#heart hunted visual novel

[sammeez]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANTHONY!! 🥳

Gonna be honest I also forgot about his birthday, so this is kinda rushed. That question on fav pastry’s was also for this, i struggled on it bc of the flakey pastry and layers. It’s looks fine now I guess 😅

Anthony belongs to @heart-hunted ^_^

[echantedtoon]

Housed Hearts Ch1 Prologue

They say home is where the heart is. Well for a REALTOR it's where more than just their heart resides. Mostly their appetite. So which is stronger? The yearning of a heart or empty void of hunger? One woman is determined to find out.

(House Hunted, House Hunted 2, Maison Talo, Heim Baile, Uncanny Valley, coverart, Ivy, John Doe Plus, and John Doe all belong to Mortisfox. Dom Hus belongs to Bileshroom.

Warning: Rose getting her eye clawed out is mentioned briefly in the flashback. Mentioning of blood. 

The Fishermen are my own original Uncanny Valley species and if they're mentioned at all they belong to me. Above is what Rose looks like with her scars. Will contain oc x cannon content.)

The world of Uncanny Valley was a dangerous place where you had to keep your wits about you. Things happened often. And if you weren't careful, you'd be swept away never to be seen again. Or worse. Found deceased or changed forever. She always needed the warnings. She always had. From the moment she was a little child those rules had always been hammered into her. Serious talk after serious talk by her parents.

"Never trust anyone who isn't even human." "Stay away from them! Never engage!" "Don't listen to anything they have to say!" "You ended up like this because you didn't listen! Do you believe us now?"

That child that had attempted to touch the unknown creature without thinking paid the ultimate price when claws were slashed out, blood was splattered, and her eye taken. Her parents had  taken this as a result of her not listening to the warnings and said she would learn from now on. She did for the most part. She had learnt to be more cautious about things going forward but never carrying the predigest they had in her heart. It was a terrifying thing for her to go through and a terrible thing to live with but she was always a person whom remained open minded. You couldn't live in a place like this with a closed mind. She wasn't one to ever point blame at a whole species because of one individual. Her parents  still didn't get her way of thinking. Only one whom seemed to think so was her Uncle and cousin but they rarely visited and lived far away from here. So it was only natural for her that she'd just go about her life the way she wanted to. And then it was time for her to strike out on her own and make her own sense of the world and make her own living. Which includes moving in to her own apartment and earning a job at the local greenhouse in town. She always did love gardening. 

The Uncanny Valley Housing Company was the ones to call and set her up with a real house with a real lawn so she could really plant things like she's always wanted. She knew well enough to not ask anyone claiming to be a realtor. It was all really just a matter of hiring a moving company and then taking a bus ride to the new home she's been looking forward too for a long time now. 

The road to the bus station was slow and bumpy as she stood up from the typical plastic-y benches. Her stop was here. Smiling, she grabbed her rolling suitcase and walked to the doors as they opened up upon reaching the bus stop. 

She was almost there.

[whomstved-yallaintve]

i finished the game.....

sobbing crying bawling

[kokolattx]

i am rabid i am frothing at the mouth, college is ending me but the semester is almost over!! the moment it ends im going to draw so much my hands will fall out!! also v happy here :] good vibes despite all the fictional murder going around

[ligiawrites]

Your life as an alchemist has been safe and comfortable so far... but when your sister makes you one last wish before passing away, you'll embark on a dangerous journey that might change your life—and the lives of your two companions—forever.

game link || all about the dev

YOUR SISTER HAS CARRIED the mantle of "Peregrine" for more than two decades. Twelve years older than you, she saw and wrote about the lives of common people, the birth and fall of foreign noble houses, the discovery of plants and animals, and the complex politics of your home kingdom. She lived a life of dangers and excitement, of travels, passions, and experiences you can't even begin to imagine.

And now that she's dead, this mantle (and her newborn child) is yours. 

Ghosts, zombies, fantastic animals, arcanes, and criminals. Fool the monster hunting you, the bandits trying to kidnap you, and your own fears while you travel from South Safira to the very heart of Dead Water.

Thank Goddess, you won't be alone. But with a conniving liar at your left and a deluded "Knight" at your right, will you be able to fulfill your sister's last wish? Will you go back to your niece? And will you allow yourself to love for the first time?

Develop your personality, see how your choices build, and change your bond with Yulie and Tobias (and yourself).

Hopefully, you'll also learn to see the world in a new light after this Trek to Dead Water.

🍂 Full game release: Autumn 2025 🍂

If you want to support the development of this game and access exclusive rewards, please consider supporting me on ko-fi!

About the game:

This story is set 53 years before the beginning of Love the Guard, Be the King.

Experience the world of Five Kingdoms in a completely different way, learning the hidden lore of Opala and Safira as one of the most influential (and non-highborn) figures in their society.

This is a game about the power of story, the powers that *change* history, and the impact that fleeting relationships may have in our lives. Enjoy this mix of Visual Novel and text-based Interactive Fiction!

This short game will have three chapters, and I have almost half of it already. :) Right now, you can play one out of three chapters (~9k words), and they are only available for my supporters on ko-fi. 

So, if you're seeing this, thank you for being amazing and for believing in my career! :)

If you have any comments, suggestions, problems, or worries, please let me know on ko-fi or in this forum.

AGE SUGGESTED: 16+ for erotic nudity, non-explicit sexual scenes, and mild violence and gore.

Main Characters:

Yulie of No House - The deluded "Knight" - 27 - She / Her

Born in Safira to a Topazian ambassador and a Safiran barman, Yulie saw her world crumble when she was six and a half, and her mother dared to question the Safiran nobility's interference in Topazian politics. Queen Juliana of House Inara did her best to protect Yulie's life, but there was little the Queen could do for her parents.

Stripped of her family and her surname, she lived under the Queen's care in a secretive palacete in the South, but as soon as she turned fourteen, Yulie knew she needed to leave the care of the people who ruined her life.

Now, at twenty-seven, Yulie's dream and main objective is to become a Knight of the Opalean Dragon Order—but focusing on this might be way harder than she thought, mainly when she manages to hold certain Safiran Peregrine in her arms.

