#alone on a journey

[daydreamtravellog]

Alone Among The Stars - Takuma Okada

Shall we embark on our first adventure?

Alone Among the Stars was published alongside two other games in Alone On A Journey, which you can find here, and it was originally published separately for free here.

This is a solo journaling game in which you, as a solitary adventurer, discover new planets and the many unique features each one has.

To play this game, you will need:

A standard deck of 52 playing cards (minus the Jokers)

A d6

Something to write with (this instructions imply something physical, like a pencil and small journal, but I just used a Google Doc)

To discover a new planet, roll the d6 and draw that number of cards, placing them facedown. I arranged them like this:

Lucky me, a full six! Seems we'll have lots to explore on this planet...

Speaking of which, lets see what we find first! Roll the d6 to determine how you come across this discovery, and draw a card to determine what that discovery is.

I rolled a two this time, which means it was 'arduous to get to'. A card with the Spade suit indicates a 'Natural Phenomena', and the rank of King means that this discovery was 'floating in the air'.

With that determined, write a short description of the discovery, and your reaction to finding it. (Note - You do not have to format it in the way that I did going forward, I just did it this way to sort of simulate an entry or report in the ship's log.)

Observation: Spotted in the distance after disembarking. The terrain is very uneven and rocky, making travel difficult despite the lowered gravity. There appeared to be stones of very sizes above the ground, with roots or vines of some kind connecting them to the ground. 

Remarks: “This is such a bizarre planet! I thought they were some bizarre plant life from a distance, but that’s not it… It seems like without these roots, these rocks would just float away! They’re like natural balloons! I wonder what causes this kind of thing to happen?”

With that, lets see what we find next...

Another 2, another 'arduous to get to' discovery. The Diamond suit indicates 'Living Beings', and the rank of 2 means that this discovery was seen 'under the light of the moon(s)'.

Observation: Even the lowered gravity didn’t make ascending a tall tree to investigate easy. Once I was high enough, I could see that the glowing mass was a swarm of insects, glowing as if in response to the shine of this planet’s many moons.

Remarks: “There are so many moons in the sky here, the nights are extraordinary! I noticed a bunch of little glowing things flitting through the air above me, so I climbed up a tree to get a better look. I tell ya, you'd think lower gravity would make some physical activities easier, but a tall tree is a tall tree, no matter what force the world is pulling you down with. Anyway, when I got up there, I found that they were these weird insects. They reminded me of those iridescent beetles back on Earth, except these were bioluminescent! It was like watching gemstones dance through the air, it was lovely...”

And again...

Finally, a different roll! A four indicates that 'you come upon it suddenly'. The Diamond suit once again indicates 'Living Beings', but this time, the rank of Ace means that this discovery was found 'in a field taller than you'.

Observation: There is some kind of creature living in the tall grasses, but I didn’t get a good look at it. Whatever they are, they are very fast, and flatten the grass in their path. Remarks: “Whoa, there’s something really fast here! I was trying to make my way through this field of grass that was so tall it stood over my head, when suddenly I heard something moving around in the grass... All I really make out was a purplish blur, though. From above, the trampled grass almost looks like crop circles. I wonder why… A byproduct of how they move in pursuit of prey, perhaps?"

Between arduous terrain and mysterious creatures, traversing this planet certainly isn't easy, but at least it isn't dangerous!

A 5 indicates that 'you spot it as you are resting'. The Heart suit indicates 'Ruins', and the rank of 4 means that I spotted it 'in a steep canyon'.

Observation: There was a small river running though the bottom of a canyon, perfect for taking a short rest. However, while there I noticed a series of markings that couldn’t have been natural. The carvings of an ancient people, perhaps?

Remarks: “This looks interesting… I just sat down to take a breather in this canyon, and then I noticed something on the other side of the stream. There appears to be some kind of writing carved into the opposite wall of the canyon. Unfortunately, I have no idea what it says, and there are no pictures that may illustrate its meaning…”

Between the floating stones and deep canyons, this place seems pretty rocky, doesn't it? It also has trees and tall, lush fields... Maybe this is a mountainous planet?

A 6 indicates that 'you spot it as you are resting' as well, so it seems my break isn't over just yet. The Spade suit indicates another bit of 'Natural Phenomena', and a rank of 3 means that I spotted it 'by a gentle river'.

Observations: I decided my rest wasn’t over, so I sat back down for a little while longer. By some twist of fate, this allowed me to find yet another interesting sight. Light glimmering in my eyes from the edge of the stream. Prismatic bubbles began to rise from the surface of the water, catching the light in beautiful ways.

Remarks: “This planet never rests, eh? I sat down beneath the ancient texts to rest for a little longer, and suddenly there was light shining in my eyes! I opened my eyes, and bubbles were rising from the water’s surface! As they floated up, they caught the light, and… wow. Y’know how soap bubbles have the iridescent, rainbowy film to ‘em when you look closely? This was like that, cranked up to 11. I sat for a while and watched the balls of rainbow rise into the sky.”

