#do you think *I* would be here if it was about solving random little puzzles

[itspileofgoodthings]

anyway swifties who are like “lol I love the cryptic messages” are insane?????

[threeacttragedy]

Entry 11: The One About the Heart of the Ocean

My father is a big history buff. He fancies himself a bit of an expert about the U.S. Civil War, U.S. Presidents, and World War II. In fact, he’s gifted me with the Useless Knowledge of which four U.S. Presidents were assassinated while in office (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy – you’re welcome for that little addition to your own Library of Useless Knowledge).

But, more importantly, my dad has instilled in me the importance of a timeline. The idea that, if you’re collecting information, it’s vital to keep it in chronological order, that way you can look at it, (try to) understand it, and theorize about what happened before and after an event. If the facts are out of order, the conclusion you reach may be in error.

My father and I also like to solve True Crime together. When he visits, we spend hours on the porch studying some random, usually cold, true crime event. We timeline the shit out of it, connect the puzzle pieces together, and exclaim in the end, “We’ve solved it!” I suppose that is part of what keeps me interested in Lukola – not that there is anything criminal in Lukola, except perhaps the “Single White Female” that pops up behind Nicola from time to time – I just enjoy the game of trying to put the pieces together.

Lukola has become a rather intriguing puzzle, don’t you think? It’s definitely one to which I do not have all the pieces. I do, however, enjoy collecting the information and chronologizing it, and now I find it enjoyable to scribble my thoughts out on Tumblr.

So, how did I get here?

Well, it started with boredom and ended with a timeline.

My first entry to the timeline?

July 20, 2024.

What happened on that date?

Well, nothing spectacular really, except JVN posted –

HOLD UP!

HOLD THE FUCK UP!!

OH SHIT!!

YES!

YES, you guessed it! After blowing JVN off for at least three, maybe four, posts in a row, I’m finally getting around to dedicating an entire entry to Their Royal Highness.

JVN is such a fascinating creature. I mean, you get beautiful, witty, and intelligent wrapped into one human being. Oh, and they are kind of a catty bitch, too, and who doesn’t love one of those? That’s why they're the Heart of the Ocean on the USS Lukola; they just give off this very rare blue diamond vibe. Well, that, and because something they did marks the focal point – the heart – from which the rest of my timeline branches.

*I will cut in here to note that I am referring to JVN as they/their in this entry as their Instagram bio indicates they accept “they/he/she.”

Okay, back to July 20.

On that date, JVN posted to TikTok their version of the Charli xcx “Apple” dance. You know that annoying TikTok trend that took over our summer? Yeah, that’s the one – the same one Antonia tried doing – she just couldn’t pull off the JVN version of it. Dear girl couldn’t come close to matching JVN’s “enthusiasm,” and JVN’s version was only made more enjoyable in that they were seemingly mocking Antonia!

But, all’s fair in love and war, right?

JVN’s bestie, Nicola, had already spent the entire summer subtlety combating Antonia over social media. The vibe in the fandom was that Antonia was always trying to one-up Nicola, with Nicola always coming out the victor. I’m sorry, Antonia, you just can’t beat some perfectly timed BTS drops.

So, why did JVN’s TikTok post intrigue me? It wasn’t because it was that amusing. It was because they’d done something I hadn’t noticed before – they’d taunted Antonia on a public forum.

Curious, that.

Now, I’m not saying it was the first time JVN mocked Antonia, but July 20 was the first time I noticed it. That date is the heart of my timeline, but it does not have to be the heart of yours. We can all start at different times but still reach the same conclusions, so long as we keep the information in order.

You would think one wouldn’t mess with the “girl friend” of your best friend’s “best friend,” at least not publicly. But, here was JVN shamelessly mocking Antonia on TikTok. And, just so we’re clear, the public opinion of what JVN was doing with this TikTok is available to view in the comments of their TikTok post. It wasn’t just me that came to this conclusion – and JVN has left these comments up for four months at this point.

JVN’s “Apple” dance was only made more interesting the following day – July 21 – when they included it in their Sunday Dump post on Instagram.

And, Nicola liked it.

Hmm, things were becoming curiouser and curiouser.

Let’s not even pretend that Nicola isn’t street savvy and didn’t understand the context of that video. And, let’s definitely not underestimate the length of her claws.

To be honest, I hadn’t paid too much attention to Lukola since mid-June. It was an “it is what it is” thing for me. Even though I believed the relationship between Luke and Nicola was complicated (see my first blog for that story), Luke had also apparently disappeared into the summertime sun with his friend group, which included Antonia.

Something about JVN openly making fun of Antonia, and Nicola, at the very least acknowledging it with an Instagram like, made me realize something in Luke’s situation must be shifting.

What have I said about little changes? That deviations in modus operandi are what make people start giving the side-eye to a situation.

And, side-eye I did!

I started paying attention to JVN and, on July 25, they posted a series of photos on TikTok and Instagram showcasing “What I would wear if you invited me to your…” We will fast-forward through all the slides until we get to the last one, which read, “…just got dumped and going to take 8 shots dinner at Lupe’s in SoHo.” Was it possible that JVN was hinting at a dumpster fire at the Soho Farmhouse?

If you don’t know what the Soho Farmhouse is, it’s the place where Luke and his friend group, including Antonia, frequented, probably on Luke’s dime (*insert wicked laugh – oh, and a disclaimer that this is all speculation).

Funny that Nicola liked this post on Instagram, too, and it wasn’t even buried in a Sunday Dump.

At this point, JVN had really sparked my damn interest. Like, dear one, what are you hinting at?

On July 29, Deux Moi creeped out from under its rock and reminded the fandom to hate Luke by rehashing Papsmear. Thank you, we needed that. I mean, half of us almost forgot how much we hated him! That’s me being a sarcastic tart, by the way. If we were to fast-forward to today, I’d argue that Luke was the most darling thing to come out of Bridgerton.

Any ways, again, thank you, Deux Moi, for those suspiciously timed Papsmear pictures because they aligned perfectly with the pap pictures People dropped the following day – July 30.

Yep, I am talking about those strangely awkward pap pictures of Luke hanging out in the murky waters of Sorrento with Antonia. Oh, and let’s not forget the video footage of that encounter, which I am sure still upsets and confuses people to this day. In fact, I know it does because, as I was researching this, I had a couple of people get annoyed after I asked them to view it. Funny thing is, that shit never bothered me (I didn’t say that it didn’t later confuse me!). The first time I saw them, I was like, “Luke is not into that girl at all,” and my next thought was, “I wonder how old these pictures are because I would have sworn JVN was hinting at something.”

Now, this story wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t address the rumor portion of it.

First rumor? That Antonia set up the entire Italy pap photo-op because she seemingly knew where to find the cameraman. So, let’s discuss that video everyone seems to hate to acknowledge exists. In the video, you can see Antonia maybe looking in the direction of the cameraman. She then leans into Luke, either to whisper something to him or to reach for something behind him. In my opinion – and this is strictly my opinion – it looks like she’s pretending to reach for something over his shoulder. Still shots of this interaction are the photos People published, presumably because Luke and Antonia looked like they were cheek to cheek.

Okay, notice I said, “first rumor,” because, yeah, there’s a second rumor, too! But, it fits snuggly into that first rumor. Almost immediately – because that’s how fast the Lukola Sleuths get to work around here – rumors began to circulate that Antonia was following on Instagram the photographer that took the Italy pap pictures. In fact, several people I’ve spoken to swear that they witnessed during a TikTok Live a host prove that Antonia was following this photographer. That’s a bit suspicious, isn’t it? Yeah, it fucking is.

Let’s keep moving.

That same day, we had that video drop of Luke watching fireworks, at night, with sunglasses. Speaking of sunglasses, I guess Luke found those motherfuckers because he sure as shit didn’t have them while floating around in that dirty ass water. Any ways, at the end of the video, Rory appears behind Luke, looking in the direction of the camera and smiling like a condescending, sneaky little shit. Now, who was the cameraman? Well, a possible suspect would be Antonia since she was not seen in the video. Go figure.

Alright, so that day finally ended and on July 31, JVN posted to TikTok a cutesy video of themself at the market titled, “When you catch someone trying to sneak a pic but you were born for these moments.” They prance around the market and randomly look at the cameraman (Mark) with a smile and a pose. The caption reads, “I welcome sneaky pics but I can’t guarantee I won’t sneak some back or put on a show for you.”

WAIT A MINUTE!

Did JVN just inexplicably confirm Luke was getting papped by his own friends?

Yeah, I kind of think JVN did.

And, Nicola liked this one as well when JVN posted it to Instagram on August 8.

Didn’t I tell you JVN was a fascinating creature? And, to be honest, JVN only gets better as this Lukola ship continues on its voyage.

Oh, strangely enough, a few days after the Italy pap crap, Luke returned to London alone. The friend group became unsettlingly silent, and Nicola started to get really, really loud – Chaos Week was incoming! And, so were some more JVN crumbs (and nicely timed clap backs).

[layraket]

THERE WAS AN UPDATE SLEEPING? WHATS THAT??

first of all we start with this beautiful shot

god thats some cool architecture i have no words clapping

Wind is so ready to kick that lizard's ass i love him

this confirms the fact that theyre in the same place but in a different era (also i swear im convinced that this place takes place at least no far from Hyrule's era, the statue behind Legend and the corridors inside are almost the same as in Zelda1 and 2)

that was the worst joke i have heard today good job rulie lots of kudos /lh

the boys entering a place where they could find the most dangerous shit in all Hyrule, and then there's my girl who is having the best lunch ever

when i first read this i almost spit all my water on my phone cuz. Wars my man these people are like. crazy with dungeon crawl. you can't say that and expect a normal reaction.

their expressions are gold no notes

TIME'S SIDE EYE LMAO

Sky looking concerned, and Wars with the most "i dont know what is everyones problem but alright" face i love him

In a war there's no time to explore or search for things that can be useful, or even search for clues, less with the fact that youre leading an army. There was no puzzle, no mistery to solve or objects that needed to be obtained, just plain fight and confrontation, not leaving space for investigation or even a good rest in town

They have a point, without exploring they wouldn't have the arsenal that they carry; powerful items that can kill a whole army of monsters, a gift left by the hero before them to help, shinies. All that is really useful when you want to save the whole kingdom

lets not forget all the weapons that you can get on HW, there are some that are like, crazy powerful, and the materials get from the enemies are also really helpful

guys i think youre the only crazy people who love to enter a random place full of monsters and maybe a demon lord or smth

OK THIS IS THE PANNEL WHERE I WANTED TO TALK A LITTLE ABT

This reminds me of this short comic where Wild was almost grabbed by a wallmaster, do this takes place some time before this scene?? or just from another time?? I find possible the first option cuz Wild looks more wary the whole update, like if he already found out what will happends if he puts his guard down

Also the fact that the closest thing that he had as a dungeon were the Divine Beast and the shrines, which both of them lacked a lot of things that were usually in the clasic zelda's dungeons, like keys, mini bosses, special object and pots.

