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leog4u · 5 months ago

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Adult Gaming Survey Results!

Hey, hey! Here's the results of that survey on adult games I set up a while back. I was blown away by the amount of responses, totaling at 1,159! After reading every write-in, I've made a little write up with some analyses that adult game devs could chew on. I think it's also interesting from an audience stand point, so give it a read! The link above goes to the survey results, so you can see the percentages and write-ins for yourself. Oh also here's a link to the top 12 favorite adult games of the responses, so you don't have to count the 591 answers yourself.

As a reminder, this is a survey for adult games. Search any game in the response list at your own risk. Minors go do something else.

And with that out of the way...!

How often do you play adult games?

Something I noticed was quite a few replies mention very large gaps between adult game sessions. I'd like to drill down on this, because paired with respondents mentioning not know how to acquire adult games, this lack of awareness might lead to less opportunities for playing adult games.

The flip side to many responses in “Other” mention binge bursts, followed by long periods of no adult game activity, it might just be a case of adult life lacking free time.

How long do you expect an adult game to be?

A relief to game devs, there’s no major expectation for an adult game to be pulling JRPG playtime numbers. A majority would rather play a game that does what it sets out to do at its own pace, rather than hitting a target goal of X hours and be subject to poor flow and padding.

How long is an adult gaming session?

A majority spend over an hour, with time set aside to do said adult gaming. While “till i finish” could be less than an hour, it’s still a designated time set aside to play an adult game.

What’s interesting is the responses in the “Other” category that go into detail, if the goal is to just get off, it’ll be quick. But if a game has plot and gameplay, like some kind of video game, then it’s likely they’ll take more time as they’re now being entertained in the way a video game does.

When it comes to art, what level of quality do you expect?

Again, something that should come as a relief to adult game devs. There’s not a big expectation of painted, master quality art that would be hung in a museum. People want something that gets the idea across and something fresh.

The style should match the actual content of the game. Too many times I've played a game with the most facebook friendly mobile game style, and it just feels like it's distracting from what the game is trying to actually do.

It also would help if when a potential customer scrolls down the itch.io adult game page, their eyes don't glaze over at art that looks like every other game on the market.

Do you buy your adult games?

A problem that is highlighted here is the lack of ability or knowledge on how to buy adult games. Storefronts hide the settings needed to see adult game options, which actively lead to a lack of knowledge on how to purchase.

A majority of the “Other” category mentions it being a combination of spending money and playing free games.

Another point to note is that some mentioned that they will pirate with the intention of spending money later. A free demo, like some mention seeking out first, can help devs avoid piracy, since some people use pirated games as a demo when none is available to see if the game’s worth it.

Another note, which unfortunately won’t help the devs affected, but when non-english games aren’t available in english or on english storefronts, some respondents feel that the only way to play is by pirating. It’s difficult to get the numbers, but I’d be interested in seeing how well japanese adult games on steam that have been localized for english speaking audiences are doing, since that previously wasn’t an option for japanese adult devs until very recently.

How important is writing in adult games for you?

This was actually a surprising result to me. Adult games primarily advertise their art. How much of it there is, how well drawn it is, if it’s animated or not. So seeing 77% of respondents cite good writing as one of the most important parts to an adult gaming experience really changes what the priorities should be for an adult game dev.

While some would skip writing, either to get to “the good stuff” or just to skip over bad prose, some have an actively worse experience with being shown bad writing.

How important is animation in the porn scenes?

A recurring sentiment in the “Other” category is that if the animation is bad, don’t bother.

Combined with the majority of 67.1% saying that animation is optional, I think adult game devs are safe to not prioritize it unless their game is the kind that needs it to function, like a side-scroller. It drains a lot of money and resources, especially for a first time project.

Even the live2D tweening has little payoff with these numbers considered.

How important is voice acting in the porn scenes?

Similar to animation, voice acting is a nice feature to have, if it’s done well. Otherwise it can feel tacked on, or worse, detrimental to enjoying the game.

With 50% not caring or actively muting, I think it’s safe to say that it’s a “nice to have” and resources should be focused on other things like writing and gameplay.

How important is sex sound effects in the porn scenes? (moaning, wet slapping, squelching, etc)

What’s really fascinating is that the sound effects and audio design are more appreciated than the voice acting. If I had to pinpoint a difference, it’s that bad delivery can ruin a scene, but a sound effect is far less intrusive.

What genres of porn games do you like the most?

The genres chosen were a combination of which were the most populated as well as recent trends. A large amount of write-ins were expressing that simulation games were a favorite.

Now comes the question, is the number one favorite genre RPGs because that’s the best genre for an adult game, because it’s a genre people enjoy playing for gaming’s sake, or because a massive amount of adult games are made in RPG Maker? I think it’s a little bit of columns A, B, and C.

When it comes to adult games, what matters more?

People are here for porn, but that doesn't mean they're here for just porn. They want a good delivery vehicle for the porn. Both parts of this sentiment mean that there's one thing you should avoid more than anything and it's annoying padding and grinds. They bought your game, there's no need hide a nipple behind five hours of gameplay. Likewise, it's not very good game design to give the player everything at once, as I've mentioned before.

There are several draws to adult games. It's intimacy in a safe, virtual environment. It's making bonds with characters the player falls in love with that end with a climax, or two. It's exploring kinks. And it's blowing off some steam by getting your rocks off. These should be considered when designing a porn game.

Does a kink you enjoy influence if you buy an adult game?

In the future, I would rephrase this question as asking how much your kink factors into buying a game, rather than what was presented. As it stands, “I buy things if they’re good” isn’t that interesting or valuable of an insight.

Respect to the small slice that don't buy shit unless it has their kink in it.

Does a kink you dislike influence if you buy an adult game?

Making more extreme or polarizing kinks optional enables the developer to explore said kinks while allowing the player to avoid uncomfortable situations. As long as it’s clear what’s optional and what isn’t on the product description, this seems to be the preferred method.

What’s your stance on AI art?

A landslide stance. This can be attributed to politics: there is a hardcore stance against any and all AI. That aside however, when it comes to selling a product to a consumer, why would they want a product they know was made with no care or effort? Where else were corners cut? AI in porn games are usually used to generate the art and writing, the most important parts (according to the survey) to the porn game. It's where you want the most care and attention, not the opposite.

What aspect of an adult game do you care about the most?

Players care about the porn in their porn games. This isn’t a surprise. Audio being ranked so low also isn’t a surprise considering the previous results. But, what is interesting is how gameplay is ranked highest in the “important” category, past art and writing. I interpret it as “come for the art and writing, stay for the gameplay.”

Talking Points From the Free Form Responses

Replayability and customization are gameplay features people value, which can be reflected in the amount of responses citing games such as Corruption of Champions and Degrees of Lewdity as their favorites.

Porn games are really unique because you need to list out its content. We're used to spoilers being a bad thing in marketing materials, but for porn its mandatory. A customer needs to know: what's the degree of sexual content, is it cheese cake, is it gay, is there dub-con, is there inflation, the list goes on. Nobody will be mad to know that something they don't like is in something. Well, some people will be, but it's a lot worse when it's a surprise. Also consider, it stops comments asking if there's content like pregnancy in your game or not.

I can not understate how important customization is to a number of people, wanting the body and pronouns they have to be reflected in the player character. This gives text based games a bit of an edge, since it's significantly less resource intensive to accommodate for all these different identities in text vs having to make art assets for every configuration and body type.

There’s a general lack of knowledge on where to actually get adult games. This is due to social media sites making it difficult for adult content to be shared, as well as limited market places for adult content. Epic Game Store has a ban on it, despite allowing for full on con-artist projects like NFT and Crypto games, while Steam requires some settings to be changed that aren't advertised. However, Steam's new feature to hide games definitely helps gamers feel more comfortable acquiring adult games since their friends won't have to know when they're jerking off.

Woman focused content that doesn’t involve non-con is lacking. Meanwhile, a lot of adult games that feature a woman protagonist that does consent either have her be bimbofied or a literal succubus, rather than an actual character that wants sex like their male counterparts. These male counterparts could be extracted from their porn game and placed in any other fantasy story and get along fine, so why not women?

Don’t forget to add a gallery to your game.

#Leo Gab #adult game dev #game dev

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brooklynisher · 4 months ago

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Hey all, you ever hear of Jaunty?

[x]

Do you WANT to learn more about Jaunty?

Well I dug deep, and found some things I never thought I could find. I'm really excited to share what I've found with y'all. This post is sort of a little journey of how I found Jaunty.

There's a few sections to this.

Skip to But where does Jaunty come from? If you just want answers

Is Jaunty even a real character?

Jaunty, from what I originally found, is SUPPOSEDLY a Steam Powered Giraffe character. But where have we seen this character before? Was it the comic? Was it the timeline? Maybe in a song cover? Does the band ever talk about Jaunty?

And to answer all of your questions, no! At least not that I knew of. The only source of Jaunty’s existence is here.

The Steam Powered Giraffe Wiki

So that makes this whole thing pretty complicated right? The wiki has info, and it’s not too inaccurate most of the time, but some of the lesser known/more nuanced information tends to get scuffed.

It really doesn’t help knowing that David has mentioned before that the information on the wiki wasn't that accurate.

What I’m saying is, the only proof we have for the existence of this character is on what might be one of the more unreliable sources of SPG information.

But despite that, this page is special in the fact that SUPPOSEDLY it was uploaded by Steam Powered Giraffe themselves!

[x]

However, there isn’t really much of any information on this user at all. All we know is that they founded this wiki, added a few characters and a bit of information, and then became inactive. Really our biggest reasoning for believing that this was an actual SPG member is the fact that they are the founder and have been around for a very long time.

Okay, suspicions aside, let’s see what I found about this thing.

What the wiki tells us

One, this image was touched by the founder of this wiki twice, it was uploaded in 2011, and in 2014 they protected the page, which means only the administrators can edit the page.

[x]

Both are pretty major years for SPG being the year Upgrade left the band and the year Rabbit transitioned, but there’s not many connections you can make with that.

This user was first active in 2010 and last seen in 2015 [x]

Cool dates to have, but not a lot to work with. It mainly gives us a clear vision of what SPG was looking like at the time of the creation of this page. I can see this thing being used for a special, slightly themed show.

Of course, the information the wiki alone offers is very limited, but we know two things for sure. One, this character is a robot being under the category of robots, and two, these photos were taken by Cineria.

[x]

So, here's the problem, you'd think that by having the name of the photographer, we could get far with that, but unfortunately, it is such a vague name, that there is just no way we could figure out who Cineria actually is. It really doesn't help that they don't seem to be a professional photographer. The only page I could find that connects both the name Cineria and Steam Powered Giraffe is this one.

Useless information

I started searching for stuff by reverse searching it. It wasn't really successful, as I was expecting, but I did find one thing.

A different source.

This source doesn't go anywhere must you know. The ORIGINAL site, florist.buketbunga.com is still up an active serving as an Indonesian site for selling flowers, but this very specific link is broken, and the Wayback Machine doesn't know a thing about it.

The good news is, the link title alone gives us a ton of stuff to work with! Appropriately, the last part of this link translates to "Flower Bouquet Florist Shop Address Nearest 24 Hours Online", which makes sense.

What DOESN'T make sense is everything else coming before it. Specifically the Team Fortress 2 Wiki. This made me believe that someone used these sites to create a scam link, but it's weird because somehow, it's relevant?

Yandex was able to match these images of Jaunty to this site, and what's crazier, Jaunty is in the title of the link! But it's not just Jaunty, it's the Jaunty Explorer.

I did some searching, and discovered that the Jaunty Explorer originates from a TF2 livestream charity event called Tip of the Hats! Donations can earn you medals known as the Jaunty Explorer ($10 Donations), the Jaunty Ranger ($30 Donations), and the Jaunty Mountaineer ($100 Donations). They can come in many different color variations, but here are the main ones.

[x] [x] [x]

There are TWO connections between this and SPG. One, the shared name of Jaunty, and two, hats. Steam Powered Giraffe is pretty big on hats. But, bad news, these are completely unrelated. Main reasoning? The image of Jaunty was posted to the wiki back in 2011, while Tip of the Hats as an event started back in 2013. Can't even take the "SPG was inspired by TF2" route with that.

Okay, but what even IS it?

Now we get into the visual aspect of this!

I tried to see if there was at least any way to identify what this is, but that solely relies on observational skills. There are two images of this thing, but the image with the blue background is much easier to make out.

[x]

There's a lot that's going on with the design of Jaunty. Unfortunately, I'm not smart enough to identify what half of the doodads are. This machine, whether it's an actual machine or just a prop, is definitely a one of a kind as I couldn't find anything like this.

I talked with @boneinator about this, and he was able to read the text: "STAND CLEAR!" on the top of the doors of this machine which lead him to believe that it might be a time machine of sorts.

What we both managed to agree on when it came to the design of this thing however, was that it looks like a cabinet.

Now, like I said, this thing has a one of a kind design, so it's not going to look exactly like one thing or another, but it has similar features to other things such as to this cabinet

[x]

Two longer doors on the upper half, and two smaller doors/drawers on the bottom. Is that actually what it is? I didn't know, but there is a resemblance.

One thing that's REALLY interesting about this machine is the intense amount of steam it lets out.

[x]

So it's definitely a very active machine.

But where does Jaunty come from?

Something I've been wondering is how much of this is actually connected to SPG.

Is it theirs? Is this a part of a bigger thing? Is it just associated with them?

A bigger thing. There is one example of a big SPG show that comes to mind, and it was not just them.

During their 15 Year Anniversary Livestream, the band was asked about their favorite memories. Bunny mentions that one of her favorite memories was at a show called Clockwork Vaudeville. This was one of the band's first time having a massive audience. According to her, this was a time traveling show, and they performed alongside others.

I looked into it and found that the full name of this performance is called Clockwork Vaudeville Circus Cabaret. And there, I found a little advertisement for it as well!

youtube

The Kickstarter for this show started in late 2010

I did some more searching and realized there is a bunch of video from this show out there though all these clips are recorded at random intervals. Assuming that the uploader posted these clips close to the date of the actual show, we can see that this show took place in February of 2011!

