#lightning is a pretty complicated thing but it's kind of fun when you discover about blending modes

[da-janela-lateral]

Sleepy terumob again

[mooniehsh]

Just like he was before

Lucifer meeting his daughter for the first time

Obey Me! Lucifer

 (OC’s daughter just to be clear) 

Warnings: A little bit of angst, just a tiny portion of it... yeah... 

(I’m really sorry if the characters doesn’t seem like themselves. It’s the first time i tried to write something with them, and I’m not that sure that i make everyone accurate) 

I'm 99.9999% sure that i might write about this again. It’s such a fun concept, and i apologize about my grammar. English is not my first language. 

Enjoy! 

- Made by: Ace (MT)

Gif not mine

Lucifer was livid, but that was not the exact word to describe how he was feeling at this moment even though it was close to it. He was anxious, waiting, and walking towards Diavolo’s chambers with stress and curiosity running through his veins and messy heart. Anticipating on firsthand that the prince was calling only to inform him about a problem with his brothers, or maybe a usual meeting about work, and that was the main topic he had on his mind when he called him... but no, luck doesn’t exist for him. So when Diavolo spoke about his lover as the central problem in this call he was speechless.

Not to say that he was terrified in a way...

But he decided to calm down, thinking of a reasonable cause of why the young prince had called him specifically about her.  And when he reached some possible motives, he decided to shut up and not bring expectations to the matter.

 Let it be a surprise", he thought immediately when fateful scenarios crossed his mind, she is not in danger I know it. Did he believe in his own words? This time: no, he did not. But as he said before, let fate decided for him and not bring speculations to an uncertain future. 

And the great moment had to come. He walked towards the entrance, heart on the mouth, begging himself to behave and not lose his mind in the process. 

“She is a strong woman. whatever is the matter I’m sure is not that complicated” 

But only if he knew exactly what was behind the doors he definitely would be beyond terrified, maybe even confused

And what a lovely surprise, that’s exactly how Diavolo view everything in the room: confusion and pure excitement of the creature sitting on the edge of his sofa, waiting for a word to be spoken.

But it was the other way around, he wanted to hear her voice, know more of the girl who reminds him of an old friend… how strange, he thought her parents liked to talk. 

- My lord, I think we should call Lucifer a second time

 - There is no need. He will be here soon, fear not my friend-The butler nodded with his head, looking over the woman in silence one more time. And he smiled, laughing inside for the similar looks she shared with the new guest coming to the palace in no time. – So, you said your mother wasn’t coming to meet us. Is she sick? -Diavolo asked for the third time, making the young girl exhale for the curious question. She did not want to talk, but she did not have to answer with words, so a simple shake of her head was enough.

But was Diavolo satisfied with it? Of course not. So, with that in mind, he asked again -Does she knows that you’re here? -She let escape a simple laugh from her lips, opening her mouth, making the prince wait anxiously for her voice to be heard once again.

- She’s occupied with mortal duties -She responds, gaining a sly grin from Barbatos, who was curious to know if the girl was frightened of Diavolo thanks to the fact that she had not made eye contact with the man in this whole time, except when they introduced themselves of course. But deep inside, he believed that it was more out of respect. Lucifer sometimes does that, so it would make so much sense if it were the actual reason…

How thrilling the day was going to be…

- She is a doctor, am I right? It is a good profession, more with these difficult times, don’t you agree? – She nodded, playing with her phone, cursing under her breath at the moment she noticed that it was completely dead, no battery that would help distract her from the intense gaze of the demons over her body

Mother was right about this; it was going to be a little uncomfortable…

- Mortal phones do not work down here, I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. -She threw an apologetic smile at him, making eye contact for the first time in that long-languishing moment. And with that, Diavolo chuckle filled the room, spreading the humor towards his butler and creating a weird tension on her shoulders

She did not understand how her dear mother passed one whole year with these kinds of things… she was a warrior with no doubt

-  Has anyone ever told you how much you look like your father? – He had no idea… hearing the same thing from close people with knowledge of the realms was overwhelming and frustrating. But it was something she learned to normalize, until now, of course. She was there to discover for herself the truth in those words, to see if they were lying or not.

Her father was a great enigma that never had a beautiful or tragic response, and if no one dared to respond it then she was willing to sacrifice her life to search for the long-waited question 

And the same thing goes for Lucifer, whose palms were sweating from the nervous heat he was feeling inside, but that didn’t stop him from knocking on the door three times. He waited, standing in front of the golden gate, quieting his mind with delayed work, supposing this was something insignificant and momentary

But the surprise was more than alarming to him than the call that the prince dared to make minutes ago. His eyes grew bigger in honest astonishment, locking his lungs with the thin air at the simple sight of a woman, whose steps were getting closer to him in the same moment when Diavolo said something about taking her to the house of lamentation.

Lucifer was not listening to one word that fell from the mouth of his dear friend. For the first time in millennials, he never expected to find someone so intriguing yet so dangerous to meet. And his mind finally exploded when Barbatos said something about a beautiful family reunion, pointing out how much of siblings they could be if the daughter- father thing never existed between them.

- You call me for this…? -  His tone lacks the true feelings he had inside, making him sound so cold and sour that the girl couldn’t help but mock him with a confused grin. So, he was her father? 

The great lucifer was nothing other than a tired and young man whose first impression was to criticize the meeting they were having? No wonder why uncle Sol used to talk so bad about him…

 -It was a surprise, I’m sorry if made you panic but I believed it was something very important… Lucifer, meet Miss Van Doren, your lovely daughter- And the world stopped only for him to digest that tiny information.

It was her; it looked like her, but somewhat different from what he expected… 

His beloved told him about the pregnancy long ago, something he agreed to have but for details like work and difference between worlds he never got the chance to see the beautiful newborn that he created with the love of his life. He only saw through photos her baby face, how pretty she was with so little age that made him question if it was his child. 

But when his work started piling up, Lucifer had little time to check his telephone, decreasing the chats he used to have with his lover, and with it, the photos of her daughter… 

Sometimes he even forgot that he had a phone in the first place

And so, he never got to know what his beloved daughter looked like today. Until now… 

-Luci? Are you listening to me? 