Hyrule my guy you dont. have to scare him like that. i hate these things too but calm down.

fucking gremlin /pos

taking this as an opportunity to talk about how Legend's behaviour has been seen changed in the past updates, he's more relaxed and playful, taking a moment to just have fun and prank the rest of the chain

this reminds me

here is left clear that he's still young, maybe not even on his twenties, and now after that stressfull time with Twi being on the verge of death it makes sense that he feels the need of just, goof around to cope after all that

Yes he's the most experienced, yes is maybe the most powerful of them, but he's still a young boy who was dragged to all this, he deserves to have some fun

happy guy :)

and then we have Time, he looks like Not Having A Good Time™

Messy hair Warriors <3

also i know we all put Sky as one of the adults, but cmon he's a little shit as much as the rest, thats why he finds funny Legend's joke

Wild my man you good? like im genuinely asking at this point, it is weird seeing him so serious

god thats such a cool design of a skulltula, its so scary 10/10

Wild has never seen in his life a spider of this size, so it makes sense him just, straight up getting surprised by that thing

OUGHH I FELT THAT

Sky being right-handed looks like a problem in this closed space, soon or later it would make some troubles

Legend no offence but did you see the little accident they had right there. like. that really hurts if you ask me.

Okay Time is really at his limit here, the past days has been hell for him with the stress of almost loosing the one that he might see as his son, and seeing all the boys just playing around is not helping. Theyre all heroes, they should take this danger seriously if they want to stop all danger.

He wants to protect the ones that he cares for, even if he has to snap for it.

Here he might be planning to team up with Twi and Wind? The youngest seems to have gained his attention as his second successor. He will make anything it takes to not let all of them get hurt, and with everything he means it

Just wait when he learns that Legend is also his successor, automatically adopted

NOW MY FAV PARTS WITHOUT COMMENTARY!!!

SOMEHOW I GOT THE IMAGE LIMIT???? I DIDNT THOUGHT THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE ON WEB

anyways have confused warriors as the last one pls aprecciate him

tumblr pls let me eat the art i beg you

art credits as always towards @linkeduniverse! always feeling blessed with all this fantastic work!

[five-rivers]

Cracked Clay Cup Chapter 2

For @greatbigolhampuckjustforme

“How is this organized, anyway?” asked Daniel.  “It isn't alphabetical.”

Clockwork shuddered.  “The debate about which alphabet to use would be interminable.  No.  The list is arranged from eldest to youngest, with groups being averaged.”

“So, the oldest person is on top and the youngest person is on the bottom.”

“That is correct.”

Daniel hummed and wiped up the last of his syrup up off his plate with the last piece of his pancake.  “This Jasmine person is the youngest person who wants me.  Ick, that sounded wrong somehow.”

“She is the youngest person,” said Clockwork.  He was doing something strange with the plates in the sink.  

��Is she, like, really into plants or flowers or something?”

“Are you really into Daniels?”

“I mean.  I don’t know.  My memory’s been erased and all.  For all I know, my name isn’t even Daniel.  It could be William.  Or David.”  Still, he got the point.  He shook his head.  “Ghosts just picking random names.  What is the world coming to?”

“You could always choose to go by another name,” said Clockwork, mildly.  “You are not trapped in it.”

“I know,” said Daniel.  “I’ll keep it for now, though.  Is, um, is the…”

“Her section of the file is colored teal.”

“Thanks,” said Daniel.  He flipped through.  “These aren’t in the same order, you know.”

“I know,” said Clockwork.  He sounded very put upon.  

“You’re not the one who does the organizing, huh?”

“If only I were.”

Daniel looked over the teal pages.  There wasn’t a lot of information on them.  The name, Jasmine, her height, hair color, eye color, a few lines about interests.  

“Not a lot here.”

“You are meant to form your own opinions,” said Clockwork.  

“Enjoys pushing forward the boundaries of knowledge?” he read from the page.  “Interested in modern psychology and brain surgery?”  He looked up at Clockwork.  “This sounds like mad scientist material.”

“You can always skip her, if you feel uncomfortable.”

“No, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to be fair.  So, uh, let’s go.  Let’s do this.”

“In your pajamas?” 

“Well, it’s not like I have anything else, do I?”

“In fact, you do.  There is a closet in your room upstairs.”

“With clothes that are mine?”

“With clothes in a variety of styles in your size.  They are all new, acquired for this process, although you can keep them afterward.”

“So, no way to figure out my style except for experimentation.  Cool.  Great.  Another mystery to solve.”

“Think of it as an interesting puzzle.  An amusing way to pass the time, whilst you are experiencing the various persons who wish to gain custody of you.”

“Uh huh,” said Daniel, pushing his chair out.  “I’m going to go get changed.  Do I need to pack a bag, too, or what?”

“What, in this case.  Any clothing and toiletries you need will be sent to you.”

Daniel nodded and climbed back up the stairs to ‘his’ room.  There was a closet there that he hadn’t noticed before, across from the bathroom.  He opened the door and started to shift through the different outfits.  

That one was too complicated… ugh, weird texture… too much body exposure… ooh, gothic… but also complicated… nice skirt… robe… kilt?  He prodded at the maybe-kilt a little.  He wasn’t sure that it was a kilt.  Well, whatever.  Jeans.  T-shirt.  Hm.  Tempting, if only for its simplicity.  But maybe he wanted something that vibed with his tail a bit better.  Ooh, Egyptian.  

Eventually, he hit on a combination of loose pants, long shirt, and fringed wrap.  Yeah.  That would look good.  Comfortable.  He took off his pajamas and fluffed his tail.  That did feel good.  He put on the pants, then the shirt, and then discovered he did not have great skills with wraps.  So.  He probably didn’t wear them on a daily basis.  Still, with the help of the bathroom mirror, he managed to get it into a more or less presentable arrangement.  He thought he looked good, anyway, and that was all that mattered.  After all, if they already were getting into fights over custody of him, he didn’t exactly have to dress to impress.  

He went back down the stairs, to where Clockwork was waiting, staff in hand.  “Okay, I’m ready.  How do I look?”

“Dressed,” said Clockwork.  

“Helpful,” said Daniel.  

“I am to please.”

“So… How do we get there?”

“Through this,” said Clockwork.  He held up the staff, and a portal spun off the clock at its top.  Then, he held out a small pocketwatch.  “When you want to return, merely click the button on top.”

“Okay,” said Daniel, taking it and looping it's chain around his neck.  “And… I just go through?  No other tricks?”

“No other tricks.  It is the journey of a single step.”

“Right,” said Daniel.  He took a deep breath and stepped forward.  

The transition between places really was smooth.  One minute, he was in Clockwork's purple kitchen, the next, he was in what looked like a completely normal entryway.  

There was a girl there.  She looked human, and was about half a foot taller than he was.  Her hair was red and her cardigan was the same teal as her paper in the file.  Her eyes, too, were blue.  She… really didn’t look like a ghost at all.  She didn’t particularly look like him, either, except for her skin color.  Unless maybe some of her facial features were similar?  Nose shape, perhaps?  He didn’t really remember what he looked like well enough to say.

But, definitely, what stood out the most about her was the fact that she was a girl.  A teenager.  Not a woman, not really.  She couldn’t be more than a few years older than he was.

“Danny,” she said, jumping out of the chair and starting to smile at him. “Hi, I’m–”  She stopped.  

The girl stared.  Daniel stared back.  

“Danny, what are you wearing?” she asked.  

“Clothing,” he said.  He didn’t think this kind of outfit had any particular name.  At least, if it did, he didn’t know it.

“Oh.”

“And… you’re…”

“Oh!  I’m Jazz!  You… really don’t remember me?”

Daniel shook his head, slowly.  

“Well… They did tell me that would happen…”

“I knew you before?”

“Yes!  Yes.  I… was your mother.  Am your mother!”

“Uh,” said Daniel.  “You’re, like, seventeen.  Eighteen, maximum.”

“Time travel was involved.”

“Time travel.”

“Time travel.  You know how things are in the ghost zone.  You get a natural portal, and then, boom!  You’re fifteen years in the past, or the future!”  She laughed, nervously.  “But I’m here, now!  This version of me.  Who is definitely your mother.”

Daniel realized, then, that just because the memory wipe meant that he couldn’t know what his prior connections were, that didn’t mean that other people couldn’t try to capitalize on them.  Or lie about them.  Or lie about them badly.  

“Time travel,” said Daniel, again.  

“I mean, you’re staying with Clockwork, right?”

“Uh, yeah, so?”

“So, he’s sort of a major player in the time travel scene, right?”

“He is?”  It’d explain the clock theme, at least.  

“He is.”

“Oh.  Cool.”  He still didn’t believe her time travel story, though.  “So, like.  If you were time traveling, who raised me?”

“Your, uh, grandparents.  But they can’t really, uh, do it, anymore.  For reasons.  And I’m back!  In the proper time!   So I want to take care of you now.  And this will start our bonding bonanza!  We can start with a tour of the house!”

What.  She did not just say that.  

“Are they the ones who’re disputing your custody?  Because it is a dispute, right?  That’s what this thing is all about.”

“I mean, um, there are seven groups, right?  Counting me?  So, no, it’s not because of them.”

“Right,” said Daniel.  That didn’t rule them out, though.  Maybe they were the ones at the top of the list.

“So, obviously, this is the entryway… At least, you know, when there’s a door.”