About one month after this show, this page was added to the wiki.

I checked the clips, and guess what.

[x]

Right there in the corner, there was Jaunty.

But that's not all

Not only have a found a video that contained Jaunty, I found a video that contained Jaunty in action!

[x]

Unbelievably enough, it was a video of the band performing Honeybee alongside a pole dancer. And thanks to the title, we now know that this show took place February 19, 2011

Which all this confirms 100% that Jaunty IS a time machine.

Now with all things considered, Jaunty is not necessarily an "SPG character" as in they didn't create it. It's hard to say if Jaunty is even a character at all at this point! But it does exist in their world and they actively interact with it!

Who cheered? I cracked the code!

#so hyped about this you guys don't even know #steam powered giraffe #spg #my stuff #spg info #vintage!rabbit #tw michael reed #jaunty spg #big post yall

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bahrtofane · 8 months ago

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matching pjs

Aurélien is just attched to you, literally. stay the night, please?

word count - 1K+

watch it - flulff and fluff and more. loosing my mind here yall this is what a blurry vid does to me

-----

Aurélien has decided that communication is a thing of the past

Don't look at him like that he doesnt wanna hear it. Instead he'll just cozy up to you and trust your instincts to be able to tell what he means.

You don't have it in you to move him aside from his perch glued against you. In full honesty it's rather cute. I mean just look at him, face pressed up against your shoulder while he watches the highlights that play on the living room tv. Hes quite literally pressed up right against you to the point where you can hear every breath he takes. You don't mind, not one bit.

You showed up not even a full 30 minutes ago, supposed to only stop by to see him before you head to your own home. But seeing as the fluffy oversized blankets have been brought out, you dont think youre going to leave anytime soon.

He shuffles from under the blanket, finding your arm and intertwining his with it, linking hands together. He uses his thumb to trace against your skin, humming softly while his eyes follow the Brazilian team in front of him.

He hasn't said more than the greeting you got when you walked in. kicking your shoes off and stealing a pair of his slides. Your bag is somewhere, you think in the other living room. It's fine.

He's been meaning to organize his phone layout, so he handed it over to you when you got cozy on the couch. It's what you've been doing besides giving him kisses. A sleek black and white layout fits him you think, so it's what you've chosen to chip away at.

The widgets are all done, just organizing them now. You make a picture of the both of you at the Bernabeu front and center, smiling while leaning against each other. It makes you smile, blowing air from your nose.

He peeks over at this, and you tilt the phone. He gives you a nod, resting back on your shoulder.

You get done soon enough. Just 2 pages filled with his most used and essential apps. You've done good work.

You slide the phone onto his lap, and he peppers the back of your neck in kisses as thanks.

The highlights have ended now. And he slides from you just an inch to fish for the remote that's gone somewhere. He sighs, brows furrowing and heaving himself off the couch grumbling. You get up with him to help look.

You find it nestled between two cushions, handing it to him while he gives you a soft look.

“I think it time for me to head home now.” you sigh.

He pouts, reaching for your hands. You give them, and he gives them a gentle tug.

“I know, but it's getting late and i didnt even bring anything.”

Another pout as he comes closer, biting his lips.

Oh no no no you are not falling for this. He blinks, tilting his head. Youre so gone for him.

“Please?” his lips part, barely a whisper.

“Fine,” you groan, bringing him for a quick peek.

He chuckles, padding over to where it looks like dinners been sitting.

“I was um waiting for you to eat.” he scratches the back of his head.

“You should've told me chuchu.”

The nickname makes him look away and instead goes to warm the food while you take a seat at the dinner table, watching him glide around the kitchen.

“Hope you like fish.”

You shrug,”i like anything with you”

He laughs,” you're a sap today.”

“Says you mr I'm going to glue myself against me.”

He waves you off with a spatula, “youre warm what am i supposed to do.”

“Nothing. I like it. It's cute.”

He hums, “potatoes or asparagus. Or both.”

“Both.”

He nods, getting the plates out.

You drum against the table.

He sets two steaming plates down and scurries back over for silverware and cups.

“There you go. “ he sits in the seat across from you, smiling.

“Thank you.”

You eat in relative silence, giggling here and there when he keeps poking leg with yours.

You offer to do the dishes, which he refuses, but you don't care, racing to the kitchen and cleaning up while he mopes.

“You can never just relax here huh.”

You shrug, “I want to help out sue me.”

He flicks your arm but lets you go. Going to do his rounds for the night. Feeding his dog checking the locks and cameras and what not.

He comes back to a sparkling kitchen, food tucked away. You end up finding your bag, slinging over your shoulder while you follow him to bed.

“I got sweats and t-shirts and pjs for you, take your pick,” he opens his closet for you.

“Don't mind if i do.”

He lets you get changed, going to the bathroom and doing his little routine.

Your clothes are folded on a shelf in his closet when he gets back. And he's comfy cozy in his pjs. Funny enough you end up with matching pj bottoms. Classic plaid.

He laughs, “great minds think alike.”

“They really do,” you nod.

You set your alarms for the next morning, plugging your phone in and setting it on his night stand. He mirrors you, doing a last check of his emails and texts.

“You know the theme is really nice i like the black and white. “

You smile. “Thought you'd like it. I was thinking of all black but it suits you more like this i think.”

He hums, “gonna stay for breakfast?”

You shrug, “probably, you know i suck at saying no to you.”

‘Nah you just love me too much.”

You snort, “that too.”

You slide into bed together, tucking the covers under your chin while you sigh. Waiting for him to slide up beside you, which he does in no time.

“Thank you for staying. Sleep well love, good night.” he gives you a soft kiss.

“Mhm,” you mumble against his lips. “Anytime pretty boy. Love you”

You're about to have the best sleep of your life.

#aurélien x reader #aurelien tchouameni x reader #aurelien tchouameni #tchouameni x reader #tchouameni imagines #tchouameni #AAAAAAAA #bahr footy

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seeingivy · 1 year ago

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the softest kind of love

actor!eren x f!reader

**part of my method acting series

content: this is what we call fluff no plot. eren kissing reader every five seconds, me in my easter eggs era. eren and y/n enjoy your last days of your love struck bubble before I ruin your life.

an: you guys had me feeling like the devil incarnate after last chapter. anyways, I put that evilness away for 5k ish words before I unleash my true form again. enjoy <3

song of the chapter: invisible string!!!

previous part linked here

The second Historia walks into the room, Eren pops out of his seat, nearly running to the door to poke his head out. The hallway is empty - except for the crew members setting up the new costumes and fittings for filming next week.

No sign of you.

“You know, you could at least pretend you’re excited to see me.” Historia says, pinching Eren’s arm.

Eren gives Historia a swift hug and a kiss to the cheek before pulling back, his hands resting on her shoulders.

“You okay? How was the reception to the entire thing?”

“Good. More people are coming out. Backing me up.”

“I’m glad, Hisu. It’s nothing short of what you deserve.”

“Tell Y/N thank you, I couldn’t do it without her. Your girl has been bigger than life these days.”

He smiles, squeezing her shoulders once.

“You know. If you told me where she was, I could do it right now. Shouldn’t she be coming for the table read anyway?”

“She isn’t feeling well. She stayed out in the cold to talk to all of the fans that were lined up and then she was stuck in the airport for so long that she didn’t sleep. Levi and Hange gave her the day off to rest.”

Eren immediately runs over to his seat, directly across from Levi and Hange and gives his best smile.

“No, Eren. You can’t have the day off to hang out with Y/N.”

“I’m not going to hang out with her, Levi. Just let me take care of her, she spent two days in the airport after performing and interacting with people all weekend with Historia.”

“Eren. She’ll be fine. She just has to sleep it off.” responds Hange, the two of them scribbling through each other’s scripts.

“I’m not even in these scenes. And you owe me, Levi.” Eren says, narrowing his eyes.

Levi narrows his eyes, flitting his line of vision to the name card next to his seat, and then back to Eren. How was Levi supposed to know that Eren was all but estranged from his half brother?

“If I do this one thing for you, you can’t hold it over my head again.” Levi says, glaring at Eren.

“Thank you!”

Eren leans over the table to give them both a hug before running straight out of the room to the townhouse. Levi brings his hand up to his cheek as he grumbles under his breath.

“Is it just me or is he more touchy lately?”

“Poor, Y/N. He’s probably strangling her to death up there.” Hange responds, laughing.

After speed running through making a bowl of ramen, Eren all but runs up to your room, to find you nestled in your sheets, with a pink nose. You have your lines propped up against your sheets, your face embedded in the pages of your script.

Eren sets down the bowl and snatches your script before he leans down and presses the sweetest kiss known to man to your lips. He can feel you smiling against him, your cold hands coming up to cup his face.

“Eren. I’m kind of sick you shouldn’t-”

He rolls his eyes as he presses his lips to your palms, leaving two soft kisses on where you’re still cupping his face, before he climbs into the sheets with you.

“Tease. I’ve been waiting for a month now.”

“I’m going to get you sick. And then you’ll have to take a day off like I am.”

“I’m already taking the day off today. For you. So just try really hard to not get me sick okay?”

Eren reaches over to your nightstand, where the bowl of ramen is still steaming, and hands it to you. You give him a grateful smile - and Eren’s heart skips a beat - before cupping your hands around the bowl, the steam making your glasses fog up.

“How was it? The entire thing?” Eren whispers, his breath tickling your forehead.

“Good, Eren. They-they really believed Hisu.”

Historia had decided that she wasn’t going to be quiet about what happened with her agent. In fact, she was going to be loud about it.

And she asked for your help, because she wanted to use music to do so. Eren was immediately disapproving, not because he didn’t want Historia to do it, but because he didn’t want you to help her. It’s not that he didn’t believe in you, that he didn’t think the work was important. But what you guys were doing was the equivalent of putting a target on your back and there’s only so much he can protect you from.

You told him you had to do it, that you had to help her and he dropped all his protests and helped you both. The three of you wrote The Man in six hours and then you and Historia immediately went and performed it in New York.

Eren brings his hand up to cup your cheek, his fingers soft against your skin.

“You-you know it doesn’t usually go this way right? I-I don’t want you to-”

“Get my hopes up. I know, Eren. That’s why I’m glad it did work out for her of all people. She-she deserves her spot at the table and roles because she’s a good actress and she-

“I’m not trying to bring you down, Y/N. I-I just want you to be careful. Did you see what happened with Sukuna and Hyla? She’s basically dragging his good name through the mud. I was worried that if it didn’t go over well, they’d start coming for you. And they can be ruthless. And mean. And throw bricks through your bedroom windows and-”

You bring your hand up to Eren’s cheek, his eyes fluttering closed as he sinks into your touch.

“Is it weird having Zeke here, Eren? Does it remind you of-”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess. Seeing him pisses me off. I like being here because it feels like home. We do other roles and movies but this is always where we come back to. It feels weird to have him intruding in on something like that, you know?”

“This is still our place, Eren. Him being here doesn’t change that.” you whisper.

You rest your head against Eren’s chest, his heart rapidly beating under your ear, as he brings his hands up to your hair. He’s messily braiding through the ends the way you taught him, his hands swiping through your tangled locks.

“We should come up with secret codes. We-we still haven’t told them all we’re dating and I-I’m not embarrassed but we should when it’s-”

“When it’s right, Eren. Maybe when we’re done filming this season, because knowing us I feel like people will catch on the second we start doing press.”

Eren nods, squeezing your shoulder once.

“That one. It means I’m here and I’ve got you.”

You take your elbow and jab it straight into his side, making Eren squirm.

“Ouch, Y/N.”

“That one means that we need a second. To talk to each other, without anyone else around.”

Eren shifts over to your side, reaching forward to secure the loose strands of your hair around your ear.

“And that one. It means I want to kiss you right now but I can’t.”

“God, Eren. We won’t even last a week without them finding out.”

You and Eren amble down six hours later to find all of them milling around in the kitchen and Armin standing there, camera in hand. His polaroids are well littered and taped to almost every wall now, barely an empty patch on the wallpaper.

You make your way over as Eren stops to talk to Armin, Jean and Miksasa giving you quick arm hugs and kisses on the cheek as you run your hand on the wall. You and Eren are smack dab in the middle - the pictures from season one and two at the forefront. Eren comes up at your side, tucking your hair behind your ear.

“Already?” you whisper.

“Can’t help it.” Eren whispers, giving you a smile.

Armin comes up behind you, slinging his arm around your shoulder and standing in between you two as you rest your head against his.

“Hey ‘Min. I just got to the end of the script, you’ve got some really big scenes this season. I thought we were going to have to put you on the death wall there for a second.”

“I’ve got a feeling that I’m going to be the victim of Levi’s insane standards this season instead of Eren.” Armin grumbles.

“Thank god. He’s ruthless.” Eren says, as he gives the both of you a pat on the shoulder before walking away.

“I heard that, brat.” Levi says, walking into the kitchen with Hange and Erwin in tow.

Armin gives Levi a sheepish smile as he walks away, finishing his season pictures. Levi beelines to your side, placing his hand flat against your forehead to check your temperature. You swat his hand off as you give him a smile, the two of you leaning against the wall to watch everyone.

Bertholdt and Sasha are fighting over a very lazily played game of Scrabble while Eren and Hange play a very intense game of ninja around Reiner and Mikasa’s cookie frosting.

“So are you guys dating?” Levi asks.

“Are you going to give me some unsolicited dad advice if I say yes?”

“Obviously. That’s part of my job description.”

You look over at him and give him a sheepish nod, confirming his suspicions. You don’t miss the way his face breaks out into a smile, which has your cheeks burning with the mushiest, sweet feeling you’ve ever felt.

Levi may not actually be your dad, but his approval means the world to you all the same.

“Good.” he says, looking over at the two of them - aggressively arguing over who won their game of Ninja.

“That’s it? Good?”

“I’ll save my unsolicited dad advice for Eren. Give him that whole ‘hurt my girl and I’ll kill you spiel’” he says.

“Spoken like a true father, Levi.”

Levi squeezes your shoulder once before tucking you into his arm, his embrace warm. He clears his throat as he talks and you swear his eyes are watering.

