#can you tell ive been playing time loop games

[toy-pigeon]

mfw when i post a wip and then immediately turn around and finish the piece same day

happy hershel haturday! i was feeling very normal about the concept of gravity while i didnt have access to digital art so i was basically just thumbnailing this idea a million times in my sketchbook.

inspiration under the cut if you, too, want to feel very normal about the concept of gravity

“death to the mechanisms,” the mechanisms / 17776, jon bois / what if, randall munroe

[hecksupremechips]

Hnnnghhhh finally finally made it to act 4 in isat it only took 50 years and all my bones heres a few disorganized thoughts

I liked when siffrin gets their ass so betrayed by the king like all this work to understand him and even getting him to stop fighting and share his backstory a bit only for it to end soooo fucked up my god that shit was brutal. Evil! And i cackled evilly while also freaking out

Getting new friendship shit was nice, I was starting to forget that this game can be sweet and not infuriating and I may have reared up a bit when mirabelle combed siffrins hair and "allies" changed to "family". But also knowing full well that this wasn’t gonna be the end is very sad and yeah I can see how this is gonna turn into siffrin getting meaner cuz with the king attempts and the friends attempts it’s like. Very specifically trying to be the kindest person he can be, trusting that everyone is capable of good, believing in the power of friendship. And then all of that was useless and no one will ever remember it. And he’s back to having no clue again

Siffrin is starting to get a little too relatable and it’s like uh oh. Shit like not remembering your past or even things that have just happened that you’ve experienced over and over, or shit like siffrin being able to see that isa loves them and having a panic attack thinking that they must’ve manipulated isa into loving them because how else can something like that be explained, it’s like. Ooof stop I’m in this photo and don’t like it :(

Odile is still the best character

[awrkive]

PLEASE LET CNBL COUPLE HAVE THEIR SEXTAPE 🤤 i think oc would be down to that idea but i get why jungkook is taking things slow too but my man is a simp fr he would put it in a loop because he’s obsessed with his girlfriend

i got u anon. ive got an ask about it sometime ago abt what miss cnbl!oc feels about digital s*x or film s*x. thought of an idea. this is 2 years after wncl, which is sorta kinda like the sequel of cnbl lols. anyways this is kinda self indulgent and honestly just an excuse to write smut 😭

summary: jungkook can't bear being away from you, and so you give him a solution

w/c: 2k lol

warning/s: consensual filming, unprotected s*x, cre*mpies

Jungkook can get pretty intense during reunions. In fact, intense is an understatement. He absolutely goes fervent, and you can’t blame him when you missed him just as bad too. 

“Ngh– fuck, I miss you so much, baby. I miss you every fucking day,” he groans into your ear, pumping his cock in and out of you at that pace that’s just so right. Not too fast. Not too slow. Just enough to make you keen; to make you grip the sheets behind you so tight. Just enough to not make it hurt when you've already come two times from his mouth and tongue, and another two times from his dick. Consequently, he's already two creampies inside your pussy and it's not even been a full hour.

And just when you thought that he’d be satisfied by the last time, he’s now determined on coaxing a fifth release from you. 

Frankly, you don’t know if you can do it. Sure, there was one time last year when he made you cum seven times in a row – and Jungkook still talks about it like a kid high on sugar, mentions it every now and then, keeps on wanting to do it again sometime – but it’s too bad you can’t keep up with him all of the time. Jungkook’s stamina is high and yours isn’t all that exemplary.

But you do try your best to match it because you love it just as well. You love the feeling of his cum shooting inside your hole, him pushing it back into you in that non-overbearing possessive manner, and how he always tells you you’re such a good girl for taking more and more, just letting him give and give. 

It’s why you encourage him to get you to cum again – because god, you really also missed him so fucking bad. 

He just got back from LA, just arrived at your place five hours ago, and you expected him to sleep the whole night in – not when you know he worked so hard back there. His team just bagged a win, and they’re moving onto semis the next few weeks. 

But Jungkook informed you that he had to leave again in six days – had to train across oceans again with the team. Said that he just begged his coach to get him a one-week vacay when others only got four. 

It’s not unfair when he’s the star player of the team he’s been winning for in the entirety of the last year. Jungkook’s an NBA player who has gained much bigger success and popularity ever since he got drafted, despite being so young and fresh to the scene. 

And sure, he basks in it sometimes – likes the praise, likes the way winning makes him feel. He loves playing for the team. Loves the work that he does. 

But one thing he absolutely fucking loathes about it is that he has to fly off across states for a game, and that means leaving the comfort of your shared apartment – leaving you, not being with you. 

And so you understand greatly why he’s intense during reunions. Because as much as you’re happy with your current lawyering – in your second year now – you also miss those days back in college when you could just have each other every single day. 

“Yes, fuck– oh there, baby, that feels so good…” you moan when he hits a particular spot. Your eyes roll to the back of your head as he encloses his hot mouth around your nipple again, alternating on suckling and nipping around it, his other hand fondling your other boob. But again, Jungkook seems to be so on edge right now that you let out an “Ow!” at one harsh bite. 

“Sorry,” Jungkook soothes it with a kiss to the tip, hips still moving against yours, cock going at a steady pace in and out of your pussy. “I just missed you so much, pretty girl. Those calls weren’t enough.” He whispers against your chest, this time lapping at your breasts more gently. 

You reach out for the messy locks that sit atop his head, smiling gently down at him even though he can’t see you. 

“Babe?” 

“Hm?”

“Do you want to take a video?” You ask, still caressing his hair. 

You don’t expect the way his hips stutter after your question. The quickness in which he peels his head away from your tits to look at you with a surprised face after that is almost laughable but that would be mean of you.

“What?” 

“A video. Of us. I dunno… maybe it will do us both good if we have something of us while we’re away from each other.” you shrug nonchalantly. 

You both aren’t strangers to sending nudes to each other or sexting in general. Jungkook sends you videos and pictures of his dick a lot of times – unprovoked and even on a random Tuesday at 2 fucking pm. And you send him your tits and risky pictures of you in crotchless panties when you feel like it. (Like when you’re taking a bath and you're feeling a bit raunchy with the soap suds all over your breasts… Jungkook gets so drunk off the pictures that he fucks you so good once he gets ahold of you in person.)

It used to be just tits but you’ve upgraded to pussy pics… hey, it’s just that you’ve grown more comfortable overtime.

Being with Jungkook for three years now, you can say that you’ve tried a lot of things with sex. But somehow… you’ve never really tried making a sex tape. 

Sure, Jungkook’s brought it up before. Asked you if you were interested in the idea – but you answerwd with an affirmative no. Photos were okay, but videos were off-limits, and Jungkook was completely fine with that. It is your body, and he understands thoroughly the anxiety that you have behind the idea of sexual digital footprint – you’re a woman after all, there’s ultimately danger as a consequence to the very idea. 

It’s not even Jungkook you don’t trust. God, you trust him so much – but it’s this paranoia about imaginary people who are out to get you. 

And so that has always held you back. 

But right now, as you feel Jungkook’s frustration about the long distance thing as much as his love while he drives you up the headboard with his loving, passionate thrusts, you can’t help but think that maybe you can give this a try. 

Filming a sextape, you meant. 

“Are you sure?” Jungkook blinks up at you, eyes wide as it opens and blinks continuously. 

You chuckle. “Yes. Why do you look so surprised?”

Jungkook smiles shyly, and it’s adorable because he’s literally balls deep in you right now. 

“I thought it was no-go.” 