Tobias Cidreira Dasherner - The Conniving Liar- 29 - He / Him

Tobias is a trans man born and raised in the biggest capital of Safira. With an immense talent for the Arcane, Tobias was taken under the wing of Great Arcane Master Domingos of Safira when he was only five. 

The Arcane College of the Balanced Arts is an expensive place, though, and despite the Arcane's great fortune, Tobias changed over the years. Once studious and quiet, Tobias grew tired of the absurd rules in the Safiran College and the kingdom's abusive laws. He tried to do good. He tried to change things for the better. Still, thanks to a grave mistake on Tobias's part, the Great Domingos lost everything.

Now, the only thing Tobias wants is to make enough money for the greatest con of all: a nice tavern of his own, so he can recover at least part of the money his old master lost.

… And YOU! - The newest Peregrine in Safira

Child of a long line of alchemists who lived their whole lives in The Village, you never felt the need to travel. Your sister did, so it felt just and good (for you and for her) when she was chosen as the new Safiran Peregrine. But this happened twenty-three years ago, and now she's dead after giving birth to your first niece.

Your task (for more than one reason) is to travel to the dangerous Dead Water, so your sister's soul will finally rest and stop coming back to haunt you.

Build your Peregrine and your relationship with your companions, and discover the hidden history that brought you to this point.

[contentpaparazzi]

my hunt for a potentially lost anime girl

around 2 years ago, i was fucking around on gifcities.org looking at gifs from a bygone era, trying to see what's the nichest of niche animanga and video game stuff i could find, mostly to flex my knowledge on how "obscure" my taste is. i'm a hipster at heart unfortunately and the rising resurgence of 2000s anime internet as an aesthetic only made me want to distinguish myself further.

however, while scrolling, i discovered a gif of this girl right here:

i'm a hardcore lover of cute robot girls, so naturally, i was immediately drawn to her. i had to know what she was from before anyone else could. unfortunately, clicking to the archived geocities page she was sourced from gave basically no information about what she could be from.

below is said geocities, along with another source via flickr.

(sourced from here and here respectively)

i will also note: the geocities source seems to have the file named as di gi charat, which i have only seen 3 episodes of the original anime, so either she's misnamed as such, or i'm a fake fan and i should be burned at the stake. the flickr source has the file named as "visca", and searching it along with keywords like "anime", "manga", "visual novel" etc. yielded no results that were relevant.

so yeah! i guess what i'm saying is that i'd like any help to figuring out her origin, and whether she's an original character, has a piece of media she's from, a gijinka, some lost nijiura maid, whatever! please feel free to dm, ask, or reblog regarding any info you may have.

[motdo-vn]

Introduction - Midnights of The Drowsy Owl

Visual Novel - Midnights of the Drowsy Owl

DEMO—TBA

Midnights of The Drowsy Owl is a novella magical realism, romance interactive fiction of five chapters. Romance is the foundation of the story, so there are no platonic relationships. It is influenced by mythologies with a lot of twists and turns, and a bit of Romanian influence.

When city life takes everything from you, you leave for a house you inherited from your late grandparents, in a town far away from the troubles of life: Caersolvita.

While strolling through the little town of Caersolvita after job hunting during the odd hours of the night, the old clock in the quaint settlement strikes twelve midnight, and a building down the dirt road illuminates the twilight.

Beads of light fall like stardust through the coffee-scented building. No one knows about it, and even if they did, they cannot find it. When midnight strikes, it all changes. Down the bricked pathway of the town, life clicks into light, and the twinkles of windchimes carry a bitter fragrance.

A “Looking to Hire!” board stands neatly by the doormat of the slightly tarnished place. With little hope of finding a job anytime soon, you enter the cafe. When offered a trainee position as a barista, you leave for home, unknowing of the wonders that await you when the dead hours of the night come about.

Features

Choose your gender: female, male, non-binary

Work at a quaint café in a rural town, shrouded in mystery and solitude.

Unravel the secrets of the midnight café.

Romance one of the four ROs and explore a fresh adventure with one of the three personalities chosen.

Deal with some snappy customers or different oddities.

Find out the history of Caersolvita through each route.

Enjoy a life of quietude and comfort, away from the worries of life.

Personalities: Loveable airhead, Taciturn fool, Sarcastic charmer

Character profile

(Gender-selectable)

Beautiful and dignified, Thana is the peculiar owner of the The Drowsy Owl. Behind the mysterious red eyes and snowy pale skin, the discipline of the body and grace follows each tilt of the wrist, where the whiffs of coffee beans stream along the cafe.

Admired by everyone in Caersolivita for sublime service, coupled with sweet words, Thana is the go-to barista if someone requires comfort or dark humor. Although the sorry state of the cafe, it is the first choice for everyone.

With every smile given to Thana, two more are returned, and with each heart that is offered, the more Thana guards the heart. Somehow, though, the trainee barista has a way with their words.

Unhinged. There is no other word that fits the young wolf-like Ylfa. A shepherdess along the hillside of Caersolvita, she meets each situation with the flash of her canines and a huff. With a beige bonnet laced around the edges, she fancies the lolita fashion, enjoying lavish dresses, contrary to her rambunctious voice. Or she may opt for a pink tank top with a red bow to match.

In the dead of night, a voice like a siren vying for love sings from the northern cliff at the very edge of the town. From the ruffled chestnut brown hair and perky ears gilded by the moonlight, her song willows past till dawnbreak.

Despite the tough and rowdy personality, Ylfa holds her hands close to her chest, sometimes shooting glances towards the trainee barista from the day they met eyes.

Idris (m)

Personal trainer by day, guardsman by night. Idris is often described as "too blunt for his own good." Towering over everyone in town, he is regarded as a dark warrior, a signature black hood hanging over his defined face. Polite and well-spoken, his sharp tongue still manages to overshadow such traits.

By the bridge that connects the mainland to the hook-shaped cliffside town, Idris guards the safety of the people. Always seen next to the old watchtower, most hear grunts from the place, running away in fear.

When he bumped his head against the door of Drowsy Owl, he meets gaze with the trainee barista, and color rose-pink erupts from the steely brown eyes.