“Hange and I are doing a vow renewal at the end of this season. We haven’t told anyone yet because we’re just going to do a small thing in the backyard on the last day. But if you and Eren could write a song for us to do the first dance to, I’d really love it if you-”

“Shut the fuck up. You want us to write a song?”

“Language. It’s a surprise for Hange, they’re really into that whole music, serenading thing.”

“Really, Levi? You’d let us do something that important?”

“Eren is Hange’s favorite. You’re mine. And I’ll kill you if you tell anyone I admitted that out loud.”

You can feel the tears welling in your own eyes as you look over at Eren and Hange laughing near the sink and Levi smiling at you, every little part of your heart touched by the sentiment.

“Permission to say something cheesy?”

“No, Y/N.”

“I love you, Levi.”

He rolls his eyes, a deep sigh leaving his chest, before he responds.

“Yeah, yeah. Love you too, kid.”

Eren and Levi switch places, Armin pushing the two of you closer together to take the last season start polaroid.

“Okay, guys. What’s the pose this year?”

You and Eren give each other a look, before pulling up your sleeves at the same time. Armin gives you two a shocked smile as you stand to the side, pointing at each other's matching tattoos for the picture.

The second Connie catches sight of it, he immediately runs over with his camera, the bright light flashing in your face.

“This is part like ONE HUNDRED of the L/N-Jaegers. I-they have matching fucking tattoos oh my fucking god.”

You shuffle through the mess of letters Levi gave you - the ones he wrote Hange when they worked on La La Land together - to piece together the lyrics for your song. You and Eren agreed that it should definitely be a soft piano ballad, which is more their speed for this backyard vow renewal they’re having.

The letters are enough to bring tears to your eyes alone - the line between Levi faking letters for their method acting to really falling in love with Hange crystal clear. Because he went from writing her fake prose, soft flowery poetry to sharing memories with them, about himself.

Which is saying a lot, because Levi’s like a book glued shut.

Pictures of him from when he was younger, in Centennial Park with his parents. Him working a stupid job at a yogurt shop in between roles in Los Angeles. Him trying Hange’s favorite restaurant and sending her a very scathing review back.

That’s what love is, isn’t it? Sharing every little part of yourself and every feeling you’ve had - ecstatic, overwhelmed, happy, sad, bored, and soft.

You start scribbling the broken fragments of lyrics swimming in your mind into the notebook, your hand not moving fast enough for the places your head is running.

“Time, mystical time, cutting me open than healing me fine? You’ve got a weird mind, kid.”

You look up to find Zeke peering over your shoulder, before settling into the seat at the table right across from you. You immediately drop your pencil right into the book, instinctively looking to the left.

Right. Eren already left for set.

“Ah. They’re song lyrics.”

“That’s right. You’re the singer.”

There’s a tone in his voice, one you can’t place that sends a wave of discomfort down your spine.

You’re trying your best. To give Zeke a clean slate, to not let what Eren said taint the view you had of him because you should form your own opinions. But god does he give you the shivers, his entire aura ice cold - the complete opposite of the warm, fireplace Eren reminds you of.

“I’m Y/N. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Zeke. I’m Eren’s brother.”

“He mentioned. Welcome to the cast, I hope you’re liking it so far.”

He gives you a smile as he readjusts in the seat, sinking down into the chair.

“So what did he tell you? You’re looking at me like I’m the figment of your worst nightmares.”

“He didn’t say anything to me. You-you just caught me off guard because I was in the zone and stuff.”

“I haven’t talked to my brother in a while. But I still know him. What did he tell you?”

You swallow hard as you start gathering Levi’s letters, tucking them back neatly into their corresponding envelopes.

“Just that you guys don’t talk. Aren’t very close. It just came up once, he-he’s met my brothers before and just said you guys aren’t like that.”

“And you hate me for it?”

“No. No, I don’t hate you.”

“But he does?”

“Eren doesn’t hate you, Zeke. You just hurt his feelings, that’s all.” you respond, whispering the secrets he told you in confidence into the air.

Zeke sits back in his chair, his legs spread across the length of the seat as he gives you a smile.

You can already feel your heart sinking, irritated at yourself for even giving Zeke a sliver of information Eren wouldn’t have wanted you to mention.

“You love Eren, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t. I was just saying that because-”

“Would you believe me if I told you I had to stop talking to him? For his sake?”

“No. Who does that? He’s your brother. I can’t even imagine going a day without talking to my little brother, he’s literally my entire world.”

“Would you do it if it meant protecting him?”

He gives you a look as you ponder the question, the dilemma he just presented you with. Would you stop talking to Falco if it meant protecting him?

“Of course, I would. I love my brother. I-I’d do anything for him.”

“And I would too.” Zeke responds, giving you one last smile before walking out of the kitchen. He passes Eren on the way in, the two of them giving each other an ice cold look before Eren takes the seat next to yours. Eren pesters you about the conversation and you tell him all except for the last part.

You’re not sure if that’s something Eren should know. It would probably just piss him off more.

You watch as the makeup team takes Eren up to the top of the set, the crystal caves they made for the scene glittering in the light. You run your hand against the painted material, each sparkly crevice nearly blinding your eyes.

“They really went overboard with this one.” you murmur, walking with Mikasa.

“They got a bigger budget after last award season. I think they spent it all on this entire scene.”

You both snicker as you run to the sidelines, joining Sasha on the sides. You all sit in your respective seats as Eren, Historia, and Rod take their spots. Levi gives Eren a thumbs up from the directors chair and Eren quickly slips his shirt off, readjusting his hands into the arm restraints.

“Eren! Share the workout routine! I’ll lick those abs.” screams Connie, earning a fair amount of laughs from the cast and the crew.

You can see Eren turning red at the comment, the crew adjusting the last of the microphones and the props onto the set as Levi starts rolling the cameras. Connie leans over, whispering in your ear.

“How does it feel to see someone else living your dream?” he says, a laugh falling out of his mouth.

“What the hell are you talking about, Con’?”

“Historia and Eren are about to be the new couple of the show. I can see the edits already.” he says, poking your sides.

You swat him off, giving him the finger as you focus back on the scene as Eren and Historia start acting in the scene. Your reaction only goads Connie and Reiner on more, the two of them just trying to piss you off now.

“Look at how they look at each other, Y/N. You wish that was you, huh?”

“Shut up, Reiner. We’re literally the main couple of the show. You’d be stupid if you shipped Historia and Eren after the Thank You scene.”

“Feeling territorial over your man, Y/N?” Bertholdt says, the group of them laughing.

“Bertholdt. I thought you were above stupid shit like this.”

“You make it too easy. You’re-you’re looking a little green.” Bertholdt responds, pressing his hands to your face.

“And you’re looking gray. Like a half dead loser who gets eaten by Armin of all people at the end of the season.”

They all laugh at your response as you feel your cheeks burn with irritation, the thought of the entire thing pissing you off. You look up at Eren and Historia, the two of them sitting on the ledge as Eren gets caked in the red makeup for the scene before they start filming again. They’re both smiling, looking down at you guys.

When you make eye contact with Eren, he gives you a wave which you halfheartedly return. Which only fills Connie and Reiner with more delight, because now they’re mimicking you, all of them laughing with tears in their eyes.

“Imagine losing a two season lead to Historia.” Connie says, poking you in the sides.

“Imagine being one of the only characters without a romantic interest. At least my character can get some.” you respond.

“You think they’re method acting? Looks pretty real to me, don’t you think, Y/N?” Reiner says.

You stomp off to the other side of the set, to the snack table, where you’re angrily chewing down one of the pastries when Hange walks over. You can still hear them joking over there, tears flowing out of Connie’s eyes.

“You frown any harder and you’re going to get wrinkles, kiddo.” Hange says, poking the soft of your cheek.

“Sorry.” you respond, your tone harsh.

They give you a laugh as the crew starts pulling Eren and Historia down from the ledge. Historia and Eren are wiping the makeup off each other’s faces as they laugh, chasing each other off the main set as they join the rest of them on the sidelines.

You turn to the side, angrily biting into another pastry on the snack table as you hear them giggling behind you.

“Where’s Y/N?” you hear Eren ask, as he slips his jacket back on.

“She’s moaning and groaning by the snack table.” Jean says, smacking Connie on the back.

“You guys are being mean. You’re obviously hurting her feelings by insinuating there’s something between Eren and Historia.” Mikasa says, shaking her head disapprovingly at them.

“What?” Eren responds.

“We were just joking with her and she got all mad for no reason. You and Historia just looked really romantic up there for a second and we were teasing her about it, saying you’re going to forget all about her.” Connie explains.

You can feel your cheeks burning, the entire situation mortifying as you feel your face turn red. Because them saying it is one thing but telling Eren is another. The crew starts working on getting your harnesses attached for the next scene as Eren walks over, politely asking them if he can have a second with you.

“Hi Y/N.”

“Hi Eren.” you grumble, crossing your hands across your chest.

He gives you a smile as he snakes his left hand around your waist and uses his right hand to cup your face and kiss you straight on the face. He’s pulling you closer with his hand, your cheeks burning at the sounds of them all cheering and screaming a few feet away from you. He lets go after a few seconds, his forehead resting against yours.

“What happened to telling them at the end of the season?” you whisper, a smile making its way across your lips.

“They were pissing you off. Had to set the record straight.” he responds, pressing a kiss to both of your cheeks before pulling back.

Sasha and Mikasa run over, crushing the two of you in a hug as they all excitedly squish you in their embrace, hundreds of questions falling out of their mouths.

How long have you been dating? Are you in love? Have you done it?

“Connie. You’re disgusting, you know that?” Armin says, snapping a picture of everyone crushing you in a hug.

“Guilty as charged.” Connie says, smirking.

“Connie. Bother her again and I’ll make it a point to do it in your bed.” Eren says, cupping your face in his hands as everyone laughs.

Eren joins you at the piano, two steaming cups of tea in his hand. He sets them both at the head of the piano before pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“Hey.”

“Hi. I-I think it might be done.”

“We’re sticking with invisible string?”

“Seems right, don’t you think?”

Eren leans forward to press a kiss to your cheek again before settling his hands on the keys as he starts playing the tune, your voice filling the empty air of the set.

Time, curious time Gave me no compasses, gave me no time Were there clues I didn’t see?

You give Eren a nod to join you on the melody as you play the notes on your side of the piano, your cheeks hurting from smiling.

And isn’t it just so pretty to think All along there was some invisible string Tying you to me?

Eren stops playing the keys as he leans his head against your shoulder, pressing a kiss to your shoulder before talking.

“Maybe we shouldn’t sing right now. Your voice is sounding tired, love.”

“We just did so many takes of that scene yesterday with Armin and Erwin. And then we all spent a good twenty minutes crying after we realized it was Erwin’s last scene, so I’m all spent out.”

Eren plays a loose melody on the piano as you press a kiss to the top of his head.

“Where’d you come up with invisible string?”

“It’s one of those old folktales, Eren. About soulmates.”

He gives you a confused look as he keeps playing, the piano singing in the air.

“Basically, when you’re born, there’s a little string tied around your pinkie and one around your soulmates. And no matter how far you are, you’ll eventually find the other end of your string and your other person because you’re tied together.”

“Do you ever think about stuff like that? About soulmates and other lives and stuff?”

“Sometimes, it can be fun. Like what we’re doing in another life, how we ended up together.”

“You think we’re together in other lives, Y/N?”

“You don’t, Eren?”

You give him a fake angry look which has him back pedaling really fast, the words spilling out of his mouth.

“I-no. Of course, we’re together. We’re meant to be together, every universe and every time-”

“I’m teasing, Eren. You don't have to think that just because I do.” you respond, smacking your fist against the piano and sending a shred of discordant notes in the air.

“Ouch, princess. You’re no musician.”

“Oh?”

He laughs, taking your closed fist off of the keys and lifting your hand to his mouth to press a kiss to your knuckles.

“We have hundreds of love stories out there, Y/N.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“All the classics, of course.”

“Like? I need concrete examples, Eren.”

“There’s one where we fake-date and fall in love. And then there’s one where you somehow end up being my roommate and-”

“Roommates? That’s so fucking corny, Eren.”

“Roommates. Like you somehow end up having to live with me against your will and then obviously start liking me because I’m so charming.”

“Ew, Eren. You would hate being my roommate. I’d probably piss you off by singing in the shower every morning.”

“See that’s the thing. I’d hate it at first but then it becomes super endearing to me. It’s part of the romance, falling in love with the little things.”

“Okay, Cupid. I didn’t realize you were an expert here.”

“Let’s go home, yeah? We need to wake up early for the vow renewal tomorrow.”

Eren starts packing your notebook into the bag and handing you your cup of tea as you slide around on the bench. He walks down the length of his set before realizing you’re not next to him and trails back, bending down to sit in between your legs.

“Hey. What’s up?”

You put your hand against his cheek as you look at his green eyes, round and full, staring into yours. It’s on the tip of your tongue. You love him. And you miss him when he’s not even gone.

“Nothing, Eren. I just thought about how after this week, we won’t be coming back here for another three years. When am I gonna see you?”

Eren jumps off the ground and takes his seat on the bench again, wrapping his arm around your shoulder. He presses a kiss to the top of your head before murmuring against your hair, his voice soft.

“I’ll come where you are. You can come where I am. We-we’ll see each other, okay?”

“Okay, Eren. You’re right. I-I’m just being silly.”

He leans forward to drag you up on your feet and the two of you stroll your way back to the townhouse together in the dark. And the confession still burns on the tip of your tongue.

You and Eren stay seated on the piano bench, well after you guys finish singing your song for Hange and Levi, to watch everyone from your perfect vantage point on the front of the dance floor.

Levi and Hange are still swaying in the middle, the two of them laughing into each other’s faces as Hange steps on Levi’s feet for the sixth time. Sasha and Reiner are doing some very serious tango dancing, and destroying anyone who makes it into their pathway, and Jean and Mikasa brushing noses as they softly smile into each other’s faces.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as I am right now, Eren.” you say, looking over at his green eyes.

He’s all dressed up, in a nice black suit and his hair nicely styled against his forehead. He’s wearing a pink tie, intended to match the pale pink long dress you borrowed from Mikasa.

