespread acceptance in the west as something distinctly their own without needing to have their cultural identities and roots tampered with as much as they had previously, if they ever even made it outside of Japan in the first place.

Part of the purpose of this blog is, as a fellow gaming content creator once said, to take you back to the past. To be able to provide history, cultural context and perspective to some incredible titles that are well worth being remembered and revered. Pokemon Blue provides a wonderful example of why this is so necessary: even the biggest media franchise in the world can still become muddled in our memories and present day conversation, and as such it is worth the preservation and celebration of some of the finer details and obscure cultural notes that being now nearly 30 years past the original release of this particular game may cloud you to.

Pokemon Blue was a time and a place, and the perfect game for that time and place. You may never be able to time travel back to 1996 to play these games for the first time, your memory of what video games and even the Pokemon franchise have become by the year 2024 erased, but it is my hope that you will be able to turn on Pokemon Blue and appreciate it not only for what it was at the time but what it still continues to be despite how far removed we are from that time and place, because it is nothing short of remarkable. And if my spotlight has taught you even a single thing or can help you do any of that then I am all the more happy to have written it. Oh, and by the way, for those of you already familiar with Pokemon, my name is a total coincidence.

A gem hidden among the stones, Pokemon Blue is undoubtedly stardust.

-- Ash

[maspers]

Weather Update: The First Danganronpa Game secretly had TWO rivals the entire time.

Lemme explain (spoilers, obviously, and this is gonna be a bit a rant whoops):

Usual Danganronpa Format as the fandom usually sees it: Students trapped in an unfamiliar location with no idea what's going on, plot driven partially by the mystery but mostly by the character interactions.

Trigger Happy Havoc: Students trapped in an altered but still familiar location with no idea what's going on, plot driven partially by the character interactions but mostly by the mystery.

In a setting like DR2, V3, or a vast majority of fangans, the participants in the killing game are given very little information about their circumstances aside from what Monokuma gives them, which is deliberately vague and designed to direct them towards killing each other. Additionally, the students are given very little ability to react to and retaliate against the Killing Game system in ways Monokuma won't expect. Weirdness aside DR2 basically went all according to plan until the final trial due to Monokuma's nigh-omniscience, and V3 was similar with the only debatable exception being Kokichi's elaborate scheme in Chapter 5. Since the students are dealing with such restricted conditions, the plot can't be fully driven by the students figuring out the setting, so instead the plot focuses on the conflict that derives from the various characters reacting to the game. In a story like this, it makes sense that the most antagonistic characters aside from the mastermind would be the ones with EXTREME personalities that shake things up a lot. Nagito, Kokichi and that character archetype that everyone expects to be in a fangan are necessary to make the plot more INTERESTING.

But THH is different. The students KNOW where they are (or at least they think they do, and turn out to be right). While they don't have any recollection of the Academy itself, they at least know what to EXPECT from Hope's Peak, and can from there point out nooks and crannies for delicious little clues that reveal more about the situation, putting together a narrative without Monokuma's handholding. Additionally, despite his blustering Monokuma is explicitly NOT omniscient here, or even practically omniscient, as methods to hide things from him are figured out early on. The students are able to DO something about their situation as the story progresses, and have figured out some aspects of the overarching mystery as it pertains to them long before the final trial (and NOT because the Mastermind deliberately put the info in their path). This greater information access and greater character agency in general means that while the character conflicts are still very much a part of the plot, the overarching theme is solving the mystery while adapting to the circumstances to avoid dying.

In a setting like this, extreme/bizarre personalities aren't really a boon to the plot. While the character reveals add layers and information in other settings, here it's a distraction. The students HAVE resources, and at least SOME of the tools they need. Engaging in over-the-top schemes and traps is a DETRIMENT to their current course of action even more than in later games, which is probably why Monokuma tries to encourage them to do such. Other characters in THH fit the bill of "stereotypical DR Rival" probably better than the supposed-rival Byakuya and THH's other Rival character actually do. Celestia Ludenberg comes to mind, in another DR setting she could be exactly the sort of mysterious and interesting rival the series is known for (and that she clearly wants to be), but in THH she's just another annoyance. Toko Fukawa and Genocider have the extreme personality down, but they only advance the plot in the students' favor when they approach things logically and in a less crazy manner. If Rivals in this game are supposed to fit the bill of "causes unexpected occurrences and advances the plot but still clashes with the rest of the cast in intense ways while doing so" like the other Rival characters in the series do, they have to play the role under a different ruleset. Rather than representing a philosophical extreme through their personality, these rivals have to represent a different extreme: their methods and rationale when it comes to SOLVING THE MYSTERY / ESCAPING THE GAME.

And in this regard, Byakuya Togami plays the role wonderfully. The vast majority of the students in the game are very passive when it comes to solving the mystery. Sure, they get very active when trying to escape by killing someone, but that's just dancing to Monokuma's tune. Rather than wondering what to do, Byakuya makes his actions clear from the start, and everything he does in the game that's antagonistic fits that same M.O., while not doing anything that would put him in an uncertain position. He learns how the trial system functions, then during Chapter 2 he performs an experiment to analyze the other students further. His antagonism largely stems from viewing the other students as opponents, so his pragmatic approach makes sense, but he doesn't JUST analyze the players. He also analyzes the metaphorical board, and it's clear he's trying to get every scrap of info he can on his situation before fully committing to action (exhibit A: him spending so much freaking time in the library). The only stereotypically "nuts" thing he really does is down that bottle of poison/protein in Chapter 4. He's proving a point. He'll do anything it takes to win, and knowledge is power. Hence his active role in acquiring info about the game, the setting, and the other students' behaviors.

But Byakuya can't be the only Rival here. While he might be solving some mysteries in the background, we don't get to see much of it because the whole point of his character early on is conflict: his active versus the other's passive. He won't share his findings or really work with others, which is not good when our precious baby protag Makoto is trying to solve the mystery himself. Byakuya can't move the plot forward like that until after Chapter 4. Chapter 5 onward, Byakuya's method to his madness is revealed, and he contributes a lot to solving the mystery and directing the other students to getting more of the info he needs (exhibit A, dismantling Monokuma). And... that doesn't really fit with the formula later games set. Chapter 5 is when conflicts with the rival comes to head, and shenanigans abound. Nagito does it. Kokichi does it. But Byakuya isn't particularly inclined. Shenanigans with his own life at stake aren't his methods, they're just complications. But... the stuff still comes to a head with THH's other rival. The other character that's been progressing the plot in active ways that contrast with the other students, and clashing with the rest of the cast AND the player. The character whose life IS on the line in Chapter 5.

You've probably guessed by now that I'm talking about Kyoko Kirigiri.

When we look at her in retrospect, Kyoko doesn't raise any alarms compared to the craziness of the rest of the franchise. She helps with the investigations and moves the trials forward, she's nowhere near the craziness brought by Nagito and Kokichi, and generally just really competent. We categorize her in the "Assistant" role, similar to Chiaki and Shuichi/Kaede/Kaito/Maki/whoever (hey wait a second where did we even come up with this archetype anyway, if V3 doesn't even really seem to have one character who properly fits it?) She definitely fits the Assistant bill in DR3, but this ain't DR3. She doesn't fit the bill for stereotypical Danganronpa Trial Rival... but as previously established, Byakuya doesn't either. So let's go deeper and look at things in context. Because from the start of the game, Kyoko is weird. Really weird.