Shaylah (nb)

Always smelling like honey and floral concoctions, Shaylah is a local apothecary who resides near the very edge of the cliff. Catching eyes everywhere they go, their sterling red hair shines like the sun under light. Always seen walking around town with a sunhat the size of an umbrella, Shaylah's ethereal voice wrecks the minds of people when their brash and uncouth words begin to lash out.

Spending the afternoon and night cooped up in their house, they take the blue flowers on the cliff, grinding them and creating concoctions. No one outside of the town knows what it truly is, and only Shaylah's family knows of it.

After spending a full day in their shop, taking a rest at midnight by The Drowsy Owl is usually what happens, accompanied by a cup of hibiscus tea. But now, where the bright eyes of the trainee barista caught them off-guard, they never forgot.

[dathomirdumpsterfire]

Is the visual novel project still on or is it abandoned? Ty

clone wars: dating sim vn project is still going! :3

it's separated into seven arcs we're calling 'seasons', and we've got a playable version of the intro scenes. the first draft of season one is almost complete. the art is coming along nicely. it's charming, hand painted stuff over original cg frames, and a couple of full cg renders. we've got some sprites to work with too, with different expressions and sometimes outfits. there's about 7-8 people you can romance, and a few hook ups as well.

there's no 'gift' system either, players will really have to click with their fave in conversation (and choose to side with the right faction) to win hearts. there is a polyship option, and custom pronouns too. it's an audacious project, so we're taking our time and keeping things low stress for all our contributors.

we're still looking for more writers/editors, splash screen artists, and ESPECIALLY sprite artists, as well as a musical composer to make the sound track (otherwise we're going to have to hunt down some royalty free stuff) if anyone wants in, shoot me a dm. everyone else: sorry you'll have to wait for beta to play. 🤣

[cute-girls-from-vns-anime-manga]

Ooh your display case is really cool! Can you give us a rundown of what stuff is/where you got it etc?

HELL YEAH ID LOVE TO SPEND MY TIME DETAILING ALL MY COOL SHIT!!!

I don't want to overload everyone's dashboards with a ton of HQ pics of ALL of this individually so we are gonna go shelf by shelf left to right! I will try and use bullets to group certain things if they are apart of a set of some sort! (though I'm still working on these display cabinets and organizing things into their sets)

Starting with the Eushully shelf!

Kami no Rhapsody (RPG/VN), Source: Ebay

Kami no Rhapsody guide/art book, Source: Ebay

Madou Koukaku (RPG/VN), Source: Ebay

Ikusa Megami Zero guide/art book. Source: Ebay

Kamidori Alchemy Meister Special Alchemy disk (content pack), Source: Mandarake

Kamidori Alchemy Meister Perfect guide/art book + content pack disc, Source: Ebay

Kamidori Alchemy Meister Hannah's Pilgrimage (content pack), Source: Ebay

Kamidori Alchemy Meister (RPG/VN) Source: Ebay

Ikusa Megami (RPG) Source: Ebay <- STUPIDLY RARE I STILL CANT BELIEVE I FOUND EUSHULLY'S FIRST GAME THEY EVER PUT OUT BACK IN 1999 EVEN A SEARCH FOR IT ON SOME OF MY MORE ESOTERIC VISUAL NOVEL HUNTING GROUNDS TURNS UP A SINGLE LISTING THATS BEEN SOLD OUT FOR YEARS NOW!

Amayui Labyrinth Meister guide/art book + content pack disc Source: Ebay

Amayui Castle Meister guide/art book Source: Ebay

Fuukan no Grasesta (RPG/VN) Source: Ebay

Eushully branded mug printed with MC's of their various games Source: Ebay <- just showed up on my ebay alert for Eushully for dirt cheep probably the most absurd Eushully branded thing I own!

Emilita phone strap (she one of the main three heroines of Kamidori Alchemy Meister) Source: Ebay

Amayui Labyrinth Meister (RPG/VN) Source: Ebay

NEXT IS MY FIGURE SHELF!!!!

Tenryuu (Kancolle) Source: PLAMOYA

Saber Lilly (Fate Series) Source: PLAMOYA

Bendy OL-chan (pixiv artist OC) Source: amiami

Jill Stingray Nendroid (VA-11 Hall-A) Source: GOODSMILE

Yumiko Sakaki Bunny Suit (Grisaia no Meikyuu) Source: Solaris Japan

Marin Kitagawa Swimsuit ver. (My dress up darling) Source: amiami

Konata Cat Lingerie (pixiv artist OC) Source: amiami

NOW FOR MY VISUAL NOVEL COLLECTION (That isnt an Eushully or Minato Soft title)

Tsukihime remake (Switch Limited Edition) Source: Amazon

Witch on the Holy Night (Switch Limited Edition) Source: Amazon

Side note here THANK YOU TYPE MOON FOR MAKING THE LIMITED EDITIONS OF THESE TWO SUCH BIG BEAUTIFUL BOXES!!!!

Grisaia Complete Box (Japanese edition) Source: Jlist <- I genuinely believe this is the RAREST thing I own did a quick search and found only ONE seller on Mandarake selling this and its a used and incomplete copy MINE IS STILL PRISTINE AND COMPLETE!

Rewrite limited edition Source: Ebay <- Rewrite has my favorite limited/special edition extras of any visual novel in additon to the beautiful artwork and some interviews and stuff they included SHEET MUSIC FOR TWO OF THE BG MUSIC TRACKS

Clannad Limited Edition Source: Ebay <- This was the first physical visual novel I ever bought and Imported so obviously it holds a special place in my heart, AND OF COURSE CLANNAD WAS THE FIRST VN I GOT A PHYSICAL EDITION OF BEING ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR VISUAL NOVELS OF ALL TIME AND CERTAINLY EARNS ITS STATUS AS A CLASSIC!

Little Busters Limited Edition Source: Ebay <- Not much to say about this one like I did the other two Key VN's ive got just another solid Limited edition of a great classic Visual Novel!

Subarashiki Hibi Source: Ebay <- Honestly with this one I am kind of disappointed in the quality of the box feels REAL flimsy but sadly box build quality isnt what it used to be back in the 90's

LASTLY THE PLUSHY SHELF ONLY THREE AND THEY ARE ALL FROM MAKESHIP!