Daniel looked behind him.  There was, indeed, no door.  “What?”

“Something about the rules to these things.  We’re not supposed to leave for the duration.”

“What about food?”

“It’s brought in, the same way you were.  So, over here is the kitchen.”

The kitchen was a long, galley affair, with tile countertops and cute floral backsplashes.  It was much more normal than Clockwork’s, at least in terms of colors.  There was a fridge, a microwave, a toaster, and a dishwasher.  

“Do you know who the other six groups are?”

“I mean… I have a guess about some of them, but I don’t really know.  I’d thought Clockwork would be one of them for sure, but…”

“What, really?”  That, at least, didn’t seem like a lie.  “But he’s the neutral party?”

“Yes,” said Jazz.  “But I thought that the two of you were close.  But maybe it was more along the lines of being, I don’t know, work friends.”

“Huh,” said Daniel.  “I… Okay.”

“Yes.  Okay.  So, the fridge is completely safe, no biological or ectobiological samples stored in it.  Just food.  Normal, edible food.  We’ll do the dishes together, of course.  Cups are in here, dishes, pots and pans–”

“Your profile said you were interested in brain surgery,” said Daniel.  

“Oh, yes, that’s one of the things I’m thinking about studying in college!  Once I get into college.  Which will be soon.”

“So, you don’t have, like, a mad science lab in here where you do brain surgery or something like that?”

The girl stared at him.  “Are… you sure you don’t remember anything?”

This was not a promising question.  “Yeah, why?”

“Because you’re assuming that I have a mad science lab in here.  I’m  a high school senior.”

“Which means it’s weird that you’re here with a house at all.”

She made a face.  “It’s… I had some help getting it.  The house, I mean.  But there’s no mad science lab.  There will never be a mad science lab.  Unless you want a mad science lab.  I could probably make some calls.”

“I don’t want a mad science lab.  Why would I want a mad science lab?”

“I don’t know, to tinker in?  You used to do some, um, tinkering.  Mechanical engineering stuff.”

“That’s more of a garage thing, though, isn’t it?”

“I… don’t know.  You only ever did it in the lab.”

“So, we used to have a mad science lab.”

“That’s– I mean–  No.”

Definitely a lie.  They totally had a lab.  Or, at least, Jazz used to have a lab.  What was going on that they had a lab?  Something sinister, doubtlessly.  

“Did you dissect brains in this lab?”

“No!  Like I said, I’m only a student.  A student that is interested in a lot of things, but right now, my thesis is about Ghost Envy.”

“You’re a high school student with a thesis?”

“I’m a high achiever.  Have to make up for all that time lost time traveling.  You’d think you’d gain time!  But.  Yeah.”  She smiled tightly and nodded.  “Living room next!  We have a, er, one of those consoles.  For video games.  I got it from a friend.”

Daniel let Jazz drag him around the house.  It was kind of nice, except for how nervous she got whenever he probed about his past or her supposed time travel.  He didn’t really feel threatened by her, per se, but the lying… it definitely gave him a bit of, how should he put this, anxiety.  

“And here’s your bedroom, Danny!”

The bedroom was actually really cool.  Unlike the rest of the rooms, it had a very clear, very obvious theme beyond just house people can live in.  The theme was space.  The walls and ceiling were painted with constellations.  There were model rockets on shelves.  The desk had an astrolabe and a small model solar system on it, alongside astronomy books.  There were also some novels, composition notebooks and sketchbooks, alongside a variety of markers, but those were tiny points about the overwhelming amount of space.  Even the decorative throw cushions on the bed had galaxy patterns on them!

Danny… he really liked it.  He guessed he had to admit that, at least, Jazz had known him before, and had known him reasonably well.  Even if she wasn’t his mother.  

She’d also turned around to play with a deadbolt on the door.  

“It locks from the inside, because, well, I figured you’d be a bit nervous, staying with someone you know nothing about, and a lock might make you feel safer.”

She wasn’t wrong about that.  “Hey, speaking of safety, you’re still, like, alive?  Human?”

“Yes?” said Jazz.

“Isn’t it a bit weird, trying to get custody of a ghost?”

“Oh, um, I suppose it’s a bit unusual, but you’re my b– My son.  Definitely my son.  So, it’s worth it.  It doesn’t matter to me if you’re a ghost or a human or– Wait, Clockwork told you, right?”

“Told me… what?”

“That you’re not, you know, a normal ghost.”

“I… he might have said something about that.  About being an unusual kind of ghost.”

“So he didn’t tell you that you’re only half ghost?”

“That’s not a thing.”

“It’s a thing.  You can change back and forth between a human - more human - form, and a ghost form.  Like this.”  She gestured at him.  

Danny stared at her.  “That’s not a thing.”

“It is!  Oh, jeez, I can’t believe Clockwork left it to me to explain.”  She crossed her arms and turned away.  “I don’t know how to explain this.”

“Wait, does that mean my dad is a ghost in this story?  Are you saying that you, as a human, and a ghost–”

“No.  You died.  That sounds terrible.  I mean, you, um.  You sort of died.”

“How did I die that I managed to die only halfway?”

Jazz opened and closed her mouth several times.  “I didn’t witness it–”

“But you know.”

“It was– Do you really want to know?  I mean, regardless, I’m still your– your mom.  And I want to be.  And that kind of thing is really traumatic.”

“What was it?”

She looked like she didn’t want to answer.  Danny poured all his effort into a forceful, expectant stare.  

“It… was a lab accident.”

Silence.  

“Like, um.  A ghost lab.”

More silence.

“Okay,” said Danny.  He bit his lower lip.  “Right.”

“I’ll just leave now,” said Jazz.  “Make yourself at home.  Because it is!”  She stepped out.  

“Yep,” said Danny.  He closed the door and slid home the deadbolt.  Then he put his hand around the pocketwatch, lightly touching the button on top.  “Okay.  I’ll be okay.  I can always leave if she tries to examine my brain, and… I should give her a fair chance.  Right.”

[animefreak1145]

Late WIP Wednesday(Oops)

Sorry I’m taking so long with well…everything. But this is to show you guys for the Church Bells(Frank Woods x Bell!Reader x Russell Adler fic). I AM working on it. I’m just a little slow 🥲 Here ya go! It’s another flashback sequence before Bell found out the truth.

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

“What? At my work? Isn’t that like everyone else?”

Lazar hummed, his eyes glittering at a joke you can’t understand.

“No. You have that type of stare that will freeze lesser men. Or get slapped by someone who thinks you’re looking for a fight. Or get you put into an asylum. Only, when you decode, you have an insane smile on your face. It’d be creepy if we didn’t know you.”

“Uh huh.” You dismissed, eyes glancing at the medical office. “You should work better on your compliments if you want Park to have a drink with you.”

If Park wasn’t in the medical office room along with Adler, you’re sure Lazar would throw his old cup noodle at you. Alas, he only gave you a dry “Ha. Ha.” with a neutral expression but still didn’t leave. He wants an answer.

You turn to him fully, elbows leaning back against the desk, petulant.

“I doubt I smile like how you describe…” Lazar snorted while you frowned at him, before shifting your gaze back to your papers. “I don’t know. I just…love puzzles. They’re fun to solve.”

“Is that what makes you stare so intently?” Lazar leaned against the television, the stand slightly creaking at the movement, his intrigue seeming sincere. Another question hidden, two subjects being asked for one answer. A wall. “The thrill?”

Is that what love is to you?

You tapped at the papers, biting your lip in thought.

“Maybe a part…I just have this need to figure things out. To open it up—to find the numbers, the letters, the riddles. In an order that is random but it’s not. It’s just a trick. A shadow on the wall. A reason for each piece. Each hint. Every piece of the puzzle has its purpose. It’s reason for being.” You didn’t notice when you started smiling, the topic consuming you like books and pictures do. But you just kept going as you grabbed your pen and fiddled with it, miming writing numbers or letters. “Like Sims with mechanics, I think. Or you with bomb wiring. You find the hardy wires or broken pieces—and I untangle it all. I even love how difficult it could be if I find a cipher intellectual. It’s fun.”

“Sounds maddening,” Lazar replied simply, brow raising. “And painful. Maybe even obsessive.”

You shrug, staring deeply at your own pen, tone far away. As if you were speaking about another topic than this. Something other. Like a secret.

“That’s love, isn’t it? Pain and obsession?”

.

.

.

Just a taste. Any more and I would give you guys the whole thing 😂

Tag List: @tr1ppylady @parkeepingparker @weirdoartist21 @gojocat247 @mayaibnlaahad @dallmaistir @salvija @kylezkie4adler @asaltryefl @stupid-stinky @aurora-windu @zachfoxx121 @pyxis-stellae @makeyourpeacenow

[strangecloud]

Do you remember your first Skyrim playthrough?

I played Skyrim on the 360 when it came out. I remember the starting Helgen cutscene making me uncomfortable, being carried to an executioner's block. The character I ended up playing was a paladin sort of dude who instead of shielding or avoiding blows would use Restoration to heal himself back up when he inevitably got hit.

I've been on an Elder Scrolls kick lately, playing Morrowind and Skyrim and even some ESO. I think they're good games, but I believe I've puzzled out why so many people prefer Morrowind over the rest of the series.

When I say the starting cutscene in Skyrim made me uncomfortable back in like, 2011, I mean it has since lost any of that power. I've just seen it so many times. I think this is the core of why Skyrim, despite being indubitably an absolute achievement in game design, seems to be less and less appreciated as time goes on. Simply put, most people have played it to the point that it's almost like a solved game.

This is a phenomenon that has happened to me across some games, even my favorite game of all time, Fallout New Vegas. I've just played it so darn much that the whole thing is predictable, like I can see all the decisions and consequences without even booting up the game. This contradiction of the medium has been commented on and explored by the metafiction of games like Undertale. The artificiality of an entirely predictable system, no matter how lifelike, will lessen your investment.

And it's not the game's fault. If anything, a game being good to the point of wearing out its welcome with diminishing returns because people just insist on playing it over and over again is a crowning achievement. However, transcending that, making a game that's quality to the point of beating that almost invincible limitation? That's on a whole other level.

Enter: Morrowind.