We're introduced not knowing anything about her, and she keeps it that way for a LONG time. "Ultimate ???" just screams she's going to be important later but you just don't know how (remember, this was BEFORE Rantaro). She's really helpful during the trials and is three steps ahead of everyone, but... aside from that a lot of her actions are really, REALLY conflict inducing. She is happy to get info from other students, but it's clear there's a lot she isn't sharing. She says ominous things to Monokuma that make no sense ("What did you do to my body?" anyone?) and seems VERY focused on the mystery. Just like Byakuya, she's taking an active role in analyzing every detail about the circumstances. And interestingly enough, she's just as paranoid as he is, just in different ways. As Makoto spends more time around her she manipulates him (and others) in some really unnerving ways, and her dynamics with other characters outside of trials are always either generically placating to keep things calm or downright low-key hostile when things don't go according to plan. Just like with Byakuya, for the vast majority of the game she doesn't trust anybody. And in chapter 5, these aspects of her character are brought into full view. She spends the entire chapter hiding away, she mysteriously appears in Makoto's room (side note: Nagito and Kokichi both have "looking over the protag in an unnerving fashion" pics. Byakuya doesn't. Kyoko DOES). It becomes clear in the trial how much she's hiding and how much she's been manipulating things. Chapter 5 is an impossible trial designed as a trap for HER. Her seemingly innocuous actions have come in full domino effect. And only Makoto and the power of being a Man Literally To Unpredictable To Die can save her.

(Makoto obviously isn't a rival character, but it's interesting to see how by THH's requirements he very well could have fit the bill. Think of him from Hina's or Hiro's perspective: he's seemingly innocuous, yet survived way longer than anyone would expect him to, often figures out just the right thing to say, both Byakuya and Kyoko interact with him a lot when neither of them seem to care about anyone else, and ultimately seems to become a lot more actively involved in mystery solving despite not having any right too. Couple that with the fact that he spent a couple days "bedridden" when from an outsider's perspective he could have been doing anything, and ngl Makoto sus. He even survives an execution!)

Both Byakuya and Kyoko take turns providing conflict to the story in ways that develop the plot but COMPLETELY clash with the passive methods of everyone else. They practically take turns being the one doing whatever crazy crap needs to get done. Their character arcs parallel each other too. Byakuya has to learn about the value of human life and emotional connection. Kyoko knows perfectly well how important life and emotions are, but she needs to learn that it's a two-way street, that trust needs to be established and that she doesn't have to do everything important herself. Byakuya, while lacking in empathy, is fully willing to work with others and outsource important tasks. He just views it as a business transaction. BOTH of them are prideful frickers who think they're the only one with a brain cell, and it's up to Makoto to undergo his own character arc, become their friend, and prove them wrong. And then once Makoto DOES finally take control and prove he's the one with the audacity required to actually get everything working, he's able to redirect both Byakuya and Kyoko into finally teaming up with everyone and stopping chaos so much chaos. Without either of them, Makoto couldn't have made it to the final trial (we can see when Kyoko dies in the Bad Ending that it's basically game over, the mystery CAN'T be solved, and I fully believe that the circumstances would have ended similarly if Byakuya had died and they'd lost his pragmatic logical reasoning). But without Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya couldn't have made it THROUGH the final trial. All three of them are literary foils of each other.

(This is another reason why seeing all three of them in the final trial of DR2 is so fun, because the Trial Point Getters are a well-oiled machine by that point and you get to see them play off each other as 100% allies, while once again getting to see through Hajime's eyes how 100% sus all three of them really are once they get going.)

So that's why I think THH has some really good Rivals, despite neither Byakuya nor Kyoko fitting what we've come to expect from the formula. They aren't insane or representing a philosophical extreme, they're representing clashing viewpoints in solving a mystery and escaping the killing game. In other entries in the series, Byakuya and Kyoko would be killing game fodder for twisty midgame chapters and otherwise not being able to contribute much of interest. But in Trigger Happy Havoc? They're exactly what the game needs to elevate it from simple mystery-solving to full-blown ART.

TL;DR Byakuya and Kyoko are awesome and I love them and a lot of people sleep on their status as Danganronpa Rivals because they grade them on a standard that I think is unfair and ignores their strengths as characters. Also Makoto suddenly becomes way more interesting when viewed through a perspective other than his own. The first Danganronpa game is a materpiece and more fangans need to realize that they don't have to play by the supposed "series formula". After all, this game didn't.

[offshoreblogupdates]

A snippet of the first story

This is 'rewritten' for better understanding; the original is riddled with notes and player's actions, etc

---

Bing awakes alongside Titus, in his hand. He shifts a tad, causing Titus' fingers flinch back. Bing glances up at him, but Titus is focused on writing something down. 

At this point, Bing glances over the edge of Titus' fingers to see what he was writing. It appears to be a description of the metal object that sat no more that a few inches from his notebook. Titus occasionally would pick it up, examining it, then continue to write something down. He also tried to sketch it out as well. Sunny, Titus' sister was asleep in the side of the room, book open in hand. 'Mechanics for dummies' is what the title reads.

After a few moments, Bing taps against Titus' hand to gain his attention. it's gained almost immediately.

"What's up?" Titus asks, barely noticeably caressing him on the back.

"What're you doing?" Bing asks

Titus looks at his paper then back at him. "Uh well.. I'm trying to figure out what this is from." He explains.

Bing quickly crawls out of Titus' cupped hand and slides to the notebook to get a better look.

"Have you found out anything yet?" Bing asks, looking over the paper. Bing can read somewhat, but not well.

"Well it's man made for sure.. But it's nothing detectable or anything I've seen before." Titus starts, rubbing his neck 'sheepishly'.

"What about Sunny?" Bing asked, gesturing to Sunny by looking in her direction. Titus glances up to see her and kind of grimaces.

"She fell asleep on the job." He remarks, then notices the book she was reading. "But she had the intentions right, I guess."

Some time passes but soon Titus holds his hand out for Bing to climb on. He looks at questionly, a bit confused.

"Should head to bed." Titus says, soft smile on his face.

Bing made a silent 'ohh' as he rushed back to Titus, crawling onto his hand. Once situated, Titus lifts his fingers around Bing, like a guardrail, as he stands up.

".. How'd you fall asleep so quickly earlier?" Titus remarks as he sets Bing 'somewhere' to sleep (like a blanket on a bed side table)

"Asleep.." Bing turned to look at Titus, almost horrified. The atmosphere changes.

"Yea.. you've been asleep for the last couple hours. I just figured you were really tired." Titus' voice fades out to Bing as it seems he is immediately thrown into a million thoughts. It seems to last forever..

"Bing." Titus' words snap him out of it . "Are you okay?"

"Yeah.. I'm good." Bing, who is obviously not okay, sheepishly smiles softly and crawls onto his bed, curling up, turning away from Titus. Titus' doesn't seem convinced, but decided not to press any further.

"Okay.. sleep well."