Glow in the dark goblin: by Jocat <- glad Jocat has recently returned to twitch as his content is really amazing and I loved the little gobo animations he made with these guy's designs!

The absolutely adorable Cardiegon: by Ceroro <- whom is just an absolutely incredible artist whom yall should already be following here on tumblr by now!!!!

Finally the most recent plushie Sky (2.0 WITH BORGOR) the MC of Endless Monday Dreams and Deadlines: both the amazing game and sky herself are by hcnone <- GO PLAY ENDLESSS MONDAY RIGHT NOW GIVE HCNONE YOUR MONEY THEY ARE AN INCREDIBLE ARTIST AND MADE A WONDERFULLY AMAZING LITTLE GAME!!!!

THIS WAS SUCH A FUN TRIP BACK THROUGH THE MEMORIES OF FINDING ALL THIS STUFF AND REMEMBERING BEING SO EXCITED FOR EACH AND EVERY THING!!!!!

[idensgarden]

you guys seemed to like my last au ranting post so. here we go

some more takes on classic gravity falls aus because i like reimagining things. Here's my 2 cents on reverse falls, which. i havent seen the visual novel if thats considered canon or anything to the au. i think uts like batman now where everything you apply to it is canon if it vaguely follows the premise

from what i've seen, it's more of a situation swap than a personality swap, so most parts of the au will follow that. but pacifica didn't come to gravity falls for the summer- she had to move here because her stupid dad got involved in a scandal or something and had to lay low. the northwests have inherited enough money to last them a good while, but apparently they can't go spending it on "trivial things", like pacifica's very important designer clothes. so she has to get... a... a... god, i can't say it without gagging, a JOB!!! at a worn down car sales shack!!! hold on. let me add a cut here.

okay im back. alright. at her job, pacifica meets gideon gleeful, who's basically gideon but less entitled, and surprisingly a bit like mabel. he's immediately the most annoying person pacifica has ever met. but he's the only company she has, besides mr. gleeful, who is way too cheerful to be pleasant and gives off major discomforting vibes, and mrs. gleeful, who makes her reflect on the lack of affection she receives from her actual mother and creates a deep pit of sorrow in her heart. just girly things.

(since gideon is much more pleasant in this au, his mother is much more stable, and takes the role of the primary caretaker since bud is too normal for me to write about)

the other employees are bad, but could be worse. the sleepy cashier with eyebags for eons and ROBERT written uncaringly on his nametag, and the overachieving pink-haired errand-girl who seemed to have a different name each time you asked her and a cartoonishly large bow on her head.

the longer pacifica works at her new summer job, the more fond she grows of it. when she's not hearing about gideon's annoying ramblings about wanting to be on broadway and the melancholy of settling for a mascot gig, she's actually feeling this gross sense of pride after actually working for something in her life, and getting sandwiches made for her by ms. gleeful (eventually nicknamed aunt agnes). pacifica hates to admit it and it keeps her up at night, but she's happier here than she's ever been. which is why she doesn't leave when she notices strange things happening around gravity falls.

ms. gleeful denies it, but gideon totally agrees with her- something weird is going on in this town. pacifica, going through an old car with an undefinable model much too damaged to repair, finds a journal in the glovebox, embedded with an X over an eye, and from here, the show plays out a bit like normal gravity falls. give it that unnerving, darker touch that the northwest manor episode had. some early episode ideas:

a full episode based on the what's-his-face comic, obviously without the mystery twins. pacifica gets a pimple, and thinks that since she's starting to get older, she's losing her adolescent beauty, and thus becoming less of a 'valuable asset' to her family. what choice does a girl have but demon magic? i hope this one doesn't backfire!!!

after the last episode, the effects of pacifica's fear of not meeting the beauty standard linger. after catching pacifica staring at multi level marketing get-pretty schemes, ms. gleeful decides to revoke her phone and take the kids camping, saying that technology is evil. it turns out she's right, as pacifica's phone has grown restless after it's abandonment and transformer'd into a beast, which is hunting them down in the forest slenderman-style.

pacifica doesn't believe in the tooth fairy- she's almost 13! it takes her a terribly long time to be appropriately afraid when it gets one tooth from her (gideon convinces her to just TRY putting one under her pillow) and becoming obsessed with harvesting her perfect teeth. inspired by ckret2's goldilocks au!! :)

and then comes episode four...

on her break (thank god!), pacifica sits down to watch some trashy tv, but can't stop seeing ads for this flashy tourist attraction called the mystery shack. at first she rolls her eyes, but the lights and the colors and all the cool effects just look to awesome to pass up. this town must be getting to her, because she'd never indulge herself with something like that before, but now she just has to go. she works overtime for money to see the shack, and gideon uses his allowance to go, too. (pacifica is surprised. why is he spending money on this? he said he doesn't even want to go!!! (gideon just wants to get closer with his first friend)).

the shack is run by a professional conman, who collects and shuffles the money dramatically at a fancy desk, called stanford pines (not actually, this is pre-ford). his employees were vigilant, and yet always exhausted- a goth girl with a sharp tongue and a bodyguard who always seemed uncomfortable in his suit.

but customers really came for the twins; mason and mabel, psychic slash drama slash comedy duo. the townspeople practically (sometimes literally) threw money at them. they were the same age as pacifica and gideon, but had this air of disconnect to them. in all their posters they had the same matching yellow earrings, contrasting their bedazzled blue outfits. their hair also seemed to be greying, even at such an early age.

pacifica was not happy to have spent her 45 dollars on watching two kids read fortunes more vaguely than a cookie and tell dumb jokes and do stupid dances, but gideon seemed jazzed.

the next day, there's a knock at the office door. the twins came to visit! pacifica is pissed. mabel asks to chat with gideon, and pacifica tells her to screw off, but gideon rushes out of the door with mabel, 0 hesitation. he probably has a crush on her for a bit like in canon, but it doesn't go anywhere.

dipper invites himself in, offers that pacifica could offer him some tea free of charge, and pacifica almost thanks him. she lashes out at him, and quickly learns that he is all bark and no bite, curling up like a scared kitten in the recliner. she picks on him a bit, barely noticing the glow of his earring, before mabel comes back out with gideon.