“Please,” you roll your eyes playfully– but you’re soon cut off by a particular thrust. Jungkook knows this too, as he begins peppering kisses all over your jaw, humming to let you know he’s still listening. You stammer a little, but you manage to let out a continuation of your sentence, “I let you put your dick in my ass and spit in my mouth. Nothing is no-go between us at this point.” 

Your joke may not have been the funniest – as it just further riles Jungkook up by the way he suddenly picks up his speec. 

“Oh, fuck, you little minx – you really had to say that, huh?” He emerges from your neck and grabs your jaw – albeit softly. “Get me real fucking hard talking about those.” 

“You can do them to me on camera now.” you say, challenging. And you laugh when you feel him literally freeze. But it’s not as funny anymore when his cock throbs inside of you, and suddenly, you feel the urge to cum again. To release one more time.

He recovers quickly from the shock, though. “Yeah?” 

You gasp when he plunges his cock back into you, only leaving the first half of his length before he enters again. He repeats that motion until your neck is craned back and your eyes are seeing stars. 

“Keep going like that— yes, yes!” You say, starting to get hysterical because you can feel that coil in the pit of your stomach now. 

Just a few more pumps and it will come out anytime soon. 

“You’re so fucking hot and pretty, look at you.” Jungkook sighs, taking a hold of your hips this time so he can hit deeper. And he does hit deeper, alright – that it doesn’t really take too long before you spasm around his length again, your fifth orgasm hitting you like a ton of bricks. 

You lie there on the mattress completely lax while Jungkook goes on with a few more erratic trusts until you feel that hot liquid cum shooting straight to your hole. 

The both of you mewl in unison at the sensation, with Jungkook kissing your mouth to bask in the moment.

When he breaks away, he caresses your cheek and plants a sweet peck to the tip of your nose.

“We’re filming the sextape tomorrow but can I take a video of your pussy full of my cum right now?” He asks seriously, and his polite tone – as if he’s requesting something at the White House – makes you laugh again. You're so giggly now that he's back. Go figure.

(How you love him so much.)

“Okay.” you say, and you watch as his eyes widen, cock twitching inside your pussy that he still hasn’t pulled out from you yet.

“Fuck, you’re the fucking best.” He says as he picks up his phone from the nightstand. 

Turning it sideways, he grips the device with his left hand, turning the camera to your body. 

“Just make sure it doesn’t pick up my face, okay?” You say, but nonetheless enjoy the sight of his hooded eyes roaming around your naked body like he’s high on it. 

“I know. I’ll do that.” Jungkook murmurs, but you know he’s distracted, especially when you finally get to see the sudden shift in position where he’s kneeling on his calf now in between your spread legs. “Open wider for me, baby, let the camera see how full you are with my cock and cum.” 

You hiss at that, and you let Jungkook guide your thigh with his free hand as he helps you spread the two of them wider.

“Hold them for me, princess, just a min.” Jungkook says, folding your knees until they’re all up in your chest. With his help, you relax in that position, waiting for what he does next. “Good. Good girl. Always so behaved…” he trails off, and slowly, he slides out his cock from your heat. 

Jungkook thinks your face is the most beautiful he’s ever seen and your pussy stuffed, leaking with his cum is a close second. 

“Fuck.” He whispers, making sure the camera captures just how white your pussy is now with his thick cum – a product of five straight orgasms he’d coaxed out from you. He wants to highlight the way your pussy throbs, but sadly with the bad lighting and him using a phone camera, he can’t. 

Still, he relishes in the high of seeing you bare like this. With the tip of his cock just right beside your pussy, he slides the crown back to gather all the cum that dripped out, pushing it back into you. 

There's an overspill that coats his dick as well, and it’s making him feel things. Like his cock getting hard again even though he just came the second time. 

“Oh, Jungkook…” You sigh out, feeling overstimulated now. But as you look at his face, completely distracted, you enjoy the view instead. “You like that, baby?” You ask meekly, thinking that maybe he’d like that when he watches this again. 

“So fucking much, you have no fucking idea.” Jungkook huffs. “You’re so full already but there’s still so much leaking out.” 

“That’s all of you, Jungkook,” You say sweetly. 

“Hm. I know… shit… I just wanna do this everyday.” 

“Film is?” You snort. 

“Fucking you… being with you. I was going crazy in my hotel room at LA. Just wanna be with you all the time.” He laments. Jungkook presses on the phone and suddenly, he puts it back on the nightstand. 

“Awe. Poor baby.” You respond, tapping his forearm, putting your legs down while Jungkook soothes your thighs with gentle rubbing. 

You thought he’s done for the night, but suddenly, he says, “Angel, I may have lied. Can we film the sextape tonight, please?” 

You laugh. Again. And Jungkook just falls down your body, snuggles close to your chest as you instantly play with his hair. 

“Alright.” You say, craning your neck down to press a kiss on the crown of his head. 

[kyri45]

✨ISAT Sky: Cotl!AU Q&A ✨

Welcome to the Q&A! A space where I can answer related or similar question about the ISAT Sky: Cotl!AU! If you submitted your ask anonimously, then you’ll have to check the whole post if it’s answered here, if it’s not, worry not! Your asks might have been used for a future comic or just in the queue~

Anonimo ha chiesto: sometimes when im bored i just go to your profile to position your pfp to siffrin's hands so it looks like they're holding you

I feel threatened bc if Siffrin would know what I'm making them pass through with the next comic updates he would crush me insteantly with a fist.

Anonimo ha chiesto: Damn Siffrin is dying and no one will ever remember them. 😔 Oh Loo~ooop!

Loop coming to save the day even tough they aren't paid enough for this shit

Anonimo Siffrin isn't aware of the hole in the wall you can go through for those two statues without having to get pelted by rocks smh my head. (said jokingly) ((Love your comic btw!! Thank you for this AU, I love it))

THE

WHAT?

YOU CAN GO THROUGH A WALL TO GET THEM WITHOUT RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE?????

Anonimo My reaction to this chapter of ISAT COTL CROSSOVER AU (10/9/2024) GO BBG YOU GOT THIS IN THE BAG!! OH YOU DO NOT GOT THIS IN THE BAG.. oh now you're out of the bag oh god ruh roh

Oh yeah he does NOT have this.

Anonimo pst hey hey are you gonna pose the statues, it would be funny i swear totally not more heartbreaking for siffr- WAIT HOW WOULD THEY REACT TO THE FACT YOU CAN BARELY SAVE ALL OF THE STATUES WHEN YOU REACH THE FOREVER STORM PART-

he has enough memories that he should recover a good amount of statues. It's not a matter of wheter or not he can save everyone, but mostly themself....

Anonimo ha chiesto: Hey so I cannot believe I am so late to see your ISAT and Sky AU because I love!! Both of them!! So much!! And I just wanted to thank you for making it and sharing it with us because it’s really cool! And both fandoms need more attention imo <333 @ucorpwhalingyaoi ha chiesto: I know NOTHING about cotl but my god your isat au of it has made me want to play it so bad 💔 (very /pos…) @primrosechronicles ha chiesto: HEYYYY ITS BEEN A WHILE SINCE IVE SENT AN ASK!! Ive been silently reading the isat comic since my last ask and im very very proud of you for making this far!!! mwahh!!! Thank you for inspiring me to play sky again, cuz if not i wouldn't have able to meet my sky friends Anonimo ha chiesto: first of all, I came here from the shadowpeach au but your comics dragged my ass to the ISAT fandom second of all, HOW DARE YOU PLAYED WITH MY HAPPINESS LIKE THAT (love your art and story telling, I wanna eat it like a fancy dinner) @prince0fghosty ha chiesto: It's been hard for me to find Sky: Children of the Light content anywhere! I found you through a friend and not only are you interested in Sky but also Lego Monkie Kid this is truly the best day ever!!! I got back into the game because of you. I like to help moths out in Eden @phoenix-is-here ha chiesto: You are the person who introduced me to the ISAT fandom and I gotta say thank you for that. That's one of the best games I've ever played and I would have never known about it without stumbling onto your account first (because of a strong hyperfixation on a show about monkeys ofc) so.. Accept this virtual cookie and glass of milk as a gift : 🍪 Anonimo ha chiesto: I followed for the shadowpeach, stayed for Sky CotL, keep cookin

HIII!!! AND TYSM!!!!!