-Yes! Yes, I am… -He was not, Diavolo knew that immediately. Anyways, he repeated the same instruction twice, making sure the man in front of him was paying close attention. And this time, Lucifer heard everything - You want me to take her to the house of lamentation? - Diavolo nodded with a smile, barely touching the back of the girl, pushing her closer to her father and the man was more than astounded right now. 

Who would think that a demon like him gave life to someone that radiates the aura of an angel? She was a Nephilim, of course, but he was so sure that she could be easily mistaken by an actual angel with just one glance at her 

She was the vivid image of him, and it was scary. How her eyes were so dark but yet full of light, looking at his reflection in them, knowing that she was doing the same in those ruby orbs of him. And her hair, falling almost over her shoulders with gracious black curls, just like the ink in the books he used to read to her mother. The length not too long or too short, resembling a little like her mama at least. 

It was like looking at the mirror, looking at his figure when he was part of the celestial realm. Is this possible? He was a demon now, but here she is, radiating such a pure aura and soul… 

-The others might want to meet their niece, so it’s a good opportunity to know each other. But save some space for tonight, I need to know more about her… you never told me about your affair with Jules- Because he never craved to mix personal stuff with work, but it looks like he needs to do it now thanks to this little secret. -Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful day. -And with anything else to add, they started walking towards the exit, being the palace a place so quiet that even their breaths sounded like huge lightning bolts. 

Lucifer initiated the conversation, not even daring to see the girl at his side, and it looked like she didn’t want to do the same. 

-Your mother… why did you come alone? How did you enter? 

- My uncle helped me… -Her velvet voice took him by surprise, but her words charged against him so fast that he stopped, analyzing the phrase with a confused look in his factions. 

- Uncle? - He raised a brow, while his daughter stopped her steps a few meters away from him but with a low voice she assured him that this help didn’t come from his brothers. 

- Solomon, you know him, right? -Of course, the shady magician always comes to help this tiny family. First, it was Jules when she messed up something with chemicals, and now, his child. 

- You have no idea… -Should she ask? In her mind, that attitude was kind of similar to the man mentioned before. Do these two men hold a grudge against each other? She never questions Solomon about these types of things, more because he never answered… -And your mother? Did she agree to you coming here? All by yourself? -She inhales thin air, looking at his figure getting closer and closer. In every book or website, they described this man as intimidating, but he wasn’t. Hell, she even thinks her mother can do the same thing and she would be terrified knowing it was a sign of frustration… 

- … I sneak out, so no, she doesn’t know that I’m here. - And a side of him appeared at the terror her mother must go through if she found out. That was somewhat inconsiderate on her part, to leave without telling her where she was heading 

- Do you have any idea of how frightened your mother must be? You cannot come to the Devildom like this, it is very irresponsible. You could have been attacked by another demon or worst, your aura would easily attract them, and nobody would know you were here. -She wasn’t awaiting him to scold her in their first meeting, but due to the circumstances sooner or later it would be expected to happen. 

So she waited until he had finished. And when his lips sealed in a line, looking with the ruby eyes the dark ones she smiled somewhat uncomfortable 

- Mom is working right now, in urgencies… she never goes home until 7 pm, so I got my chance- It wasn’t enough reason, but for now, he let it slip, knowing that Diavolo and Barbatos were lurking in the shadows only to hear everything they discussed. They needed privacy, so he guides the girl until the breeze of Devildom hit them. 

Lucifer put one of his hands on her back, a little hesitant, he doesn’t know if she would like it or not, he is cautious as always. Although seeing how she didn’t mind, he kept it there, still guiding her through the desolated streets of Devildom 

- Even if your mother is busy, you shouldn’t do things like this. It is dangerous, any demon could have their way with you if you are not careful… - She lightly snorted, interrupting his speech, making him feel annoyed by her action

- Father, I’m not dumb. I did not ask anyone who passed in front of me to help me. Sol would never put me at risk and besides, I appeared with Lord Diavolo… I know what I’m doing here, so do you. -And before he even dared to say something more, she continued, hugging herself because of the weather. It was cold, and her little jacket wasn’t enough to cover her body. She wishes she had listened to Solomon before she agreed to just go in without a word. - And you can lecture me with mom at your heart’s content, but I was tired of waiting for this day to come… -Lucifer squinted his eyes just a little, not sure she was trying to say. Her facial expressions were completely the opposite of her words, making her voice appear like she was struggling with something but the moves she made didn’t say the same. She seemed calm, oddly calm 

- How so…? - But he was the same, curiosity in the voice of the demon but serenity in his posture. She had to admit, they were similar in some things… - You couldn’t wait to come and risk your life without telling anybody?

- Mother said we were coming in summer, that I would meet the great Lucifer and finally get the answers I deserved. Guess what? It’s already Autumn. She made that promised more than once, and every time I was ready to go and meet you, she got a call from the hospital. How convenient… -She whispered something, an insult maybe, he couldn’t listen properly, and her body failed to hide the frustration she had inside. - I couldn’t bear to stay and keep this waiting on and on… 

-You don’t have much patience, do you? 

- I do have patience, but everything has its limits - Her footsteps were pretty slow until she stood in the middle of the sidewalk, with expectations low of what he could tell her. This demon saw in her the same posture he had when the world burned down under his feet, right at the moment, he rebelled against his father for something he thought was wrong to do. The difference? She didn’t radiate rebellion or wrath, just interest, curiosity, maybe a little of exasperation. 

What a surprise… 

-I waited almost 17 years just to see you, so don’t give me a lecture for wanting to meet my own father. - Lucifer grinned, taking his coat and putting it on her shoulders, blocking his gaze with hers. The world talked, both of them discussing something incomprehensible like past and future, so odd to everybody else, but for them?