Why do these strange phenomena happen? It's fun how this game can give you a small glimpse into an entirely new world.

Onto our final discovery of the day...

A discovery similar to the first, but not exactly. A 2 indicates that this one was yet another 'arduous to get to' discovery. The Diamond suit means that was have found another 'Ruin", and the rank of King means that it was 'floating in the air'.

Observation: Climbing some vines to a rock like the ones I found earlier, but much larger in size, I found an entire building atop the floating rock! It seems like the ancient people who used to live here were able to use this bizarre phenomena to their advantage…

Remarks: “More of the floating, vine-bound rocks! This one was huuuuge, though! I couldn’t resist the curiosity, and that bit me in the ass… climbing ain’t fun, I’ll say that much. At least my effort was rewarded, because I found an old house! Its in ruins, of course, but Im impressed by the ingenuity of the people that used to live here! I wonder if this would allow them to move their buildings by moving the vines, almost like a parade balloon…”

Having exhausted all of our cards, that means we just have one thing left to do: give this new planet a name! I'm not the best with coming up with names, so I'll leave this one up to Fantasy Name Generators...

This is where our adventure will conclude for now, as we blast off from the newly-dubbed 'Aihri', taking off into the stars once more.

You can continue by rolling your d6 again and drawing more cards to discover another planet, but for my first time this one took me awhile, so we'll close the book on planet-hopping for now.

I will mention that the instructions say "If you want to remember your travels, save the journal. If the memories bring you pain, burn it."

... I wrote all of this directly onto Tumblr via my laptop, so let's hope these memories never sour.

That's all from me! I hope you enjoyed this peaceful adventure, and who knows what's in store for the future? I hope this first post doesn't feel too rough, but please feel free to let me know if there is anything I can improve upon to make it a better experience!

Until next time, I bid you adieu, and we will meet again when there is a new tale to be told...

[spicyraeman]

felt like a pt 2 of the collar piece was needed [full ver. here (explicit)]

[audreysdancemp3]

Kyle MacLachlan as Dale Cooper ◊ TWIN PEAKS ◊ 1.04 · Episode 3 "Rest in Pain"

[equill]

I never seen this man in my life

Extra: (you did this to yourself.)

[reimeichan]

Signs of having DID that I ignored (note that these are not exclusively signs of DID but they were for me):

I don't have amnesia, that's just short term memory loss because I have ADHD!

I actually have a very good memory, I'm great at memorizing things (what do you mean that's not the same thing)

sure it may seem like my mood changes drastically but I've read online that's common in people with ADHD! it's hard for us to regulate our emotions!

so what if I have different preferences from time to time? that's normal right? like when your mood changes you may prefer different foods? what do you mean that's not the same as going from "I hate spicy foods" one day to "omg I LOVE spicy foods!" the next?

yeah okay I tend to space out in the middle of conversations then come back to and need you to remind me what you said for the past 10 seconds or so. that's just my ADHD inattentiveness. what do you mean that I only do this when stressed. what do you mean that's a form of dissociation.

speaking of dissociation, sure sometimes I feel like I'm watching myself say and do things without my own input but that's just because I was tired/stressed out

yeah sometimes I go on autopilot. my autopilot seems to have its own agenda sometimes though. weird.

sure I changed usernames a *few* times but isn't that pretty common? yeah I also wanted to change how I presented online and also my pronouns and stuff but again isn't it common for people to want to start over sometimes?

*making multiple accounts to play the same game because I play the game differently on different accounts and don't want to mess things up on one account*

oh yes, I'm genderfluid! I say that because my gender absolutely changes from moment to moment and sure it seems kinda tied to other aspects of myself like color preferences and energy levels and personality traits but I'm pretty sure that's just par for the course with genderfluidity?

"you're so different when you're around your parents vs when you're at school/work vs when you're hanging out with friends!" yeah that's called being a complex person we all have different masks we wear in different social situations and I'm no different even if it seems more extreme for me

"how was school/work/the hang-out/going to visit your parents?" I don't know I'm tired and have a giant headache and can't remember

"you said this to me the other day and it made me feel <x>" what????? I literally have no memory of this and that's so incredibly out of character for me wtf I would never do that I was probably just really stressed out and tired and had no filter on.

[fusionsprunt]

me when my meteor-powered robot gf attempts to murder me 😳😳

[dailyloopdeloop]

loop and mirabelle. That's it that's the ask

DAY 84: enrolled in the gossip wars

[wigglebox]

Destiel Pride - Day 13; Gender Euphoria

[haunted-xander]

One thing I really love about Marcille is that despite her deep fear of outliving her loved ones, she never, never let's it get in the way of her making bonds and getting close to people. She loves deeply and strongly and she doesn't try to supress that! She embraces it wholeheartedly! Her friends are so important to her and she's not ashamed or scared of it!