---

I have yet to revise this one.. because it was the first I wrote, rewriting it and editing has been a challenge. Buuuuut I'm about finished with it, and then I can move on to something else. Every other story I have planned is already finished also, so I may do some rewritten snippets of some of those as well--

O-o

[hopeymchope]

This is interesting, and the article/interview (and his follow up post on Facist Xwitter) give more insight into what Kodaka means than the headline does alone.

My take is that this is easy to say when you're a really good writer, and even easier after years and years of experience. :P But my guy... not everyone who works in gaming can write a video game story as compelling as you can.

[while-the-days-slipped-by]

Hey friends and mutuals I just got around to putting the finishing touches on this article I wrote, it’s a fairly long piece and goes into the history of Pokemon Red and Blue, as well as my own history with it. I’m quite proud of it and I hope you choose to give it a read and enjoy it.

[cannedwyrms]

I think the game Scorn has one of the most interesting video game antagonists I've seen in a while, up there with Agent Black, Five Pebbles, Morgott, Picayune, and Le'garde. (All of which i will probably make posts on)

Now, I've yet to dive into the deep lore or whatever of the game, but I'd still like to share my thoughts on them because I think they're very unique when it comes to video game antagonists.

One of the most surface-level things that makes them so interesting is that we get to play as them at the start. Immediately, that's a really good way of making the player empathize with any character, especially when we don't know much about them. After they get buried in what is, apparently, energized, fermented cum (I'm not going to explain that, fuck you), we transition over to the actual protagonist.

The next time we see them, they are completely different, having horrifically mutated into some kind of lizard parasite. Then, they attach to your player character, digging their hands into your stomach and wrapping the skin flaps that cover their brain around your neck.

And this is what makes them so much more compelling to me. For most of the rest of the game, they actually help you. Their tail is the weapon you use, they hold your weird, gross little healing eggs and reload pod. They remain mostly passive, but their very presence in your body starts to hurt you, making you more and more immobile with root-like growths digging out of your flesh. They are attempting to fuse with you completely, 5 it's killing you.

Near the end of the game, you finally get them off of you, which takes a lot of effort and leaves your character with all their organs spilling out of their body, the parasite's last attempt to remain with you. It slinks off, wounded but not dead.

In the end, it attacks you mere feet away from your ultimate goal and fully fuses with you, turning you both into some kind of nightmare tree.

So why do I find this dynamic so interesting? Well, on a surface level it's not often you see an antagonist in a game so passive, and even helpful at times. Often, in video games, the antagonist is proactive, while the protagonists is reactive. This serves as an easy way to get the player to get invested in the game. In Portal, for example, Chell only does all the puzzles because GLaDOS is forcing her too. Link only embarks on his quests because Ganondorf is threatening Hyrule's peace, etc.

But in Scorn, you don't really need an antagonist like that, because having an antagonist who actually understands what's going on any more than you do wouldn't make sense in the context of the world. The world of Scorn is already so hostile, so alien and borderline nonsense, that the protagonist already reacts enough to it without the need for a character to push them forward. Plus, it seems like they already have a goal in mind, one that the player isn't necessarily privy to, which the parasite might already share with them.

Because of this, Scorn is free to make their antagonist more passive, more reactive to the protagonist (yet still proactive in their own way, they are the one to attach to you, after all).

On a deeper level, though, I have some thoughts. And none of them are normal. The parasite in Scorn attaches to the protagonist, which immediately strikes me as not some kind of power play or instict, but as a survival tactic, a way to gain back any sense of control, of belonging that they have lost. Their body had been warped beyond understanding, and they've been alone for who knows how long. Of course when they find another human (idk if they're actual humans, but you get my point) they'd want to stay close to them. Maybe they thought that, by fusing together, they'd be more able to survive. Or maybe they just wanted to be close to someone. That's why they reattach themselves after you remove them. That's why, even when it's clear being with you is so obviously not helpful to anyone involved, they try desperately to remain attached no matter what. It's such an interesting way to build an antagonistic character, because I fully believe that nothing they are doing is out of malice. Even when they ruin(?) your character's plan(?) I don't believe they did it to spite you, or with any anger or evil at all. Instead it's more likely that they did it out of desperation, out of a deep need to be accepted and loved, to be close to someone in a world so hostile and alien, so antithetical to human connection. They help you—or at least try to be helpful—and because of the nature of Scorn's world, it harms you both.

Thematically, Scorn is about life and death, the cycle of creation, intimacy as a method of control, and intimacy in general. And what's more intimate than literally becoming one being?

Ok, that's all go play Scorn it's a mad trip of a game with an aesthetic that I haven't seen in any other game. Its inspirations are obvious, but I just haven't seen many games use its style. I'm sure there's more to it, like I said I haven't really delved into the lore, but this was just my interpretation of the events.

tl;dr: Scorn is good, guys, go play it

[deadheartsstillbeat]

Hey yall, it’s the head writer here. Just came to share that we are officially done with the main scripting of all the routes!! It feels so weird to be done with all that writing after two whole ass years of my life. I’ve never done any project like this before, and have always been too embarrassed to share my works with others. This experience has been challenging, and at times I’ve wanted to quit and throw it all out, but I’m glad I stuck through it and finished it

As they say, do it even if it’s done bad, and maybe it’s bad, but they’re stories I’ve always wanted to see in a dating sim. Things like helping out a few messy lesbians find love in a route, or finding a deep and fulfilling qpp with an aroace character, or fucking the most sleazy loser of all time lol. Put out what you want in the world I guess.

Anyway, here’s to 234,000 words for just the main routes!! What a time to be undead. Thanks for being here and can’t wait to see yall at the full release

[nervoussystemss]

House of Horrors - Ghosts

A/N: Commission request! Thank you v much. <3

Your memories had been murky. When you had first woken up, you were a blank slate, not knowing who you were, where you were, or how you got here. It was only when no one paid attention to you as you ran through the streets, as well as the fact that when you walked through a literal wall, did you realize what happened.

You always knew you hated cars for a reason. You'd gone up to your parents in the hospital, not that they saw you, and cringed at the sight of your small body in the hospital bed. Large cuts and bruises scattered across, and it appeared that you were no longer breathing.

You looked away from your body, covering your ears to block out the sounds of your parents wailing, and looked down at yourself.

You were absolutely fine, other than the realization that you were now a ghost, and a child ghost at that.

You left before they put you in a body bag.

You visited your parents from time to time to make sure all was well. They were grieving, of course, but seemed to be gradually doing better over time, not that you were around them all of their waking moments. It hurt too much to remember them and what could've been a happy memory of just a road trip flipped to be one of the worst days of your lives.

So you stayed in town. Never too far, never too near, just the right amount for a spirit, or so you thought.

It was when you were wandering the desolate street did you notice something odd.

The new person in town had caught your attention originally. They seemed cautious, intelligent, but also like they wanted to figure out what was going on with that house, which you weren't sure was such a good idea yourself.

All the other houses, including your parents', looked normal other than one that had shimmering—what seemed to be—black wiggles around it. Barely noticeable unless you really strained your eyes, which you didn't like doing. It gave you a headache to stare at it for too long.