 It was just like looking at the mirror, one that never ages, the reflection that would never let the memories escape. And the similarities with the celestial Lucifer didn’t stop coming to his exhausted mind. She wasn’t corrupted, she didn’t have desires that could identify her as hostile or something related to that keyword. She was half-human, with a soul that any demon would love to devour, with ordinary wishes like any other person in her world… she was just like he was before 

- To be this our first encounter, you don’t look like someone afraid to defy me. - Just like her mama taught her, this man is not easy to talk to. She would play his cards, even if she doesn’t know what she is doing, even if she is not conscious of it. - It reminds me of someone… 

- Mom? - The sweet and velvet voice appeared, and he took her hands, walking towards home, glazing at her from time to time. - or it is you father? - that word was still foreign to her tongue, something she had never used even if somebody demands her to pronounce it. But here she is, trying to accustom her mind to do it one more time. Deep inside she liked the idea to finally call someone like that. And luck was on her side… 

- Both, more your mother than anyone else to be precise. She was more curious than Solomon if I remember right… -And she asked again inside of her head if the man fought with her uncle. However, she should save that question for another time - She was always intrigued even by the little things that life throw at her. I don’t know how she survived so many things. It wouldn’t be a surprise if you have the same strength Louise -and her heart stopped beating, making her feel the cold of Devildom get through her clothes. Lucifer took her features for a single moment, wondering what happened to make her look so startled.

- you know my name… 

- You thought I didn’t? -She nodded, so determined that it surprises him. Did Jules never tell her about him? - I gave you the name, right when you were born… she never talked about me? 

- Not much… but mom always loved to do it, the problem is that she is very busy with work and I don’t like to interrupt her with my curiosity… sometimes - He sighed, noticing the way her eyes inspected the trees, how her hair becomes a mess, making it hard to distinguish her locks from the coat. Meanwhile, the girl called Louise was with an infinity of questions haunting her mind.

Was he the one who gave her that name? It wasn’t a joke? Oh, god, she did not know whether to thank or question Lucifer even more...

- So you know very little 

- I wouldn’t put it that way… it’s more like I know who you are, what you do but I don’t know why you leave my mother, why did you leave me? - The big question comes to his ears, making him get away from her only to open the gate of the House of Lamentation. And the name was exactly what he felt: he lamented not being there for her mother or Louise. She was a woman now, not entirely but she was older enough to understand trivial matters of the realms. - She told me you were a workaholic, but I don’t think that’s a good excuse to not come and see us… right? -The silence weren’t deadly, but her patience surely took that attribute until the lips of her creator parted to explain himself. 

- Your time is very different from mine. The clock goes slower than yours, and I’m… -His pause was something he didn’t want to express. And his pride was a rare feeling he hated right now, where deep down he tried to fight it, but it was useless -I’m the same man your mother tried to tell you about… There’s a lot of things that requires my attention, and I’m just one solitary demon. -There was something behind it, she could feel it, she didn’t buy it. 

- That’s your excuse? - Lucifer groans reach her ears, making her back up immediately, not trusting his movements one bit - Mother suffer every time I see her calling you or texting you, we deserve something more than that cheap apology… -She was walking in dangerous territory, and still feels right to her to fight the devil himself. Man or demon who wanted so badly to let her know with the exact words how true the past was for him, how things went down hill so easily. 

- I love your mother, I really do. So sorry to disappoint your expectation in my answer, but I never lie when it comes to her, you should understand that. Some things escape my possibilities… - Louise hugged the coat, even more, drifting her gaze away from him. And Lucifer sighed, making sure no one was around, not even his brothers spying through the windows. 

With another apology, he tried the last thing he would ever do in front of others, being the avatar of pride and a man who craved for a gentle touch but always deny the act when is in front of him. He hugged her, causing the girl to gasp when she felt the embrace surround her. So sweet but bitter, like cold natural lemonade made at home. She finally felt the love of a father, making the wishes she kept inside her mind for so long a dream come true, achieving something both mirrors craved so much. 

- Life is cruel, that’s how it works in our lives ,dearest one… - Louise had a strong grip on him, not wanting to let go of this moment, clinging to his father fearing this would be the last time even though is the first. And Lucifer never wanted to protect someone of corruption so much as he does right now, being her daughter so precious that he desired to see her live peacefully, not worrying about demons and wars between species… but he knew that would be impossible. Still, he would protect her and her mother just the same way he wanted to protect Lilith, and he would not make the same mistake twice 

- I never wanted this meeting to be so depressing -Lucifer offered her a wide smile, being so close to open the front door, to show her this other life she never got the chance to meet 

- Let’s call it a heartbreaking reunion, not depressing -She nodded, agreeing with his words, returning the smile but in a smaller way. And with everything settle, he greeted her inside of the House of Lamentation with hidden enthusiasm, making some of his brothers appear and see the arrival of the oldest.

They were more in shock than Lucifer when they saw her, instantly loading the girl with questions or simply trying to guess what she was. 

Surely her soul was something from an old world. Nephilims were resurfacing, it was expected to the others feel this little and simple curiosity, but being so close to the girl, inspecting her to head to toes were a little… extreme 

But still, she let them do what they wanted to do with this curiosity. She let them say whatever they wanted to say. It was fun for her to listen to stupid theories, to look at them right in the eye and see them struggle while trying to decipher who she was and why she was there 

It was fun until someone broke the tension over the brothers, being Lucifer the judge of this behavior towards his daughter. She didn’t mind if we put aside the number of times some of them dared to get too touchy with her. She even smiled when one of the brothers said something towards Lucifer about her mother 

-Angel or not, you shouldn’t be so concerned about this girl. She is not Jules, we know how to behave -Asmodeus smiled with his words falling in the air as he speaks. Louise’s laugh reached the ears of the brothers, making the action contagious to her father, being the two of them a rare pair. 

