#adastra answers

[comfy-whumpee]

🎬✂️🥇 for any and all stories

- nell

Any and all, eh?

🎬 What was the very first scene or image that popped into your head before you ever wrote a word for your OC?

We're going a bit too far back for me to remember for Ty and Jim, but I'm pretty sure it was either Ty in the shower or Jim opening the front door to find him a lil messed up.

Cat and Lindsey invaded my brain fully formed. Ellis came from playing around on picrew and the desire to do something physically awful to an OC for a change. The full cast of the Birdhouse were inspired by pressing the random button on a picrew until I could connect to the features of them.

Northlight was made to torment but the idea of a sparky, cheeky time traveller was always there.

For a fun one... Iz came into existence kicking the shit out of Alistair and being someone who could and would do that became a principle of her character.

🥇 Pick one aspect of your story that you are particularly fond of. Anything at all.

I have a fondness for nicknames, likely surprising no one. And the contrast between nicknames used for Ellis is fun. Not to mention Harvey's penchant for nicknaming all of his victims.

I also think Kazesh's design is really cool even if I never write anything with her haha...oops.

[mothpawbs]

Who's your favorite character from Adastra?

i have to say it's probably alexios, i love a horrible little guy <3 virginia is also awesome. and who doesn't love neferu?

[littlegeecko]

Are you afraid? Are you scared? Is that why you dont wish to read adastra? Do you not wish to be sad? Do you want to keep your current hyperfixations? Valid?

i dont like stories with furries where im a fucking boring human + a slave to said furries is that enough of an answer to u

[marrowhyena]

HalexUwU asked: What are the biggest mistakes a visual novel can make that lead to it's ending feeling unsatisfying, or generally bad?

Not having a point. I think a lot of FVNs just start with a premise and "wouldn't it be fun to write these OCs doing stuff," but without clear ideas of where the plot should go and what ideas each character embodies.

Adastra and Arches are so relatively tight because they're concise and they're always clearly Doing Something, whereas other stories often feel like they're just kinda treading water. 

 [Smile or comment on the answer here](https://retrospring.net/@Boring_Keith/a/113137353705215514)

[civilotterneer]

Me seeing everyone realize the Adastra reveal in The Search for Civ was planned from the start:

I enjoy watching my evil plans come to perfect fruition.

Also, just a heads up: will be taking a mild break from the main story to answer some asks and do some side stuff before continuing now that the big reveal has been done.

The show will go on!

[byfurries4furries]

Remember the Flowers (Sci-Fi Visual Novel)

So most visual novels I've talked about on this blog have been from Echo Project, a development studio that is famous in the furry visual novel scene for making some of the most acclaimed VNs in the furry fandom and for actually completing some of them. Remember the Flowers isn't made by them though. Its creator, primary writer, and artist are all Jericho. The only connection it has to Echo Project is that its music is done by Anthemics, who's a regular OST composer for Echo Project games like Arches, Khemia, Interea, and a few tracks on the Smoke Room. Because of that, the soundtrack to this VN is really stellar, as most of Anthemics' work is.

Now I will warn you that it is really hard to not spoil this game as the story contains two really major twists that precede some of the best parts of the entire game. I will try though. With that out of the way, the game starts with the protagonist having a nightmare before waking up in the middle of class. He's a college student who's sort of coasting by on his journey to become a doctor. After correcting his teacher on his lesson after he was caught napping in class, he soon gets dismissed and makes some plans for a date with his boyfriend before taking a nap in his dorm room. When he wakes up, he's in the middle of a dark alley with long white hair, a bloody headwound, medical scrubs, and the inability to remember basic details about himself. Fortunately, he's found by Cooper, whose job it is to find humans like the protagonist and take them to a safe haven called Resoom where he can get help once he's safe. It's only now that you find out this world the protagonist is waking up in is a futuristic scifi dystopian world, unlike the more or less regular modern setting the story started in, but with some characters who are anthropomorphic characters, because furry.