You stayed away. You didn't know what was wrong with that particular house, and you didn't really want to find out either. Keeping your head down and wandering around was working out just fine for you, so there was really no reason to explore the unknown lest it bring you into more danger. Even if you weren't a physical being anymore, you had heard around from other spirits that spirits could be hurt, but only in specific ways. When you tried to ask how, no one would tell you, so you simply tried to get away from anything that even remotely seemed like a threat—and that included that house.

But when you saw the newcomer with blue skin, it clicked that they had died inside the house. You had seen some residents of the house outside of it, such as the little girl and the blue man, but you had never spoken to either of them, too afraid that they would be volatile to you.

You decided to take a risk and scope it out. Once you got to the front door, you stared up at the house, the black shimmery field not dissipating. If anything, it only got stronger, causing you to squint. The edges of the house blurred.

You had only stretched out a hand to open the door (to try to open the door, that is—you forget you're a ghost sometimes) when you heard a feminine voice behind you.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going inside," was your simple reply, as if going inside of a house was the easiest thing in the world.

"To a house that's not yours?" the girl asked, narrowing her eyes. "You're not supposed to be here."

"At this house?"

"Well, that too," she replied with a small shrug, "but you're not supposed to still be on Earth. Like I said, you could knock, or let us know that you're trying to intrude on our territory, spirit."

She seemed hostile. You'd seen the things she did to humans that had tried to keep her away from the residents that were women, but you weren't doing that. She said something about territory. Maybe she'd be less angry if you used a softer, quieter tone and gave an excuse. "I got curious," you reply in a tender voice, hoping to ease her nerves a little. "I apologize for intruding. That wasn't my intent. I just wanted to take a look. I just... I got lonely." You wrung your hands gently, obviously anxious as you blinked rapidly. Your eyes didn't sting, but it was hard to not notice the slight welling of tears.

The truth, at least part of it, was out now. It wasn't like you were lying. You did get quite lonely. The other, older spirits kept one another company in their own groups, younger spirits thought you were too old to play things like tag with (which was one of your favorite games, and now you had no one to play it with), and teenage spirits were few and far between in this town. You had seen one or two at best. Only a few select spirits had spoken to you, mainly older ones, and even then, they were a bit harsh. The only nice one you had met was an older woman who seemed to be in her thirties when you had just died, and you were panicking before she managed to calm you down. But after that, you were on your own.

Her eyes remained narrowed, eyeing you, but you could've sworn you saw something flicker in them. Almost like a hint of sympathy, like she could relate to it. She was silent for a few more seconds, until she sighed, "You don't seem to pose a threat. You can go in."

"Great. Thank you," you chirp softly, as politely as you can before you phase through the door, glancing around.

Your eyes are immediately drawn to the door of the basement, where the door itself had the same black murkiness as the outside of the house. You can no longer throw up because you don't need food, but staring at it made you feel queasy. You look away as the front door opens and the little girl enters.

"I'm not sister, by the way."

"That's a weird name," you blurt out before you can think to hold your tongue. It wasn't like she could hurt you, but still.

"I'm not giving you my real name. I'm sure you wouldn't give me yours if you had the chance to," she scoffed with a roll of her eyes, crossing her arms as she watched you wander from room to room, following you mostly silently.

You couldn't provide a rebuttal of that, because she was right. You didn't want to give her your name. Your real name, anyway. You didn't trust her or anyone, or anything, here. You used a fake one instead.

"Nice to meet you, I guess," she huffed out as she closed the door quietly. "The other two should be back soon."

"You mean the blue man and the other person that he turned?"

She let out a hum, raising her eyebrows slightly. "You're more observant than I originally assumed."

"Thank y—"

She cuts you off before you can finish your sentence. "How did you die?"

You grew quiet. You remembered things when you came to, of course, but just because you still had your former memories didn't mean that you liked remembering them, especially the last one. "Car crash." Your voice had gone raspy. How did a non corporeal being's voice turn raspy when they didn't even need water? Weird. You thought you saw her grimace.

She looked away for a second before glancing back at you, facial expression still slightly upset before she forced herself to compose her features. "That sounds like a pretty bad way to go. I'm sorry." If she was faking sympathy, you couldn't tell. She sounded as genuine as she could.

"It's fine." You cleared your throat forcibly.

"Do you want some water?" she asked sweetly, before making a face as she remembered you weren't physical. "Right. Forgot. Sorry."

"You don't seem to be used to apologizing," you point out.

She gave you a tiny grin. "I'm not. Anyway, you should wait here for the blue man. I'm off to see if there are any new residents coming in. See you in a bit!" she chirped before skipping to the door, waving, and slamming it shut behind her.

It had been an hour, and you were growing impatient. You were honestly looking forward to meeting the blue man and the old resident he'd turned. They both seemed like they were kind and at least they didn't chase others around like not sister, or so it seemed.

You were about to go upstairs when you heard light scratching at the basement door. In an instant, a shadow person appeared in front of the door, almost as if wanting to prevent you from going.

You wave.

It has no eyes, no nose, no mouth, but you can practically hear it telling you to mind your business and not head into the basement.

You weren't the most experienced in dealing with the supernatural, but you had dealt with shadow people before. You saw them quite often in your own home, and they (mostly) posed no threat. You hoped this was the same.

"I'm fine," you said after a moment. "Whatever's down there can't hurt me. I'm a ghost."

It doesn't speak, nor does it move, and you find yourself crossing your arms as you silently stare it down. After a few seconds, it relents and disappears from sight, although hesitantly, like it was concerned.

You phase through the door and immediately realize you made a mistake.

It's as if the basement is some sort of portal. You find yourself sucked in and, as if in a trace, you walk down the steps until you're in the center of the basement. You think you hear screams and wails and they're so loud.

Your hands go to cover your ears.

"That won't help you." A mocking tone cut through the air. "You'll still be able to hear them begging for their lives or wailing about how they died here, even if you cover your ears. Save yourself the trouble."

You cover your ears anyway.

"You," the thing snarls, appearing in an instant in front of you and causing you to let out a scream and scamper back, because why does it look like that, "are not supposed to be here. You didn't die here."

You step back and it steps forward. Although logically, you know it can't hurt you, you're still terrified. If your heart was still beating, you think you'd have died of a heart attack as opposed to what you originally died from. "Get away from me."

"Who's going to make me? You?" it scoffed. "You're not a resident or a being of this house. Leave."

"What does being a resident even mean? Were you born in this house or something?" you try to ask despite cowering, voice shaking.

Its eyes narrowed as it bared its teeth slightly. It appeared to be angry that you were questioning where it came from and that it couldn't hurt you, but then its demeanor changed. It stepped back, almost seeming like it was forcing itself to do so, like it was forcing itself to be calm. "I originally was born here, you could say. The other beings were created," it replied with a sharp smile.

"Even the not sister and blue man?"

It shrugged. "Some humans are so powerful that they can become a different supernatural being when they pass due to emotions. Others, like you, turn into ghosts. And others get turned by other supernatural beings. The not sister made herself. The blue man was turned by another." Its smile turned smug, like it knew something you didn't. Underneath it, though, you could hear a bitter note, like it was unhappy he got turned. "And I've heard," it continued casually, taking another step back to put you more at ease, "that when you ghosts are in limbo, that's the worst. Can't really go anywhere but the town or place you died. Have you tried to leave?"

"I've tried," you admitted with great hesitation, not wanting to give it anything it could use against you. "I always end up back at my place of dying every time I try and leave the town."