@elianaroselight ha chiesto: This feels a little silly, but what is ISAT? I read through your ISAT Sky AU comic and I feel like I am missing half of the story. I love what I'm seeing so far and want more, but I also don't know or completely understand who the characters are and why I should care about them (more than I do already at least). Sorry if this is silly. I just want to understand.

ISAT is short for "In Stars And Time". It's an RPG game made by @insertdisc5. ABsolutely go check it out otherwise you wont understand a thing about the characters of the AU!

when i was reading the most recent page of the In Skies and Time™️ comic I had the most hilarious image in my head of just a bunch of sky kids smacking down on the same area and making this. sky kid pileup????? [since it seems liek theyre all gonna come back like that..] it was super funny to imagine 30 CAR PILEUP 🔥🔥🔥

AWWW SKY KID MOUNTAIN!! Lol probably it would happen? Like when you do Eden just after reset and when you get reborn there's like 7 other players clipped in you rebirth animation in the aviary /home space

Anonimo ha chiesto: Awwwww Bonnie was so excited 😢

poor Bonnie they will get their comfort moment eventually

@sohrleas ha chiesto: YOU YOU'RE THE REASON WHY I got Sky 'cause I saw your isat sky au and got super curious about the game Your art is beautiful and I love it 💚💚💚

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO!!!!

Anonimo ha chiesto: HOPEFUL STEWARD WOOOOO-

IT'S MY BOY!!

@o0mochacoffee0o This isn’t related to you Bio dad AU Like my usuals- I just saw in your abut that you like CotL! Now you share two of my interests!! I’m curious to know your favorite parts of the game, if you have any ships, head canons, etc!! I always love listening to people’s opinions on things I love!

About Scotl? I don't have any specific headcanon, but I do ship Moments Guide and Reassuring Ranges. The only thing that I crave for that game is MORE LORE GODDAMN IT

Anonimo ha chiesto: When I said the fun was dying. I did not expected this. I'M SCREAMING AND PUNCHING THE BED NOOOOOOOOOOOO SIFFF

*sips coffee* welcome to hell (literally)

Anonimo ha chiesto: "is that thing a sadness?!" sweet summer child that thing is a menace of death

It absolutely is

Anonimo ha chiesto: Poor Siffrin’s gotta be absolutely TERRIFIED Big scary beast thing spotted them AND suddenly getting bathed in the color they associate with bad stuff? I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t be quaking in their boots.

He is in desperate need of comfort that wont come in like- a irl month I think

Anonimo ha chiesto: I know you won’t be doing the golden wastelands but… Once the party discovers that the groundwater has the same effect as the forest rain, Isabeau decides to bridal carry Siffrin the whole way. Leaving Siffrin a blushy mess. Also, almost if not everyone is scared shitless of the Dark Dragons/Krill (totally not projecting)

ooooohh that is soooo cute i'm dying!!!!!

Anonimo ha chiesto: THE FAKE ACT 4 LOOKING SMILE . THE ACT 5 EDEN MOMENT. THE PARTY BEING SENT BACK . DIES "oh yeah if I still have energy I can loop back" ← me when I'm lying

@starlight-and-clockwork ha chiesto: bawling and kicking and screaming and pulling my hair out THAT PANEL OF SIFFRIN ASKING HIS FAMILY TO REMEMBER HIM WILL HAUNT ME FOREVER YOU ARE SO TALENTED AND CAUSE ME MUCH PAIN THANK U<3

@aro-aces-world ha chiesto: I just caught up with ISAT sky au Fuck you /affectionate

Thank you! Be ready to be even more destroyed by the following updates!

@cherryblossomventi ha chiesto: I’m gonna go feral, Sif did that because he knows he can kinda come back from this with the shooting star thing Im guessing but the others cant/might not because they aren’t from this land,,, oh buddy why didn’t you tell them stop being cryptic idiot

Sif doesn't really remember that he can be reborn like in Sky. He knows only that, if he can reach the light right at the base of the cataclysm, then maybe he can return as well.

[kosmical]

alr i'll bite what's isat

Omg thanks for opening pandoras box! You will regret this

In stars and time is the recent food source of my brain eating amoeba and it Will Not Leave. before i get into why im rabid about it though ill give a brief synopsis . putting a read more here because i suspect this post will get LONG.

its a game about a classic rpg party on the last two days of their quest to save the country from The King who is freezing everything, including people, in time. the main character, Siffrin, is the party's rogue who, upon going into the House of Change (the game's dungeon so to speak) and promptly dying, finds out that they're trapped in a time loop. they're the only one who remembers repeating the last two days- aside from a star named loop who helps him try and figure out whats going on, why, and how to break out.

Now personally ive never been invested in a time loop story?? Im not sure if thats because i havent consumed much media thats implemented it before as its main premise or if i just havent been interested but i think in stars and time meshes the two different genres a time loop story can fall into really well (the mystery and the emotional conflict).

The mystery is what drives you through the game (and there are other questions unrelated to the timeloop about siffrin's origin and the world itself that i think handle a variety of themes like loss of culture and personal transformation really well but thats a different tangent) but the emotional parts are what really got me. You have to watch almost in the backseat as Siffrin is like. Slowly depersonalized from the people they care about. All while refusing to tell them anything about their misery because they don't want to burden them or drag them into his suffering. Even happy moments that Siffrin doesnt mind repeating become tainted because it becomes a matter of acting so that the "scene" doesnt stray from its path and his party doesnt become suspicious.

and yet they still DO, both in regards to Siffrin's World Alteringly Terrible Case of the Mondays and the actual time loop. they notice how tired and fake he seems. one of my absolute favorite scenes is one where you interact with a closet and it provokes a conversation about where Siffrin got their cloak from and how long they've had it, because its really one of a kind. it has temperature regulatory magic imbued in the stitches and is made to grow with him. And siffrin just cant fucking remember. not only because hes been looping so long that its created a haze over his mind but because he has no true "identity." and as he's scrambling to fill in an answer for this hole in his head, a gust of wind hits his face because one of their friends, isabeau, flapped his cloak while inspecting it to ground him. and he disguises it by commenting on the thickness of the cloak.

Getting this scene by accident on my playthrough made me feel so many feelings dude like . Siffrin isn't the only one trying to hide things. Their friends care about him so much and they try to disguise how concerned thwy are and its just. Im . Im Normal.

its not just about that though . Like if you start finding shit a little too fast they'll start catching on to whats happening. a little sound effect will play whenever you know something you shouldn't know and the others notice and whenever it happened i was like. Twisting in my seat waiting for them to call me out.

it all builds up into this really fucking painful emotional climax that i will not talk about because i don't want to spoil more than i already have but omg. I was writhing. It was. Hhhggnngh.hfg. Glass shards in ym mouth yummy

On the topic of shit i cant talk about: My favorite character is this fucking thing

I have held off from talking about loop's role in the story because i cant describe to you why they make me so ill. Not because i dont know Why but because it is something you should experience yourself. They're really charming and funny and their dialogue is fantastic. Of course that's part of the reason i lauve them but theres also the underlying secondary mystery of why they're here/who and or what they are/etc. And when u know. Its. I Cant Tell You. BUT ITS REALLY GOOD. ITS REALLY REALLY GOOD. Just know that if you get to the end and are still confused about them. That theres more than the main ending . AND IT IS PROBABLY WHY I AM SO INSANE ABOUT THIS GAME HONESTLY. I LOVE YOU FOREVER LOOP . im ok

In short: In stars and time is a game that is good and you should play it :) Im pretty sure its on sale right now on steam so yeah go get that.

if you made it through this fucking dissertation length post on isat CONGRATULATIONS ! heres some miscellaneous doodles ive done of it in the past month since ive played it love love

[demento-mori]

Alright! Now that ive finished Act 3 ive put together some of my general thoughts and feelings from this section of the game.