On the surface, Morrowind just looks like an old ass game. Everything is a little weird, to the way combat works to how it expects you to visually navigate the world with directions, sometimes daisy-chaining instructions on how to get where you're going. You know, go here following a path, to ask this person who actually knows where you want to go how to get there. And then follow a path again. The game expects you to study in-game lore books to figure out what to do. Like, actually roleplaying a researcher poring over tomes for answers. It's real weird.

But it makes a lot more sense when you consider, all of this, intentionally or not, contributes to a very interesting result. It makes the game a kind of perennial experience.

Even if you know what you're looking for, there's no map markers telling you where most things are in Morrowind. Some things might be easier to do off the top of your head when you're familiar with the game but even then, most of the time there's nothing for it but to knuckle down and search around. Like, actually paying attention to the world instead of some compass or map.

The character building works almost the same. You can steer your character into some set of gear you really want, assuming you know it exists and how to get it, but until then you're mostly gonna use whatever fits. Random magical items are more likely to dictate your effectiveness than anything else. You just don't control your builds and progression as much.

And the main story and lore are probably the best in the series. There's just so much to think about, find out, and discover. Even the little blurbs that random NPCs will spout about how their job works are very well written and made with a ton of thought. It's like the anti-Skyrim, the more you put into it, the more you get in return.

All this to say, playing Morrowind is still a rewarding experience decades after it was released, because there's a weird kind of harmony in its crazy designs. It's like it was made to be played and enjoyed forever, there's so much in there. Even if you've played it before many times, you might just forget where an important item is and have to navigate manually. You might decide to make a wacky character that leads you down factions and quests you've never done. You might find out some fact about the lore you've never really thought about.

It just keeps going.

I'm not one of those people who resent modern Bethesda for "dumbing down" or "selling out". I love Skyrim, but there's very little it can give me after all these years. On the other hand, Morrowind just keeps on giving.

I think that's the difference, and I think that's why people like it so much.

[jewel9887]

Day 4: experiment

Part 3 to other day prompts. To read them on ao3 or you can just read this one

Logan excitedly walks to the museum where Remus texted to meet up for their date. He still can't believe he had the courage to ask Remus on a date, for some reason being around Remus just made him speak his mind without second guessing himself. Looking up he notices Remus and Roman. Even from a distance, it's easy to tell they're twins especially since they decided to dress alike; Remus is wearing a green shirt under a leather jacket and black ripped pants while Roman is wearing a red shirt under a gold jacket and white pants. It's easy to see how he got them mixed up at first but seeing them together he notices all the differences.

Roman notices him first and waves, jumping up and down, "LOGAN, LOGAN OVER HERE! Oof," Roman stumbles.

Logan watches Remus and Roman start shoving each other as he walks up the steps. 

"I thought this was a date with romantic intent?" Logan questions.

"It is and Roman was just leaving" Remus replies glaring at his brother.

"Remus is right. I have a project for my art history class, so I bribed Remus to bring me along but I'll be in a different part of the museum. Remus will text me when the date is over," Roman explained. "I'll see you guys in a few hours or whenever." 

Logan doesn't have time to respond before Roman walks inside leaving him and Remus alone.

"You look extra nerdy hot today, Lo," Remus says.

"Thanks," Logan says blushing looking down at his blue constellation tie. "So which exhibit are we here for?"

"Well, a little frog and spider told me you enjoy science and puzzles," Remus responds holding open the door. "They opened a new exhibit where you can do experiments hands-on and there's another exhibit that goes through the history of detective stories and how poisons discussed in the stories realistically work. The best part is this museum won't ban me because they said and I quote "You are a walking disaster" so it lets them know how to make things safer for the kids as long as I don't intentionally hurt anyone which I would never do."

"There are so many things to address in that statement. Firstly, how much have Virgil and Patton talked about? Secondly, I heard about the new exhibit but have not had time to come to see it, and am greatly looking forward to doing so with you. Lastly, you keep mentioning bans; how many places have you been banned from and why?" Logan asks.

"I think you're their third favorite person after Roman and I. Glad I picked a great first date idea and you got to wait a few more dates before I disclose that information." Remus rapidly replies winking. 

Remus goes to the desk and pays for their tickets, letting Logan know he can pay for the next one. 

Together they head to the science lab room where they don the safety equipment, which are safety glasses, gloves, and a stained lab coat. Most of the experiments are made for kids although Logan manages to rig a bunch together to create a cascade of rainbow foam, somehow barely making a mess. Meanwhile, Remus creates a Rube Goldberg machine with all the random objects lying around. It goes all the way around and through the room with its ending being a picture of him and Logan captured using a polaroid camera creating a big mess and somehow activating the elephant foam which wasn’t part of his machine.

Next, they head to the detective/puzzle room where Remus learns that Oedipus Rex is categorized as detective fiction. Logan takes his time reading all plaques for each era, story, and author for the history part; pointing out any extra interesting facts or ones he thinks Remus would enjoy.”

Once Logan declares he is finished, Remus pulls him to the other side of the room where there are three puzzles set up. One, a murder case to be solved, another a puzzle using different codes to decode a three letters, and lastly a bunch of different puzzle locks. Remus goes straight to the puzzle locks and Logan tries the code and decodes all three letters in no time, then together they easily solve the murder mystery.

"See it's not always the maid or butler," Remus jokes laughing.

"True but in no story has it ever been the cat who poured the poison in the tea and with no human intervention," Logan argues.

"You're just upset I solved it right before you could," Remus says as he grabs Logan's hand to lead him back towards the front.

"Let me text Roman to tell him to wrap up whatever he's doing," Remus tells Logan pulling out his phone but not letting go of Logan's hand.

"This was the best date I've been. I'm glad I lost the bet and let you pick where," Logan happily says.

"You're one of the first to say that and I am glad. Does this mean a second date is in the future?" Remus asks.

"Definitely, though it is my turn to pick when and where we go next," Logan responds.

"You guys are a mess but sounds like it all went well. Remus didn't scare you off." Roman ask Logan walking up to them.

"Not at all. I enjoyed his company and look forward to spending more time with him," Logan answers smiling at Remus. "Ok, gross," Roman jokes.

"Dad texted saying that he has to leave soon and we need to get home to Virgil and Patton," Roman tells Remus.

"Gotcha," Remus says.

”Do you need us to drop you off, Logan?" Remus asks. 

”Nope, I drove here and just parked farther away. I will be needing my hand back," Logan laughs holding up his hand in Remus' and then tugging Remus to him for a hug.

Remus lets go and returns the hug. Logan steps away and says bye, leaving a speechless blushing Remus and laughing Roman.

@intrulogicalweek

[cowlickers]

Can I describe y’all my crazy video game idea? cool thanks sit down and it’s good probably gonna be a while. so the entire premise is this if this woman (doesn’t have a name yet) but The random moments of her morning she gets transported to a video game world, but the catch is it’s a series and every subsequent games of her going into a video game world in a particular gameplay style during a portion of her morning routine and I have such a vivid vision of what it’s like. She’s literally just trying to get ready to go to work, but she’ll immediately be in the shower and get transported into a platformer, but then when she finishes her adventure in the world and goes to cook herself some breakfast, she gets transported into an RPG when she goes to pick out her outfit, she could transport into a rogue like. Maybe when she goes to try to pick up her room, she could transport into a tower defense game. or if she goes to try to watch her favorite TV show she could transfer it into an ace attorney type game. or like if she goes to a gym, she gets transported into a fighting game. i’m conflicted on whether or not to decide to make the world that is changes styles. Every time she enters or have it be a completely different world that she gets sucked into I don’t know maybe there could be a set group of characters that dwell in that world who also change with the style of game I don’t think I would want it to be all one game that constantly change styles, because not only do I think that would be like incredibly technically impossible but I also would want to have a fully fleshed out game world for each of the style of game. and maybe the reason why all these things are happening is because her grandfather really liked the video games and wanted to share his passion with his granddaughter, but she really didn’t mess with the video games in that way and so when her grandpa died his ghost is just sharing all the games that he wanted her to play but the thing is she hates it because she doesn’t like video games but she then learns to love them because maybe in each separate game, she learned something new about her grandfather that she didn’t know, and she slowly starts to appreciate her grandfather after he’s gone. Oh my gosh forget about the pathos of why this game exists. I just thought of an incredibly cool way to introduce potential villain to the series. The game that introduced the villain is a mascot horror game like five nights at Freddy’s, or Poppy’s playtime. I know I’m kind of jumping around here in this post, but I also want to think that like with each different game that this character goes through her world gets changed just a tiny bit getting filled with like aspects of all the worlds like maybe she is physically stronger and faster after going through the platformer and RPG world maybe she just becomes a little bit more intelligent and good at problem-solving from the ace, attorney and puzzle game worlds. Maybe sometimes any companions that she meets in the world show up in the real world for her. All right if you’ve gotten through this far in my insane ramblings of this idea allow me to share with you the inspiration for this game and I don’t think you are fully ready for what I’m about to say the inspiration for this game is that one episode of Phineas and Ferb episode where Candice gets into a video game in a shot when she was showering. I was just thinking to myself man that would really freaking suck if you were in a mundane situation, and then just got zapped into a magical video game world and have to complete it in order to get back to your normal life. all of that from one episode of Phineas and Ferb.