Now before I threaten to spoil the game, let's go over some positives. The biggest one I have is the serialization. One problem a lot of unfinished visual novels have is that they have a hard time finding a place to pause the story before the next update. Arches does this pretty well while 9:22 does this really poorly. Remember the Flowers, thankfully, not only has chapters that begin and end in pretty good places but it also has groups of chapters called "Arcs". Each Arc could be a visual novel in its own right and it makes RtF feel like a compilation of a VN series rather than one long VN. This is especially good because the creator is not working on this game as their main job, so they can't afford to do frequent releases. However, the structure makes it so you can just read to the end of the last completed arc and be satisfied with waiting until the next arc is completed. Each arc is bookended by a major twist or a major character revelation that sets the new status quo of the next arc. The first arc is definitely the weakest one, as the only major character besides the protagonist is Cooper and it provides a lot more mysteries than answers. However, the second one is my favorite, but the third and so far last completed one is really a great contender if not for the fact there's not a lot to do except hang out, but the character exploration is really fantastically done.

Now for other positives, the protagonist, Cyrus, is probably the most well-written human protagonist in a furry VN. Human protagonists have a very terrible reputation in furry VNs for being extremely bland player-insert characters whose self-identity is so non-existent that you usually get to pick their names. It's such a negative stereotype in fact that Furry VN databases usually include "Human Protagonist" as a tag to filter out. Even Adastra falls into this trap to an extent. But Cyrus is not a bland character. For a few things, he's asexual and has a pre-established boyfriend, childhood friends, and his own career path and interests. Although he still has about as much personality as Marco in Adastra at the beginning of the game, as the plot progresses and he finds out more about himself and the world around him, he slowly has more and more personality and development to his character and the fact he sorta fills the role of a player-insert early on makes the dramatic beats hit that much harder, because then the progression to what he's like later on makes so much more sense, because you can't help but imagine that if you were in his place, you would probably end up the exact same way. This is exemplified in the text. In the first arc, he's just wide-eyed and curious. In the second, he's maintaining a much more critical outlook, trying to assess everyone he meets and every piece of information he gets carefully. In the third, he's robotic and describes everything very matter-of-factly. He feels like he's talking in the third-person for how bluntly he describes everything. But he does start to get back in touch with his humanity as the arc goes on. However, in the fourth arc, while he's almost back to his old self, there's a distinct lack of self-regard or care for his own well-being. And each step from the beginning of the game to the last update feels natural.

Now I did make it clear that the first arc has some problems. It's unfortunately very slow and not a lot happens. Most of it is used for some broader establishing information, but the actual plot is boringly simple. Cyrus goes home with Cooper and spends a day or two at his house, he then goes with Cooper to get some supplies, and they hop on a train to the pickup spot. Until the arc-ending twist, that's most of what happens. And because Cooper and Cyrus are the only major characters of that arc, there's not a lot of dynamic to play off of and because Cooper is very secretive, there's also not a lot of information to find out. In the second arc, you get introduced to 4 major characters, 3 of which have their own dynamics with each other who are also a lot less stingy with information and a lot more open about their backgrounds and who they are. And any information they do withold, they make sure to explain why they are witholding it and that in itself can give you something to mull over, or it can inform their characters, such as Axel who withholds the absolute minimum information he's been commanded to, Ring who is very stingy with what he reveals and rarely reveals basic information except on accident, and Rose who barely conceals any information if she can manage to remember it. Also, they do reveal most of what they are witholding anyways by the end of the arc. So by contrast, the 2nd and 3rd arcs are very entertaining and well-paced even if it does get a little slice-of-life-ish by the third arc. I wouldn't recommend skipping the first arc though. It still has its moments and there's a lot of important information in it you can't miss.

I'd say Remember the Flowers is definitely a great visual novel even in its unfinished state, especially since it's more like a game series anyways. I highly recommend it and I would do that even for first time players. If you want your first furry visual novel to not feel like a dating sim, then RtF is a really good choice. I would recommend it over Adastra only to people who really don't need visual novels to be completed to like them. With that said, until next time, keep on yiffing

Links

itch.io

[generation1point5]

Who are we to say? We're only a second signaller, not a metaphysician. This is the only reality we have ever known, so how can we judge how reasonable it might be compared to any other? The key, we believe, is to be open to meaning even amidst great uncertainty. But now we are only speaking for ourselves.