First off, I absolutely love how much the dialogue, descriptions, flavour text and so on changes and evolves throughout the loops. There are so many little details and plot threads, such as Siffrin repeatedly hitting their hip against that one corner, and getting increasingly frustrated each time, or learning that the dying plant is Mirabelle's and being able to compliment it in the next loop. It makes the characters and the world seem so organic and alive, and provides a sense of progression as you are able to learn more and more about the world around you. Even though the game gives you the option to loop directly to certain floors and areas, I find that I prefer to go through the house the 'legit' way each time, simply because I'm so eager to see whats changed.

Siffrin's psychological decline has been devastating to watch play out, especially since you, the player, are right there alongside them. You're also hoping that each new dialogue unlocked, and each change in the loop means that you've found the right solution to end the loops, and everytime you're disappointed and feel like your efforts were all for nothing. This especially hit home in regards to the party/family members. The first time you do each of their friendship quests its so heartwarming and emotional, you feel so happy that you've been able to get to know them better and become closer with them. But then, in each subsequent loop the impact of those quests lessen, and its easy to begin seeing them as just another hurdle you have to overcome in order to progress. It mirrors how Siffrin gradually stops seeing them as autonomous beings and rather as actors in a play, who he is "manipulating" to get his own happy ending.

The changes in the game's artwork that show Siffrin looking more worn down and tired is equally devastating. Its a small but very effective detail that drives in how the loops are wearing down on them. It almost feels like the game itself is becoming more and more corrupted as the loops wear on.

The worldbuilding is on another level. Like, you can tell that so much thought and care has been put into the world. The countries and their different customs, the religions and their practices and mythology. The language, the fashion, the magic system, the history. One thing that really stand out to me is how Vaugarde is clearly a very wonderful place, but its far from a utopia and there are still societal issues and injustices. For example, rather than taking the route of "there is absolutely no prejudice, all races genders and sexualities are equal", the game shows that gender and romantic/sexual attraction are all widely accepted and seen as fluid due to the change belief, but conversely aromanticism and asexuality are not as common or accepted as they clash with the religions practices. This makes the world seem much more fleshed out and believable, as it provides clear and convincing justifications for why the society is the way it is. And all of this isnt even getting into the more spoilery worldbuilding elements, such as colours and the island north of vaugarde, or even simplier stuff like the other countries and their cultural differences, or the various different vaugardian towns and their unique customs.

I feel like Isat is the only video game Ive ever seen that utilises the time loop concept to its full potential, let alone accomplising that in a way that still translates to a well-made and engaging gameplay loop(ha). Both the gameplay and the story make full use of the time loop gimmick in order to craft a compelling narrative, to explore the characters, their backstories and development, and the psychological effects of the situation upon them to their maximum potential, and to ensure that the gameplay loop never becomes stale and is able to consistently keep the player invested with new things to explore each loop. Its truly a masterpiece of game development.

[luimagines]

okay random thought time

when i imagine guide!reader, i imagine them as like a little ghost or a little spirit ball (like the ones from (disney) brave yk???) that follows link around but they can't see reader. like theyre not DEAD but like when they go guide mode they just turn all ghosty n shit. ive been imagining hylia just wants the links to have SOME sort of company on their lonely ass journeys so she's like "ah yes [reader] will do" and just plops reader into it without (or with?? that'd be interesting to think about) warning.

now, i havent played wind's game, but i saw something about him being able to see ghosts??? (PLS TELL ME IF IM WRONG HELP) so like do you think he'd be able to see reader??? would he assume his guide (us) is dead?? (probably)

OMG THEN ON TOP OF ALL OF THIS IMAGINE THEYRE LIKE PART HUMAN (theyd kind of have to be part hylian to have the magic work, so im thinking post botw when humans and hylians have mostly breeded together by this point) AND HAVE MORE HUMAN THAN HYLIAN TRAITS???

im also thinking that for the chain adventure, reader would get thrown into it w/out warning but be thrown for a loop because theyd be physical this time and not just.. ghost

IDK i just want your thoughts on my thoughts!!!

Ohhh, like a will 'o wisp.

I haven't played Wind's game either but I'm sure his whole phantom vision comes from Phantom Hourglass.

Which is so interesting. Wind thinking Reader is dead so which is why he can see them. Can imagine his panic or fear when he sees them alive? He'd think that he can see them when they die. Or maybe they were younger at the time so he thinks that they were somehow brought back to life. ^.^*

And on top of that, Reader would be the opposite of Wild then. Or rather, instead of part human, they're just part hylian. Which would also be interesting because I've always thought that hylian would have been the more dominant trait otherwise because magic.

Guide! Reader would probably be able to heal with potions in that regard unlike typical humans but I don't think it would have a lot of effect or be as strong as the others guys. Reader could probably also be weaker physically in human terms (stamina and the like) but still be physically stronger than most hylians.

Regardless, it's an interesting dynamic for the most part.

[hotshotshitshow]

What do you feel like palworld does right compared to pokemon? Ive thought about playing it but im on the fence about it

ok get ready for a novel!!!

essentially, palworld just has the thing in it that made us all love pokemon ... the fun designs and the gotta catch em all loop. but like. it doesnt include all the stuff that made the pokemon series run stale a long time ago

its. definitely, absolutely, 100% an early access game. dont go into it thinking it wont be. there are janky textures and visible seams and surprise areas where youll fall through the map. but unlike with pokemon games, pocketpair has been on the ball in terms of patching the worst of the jank. for example, there are collectibles you can find around the map that are supposed to increase your chances of successful captures ... but a bug made the inverse happen, where if you got those collectibles, your capture rate success would actually plummet. pocketpair has already introduced a patch that has fixed that, as well as regularly (every other day, it feels like) rolling out more new patches to make the game better. this in itself is already amazing, bc i cant think of a lot of studios that are this attentive to patching things THIS QUICKLY and THIS REGULARLY and it clearly shows respect for their playerbase and their game... which. gamefreak has proven to not have, given the state scarlet and violet, supposedly "completed" games, was released in. that in itself makes me much, much more patient with the jank in the game. its nice to feel like im playing a game made by a studio that wants their players to have fun.

the gameplay loop also is jsut very very satisfying. its very well tied in with the survival aspects of the game. essentially. you catch more pals to upgrade your base and get access to new resources and tools, and then with these new resources and tools, you are able to start catching higher level pals with better abilities, which then you can use to further upgrade your base and access newer tools/resources, etc etc. its very fun and rewarding.

the story ... is very very very VERY sparse. i am assumign more will be added in the future but its really just a game that plops you into the world and tells you "ok, go do whatever the fuck" and for me personally, i really enjoy that. there is a tutorial, but its pretty much optional, and there are towers and alpha pals that you can fight in a way that could be considered similar to gym leaders, but its like. not at all the focus of the game like it is with pokemon. in pokemon, the aim in every single game is just "go beat the guy, and then go beat the next guy, then go beat the next guy." and in palworld, i havent even beaten any of the towers yet but im almost done completely upgrading my base and unlocking all the different mechanics and am fairly close to the level cap. you really can just. go and do whatever you want, when you want, how you want. and i love that.

edit

also! would like to mention: your experience with the game is HIGHLY customizable to your personal preferences. they let you edit a lot of different aspects of the game, down to things like whether or not you drop all your items if you die, how long night and day can last, how quickly your tools deteriorate, and a lot more. so things that would probably normally really frustrate me, arent an issue for me anymore. its only as grindy as your want it to be.