"Figures." It paused for a long moment. "How would you like to not be in limbo any longer? To no longer be a ghost?"

"What else could I be?" you counter.

"Well, you could be in Hell. Heaven. Purgatory. Or I could offer you something better."

"I don't understand," you say after a few seconds of thinking. What did it mean? You couldn't even hear yourself think; your brain hurt from the seemingly never ending screams.

"I could," it sighed as it stretched, "turn you. Or try to, at least."

"I'm a ghost."

"I know that." Its expression fell flat for a second, the charade of being kind cracking for just a split second before it smiled once more. "I've never tried to turn a ghost before, but I have turned regular, ordinary humans. I'd be willing to..." it trailed off as it stepped behind you, hands raised to be put on your shoulders, and you shuddered.

It couldn't touch you, you reminded yourself, but then why did your shoulders feel cold all of a sudden?

"... try with you. Give it a shot. What do you say? All I ask is that you just give me something in return. A favor for a favor. You become my kind and physical again, and you do something for me."

"But you have no..." What was the word your mom used? A big one starting with G that meant it wasn't for sure? Garry? "... guar... gaur..."

"Guarantee?" it supplied with a bigger smile, clearly finding you at least somewhat amusing now.

"Yeah. You have no... guarantee... that it'll work?"

"Unfortunately, no. But come on, what's the worst that could happen?"

"A lot of things. I could get ripped apart or something. Or my soul could. Dunno.”

At this, it let out a sudden but genuine laugh. “So you have smarts.” It seemed to be pondering on how to get you to agree. “Don’t you want to be physical again?”

“Yes,” you reply slowly, unsure now.

“Then what’s the harm?” Its smile grew once more, eyes crinkling.

“You said if you do and it works, I need to do something for you. What’s the something?”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” It waved a hand dismissively. “I won’t have you hurt anyone on my behalf, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Then what you want?”

“Just for you to lead some people down here.” It shrugged. “Be it strangers or new residents when they come. Or lead the blue man down here. Either work, honestly.”

Your suspicion is only growing more and more. “I would really rather not lure people to your lair of death.”

“Who says I’ll kill them?”

“My gut feelings are never wrong.” You paused, nerves telling you to run. “I—I’m going to leave.” You step back, before you feel a tug. Your body jerks forward.

“Not leaving that easily out of my ‘lair of death’,” it hummed with a satisfied grin. “I can make you stay here, at least for a little while. Have it so you’re stuck in limbo for days before that power of mine runs out.” It was speaking faster now, almost manic as it stepped towards you. “You might not be one of my victims, but that power works on your kind all the same, especially if you’re in my basement. My territory. Why do you think you hear all those lovely screams? They can’t leave.”

“Let me go!” You’re obviously panicking now, trying to step back and even run for the door to leave, but you keep getting pulled back the moment you almost leave.

“I can do this all day, kid,” it stated, sounding bored. After the fifth try, you seemingly give up and face it, shoulders slumped, and it seemed to take that as a victory. It stayed perfectly silent and still for several moments, before exhaling slowly. It needed you to trust it, that much was clear to you. “Would you feel comfortable leading the blue man down here?”

You tried to remain calm. The lights above you flickered. “No.”

“Why not? For all you know, he could be worse than me.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t keep me stuck in limbo,” you murmur as quietly as you could, not wanting to piss it off.

“You’re right, he wouldn’t. But he’s not as good as you think. You think he hasn’t killed?”

You hesitate and shrug. “He must’ve had his reasons then. At least he seems nice.”

“At least I’m trying to help you become physical again,” it countered just as quick. “He didn’t pay attention to those he loved when he was alive. He’s not a good anything.”

“Why do you hate him? Why do you want me to bring him down here?”

“Hate’s a strong word. I prefer strong mutual dislike, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he hated me.” It shrugged casually. “I have my reasons, none that you need to know about unless you’re willing to give my idea a try. I’m waiting for a yes or no from you.”

“Not right now?” Your voice grew higher pitched at the end, as you weren’t sure if it would take that as a legitimate answer and let you go.

It narrowed its eyes for a moment, before shrugging again. “That works for me as long as you’ll come back down here with your final decision in, say, two weeks or so.”

“Deal.”

“Caaareful.” It grinned, eyes widening to the max. “Be careful of who and what you say that word to, some may take it as oath. I might take it as oath.”

You frowned. Was it trying to help you? “I… we… don’t have a deal?”

“We have an agreement—not the same thing.” It rolled its eyes. “You can come back down in two weeks if you want to. If we had a deal, well, you’d likely have to unless you broke your end, but that—” it clicked its tongue “—would not end well for you, so we have an agreement instead of a deal. Understood?”

“Understood.” You utter quietly. “You seem to be trying to help me. Are you usually this nice?”

“What do you think?”

“No.”

“And you’re correct. Now, you should go before the prick finds out we’ve been conversing. See you in two weeks if you’d like,” it sang, and then you were hurled out of the basement.

It took you a moment to gain your bearings. You could hear now. No more screaming, but birds and cars, and you didn’t feel as scared anymore now that you were out. You wobbled over to the couch and sat down, trembling slightly, and reminded yourself to not go back there again.

You didn’t think ghosts could sleep, or in your case, nap, but somehow and someway you had drifted off. You hadn’t even realized you were asleep until when you came to, there was a blue face standing right in front of you and staring. You jumped up in a slight panic, the lamp beside you flickering, and the blue man quickly held up his hands, his eyes narrowed slightly.

“Easy,” he murmured in a soft, soothing voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. Just checking for injuries.”

“What?” you asked, still slightly dazed.

“I felt something in the room,” he explained, still speaking slowly and soothingly so as not to frighten you, his hands still up. “Took me a while to see you, though. I’m not one of the beings that can automatically see or talk to spirits—it takes quite a lot of practice, at least for my kind. I know you’re a spirit, but I can’t tell when you died or if it was recent, so I was just checking for any signs of injury to see how bad it was.”

You stare at him for a long moment. “Uh, well,” you begin slowly, less panicked, “I died in a car crash. Didn’t have that many injuries, but… well, here I am.”

“Here you are,” he repeated with a small nod. “I’m assuming you’ve met the not sister?”

“Mhm. She’s nice,” you comment. “The thing in the basement isn’t the nicest though.”

He jolted a bit, eyes narrowing. His expression grew serious. “You were down there?”

“I felt called to go down there, not my fault,” you try and defend yourself.

“I’m not blaming you,” he said gently. “But the thing is as manipulative as can be. I’d suggest fighting any urges to go down there.”

“It said something about you killing people.”

“I’m not a saint,” he snorted with a roll of his eyes. He tilted his head as he looked down at you. “Besides, I only kill those that don’t follow the rules—unless they have potential, but rule breakers are typically killed. If I don’t do it, one of the others will. I’m just doing what I need to.”

“But you don’t need to kill,” you try and argue.

“You don’t know my kind.” He seemed defensive, eyes narrowing in warning. “We do need to kill. It’s a want sometimes, yes. Do I act on it sometimes simply because I want to? Sure.” He was speaking as if killing someone was entirely normal. “And yes, we can control it to an extent, but other times, we need to. It’s not something we can fully control at all times.”