-Of course, but being his daughter might complicate some things- Levi choked with his saliva, Beel gasped, Mammon screamed some completely incomprehensible things, and the others only remained in silence. Her eyes laid upon the blonde demon who wanted so badly to say something, being interrupted by others every time he had the chance to express his mind- And no, I’m not an angel

-I knew Jules had a child, but I thought it was with Solomon… -Louise was the one now who choked, looking at Asmo and Lucifer a few times, noticing that the raven-haired demon looked a little concerned about this new information 

-...I don’t have brothers. Noah is adopted, and my mother never had another lover -Asmo mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ , and Satan finally spoke with such an intensity in his eyes. She waved at him, receiving a tiny smile from his part. And every pair of eyes laid on him

-She is gonna get mad, you know that Louise? -Of course, he was going to say the same thing Lucifer did. She knew what she was doing, she knew the risks, she was not a stupid mortal who acted on impulsive decisions all the time. 

-You know her?! Since when?! -Lucifer’s curiosity grew bigger, knowing exactly what was going on in his house, taking a few steps closer to the avatar of wrath. Please, Louise begged, do not start a conflict

-He had been visiting Jules, am I right? - The older spoke, and Satan wanted to laugh, but he remained in silence, with his gaze on the girl who expresses between her eyes and hands, that he must  leave the wave of a fight at this moment. 

-I’m not like my other brothers who forgot to go and pay a visit to our favorite doctor. Even if she was busy… -The others started with the questions one more time, shushing immediately by Satan or Lucifer. Louise only understood that some of them were with little time to see her, and others like Beel and Asmo knew about this girl. Funny, she doesn’t remember when did they go...

Maybe she was very little at that moment, she would ask her mother later if she survives… 

-… So, just to be clear: you are telling me that this girl named Louise is your daughter, and Solomon got a son which he adopted, and now she came to see you because she wanted to meet you, and Satan knew all this time and never say anything to Lucifer for respect to what Jules decided to do with her love life. And we never got to know this information until now- When Levi put the words from his perspective it seemed like a total disaster, her mind would be if Louise were him.

-It is partially your fault, for not wanting to go and see Jules. It is cruel of your part Levi -The demon made a pout when Satan spoke about him, while Mammon looked at the girl with wide eyes, realizing that it was obvious the family she was part of. 

-Hell, you are really Lucifer’s daughter. You don’t even look like your mother at all… why you never said anything?! -Lucifer groaned, crossing his arms over his chest, annoyed by all this questioning and discussion. He thinks it would be worst with Jules, knowing that if both of them arrived like a big surprise the brothers would be screaming like maniacs about this matter… 

They were yelling, that’s correct, but in a more calming way… sort of. 

-At least she got her beauty - Louise’s cheeks tainted a faint red over them, looking adorable to Asmodeus, the demon who spoke seconds ago. - Yes! She has her beauty! Oh, you look like an angel -And like an instinct, she hides behind her father, who grabbed her hand and took her upstairs while the other demons tried to stop him 

-We are not done here Lucifer! Why Jules never said something about her? It’s her daughter! 

-Mammon, that’s enough! All of you should at least give her space and not asphyxiate the poor girl! -The oldest of the brothers yelled with no effort, reflecting his molested attitude and tired mind in this discussion - You want answers? Ask Satan, I’m trying to find them as well -And with nothing else to add, he kept walking with Louise right behind him 

-Why not ask Jules? She will arrive in this home in less than an hour, so it’s a good opportunity to explain all this mess. Right, Luci? -His grin grew bigger, and the girl shivers with the simple idea of the disastrous war her mother would do when she sees her. 

-How are you so sure? -A low voice that took everybody by surprise, asking for the truth in the words of Satan. The man stood there for a few seconds, getting closer and closer to Louise, putting his hands right on her shoulders, gaining a warning from Lucifer. He didn’t care, he had more connection with this girl than he, so why bother? 

-Louise, your plan failed in just one simple error. You didn’t tell Noah about your escape right?- She had everything under control huh? Yeah, that was lie… a big one - ‘Cause I don’t know you, but he is always with you when your mother leaves you alone at home. Sometimes he even invites you to see what he had created with Solomon… -And she always calls him if she doesn’t respond to her messages. She totally forgot about him...

-She called him, fuck, she did… - A mortal who sounded and looked like an angel cursed with the simple idea of forgetting a tiny detail. Satan laughed, biting his lips while his brothers looked around kind of confused, except for Lucifer who desired to shut everything off only to have time alone with his daughter. It was annoying as always, his inexistent bad luck trying to steal precious time with his new family

- … But… you know what? I think it was a good idea that I forgot about Noah… -And Satan’s eyes went wide with her words -She owns me an explanation after all, and in this place, no work would not let her get away without telling me the truth…. So let her come -She had questions just like these brothers, and she finally would get those precious answers she deserved. 

But she wouldn't create a war for it, on the contrary, she just wanted peace and to live with both of her parents present in her life. It was the correct thing to do… 

And Lucifer could only think how oddly similar it was, how her determination put her in such a high place where there’s no visible fright for defying her creator. Just like he was before the falling… 

[gold-pavilion]

Red’s Complete Guide to the SDR2 Stage Play

The following is a sort of walkthrough/summary of the SDR2 stage play, mostly focusing on what’s different in this shorter but also highly expressive version of the story than the game, and what extra content is in it. 

It’s mostly aimed to help non japanese speaker friends (or not fully fluent ones) enjoy this amazing play even without english subtitles available; in general terms, just having good memory of the game’s events will allow you to watch and follow it just fine, but anything else you could be missing, this guide will point out for ya! That being said, you can either read this all on its own, or keep at hand to check as you watch. I’m dividing it in parts according to what would be the game’s chapters, so you can easily find your place. Hope it’s useful!!

PROLOGUE / INTRODUCTION

The beginning is quite the same as the game: Nagito waking Hajime up on the beach, memory gaps, no one knows why they’re there when they should’ve just been at their entrance ceremony, etc. The minor differences would be that they’ve already separated and had a look around, thus cutting out the island exploration from the main POV. They’ve all warmed up pretty fast to the place too. The setting of it being a fun class trip is established and everyone’s excited to go to the beach, minus Hajime of course. 

More small changes: as you’ll notice, Hiyoko being unable to tie her own kimono sash, getting help offered by Mahiru and getting attached to her happens at this point (‘cause of the swimsuits they want to put on) instead of in chapter 2, so their relationship gets established this early. Also, Teruteru and Kazuichi are caught trying to sneak in to where the girls are changing, ahem.