[neeko-system]

SIGNALIS SPOILERS AND WHATNOT~~

finished my second playthrough of signalis, was going for the artifact ending. then loaded my save and got the memory ending. such a good game aaaa

the memory ending made me cry, it was really heartwrenching when ariane said sorry i dont remember, i just crumpled. watching elster be so exhausted was a lot.

not really sure if i understand the artifact ending. i feel like either its really vague (on top of all the other vagueness) or if im missing something. it kind of feels like a burial of arianes memory? like elster dies and we see ariane thikning about her and elster dancing in the wrecked ship? i’m not sure. maybe someone could give me their interpretation of it?

i also found out that theres a difficulty setting and really wished i had set it to survival before my second playthrough. woulda been nice!!! I do have one more ending so i might play the game again but might also just watch it on youtube and play the game again some other time(gotta let it ruminate so i can go back in with different eyes), I wanna get all the achievements anyways.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

all in all i fucking love this game a lot. very rarely do i replay a game so soon after playing it for the first time. its really tragic i’ll never get to experience this game for the first time again, but, so it goes. its such a beautiful game i will be thinking about it for a longgggggggggggg time. ive been wanting to talk about it so badly for so long but none of my friends have played it yet kyaaa!!! >_<

its crazy to me that the game exists the way it does. the style, the mechanics, the story, the music, everything about it oozes so much passion and care and thought. very few games have made me want to stare at every part of it to figure out how they made it look the way it did (THE GAME IS SO STYLISTICALLY RICH LIKE HOIW DID THEY DO ALL THAT) and the game mechanics are so nice to my brain, everything is so tactile and clicky and inventory management and ammo management and horror stratgey and the flesh and rust and death and love and lesbians and robots and anime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

amazing game thank you rose engine, i hope they make more stuff because i really want to see it

edit:(thinking about the first time i played compared to the second. i was considerably less scared since i had a clue of waht was going on but the fear that i felt playing the first time was special to me. i really like games with stories about ‘time loops’ because the replay-ability is baked in in a cool way. especially with how the game throws information at you, viewing things again having experienced perspective shifts from information is really cool. seeing scenes again re-contextualized makes my brain go ^-^(hots quest ding sound) but going in completely blind and being afraid of everything (i especially remember being scared of the dream beach, i had literally no clue what to expect and it was nice) it all had a different flavor than the second time which is cool because i feel like i experience that kind of emotion change *with* elster. (girlie needs a FUCKING cuddle nap)

the way the game balances reality and the surreal i think is super neat. i love surrealist dream stuff a lot and i think that a video game is a super good medium for that kind of experiential stuff that really inspires me to wanna make video games. especially because then theres also this super nerdy sci fi stuff going on about robots and space regimes and magical tech(my favorite) and planetary systems and military systems and all that good shit. i similarly wanna get nerdy about stuff like military logistics while also telling a story about gay robots and girls that keep missing each other just barely in the space time continuum. i love that the game tells you a lot but also is vague and also says fuck you (affectionate) stop looking for answers and just feel it. it explains just the right amount to not feel esoteric while keeping enough vague to leave a lot up to interpretation/figure it out by playing it again/thinking about it. it plays with themes and reality and reoccuring symbolism and all that good shit that makes stories addicting to think about.) ((also one of the endings requiring beating the game once among other things that keep between playthroughs, yummyyy. games that know they are games/stories/worlds that are aware of themselves., thats good shit right there))

[k20spock]

OKAY SO SIFFRIN. THEY CANNOT REMEMBER WHERE THEY LIVED AS A KID THEIR COUNTRY ANYTHING ITS ALL A TOTAL BLANK. THEY ARE NOT LIKE ANYONE ELSE THEYVE MET THEIR ACCENT IS ALL THEIR OWN THEIR CLOTHES ARE TOTALLY UNIQUE THEY FIT IN **NOWHERE**

they are stuck in a timeloop of killing the king a guy who haa currently trapped the entire country of vagaurde in frozen time. they wake up from a nap a day before them and their party fight the king and the loop ends shortly after they kill the king.

the only person who remembers these loops aside from them is a star. named. loop. who really really really doesnt want you to kill yourself. like once you get far enough in game for "hey i have a dagger maybe i can use that to start again" they ask three times if youre really really sure you want to do that. at which point their forced to tell you. and once you have killed yourself and talk with them again they ask if you wsnt to stop having that as an ootion where once you say you want to keep it you get asked again if youre sure you want to.

anything that doesnt fit timewise gets erased. so you pick up an item for the first time and then go there again in a new loop the copy gets erased from time and replaced by some healing items. and so siffrin is following the "script" as best they can acting as if they arent looping and mostly saying the same stuff as the first loop because they dont want to get erased.

they view it all as a play now and say "scene 1 act 1 siffrin wakes up from a nap. after laying there for a bit they get up" and when you meet mirabelle after waking they say "enter mirabelle" its all just nothing to them anymore.

at one point they have a breakdown in the bathroom because they lied about there being no toilet paper as their reason for taking so long and odile got them some and they just broke a bit because that was the first new thing that they didnt know in so so so so long.

they have dissociation and also troubles with semantic memory they frequently forget basic words they forget what a kiln is what a forge anvil sharpening stone is. a stuffed animal. this has happened so much in the past that if siffrin looks at something for longer than a few seconds someone in the group will let them know what its called.

its also the first time ive ever seen just. a depiction of dissociation at all really and its just.. so well done.. with the blinking and then bam the meal is done blinking and then their in bed blinking and then their at the door to the house. its just so well done.....

they also get ptsd from being in the timeloop due to a thing im not spoiling but which fucked me up so bad that i didnt sleep that night.

they also use he they and are asexual !

the first time they kill themself they say how it hurt so bad and that it felt like forever that they were bleeding out there while their family panicked and couldnt do anything to help and the third time it happens he goes oh no im not gonna say anything because im so good at this now and ends up saying more that time than he did the first time. . .

the killing himself to reset the loop really fucks him up!! he has also forgotten anything that happened before the timeloop due to how long hes been in it now.. the group mentions a funny thing that happened and he cant remember it when he could earlier in the game.

theres a boulder crush trap on the first floor and when getting crushed by it he now says "cant remember basic stage directions"

hes so fucked up and mentally ill and wants to be touched and close to people and wont admit it because its embarassing and everyone thinks he hates being touched

hes so mentally ill and fucked up and loves dying and killing himself hes my favorite ever i love him so much hes my silly guy <3<3<3<3

oh. ok i get it now.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 7/18/2023

idk man i just work here

listening

not another rockstar, maisie peters. spotify

this is a little poppier than i generally prefer-- the first knee-jerk comparison i can make for the vocals is taylor swift, esp in the first verse? luckily for everyone, i was white-knuckling it down the katy freeway (26 lanes. never again) and did not have the extra concentration necessary to skip it on whatever autogenerated dance playlist spotify spat out for me. as a fellow woman with a Type, i must tip my hat to ms peters.