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know. There’s so much love in the room.”

“Connie getting seconds for the tenth time is love?”

You laugh as you lean your head on his shoulder, laughing into the fabric.

“No. But look. He has an extra plate that he’s piling onto for Sasha. Her feet have been hurting all night and instead of making her get up with him, he’s doing it for her. That’s love, Eren.”

“You always notice things I don’t, sweet girl. Tell me more.”

You smile as you place your chin up on his shoulder, pointing out each little thing in the room.

“Mikasa and Jean have been in the back corner all night. And when we were singing, Jean pressed the softest kiss to Mikasa’s cheek and her face turned all pink, even after all this time.”

Eren places his hand around the small of your back, rubbing small circles into your back as you go on.

“Armin is the most competitive Monopoly player known to man. Marco’s been sliding all his extra money to Reiner so he can stay in the game.”

“Erwin took a picture of Levi and Hange during their first dance from the back side, because he knows Levi wants the view of the picture to be Hange and not him.”

“And Levi and Hange, they’ve been swinging in the middle of the dance floor since we stopped singing and the orchestra started playing. Which was like forty-five minutes ago. They-they’ve been talking this entire time, never running out of things to say to each other, with the biggest smiles on their faces.”

Eren looks over at you, the soft, sweet look in your eyes as you look at everyone in the room and it makes his heart melt.

“Levi and Hange are really in love, aren’t they?” Eren asks, drawing his eyes that give away too much from you.

“The softest kind of love. I-I’ve never seen two people so in sync before. I feel like every time I look at Levi when he’s with Hange, he looks like he’s never been more at peace.”

And Eren can see it - the way Levi’s shoulders are relaxed, the smile on his usually blank face, and the wrinkles near his eyes.

And when he looks over, all he can see is it on your face too. The marks of love. Full, pink cheeks - which he’s sure is from the makeup Mikasa helped you with. The softest, most excited smile on your face as you scan the room, only pointing out more and more of the tiny little signs of love he’d never even see on his own.

“I love you.”

You look over at Eren, his green eyes gentle and heartfelt as he takes your hand and squeezes three times.

“Eren, you-”

“I love you. The three squeezes - that’s what they’ve always meant.” he whispers, his hand warm in yours as me mimics the motion you’ve done a hundred times.

You can feel the tears stinging in your eyes as you bring your hand up to his cheek, memorizing the way he looks, bathed in the golden lights strung from the ceiling to the end of the backyard.

“There’s love in the room. And it’s right here between you and me.” you whisper, before Eren closes the space between you and leaves the warmest, softest kiss against your lip - so deep you can feel it tingling all over your skin.

The softest kind of love.

next part linked here

taglist:

@k0z3me @kayleegomez @yihona-san06 @bsenpai @sweetenertea @mykyoon @violetmatcha @rebeccawinters @cutiejg @bokutosthings @bookwrmm @mblrrr @wheredidmycrowngo @somethinginyoureyes7 @chilichopsticks @okaystopwhore @you-always-made-me-blush @itzmeme @firelordazulaaaa @whoami-72 @g-ghostly @intimacywithceline @erensmoodygf @cocomellxn @princess-ackerman @jaegerfiles @cacapeepee @squirrelspoetry @rui-0836 @moonmalice @invisible-mori @sofiasber @bbybeeb @timetobegone @tee4str @ttokki2 @leave-rae-alone @ec3lipsy @officialsimpp @gojojang

pls comment on this post or any of the chapters if you want to be added to the taglist <3

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biocrafthero · 6 months ago

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Some Queer Games and Devs to check out this Pride Month

Hello! I play a decent amount of video games, and like making posts about them. This year, I've been making a lot more posts analyzing and promoting games I particularly enjoy. I'm making this post as a way to share games that have queer developers and/or topics to celebrate this year's Pride Month.

All games' websites will be linked in their respective sections, and I urge you to check out any of the games that speak to you. There's a decent amount of variety on this list, so please give all of them a look!

Please note that all of these games are ones I have personally played--I am not including games I have not played yet for myself. If you were hoping for your favorite title to be on here, I am very sorry but chances are I just haven't heard of or played it yet.

ANATOMY (2016)

ANATOMY is a horror game released in 2016 by developer Kitty Horrorshow (she/her). While the game does not contain any queer themes, the dev is openly transgender.

The plot of the game coincides with the gameplay, which centers around walking through a nearly pitch-black house collecting tapes and putting them in a tape player. Despite its simplicity, the game has been commended by many for being "the scariest game they have ever played." The story of the house is uncovered as you listen to each of the tapes, and reentering each time the game shuts you out.

This game features themes surrounding body horror and psychological horror, and one moment that can be seen as a mild jumpscare if it is not expected.

A full playthrough takes about an hour, with multiple endings. However, all roads lead to the same destination.

ANATOMY is available for $3 USD on itch.io.

We Know The Devil (2015)

We Know The Devil is a visual novel developed by the team Worst Girls Games, which consists of Aevee Bee (she/her) and Max Schwartz (any). Music for the game is composed by Alec Lambert.

The plot of the game surrounds three teenagers who have been sent to a religious summer camp in the American midwest. With just one week left, they're all hoping for everything to be smooth sailing, but nothing is ever that simple. On this fateful night, they must face the devil; two will make it out, but one will be left behind.

The gameplay focuses on making decisions on who gets paired up together, and consequently who gets left out of the interaction. These choices determine what ending you get and there are never any wrong answers.

Queer rep in this game consists of polyamory, lesbianism, transgenderism, and transhumanism. There is also mentioned homosexuality regarding a male character that is only ever talked about in passing.

This game contains themes surrounding religion, internalized homophobia, along with general homophobia and transphobia. There are scenes that depict underage drinking, vomiting, body horror, and some moments that can be interpreted as self-harm. Some sound effects in the game can be jarring, along with the track "Incense (Smoke & Honey)" from the OST, a song that plays in three of the four endings.

A single playthrough can take about two hours depending on reading speed. There are four endings, meaning a minimum of four playthroughs.

We Know The Devil is available for $6.66 USD on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and itch.io.

There is also the demo for the game, which is free to download off of the game's itch.io page and baked into the Switch port.

Heaven Will Be Mine (2017)

Heaven Will Be Mine is a visual novel also developed by the team Worst Girls Games, with soundtrack once again composed by Alec Lambert.

The game's plot centers around three factions in the solar system. They have all been called back to Earth under threat of death; two factions want to stay in space, while one is choosing to return. At the start of the game, you can choose one out of three characters to follow the POV of, each belonging to one of the three factions.

Gameplay is similar to We Know The Devil, meaning that you make decisions throughout the story that determine what ending you get. There are no wrong choices, only ones that lean in the favor of one of the faction out of your options.

Queer rep in this game consists primarily of polyamory, lesbianism, transgenderism, and transhumanism. There may be more I am forgetting to mention.

This game contains scenes depicting violence, body horror, and discussions about sexuality, abuse, and trauma. This game is meant for a more mature audience than the others on this list. Some sound effects and music in the game can be jarring. There may be content warnings I am forgetting to put here.

The game has three major story routes and three endings, and each playthrough takes around four to five hours depending on reading speed. At minimum, you will need to play this game three times.

Heaven Will Be Mine is available for $15 USD on Steam, iOS, and itch.io. It should be noted that the price on iOS is different than on other platforms, being listed at $5 USD.

In Stars And Time (2023)

In Stars And Time is a turn-based RPG developed by insertdisc5 (she/they) and published by Armor Games Studios. Music for the game is composed by Studio Thumpy Puppy.

The story follows your typical RPG party, starting the day before the final dungeon and final boss. However, when you go in, you get caught in a trap and die. Time suddenly rewinds, and you find yourself at the day before your party entered the dungeon. You are caught in a time loop, and must find a way to stop the final boss and escape the loops.

Gameplay mostly consists of turn-based combat with enemies, and making the right dialogue choices when talking to NPCs and your party members. There are several puzzles throughout the game that encourage you to use the looping mechanic to solve them.

Queer rep in this game consists of transgenderism (transmasc and nonbinary explicitly, but there are some characters that can be interpreted as transfem, agender, and/or genderfluid), aromanticism, asexuality, lesbianism and homosexuality, and a plot thread that involves t4t romance. All six major characters have canonical pronoun sets. There may be more rep I am forgetting to include here in this list.

This game contains scenes of mild violence, self-hatred and other heavy mental heath topics, one scene of child endangerment, unreality, and optional scenes involving self-harm and suicide.

The average playtime for this game is 26 hours, which increases to 36 depending on how much optional content you engage with. There is technically one ending, but an optional plot thread can get you an alternate version of the ending screen. This plot thread is highly encouraged to be followed.

In Stars And Time is available for $20 USD on Steam, itch.io, Nintendo Switch, and PS4 and PS5.

There is also a previous title titled START AGAIN: a prologue, which is available on Steam and itch.io. This game does not need to be played to understand In Stars And Time, but is highly recommended nonetheless.

Some personal anecdotes regarding each of these games:

In Stars And Time is one of the few games where I saw a character (Siffrin in this case), pointed at them, and said "They're just like me!"

We Know The Devil and Heaven Will Be Mine both have themes of queer solidarity in the face of oppression and it fills me with rebellious rage (positive).

ANATOMY is one of my favorite games ever made, and is objectively the scariest game I have ever played.

Almost all of these games have made me almost cry, which is a very high bar for a game to reach. The only one that didn't is ANATOMY, mostly because it evokes more fear than it does tears for me.

We Know The Devil in particular evokes a very specific nostalgia for me, so the setting and characters hit differently for me than they may for others.

I played In Stars And Time shortly after a breakup and consequently developed the most horrific crush on the character Isabeau. It is frankly quite embarrassing.

#rambles #in stars and time #isat #we know the devil #wktd #heaven will be mine #hwbm #anatomy #anatomy game #indie games

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nemastraea · 1 year ago

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Doormat extraordinaire: Andrew Graves is down horrendous for his own sister | Part 1

Or as I like to call it, actual literal word vomit attempting a proper character analysis!

Here's a link to the AO3 version for archive purposes: The doormat extraordinaire has a bit of a romantic streak,

Content warning: This will heavily feature spoilers from Episodes 1 & 2 of The Coffin of Andy and Leyley. Trigger warning: Abuse, cannibalism, child neglect, codependency, harassment, incest, murder, self-harm, and suicide. Disclaimer: I will occasionally reference an extremely normal essay from Sufficient Velocity commenter Leyleyfication (here). It would be a lot easier to read this essay first as Leyleyfication does a pretty good job establishing the following: - Ashley is dependent on Andrew to assure and validate her of her own insecurities, and - The game heavily implies that Andrew wants to fuck his own sister.

Anyway: The Coffin of Andy and Leyley! A game in early access where a pair of siblings are stuck through a seemingly never-ending quarantine together, desperate not to starve to death. When their cultist neighbor dies in a ritual gone wrong, they rationally resort to cannibalism. Fun!

I am definitely going to assume that you read Leyleyfication's extremely normal essay (I am on my knees, begging you to read that). Which is why this essay immediately starts with, "yeah, Andrew definitely wants to fuck his sister" as its baseline.

What I will be adding to that funny little cauldron of fucked up sibling dynamics in a horror visual novel are the following: Andrew's fixation and sexual attraction manifests as his desire to control, dominate, and possess Ashley. And it is framed as a fatalist attraction and the totality of his existence (for worse or even worse).

Because of Tumblr's limit for 30 images per post, though, I'm going to have to split this extremely normal and reasonably lengthy essay into... multiple posts! Yeah! I have no idea how long this will fucking go!

So first things first: how can we tell that Andrew is even attracted to Ashley in the first place?

Nemlei (Devlog 05). Note the hickeys above and below Ashley's choker and her left inner thigh, and Andrew's left hand creeping into her right thigh.

As Leyleyfication points out, the game primes us to believe that Andrew is a pushover and Ashley is his abuser. This occurs in the Steam page as it explicitly says Ashley is "in fact, very bad" and Andrew is a "doormat extraordinaire." Moreover, it's very easy to tell that Ashley is, on some degree, obsessed with Andrew:

She's happy to hear that Julia broke up with Andrew over the phone;

She repeatedly accuses him of finding the Lady from Room 302 attractive and he 'tried anything with her;' and

Her flashback to wanting to punish her friend Nina ("the Bitch in the Box") for crushing on Andrew.

Episode 1, dream and memory. Leyley previously said that Nina should know better than to 'steal from another woman,' referring to herself. The implication that Andy is hers is toyed with after this moment, when she says she'd put Andy back in the box.

The game does prime us to think that Ashley is Andrew's abuser. It also suggests that Ashley projects an unrequited and incestuous love onto Andrew. Before we consider Episode 2's narrative, Episode 1 gives the initial impression that if Andrew comes to reciprocate her feelings, it's more of a reaction and subsuming to her will. That it may not be something he wants for himself and independent of Ashley's manipulation.

But again, I do believe Andrew wants to fuck Ashley. And always has been. He just frequently vacillate between 'subtle' and 'really fucking obvious' tells that completely take advantage of the game's third person limited POV.

Keep in mind that both Andrew and Ashley are extremely unreliable narrators. We aren't going to get information they personally do not care about and that is on top of our own choices as the player.

(A digressive example: you will not learn that the founder and CEO of Toxisoda's company was a former surgeon unless you interact with the television in Andrew's Episode 2 dream and memory of their blood oath. Otherwise, it neatly ties into the surgeon that Mrs. Graves conveniently says she was directed to regarding the siblings' quarantine in the main story.)

When it's really fucking obvious

When you play as Andrew in Episode 2, his post-dinner argument with Ashley carefully frames them both. They are cramped in the foreground and Andrew's left arm is conveniently blocked by Ashley and the kitchen knife, as seen here.

Episode 2, common route. Prior to this, you can interact with Mrs. Graves for her to pointedly comment on the siblings being inseparable.

At this point in the game, their physical closeness is something we're used to by now. After all, we've already seen Ashley on his lap at least twice; Andrew slept in her bed in Episode 1; and Ashley confirmed they've shared the same motel bed multiple times in the one-week interim between Episodes 1 & 2.