Honestly, the shit that I come up with sometimes

[yunacoeur]

boys planet love languages - quality time

a/n: this is my love language 🫶 also KAMDEN SURVIVED ep 11 sucked tho 💕

trainees: na kamden | kim taerae | lee jeonghyeon | jay chang

na kamden

this man struggles on how to express emotions sometimes. he struggles to say the things he wants to say, but he will always sit in peaceful, comfortable silence with you.

i think quality time would be his love language too. his way of loving you would be to give you his time and attention. he may not always be able to, but when he can, he does.

he wants to do the boring, menial things with you. he wants to run errands with you and read mail with you and cook dinner with you. it's not about what you guys are doing but the fact he gets to see your smile when you're doing it!

kim taerae

i was a little hesitant to put him here because he loves saying i love you in every kind of way (aka he doesn’t struggle with the other love languages)

but there is just nothing more precious to him than spending time with you.

his eyes really display his love he has permanent hearts in them and they just get even more pronounced around you

he wants to spend hours upon hours listening to you talk about your day and your hobbies and your job and everything in between

lee jeonghyeon

yeah bestie is all about that quality time. he likes doing puzzles and solving rubiks cubes while you do your own work

and it’s like. you’re in the same room, not talking, not even looking at each other, and yet he feels so much love

maybe it’s because he’s comfortable and the air is peaceful and at any point he could ask you the most random questions and you wouldn’t judge him

even if it’s just you stopping by with coffee for fifteen minutes to chat, he will treasure every second

jay chang

no bc i was so torn on whether or not he should be quality time or words of affirmation, but i feel like words don’t affect him as much. he’ll look for actions over taking your words at face value

but he fits so well as a person who needs quality time to feel loved!! you give him energy and uplift him!

he wants to go do things, but nothing in particular, as long as they’re with you. you can pick the restaurants, the stores, the activities, etc, and he will tag along with a smile

but also he’s pretty introverted so he likes to just be a homebody with you

[comicaurora]

Question, from one aspiring writer to another: how do you manage to maintain the drive to keep writing and how do you not lose interest in what you've created before it's done? Asking because I need advice.

Tricky question. I don't think it has a single answer.

For me personally, there are a few things that buoy up my enthusiasm:

Rabbit Holes - random deep-dives into topics I find incredibly interesting. Because I have so many outlets for my rants about highly specific cool things, I don't need to stifle any random hyperfixations because almost all of them can be turned into scripts or worldbuilding concepts. If I feel the enthusiasm strike, I chase it down as far as I can and take as many notes as possible along the way. However, these things work like lightning strikes and I can't just get randomly super interested in any one thing. Almost all of my longform videos start out as these.

Comedic Reframing - the bread and butter of the channel and the lifehack that let my poor brain actually focus on extremely long and boring books through college. It's easier for me to retain information and enthusiasm if I can find humor in what I'm dealing with on a smaller scale. When working on illustrating videos, for instance, the way I avoid burning out on individual frames is by making sure they have witty dialogue or fun character moments, because I genuinely enjoy drawing those a lot more than just "character moves into position" or "scene change" shots. Same goes for the comic - the more dynamic or interesting the pose, the more interesting the panel is to draw and the easier it is for me to stay jazzed.

Audience Feedback - I feel like this part is simultaneously understated and overstated in different ways. Creating art solely for the accolades it might garner is seen as generally both gauche and inefficient - it'll turn into an existentially draining losing battle like all pursuit of fame for fame's sake does - but any writer or artist will tell you that people losing their minds over their art is the number one way to guarantee they want to make more art. When drawing the comic, even when I'm lower energy, I'll often think to myself "oh man, they're gonna be yelling about this panel" and that'll help give me a boost. Early on in the comic I read through the discord discussions almost every day, but now I'm mostly sustained just from people yelling in my askbox.

Letting The Characters Run Wild - I've mentioned this elsewhere, but one of the most fun parts of writing for me is when the characters kinda tap me on the shoulder and say "hey boss, I really wanna do this". Their character-moment is almost always spicier, more complicated and more interesting than whatever plot-serving guideline it's replacing. Making the characters act as automatons that solely move the plot forward is less interesting for me as a writer than turning them loose and seeing the havoc they cause. Before I ever put pen to paper for this story, half my fun would just be playing out extremely fraught conversations and encounters between characters - no script, no plan, just "here's the premise and GO." Lots of stories start out as daydreams, and daydreams are like the purest form of energizing creation, existing only for the joy of the creator and thus flowing almost effortlessly; I think it's important to retain the heart of that when the daydreams start being set down on paper. If it's not a little self-indulgent it's not gonna be too much fun, and sometimes all it takes is letting the characters do the wild thing with consequences you haven't fully worked out yet.

In my experience, the thing I enjoy most as a creator is solving puzzles. I have more fun writing my story when I only mostly know where it's going, and I have to work out the most interesting consequences to my characters' unexpected actions. I have more fun drawing out a joke if the punchline didn't even occur to me before I started the frame, because the idea is fresh and fun and hasn't gone stale from sitting in my head too long. And my enthusiasm for my older work is reinvigorated when I see how other people respond to it, because it lets me almost see my own work through fresh eyes, which is a rare treat for any creator.

And when I get really worn down, I treat that like a sign that something needs readjusting. I don't force it when I'm worn out or can't bear to look at my tablet - I step back, take a break, take a walk, indulge in Floor Time, watch a movie, buy a coffee, do something that isn't trying to floor the accelerator when I'm stuck in a creative snowdrift. Sometimes that means putting a project down for months. Sometimes that means realizing I wouldn't actually be able to make a project happen because it'd be draining my will to live the whole time.

I sometimes use the metaphor that a creator's mind is like a garden. Its works need to be cultivated, but sometimes they also need to be left alone, or maybe the soil needs to be actively left fallow for a while. It may look like the project isn't doing anything, when in actuality it's spreading its roots and developing a much more solid foundation where you can't see it. Maybe two concepts cross-pollinate in an unexpected way and you get a new third thing to cultivate. But the most important part of this metaphor is that the well-being of every individual thing growing in the garden is heavily dependent on the heart of the garden overall. If you aren't doing okay, your art isn't going to be okay either. If it's feeling like a fruitless and nothing is growing, you might just need rain. Or nitrogen-fixers.

[anachronistic-falsehood]

oh my godddd dude holy shit fuck okay taking a break from worm reading to send u an ask about william wight because goddamn i need 2 talk abt him. hello!!!!!!! feeling SO unwell about the clarences cape but red thing. awesome.

OKAY U HAVE LIKE. THE MOST PERFECT TIMING IN THE WORLDDD because literally on . tuesday this week my freak week art got a random note out of nowhere and made me start thinking about the villains again and thinking about william wight specifically because i love him a lot. ok. so its always ALWAYS been my assumption that. this is the version of william who mal got his greasy little claws in.

william fell off the cliff and died. the wisps chose him, and he came back. mal, who has been obsessively watching the wisps since clarence's death, sensed them choosing the next whisperer and swooped in before william could even stand back up. hes disoriented, hes scared, everything hurts, hes at a bottom of a cliff and he honestly doesnt even know if hes alive or not anymore, and this stranger walks out of the forest and offers a chance to explain everything. wiwi mystery brain! he knows this is weird but he also knows like.... i dont know whats happening maybe i AM dead and this is just... waht the afterlife is like. so he goes with mal. william wisp the 16 yr old from deadwood is. well. dead. he went missing, nobody ever found his body, his family mourned him.

meanwhile the whole time mallard conway was taking william wight under his wing and training him to be a replacement. mal calls him whisperer, william is in his rebellious teen phase and wants to be called something cooler which is why he named himself Wight (a type of vengeful spirit. specifically one who was once alive and then was brought back from the dead. lol) william is still! technically half alive. so being in the spirit world for extended amounts of time (which is NOT something mortals are supposed to do, planeswalker or not,) kind of broke his brain a little bit? which is why Wight is LIke That.

williams whole thing when he was alive was solving mysteries and chasing down monsters, so that became (and forgive my use of dp fanon here, i have to) his Obsession. (obsession with a capital O because its.. ghost logic. whatever a ghost died doing becomes their core motivation in the afterlife etc etc dp fanon not sorryyyyy) so he has this. uncanny obsession for tracking down monsters when hes out of the spirit world. being separated from the spirit world for any amount of time kind of drives him nuts, hes so used to being around the dead that being around the living for extended periods of time is unsettling. hes super paranoid. he inherits mal's need for total control over a situation, which is why hes so lax about possessing people with the wisps to get them to do what he wants.

perfect that his best friend turns out to be the absolutely diehard loyal guard dog. (side note here i think he also has williams super high pain tolerance from dead nerves so he lets kota gnaw on his arms and shit) . virion is a mystery to him and he LOVES it, he cant figure this guy out, hes like an endlessly fascinating puzzle to crack open. studying him like a lab rat on a dissection table.

i think about him a normal amount. as you can tell.

Mac i am TOO FUCKING DRUNK to peroperly respond to this but oh my god. oh my godddd yehah. the obsession thing???????? Hello??????? putting that in my pocket!!!!!! ohhgh he’s paranoid being around living people he’s a control freak he’s sooo fucjed up <33333333 he absolutely lets kota chew on him like a chew toy <3 and he can’t get a proper read on virion so he’s obsessed w trying to peel back his layers and learn as much as he can!!! throwing ashe into the mix is like. doubly fascinating for him. bc i think villain ashe would b secretive enough about his civilian identity to intrigue william(<<wants to disguise that he could possibly have any connection to wavelength the hero) and wiwi is INVESTED in trying to figure out him and virion!! what r their secrets!!! he NEDSS TO KNOW!!!!!!! to me his vibes r kinda like the weylin twins. u feel me

[thefalloutwiki]

First, a more serious one: To all staff "What do you consider to be the hardest part of your job on the wiki, and what is your favorite part of your wiki job?"

And now, here's a fun one I've been asked in an interview before: To all staff "If you were an object, what object would you be and why?"

Answers Below the cut!

V13Kobold: The hardest part of my job is actually when someone disagreeable comes onto the wiki just to cause problems. Not that I can't handle it, it's the arguing/complaining/trolling (aggressive) that gets to me sometimes. The best part is the community, as cliche as it is. The sharing of interests, advice, and ideas overall is fun. 🙂

An object? Honestly, I'd be a Gecko (I know that's a creature) or a Deathclaw Mounted Head.

Findabair: The hardest part is keeping up with new content, the best part is the gratification from having properly sourced articles.