Hmm, funny I could pick 'em in a line up, line up Pretty certain I could do it with my eyes shut, eyes shut A little self-obsessive and I sign up, sign up Where's the pen? Where's the line?

@pasta-pardner has made a gorgeously lush electronic/indie pop cowboy playlist. my very favorite song (so far, still have it on loop) is Horsie by Twilight Circus Dub Sound System. it sounds like the opening theme to Samurai Champloo. it ripples and grooves. it lives somewhere between rock and reggae. the whole album is incredible music to hang out to.

-

reading

retractionwatch (my beloved) linked out to datacolada.org in a recent article and my ears perked up. data colada gets REAL deep into the investigative reporting of specific papers, including some fascinating excel sleuthing. they use CalcChain!!! i thought i was the only one who used CalcChain!!!

CalcChain tells Excel in which order to carry out the calculations in the spreadsheet. It tells Excel something like "First solve the formula in cell A1, then the one in A2, then B1, etc." CalcChain is short for 'calculation chain'.

one of my worst traits as a person is that i looooooooove an academic trainwreck. i love watching academia eat itself. i love watching people get caught for sloppy shit like "excel file sorted REAL weird, pointing to tampering with individual data points"

-

watching

new jennings motor sport!!! the oil change is. hough. impressively disgusting. oil does some funky shit when it's been sitting for ??? decades

-

playing

ive been playing genshi/n impact like it's my job. having a lot of thoughts about crunch, and content, and player expectations vs shareholder expectations and Line Go Up and if AAA free-to-play video games are at all ethical to play for anyone ever, but hey! look at this snarky catgirl!

also lol. lmao. this is a game for children. we are all aware of the restrictions and limitations placed upon games for children in the chinese and american markets so yeah the answer is going to be yes, every time

-

making

lately i have been going to my best friend's house after work (what an unimaginable sentence a month ago) and hanging out and watching whatever toddler shows are on tv while we shoot the shit and i knit. there's another half-repeat on the baby blanket for the baby who has just turned four months old, but it's in the car and the night is dark and full of mosquitoes.

i literally cannot do any life shit, even most doctor's appointments, until i have a real physical stable address so all i am really doing is knitting and playing genshi/n and opening and closing my email like the fridge. i have one security deposit back from the old mass apt plus one more paycheck (but, crucially, not the nearly $2k from the roach apt and we are rapidly approaching lawsuit time) so the cat and i are a little bit more stable/able to put down a security deposit on something else the minute it comes along. this would not have been possible without the incredible generosity of readers like you during that very bad first week here. thank you. i want to do some sort of thank you...stream? liveblog? series of posts about something? but i'm not sure what yet. stay tuned. tell me your thoughts. what would you like to see?

[red-dyed-sarumane]

what are some cool games u have played? dont matter if u mentioned before. tell me again tell me again :D

uhh hmm.

well okami is my all time favorite the art & the music & the message/story are all just incredible theres not a single time ive finished it i havent cried. i absolutely adore ryoshima coast ive spent so many hours just running around there to listen to music. which fun fact for u i only know about this game bc in about 6th grade i picked up okamiden bc i thought the little doggy was cute & was like fine i'll play as this boy if i get a cool dog and u cannot imagine how excited i was to find out u DID play as the little dog. i was SOOOOO obsessed literally my exact thoughts were 'if issun is ammy's celestial envoy then i am going to be chibis' i have a metric fuck ton of fan art i did at the time bc i thought it was quote "the epic-est game for ds ever" also cried every time i finished it. i was 13 so i didnt know what "being down bad" was but do know i was as obsessed with kurow as i was with d-ne later and now tenshi not a single irl friend was unaware i was in love with him. also fun fact for u bc at the same time i was also getting super into vocaloid i was so convinced my vocap name would end up as chibiP to the point i named myself that in pkmn x chibiP after chibiterasu of course. please enjoy my banger old art which is not even a fraction of my output

yume nikki is my next favorite game specifically the og that changed my brain chemistry as a kid. i adore that game so much its hard to put it into words. its just so unlike anything else. there is absolutely nothing in the game that can directly harm u theres no real health meter theres no way to die during the main play the absolute worst that will ever happen is u get stuck or woken up. in a horror game. which is already just amazing. and the whole horror aspect just plays on something i dont think is often done as well in many other things. ur alone. u wander and wander thru worlds that loop and connect and seemingly have nothing to do with each other. theres no dialogue; talking to npcs just gets u a noise or animation at best. ur entirely alone with just urself. its all dreams so u know everything is of madotsuki's own creation, another layer to the all u have is urself feeling. the art is just unusual i cant even say any of it on its own is in anyway scary. the whole thing shouldnt be scary and yet every time i start wandering in a world i cant help but feel unease. amazing 10/10 no other game will ever have what this gave me.

everyone knows i play pkmn the best is still pmd sky that also rewired my brain i still cant play it without crying.

its been a long time since i was really just playing it as the chapters released & got translated but 1bitheart is so so so important to me too. i dont kin for multiple reasons but if i did nanashi would be my first choice. like- without saying that to her i got my one irl friend to play once & when she saw how nanashi was she turned to me and went "this is just you" hes very important to me even now. absolutely loved the whole friendship sim & the story & its twists & the endings & their implications left me in shambles at 1 am on a school night. my fave charas are nanashi enri & saaya btw. i should replay this.

i also love the etrian odyssey series i love the character portraits (esp with the more recent games' color customization) i LOVE the dungeon art & i think all the monster designs are so cool. adore the whole make ur own map aspect keeps me so entertained to take a step & look around & chart all the walls & path ways. unfortunately i fucking suck at every single one i am not very good at strategy games so i end up stuck at or before the 3rd stratum. but thats okay its still fun to me.

the other one i'll talk about at length is spirit of the north another game i loved the art of. u play as a fox & get a partner spirit fox & i just love it SOOOO much. its also a game with 0 dialogue but theres A Lot going on it if u care to follow along & explore & dig into details & the game play is also pretty fun to me. this is the one game i started learning the speedrun btw thats also a very fun way to play it but ABSOLUTELY play it as intended first it has so much to offer

aaaand special mentions to omori, oneshot, witch's house, mermaid swamp, corpse party, & limbus company

[tradetobest]

Sidgeno recs if you have them please??

OK SO. here is the full version of the shortened version of my sidgeno fic rec list!! this is shortened from my fics bookmarked as recs on ao3, and is literally my favourite sidgeno fics of all time. please read all of them and feel free to tell me what you think because i LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH ok

More Things In Heaven And Earth by CloudCover (Unrated, 23.8k)

The hydrophones have been picking up nonsense for the past three days and Zhenya has had it up to here, honestly.

i must have babbled about this fic for a full fucking week to anyone who would listen after i finished it. MERMAIDS. the way their relationship develops over time. the way. the way EVERYTHING. i love this fic with my whole heart

King's Court by hazel_3017 (G, 4k)

“Yes, hello. My name is Sidney Crosby—” Geno’s jaw drops, and when he turns his head back towards the audience, Sidney Crosby, the Sidney Crosby, is standing by the mic, looking up at the panel of players and introducing himself as if he isn’t the best hockey player in the goddamn world. As if he’s not the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and as if they haven’t all played against him dozens of times before. Or, the one where Sid is training in L.A. when the Kings host their Cup Fan Convention. Or, Geno hasn't been playing up to beautiful Sidney Crosby's standards and is appropriately horrified by this.

one thing you might notice about me is that i am an absolute sucker for fluff like i would do anything for fluff EVER and this fic is SO cute and fluffy and just!! they fall in love. im obsessed w them

Just What Was Rumpelstiltskin Expecting to Do with a Baby, Anyway? by withershins (T, 24.7k)

Turning to a witch to save a loved one's life is one of the riskier gambles a person can take, but it's one that's arguably noble and brave. Falling in love with the witch, though—now that's just foolish.

now if theres any sidgeno fic i have recced more than the first one its this one because OH MY GOD i love this fic so much. like .... the tumblr post its based off of is one of my favourite little blurb posts EVER and withershins captured it PERFECTLY this fic is PERFECT to me..... please read this

Clear Blue Morning by CloudCover (Unrated, 10.4k)

Zhenya is re-looping the hair elastic around Alina's braid when he becomes aware there’s someone standing in the doorway. He glances up, and his hands freeze in place. Sidney fucking Crosby is standing there, looking hesitant, with a half-empty water bottle dangling from one hand.

not only am i a sucker for kid fics i am an absolute SUCKER for single parent/hockey player fics, and this encapsulates my love for that. plus, geno's daughter is adorable in this. i ADORE this fic ive read it like 8 times.