"alright, that'll be all! hey, can gideon take work off today?" she says. "we want to go get makeovers! you know, since we're best friends now and all."

for some reason, pacifica feels a strong pang of rage. but she doesn't act on it, just standing there dumbfounded as mabel doesn't wait for an answer, and gideon skips out of the shop with his new best friend.

it keeps pacifica up at night. she should be important to him!!! wasn't she his first friend?

wasn't he hers?

when gideon finally comes back, pacifica is still angry, but she's relieved. at least that wacko girl is gone- nevermind, she's back, and she's taking gideon out for tacos and pedicures.

it goes on and on and on. pizza night this, karaoke night that, arts and crafts here, a cool party there... pacifica knew that she should be mad. she should be frustrated- she was pacifica northwest! she should be the center of everything, she should be invited to these stupid get togethers, she deserved it!

but she wasn't angry about that. she was angry about gideon. and above all else, she was lonely.

so she did the responsible thing and communicated with gideon about how she felt and I'm lying I'm lying to you right now. she actually hunts down mason, demands that he spill the ulterior motives of mabel pines, and yanks him up by his shirt collar like a cartoon bully. at first, mason won't talk, but pacifica drops him on the ground and gets a good look at his stupid dumb constellation birthmark. she asks him about it.

"it's... not actually a birthmark. it's,, like a tattoo." mason confesses. "it's a long story. with a really gloomy sleep paralysis demon at the center of it. please don't tell anyone."

pacifica has no idea why it's that important, but utilizes her leverage, and blackmails mason into telling the truth because shes kind of a dick. he tells her that the whole mystery shack is a con made up of conmen and conwomen and conpeople, and mabel is trying to make gideon another cog in the cog-powered con machine and swindling him into giving up his family's business in order to expand the shack, showering him with attention and taking advantage of how gideon has never had any friends.

pacifica is outraged. yes he has, she decides.

she barges into mabel's backstage room in the mystery shack just in time to dramatically yell DROP. THAT. PEN!!! before gideon signs a waiver.

gideon is disgruntled, confused, and angry. "you're just upset that mabel is treating me like a real friend, something you never did for me!"

"i didn't know how to do that for you, i never... i'd never done it before!"

gideon squints and softens at pacifica's confession. oh. so she's not actually that mean, she's just repressed and lonely. she's just like me for real!

the two make up and hug, before the sentimental scene is destroyed by a loud "ENOUGH!!!" from mabel. mason dashes into the room to come to her aid, a bit sorry for leaking her plan, and the two use their cool crystal earrings to beat the shit out of pacifica and gideon.

"YOU WANNA HAND OVER YOUR PROPERTY TO ME SO BAD, IT MAKES YOU LOOK STUUUPID!!!" (cool psychic fight)

eventually, gideon manages to snatch the amulet from mabel, asking her what the diddly darn she's doing. mabel sighs.

"come on, gideon! i have braces! those mess with girls' emotions and hormones and stuff!"

"d-... do they really?"

"no, but you wouldn't know, you never had friends!" she towers over him. the whites of her eyes become a ghastly blue, her pupils shifting to a shape akin to a goat's. "come on, gideon! what's it hurt? your dignity? your family? your life's work? we both know you need approval. need to feel normal. like you're not a freak." her words are venom. "i can give you that. there's no reason for you to miss this opportunity. there's no reason for you to miss me."

pacifica is restrained by mason, reaching out for gideon. "don't believe them," she sputters. gideon looks up at mabel.

"you're right. it's just nonsensical. to miss this. miss you..." he takes her hand, as he speaks again.

"not when my aim is just getting better."

he takes his free hand and SOCKS mabel in the face and unclips her earring because i decided theyre clip ons and ripping it out is a little extreme!!! he throws it on the ground and stomps on it, and mabel is FURIOUS. she turns to mason.

"come on, bro bro!" she huffs. "do something!"

mason is still for a second. and then he shakes his head. "mabel, we need to talk."

"NOW!?"

as the twins begin to argue, gideon and pacifica take the opportunity to flee the shack and run back to the car shop. before ms. gleeful makes dinner, gideon asks if he can actually stay at pacifica's tonight.

ms. gleeful is okay with it, but pacifica quickly dismisses the topic. it's the thought that counts, but she didn't want to see her parents at the moment.

"you don't mind if i stay here tonight, though, do you, ms. gleeful?" pacifica asks.

"please, sweetheart, call me aunt agnes. i have a sleeping bag 'round here somewhere!"

she and gideon smiled at each other.

[organ-market]

Unconventional Detective Games

Return of the Obra Dinn, 2018

The maritime mystery game Return of the Obra Dinn by Lucas Pope is almost entirely subversive for a detective game. Everything in the game from its core premise to  hyper stylized presentation, is all ambitious and experimental. Every person aboard the Obra Dinn has mysteriously died and you assume the role of an insurance investigator piecing together the horrific events using a magic watch that delivers to you a front seat viewing of a vignette of each person’s demise. Using these dioramas of death, you are charged with recording the manner of death of each and each crewmember and passenger aboard the ship.

Return of the Obra Dinn and its addictively satisfying detective puzzle gameplay left me hungry for more. Playing the game instilled in me a deep love for a good mystery and a desire to solve them. While I love games like Disco Elysium, which stars detectives as its protagonists, the investigation was never really the point. Moreover, a love for the unconventional detective was entrenched in my heart and as an interactive medium, video games are perfect for aspiring would-be detectives.

Overboard! , 2021

The year is 1935, aboard the S.S. Hook, Veronica Villensy throws her husband overboard under the foggy shade of night. In Inkle’s devilishly clever puzzle/visual novel, Overboard! you have eight hours before reaching the ports of New York and in that limited time you must relieve yourself from suspicion and guilt for your husband’s death at any cost. It’s a sort of anti-detective puzzle about getting away with murder which forces you to learn your fellow passenger’s schedules, plant evidence, and be consistently careful with your language lest your words betray you much later.

The DNA of time loop games such as Majora’s Mask and The Sexy Brutale is woven into the gameplay loop of Overboard! It’s a fairly short game taking around 2-3 hours to finish the story but at the benefit of allowing an immense amount of player agency. There is a wide variety of solutions to evading the mighty hand of justice, you are free to travel around the ship on a whim with no direction from the game itself. The only hint system is visiting the chapel and praying to God which is both cleverly diegetic and hilarious.