In a prior post detailing my thoughts on Nekojishi in the retrospect, I examined the role of religion and spirituality as a means of relating to the unknown and oneself. This seems to be a dominant theme in Echo Project’s works as well.

Echo Project, from its western foundations, features western Christianity as a touchstone of its cultural and historical context. The history of religion as it has affected western thinking and understanding of faith, as well as the common refrains to these traditions, feature heavily in their commentary. For the same reason, it is a point that is rarely discussed between the characters themselves beyond baseline acknowledgement.

Be it a dialectic force that brings out the worst of peoples’ internal psyche or a cosmic horror seeking similar intentions of behavior modification, Echo Project’s visual novels present a decidedly agnostic tone throughout its titles, firmly resisting all efforts of organized religion to provide the comfort in the certainty of a clear answer. The underlying argument to the impossibility of understanding the supernatural, beings that defy explanation and logic, evokes caution and fear from all who encounter them. In both Adastra and Echo, the appearance of beings beyond comprehension are ill-omened, whether they work expressly against the intentions of the cast or claim to work for their benefit. Be it the fear of demons or the fear of gods, the common underlying element is the fearful reaction of the characters to the unknown and unknowable. What cannot be grasped cannot be controlled; what cannot be controlled cannot be trusted.

Yet control is not the central theme for either Adastra nor Echo, nor any of the related spin-off titles. Neither is the attainment of the power that enables such control, or the freedom from the influence of others. The dynamic is instead relational; always a two-way street, the familiar and the unfamiliar meeting together and both coming away changed. Insofar as the protagonists are affected, there is always a period of introspection to follow these encounters; in the absence of being able to understand the impossible, the characters look inward. It is only in response to the external unknown that the characters discover that they are strangers even to their own selves. Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth; even a mirror is affected by darkness. The introspective response in the face of the unknown is, I think, the reason why it is so common for literature written in a western contextual animus to blur the lines between the supernatural and the psychological. The unknown of what is perceived can be attributed to the unknown machinations of the mind; it is a way of being able to contextualize what cannot be consciously comprehended. The truth of an assertion to reality can be comfortably couched in ambiguity as a result, but what I believe to be of greater consideration is that this behavior is indicative of the natural (and nurtured) dynamics that govern how we relate to ourselves and others.

The struggle through adversity and the unknown in the face of the supernatural is not an individual act in any of Echo Project’s games, however isolated the characters may become. They are contextualized and understood through a rich and complicated history of interactions at the personal and sociological scale; what the characters choose to believe may be an individual act, but the threats they face are universal. The way through this adversity in Echo Project games is never accomplished solely by power, but by solidarity. Neither is this solidarity the classic Japanese “my-friends-are-my-power” Shonen anime moment that suddenly fixes all the problems facing the characters. There is no sense of “victory” in the Echo games - rather, the characters endure to the end of the story by mutual support, and the hope that enables the characters to survive through all the life-altering events that change them. Regardless of the designs that the supernatural imputes upon the Echo Project's cast of characters, there is a subtle but powerful argument for the inherent value in the act of merely living through it all, that life in of itself is worth the efforts undertaken to persist, even in the face of changes that it is helpless to alter. It is an argument for living presently, not for a dead past or an uncertain future.

The supernatural in Echo Project is tied closely with age, moreso than it is with any notion of tradition or formalized belief. The beings beyond the grasp of the people who encounter them have existed in the world long before their appearance, and their eternal nature cast echos far beyond the lifespan of any that encounter them until the end of time. The monolithic presence of these entities, never fully comprehended, stand independent of all the designs and attempts by their beholders to understand and influence them; the only alternative is to derive meaning from their presence as it affects them, but this can be interpreted more as a coping mechanism than any sincere attempt at arriving at an objective truth as to their existence.