But the game abruptly shifts to Mrs. Graves' POV when she enters the scene and not only do we see the two as physically close, but we notice a few more details.

Episode 2, common route. The first picture transitions from Andrew's POV to Mrs. Graves as it introduces us to her entering the scene.

The contrast of how spacious the kitchen is from Mrs. Graves' POV to Andrew's cramped POV is obvious. More importantly, Andrew's fingers loop through Ashley's belt loops when the two are huddled together. When Mrs. Graves clears her throat, the two don't really separate.

Ashley pivots on her left foot so that her body is turned to their mother, not Andrew, but she doesn't step away from him. Andrew, meanwhile, recoils from Ashley and withdraws his hand. But he isn't turning his body to face their mother like Ashley does here. His attention, at least in this moment, is still towards Ashley (and, yanno, the sink).

Episode 2, common route. Two things to consider in the second picture: Andrew hides Ashley's bite mark on his cheek with his left sleeve and he conveniently moves the pillow from behind him to his front.

The 'tell' isn't so much as the two are unusually physically close. Again, we're used to that by now. But it's how the two siblings react whenever Mrs. Graves comes into the picture. Ashley doesn't really give a fuck about whether or not people assume the worst of her or even her intentions regarding Andrew. To Ashley, their proximity is normal and anyone who sees that as a problem is not worth an explanation or reason.

But Andrew is at least subconsciously aware it's 'not normal.' As far as these moments are concerned, Andrew instinctively tries to do damage control by either putting space between them or keeping his hands occupied so they aren't visibly touching Ashley. Still, he either does not mind or actively appreciates his physical closeness with Ashley.

When it's really fucking obvious (but only in hindsight)

In Episode 1, Ashley passes out after trying to clean up after the apartment. Regardless of her passing out in the living room, the bathroom, or their parents' room, she will wake up on the couch with her head pillowed by Andrew's lap.

Episode 1, Ashley's POV. Andrew's hands often hover over Ashley's head, but more than that—

I personally didn't notice this until I replayed Episode 1, when I basically have the hindsight of Andrew's fixation with hair. But yes, his fingers idly twirl through the ends of Ashley's hair as they watch TV. It's implied that Andrew can and will do this when Ashley pillows his lap, awake or asleep. He does not recoil from it when Ashley does wake up and later on, in Episode 2, even continues to brush it from her face.

Episode 2, common route. Ashley fell asleep at the passenger seat, so Andrew had to have transferred her to the back seat to pillow her head again. Though, technically, she's more cramped at the back seat than if he'd just reclined the passenger seat.

So far, we've seen that Andrew has a natural tendency to not only be physically close to Ashley, but to hover over her personal space and be in constant and direct contact with her. Whether it's by having her head on his lap, twirling her hair through his fingers, or even constantly grabbing her by the head in various states of comfort, playfulness, or outright threat (but let's put a pin on that for now).

The weight behind this candid contact shifts when Episode 2 draws a pretty explicit parallel between Julia and Ashley. Assuming that you interacted with Julia's landline and heard Ashley's voicemails, you know (and Andrew knows) that Ashley draws that connection herself:

DO YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME!? Just because you can fuck him and I can't? You think that's love?! Are you fucking delusional?? Cumdumpsters like you are just that. He will never love you. Not like he loves me. I am the only one. I am everything. I am the secrets you'll never hear. When he lies in bed at night, and when he needs someone to hold on to... It's not you he seeks out. It is me.

Episode 2, common route. Andrew's dream and vision implies that Andrew's heard these voicemails before.

That connection extends to the hair contact as well, as Andrew goes in to hug Julia, cards his hand through her hair and requests she tie her hair up.

Episode 2, common route. Andrew's dream and memory of Julia when they're older. From the use of Andrew's present-age portrait, suggests is closer to the timeline of the game's events than his and Ashley's memories as Andy and Leyley.

From this moment, we can have one of two assumptions: either Andrew wants Julia's (black) hair put up like Ashley's, or Ashley caught onto Andrew's hair kink and puts her hair up to imitate it.

Regardless, we infer the following:

Andrew teases affection through touching and even pulling on one's hair.

His fixation on ponytails and pulling on them does not exclude his own sister. It still stands and without reservation, perhaps more explicitly since he can do it so candidly, as we saw before.

The last of that Julia-Ashley parallel is self-contained within Episode 2. But only if you end up in the Burial route regardless of Ashley's platonic or incestuous vision.

Episode 2, common route (first picture) and Burial route (second picture). It's worth pointing out that Andrew is actually disinterested and moody during his conversation with Julia, and only perks up when he mentions Ashley or feigns care for Julia (since he extends his care of Ashley to her as well).

The game ends up drawing parallels on how Andrew treats Ashley, for better or for worse, with his ex (which is definitely worse, poor Julia). In doing so, the game blurs the lines between romantic affection for Julia and 'platonic and familial' affection for Ashley.

Y'all, this isn't even getting into how Andrew respectfully gives his parents space and only crowds them when he threatens them with his cleaver. In his mind, Ashley and Julia are in that same space of physical and romantic displays of affection; something he reserves only for them (only without reservation for Ashley) that does not extend to anyone else. His ex-girlfriend, and his sister. Shit's wild.

When it's obvious BUT it's violent!

That isn't to say that his hair fixation (hair kink?) is completely innocuous, though, as it rears its ugly head (pun unintended) in Decay. Which is what that previous pin was for! Yay!

You end up in the Decay route if Ashley doesn't trust Andrew with keeping an eye on their parents. Here, Ashley sleeps on their parents' bed by herself and has an alarming vision: an unknown party chases after her through the in-between and when they catch up to her, it's Andrew. Ashley has nowhere to run and Andrew eventually grabs her and threatens to kill her.

Whether or not Ashley can defend herself depends on Andrew expending all of her gun's ammo when he deals with the hitman, or not. But that outcome divergence will matter much, much later (so that's another pin for us to come back to).

The sequence of events actually mirrors the way the siblings ambush the Lady from Room 302 back in Episode 1. There, Andrew closes in on her and grabs the Lady by her wrist and uses his front to pin and restrain her. With his cleaver to her throat, the Lady is completely at his mercy.

Episode 1 & 2, common route (first picture) and Decay route (second, third, and fourth pictures). Note that Andrew restrains the Lady from Room 302 by the wrist while with Ashley, by her hair.

Andrew asserts control of the person and the situation through violence. Whether it's by killing them (the wardens) or by threatening physical violence (the Lady from Room 302 and Ashley). It's always on the table for him. As Leyleyfication puts it, "He's so calculated in how he approaches his use of violence [here]."

That violence includes Ashley. It's always on the table where Ashley's concerned. The game even juxtaposes when Andrew threatens violence and physical assault 'playfully' versus when he's seriously out for blood:

When you interact with the wall of call girls' numbers and Ashley jokes about leaving her number on the wall, Andrew 'jokingly' threatens to backhand her for even thinking about it.

When you interact with their parents' latched window for a second time, Andrew 'teases' slapping Ashley if she doesn't find a way to open it. (Ashley jokingly asks if it's on her ass or at her face, and assumes it must be the face when Andrew says she'll have to find out.)

The two other times that Andrew exerts violence against Ashley are both in Episode 1 & 2. We can remember when that happens in Episode 1, when Andrew's had it with Ashley's fits and threatens to kill her:

Episode 1, common route. Y'all, Andrew was choking her hard enough for his grip to bruise.

It happens again in Decay when he confronts Ashley about repeatedly calling him Andy and therefore, breaking the promise he coerced her into from Episode 1.

Episode 2, Decay route. Another thing to keep in mind is that Andrew's outburst is preceded by Ashley prodding him about his current state and insisting that Andrew was fine with 'Andy' during their home invasion.

In Episode 1, Andrew resorts to harming Ashley because he's fucking had it with her accusing him repeatedly of trying anything with the Lady from 302 and, in her eyes, his 'infidelity.' Where she accuses Andrew of not loving her enough that if his eye catches another girl, he'd leave her behind or flip on her. In Episode 2, she's poking and prodding on his boundaries on 'Andy' and whether or not, once again, he's with her on their now-committed life of joint crime.

If I can give another example, it happens in Andrew's common route memory of Nina's death and his blood oath with Leyley.

Episode 2, common route. Prior to this, Andy expresses immense exasperation at Leyley's tantrums over him 'thinking about that bitch again.' When he goes to grab the kitchen knife, cleans it, and returns to Leyley on his bed—he's briefly considering killing her.

Andrew threatens Ashley violently whenever he intends to confront her on her perceived brattiness, for lack of a better word. And keep Leyleyfication's essay segment on Ashley's insecurities and need for Andrew's validation in mind here—when Ashley does this, she wants and even needs Andrew to comfort her. But her aggression treads Andrew's patience and really, his tolerance of her behavior.

When Ashley's anger, clinging behavior, insecurities, and possessiveness of Andrew slips his control and tolerance, he resorts to violence to coerce or even dominate her.

I think (or hope, if it's clear enough) it reinforces what Leyleyfication points out:

The truth of the matter is, Ashley can only make Andrew do anything because he lets her. I don't mean in the sense that I'm saying abuse victims let their abusers emotionally abuse them, I mean in the sense that he is clearly considering his options on the table and choosing to discard those that could stop her, or bring an end to any of this.

It also reflects on another aspect of why Andrew resorts to violence: in all three situations, Andrew remarks on Ashley's behavior and her sake. If she acts up again once they're out of the apartment, it'll cause trouble for him while they're evading authorities. If she's going to call him Andy from hereon out, what's the point of running away with her. If she expects him to leverage keeping 'her secret,' he won't because it's for her sake.

Andrew rationalizes his attempt to control of Ashley's behavior as being for her sake. But really, isn't it him confining her behavior to something he can tolerate and personally handle?

I'd also like to point out that Andrew admits that he noticed Ashley push for calling him 'Andy' during the home invasion, and he did not argue with her on it while they held their parents hostage and readied to sacrifice them. We can infer that when Andrew calculates his use of violence, that can also factor when, where, and how he exerts it.

Well, that's where I can reasonably end this half of my word vomit! Now, onwards, to part 2!

#lia's conspiracy board #The Coffin of Andy and Leyley #TCOAAL: Andrew Graves #TCOAAL: Ashley Graves #ship: coffincest #character analysis

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weemssapphic · 2 years ago

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in my head (series)

Chapter One: Friends with Benefits

Larissa Weems x f!reader

next chapter | series page

words: ~2.7k, ao3 link

chapter-specific warnings: light smut (nsfw), mentions of alcohol plot: Friends with benefits. No strings attached - no dates, no feelings, just sex (really good sex). That’s what you’d told Larissa. That’s what Larissa seemed to want, and you would do anything to make her happy. So you would be content with the way things were - for now.

“Darling, ‘mm so close,” Larissa moaned. Her thighs clenched around your head as you lapped at her core, savoring every drop of her arousal as she rode out her orgasm.

You peppered Larissa’s inner thighs with kisses and tiny bite marks before coming up to kiss her, whimpering softly as her tongue brushed against yours.

The bell rang and the hallway flooded with students, signaling the end of your free period.

“My meeting with Mayor Walker is in ten minutes,” Larissa sighed, running her fingers affectionately through your hair and stopping at your jaw, pulling you in for a heated kiss that held promises of more to come - later, once official duties had been fulfilled.

You were reluctant to pull away but you had your own class coming up in a few minutes, and so the ache between your thighs would have to wait.

“I don’t think my students would take kindly to me being late for fucking their principal, huh?” You smirked, earning yourself an incredulous look and a playful slap on the ass from the older woman.

“Must you be so crass?”

“Oh don’t even try to deny it, you love it when I talk dirty,” you grinned and tossed Larissa a wink, which was rewarded with an eye roll.

“I love it even more when you stop talking completely and put that mouth to better use,” she grumbled, the amused glint in her sapphire eyes giving her away.

You placed a hand to your chest in faux-surprise. “Principal Weems, you wound me. Here I thought you enjoyed my clever quips.”

“For that they would actually have to be clever, darling. Now I only have seven minutes until my meeting, and I am still your boss, so I must ask you to leave. Unless you’d like to be punished for being late to your own class…?” Larissa quirked up an eyebrow and you felt your cheeks heat at the implication.

“As tempting as the offer is, Principal Weems, I should get going.”

You reached out and fixed her smudged lipstick with your thumb. Larissa gazed at you fondly, eyes sparkling, lips tugged up into a small smile at the outer corners. “Thank you,” she murmured. You weren’t sure if it was a trick of the light, but you could swear you saw a pink tinge to her cheeks.

“If you need me,” you said, raising an eyebrow suggestively as you fetched your panties from her desk and planted a final kiss to Larissa’s cheek before turning to leave. “You know where to find me.”

“Perhaps tonight, to let off some steam. You know how tiresome the Mayor can be,” she rolled her eyes and you snorted in agreement.

“I thought you didn’t tire easily,” you teased.

“Not with you, darling.”