As in the game, Hajime’s hesitating a lot about just relaxing like that. We get a cute little new moment where he sees that even “Byakuya”, though claiming it’s to “research the way to leave this island” is prepared to go play at the sea, and with some prodding from the boys overall, he gets convinced to join in and have fun too. All super sweet, before Monokuma hijacks the scene. The killing school trip begins!

The opening and character introduction sequence is absolutely amazing and stunning, but since the intros and the comments Hajime and Nagito exchange as they go from character to character together are pretty much the same as in the game, there’s nothing to note from me. Just how amazingly it was put together! 

After that, along with the basic intro to the killing game, there is an added rule for the students to see: the one/s who earn/s the right to leave the island will be given back the stolen memories of the last 2 school years. So, the amnesia period is immediately established, and Hinata’s own amnesia about his talent is taken as proof that it could be true. Teruteru is openly agitated about the possibility of having that two-year blank, more than anyone else, and while revealing there’s a restaurant waiting for him on land he tries to get reassurance from the others. He’s much more transparent here.

Monokuma gets the group under control with a different method than his monobeasts: he makes lightning shoot at them. Real lightning, no tricks, as Byakuya says. Here, he reveals he can control the weather so that’s what he uses to keep the students intimidated. Different, but easier for stage representation than robots and achieving the same purpose. After all is done and Byakuya has sent everyone to rest for the night, there’s a small added scene of Hajime and Nagito staying behind, and having the following exchange that I thought best to translate directly:

Nagito: “So it turned into this kind of despairing situation…”

Hajime: “Why would that Monokuma guy do something like this?!”

Nagito: “It’s unforgivable, right?! That killing game…! It’s absolutely...!

That’s it… we… we have to join our forces and stand against this despair!”

Hajime: “I’m glad that the first one to call out to me here was you, Komaeda.”

Nagito: “Yeah... me too, I’m glad to have [met] you, Hinata-kun.”

CHAPTER 1

The next day, Byakuya announces the party and the group accepts his proposal without suspicion. The old building is suggested as the place, cleaning duty is required, the straw game comes out and Nagito ends up chosen to do it. So far, no news. But on the party scene, we do have several differences:

From how they explain it, the old building consists of just the dining hall and the great kitchen. With this simplified setup, everyone is closer together, so there’s no messy deposit room, no office to guard, no fire door to take into account and Byakuya isn’t checking anyone for dangerous objects. Also, no guard outside and no Monomi, since she’s been locked up by Monokuma. The scene with Hajime speaking to Byakuya privately is preserved (though it doesn’t take place in the kitchen and he wasn’t dragged off to it, but rather, approached Byakuya himself to raise his suspicion that the party was planned for everyone’s wellbeing) and his mysterious dialogues are the same.

When the blackout occurs, they’re able to find the breaker and turn electricity back on their own. Only when the body is discovered do they get told there’ll be a trial, and how it will work. Investigation time!

When everyone scatters, they’re mostly talking about having things they want to check out or thought were weird, with a very active attitude about it. The times when the sound effect rings and the spotlight is focused on Hajime, is when he’s established a key clue, a class trial bullet, so he’s naming/explaining them out loud. Not much else to note, but isn’t the whole investigation scene SO dynamic and enjoyable? Such brilliant staging!! For the trial too!!

Not much is different in the trial until its very end, in fact it goes faster than in the game with all the complication factors that were skipped, so it reaches Nagito’s breakdown quickly. As I’m sure many people will want to know what the dialogue is in the famous getting-touchy-touchy-on-Hajime scene, I’ll note that it’s Hajime saying “is that your true nature?! Have you been deceiving us all this time?!” to which Nagito replies “that’s… wrong.” Quite sure the writing is the same as in the game, it’s just the acting that carries it differently.

After that, in the end, the way they figure out the culprit is from the existence of a passage to get under the floor that they’ve concluded the killer used: since it’s clearly not in the dining hall, it must exist in the only other room of the building, which is the kitchen, where only Teruteru was. Case closed in a much more brief, yet complete manner.

During the reconstruction of how it happened, the conversation Nagito and Teruteru had in the dining hall is very different from the game. Instead of the monologue focusing on his love for the ultimates and how he wanted to see them display a bigger hope, his words are much more manipulative. He asks Teruteru: “hey, Hanamura-kun… could it be true... we’re missing 2 years worth of memories? 2 years is a long time… if it were true… what then?” and insistently “Don’t you want to know? Don’t you want to go back home?”, playing from the worries he was displaying earlier. He is also more straightforward in remarking that Teruteru wasn’t his victim nor acting in everyone’s defense, that he could’ve said something when he realized he had killed Byakuya instead of him, but kept quiet to save himself (a dialogue that, in the game, is said by Monokuma instead). He also claims to love that hope Teruteru had of going home, a hope so strong that Byakuya and everyone else could’ve died for it.

You’ll see that the execution is also very different, as almost all of them will be (personally, I love them even better than in the game). As Teruteru dies, his last words are: “momma… I’m sorry”.

Post trials comes another surprise: the group gets a freebie for their effort, which is a new piece of info. They’re told there is a traitor among them. Of course they suspect Nagito, but then, as they’re confronting him, we get this:

Hajime: It’s your fault! That Hanamura… and Togami...

Nagito: Ah, right, about that… that wasn’t Togami-kun.

Gundham: What are you saying?

Nagito: During the investigation, I found this.

Hajime: Togami’s e-handbook?

The name’s… different.

Ultimate… imposter.

Ibuki: Daaaaang! That Byakuya-chan wasn’t Byakuya-chan, then?!

Nagito: But what an amazing talent! Because, out of all of us, no one even thought it wasn’t Togami-kun! He sure got us! 

But… since he’s dead now, it’s not worth caring about, is it…

Akane: I’ll beat ya up, you bastard!

Hajime: Not worth caring about? 

The fact that he was a wonderful leader, who protected us with all he had, didn’t change.