“So you’re like a werewolf.”

He coughed to cover up a laugh.

“Like, sometimes when you get the urge, it needs to be done or you get random pain or it hurts you or something?”

His eyes crinkled. “I guess you could say that. But it’s more like we become more and more agitated and less in control of ourselves as time goes on.”

“So definitely like a werewolf.”

“Sure.” He was full on smiling now.

It seemed you amused the majority of the beings here. You assumed that was a good thing for you. You feel a wiggle of guilt. “The thing said it could make me physical again if I led people or you to it.”

“Did it?” he hummed lightly, a slight smile on his face. Still seeming calm, but you didn’t miss the way he put his hands behind his back, like he wanted to lash out at the thing from the first floor despite it being a floor beneath him. “And what did you say?”

“I said I’d think about it and get back to it in two weeks.”

He frowned, inhaling, then exhaling as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did you make a deal with it?”

“No. It said we had an agreement, not a deal.”

His body relaxed, and he let out a relieved sigh as his eyes opened once more. “Good. That’s good.” He muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “sneaky bastard” and “… thinks it can trick me, must be an absolute fool…”

“It said you hated it,” you supplied helpfully.

“I do,” he admitted, shooting a glare at the basement door. He eyed the floor leading up to it, like he was seeing something you weren’t, or maybe reliving a memory of his own. “It… took a lot from me. More than I was willing to give when I dealt with it back then.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry, it just seemed like it was trying to help even if it was being manipulative and… I don’t know. I kind of wanted to say yes.”

“That’s how it gets you,” he informed. “It promises you things. It promises you good things you want—things you can’t refuse, makes a deal with you, and then if you don’t fulfill your end… it can get messy.” He grimaced, running a tongue over his teeth, jaw clenching. “I spited it on purpose when I turned the newcomer, although I did genuinely like them, too. It’s rare that people have that potential. I apparently did.”

“Potential to be turned?” you asked curiously, and he nodded, shooting you a slight grin.

“You’re smart.”

“Thank you.” You paused for a moment. “Did you want to be turned? Did you ask?”

His grin dropped. “I didn’t. But that doesn’t matter—I’m here now.” He shrugged. “Plus, I can’t exactly die anymore, though I’m assuming I can get torn apart, which is probably why it wanted you to get me to go into the basement—unless it just wanted to have a friendly conversation, which I doubt.” He examined you with curious eyes for a moment, before changing the topic. “You seem to have control over electricity. That lamp next to you flickered when you were afraid.”

“Oh, yeah, that happens a lot when I’m panicked or angry,” you said. “It’s normal.”

“Can you try moving it?”

“Moving what?”

His lips quirked the slightest bit. “The lamp, kiddo.”

You gave him a nod and tried to make the lamp move, but to your disappointment, nothing happened.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said gently, noticing your downcast expression. “It takes some time. Here.” He moved quickly next to you and crouched so that you two were almost shoulder to shoulder. “Look at the lamp.”

“That’s… what I’m doing?”

“No, I mean really look. Squint if you need to.”

You do as he says, and to your surprise, the edges of the lamp blur. There’s a slight light around it.

“Good. Now focus on moving it an inch.” You close your eyes, but he says gently, “Keep them open, otherwise you’ll have difficulty moving things with your eyes open.”

You give him a thumbs up and open them, trying to focus. The lamp shudders slightly and you perk up. “I’m doing it!” You narrow your eyes more, and it slides off the table completely, crashing to the ground as it shatters. There’s a moment of silence before you blurt, “Sorry for breaking your lamp.”

He snorts. “It’s not my lamp, so don’t worry about that. I can always buy another one. But good job! You did great,” he beams, reaching out a hand for a high five.

You high five him despite your hand passing through his. You’re beginning to notice he looks almost fond of you.

“Who are you talking to?” Another blue head peeked into the room—the newcomer that got turned.

“A child spirit,” he replied smoothly, glancing at them with a grin. “You can’t see them, right?”

“No. I can sense a spirit is in the room, though.” They seem hesitant. “Are they dangerous?”

“They are not. I can teach you how to see them if you’d like. I’m teaching them how to move things around.”

As if on cue, you make the television turn on.

The blue person jumps slightly, flinching.

He frowns the tiniest bit. “Relax. You’re safe.” His eyes flicker between you both, almost like he’s saying that to both of you. He stands from his crouched position, stretching slightly. “Keep working on what I taught you. I’ll be back in a few days, need to still teach them things.” His head jerks slightly to the blue person, before he looks down at you. “Can I trust you to stay out of trouble?”

“… yes?”

“Can I trust you to not go into the basement while I’m gone for a bit? It won’t be two weeks, promise.” He smiles—a gentle thing, eyes soft, but you could feel the concern rolling off him.

“I won’t go down there,” you promise him, and in turn, he ruffles your hair.

You feel the top of your head tingle. Phantom sensations.

“Good. I’ll see you in a few days.”

Then he’s gone.

Days pass.

You do as he told you—you practice moving things around, you wander the house, observing, and you don’t go into the basement.

“How long can you keep this up?”

“Probably a few minutes or so. Around twenty the last time I checked,” you let the not sister know. You’re making a small side desk in a bedroom levitate—it’s gotten easier and easier to lift and move heavier items than a lamp in the past few days, especially with practice.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant you have unfinished business and you’re probably wasting your time here.”

The desk slowly lowers. “So what? It’s not like I have anywhere else to be.”

“Your parents probably miss you. I think you should visit and let them know you’re still around,” she said earnestly.

You pause for a moment. “Maybe. I don’t know yet.”

“Just telling you to think about it. It could give them and you closure—closure that several of us didn’t get.”

“You and the blue man?”

“And the thing. It has a little bit more heart than it lets on, though not much—probably why it let you leave.” She shrugged, watching curiously as you try and make the bed lift. It shudders, but doesn’t move otherwise. “You can do it.” It doesn’t sound as encouraging as when the blue man said something similar. In fact, the way she says it sounds a bit flat, and you giggle. “What? I’m trying to be encouraging!”

“Maybe you should add some enthusiasm to your voice,” you reply, still giggling.

The not sister huffed and crossed her arms, pretending to be annoyed at you. She then morphed right in front of your eyes to be a teenager. She smiled widely, put her hands up to her mouth, and squealed, “Oh my gosh, like, you’re doing so well! Keep going, you totally got this!”

You break out into laughter, as does she, but nevertheless you focus with all your might.

The bed lifts, and you let out an excited whoop.

“See? Knew you could do it,” she grinned.

“Thank you,” you smiled at her, eyes alight, before you the door creaked.

The blue man was standing there, grinning as his eyes went back from you to not sister to the floating bed. “I see you two are getting along quite well, huh?”

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough,” he replied vaguely. “Thanks for keeping an eye on them for me,” he said to the not sister, and she nodded.

“Don’t mention it. Or do. You can thank me every day for it if you want,” she replied cheekily. “They’re surprisingly fun to spend time with.”

“Hey!” You tried to look offended.

“I would’ve made you leave somehow if I didn’t want you here. Not sure how, but I would.” Her eyes flitted to you. “I also didn’t spend time with you just because he asked. I do like you, and that’s rare. Probably because you’re a kid or something. Dunno.”