The awareness of powers and systems beyond the control of everyday people does not require the supernatural; mere socioeconomic superstructures accomplish this without any spiritual origin. In this respect, the supernatural elements in Echo Project’s games can be interpreted as an allegory for the world, or similarly vast and infinitely complex systems of nature and society that are impossible to comprehend in their entirety, much less control. They certainly provide the context by which the existential themes and mood of the games are written within. But more than anything, I think the key to understanding the role of the supernatural, at least as it pertains to art (and thus the Echo Project), has nothing to do with arguments for or against the existence of such beings. It is an interpretation of the world; it tells you more about the author and their worldview than it does anything about world itself (the realm of science). As far as the arts and humanities is concerned, the world and all of its mysteries therein is what we make of it.

This sentiment is generally taken in fiction to emphasize the triumph of the will to accomplish change by force of intention, with a lesser or conveniently-timed intervention of external circumstance whenever necessary. Thus “the world is what we make of it” becomes the Great Man theory of history applied to narrative. The protagonist(s) become Napoleons, the people who defy all the odds and adversity to accomplish all what they seek to change. The “we” becomes individualized into the singular “I” of the protagonist, even if there is more than one. There is always an other that must inevitably be pushed aside, suppressed, and ultimately defeated. This holds true even if (or even because) the antagonist is supernatural in essence.

But what the supernatural in Echo Project’s works accomplish is altogether different; it tempers these sentiments with a context where “the world is what we make of it” means the wills of many, familiar and foreign alike, intersect without clear resolution, a more subdued and relational dynamic than a black-and-white story of good versus evil. This enables readers to see humanity not only in the protagonists but in all of the characters depicted. It deconstructs the very notion of dividing characters into protagonists and antagonists and encourages readers to see the entire cast as a whole: one and all as a singular people, each and every one flawed and unreliable, and not simply for their inability to accurately portray a narrative. The potential for agency in all of Echo Project's characters is inherently limited by the fallibility of human capability and reasoning, but within those limitations there is yet an undiminished value in the act of their expression. The existentialism of Echo Project’s agnosticism and its spiritual elements are neither separate nor in diametric opposition; it is precisely because of the supernatural, the unknown and the inevitable, that Echo Project’s existential persistence comes into its intended purpose and value.

[alta1r1an]

i see your a visual novel enjoyer. have you played any of the echo project games?

I am! And technically yes I have!

However I think my answer is gonna be a tad dissapointing cos it is.. primarily I have played adastra. I've followed The Smoke Room, but only William's route (and I think I am a few behind on that one)

VN's with multiple routes always seem to intimidate me a bit so I usually end up doing just the one. in case of TSR the big burly yote was the obvious pick because I am shallow as a puddle and like me a big man.

[queen-street-news]

New Post has been published on https://bloornews.com/blog-toronto/misunderstanding-caused-bc-company-to-say-health-canada-licensed-it-to-sell-cocaine-trudeau-says/

‘Misunderstanding’ Caused BC Company to Say Health Canada Licensed It to Sell Cocaine, Trudeau Says

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it was a “misunderstanding” that caused a British Columbia-based company to say Health Canada granted it permission to produce, sell, and distribute cocaine.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2023. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)

Trudeau told reporters in Winnipeg on March 3 that he was “as surprised” as B.C. Premier David Eby when he heard that the company Adastra Holdings Ltd., which produces marijuana for adult use and medical sales out of its headquarters in Langley, B.C., announced on Feb. 22 that it was permitted by Health Canada to “legally possess, produce, sell and distribute” cocaine.

The company said in a news release that it had been granted a Health Canada amendment to its controlled substance dealer’s licence on Feb. 17.

Eby first responded to the company’s statement on March 2, saying he was “astonished” that Health Canada would grant the amendment and that his government would be contacting Health Canada for answers.

“I was as surprised as the premier of British Columbia was to see that company was talking about selling cocaine on the open market or commercializing it,” Trudeau said on March 3.

“There are limited and very restricted permissions for certain pharmaceutical companies to use that substance for research purposes and for very specific narrowly prescribed medical purposes, but it is not a permission to sell it commercially or provide it on an open market.”

The prime minister said his government is actively addressing the issue.