Larissa watched you leave, eyes fixated on the sway of your hips as they disappeared from sight behind her office door. A glance at her watch told her the mayor was due any minute now, so she shook her head lightly, as if physically trying to rid herself from thoughts of you. She mustn't let herself get distracted.

~~~ FLASHBACK ~~~

You had piqued Larissa’s interest from the moment she’d hired you for the newly founded position of Outcast Neurostudies teacher. Your ability as a mind-reader made you uniquely suited to the position, and it intrigued Larissa - she hadn’t met anyone like you before, and she felt drawn to you from the get go. You challenged her in ways not many people had the ability to, and there was a certain charge in the air when you were around that she simply couldn’t explain.

After spending some one-on-one time together, the two of you had discovered you had quite a lot in common, and had developed a close friendship. You would spend Friday nights curled up in front of Larissa’s fireplace, sharing a bottle of red wine and talking about everything and nothing. It felt nice for Larissa, finally opening up to someone again.

Only she couldn’t get you off her mind. One such day, she was sitting at her desk, preparing to leave for Outreach Day by firing off a few last minute emails. Her thoughts drifted to you - it would be the first time she’d see you off-campus, and the thought thrilled her a bit. Perhaps she could steal you away for some hot chocolate at the Weathervane when all the students were settled into their assignments.

Larissa’s thoughts drifted even further, wondering what you would be wearing. You always looked so tantalizing, blouses that stopped just shy of your cleavage, skirts that would hike up when you’d squeeze onto the sofa in Larissa’s office, the smooth expanse of your thighs on display. And you, so blissfully unaware of your charm. The thought made Larissa heady.

No. Such thoughts about an employee were unprofessional.

But if they only stayed thoughts?

Larissa slammed her laptop shut with a frustrated groan. She could feel her panties growing damp as she pictured you writhing underneath her, riding out an orgasm on her fingers. Fuck.

She had to do something about the ache between her legs, or Outreach Day was going to be pure torture.

Larissa’s hand slipped under the hem of her skirt and dipped between her thighs, cupping her soaked panties. This wouldn’t take long, she was already so close. She began to rut against her hand, rubbing hard and fast circles against her swollen clit, the faintest of moans passing her lips. Images of you, face contorted with pleasure, screaming her name, flashed behind her eyes as she stroked herself through her panties, her stomach burning.

A knock at her office door caused her to jerk her hand up, and she coughed out a weak “come in!” whilst smoothing her skirt.

Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear - you strolled into her office, beaming ear-to-ear, wearing a tight blouse with the top button undone, hair pulled back to reveal the full curve of your jaw (oh, how would it feel to leave prints of her own lipstick along that jaw?)

“Ready for Outreach Day, Larissa? The students are waiting by the buses.” If you noticed that Larissa was flushed, her breathing labored, well, you didn’t comment.

“Y-yes, Y/N. I’m ready.” Larissa cleared her throat, fingers twitching on her desk as she pressed her thighs together to relieve the tension still steadily climbing inside of her.

“Great! Maybe you’d like to sit next to me on the bus?” Your innocent smile did absolutely nothing to soothe the ache between Larissa’s legs. This was going to be a long day.

And it was. Thanks to Wednesday Addams, it was a complete disaster.

The day ended with Larissa inviting you back to her office to share a bottle of wine as she let out her frustrations. One bottle quickly turned into two, and Larissa became aware, again, of the fire in her belly, the heat spreading rapidly throughout all her limbs.

You sat close, closer than you’d ever sat. The firelight flickered across your features, illuminating your natural beauty. You looked so eager, so receptive. When you put your hand on her forearm in a soothing gesture, stroking her bare skin with your thumb, it made her dizzy.

She wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the day’s pent up frustrations but before she knew what she was doing, her lips were on yours. To her surprise, you didn’t push her away - quite the contrary, you let out a wanton moan, a moan that said “what are you waiting for?” and she pulled you closer by the waist and allowed her tongue to slide against yours.

She fucked you right there on her office sofa that night, both a little wine drunk, neither one of you caring about anything except quelling the burning desire that burned inside the both of you.

And then morning came. Larissa awoke alone in her bed with a searing headache and, moments later, the events of the previous night came flooding back to her. Her tongue on your cunt, teasing your entrance, circling your clit. Your breathy moans, the way your thighs clenched around her head as you came.

Shame coursed through her body. She wanted to run and hide, but she knew she had to own up to her mistake, so she called you into her office for the conversation that had changed the trajectory of your relationship:

“Come in.” Larissa was sitting at her desk, head in her hands, when you entered the office. She could barely look up, unsure how she would be able to look into your eyes.

“I assume you want to talk about last night?” you asked. When Larissa finally looked up, you were biting your lip - you looked nervous, and it took everything in Larissa not to reach out and kiss you, to soothe you somehow.

She took a deep breath, slipping into her mask of professionalism, steeling herself for rejection. “Y/N… I apologize for what I did last night. I don’t want you to think poorly of me, what I did was not appropriate nor professional in the slightest. I value the friendship you’ve trusted me with and hate to think that I’ve broken that trust over a silly drunken mishap.”

To Larissa’s utter shock, you laughed. “Larissa… I don’t know about you but last night was the best sex I’ve ever had. Where did you learn to do that thing with your tongue?” Larissa’s heart began to pound, the blood rushing to her face. Was she hearing you correctly? Was this some sort of fever dream? You were supposed to be angry, to be disgusted with her. Yet here you were, staring at her with your kind eyes - laughing?

You rounded her desk, perching at the edge of it and taking Larissa’s chin between your fingers. The action made her shiver. “Hey, I’m sorry. I wanted to lighten the mood a little. I just mean I don’t think poorly of you and you have nothing to apologize for, because I don’t regret what happened last night. I enjoyed myself and if you did, too, then I don’t see why we couldn’t… you know, do that again sometime.” You smiled hopefully.

Larissa sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her mind was reeling - when she’d woken up that morning she’d been so afraid you’d be disgusted with her, that you’d tell her off and never want to speak with her again. Instead, you were offering yourself to her on a silver platter. She couldn’t dare hope.

“I have a rule against dating coworkers,” she said slowly.

“Oh, I don’t mean dating. Think of it as blowing off steam.”

There was a beat of silence where the implications of your words hung heavy in the air.

“What are you suggesting?” Larissa furrowed her brows, pulse racing as she tried to concentrate with your fingers tracing the line of her jaw.

“Haven’t you heard of, you know… friends with benefits?” Your cheeks were slightly rosy and you sucked your lip between your teeth.

Larissa snorted, her hand shooting up to cover her painted lips at the unpretty sound.

You let go of her chin and slipped behind her, soothing your fingers into the tense muscles at the base of her neck. God, that feels good… You dug your thumbs more intensely into her shoulders and she couldn’t help the moan that spilled out of her mouth.

“Friends with benefits, huh?” Larissa’s voice was low and wanting as she mulled over your words.

“No strings attached, Larissa. No feelings, no dates. Just two friendly coworkers who enjoy each other's company and just so happen to have mind-blowing sex.” Any qualms Larissa had about staying professional, about not ruining your friendship, were slowly trickling away as your warm breath washed over neck, your hands working her muscles into putty.

“Mmh…” You dug your thumbs harder into Larissa’s back. “I could agree to that.” She let out a moan and swiveled her desk chair around, putting an end to the massage in order to claim your lips with her own.

~~~ END FLASHBACK ~~~

A few weeks into your arrangement with Larissa, you still got chills every time you walked down the corridor to her office. You couldn’t believe your luck - somehow, the stunning, intelligent, imposing woman had not only become one of your closest friends, but was also interested in you sexually.

Your relationship with her was almost perfect: you’d talk, laugh, cry, be there for each other like best friends, then you’d have the best sex you’d ever had with anyone - all, as you’d said, without any strings attached, without having to label anything. If sharing a glass of wine and quelling her sexual frustrations was all she wanted from you, hell, you weren’t going to question it. It was more than you could ever dare hope for.

You reached Larissa’s office for the second time that day and knocked on the door, waiting for her smooth voice to call “enter” before slipping into the room.

“I brought you your favorite.” You grinned, holding up a bottle of Larissa’s preferred red wine as if it were a trophy.

Larissa’s features softened as she peered up at you over the top of her laptop, her lips curling up into a smile. “Let me finish this proposal and then I’ll be right with you.”

You made yourself useful by pouring two glasses of wine, handing one to the blonde then curling up in the armchair across from her desk and watching her finish her work. She worked so intently, so diligently - her fingers flew across the keyboard, her brow furrowed lightly. Every so often she would pause, nibble at her lip, then her fingers would tap away at the keys again. You couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

Larissa stilled, feeling your eyes upon her. Her gaze met yours and she arched an eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing.” You blushed and stared down into your wine. Larissa watched you for a moment before turning her attention back to her proposal, a small smile now playing upon her lips.

The next half hour passed in amiable silence as Larissa worked and you scrolled on your phone, peeking up every so often to steal a glance at the principal. Finally, she shut her laptop. She leaned back in her armchair, eyes fluttering shut, a frustrated groan escaping her lips.

“Dare I ask how your meeting with Mayor Walker went today?” You spoke quietly, as if afraid to break the silence.

Larissa chuckled darkly, opening her eyes and reaching for her wine glass, draining it in one go. “The aftermath of this year’s Outreach Day extends farther than I thought, it appears.”

You frowned, rounding the desk and sitting on the edge, just in front of Larissa. “I’m sorry, I know how important Outcast-Normie relations are to you.”

Larissa waved a hand in front of her face. “No need to pity me, darling, it comes with the territory. I just want to do right by these students. And now our dear mayor wants this proposal on his desk by Monday morning.” She rolled her eyes, sighing heavily.

“Do you want me to leave? I mean we could always take a raincheck, you look like you could use some rest and I-” Larissa lunged forward, her mouth colliding with yours, effectively putting an end to your rambling.

Her lips were warm and soft on yours, and she kissed you with a ferocious urgency that you’d rarely experienced from her. She slid her tongue against your lip and you allowed her to explore the cavern of your mouth as her hands tangled roughly in your hair.

When you parted, it was only because Larissa had run out of breath. She rested her forehead against yours, her breath warm against your face.

“I don’t want you to leave,” she murmured. “I… I need the distraction tonight.” She swallowed thickly, closing her eyes, and you could tell it was hard for her to ask for what she wanted.

Your hands came up to cup her cheeks. “Do you want to be in charge tonight?”

#larissa weems x reader #larissa x reader #larissa weems #principal weems x reader #principal weems #in my head series #in my head

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lonelypuppet404 · 5 months ago

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So if you're a fan of Needy Streamer Overload, you may like to know that the developers of NSO, WSS Playground, are also working on other games! Specifically, YunYun Denpa Syndrome, or YunYun Syndrome?! Rhythym Psychosis! [WARNING: LONG POST APPROACHING, DO YOU WISH TO ENTER?]

The English Trailer

Now, the games overview is that you play as a Hikikomori or a shut in who has severe brainrot over Denpa Songs. It's also advertised as a rythym adventure game coming out later this year! The written overview on the trailer and the steam page is "This is a rhythm-adventure game where you play as a hikikomori (shut-in) girl who’s high on denpa songs. Become Yunyun-brained and lose all self-control to anonymously post on social media and destroy the world with your Yunyun brain rot."

Now, if that sounds interesting, let's talk about the characters! First of all, who we are, aka the player insert, Qtie!

Qtie is our player character, and the Shut-In in question. From the trailer, we can infer that she got into listening to Denpa Music from Yunyun, who we'll briefly talk about in a moment. She is a shut in who gets high on denpa music, and is an anonymous poster online, shouting out her love for Yunyun. Now, we can infer a few things here. First of all, the game, like NSO has a wide variety of endings. With the snippets we see in the game trailer, we can infer that Qtie will have a HUGE impact on the internet/yunyun fandom (i'll be calling them the yundom for the rest of this post) , as we see news articles that roughly describe a 'yunyun addiction' and the title even says 'yun yun syndrome'. We can infer then that she could have a huge affect on the fandom, and the real world because of her actions. According to the Steam Page, apparently she had some traumatic events that happened in real life, that she has become a shut in and has become 'fuzzy in the head'. I don't want to refer to her as psychotic throughout this post, since I feel like that is offesive and giving her a diagnosis without even having the game yet seems wrong. Next, let's briefly go over Yun Yun.

According to the Steam Page and trailer, Yunyun is a fictional character that Qtie may or may not be hallucinating talking to her through the screen. She is described as 'an angelic devil' which could have many implications. It is also said that 'Whilst the truth is unknown, most likely, she is just a figment of Qtie's imagination. It's joever for her.'

First of all, to the translation/writing team, hats off to you for including the words 'rizz' and 'joever' into this already. Oh god. Now...an angelic devil...she will more than likely have a huge effect on Qtie, and the endings will probably envolve her and the yundom in some way. So far the media she is from is unknown, but based on her design, it's probably an anime or manga of some sort.

Now, a brief overview of the songs! Aka, a crash course in Denpa!

Now what is 'Denpa'? Well, Denpa is a music genre described by their steam page and google as a catchy, strange sound. Think of the NSO soundtrack and its respective insert song(s), Internet Overdose and Yamero. It usually has a high female voice behind the songs too! A spotify playlist by the sounds of spotify is linked here if you would like to listen to it yourself! I would reccomend checking out the fandom page on denpa if you want to see more.

Now the songs! On steam it says there more than 30 songs, and in the trailer we hear: - Sakuranbo Kiss / it’s a cherry kissing explosion - Kotoko - princess bride - Kotoko -Change my Style 〜あなた好みの私に〜 - KOTOKO -夏はマシンガン - 懐フラ -Miko Miko Nurse ~ Theme of Love - Kiss! い・も・う・と Club -だっこしてぎゅっ! ～汝、隣の枕（よめ）を愛せ - 民安ともえ -Cirno's Perfect Math Class - IOSYS -Overdrive - IOSYS

First of all, thanks to the youtube user who found all these in the comments of the trailer oh g o d. All these songs are great in their own ways, so go listen to them if you want to train for the yunyun overdose! Now let's look at...the gameplay! And also why nso players will love this game!

So far, we know this is a game where you post online about yunyun and her greatness, and this is where NSO comes into full effect. We have stats, different abilities, and other such things just like NSO! The rythym part in of itself is us posting on our sns of choice (presumabably twitter??? maybe 4-chan?? unsure. probably twitter.) as we, the yunyun-pilled, make other yunyun-pilled. mm. cult.

Overall, the gameplay is NSO, but also...a RHYTHYM GAME. This is very big!

time for end notes!!

Overall, I'm very excited for this game, and I want others to be too, so here I am posting about it, in my own Qtie like way. wow. she like me frfr.

The game seems to be very interesting and awesome, so please check it out on steam and see how it progresses, this seems so interesting,,,oh my god,,,,check it out,,,for yunyun...hehehe

Anyways gay rant over!

TLDR: Yun Yun Syndrome?! Rythym Psycosis is a game a lot like NSO but also a rhythym game at the same time, so you should check it out!