“Thank you, I think.”

“You’re welcome.” She morphed back into a little girl. Glancing at the basement, then the clock, she went, “I’m off to talk to the thing in, like, two hours or so.”

“Not sister,” the blue man said a bit sharply, his eyes narrowing with concern. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“I’ll be fine. We get along fine,” she scoffed. The blue man fixed her with a serious look, and she sighed, shuffling on her feet. “Whatever, I’ll be careful. There. Better?”

“Better. Yell if anything happens.”

“Will do!” She ended up skipping down the hall and downstairs to the first floor.

You slowly let the bed drop with a thump.

“I see your levitation abilities are getting stronger,” he commented, looking as though he was proud of you. “That’s good—means you’ll be able to defend yourself against other entities.”

“Like the thing?”

“No. I meant other spirits, maybe ghost hunters. It can’t touch you, but it can keep spirits in the basement. If it comes to that somehow, you can throw the entire basement door at it for all I care.”

You crack a grin at his wording, but pause, waiting for him to continue.

“Or I can try to get you out, but that’s difficult.”

“You’d do that for me?” Your voice grew quieter, unsure. “You barely know me.”

“I know enough. You’re quiet, don’t seek out trouble on purpose, and you try not to cause a ruckus. You remind me of someone I used to know—” a pause as he swallowed “—so I’m more inclined to help you if anything goes awry.”

“You knew a child spirit?”

He lets out a low laugh. “Something like that. I knew them when they were alive, and…” he trailed off, pressing his lips together. “I… didn’t do right by them.” An exhale. “I can control timelines, at least to an extent, but I can’t see them or someone else I knew before. It’s not possible, at least not at the moment, unfortunately.”

��Timelines?” You’re trying to pick his brain. “But who were they?”

“Timelines of where people make two choices. I can go back and change things sometimes.” His eyes narrowed. “I don’t see why who they were matter to you.” He didn’t sound rude and he didn’t seem suspicious, more wary of where you were trying to lead the conversation.

“I don’t know. You just seem sad when you talk about them.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t like talking about them. I’d rather talk to the one I turned about the people I knew once I get closer to them and once they get accustomed to being my kind fully, or even a therapist. You were in a car crash, and that’s traumatic in itself, and the last thing I want is to unload my own trauma onto you,” he stated as he tried to grin. It looked fake. “If it makes you feel better, I assure you that it would probably take years of therapy—not a ten minute conversation—needed to process what I’ve been through. No offense.”

You were completely silent for a few moments. Whatever he had gone through, it was clear that it was bad, and it had something to do with a child and someone else he mentioned. Maybe he was a teacher, or maybe he had a child of his own that died in a similar way. You felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of that and the fact that you had maybe made him think about something traumatic. “None taken.”

“Have you ever heard of the light?”

It was a sudden question. You blinked in surprise. “Obviously I know sunlight exists.”

A small chuckle left him. “Not just sunlight. There’s another type of light for spirits to go to when they pass—sometimes they can find it on their own, other times a priest can guide them, and I’ve tried my hand at it a few times myself in the past, not that I’m an expert.”

The light. Where did it go? Where did it lead spirits to? What even was it? There were so many possibilities and you were definitely not having an existential (or rather, nonexistential) crisis. “What happens if I go into the light? Would I get born into another body?”

“Kiddo—”

“Would I go to Heaven? Would I no longer exist? Wou—”

“Kiddo.” He was crouched in an instant, and his hands suddenly hovered above your shoulders, nothing like the thing who had done it to intimidate. Instead, he was trying to calm you down.

“What?!”

“Breathe.”

“I can’t breathe anymore, my lungs don’t work because I’m a ghost and what if I go into the light and just stop existing or what if I lose all my memories somehow and—”

His hands landed on and went through your shoulders. Cold. You stopped talking. “Listen to me. Whether or not you choose to go is entirely your choice. I’m not going to drag you to the light and it’s not just going to suddenly appear and suck you in. From what I heard, you need to really look for it. Okay? It’s okay.” His voice was quiet, calming.

“Okay.” You felt like you were gulping in air despite that no longer being possible. “Okay. Thank you.” You leapt at him to try and hug him only to pass through his body.

He shuddered, still crouched. It seemed he felt cold due to you passing through him.

“Sorry, I—”

“Don’t worry. I know you wanted to hug me.” He turned his head and smiled gently at you.

“Thank you,” you repeat shyly.

“You’re welcome.” He paused as he shuffled, still crouched, to face you again so that his back wasn’t turned to you. “Based on your reaction, I’m assuming you don’t currently want to go into the light?” he jokingly questioned with a grin.

You shake your head.

“Well,” he sighs, not sounding disappointed at all, “I guess that means you can stay here for the time being.”

“There’s a time being too?”

He smiled widely. “There is not. I meant for right now, you can stay here. You may need to leave in two weeks for some time due to the thing and your agreement with it, but other than that, you’re welcome to stay so long as you stay out of trouble.”

You beam. “So you’re adopting me?”

His eyebrows shot up. “When did I imply that?” He sounded amused again.

“Right now when you said I could stay for as long as I want!” You grinned in excitement, bouncing on your toes.

“I’m not…” he tried to say, before seeing how upbeat you were, and sighed, rolling his eyes. “Fine. I guess I’m temporarily adopting you.”

“Yes!” Your fist punched the air before trying to hug him again, and like last time, he shuddered. “Sorry, sorry! I should really stop doing that and making you cold. Sorry.”

“It’s alright, kiddo. You want to go… I don’t know, exploring or something?”

“Can we play tag outside in the yard?”

“Of course we can.”

“Awesome!”

You didn’t wait for a response as you ran ahead of him and downstairs, but you did hear him chuckle and mutter something under his breath.

It was certainly going to be a while before you wanted to even think of looking for that light.

[widowsslump]