“We are working very quickly with this company to correct their misunderstanding that their press release has caused,” he said, adding that decriminalizing the commercial sale of cocaine “is not something that this government is looking at furthering.”

Decriminalization B.C. decriminalized possession of up to 2.5 grams of certain hard drugs, including cocaine, beginning on Jan. 31 following Health Canada’s approval of three-year experimental decriminalization exemption program back in May 2022.

Federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett has said that B.C.’s decriminalization plan will reduce “the stigma, the fear, and shame that keep people who use drugs silent about their use, or using alone.”

In 2022, B.C. had an average of over six people dying from drug overdoses every day, and over 11,000 people in the province have died from illicit drug overdoses since the provincial government declared a public health emergency in 2016.

Federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized the decriminalization policy, saying the solution to the issue of addiction is “more treatment and recovery,” rather than “more poison.”

Both Trudeau and Justice Minister David Lametti have said Ottawa has no plans for a national drug decriminalization policy.

The Canadian Press and Marnie Cathcart contributed to this report.

(Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press) Peter Wilson

[my-dear-bear]

I want this blog to be a documentation of my experience discovering this side of myself. I am gay, and I sort of have always known that. I’ve always liked big men. I’ve also always known that. I’ve never been too shy about that. I live with my boyfriend. I have a life with him. Everything is great. We’re both pretty transparent about enjoying adult content in addition to each other. All my life, I’ve always been near furry spaces. I think this is because of another unrelated interest of mine in the gainer/chaser space of the internet. A lot of the art from that space always landed me in bara art or furry bara art. For a long time, I thought nothing of it. I left things at “these characters are hot” and kept scrolling. But after watching a video essay about Adastra (linked here, it’s incredible, definitely recommend if you haven’t watched it), I realized that there is more to being a furry than consuming horny media. Of course, this is not to say that I explicitly thought this was the case, this was simply how I had always interacted with the community. Now, I think I want to participate in this space. I don’t know what I will be gaining from here. Perhaps nothing. Perhaps experiences. Who knows? But that’s enough for me. I want to learn how to draw in the style of furry artists who have characters that I love. I want to understand the satisfaction behind fursonas and how they interact across the internet. I don’t think I’m interested in fursuits simply because I live in a very warm area and the idea alone makes me sweat. But who knows where this path will take me. I will ask question here, and I am grateful for any answers I receive as I ramble into the void.

So let me introduce Griz. He does not have art yet, but he’s a persona I want to develop. I’ll learn to draw Griz one day, but for now he is a large, anthropomorphic bear (heavily inspired by Honeybum by @saltypoundcake on X) with muscles, a belly, a big chest, a gorgeous beard, and a passion for adventure. He has a lover (unnamed) who is a human male with whom he hikes and travels. I think that’s all for now. Hopefully this goes somewhere fulfilling.

[terris-mayweather]

I literally can decide. I'm missing important details. Are the werewolves feral? Do they crave my flesh in a non-sexual way? How many human features on my wolf men? Can they both rail me in an equally satisfying and pleasurable way? Are the werewolves only full moon, or at any time?

There are too many questions for me to answer fully, so since I am thinking of wolf men like Adastra and Far Beyond the World, I'm going to pick that, but I will clearly state that I don't care as long as my wolf boyfriend will let me bury myself in wonderful chest fur and make me feel loved. <3

[cashmoneychiyo]

Just wanted to ask something about Nozaki-San. Are the chapters considered in the same continuity as GSNK and so this is the future with Yumeko in highschool and Ume in uni (which coincidently lines up with initial plan of GSNK), or is this rather a 'what-if scenario' if they had gone with the original plan? Or a combination of the two?

We consider the first three chapters to be what-if scenarios since they’re explicitly stated to be the original storyboards for GSNS (aka high school girl protagonist with a university student brother that’s secretly a shoujo manga author), with few changes. They probably don’t count as the same continuity as GSNK if you consider the setting of GSNS (mostly that Kashima and Seo are Yumeko’s friends here); however the content itself in Chapters 1-3 does not clash with GSNK so we see no harm in considering them canon compliant.