The nonlinearity of your objective incentivizes logical thinking and experimentation. The puzzle is rewarding much like learning each map and NPC routines in the Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy is. At first you clumsily trip over your words when Major Singh interrogates you but eventually you can get away with murder in style along with netting some pocket money from the life insurance if you pull it all off just right!

The nonlinearity of each puzzle in Overboard! is incredibly refreshing, it just feels organic and natural. Going achievement hunting in this game is its own little puzzle and I still haven’t figured out some of the little secrets it hides from us. It’s a game I can’t put down and haven’t yet been able to stop thinking about and I really recommend giving it a shot since it’s only $15 and only $6 if you catch it on sale.

Pentiment, 2022

Obsidian Entertainment’s Pentiment was my favorite game of 2022 and enraptured me for long nights as I obsessed over its rich dialogue and gorgeous medieval illumination manuscript inspired art. So much love and research was put into the historical setting, it takes place in 16th Century Bavaria within the town of Tassing is filled with life and character. You play as Andreas Maler, an artist working in an abbey on a hill and whilst attempting to finish your masterpiece, your co-worker and friend, Brother Piero, is falsely accused of the murder of a wealthy Baron who was staying in town. You are sprung into action as you only have a limited amount of time to clear Brother Piero’s name.

You are given a limited amount of time to wander around town, attempting to conduct interviews, deduce motives, and eventually gather enough evidence to bring the culprit to justice. Because of the impending trial, time is ever so precious in Pentiment and you will never have enough time to do everything you want at your leisure. Every moment dwelling on conversation or recreation is time you could have spent digging for answers. In order to pin a suspect you must hone in on what you think is most beneficial for your case like a true detective.

Brother Piero’s freedom is always at the cost of another’s conviction, in Pentiment you must push the blame onto someone else. During your investigations, you find that Sister Matilda, a nun at the abbey, had been assaulted by the late Baron many years ago. This is one of the clearest motives in the game but most physical evidence points in other directions, all the while every nun in the abbey will assure you of her innocence.

Saint John's Eve Festival Bonfire

Convincing the archdeacon (the head of the trial) of Sister Matilda’s guilt is perhaps the easiest of all the suspects to accomplish and Pentiment will not tell you outwardly that Matilda didn’t do it but it doesn’t have to. In a clever subversion, the game never tells you if you caught the culprit in the end. Pentiment, brilliantly, left me to wonder if I made the right choices as the totality of the lethal consequences of my actions weighed on my mind. You can easily convince the archdeacon of someone’s guilt but are you able to convince yourself?

The brutality of the executions should not be understated. You look on helplessly as someone you convicted meets an unwieldy end as they plead, cry, and eventually die. The executioner’s sword rises and falls as it lodges itself into the neck again and again until the head breaks free from the neck. Whether you like it or not, your choices matter in Pentiment and the consequences stare you down with a harsh disposition.

While playing Pentiment I was continually reminded of a line from Rian Johnson’s murder mystery film Knives Out. The titular detective Benoit Blanc (he’s so me by the way) notes that, “...the complexity and the gray lie not in the truth but what you do with the truth once you have it.” The complexity of truth is captured beautifully by Pentiment. In many regards it is a conventional mystery but by weaponizing the player’s need for clear answers it infected my mind for many hours after the credits rolled along with the minds of many others. There are fierce debates and chatter surrounding who really did the killing. Pentiment wasn’t as well talked about as it deserved, with all the games releasing it was overlooked by most. Well, it isn’t exactly for everyone but for the price of $20 it gave me a wealth of dialogue to mull over and wonder about.

Phasmophobia, 2022

A multiplayer ghost hunting spookfest is not exactly what you’d think of when discussing detective games but Kinetic Game’s Phasmophobia is deeply investigative by nature. Intense inspection is at the beating heart of the game with an important twist. Where ordinarily a detective chases after a suspect after the fact, here your suspect is reacting to your every move and can (and will) kill you on a whim. In the game you and up to three other friends venture into a haunted house and gather evidence and clues to determine which of the twenty four ghosts in the game is currently residing in your location. 

You and your team will wander out of the safety of your van and into cold, darkened rooms to find clues by checking thermometers, speaking into spirit boxes, and throwing salt all over the floor in hopes of getting the ghost to step in it. Not only can you gather evidence with your camera and UV lights but another layer in your investigation is the behavior of the ghost. Knowing how aggressive each ghost is or how fast it is, is a tremendous asset in your deductive arsenal. The more you know, the more you can whittle the possibilities down until you have your culprit.

But finding the ghost and gathering evidence is just one thing, surviving the ghost is another. Being in the dark and bearing witness to paranormal activity will deplete your sanity and eventually the ghost will target you for a hunt. The front door slamming shut marks the beginning of a hunt, the ghost will manifest physically and chase you down and kill you if you don’t hide in time.

Corpse of my friend, deceased. Moments before I run out of the house in terror.

Phasmophobia is a dangerous balancing act of facing your fears by delving into the darkness in order to find clues and trying desperately to find the ghost type as fast as you can so you can get the hell out of there. The reactivity of the ghost keeps you on edge as you wander the halls gathering data. Speaking into the spirit box may prompt a raspy whisper into your ear or the candle you just lit may be blown out moments after. More interestingly though, is the voice recognition AI that takes advantage of the communication players rely upon. Everything from saying you’re scared to a simple curse word can lead to the ghost favoring you as prey. Even players who stay in the van for too long get targeted by the ghost!

Within Phasmophobia is one of the most unique investigative experiences on the market and definitely a one of a kind multiplayer experience. The comfort of having a buddy to share your terrors with is stripped away when they stop responding to your radio! It’s truly unlike anything I’ve ever played and the developers are constantly updating it, two big thumbs up from the afterlife. 