That he’d tried to protect us till the very end… and not allow the killing game to happen… he was a proud, worthy leader.

Chiaki: Yes… that’s true.

With that very early revelation, the chapter closes.

CHAPTER 2

Shortening matters, through the night Monokuma already gave to everyone a piece of their past: the envelope containing the pictures of the girls in their Hope’s Peak uniforms and of Fuyuhiko’s sister’s body. They all have seen it by morning, but naturally don’t know what it could all be and don’t discuss it. As in the game, Nagito is being kept away, tied up, though here Akane helped as well; she intended to beat him up while she was at it, but Nekomaru stopped her claiming the strength of her muscles wasn’t meant for stuff like that.

It seems Peko is getting a few more added interactions with Fuyuhiko as well, mostly since she can be closer and take more physical actions in this medium. As she tries to stop him from breaking away from the group, she tells him “if we’re together, it’s certain you’ll be safer”, with this same nuance in English where she could mean together with the group, or together with her. Neat stuff.

Moving on: everyone knows Nagito’s situation. Mahiru suggests taking breakfast to him in front of everyone in this version instead of privately to Hinata, to which everyone reacts complimenting her kindness. No one actually goes to give Nagito food tho (ouch), since everyone starts taking off to the beach and to mess around, doing their own things. Also, Sonia’s interest in Gundham is already made noticeable. A fun little addition:

Hajime (to Gundham): Sonia wants to invite you though, so… will you come to the beach too?

Kazuichi: Hinata…

Hajime: What do you say, Tanaka?

Kazuichi: HEY…

Of course, everyone agrees and will be meeting at the beach house in 1 hour. So it’s not a girls-only meeting in this version, but for everyone who didn’t have other plans. Under Hajime’s advice they’ll try to stay together as much as possible to be safer.

The stage skips to what’s happening at the beach house not long after. We proceed to the murder, conveniently obscured, and body discovery.

As for differences in how the case unfolds, during the investigation, it’s Gundham and Sonia who notice the beach house has another exit: the small window set pretty high up. Then, as Komaeda joins in, he takes special interest in checking whether Hajime’s remembered his talent yet or not. He finds it pretty amazing that even without that, he’s out there solving cases, and expresses looking forward to Hajime remembering. He remarks that he’ll always be on the side of hope to clarify his position.

This class trial is also cleanly shortened without sacrificing anything important. As you’ll notice from the proof collected, the whole thing with the fake Sparkling Justice doesn’t happen. After concluding it couldn’t have been Hiyoko and the killer set her up, the point is made that the killer actually used the window to leave, which only one person could’ve possibly done: Peko. So that’s that.

Once again, it’s rather the reconstruction of the incident that changes. Hiyoko and Mahiru are talking about their friendship, how they’ll continue to be friends even after regaining their old memories, or might’ve even been friends before, when Peko knocks Hiyoko unconscious. The discussion continues. 

On the 2nd part of the case reconstruction, Fuyuhiko openly threatens to kill Hiyoko right there to get Mahiru to talk about the pictures and his sister’s death. You’ll notice the image on the screen is the other one, of Sato’s body, but since it was the only picture of a live actor, they used that one as though it were the sister (please be understanding)! Plus, the story about bullying and how they were both killed doesn’t come up, so there’s nothing to be confused over in this version. All we know on the play is that Mahiru took the picture, because Monokuma said so, so Fuyuhiko believes she did the killing too. Mahiru argues that she must’ve taken it as proof. “Us photographers… can tell the meaning of a picture we took ourselves”, she says, but it’s too late.

The debacle of whether Peko is the killer or Fuyuhiko counts as it for using her as tool is, of course, maintained. Enjoy the actors’ amazing representation and another great execution scene!

The rewards for winning the trial this time: 1. The info that the traitor definitely came to the island with them. 2 The traitor belongs to a world-destroying organization called Future Foundation. (Which, in a fun dialogue I believe is new, Nagito calls a pretty hopeful name for something like that.) 3. Those who have talents will be given a present related to their talent. Nagito leaves to check that out, and with Hajime musing “will I be able to… remember my talent?”, the chapter closes.

CHAPTER 3

From here on, the stage play’s scripts starts to differ from the game more and more.

The gift Nagito received for his talent was the gun. Upon finding that it’s loaded with only one bullet, he understands it’s for playing russian roulette, a test for his luck aside from a present. I have to say, I find it insanely cool that he goes for 5 out of 6 shots instead of the 1 shot he did in the game, like holy shit??? But anyway, his reward for the game is the binder with the info on Hope’s Peak and the students.

As for the others, the gift Ibuki got is an electric guitar, Chiaki got a game system, Kazuichi got the communication/camera set that he would make at this point in the game, the one that plays an important role in the 3rd case, and so on; everyone got something related to their talent, except for Hajime. He already suspects it might be that he has no talent, after all, but the others comfort him, doubting that’s the reason.

Enter the despair disease. In this version, Nagito doesn’t get the disease; only Akane and Ibuki do, plus Mikan, who catches it from the start as well unbeknownst to the rest. The set up is like this: Mikan will be caring for the sick at the island’s hospital facility, Hajime volunteers to be there with her, and Kazuichi provides his comm set to link the hospital with the hotel lobby to stay in touch without spreading the illness. 

From his position at the hospital, Hajime sees the transmission which he supposes is taking place at the hotel, so he runs over there. But from the hotel, when checking the comm system, the transmission comes on again so everyone thinks it has to be taking place at the hospital now. On the road from hotel to hospital is where they run into Mikan and Akane. Once at the hospital, the bodies of Ibuki and Hiyoko are there.

This investigation process differs A LOT from the game’s. For starters, everyone is far too discouraged by now from so many of their friends being gone and Kazuichi doesn’t even want to investigate anymore. To top things off, when Nagito arrives...

Hajime: Komaeda… where have you been?!

Kazuichi: Mioda and Saionji died! Do you get it?! Both of them at once!

Nagito: Who kills, who gets killed… I don’t care about that anymore.

Hajime: What did you say?

Akane: You asshole… if you say that, I’ll kill ya!