Chapter 4 (aka the omake chapter that takes place 3 months after Chapter 3) is intended to be the same continuity as GSNK or at least a mixture of same continuity/what-if scenario -- the setting is still faithful to the original GSNS but also incorporates GSNK elements. The chapter is a deliberate tie-in to GSNK, at the very least.

Overall Chapters 1-3 = canon-friendly what-if scenarios, and Chapter 4 = same continuity/ a combination. You could consider the whole thing part of the GSNK continuity if you like, just ignore stuff like “Kashima/Seo are Yumeko’s friends” haha.

[marrowhyena]

Anonymous Coward asked: How long did the post-Adastra depression last for you?

I kinda overwrote it by coming out the next morning

[Smile or comment on the answer here](https://retrospring.net/@Boring_Keith/a/112702180301894107)

[sanqyeonn]

hello!! do you have any tbz blog recs? i’m not new to the fandom but this is a newer blog and i have no idea who to follow (other than you of course)

i’m sorry it took me so long to answer this i just suck at these bc i already know there’s many more wonderful blogs out there! 

@fytheboyz @tbznetwork @hwqll @juyjae @tbzhours @theboyz-engup @seokminnies @tbzpsd @antijacob @sohn-youngjaes @nyuqyu @kim-sunwoos @machina-adastra @hacnyeons @haknew @kyuuwoo @01juyeon @coups @chanheez @jhaknyeon @hakkjae @bloomeric @jjoonewus @ericsgf @sohn-shine @deobistay @deobis @eriqsohn @sangyeond @chanheegf

i think a good handful of these are multifandom blogs, but good blogs nonetheless! you mightve been following some of them already but i hope i was able to introduce you to some new blogs as well 🤗💕

[lobo-cansado-de-ojos-rojos]

LOBOTOMIZE ME, CAPTAIN

To answer your question, character from a furry game called Adastra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q49yBWUkcXo

OK but why is he Anubis?

Also

Just remember they use 230V in East Germany so use the proper inverter so you're not supercharging it.

Unless that's your thing that is

[dontexpecttomakesense]

It is time to see if snores can lead you to true love. Or at least to your heavily depressed boyfriend who thinks you're dead.

I claw myself from the pits of death and what am I greeted with? That ugly underwear smh Going back to hades

all of my suffering in adastra has lead to this one very moment. This will be good

oh come on, he has a healthy amount of fat, he's gonna be fine

there we have it, that ugly thing

Like he has seen a ghost?

I finally achieve my long time dream of being someones ghostly tormentor

you're doing drugs too aren't you? smh I leave for one day and he's already a mess

oh no no no, please don't tell me I'm supposed to feel emotional over this

you could say he's an animorph

I don't know there was a dragon dude, probably boyfriend material... Kinda shipping you two now...

my a former microbiology student, shaking, literally the most basic thing going from one place to another is the unpreparedness of the immune system you colossal idiot

there were vaccines and you didn't eve stop thinking "hey maybe he needs one of those? And if he cannot maybe take precautions???"

I can't believe I was killed by their version of the flu, what is this, "War Of The Worlds"?

I must be seen as a pro in the speedruning community

this is why you don't have braincells amicus

but we both need to shower

now it's my turn to say it: praise the gods

we don't, actually. This was all that weird dragon I'm gonna write slash fiction about

and I thank you for it

can you please not be horny on main for one second?

ong where actually going to have sex aren't we? This is not horny on main this is horny on national television

at least use lube you brute

like the horny idiot that you are

everyone knows about that wonderful post-death sex

you are one horny bitch

no amicus, our dicks open like a flower to take the other in

this is getting unchristian

let's add cato next to virginia cassius alex and computer as people that I can ship amicus with(edited)

the absolute unchristianity of this sentence

yes

let's not tell cato about this

woops too late

oh this will be interesting

dying twice in less than a week, this must be new record

we are really comited to the whole horny on main thing, aren't we?

neferu you are a political whore, but at least you are one of the good ones

welp we're leaving it here for today. Is amicus alive? Will I decide to marry him? Will I ever like their choice in underwear? The answer to the last question is no