RurinGas: The hardest part would probably be just keeping up with all the information that comes out! While to a casual glance, Fallout might be about 8 or 9 games and 1 TV series, there are littler-known games and releases that are all constantly ticking away and releasing new content, it's a challenge to keep track! and thats just all the proper stuff, let alone our mod and community spaces too! My favourite part however would probably be the chance to do something creative, to find a problem and immediately think "Oh yeah, I can fix this brilliantly", it's like a jigsaw where everything juuuuussssttt slots into place perfectly, and you can just crack your fingers and lean back with a drink and think to yourself "good work"

Hrmmmmmmm..... For the sake of fun, I'll limit myself to Fallout objects xP I think I'd like to be a bottlecap. You get traded the world over, get to see the whole nation from a random person's pocket, and see all sorts of things. And, in the possible event you get made into a bottlecap mine, you go out with Passion! (And, In my experience, take someone down with you too. Whoever put the bottlecap mine in Starlight Drive-in is a fiend!) MeatServo: The time pressure often involved if something breaks and genuine, applied problem solving. Aren't we already objects in a way? Rubbinmahbelly: Probably trying to get DPL tables working the way I want. There's a reason 9 time about of 10 I ping Rurin and have her so it. Best part is interacting with folk and makin really good friends. A funny statue of a dog in a hat. NarratorJack: The worst part of the job is the more technical aspects of the wiki, My favorite part of my job is just talking to community members and shit Probably a computer, I like computers. AstralAbraxas: The hardest part I think comes to putting the pieces of the fallout puzzle together, sort of speak. Connecting the dots to make previous speculation into real or working content for the wiki. Is that the Loveland frog I see? Probably! But because it's not confirmed in writing anywhere, it remains speculation. Jersey Devil on the S12 scoreboard? Yes! And now I can say for a fact it is, because now they're in the game! Little things like that to be able to discern between using real world knowledge/content and things confirmed in some way by in game content is always a welcome challenge and something I love to discuss. If I were an object, I'd want to be the Brahmin Plush! He's so cute! KateAces: Keeping up with new content is a challenge, making sure it’s correct and complete is important and a very fulfilling feeling when it’s done, honestly the best feeling is seeing people use the site or hearing that it was helpful for someone.

I’d be a pre war neon sign, maybe even one that names a town like Novac

[captive-wish]

Voicelines

𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲-𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀

𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬:

NOTE: In-game, because of the multiple voice lines for Artesia and Teisi, in the databank, each voice line featuring them both would have two choices, if that makes sense.

For Battle voicelines, Artesia and Teisi’s voicelines would both alternate, and be chosen at random. Though Teisi’s voicelines would be more present after use of Artesia’s ultimate. If that makes sense..

ੈ✩‧₊˚ First Meeting:

: ̗̀➛ Artesia: “Oh… Hello there. It’s been a while since I’ve met anyone new… Let’s walk this path together, shall we?”

• Teisi: “My, my, a fresh face… Do you know what you’ve gotten yourself into? Shall we find out?”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Greeting:

: ̗̀➛ Artesia: “Ah, you’re here. Thank you for coming… I’m not used to waiting on anyone.”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Parting:

: ̗̀➛ Artesia: “Stay safe. I’ll… be waiting here.”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ About Self - Artesia

: ̗̀➛ Artesia: “I’m… a little different then I used

to be. But I’m still me. At least, I think so.”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Chat - Silence:

: ̗̀➛ Artesia: “Quiet moments… They’re nice, aren’t they? Sometimes, words just ruin it all.”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Hobbies:

: ̗̀➛ Artesia: “I like.. any kind of art.

Sketching and painting are my favorite…”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Annoyances:

: ̗̀➛ Artesia: “When people rush about

for the next thing.. why not stop for a bit

and see the things around you.?”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Something to Share:

: ̗̀➛ Artesia: “I don’t really remember my family.. or if I even have one.. all I remember is the lab..”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Knowledge:

: ̗̀➛ Artesia: “Knowledge is precious, but… some things, I think, we’re better off not knowing.”

• Teisi: “Secrets? Oh, I’ve heard the most delicious ones… Perhaps you’ll spill a few of yours.”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ About Aventurine:

: ̗̀➛ Artesia: “He reminds me of someone... A bit of warmth… it’s nice, actually.”

• Teisi: “Interesting… but I wonder, how far would he run if he saw me?”

Combat voicelines under the cut

‎‧₊˚✧Combat✧˚₊‧

Battle Begins - Weaknesses Break:

ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “A chink in their armor… be careful, now.”

• Teisi: “Oh, you’re vulnerable… let’s exploit that, shall we?”

Battle Begins - Danger Alert:

ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “Be on guard… I sense something lurking.”

• Teisi: “A threat? How exciting. Let’s see how long they last.”

Turn Begins: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “Let’s tread lightly…”

• Teisi: “Time to play.”

Turn Idling: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “Are we… waiting for something?”

Basic Attack: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “A soft touch…”

• Teisi: “Just a taste…”

Enhanced Basic Attack: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “Stay back… I don’t want to hurt you.”

• Teisi: “Why hold back? Let’s make this interesting.”

Skill: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “Don’t cut yourself!”

Hit by light attack: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “That… could have been worse.”

Hit by Heavy Attack: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “I’ll manage… I always have.”

• Teisi: “You dare… touch me?”

Ultimate - Activate: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “This… will be over soon.”

• Teisi: “Now, I’ll show you real pain.”

Ultimate - Unleash: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “I hope… this is enough.”

• Teisi: “Destruction awaits you… embrace it.”

Talent: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “My power… it’s still… here.”

• Teisi: “Watch and learn.”

Downed: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “I… failed…”

• Teisi: “This… isn’t the end.”

Returned to Battle: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “Back to the fray… I can’t give up.”

• Teisi: “I’ve returned, and I’m not merciful.”

Health Recovery: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “Woah… thank you.”

Technique: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “I’ll try my best…”

• Teisi: “Watch closely… this is how you break them.”

Battle Won: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “It’s… finally over. Let’s move on.”

• Teisi: “Such sweet victory… didn’t you savor it?”

Treasure Opening: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “Let’s see what fate has left us.”

Successful Puzzle-Solving: ׂ╰┈➤ Teisi: “How satisfying… aren’t we clever?”

Enemy Target Found: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “I.. heard something. We’re not alone.”

Returning to Town: ׂ╰┈➤ Artesia: “It’s time to rest… let’s go back.”

• Teisi: “Retreating already? Very well… I’ll bide my time.”

WILL BE UPDATED.

[corvidcrybaby]

A bit random but Alucard strikes me as the type to be like, “if I cannot have your love, I will settle for you hate” as long as his ‘person’ feels something towards him, he is satisfied. I think being and showing indifference towards him will make him either amused or pissed off. And yes this mostly stems from my belief that Alucard could be technically canonized as a Yandere.

Hmmmmm. I think I'm of two minds about this one, personally. On the one hand, I do agree with the statement given in quotes here as being representative of a sentiment Alucard might carry. Alucard likes to see people at their most intense and unfiltered, and as such I think he'd just get a real kick out of someone's visceral hatred for him simply because he'd respect the willingness to own up to how strong one's feelings are towards him.

This supports some of the ideas, in truth - I think he definitely would prefer to know what someone's true colors are, and subsequently, would not be fond of indifference. It's actually something that I play around with in my OC, Zemira's fics with him. Much of the groundwork for their initial acquaintanceship was Zemira confidently snarking at him in language just abrasive enough to be identifiable as "giving him shit," but just cagey enough to seem chummy, affable and unphased. Beneath this were very legitimate, complicated feelings that the trooper was grappling with, and it was her attempt to project an image of being untouchable and unshaken by the Count; someone who most sensible people quaked in their boots at and didn't hide for a second. But Zemira tried to act relaxed and tough at the same time, in her own way.

And ohoho, Alucard zeroed in on that like a heat-seeking missile. IMO it's actually the worst possible thing you can do around him if your objective is avoiding him. It's like a knee-jerk reaction. You put a puzzle in front of him, he compulsively has to solve it.

Having said this, I think it segues into why I think that if he is a yandere, he's a very esoteric and passive sort of yandere. I think if you show him indifference, he's most likely to simply think of you as another stupid or oblivious human. You're not reacting strongly to him? You're either dumb, or hiding the fact that you're dumb. All he has to do is spook you a little bit, and get you to scramble off in fear. Then he'd have a chuckle, and move on, washing his hands of you.

While I think Alucard is definitely fascinated by human emotions and does place great value on them as pertains to one's willpower and strength of character, I don't think he'd take other peoples' feelings so personally. That strikes me as a little too sensitive for him. Alucard sometimes has a hair-trigger temper, yes - such as when he blows up at Seras - but it is almost in relation to something that is directly associated with a primary objective of his. I've always felt that him yelling at Seras was not him being personally insulted that Seras objected to killing humans, and moreso that he was deeply alarmed by the idea of his Fledgling - his responsibility, as ordained by Integra - not taking a life-or-death situation seriously enough, and potentially endangering herself by being squeamish about who she turned her guns on.

And when he figured out that she was just confused and frightened and looking to him for comfort and guidance, he immediately pivoted. The emotionally unkind thing here is that he doesn't apologize or try to acknowledge his own failure to communicate the situation to Seras clearly. He just switches gears on a dime, and opts to showcase understanding by dropping the subject and changing up his attitude rather than explaining where Seras is misunderstanding.

TL;DR - while I think some of his thought patterns are very yandere-esque, I think Alucard is only going to get to that obsessive, reactive state if he is already in a high-stress, high-stakes situation where his emotions are running very, very hot. Beyond that, I think he's a bit too absent and a bit too unbothered by and uninterested in most people in the long run.

[ask-the-observatory-gang]

==> INTRODUCTION POST <==

Meet all the guys that you can ask questions, and who will be role-playing them in responses!

(All copy pasted from discord, everything under cut!)