Actually, out of all the characters, I'd say Marcille is one of the ones who care the most about bonds of friendship. She's angry at Namari for leaving after Falin got eaten and holds that grudge up until Namari helps defeat the Undine (and therefore having 'proven' herself). She's shocked and upset when Chilchuck explains his policy of payment and that he's not really here bc of friendship. She puts a lot of focus on the party being a Group Of Friends rather than a team of hired hands dedicated to the specific role(s) they are paid for. Which of course makes sense since she joined the party to begin with because of her friend! To her, the party has always been 'Falin and her brothers' friend group' rather than a hired party. (A little reminder: Marcille was the most recent member when the story starts. She never met the previous members who left so the team of Laios, Falin, Chilchuck, Namari and 'Shuro' is what she's always known it as.)

When she becomes dungeon lord, the thing that manages to snap her out of the Winged Lions grasp is the earnest care and love her party is showing her. Literally 'power of friendship'ed their way through the Lions hold and gave her her clarity of mind back.

And!!!! At the end of the feast right before they're about to attempt to revive Falin again, she says!!! this!!!!

She's ready to accept that Falin might not come back, even after everything. The entire story she's been running away from death, from having to outlive her loved ones (in this case: Falin). But here she is, ready to let her stay dead if this last attempt doesn't work.

And it's not giving up. It's realizing that she did all she could, and that it's okay. Because she still got to meet and be friends with Falin. That time with her might be just a speck in the length of life Marcille will have to live still, but it still happened and that's what matters.

It's not about escaping death; it's about cherising the moments before it.

[a-path-by-the-moon]

[my-fancy-hat]

mom [makima] as the heart of the family, the control that ties everything and everyone together in this sand castle we live, the fulfilled life denji though would find. to burn it for what he though would bring him true happiness, to step on the daughter of his grief, to stick faithful to what mama said is the best for him: undeserving of happiness, he had to destroyed it. who is in blame here?

The End of Evangelion (1997), Hideaki Anno; Chainsaw man (2018- ), Tatsuki Fujimoto.

[waitingawhile]

oh shiii-

[enarien]

[willowedhepatica]

watching the northern lights 💫 got this fantastic commission by @notenotenotenote3 for my fanfic death doesn't dream

[su-talks-about-things]

I haven't even seen it yet because I'm late but after what we've learned, knowing that Sam came back during a live show, with thousands of people cheering for him! Knowing this feels heartwarming and amazing because he got to return like the absolute king that he is. This man has made people laugh and cry for years, so coming back to such an audience after winning his battle against cancer feels like... I don't know guys, that is just what he deserved and I hope he felt the love and support and everything else.

[general-cyno]

today in more zolu thoughts: yet another thing I find fascinating about zoro and luffy's relationship, which I believe the LA managed to capture pretty well despite the differences between it and the og source material, is that while zoro's capacity for loyalty and devotion where luffy's concerned are insane (the all-encompassing, heartfelt, lay down my life and dreams for you, follow you until death or the very end of everything kind of crazy), they're not entirely unconditional per se. the condition here being that he has to measure up to zoro's standards - that luffy has to prove himself a man worthy of following.

there are plenty examples of this in the manga, but I'll stick to where it and opla intersect. so manga!zoro pretty much stands firm with this condition when he agrees to follow luffy, warning him about not getting in the way of zoro's dream right away. opla zoro is a lot more reluctant to join in comparison, and he just seemingly goes along with the whole thing in a more "might as well" manner; even so, there's these few subtle moments where you can see him being struck awe by luffy's faith in himself/his dream (the dinner at kaya's) and showing exactly why he's a "different" kind of pirate (ie freeing the folks from orange town).

still, the most pivotal moment is zoro's fight with mihawk in both cases. this is where luffy has to really prove himself to zoro, for the first time. because talk of dreams and promises and not hindering them is nice and all, but can luffy really stand by what he says when push comes to shove? when the life of someone he cares about is on the line? and man. the answer is yes.

in the manga, by stopping johnny and yosaku from intervening and refusing to do so himself as well, even though he was deeply upset by zoro getting hurt, luffy proved he wouldn't go back on his word nor betray zoro's trust and the faith he had placed in him. in a similar fashion, opla luffy letting zoro go ahead with the duel despite his own apprehension/doubts and nami questioning both of their choices, is what finally led to zoro recognizing him as his captain out loud and accepting his role as a first mate.

I just think it's interesting that these two kind of make each other walk on a tightrope. only the world's greatest swordsman can stand by the pirate king's side. the pirate king can have the world's greatest swordsman by his side, if he proves himself worthy of it. but the best part? for me, it's that zoro and luffy are able to challenge one another this way (or set the bar that high) because they absolutely believe the other can rise up to it and beyond.