#needy streamer overdose #needy girl overdose #needy girl overload #needy streamer overload #yunyun syndrome #yunyun syndrome rhythm psychosis #yun yun denpa syndrome #wss playground #yyds #yysrp #Puppet's Analyses #Puppet's Rambles

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desceros · 6 months ago

Note

Could you tell us more about the dredge au? (Sorry if this is considered a request)

not at all, and i'm more than happy to go into details!! (<- is deeply, deeply unwell about this au)

first off, i will link to some things. here is the dredge steam page, and here is the dredge wiki. i can't speak highly enough of the game, and i really recommend that you pick it up if you can, or watch a good let's play if you can't. it's also on consoles if that's how you get your stuff, but obvs i can't link that from here hahaha

anyway, dredge is a game where you play as a fisherman. you catch fish, sell them, and start to notice that things are... off about the world. some fish look strange, like they're cursed. they're called aberrations by the locals and their descriptions are...

...unsettling.

for several years now, mist descends on the ocean every night and chokes out the sky, and it makes you... see things. frightening things. sea monsters that hunt you. eyes floating in the distance. tentacles rising from the deep and capsizing your boat. the less you sleep, the worse these things get, but some things can only be caught at night. your job is to hunt down these bizarre artifacts for a mysterious collector, even though it feels like a bad omen to do so.

the dredge au has you, fisherman-chan, as a fisherman in this world. you were orphaned at a young age, and the lighthouse keeper in greater marrows took you in. not really... adopting you, per se, just kind of. keeping you off the street. and you've always, always wanted to sail. the freedom, the open ocean, all of it. you want a home, but have never really felt like you had one. not until donnie shows you that maybe home isn't a place, but the people there.

donnie and the other turtles are turtle aberrations. i can't really go into details about what that means or how it happened without spoiling both the game and future fics i'm planning on writing, but basically you can think of them as mutants, still. just eldritch mutants instead of ooze mutants hahahaha

to give some context without spoiling too much, there's a superstition in the game that consuming aberrant fish gives you eternal life, or maybe it just makes you mad. there's a kind of thread where the less sanity you have, the more you See things. and the au plays with this, making it not completely transparent what's real and what isn't, having you unsure if you're experiencing things that are actually there or if you're hallucinating. also, in order to talk to donnie and lavi, you have to be a little... loopy. the closer to madness you are, the closer to the sea you are, and the closer you are to donnie.

which, oh yeah, lavi is there, because eventually donnie knocks you up because papatello is the number one tello.

if i had to describe it in other terms, i'd say the au is kind of... shape of water meets little mermaid meets lovecraft. we're still doing our thing where we mash out the details bouncing back and forth so it's not like a solid Thing just yet, but as we hash things out i imagine more fics and art will be coming hehehe

#ask tag #dredge au

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doubledeadstudio · 7 months ago

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Hello! Welcome to the official Double Dead Studio Tumblr, the solodev behind Reanimated Heart, Another Rose in His Garden, and Pygmalion's Folly.

Reanimated Heart is a character-driven horror romance visual novel about finding love in a mysterious small town. There are three monstrous love interests with their own unique personalities and storylines.

Another Rose in His Garden is an 18+ erotic Omegaverse BL visual novel. Abel Valencia is an Omega who's hidden his secondary sex his entire life. Life's alright, until he meets the wealthy tycoon, Mars Rosales, and the two get embroiled in a sexual affair that changes his life forever.

Pygmalion's Folly is a survival murdersim where you play as Roxham Police Department's star detective, hellbent on finding your sister's killer... until he finds you.

Content Warning: All my games are 18+! They contains dark subject matter such as violence and sexual content. Player discretion is advised.

This blog is ran by Jack, the creator.

Itch | Link Tree | Patreon | Twitter

Guidelines

My policy for fanwork is that anything goes in fiction, but respect my authority and copyright outside it. This means normal fan activity like taking screencaps, posting playthroughs, and making fanart/fanfiction is completely allowed, but selling this game or its assets isn't allowed (selling fanwork of it is fine, though). You are also not allowed to feed any of my assets to AI bots, period, even if it's free.

Do not use my stuff for illegal or hateful content.

Also, I expect everyone to respect the Content Warnings on the page. I'm old and do not tolerate fandom wank.

F.A.Q.

Who are the main Love Interests in Reanimated Heart?

Read their character profiles here!!

Who's the team?

Jack (creator, writer, artist), mostly. I closely work with Exodus (main programmer) and Claira (music composer). My husband edits the drafts.

For Reanimated Heart, my friend Bonny makes art assets. I've also gotten help from outsiders like Sleepy (prologue music + vfx) and my friend Gumjamin (main menu heart animation).

For Reanimated Heart's VOs, Alex Ross voices Crux, Devin McLaughlin voices Vincenzo, Christian Cruz voices Black, Maganda Marie voices Grete, and Zoe D. Lee voices Missy.

Basically, it's mostly just me & outsourcing stuff to my friends and professionals.

How can I support Double Dead Studio productions?

You can pay for the game, or join our monthly Patreon! If you don't have any money, just giving it a nice rating and recommending it to a friend is already good enough. :)

Where do the funds go to?

Almost 100% gets poured back into the game. More voice acting, more music, more trailers, more art, etc. I also like to give my programmer a monthly tip for helping me.

This game is really my insane passion project, and I want to make it better with community support.

I live in the Philippines and the purchasing power of php is not high, especially since many of the people I outsource to prefer USD. (One time I spent P10k of my own money in one month just to get things.) I'll probably still do that, even if no money comes in, until I'm in danger of getting kicked out the street… but maybe even then? (jk)

What platforms will Reanimated Heart be released in?

Itch and then Steam when it's fully finished. Still looking into other options, as I hear both are getting bad.

Will Reanimated Heart be free?

Chapter 1 will be free. The rest will be updated on Patreon exclusively until full release.

Are you doing a mobile version?

Yeah. Just Android for now, but it's in the works.

Where can I listen to Reanimated Heart's OST?

It is currently up on YouTube, Spotify, and Bandcamp!

Why didn't you answer my ask?

A number of things! Two big ones that keep coming up are Spoilers (as in, you asked something that will be put in an update) or it's already been asked. If you're really dying to know, check the character tags or the meta commentary. You might find what you're looking for there. :)

Will there be a sequel to Pygmalion's Folly?

It's not my first concern right now, but I am planning on it.

Tag List for Navigation

Just click the tags to get to where you wanna go!

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agentwriter · 2 months ago

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Here’s an LONG ASF infodump about the CPPS I play! The name is Club Penguin Dimensions, my current hyperfixation!

I know how to recognize more than 21 different ciphers to help my friends solve enigmas and such, because playing a Brazilian Club Penguin Private Server moderated by nerds and Gravity Falls fans, I don’t get the privilege of just being casually interested in Club Penguin anymore…

For reference, the guy called CDPI is Raul, a character controlled by the admins and is kinda like our very own Cucurucho… He appears randomly in parties or missions or even hangouts when the server is active (kinda rare because the community is very small but it can happen) and speaks in ciphers and morse code, usually giving us a tease about future events or what the CDPI (Council of The Interdimensional Penguins) has been up to…

There’s also a 125 pages long google docs about the lore (the code and deciphering part, not the actual history lore), it’s still unfinished and doesn’t contain all the codes, and the server has also been alive for only like- One year and a half? Crazy stuff. The list for all the codes that have been used in the game’s lore goes like this:

- Morse Code;

- Galactic Alphabet;

- EPF Secret Code;

- Hidden messages in an audio’s spectrogram;

- ASCII;

- Hidden messages if you edit and photoshop images by changing brightness, saturation and all;

- Braille;

- Nautic Signaling (I think that’s the name? Idk);

- Caesar Cipher;

- Author’s Cipher (from Gravity Falls);

- Steam games ID;

- Base 64;

- Bar Codes and QR Codes;

-!Links on Imgur;

- Binary Code;

- Decimal Binary Coding;

- Masonic Cipher;

- A1Z26 Cipher;

- Jefferson Cipher;

- And the most recent enigma also had Atbash Cipher.

We also got like- 4 Exclusive mascots! Well, one of them is kinda “side character turned mascot”, but you get my point!

Here’s Angie

She’s the newbie working at Club Penguin News, and she’s known for being energetic sunshine and a conspiracy theorist nut! She can go on and on about gnomes for hours and is very passionate about gossiping. Just a cutie pie!

Next we have Bambadee!

Yes! This IS Bambadee! The one guy from the Stowaway Story? So, he went through a bit of a redesign, and his story also went a bit different than his original counterpart… After his first encounter with Rockhopper, he became a part of the Migrator’s crew, constantly adventuring with Rockhopper and Yarr and residing in Rockhopper Island when they’re not out in the seas…

And since he’s confirmed he’s an orphan after bawling his eyes out after someone asked if he has parents in one of his meetups, I headcanon that he sees the captain as a father figure. Bambadee is like- My 2nd favorite mascot, he’s very kind and gentle, but always has a brave attitude that inspires and captivates others. He also has a very strong sense of justice, being very protective of his friends… He’s also canonically in the aromantic spectrum.

Here we got Sunny Morinson!

Sunny is the coolest- A very skilled and dedicated EPF agent that may be one’s of the agency’s best assets. She’s very calm and collected, usually appearing to guide us through EPF missions or to just chill in the coffee shop- She’s a proper coffee addict, works as barista, her best friend is G Billy, and she hangs out with the Penguin Band in the downtime… All the artworks for her events are so pretty istg I love her…

Now, this next guy right here is Guido

Guido is a nice, but overall very mysterious guy. He’s an icon here in Brazil since he’s probably the first brazil exclusive mascot ever created (back when Club Penguin Brasil was still alive), but anyways, he’s and interdimensional traveler and uses his clock to do so, he’s friendly but very lonely, also has the tendency to being shy in front of thera and just being very reserved. He’s also a pretty big deal in the lore, as in the story, when the og island was fated to die along with everyone that didn’t migrate to Club Penguin Island, Guido along with Gary and Rory created a portal to the new island. Guido also has some connections with interdimensional gods and creatures, with me personally theorizing he’s got some secret connections with >v>

And last, we got Ettore Salvaore!

This guy… Is a lot-

Think of Stanford from Gravity Falls but if he was greedy, that’s Ettore. He’s and EPF agent, Gary’s main assistant, a genius in his own right, owner of the PuffleBerry Mall, loves theater and plays and is a time travel fanatic. He’s very morally grey in his actions having caused two disasters in the island because of his power-hungry tendencies. He summoned Scorn after stealing Guido’s clock for time traveling shenanigans at the Medieval Party and made a deal with Box Cipher (yeaa Summerween event was WILD), got possessed in the process and almost destroyed the whole island till the EPF rescued him. He’s kind of an asshole but one of my favs with how charming and elegant he can be while being total boyfailure material lol (he’s also canonically bi)

And those were the exclusive characters! They appear on the island periodically along with other mascots, and also worth noting that Rory is a mascot and the Penguin Band very fleshed out characters and motives in here-

Also noticed how we have a lot of LGBTQ+ characters? Yea we got a gay dimension with a gay catalogue too, accessible through the Box Dimensions main room. It’s very pretty!

This post is already getting pretty long and Tumblr has a limit of pictures apparently, so I’ll just give these fun facts and wrap this up-

- The mods like showcasing the relationships between the characters, so the mascots make reference to their friends all the time and also appear in groups for major events like (Penguin Band + Angie), (Rockhopper + Bambadee), (Dot + Sunny + Rookie + Stompin’ Bon) for example;

- There are constant additions of codes that can give you all sorts of outfits for your penguin. I personally love using the spiderman clothes or wolverine costume when I’m not rocking the dino hoodie;

- Jetkie is heavily implied canon;

- Club Penguin Dimensions has a version of Bill Cipher called Box Cipher, he’s been promised to return ever since his appearance last year at the Summerween event, where he caused chaos among the island and caused a bunch of interdimensional ruckus (FNAF animatronics and The Mystery Shack and a final boss after the 6 EPF missions you had to do in this party made it my favorite original content of Club Penguin Dimensions ever);

- There’s this one artist that always manages to sneak in a Sonic referencein the arta he makes for the game- Last I checked, the shape of Sonic was foind in Stompin’ Bob’s background art for the Teen Beach Movie event and as a pin in Guido’s bag these last few months;

- There’s a crew of content creators that go live and do videos on Club Penguin Dimensions and it’s lore and events, they’re called “Cream Soda”;

- In March 2024, an original part called “A Cabotagem” happened where Bambadee came to Club Penguin to recruit help in his search for the missing Captain Rockhopper, and after weeks of exploring different islands with Bambadee in the Migrator, we found out the Captain was kidnapped! With an animation called “ O Sequestro de Rockhopper - A Grande Revelação” being released a few months after explaining how the Captain was kidnapped and why, pretty cool stuff.

Anyways, I think that’s it for now. If there’s anyone actually reading this, just know that all I said didn’t cover half of the plot, and if you have any questions about it, feel free to use my ask box, I’m so sad that there’s not a lot of brazilians on tumblr, especially after twitter died, I could talk about these penguins for hours lol

#club penguin #club penguin cpps #infodump #club penguin dimensions #gravity falls references #codes #enigmas #i love this game sm seriously #thank you for listening to my TED Talk #hyperfixation

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solradguy · 2 months ago

Note

I saw your post about the Internet Archive and Archiving GG stuff for future Generations and i wanted to ask some stuff regarding the Archiving, i hope thats ok

Probably the dumber question but do you know if Daisuke has ever been involved in the Archiving of his series? I know the series started as a Passion project for him but Idk how active he would be with helping archive or fill in missing pieces, especially in the english world.

Just as a General question, are current online archiving groups mostly relying on being connected to one another in some way to reestablish fallen sources? Since very little of the internet if any is as stable as we like to believe and any service storing data may shut down somehow any day like Drive, when one host site does go down do the archivists rally together and find a new spot or do you kinda have to hope people can find the new host?

Also are there any larger scale Archivist groups someone with less ability to physically help could donate to to help preserve our online histories?

thank you and apologies if you dont like questions

Hello! Questions are fine ^^ Sometimes it takes me a million years to reply, but I don't mind them.

My answer to this got kinda long. Excuse the readmore.