The satisfaction from my first time getting away with murder in Overboard! and the despair when I find out I had the ghost type completely wrong in Phasmophobia are some of my most memorable experiences in gaming! And Pentiment proved to be one of the most well written games I’ve had the pleasure of reading. I sincerely hope you check them out if you haven’t already! They’re all pretty cheap anyway. And once again begging for recommendations in the comments/reblogs so if you know any good, and hopefully weird, detective games let me know! Thanks in advance everyone and I’ll catch you on the flip side :P

-Ghost Emoji 👻

[sammeez]

Happy Birthday Jacki 🥳

He has a bouquet of his mums favourite flowers and some of her peach tart!

Jacki belongs to @heart-hunted ^_^

[echantedtoon]

Housed Hearts Ch8 REALTORS And Roses

(Hey everyone. I just wanted to thank everyone who read this far and liked my story enough to read it to it's end. I had a lot of fun writing it and it makes me happy knowing some people loved it enough to read it fully. If you liked this consider checking out my other works. Thanks to everyone for reading this, faving it, or leaving a nice comment. And thank you to Mortisfox for creating such wonderful characters and giving me the opportunity to make this wonderful story. Art is by me.

Warning: Mentioning of Rose Losing her eye by having it clawed out, mentioning of Maison being beaten, and Rose's scars.)

The walk all the way back to Maison's main body was tense and stressful with Rose looking over her shoulder every five minutes and increasing her pace every time. Thankfully she was able to get him back before anything bad could happen to him. Thank goodness. The first thing she did was bring him into her home and look him over. He wasn't too bad actually thank gosh. So she cleaned up the sap from his face and carried him back to his main body. If he was to heal the damage to his lure then he needed a long rest. A phonecall was made to Ivy right after, and the next morning she called Ivy again and shoved her phone in Maison's face making him retell her everything and what those people looked like. But Maison soon found out that wasn't the end of Rose's forceful help. She returned later the same day. Didn't even bother to knock. She just opened up his front door with a frown on her face and stared at his still slightly damaged lure limply hanging from the ceiling lamp made of flesh. It was enough to startle him away however.

"Ms. Willow! What are you doing just barging in like this?," his voice echoed throughout the home. "Don't you know it's rude to not knock before entering?!"

Rose answered by just chucking a giant box of food into his house. Fruits bounced around as a few slabs of meat like pork chops and a few hotdogs thudded along with them. "There's your food!" She sounded angry and annoyed at him as she pointed at his limp lure. "You're gonna be out of commission for a while. Y'know why? BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO ME THAT'S WHY!! So you're going to stay home and heal until this entire thing blows over! I might be in trouble because of you and I have another problem because Heim heard what happened and he's coming over to check on me! So now I have to worry about him out there too! So just digest your food and quite playing with it!" With that she slammed her door shut before he could respond.

HEIM?! THAT BROKEN DOWN SHED COMING HERE?! TO VISIT HER?!

"Dear Rose, please wait!"He was quick to reanimated his lure and wobble after her on sore legs. He winced. Yep. This thing would be sore for a while. The door was quickly yanked back open and he limped out. "ROSE?!" 

UPON hearing her name, the red head stopped and turned around to look back at him with a frown just as a certain someone came waddling down the street towards her too. Bristling, he quickly limped his lure down the driveway and towards her as she rose a brow unimpressed. 

"Heya pal!" She turned to a huffing and puffing man as he waddled to stop in front of her and wheezed. "Man. I might be getting outta shape."He then smiled at her. "Hey Rose! I came to see how you were!"

She sighed. "I told you not to. I said I was fine. It's Maison that's banged up."

In question Heim turned to look at the limping lure and winced hissing through his teeth. "Golly gee pal. You do look banged up. Did they make off with anything?"

"Oh..Close your yapping front door!," Maison indignantly hissed as a hand rubbed at the tatters of his coat. Those would take the longest to heal back.

Heim however looked back to Rose as she rolled her eye, tilted his head, and then looked horrified. "R-Rose." She turned back to him in question as he nervously pointed at her face. "Bud..What happened to your face there?" Rose paused. "Are ya hurt? D-Do ya want me to call an ambulance?"

There was another moment of silence before Rose sighed. "No. A hospital wouldn't do me any good. I've been living without an eye for years."

Both men stared stunned by that revelation. "....Rose?" 

She turned to Maison. And the two just stood there staring at one another. Maison hesitated before holding up a hand to her face. Rose made absolutely no move to stop him as his hand slowly reached over and gently pulled back her silky red bangs from her face. What they were met with startled them into stunned silence. Three long but very thin scars ran across Rose's skin and over her closed eyelid ending partially on her cheek. An incident long since past but etched forever into her skin. For a moment no one said anything until one of them asked.

"...How?"

She only smiled sadly. "It happened when I was a little girl. I was playing in the backyard and ran into something that didn't like me too much." Her hand reached up to rub over the forever closed eyelid. "I have no idea what it was but I've been living with this for a while.  Don't worry. It doesn't hurt but sometimes it's hard to see things coming from that side. .... It's a reason I don't like anyone hurt.'' She then pushed on Maison's chest making him blink. "So you rest up and heal." She then turned to Heim. "And I want you to go home immediately and stay there until this entire thing blows over. I'll talk to you both about it once everything's safer and calms down."

They didn't look so convinced especially Maison but Heim nodded. "Alright pal. If that'll really make ya happy. I wouldn't mind a break anyways."

Maison huffed not one to be outdone so easily. "Agreed. But only on the condition that this conversation is continued later. There's more to discuss."

With a nod Rose nodded and smiled widely. "Deal. For now let's all just rest for a long while."

[assumptionprime]

My Favorite Games I Played in 2023

(with no regard to when they came out. I don’t care. I played them this year)

Tears of the Kingdom

Breath of the Wild is my favorite game. Period. All time. And while Tears of the Kingdom didn’t dethrone it, it’s largely more of that same game I love so damn much. I don’t think any open world game has crafted a world I just love running around and doing whatever I want as much as these. It’s all so exactly my shit.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

This game filled a Jet Set Radio Future shaped hole I didn’t realize was in my heart. It’s kind of funny that Sega announced a new JSR game after an indie dev put out the best one. Great music, great throwback art-style, and simple gameplay that just hooked me in. Skating around the city hunting for secrets and stringing together combos is so damned fun. It’s just fun.