Sonia: Owari-san!

Nagito: Hey, Hinata-kun… did you remember your talent? Did you get any present from Monokuma?

Hajime: … no…

Nagito: Then, this is true…

Hajime: What does that mean?

Nagito: Hush! A reserve course level guy like you… could you not talk to me like we’re equals?!

Hajime: Reserve course?

Nagito: I got this from Monokuma… documents from within Hope’s Peak. You… have no talent, you were a reserve course student!

After explaining what the reserve course is, leaving Hajime destroyed, Nagito steps away to do his own thing.

With Hajime totally out of commission from shock, it’s the other characters who do the investigating on their own this time, without the protagonist’s lead we’re used to. Pretty painful to witness, honestly, but a very clever, impacting and well-handled modification. Everyone lets him have his time. In fact, when Fuyuhiko asks what’s wrong with Hajime, Gundham replies “Do not ask… it is a trivial matter.” for him, and when Chiaki talks to him, it’s only to ask case-related questions, no personal prodding. They only get to go over the causes of death, how the monitors worked (the hotel one showing a feed of the hospital, the hospital one showing a feed of the hotel) and as soon as Fuyuhiko finds a bit of the pillar-wallpaper-thing, investigation time’s over with no more evidence pieces than that. On to the trial.

Like it would happen in chapter 4 in the game, Nagito’s undermining Hajime in the trial, but no one else minds that he’s from the reserve course. Hence the physical attitude you’ll see him taking throughout. Understandably, though, from how the set up was, Hajime looks very suspicious, so the first part of the trial is on the possibility of him having committed the crime. Once that’s cleared and they’ve got it down that Hiyoko’s body was already there when he woke up, hidden under wallpaper, it’s concluded that the transmission was a trick from the killer, who had to be female and at the hospital at the time: Mikan.

Her breakdown follows pretty much the same script as in the game, as well as how she finally gives herself away by mentioning specifically the camera angle. As for the reconstruction of the case, it shows that Ibuki was already healed at the time, that Mikan used some sort of injection to kill her. As for Hiyoko, all the same, except… well, you’ll see. “I’m sorry for being a disgusting, pervert woman…” is what she says, which kinda... adds a layer of to consider in their behavior to each other.

Just as in the game, Mikan reveals what the despair disease did to her, talks about her past and her old lover before she’s executed. No additions or changes on any of that.

CHAPTER 4

… well, kinda. Chapter 4 of the game pretty much doesn’t happen in the stage play. Instead, we get the scene we can see immediately after the execution:

Angry and at her limit from everything that’s happened, Akane challenges Monokuma, like she would go off on her own to do in the game. With everyone being right there in this version, Nekomaru, Fuyuhiko and Gundham are quick to back her up, while Hajime and Kazuichi keep the more physically frail members of the group safe, and Nagito simply stands aside from everything, commenting how awesome everyone is. Do note that he takes a spear from the Monokuma army for his own purposes.

While the whole Funhouse ordeal doesn’t happen, the main points and the weight of the game’s chapter 4 are preserved, with the self-sacrificing role Nekomaru and Gundham take during the fight. All the information we get from the game chapter has already been given in the previous parts of the play, the tensions and relationships between characters were also already set up, and the victim and culprit roles kept a last-effort, self-sacrifice spirit; it’s true that it’s less morally complex and takes exposition away from Gundham, but everything is still basically covered. Even the message to “not give up on life”. So, with their noble deaths, this chapter closes.

CHAPTER 5

Here the play realigns more faithfully to the game’s order of events.

Now knowing they’re Ultimate Despair, Nagito no longer has sympathy for the group or their dead friends. Since the binder he got has info about everything except the traitor, his aim is to uncover them through his bomb threat now. Here he’s immediately revealing his aspiration to wipe out despair from the island and become the Ultimate Hope, and as Hinata asks him to stop before he kills someone, Nagito tells him: “Hey, Hinata-kun… I believe… in my Ultimate Luck!” Words that will be very important.

Here, Fuyuhiko steps up to establish what to do with the situation: Hajime and Chiaki will be staying behind to go through the documents Nagito gave, while he and everyone else will go search for the bombs. “It’s got nothing to do with talent. I’m doing it because I trust in you… so leave that up to me,” is more or less what he says, like the cool heckin bro he is. Very neat modifications. What Hajime and Chiaki have on their hands, then, is the info about the deaths of the student council, Kamukura Izuru, the most despair-inducing incident in the history of mankind, Junko, the group that constitutes Ultimate Despair… pretty much what we’d be getting during the chapter 6 exploration of virtual Hope’s Peak.

Continuing, Nagito has been spotted going into a building, which would be the factory warehouse, so the group get all back together and chases after. The discovery of his body plays out just as in the game, the case itself has the same elements too, from the stuck door to the fire to the bottles. Enjoy the amazing and chilling staging!

In regards to the investigation, even the group recognizes it was too short this time around and that they have no leads. Chiaki already recognizes that “this might not be a trial to find the culprit”.   

Once again, the trial is more agile and short. Given that everyone was together most of the time and no one went in or out of the warehouse after Nagito, Hajime proposes it was suicide very quickly. A trick pulled to throw them off… and get them all executed? Although most of the others are ready to accept that as the conclusion, Hajime himself is quick to pause things and question it. Because Nagito said that he would expose the traitor, not kill everyone, so that shouldn’t be what he’d try to do. The trial goes on.

Hajime’s effort to understand the reasons behind Nagito’s actions is comes in the form of a truly fantastic change here, a new scene annexed to the case reconstruction. I’ll translate that conversation between the deceased Nagito and him:

Nagito: Hi there, Hinata-kun.

I really didn’t think you from the reserve course, of all people, would be the one to finally reach the truth.

Hajime: It wasn’t just me… it’s because everyone worked together!

Nagito: Hey, did you find the traitor?

Hajime: ...

Nagito: You haven’t found them, then. I’m glad.

Hajime: You, who obsessed over hope... 

Why would you go this far to get us killed?

Nagito: To make despair into a stepping stone for hope. That’s all it is.