Violet(Vi, V):

-Draws well (I had to)

-Adhd, maybe autism, CHEWS AND GNAWS ON EVERYTHING

-Actually wears her glasses

-Very silly, acts like normal V but sometimes actually genuinely happy and nice

-Totally isn’t the cause behind the bite marks on the landing pod chairs

-Aroace & lesbian flag

-Does the Dino arm thing

-Basically just a fucking cat (purrs, meows, and all that jazz)

-A broken headlight cause yummy yummy (same with crack in tail Vial and screen)

-Acts like a silly cat

-Most of the time unaware of surroundings

-She/her

==> @conniewoof

:!Stars intro!:

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- half snow leopard (somehow)

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- slightly talker than the average drone

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- workaholic

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- thinks her scars r cool

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- their pawpads and ear stars r rlly squishy :3 and if u squish her ear stars they make a squeak sound GEHE

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- she's practically a nightlight coz of how glowy they are.. but whenever she goes to sleep they stop glowing lolz

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- rlly likes bugs and studys them nonstop

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- loves analog horror n scary stuff in general,, they just find the concept of it all rlly interesting

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- gets distracted by anything cats would💀

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- rlly likes video games and can defo kick ass in them

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- has a scary ass zombie drone/solver form

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- her nose twitches when she cries shrug emoji

˚₊· ͟͟͞➳❥ -- her tail (elliot) is actually pretty sentient, meaning he can communicate with beeps and boops (even though star can only understand them clearly)

==> @strbrypancakesxd

《☆ Nathan ☆》

<-- ADHD -->

☆▪︎▪︎ Pansexual, Transmasc ▪︎▪︎☆

==> This little man PURRS. He is a dog at heart but he PURRS.(his favorite thing to do)

==> Hehe silly feathered wings(that could still kill a man)

==> Would unironically bark at someone if they annoyed him somehow

==> Is the sweetest guy but oh my goodness does he hold a grudge

==> "Haha oh biscuts that knife right by my heart really hurts- Do you want that back?"

==> PUZZLES. Do not give this man a puzzle he will try to solve it for the next week and no-one will see him

==> Took the nanite acid out of his tail at one point(it hurt like a bitch) and now has a empty stinger as a tail tip instead

==> OBSESSED with keeping his wings clean and nice looking, he literally will put aside any other responsibilities until they're perfect

Silly little Alaskan Malamute inspired guy :3

==> @staruzi002

❦ Revel ❦

❦ Pansexual lil guy

❦ Has a weird hyperfixation on ducks, specifically lil tiny yellow ones and really loves to make random duck comments to fill a conversation.

❦ Anything that might be yellow is going to be gone in approximately 5 seconds of him spotting it

❦ Outgoing with a passion for fashion (OUJI-) and design, has a bit of sass if you by chance try to question his fashion choices. He also uses "girl" and "sis" unironically

❦ Usually passes away at the slightest compliment and will ascend with his wings into the stratosphere to hide himself

❦ Ribbons. Ribbons are the best.

❦ Don't give him any bells or things that squeak, he will indefinitely be playing with them until they break somehow and he'll go into sad lil guy mode for a week on average

❦ “Autobots! Roll out!” *rolls down an ongoing avalanche*

❦ Deathly afraid of spiders but will disintegrate an entire colony

==> @bonkadonkss

☆▪︎▪︎☆

In a mysterious alternate version of Copper-9, this fun little group all met eachother! And now they're here to answer your questions!

So ask away folks!

☆▪︎▪︎☆

RULES --

- No NSFW. For the love of God please none.

- Be nice to the sillies(and the roleplayers) we're just here to have fun!

- These are characters that are from an active rp server, so things might change about them as we go!

- Expect text for most of the answers(unless whoevers answering feels up to doing a doodle), that'll be how they're put most of the time!

[ratlesshonret]

FAIR WARNING: THIS POST IS LONG! I HAVE MANY THOUGHTS ON THESE GAMES

You can find the positive version of this post Here

EDIT: AS OF 12/15/2023, A PATCH HAS RELEASED THAT HAS FIXED MANY OF MY ISSUES WITH THE GAME. I WILL KEEP THIS POST UP, BUT KNOW THAT MANY OF THESE ISSUES NO LONGER EXIST.

This post is some more random Little Goody Two Shoes thoughts because... to be frank, I have many thoughts about this game. Please do note, however, that I have still only finished two endings (for context, the two Rozenmarine endings.)

This post will probably trend more negative than the last few I've made about this game, where I was giving heavy benefit of the doubt to avoid sounding too negative. As much as I love LGTS, just like with my "Things I Didn't Like About GoldenerTraum" post, I think its important to criticize things you like.

And I mean, I'm also hoping maybe there's a 1% chance a developer at Astral Shift has seen the sentiments I'm about to echo and is maybe going to push a patch for the game to improve some stuff. Who knows.

This post will also cover GoldenerTraum again, as some things have changed since my last post about it.

I want to preface this with one last thing: Just to stress, I am a fan of Pocket Mirror. I love this series. I was there only months after the original Pocket Mirror came out all those years ago, and I've been in love with the game ever since. And that may potentially be part of the reason I'm so critical of both GoldenerTraum and LGTS. I'm not sharing this post out of a desire to bash these games, but out of a slim hope that my words may affect something.

Proper rant below the cut.

PART 1 - LITTLE GOODY TWO SHOES

(The following issues, regarding many scenes being unskippable, have been fixed in a patch)

To be very blunt, I really don't like how annoying it is to replay this game. Due to the way heart events work, unless I specifically set up a file where I date everyone at once (which is hard due to the whole "you will have no money" thing) I need to play the entire game three times, which is what I've chosen to do (due to the aforementioned "you will have no money" thing.)

Once you've seen every scene, the days are just "mash dialogue (a decent chunk of which you cant skip with the skip button,) do minigames, mash more dialogue, and do the Witching Hour that you've already solved all the puzzles for."

And like, the game is fun. I like the minigames. I can't say the same about the Witching Hours but honestly who cares, I don't necessarily have to enjoy them. That's not something I'm going to complain about (yet.)

it just gets repetitive doing it so many times.

For an example, I tried playing earlier to do Freya's route and couldn't even make it through one day. I just got so bored. I know this genre of game doesn't necessarily lend itself to replaying due to the whole appeal being the story/cutscenes and the puzzles, but I actually do have an actionable idea that, while it won't fix the issue, would make it a lot less annoying. Its also something that I've seen many people suggest before.

Add. A. Fucking. Skip. Button.

To. EVERY. Cutscene.

Not just some of them.

I had this complaint with Pocket Mirror as well, but its more lowkey there because as long as you either know the route or just separate your saves often, you only need to replay the entirety of the game twice. Which I feel like is actually good for a narrative game, because you get to pick up on things you missed the first time.

However, even in that game I disliked how slow mashing was in certain sections. My biggest and most commonly-cited example is Enjel's Theater, where my fastest time getting through the entire scene (not including the cutscene and with the fastest mashing technique I know, involving four buttons) was somewhere between 4-5 minutes.

It doesn't sound like much, but because every route needs you to go through it due to Enjel's area being after every ending choice is passed, you need to do it at least three times. Four if you're going for the secret ending in GoldenerTraum.

However, this is the LGTS section. And I have to say, this issue is worse in LGTS. Even just with the one playthrough I did to get the two endings I have, there were so many times where, either through loading saves or the ending divergences right at the end that happen after the last save point, I needed to rewatch very long scenes.

This wouldn't be very insulting if there wasn't a skip button already in the game, but there is, they just chose not to let you use it in many of the longest and most narratively-important scenes. Which I get why that was done, but I don't agree with it.

I feel like the most sensible course of action would be to do what many other games of this genre do, and simply have a persisting flag that permanently goes up for every save file once you've seen a cutscene. And once this flag is raised, let the player hold shift to skip the dialogue very quickly if they enter that scene again. This way, replaying the game or loading saves due to fails wouldn't be quite as annoying.

Also, I wish to whoever is listening that the first half of the credits was counted as an animated cutscene so it could be skipped with ESC. Again, they could even have a flag that raises as soon as you have one ending that only lets you skip the credits once you've raised it if its that important, that way the player still has to watch it once.

Overall, it makes the player (or at least me) feel like it isn't worth it to get every ending. In my eyes, I already got the canon ending. Everything else is just bonus. And while I normally love bonus (and will still hunt every ending) this is bonus that takes potential hours of mashing through scenes and repeating puzzles to see any reward from.

Oh yeah. Speaking of the puzzles...

PART 2 - LGTS: THE WITCHING HOUR

Now onto my more minor gripes. I really don't like most of the Witching Hour segments in the game. And honestly, feel free to skip this entire section (after the next paragraph) because this is less "here are some actionable ideas the developers could potentially roll out a patch to implement" and more "here's what frustrated me about the game."

(However, when possible, I will add a "solution" section to each individual Witching Hour breakdown to give a suggestion on how to mitigate the annoyance)

Because I've already invited you to skip this section, I'll just sum it up here with a nice TL;DR that explains my thesis: While you do know most of the puzzle solutions, a combination of game jank and general weirdness in the way certain things are implemented means you still aren't guaranteed to get by without damage or annoyance, which exacerbates the whole "lack of replay value" issue that is already very massive in a game with ten endings and a lot of dialogue that isn't easily skippable. A game's biggest killer of replay value is "that section" that makes the player decide they don't wanna replay after all, and I think most Witching Hours are "that section."

With this in mind, as if this post wasn't convoluted enough, let's break this down by section.

WITCHING HOUR 1

"Wouldn't it be funny if we made the puzzle answer "examine some random bookshelf" for no reason?"

This Witching Hour took me thirty real life minutes to get past. The candles are annoying to dodge unless you play really slow, and the "hint" is so laughably vague that it took the combined brain powers of three people (I was screensharing to others at the time) to figure out what it might mean.

Solution: Make the bookshelf more obvious. Or alternatively, add another hint, so that you have two things subtly nudging the player towards "a bookshelf is the answer" and not one.

WITCHING HOUR 2

(This Witching Hour has been fixed in a patch, and these complaints may no longer apply)

I hate the moths.

Honestly, while "moths are attracted to light" is obvious, it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that I had to turn my lantern off for them to be attracted to the light/corpse I was leading them to instead of my own body.

Solution: Honestly, I don't have any real answer. I think this was just my own human error. My best idea is just to make the moth hitboxes more lenient and increase the I-frames so you don't have to face-tank as much damage, because I had to tank a lot even after knowing how the puzzle worked.

WITCHING HOUR 3

(This Witching Hour has been fixed in a patch, and these complaints may no longer apply)

I hate birds.

Let me get this out of the way: I would've struggled a lot less had I talked to Rozenmarine and gotten the hint that I've since learned she gives you about how the big bird works. However, as many others have pointed out, the "puzzle" is still janky as hell even when you know the answer.

I did eventually figure out the whole "the bird is less likely to attack when you're near unshaking trees" thing, but even then I still was tanking a lot of damage. Why "less likely" and not "won't?" Hitboxes and timing.