Slay the Princess

You’re on a path in the woods. And at the end of that path is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is the best visual novel I’ve ever played. It’s just excellent on every front: gorgeous hand-drawn art, a perfectly moody soundtrack, and a great script delivered with excellent performances. Slay the Princess is brutal, creepy, surprising, and sweet. It is, after all, a love story.

Tunic

If you somehow haven’t played it yet (as I hadn’t) Tunic is 2D Zelda crossed with a dash of Dark Souls and a whole lot of mystery. Despite an unassuming start, Tunic surprised me over and over. I’ve never seen a game handle information about itself like Tunic does. When I play through it a second time it will, it must, be a completely different experience because I know the game now. That’s kind of true about any game, but it’s especially true here.

Signalis

I don’t like horror. Movies, shows, games, whatever. I’m a big giant baby who doesn’t like being scared. And I absolutely loved Signalis. It’s Resident Evil gameplay crossed with Silent Hill style but then it’s set in space and 90% of the characters are android women. I heard a lot of strong recommendations, and decided to give it a shot. I set the combat to casual (and turned the brightness up a little after the first time an enemy screamed and surprised me from a dark corner) and got through. Signalis is dense with themes and imagery. The first thing I did after beating the game was watch multiple video essays discussing the story, and disagree with them. I’m gonna be thinking about it for a long time.

[coldranger]

I'm not a completionist at heart but for this game? Just maybe. I'll just, need to take more breaks for this one.

Further ramblings of a mad man under cut:

I already knew Pristine cut was a thing before I committed myself to getting all the steam achievements but as someone with visual novel experience that's still quite a hefty amount of cgs. Granted, most if not all of stp is cgs as they don't utilize sprites in the same way most visual novels do, sprites do as exist like in the scenes with a bunch of questions that you can ask the princess but even then some of them are far more dynamic than the usual you would see in a typical vn. It's very refreshing. Hell I have screenshots I think would fit the bill that aren't in the wallpaper folder from the supporters pack

I do wish some more quality of life features will come with the Pristine cut bc if not cg hunting will be hell. A system that shows what choices you've already made would be nice and perhaps changing the color of already seen text. The experience starts to become a blur, quite literately with the skip feature, and sometimes I just want to see confirmation I've exhausted these dialog options before and don't have to bother with the more question heavy scenes like anytime you give a vessel to shifty or hell even Razor

Even if they don't it won't deter me, far from it. I love the art in this game and a gallery is a god send in my eyes - I will click through all 400. Mark my words. The characters are all amazing and I always enjoy seeing the different princess forms. I'm excited, whenever it will eventually drop

[freezing-kaiju]

ALRIGHT, IT'S TIME!

THE SECOND RYUKI-AND-BLADE-ACCOMPANYING ANIME POLL IS NOW HERE!!!

SO, MEET YOUR CHALLENGERS!

AJIN Demi-Human

We start with a dark horror and possibly scifi about ethics in science, immortality, and an outlaw fugitive alien plot as a boy finds himself part of a group of immortals declared legally inhuman. While I have some misgivings about Oh No I Was Secretly A Creature All Along plots, I do fucking love horror and there’s a lot of ways for those plots to hit hard in the trans and gay and autism organs and be really important!!!!

Dimension W

The New Tesla Energy Corporation has monopolized the fourth dimension and the coils that connect to it. A duo of bounty hunters, one human and one robot, make money via repossessing illegal coils and seek out the answer to the mysteries within the dimension. I really wanna watch this one for a few reasons, the primary one of which is 'there are multiple fat women'. It seems to have freaks and weirdos and fun times, and its comedy is emphasized more than most of the other ones on this list so it might give some needed levity!

Kyoukai no Kanata

A bumbling monster hunter with blood powers meets an immortal via trying to shank him and ends up in an arrangement where she'll keep trying to kill him to boost her confidence while hunting monsters in what I hope is a monster-of-a-week show that came highly recommended by a friend as her favorite anime, or one of her favorites, so i have high hopes! Script's by the hibike euphonium guy and the power system seems quite interesting!

Air

A puppeteer (if he’s as good as Sakon will remain to be seen) stops his Road Trip To Meet A Golden Sun Jupiter Summon to stay for a bit in a town and, as happens to anyone who stops for too long, gets attached to the place and also meets a girl who might be said jupiteresque being. My friend informs me that it's gorgeous, sounds amazing (so I'll make sure to get clips), and has "nice sad vibes"!!! And it’s…listed in a “provincial horror” listing… hoho

Heike Monogatari

A child who can see ghosts and the future walks tirelessly through the tragedy of the war between the Taira and Minamoto families before the dawn of the first shogunate. It's wildly beloved by a friend of mine, and also centers a historical event i know some but not all about and definitely need to know more about the Taira side of. Seems like a beautiful drama, one I could lose my heart over.

SSSS Gridman

Digital kaiju! Digital hero! Digital amnesia! A monster of the week show about an unknown amnesiac summoning and merging with Hyper Agent Gridman to fight digital, possibly virtual monsters while making friends(?) in the real world! It's the one thing Tsubaraya Productions has that isn't Ultraman, and I expect some tokusatsu vibes from it along with the mecha stuff, i've also heard it has gay girl megatron??

Akudama Drive

It's a prison break and crime story set in a tech dystopia, starring a scene girl shoplifter, and featuring a bevvy of unpersoned convicts in what seems like an excellent ensemble clusterfuck!!! The Danganronpa crew made this thing! It's also beloved by a friend of mine, and I've heard it'll be a generally excellent tragedy of a time

Canaan

A reporter gets saved from assassins by a woman she might do yuri with, and the summaries I’ve found seem to imply a plot about terrorism and mystery! It’s a Type-Moon work that isn't part of the fate, tsukihime, OR melty universes! It might still have magecraft, but it's tagged sci-fi too, and a type moon take on scifi sounds interesting... it’s also based on. *checks wikipedia* a…perfect-Famitsu-score visual novel for the Nintendo Wii. So I might need to dig out some old hardware to watch this thing. For fun’s sake!

Killing Bites

A guy unintentionally becomes the underground wrestling promoter of a ?werewolf? Woman who murders his friends and wins him a shitload of money. The end goal? According to the summary, control of the economy!!! This was recommended as garbage and good lord I need garbage so much good god I need to put some trash inside of me.