The Magic of His Touch by VelvetPaw (M, 32.8k)

Geno suffers a knee injury at the end of the 2020-2021 season that refuses to heal. A visit to a local witch's shop brings healing and an unexpected touch of magic into Geno's life.   “I want to reduce a little of the heat and swelling so I can get a clearer picture of what’s going on. Do you mind if I cast a small spell?” Sid looked to Geno for permission. Geno bit his lip but nodded hesitantly. Sid closed his eyes and chanted the familiar words softly under his breath. He personally thought of this as his “ice pack” spell since he’d perfected it on himself and his teammates in minors when they got bruised up during games.

ANOTHER WITCH/HOCKEY PLAYER AU like can you tell i love these so fucking much or what. this one is ALSO amazing PLEASE read this like idk how to babble about this fic because im obsessed with everything about it.

you are the one who'd make me lose it all (this) by cinderlily (T, 21.1k)

It starts with a cold. AKA, the fic where they are both journalists, Sid marries Geno for healthcare and there is a metric tonne of feelings.

first of all, i love so much of cinderlily's stuff it was hard to like. pick and choose. but THIS FIC.... OUGHHHHHHH. i love "we're married but not for love for this other thing. no we're not in love. guys. guys please." sort of thing and this does it PERFECT ok im crazy

saving nickels, saving dimes by CoffeeStars (T, 6.3k)

Poor Sidney, is what Geno must think. Poor, poor, lonely Sidney. Unloved, unwanted. What a shame it is, to be the best player in his generation but still be no one at the same time.

ANGST. OUGHHH. fics that stab me in the heart are always the best fics. ALWAYS. mutual pining to the death

Starstruck by Anonymous (G, 3.7k)

The first time Geno sees Sidney Crosby he’s crying into Tanger’s shoulder as Sid learns how to walk again on the big screen.

THIS FIC AGAIN BECAUSE I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! nonhockey/hockey is always gonna be my favourite i swear

[godza]

my favorite underrated vocaloid songs once again with commentary. i dont know how underrated things actually are bc i dont interact with the vocaloid community but yknow how it is

the goat. i have never seen anybody talk about this song ever. the mv has so little views and half the streams on spotify are probably me. the songs about an abused child begging to be loved so beware if you search the mv or lyrics up.

i just realized both these songs were by tohru-ch. they make good songs! another underrated classic. the mv is sick if you manage to find it. this producer is a rin master in my opinion. this song is about how bad capitalism is and the vocals are amazing. nandemo nandemo nandemo. the desperation they managed to infuse into rins voice is so impressive and the guitar is impressive. ive been listening to this song since a very young age like ten. why was i listening to this at ten. piano goes crazy as well

i owe this one to the ex mutual who made a playlist for my fanfic and eventually blocked me. thank you for this absolute banger. i forget what the lyrics to this one mean and the mv isnt much its just kinda green stuff. goes exceptionally hard i cant tell whos singing but its still fantastic. i love the guitar that kinda sounds like rubber bands strapped to cardboard. that sounds weird but listen youll see.

i dont think this ones actually underrated since pinas pretty popular (rats died is too famous for me to put on here even though its a masterpiece). when i saw melissa covered it i died and ascended to heaven. the mv is fantastical and dizzying, and the song is perfectly melancholic. i really like the ooo singing in the background. i have had this song on repeat for an excessively long period. im very surprised it wasnt in my wrapped top five. saa saa saa saa saa saa

yummy music. it makes me do the dance of the sidestep in that one gif with ariel and other things. the wind instrument in it is really nice an the guitar is kicking. i just love rin and len i think. why are these all rin. except weeny idk who sings weeny. woukdnt be surprised if it was rin

i wouldnt call powapowas music underrated but this song has made me cry many a time. i prefer the version i found on soundcloud it has more of a miku sound but this song makes me want to get a lobotomy. young girl a is also a good one but no way is that underrated

HOLY SHIT its on spotify. god i need a dance break but i cant. ow i bobbed my head so hard it hurt. one of my faves of all time god its so good. i love you gumi. YOU NO SAY I LOVE!!!!!!!! i dont know how to express my thoughts further it just bangs so fucking hard. just as a btw it speeds up at the end which can be scary so heads up

i dont think this one is actually underrated im going by no metrics this list is just my opinion. it may not be underrated but it slaps and i played it on loop when i was in seventh grade and playing overwatch. not the best gaming music it just makes you really sad

banger. i love teto soooo much. somewhat peppy until you read the lyrics but even still its a tad melancholic. be warned the bleeps in the song are rlly loud lol. get this in project sekai so ome of those trainwrecks can sing it

probably not underrated it seems too well produced for that. i like the laughs at the beginning. i cant remember where but i laid on the floor for a long time listening to this song

ok thats all the bangers on my playlists ive never heard talked about often. i have others but sometimes i can genuinely not tell if its a vocaloid or a human. its an issue

[sneakyscarab]

another day, another touhou off the list, although this time its far from being an easy experience.

nina's thoughts on Touhou 15 - Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom

Legacy of Duelist Kingdom features Yugi and the boys back at it again to defeat Pegasus! wait, thats not right… Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom features Reimu and the girls back at it again to defeat... somebody! LoLK is a very unique entry, having one of the biggest new 'gimmicks' of any of the touhous ive played so far.

LoLK's big new feature is a completely new way to play the game, the exciting PointDevice mode! (really just rolls off the tongue). as opposed to the standard touhou gameplay loop (which this game does have as well, under the name Legacy mode) PointDevice mode makes the game play sorta like doing a tool-assisted speedrun, apparently being inspired by I Wanna Be The Guy. in PointDevice mode, lives are removed, so if you get hit you're out, but as a tradeoff the game is filled with numerous checkpoints that you can infinitely continue from, for example pretty much every individual spellcard/phase of a boss is a unique checkpoint. this basically means you have infinite tries for every single spellcard but you HAVE to do each one no-hit (you get bombs to ocassionally cheat, but not very many and they never refresh since you never actually die).

this sounds like it would make the game super easy since you can just infinitely practice every section until you get it right, and you would be correct! unfortunately, ZUN was aware this made things easier, so the general difficulty of patterns and enemy spawns was jacked WAY up. i… really do not like this compromise. spellcards move way faster now and often require far greater perfection than usual once you get to the lategame, with multiple regular spellcards being pure survival sections where the boss is invincible, things usually reserved for climactic final phases. theres also a much higher amount of 'jumpscare' spellcards that suddenly kill you if you don't already know theyre coming, which in a normal run would be complete bs, only being justified here since you can just go again. ZUN definitely succeeded in making it feel like I Wanna Be The Guy, but thats not the kind of game i want to play. getting wiped by BS spellcards and having to do them over and over again got me genuinely mad at times, which has happened a few times in previous entries but it was typically me being mad at myself for screwing up, not being mad at the game itself like this one made me.