On this 2024/01/25 I figured I should take a moment and articulate my thoughts and feelings coming into Tekken 8 later tonight. I can see a world in which Tekken 8, despite doing it all right, repeats history like T4. But to start with the optimism. The arcades look wonderful, I had so much fun trying it in the Demo, and I look forwards to seeing if the game manages to help players come from button mashing-> thinking about their neutral -> using all 3 dimensions available. Or at least more use of the plane. -> More player choice here. But ultimately the game still needs to teach combos and frame traps and setups to their players. But these... Are complex concepts to understand, or are mechanically demanding tasks that require practice and development. In this regard the training arena at least looks incredibly promising. Learning how you lost in Tekken 8, and what might have been possible combined with their replay system revamp. I saw what this did in Starcraft 2, and short of being able to recontrol the game with 2 players, it is incredibly similar. The game of course, looks and feels amazing, smooth fluid Tekken gameplay all the way down, but of course this is the part of the game that BNE has established in the early 00's. But this is where I get into my fears. Heat and chip. Playing some of the demo, and to clarify I do not mean the crack (my raven ass has been playing Kazuya I can show the ghost.) Heat is amazing. It has minor elements of bursts re guilty gear, but they remind me more of reversal guards from Soul calibur 6 after some time recently replaying that. And in that comparison really does draw some alarm, especially considering they were not that well received there either. However my fear is not with the heat engagement so much, I think heat will prove to be much more invaluable in combos. I know in the CBT with Raven using 3+2 to get an extra tornado inbetween something akin to fF3 fF4 tornado and a 41bt4 or b242 can lead to insane wall carry and damage. With Kazuya changing my combo from df3 df1DF2 and adding in heat burst to fF2f allowed me to still throw in whichever ender I wanted. This meant that a launch near half could result in a death between the added damage, wall carry and potential wall combo/oki. This combined with the impact of chip are my two main concenrs. As it stands there are 3 major chip categories I have seen from my play and the community. First is the non-existant impact. A game where the chip damage never matters, it plays out with little impact because either 50/50's are hitting, the recoverable health is not being capitalized on, or your landing mostly clean hits instead of combos or counters and it has little impact. Secondly while I did not play the CNT, the utility of oppressive moves, with crazy on hit 50/50's with lots of chip made their MU's incredibly difficult and forced more movement. While I like Tekken because of it's movement, these matchups were toxic in their forcing your hand to fear a tactic that already gave you disadvantage. However the interest in chip has hit, there have been games I have had where we both get low, with recoverable health, and the battle becomes much tighter because of it. But I feel like this is more of an issue with casual Tekken anyways. Where players do not want to do slow things because they are less flashy. I think Tekken 8 has the promise to really help players who want to learn and ge elbow deep into the meat of Tekken do this. I think the fear however is that getting elbow deep into Tekken is a death knell for the game that requires it.

[deadandbeautiful]

𝖜𝖊𝖑𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖐𝖊𝖙!

you feel a sense of dread coming down your back...this place isn't normal, and from what you can tell...it may even be haunted.

welcome vampires, zombies, and ghouls! my name is dee [they/he/she], and i'm your nightmarish fic writer who has a love for fandom and a lust for blood <3 i come from beyond the grave to bring this sweet lil' corner of death, my "alter" if you will; where i'll be posting all kinds of ghoulish and scarifying content for all your bloody and gouged out hearts desires :)) but first, let's take a look into our catacombs!

𝔪𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱:

break the habit [eren jaeger x reader, wip]

𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔞𝔩𝔱𝔢𝔯 [𝔱𝔞𝔤𝔰]

#spiritshotline [sfw content]

#bloodywinebottles [18+ content!]

#deadandbitchy [posts from dee!]

you turn around, but nothings there...could your mind be playing tricks on you after all?

[starlightgames]

Let's talk magic systems!

Magic systems are the bread and butter of fantasy settings and choosing how your magic system interacts with the characters and the world could change a lot of things.

Broken Kingdom went through a few different iterations with vastly different magic systems before Starlight became its magic system.

What made me iffy about the past magic systems was that they weren't a) developed enough and b) were simply not interesting enough for the audience to stay with it. For example, Broken Kingdom's past magic system was that of the moons.

Scarlet Moon was that of external magic, mainly fire, heat, earth, and other offensive/outward magic. This magic came from the largest moon in Cein which was a red moon.

Blue Moon was that of internal magic, mainly water, air, and emotional magic, being able to affect your and other people's emotions. This magic came from the second largest moon in Cein, which shadow of the red moon made it look blue.

Lavender Moon was another off-shoot of these two, by the time I developed this section, I became uninterested in this magic system and I wanted magic to be a core tenet, but not the absolute end-all be-all.

Scrapping it, I ended up starting anew again and, after a few iterations, landed on starlight as a magic system. Starlight draws a few inspirations from the moon's magic system — starlight comes from, as in the name, the stars. Veruna is very interested in astronomy and stars, studying them, but they are also very interested in using Starlight offensively if need be.

Magic affects a lot of aspects of everyday life as well as in a much larger scope. Showing or even just thinking about how magic plays in a certain setting and how it affects the player/main character as they move through the world they're in.

[sylvettesylph]

The issue with video games as a story medium has nothing to do with the fact that its a bad medium for stories and everything to do with the fact that gamers are fucking stupid

[breakingarrows]

Killzone 2 Difficulty Analysis

Some time ago I was thinking alot about video game difficulty. This has been a topic of conversation and Twitter discourse many times, especially around FromSoftware releases due to their reputation for being difficult to play to the end and the lack of any options to ease that difficulty. However I was thinking about it from the angle of what exactly we mean when we say something is difficult. Does it mean the player takes fewer hits before being reset to an earlier point, whether it be the very outset of a run in a rogue-like or a checkpoint a minute earlier in a Call of Duty campaign. Is difficulty determined by how many hits an enemy can take before being defeated, is it harsher scoring qualifications for a Devil May Cry, is it enemy behavior becoming more adaptable or sophisticated, learning from the player actions or being given more capabilities the higher the setting? Killzone 2 has a reputation of being one of the tougher games to complete on its hardest difficulty level: Elite. And so I wanted to take an analytical, frame-by-frame look at Killzone 2 and its four difficulty levels to see what exactly separates each option from each other.

As a first person shooter I expected the main differences between difficulty settings are: player takes less hits to die and be reset the higher the setting, the enemy takes more hits to die the higher the setting, and I was curious as to whether the enemy AI is more aggressive with flanking/grenade usage/firing at an exposed player the higher the setting. Below is a table with my findings upon reviewing my footage in Premiere Pro going frame by frame to count the amount of actual hits to kill and milliseconds to die:

Former is multiple, latter two are a single enemy firing. No aiming reticle. Enemy moved while in cover back and forth, throwing grenades at my cover point. Blood splatter to indicate taking damage appears in the frame before the bullet is actually fired.

Reviewing the footage and the table both Recruit and Trooper are relatively tame. The standard ISA M82 assault rifle takes 6 hits on average to kill while the Helghast assault rifle the StA52 takes 5 hits to kill. Your time to die on Recruit is over 15 seconds while Trooper is barely over 10. On Recruit the enemy AI was more preoccupied with the ally NPC than my player character, focusing fire on him despite me standing in the open. On Trooper their hits were more consistent, and the time to die would have been even shorter if not for the enemy soldier reloading and taking time to take cover. Veteran is where things really change drastically. Enemies take more shots to kill, ranging from 2-4 on both assault rifles. The time to die is significantly shorter, about just 2 seconds continuously exposed before death. Elite had a consistent 9 bullets per enemy with the M82, whereas the StA52 was more varied between 6 and 10 bullets. Time to die on Elite is pretty much the same as Veteran. Additional details on the Elite difficulty is I noticed enemies would move while in cover to avoid the player zeroing in on their exposed areas. Grenades were thrown more often on Elite than on easier difficulties, and the player lacks the aiming reticule when firing from the hip that is present in every other difficulty setting.

Reviewing this it appears Killzone 2 has two main difficulty levels: Normal and Hard with more acute differences between their sub-divisions. Killzone 2 adheres to the expected difficulty variation of the higher the difficulty the more damage is required to achieve a kill and the less damage you can take before being reset to an earlier checkpoint. I do appreciate the finer details on Elite with enemy AI appearing to become more capable to combat the player’s actions compared to every other option.

Lastly, some miscellaneous details: Average time to load a checkpoint upon death was 9 seconds 39 milliseconds 26 microseconds. Average time to load a level from mission select was 28 seconds 59 milliseconds 40 microseconds.