Because of how the hitboxes are coded, Elise gets hit seemingly at random sometimes, even if you're directly next to a tree that was not shaking even the tiniest bit for minutes before you got there. I think the hitbox that detects "you're close to a 'bird gets mad' spot" might be too big or something, but I'm not a programmer, nor do I know if hitboxes are even the issue.

Solution: This one is twofold. The lesser one is to have Rozenmarine give you more useful dialogue when you talk to her as a party member beforehand, that way the player is incentivized to actually speak with her. The greater one is to re-examine the hitboxes in the area to make sure they're fair, and also maybe make the time that a tree is safe last longer so you don't just get jumpscared by random damage.

WITCHING HOUR 4

I hate children.

Honestly though, this is one of the least offensive Witching Hour sections in the game. The only real struggle point is the collapsing tile part right at the start, which luckily is the only part that isn't timed. Still, it can be improved, because I had to reload a save several times to figure out the whole "shaking tiles will fall" thing.

Solution: Make the shake more obvious. That's it. Just increase the range of their shiver by a few pixels. The rest of the area is fine.

WITCHING HOUR 5

Honestly? No major notes. Tense, genuinely scary, and requires some actual skill without being overly punishing. Maybe the water chasers could be slowed a bit, but that's just a personal balancing idea and not something I feel is necessary.

Though if I had to complain, I don't like the "guide the spirit to its other half" part. I thought by now game designers knew that "following partner who is way slower than the player and who returns to the beginning if you stray away for too long and also there's chasers" was universally despised. Especially when, depending on where in the movement cycles you are, you'll have to run away from the spirit and onto land.

Solution: Make the spirit faster. And give a bit more leniency to how far you can stray and for how long before they return. Or even don't make them return at all.

WITCHING HOUR 6

Ah, the boss fight. How I loathe you.

Most of this Witching Hour isn't very bad. I don't really like the plot setup for how it occurs, but I'm willing to overlook it.

But the boss. Oh the boss.

Such minimal windup on its attacks that you can't easily dodge.

Random cycles so you can't just predict what's coming next.

Timed questions (on a tight timer!) between each phase that instantly kill you if you answer wrong or run out of time, forcing you to redo the whole fight.

A screen flipping effect that is infinitely worse than anything in Lisette's chases in Pocket Mirror in terms of how unfair it is.

I want to be honest. Everything about this fight feels so poorly thought out and designed that I am astonished it got past testing. In fact, my only explanation is that the people who tested this fight were all people who were so familiar with the game due to development that they knew the attacks and the question answers.

I needed to spam healing items. And I'm lucky that I grinded out the best possible amount of money you could have so I could afford lots of them. But if you don't have healing, you need to play this insanely unfair fight close to perfectly.

Solution: Honestly, I don't think there's an easy solution. The entire fight is so badly designed that it'd require a full rework. But here are some ideas.

Add longer windup to the attacks, with a more obvious indicator of which one it is. As it is now, you have maybe one second to both recover from the last onslaught and figure out what the boss is doing now before you are being attacked again.

Remove the entire screen-flipping and control-reversing gimmick. It worked in Lisette's chases due to how it was done there, but it does NOT work here.

Finally, lessen the penalty for an incorrect guess. Maybe make it 1-2 hearts of damage + redoing the phase. It may sound too generous, but I personally hate this idea of "haha instant-death you gotta do it again" that seems to exist in both games. I thought we left that in 2016.

WITCHING HOUR 7

No notes.

CONCLUSION

I have to imagine that the main people who play-tested this game were those who worked on it. Some of the decisions are incredibly hostile to the player, both due to non-conveyed information on puzzle gimmicks as well as the occasional bit of odd coding/implementation. The Witching Hours on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday are the only ones I don't have major issues with.

I really say this with a heavy heart, but I just feel like the puzzle design has regressed since Pocket Mirror.

PART 3 - MISPLACED EXPECTATIONS

I want to quickly address a point I briefly brought up at the start of this post. This part won't drag on very long, don't worry.

"I was there only months after the original Pocket Mirror came out all those years ago, and I've been in love with the game ever since. And that may potentially be part of the reason I'm so critical of both GoldenerTraum and LGTS."

Elaborating on what I mean by this: My expectations may simply be too high. And I think its important that I acknowledge my complete and utter bias. I try to be as fair as possible and push off most of the weight of my expectations on my rankings, but its impossible to not have it somewhat matter.

When I heard "Pocket Mirror is getting a remaster," there was a lot of things I hoped. Most of which didn't come true. I'll get into those later, that is its own section.

And I've been waiting for LGTS for basically seven years. From what I remember, it was announced that there would be a sequel very soon after the game's release, with concepts and everything. And while I know the game was only in proper development for like, 1/3 of that time, it still sat dormant in my mind for all that time.

Maybe that's why I'm so harsh on the game's problems. In my mind, this has been years upon years in the making, and its hard not to be let down by even the tiniest little things when you've been building excitement for that long.

Finally, I want to re-iterate: I like LGTS. I think it is a good game, both as a Pocket Mirror prequel and as a standalone. However, I will add the caveat that it is mainly for the plot and characters, not for the gameplay. I think Pocket Mirror is far superior in that regard.

PART 4 - MY (FEW) COMPLAINTS WITH GOLDENERTRAUM (2)

If you remember, I made a post almost five months ago, which was right after the game's release, about my issues with Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum.

Just as in that post, I want to state first and foremost: I think GoldenerTraum is superior to the original Pocket Mirror in basically every way. The graphics, extra lore and ending, and general quality of life features more than make up for my complaints.

This will basically be a rehashing of that post. This post is to the original what GoldenerTraum was to Pocket Mirror: an update. It will include the original points, with me adding in my changed opinions and anything that has been fixed about the game since I made that post.

"There’s a major audio syncing bug during the “chalk” scene before Harpae’s theater. My theory as to why this issue exists is because they changed the scene slightly, but did not update the music. I understand if the devs either were unwilling or unable to redo the music for this scene, but it’s majorly immersion breaking to have the sound of glass shattering be separated by an entire several seconds from the associated visual."

As far as I know, this has not been fixed. And from the looks of it, the game is no longer receiving patches or fixes. This is by far the most immersion-breaking point in the entire game.

"Mashing through text is SLOW. For a game that expects you to play several times to see every ending, there sure is no fast text option that I could find. Even mashing four buttons at once for frame-perfect dialogue skipping, it’s still slow. Scenes like Enjel’s Theater especially suffer from this, with it basically being a full six minutes even when mashing as fast as possible."

Already discussed, see above.

"This one is more of a personal thing, but I was hoping at least some scenes would be slightly rewritten. Some of the dialogue is very stilted and odd, with some questionable punctuation choices as well. Harpae’s area is especially bad. I get that the conversations being cyclical and neither of them wanting the other to take blame for anything is thematic, but it is a bit annoying to sit through basically the same conversation over and over again."

I've sort of reversed this opinion since I stated it. While I was hoping for some dialogue rewrites, I understand that the game was a "remaster" and not a "remake," with the main goal being to put it visually and gameplay-wise on par with the upcoming LGTS.

"Finally, the game is still kinda buggy. I know the team has worked super hard to patch the game several times, and I’m really thankful. I know it’s difficult to fix bugs, I really do. But encountering a softlock even after the “softlock fix” update, and other random issues, makes the game discouraging to play sometimes."

Quite a few of the bugs I was thinking about still exist in modern versions. They basically all have to do with issues related to fast text-mashing, which as I've stated, is required if you want to keep your sanity playing the game several times.

"Sprites. My biggest example of this is the scene where Harpae slaps Goldia. The handprint on Goldia’s face that was present in the original immediately after is completely missing. Also, in Enjel’s Theater, there’s no longer a unique “mouth zipped” sprite for Enjel, DESPITE THAT SPRITE EXISTING ON GOLDIA IN THE WITCHING HOUR ENDING. This one genuinely makes the scene less coherent, as Enjel’s mouth getting sewn up is the focal point of the scene."

ACCORDING TO A PATCH NOTE, THE LATTER COMPLAINT HAS BEEN FIXED, AND ENJEL WAS GIVEN HER PROPER SPRITE

I can't say it was because of me, but I will continue to privately think that.

The former complaint still exists. They couldn't have added a slap png to Goldia's face?

"Less impactful choices. The two I can think of here are both in Lisette’s area, with the “Accept or Protect” choice, and the “Help Me?” choice. In the former, it used to be a screen-wide filter was applied, and the text that you were choosing between was large and stylized to cover most of the screen. In the latter, you had to physically stand over your dialogue option. I understand if the engine doesn’t support these “special” dialogue choices, but replacing them with just normal choice boxes is a bit disappointing."

This is what I meant in that post. A few of the choices feel less impactful. In the latter especially, it was changed from standing on your option to just choosing it in the menu like every other choice.

That's the bulk of my complaints on GoldenerTraum. A lot of this probably sounds like "old person yells at cloud about minor changes to game" but I think its important to recognize that the original Pocket Mirror was superior in a few places.

I hope GoldenerTraum gets one last patch to fix some of my issues.

PART 5 - CONCLUSION

I love this series. I want it to be the best it can be. That's my only motivation behind making this. I'm nothing if not nostalgic and petty, so I feel like I'm an okay person to point out minor things that could be improved in both GoldenerTraum and Little Goody Two Shoes.

Again, and I know I've worn out this point by now, but I love these games. GoldenerTraum is a superior game to the original Pocket Mirror in 99% of cases, and LGTS is an amazing sequel. I just see a lot of tiny issues in the former (which to be fair, do add up) and a lot of missed potential combined with odd decisions in the latter.

If anybody from Astral Shift happens to be reading this, I have nothing but respect and admiration for the work you have done over the years. I don't want anybody, team member or random person reading this, to think I intend to disrespect or show disdain for anyone on any of these projects, or to think I won't be happy without perfection. These are all simply minor-to-moderate complaints I have, and I'd be fine if none of them are changed. I simply wish they would be.

I have high hopes for future projects, and I definitely don't think I'll be let down. I believe in this team, and have full confidence that whatever they make, Pocket Mirror related or otherwise, will be, if not perfect, of incredibly high quality.

If you read all of this, thank you, and goodnight.

(it is three in the morning and i have been writing this for like an hour)