besides that, the gameplay is mostly similar to DDC, although once again they have changed how life/bomb pieces are dealt out. after each 'chapter' (basically wherever a checkpoint is in PointDevice mode) the game ranks you based on how many bullets you grazed multiplied by the % of enemies you killed, and if you got enough points you get a bomb piece in PointDevice mode, or a life piece in Legacy mode. this is probably my least favourite method of the ones that have been thrown around, since its really hard to organically tell when youve grazed enough, and during stages its hard to tell when a chapter will end. it incentivizes you to not kill enemies since you want more bullets to be onscreen so you can graze more, but at the same time if you miss killing an enemy and it goes off-screen then your chapter score goes down making the extra grazing still not add up, its a lose/lose either way.

for playable characters, we got Reimu and Marisa of course, Sanae is back (yay!), and Reisen appears as a playable character for the first time outside PoFV. Reimu and Marisa play exactly the same as their B movesets in DDC, so nothing new there. Sanae uses her two movesets from UFO but stapled together, so she shoots frogs unfocused and snakes while focused, which is maybe a bit lazy but i liked both of those weapons so im totally fine with it. Reisen has a strange weapon that has random angle spread shots unfocused, and heavy piercing vertical shots when focused. her most interesting feature though is her bomb, which gives you brief invincibility on activation, and then applies 3 shields to Reisen that block a death, although offer next to no i-frames. her bomb is probably really good in PointDevice mode, but i only had the patience to try that mode once and i went with Sanae. clearing PointDevice mode counts as a 1cc, even if its pretty much impossible to lose unless you just give up, but i dont think i care to try for a win in legacy mode. if you're curious. my retry total on my PointDevice run stacked up to 547 lol.

for the new characters, my favourite addition is probably Clownpiece. more faeries are always good, and Clownpiece is a pretty interesting one since she's a Hell Fairy, whatever that means. for some reason shes themed after the USA, wearing a star-spangled jumpsuit and featuring the stars and stripes in her spell cards, and holding an eternally burning torch similar to the statue of liberty. the concept of the fairy of hell being an American clown who drives people insane is somehow kinda fitting lmao, even if its completely absurd.

besides Clownpiece, i can't say i really cared for the other characters. the rabbits and lunarians weren't very interesting to me in Imperishable Night and they still really aren't now. Doremy is intriguing, being a ruler of the Dream World, but her stage and fight really didn't sell me on the concept of it being a dream. if you took the dialogue out i dont think anyone would assume the level was supposed to be a dream reality instead of just, flying through real outer space to reach the moon.

so that was LoLK. definitely my least favourite one so far, and by a pretty wide margin. i like what ZUN was trying to do here, and maybe with better tuning PointDevice mode couldve been a really fun new way to play the game, but it just made the game a slog of trying nigh-impossible spellcards over and over again until you get it right. i might come back and try a 1cc on Legacy Mode, but having experienced how insane the lategame gets im not exactly chomping at the bit to go back for another round. this game almost feels like karmic punishment after i got a little too comfortable with the last 3 games. if theres one good thing about PointDevice mode, at least its that your victory is inevitable, so i can stop playing.

i hate for the tone of this review to be so negative, but i just did not have a good time with this one. i wanna do something to lighten the mood though, so heres a silly doodle of clownpiece i made in ms paint :P

[harukirai]

I love the game, i really do, but for me its around 8-9/10.

Warning- This is full of spoilers for FF16! So beware

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Im gonna asterisk all my points cause i want it to be more organized. This is things i wish square would patch into the game, (15's way)

*first thing first, my roomate had a pretty solid point about the terrence dion goodbye scene. We care for dion, they showed us plenty of him, but terrence, not so much. (or their relationship beside that one kiss scene), but not about their pure bond- which i agree, for dion involvment in the ending, he should have more screentime, also with the involvement of the empire in the plot- it shouldve got the witcher 3 approach with the siri segments, show don't tell- i think there should have been a playable section in the bahamut vs odin, to get to know dion and his dynamics better. - that scene wouldve hit so much harder.and like my kiss argument my straight roomate agreed, that if terrence at least went back for a last kiss teary that'll pull the tear gear.

*joshua-oh god they let us play as him when he was a baby, why not just letting us playing as him when the player discover that he is alive, with jote and the undying, even for small section not wanting to reveal the cards too early. I think that should be a part of the game, the base game.

*jill- if it must be a dlc so be it, but at least add some cutscenes to when she talks about the iron kingdom, we as players would be so much more hyped to join her vengeance quest, she have the potential, you showed us the horrors bennedikta went throgh which is why at least i became to love her in the end, why not a main character like Jill, she have so much potential, if not making a palyable iron kingdom section (like before she reunited with clive maybe when she grew a bit)at least add the cutscenes square.

*for god sake make it possible to switch party members like you did in 15, L1+L2 is no combo anyway so patch that thing, it'll be so much more refreshing especially in the first half of the game when the quests are dry and the gameplay loop is repetitive.

*make the ambrosia quest mandatory, so many pple dont even know they can unlock the chocobo, or at least let the player know that the + green quest are important if they want to upgrade their gameplay. This isn't an mmo most single player players will look at that and thing that the + is an extra non important (had an irl talk with a friend who thought that)

*dlc- make it season pass only,one time pay and thats it. the game is 69.99 it shouldn't even need a dlc, but at least do a full on season pass in like 19.99 with like at least a cid dlc(dont yall wanna see his time with the empire, taking small mid otto gav and making the hideaway happen, also, i wanna know who from the boys have a spicy history with cid cause quinten suggested it and some other npcs as well), dion dlc(not only to get a look at the first official not hinted gay character's love life, no not for that-but i think we need a real look into the empire pre and post Annable. what we saw of his dad was tereible, i wanna know why dion is so atrached and looking highly of him, also like ive said in previous post i have to know dion pov on branded), jill dlc(cause bae need a redemption i fucking hate how square treat a strong female character once she's a love interest of the protag)

And a gav dlc, like something happens in the end that if you dont choose gav in the quest you wont know, but gav tells a bit about his past and i think especially since he is our main scout, dlc of him and byron maybe could be cool, after the kanvar event.

*enemies variety- im pissed theres no Cactaur hunt or tonberry. Like really really pissed. You kept the freaking flann but not the cactaur?!please for the love of fucking god patch them as a hunt or something.

*animation fixes- so many quests that had a higebuildup ended looking cheap. Fix that-asap, especially the quinten quest, it could have hit so much harder if the lipsync wasn't so cursed looking while the model was kinda static they had quest with proper cutscense like theo's, why not Quinten since its a freaking end of a huge chain quest. Also, in general fix the freaking lipsync that shit is cursed af.

In conclusion i know pple like shitting on 15 but i thino 16 will only bemefit from the 15 treatment, especially for the proce we as consumers payed.

This game doesnt feel finished, it feels rushed, i think 2 more years in the baking wouldve benefit it, but well its out, so why not patching it. I think it'll boost the sales cause now the game feel bare, and many things feel like placeholders. So i hope the team didnt pop the champagne yet.

I dont blame Yoshi p or the team, i think they did an amazing job, but i do blame square's higher ups tendency to announce and release a teiple A game too early, they need to understand that atech advances, it need and will take more time to develope a game. And if you want to take the money that you are asking for at least make sure that the dough isn't raw.

That's it Haruki's out.