We don't have any strong evidence either way what the condition of the official Arc System Works library of Guilty Gear media is like, but there have been a few times where the images they've used for things have been worse than the images us rogue archivists have. This ML illustration is definitely one they either no longer have the physical/original piece for, or they might not have a way to rescan it, because the file they use when they reproduce it is pathetically tiny. Example from the Steam release of Strive's bonus Digital Artbook:

Compared to other illustrations in the same book (two pages here):

This Ky from the website for the 20th Anniversary Pack release of Missing Link for the Switch was taken from the Guilty Gear Bible:

We know this because... He's on page 12 in the Bible and...

...they didn't erase the page number off his shoe.

So, at the very least, some Missing Link era works are likely gone/lost/destroyed/etc. It's possible some GGX thru GGXX artworks are lost too, but we don't have a concrete catalog of XX works because they never released a complete artbook for XX. It's also rumored that Keep The Flag Flying's original master file is lost but I've never been able to find a source for that. Daisuke has never reached out to any of us about our image archives and we've never offered.

Archiving is very much a western concept and it's a common thought in Japan that saving copies of another person's works is extremely bad; I've been chewed out and blocked by Japanese fans for it. It's just a cultural difference, I don't take it personally. If ASW contacts us about it though we'll definitely give them our files or take down anything they request of us. We don't want to poke the bear and risk the entire archive if we can. They seem to be turning a blind eye to our archives though, as long as it's not an upload of something extremely recent (I got DMCA'd for the Strive Artworks Archive scans).

The core of the Guilty Gear archive group works on the new GG wiki and/or are admins of the new wiki, so we're in pretty close contact with each other. Most of the archive is in my hands and, unfortunately, my hands alone. With the announcement of the Internet Archive v Hachette ruling, we've been planning on making copies of my GG archive hard drive and sending it out to the other archivists in our circle. I don't have a PO box, I can't do this for people outside the group because I don't want my physical home address to be that accessible.

That said, there are redundant digital copies of a lot of files and I have a backup hard drive of the main GG archive drive; the main drive is a relatively new 2tb Western Digital My Passport external drive and the backup is a 1tb WD My Passport that's a little older. A lot of people have downloaded copies of the files currently online (via my masterpost) and can reupload something if it goes down even if I'm not around to do it. We rely on Archive.org a lot but aren't against using Dropbox, Google Drive, mega.nz, Neocities, file.garden, or, if we absolutely must, Discord. I do not like relying on Discord and Discord files are generally extremely temporary.

The files that aren't in the archive include software or game asset rips, image files, music, and random bits and bobs. I'm working on getting the images up on the wiki but everything else is kind of in a weird zone where I don't really know what to do with it.

As for donating to support broader archivism: We use Archive.org (and their Wayback Machine) the most, so donating to them would benefit both the GG archive as well as hundreds of thousands of music, literature, research, and art groups too. Their donate page can be found here: https://archive.org/donate?origin=iawww-TopNavDonateButton

Supporting your local libraries, museums, and conservatories also supports archivism. Most of these places accept public donations of any amount and could probably direct you to other local archiving groups/associations.

Donating to Wikipedia also supports broader archivism to a lesser extent. They write about events as they happen, with sources/citations, and older versions of this information is permanently available on every article and file without having to rely on things like Wayback Machine. Their donation page is here: https://donate.wikimedia.org

I also have a donation page via Ko-fi and any money donated with a note about it being for Guilty Gear will go back into Guilty Gear (via book/magazine purchases for scanning, usually). Donating to one of the above groups would be better for archiving as a whole though. My page can be found here: https://ko-fi.com/somnivagrious

Hope this answers your questions!!

#asks

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hypersomniagame · 10 months ago

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HYPERSOMNIA JANUARY DEV LOG : "LOG 1, WOOHOO!"

Hi! For all of you who follow HYPERSOMNIA, or are just stopping by, let me introduce you to this post to really set the tone.

For 2024, I am going to try to release a dev log about HYPERSOMNIA once a month, may come earlier, may come a little late, but I'm doing this to help give insight on to how the game is going, and to give me motivation to work on the game.

First things first, big news!

HYPERSOMNIA IS NOW AVAILABLE TO WISHLIST ON STEAM! (LINK)

After a while of back and forwarding with Valve, I've finally got a Steam page to call my own, and MAN is it bizarre seeing my weird little RPG in my Steam library. Like, that's my logo, and my key art, and screenshots of MY game, that's so weird. It doesn't feel real. BUT IT IS!

And, I would really really really really really appreciate it if you would consider wishlisting the game on Steam. It helps with the algorithm, and my happiness because I like seeing numbers go up, it feels good.

I even drew this as a announcement/commemoration for the page going live.

(P.S; if you couldn't tell, I really like Half-Life, it's one of my favorite game series.)

Secondly...

A new trailer is in the works! We were accepted for this year's MOTHER Direct (4th time baby, whoo!)

The trailer has been coming along well, I hope to show more battle oriented clips that I've missed the last few years, like special moves.

Can you believe I've never actually gotten to adding those in the game? I mean, they come set-up in default RPG Maker projects but I've never gotten around to revamping them until now, year 4 of engine work. Isn't that strange?

I also hope to improve on editing in the trailers. Whenever I finish a trailer I come back a few months later to notice minor points where I was kinda sloppy.

I'm not much of a video editor, (I only learned so I could edit trailers on my own) but I'd like to keep them at a good presentable quality. You gotta have standards with that kinda stuff, it's important!

OK, TIME FOR THE ACTUAL GAME STUFF. HERE WE GO.

Abilities are now implemented! And work! Wahoo!

In HYPERSOMNIA, players are able to switch abilities between party members. I find this a really interesting mechanic for how simple it seems, you get to choose who plays what role in your party. I think this is HUGE, and opens up a lot of unique scenarios for the game's encounters. I've had this planned for years, as far back as 2021 if I can recall, so it's super cool seeing it in game.

Mapping is being worked on!

I've also been working on mapping out more areas of the game! The forest part you hopefully saw in the last trailer is almost completely mapped. I've been working on the second part to it and am hoping to finish it sometime soon.

Mapping forests really suck. THOUGH, almost all the maps for the first chapter of the game are done! That's just another step closer to the demo. (Which, FYI, will be on Steam and Itch! ^^)

I've also been working on re-spriting older scenes!

This one's been really fun to do, I've been going back and redoing older stuff from the 2022 trailer, like this train! It's weird seeing it side by side, because you can definitely see where it's come from but at the same time, it looks so different.

(Also side note, these sprites are CRUSTY! EWWW!)

Lastly, Script and Music updates!

The script for HYPERSOMNIA's first act has been completed! with just 37 pages of just cutscene dialog alone! We're also currently working on wrapping up NPC dialog! Not much else to say.

And music is being worked on!

Music has been making some progress! I like to lay out demo's for areas I'm mapping out to help make both the music and scene come together. (Also, to help break up the eerie silence when playtesting...)

Speaking of music, FIREBALL, the games main battle theme, was recently delisted on our YouTube channel.

We did this because we decided we wanted to resample FIREBALL, and found that it's best to not have the song uploaded until a complete, final version is made. At least for the demo, it could possibly change before the final game but that's a bit too far in the future for me to think about fully.

Hey! Thanks for reading the whole dev log! Unless you just skipped to the end, you should probably go back up and read it. there's a steam page now. and some cool ross art at the top. you're missing out!

I hope this was like, readable to you all. I'm new to this whole dev log thing, so if you read it all the way through, let me know! It'd be cool!

I'd like to use this portion to pretty much just advertise Unique Indie RPG's.

Have you ever seen that strange purple square at the beginning of the 2nd and 3rd HYPERSOMNIA trailers?

Yeah, that! That's UNIQUE INDIE RPG's, which is a Discord community for you guessed it, Unique Indie RPG videogames developed by people like me! Or you! Or whoever! Who cares!

I help run it with some of my friends, and we all share cool stuff about our videogames! There's a ton of other SUPER cool RPG Maker games there like Astral Guard [LINK], or SOMEWHEN [LINK], or even MOMOinc [LINK]!

And of course, HYPERSOMNIA. It's a really laid back community, we're all super chill. Come swing by! We'd love to have ya, and SHOW US YOUR GAME!

[LINK TO DISCORD SERVER]

TWITTER

YOUTUBE

STEAM

UNIQUE INDIE RPG'S [SHOW US YOUR GAME!]

[PREV] [ABOUT HYPERSOMNIA] [NEXT]

#hypersomniagame #rpgmaker #indie dev #updates #dev log #rpg #indiedev #earthbound #unique indie rpgs

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blubberquark · 10 months ago

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Are Game Blogs Uniquely Lost?

All this started with my looking for the old devlog of Storyteller. I know at some point it was linked from the blogroll on the Braid devlog. Then I tried to look at on old devlog of another game that is still available. The domain for Storyteller is still active. The devblog is gone.

I tried an old bookmark from an old PC (5 PCs ago, I think). It was a web site linked to pixel art and programming tutorials. Instead of linking to the pages directly, some links link led to a twitter threads by authors that collected their work posted on different sites. Some twitter threads are gone because the users were were suspended, or had deleted their accounts voluntarily. Others had deleted old tweets. There was no archive. I have often seen links accompanied by "Here's a thread where $AUTHOR lists all his writing on $TOPIC". I wonder if the sites are still there, and only the tweets are gone.

A lot of "games studies" around 2010 happened on blogs, not in journals. Games studies was online-first, HTML-first, with trackbacks, tags, RSS and comment sections. The work that was published in PDF form in journals and conference proceedings is still there. The blogs are gone. The comment sections are gone. Kill screen daily is gone.

I followed a link from critical-distance.com to a blog post. That blog is gone. The domain is for sale. In the Wayback Machine, I found the link. It pointed to the comment section of another blog. The other blog has removed its comment sections and excluded itself from the Wayback Machine.

I wonder if games stuff is uniquely lost. Many links to game reviews at big sites lead to "page not found", but when I search the game's name, I can find the review from back in 2004. The content is still there, the content management systems have been changed multiple times.

At least my favourite tumblr about game design has been saved in the Wayback Machine: Game Design Tips.

To make my point I could list more sites, more links, 404 but archived, or completely lost, but when I look at small sites, personal sites, blogs, or even forums, I wonder if this is just confirmation bias. There must be all this other content, all these other blogs and personal sites. I don't know about tutorials for knitting, travel blogs, stamp collecting, or recipe blogs. I usually save a print version of recipes to my Download folder.

Another big community is fan fiction. They are like modding, but for books, I think. I don't know if a lot of fan fiction is lost to bit rot and link rot either. What is on AO3 will probably endure, but a lot might have gone missing when communities fandom moved from livejournal to tumblr to twitter, or when blogs moved from Wordpress to Medium to Substack.

I have identified some risk factors:

Personal home pages made from static HTML can stay up for while if the owner meticulously catalogues and links to all their writing on other sites, and if the site covers a variety of interests and topics.

Personal blogs or content management systems are likely to lose content in a software upgrade or migration to a different host.

Writing is more likely to me lost when it's for-pay writing for a smaller for-profit outlet.

A cause for sudden "mass extinction" of content is the move between social networks, or the death of a whole platform. Links to MySpace, Google+, Diaspora, and LiveJournal give me mostly or entirely 404 pages.

In the gaming space, career changes or business closures often mean old content gets deleted. If an indie game is wildly successful, the intellectual property might ge acquired. If it flops, the domain will lapse. When development is finished, maybe the devlog is deleted. When somebody reviews games at first on Steam, then on a blog, and then for a big gaming mag, the Steam reviews might stay up, but the personal site is much more likely to get cleaned up. The same goes for blogging in general, and academia. The most stable kind of content is after hours hobbyist writing by somebody who has a stable and high-paying job outside of media, academia, or journalism.

The biggest risk factor for targeted deletion is controversy. Controversial, highly-discussed and disseminated posts are more likely to be deleted than purely informative ones, and their deletion is more likely to be noticed. If somebody starts a discussion, and then later there are hundreds of links all pointing back to the start, the deletion will hurt more and be more noticeable. The most at-risk posts are those that are supposed to be controversial within a small group, but go viral outside it, or the posts that are controversial within a small group, but then the author says something about politics that draws the attention of the Internet at large to their other writings.

The second biggest risk factor for deletion is probably usefulness combined with hosting costs. This could also be the streetlight effect at work, like in the paragraph above, but the more traffic something gets, the higher the hosting costs. Certain types of content are either hard to monetise, and cost a lot of money, or they can be monetised, so the free version is deliberately deleted.

The more tech-savvy users are, the more likely they are to link between different sites, abandon a blogging platform or social network for the next thing, try to consolidate their writings by deleting their old stuff and setting up their own site, only to let the domain lapse. The more tech-savvy users are, the more likely they are to mess with the HTML of their templates or try out different blogging software.

If content is spread between multiple sites, or if links link to social network posts that link to blog post with a comment that links to a reddit comment that links to a geocities page, any link could break. If content is consolidated in a forum, maybe Archive team could save all of it with some advance notice.

All this could mean that indie games/game design theory/pixel art resources are uniquely lost, and games studies/theory of games criticism/literary criticism applied to games are especially affected by link rot. The semi-professional, semi-hobbyist indie dev, the writer straddling the line between academic and reviewer, they seem the most affected. Artists who start out just doodling and posting their work, who then get hired to work on a game, their posts are deleted. GameFAQs stay online, Steam reviews stay online, but dev logs, forums and blog comment sections are lost.

Or maybe it's only confirmation bias. If I was into restoring old cars, or knitting, or collecting stamps, or any other thing I'd think that particular community is uniquely affected by link rot, and I'd have the bookmarks to prove it.

Figuring this out is important if we want to make predictions about the future of the small web, and about the viability of different efforts to get more people to contribute. We can't figure it out now, because we can't measure the ground truth of web sites that are already gone. Right now, the small web is mostly about the small web, not about stamp collecting or knitting. If we really manage to revitalise the small web, will it be like the small web of today except bigger, the web-1.0 of old, or will certain topics and communities be lost again?

#small web #blogging about blogging #link rot #bit rot #games studies

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