If I were able to overcome this despair, then I’d surely become the true hope. The Ultimate Hope!

Hajime: So what… if you die it’s meaningless, isn’t it?

Nagito: Oh, no. [The next line, I’m unable to translate at my level, due to how fast the actor is speaking I can’t make it out properly. There is an “isn’t it natural” there, but that’s all I can catch. Apologies.]

Hajime: I… 

I was happy you’d called out to me at the start… when you were telling me I’d remember my talent someday… I was happy... 

I… with you…!

Nagito: That’s… that’s wrong, Hinata-kun.

You the reserve course student, and me with the Ultimate Hope…! You, as someone without talent, have no reason to be talking with me, do you?

Hajime: Komaeda!!

Nagito: I’m hope… I oppose despair! And hope… moves forward. 

Through this scene, Hajime has realized Nagito’s intention to save the traitor and kill the rest.

Now, quite similarly to how it goes in the game, Chiaki confesses and the nature of Future Foundation as the good guys is revealed through her. Plus, Monokuma delivers the reason Nagito wanted to save someone from that organization, the revelation that everyone else is Ultimate Despair. Why they were taken on the island is established. 

It is with all that already on their plate that Chiaki asks them to execute her. Trusting both Nagito’s talent and Chiaki’s bravery, Hajime makes the call to vote for her as blackened.

Chiaki’s goodbyes are the same as in the game, but damn, does it deliver differently on stage… 

CHAPTER 6

As soon as the execution is over, the graduation for the remaining students begins. It’s very confusing for me to pick apart the fine detail of what’s just like the game and what’s different, since it’s all small things all over the place, so I’ll just be thorough in summing up this whole part.

The survivors are immediately presented with the first choice, which is what appears on their e-handbooks and the stage screen: graduate and leave the game world, or don’t and stay in it. This is the first time anything about the island being a simulation comes up, so the explanations for that are due. Junko’s presence is revealed.

She explains that the group wouldn’t be allowed to graduate until a point where the Future Foundation member was dead. Now, they can. And if they graduate and wake up, their friends who died through the killing game will also go back to life (except Chiaki, of course). Hajime is unsure, so to convince everyone, Junko brings the simulation of the others back, who also pressure Hajime to choose to graduate. But he denies it, because that’s clearly not their friends. How does he know? Because Nagito just said to graduate too, and he’d never share that opinion, he wouldn’t agree in any way with the designs of Junko, who is despair. Therefore, it’s all an illusion!

The truth of that choice is explained: they WOULD all come back to life, but all of them would have Junko’s mind. So uh, yeah, that’s why they act and pose as you’ll see, and MAAAAN how I dig those once again incredible performances!! 

When Monomi appears, it is to reveal the other option: the emergency shutdown command, which will take the survivors out of the program without Junko (and of course without the others). No, Naegi, Kirigiri and Togami do not appear in this version, so she is giving that information on her own and without the 11307 code. But, the Junkofied classmates explain that would also cancel everyone’s progress in the program and return them to how they were before entering it, as Ultimate Despairs.

The two options are summed up: the “hope” option that Nagito is signaling is the emergency shutdown that sacrifices the survivors back to despair but doesn’t let Junko out into the world, and the “despair” option that Imposter is signaling would be the graduation that allows the survivors to wake up with their memories from the program, but also lets Junko out occupying the mind of each of their dead friends. 

On top of that, as everyone is physically restrained to pressure them into the final choice, when Hajime’s trying to talk back to Junko, she reveals he’s the one who brought her to the program to begin with. Since he has no memory of it, she goes ahead and tells him that he’s the legendary Ultimate Hope, Kamukura Izuru. “You are Kamukura Izuru,” she makes everyone chant repeatedly, to get it through his head. So, the shutdown option that reverts everyone to their despaired state, would also make Hajime return to being Izuru. And his current self? The chant is then “disappear”, which gives him the answer to that.

Just as in the game, Hajime is paralyzed. Retreating within his mind, he monologues about how he can no longer choose between hope and despair, themselves or the world, just can’t choose a future. And in much the same conversation, Chiaki hears him out and reminds him that he is himself, that he’s acted undeniably as himself within the simulation and, most importantly, that life isn’t like a game where the 2 options given are all there is; that he can create any other options he wants, create his own path. “You’re not doing it for anyone, but for yourself,” she says, before giving him a hope fragment.

It’s with that mentality, that decision to create his own future, that Hinata returns and convinces the others to do the emergency shutdown. Trusting each other and what should be a new beginning instead of their end, they press both buttons together which begins the process.

The final scene is a perfect replica of the game’s, as far as I can tell. With the digital world falling apart around them, everyone prepares for what may come after, hoping they won’t forget each other and what they went through, a bit scared, but happy to be together and determined to carve out their future. 

With that, the stage play ends. Enjoy the outro!

I hope you’re able to have as much of a great time as I did watching the play. The actors truly awed me with how much life they breathed into their characters, and I strongly recommend watching the play more than once through, ‘cause you can always notice new details, other characters doing their own things in the background when the main spotlight wasn’t on them, characters slipping into poses that are so much like the game sprites, etc. The modifications were also brilliantly done to make things shorter without messing anything up, keeping the plot perfectly together; something admirable and, in my opinion, the work of a very skilled writer. The stage work was just unbelievably amazing to me too. Wanting to show all this, so that other people could appreciate how well done it was, is a large part of why I made this long-ass thing.

Have a cool time reliving the fantastic story that SDR2 was!

[ren-akimiya]

Stalker Metamorphosis

I walked into my office with a crime investigation folder in my arms. After a long chase, we finally put that psychopath behind bars. However, despite knowing that she can get sentenced for her entire life, or put in an asylum, she didn't resist much. Or maybe not at all. She simply put everything in her hands down on the floor as we pointed guns at her. And those eyes... just staring into the abyss of nothingness. It was rather creepy. I have seen similar eyes on victims of homicide. Shock and extreme trauma cause it most of the time. It felt like... she was a completely different person from what we were expecting. She had a diary with her. I know it is rude for one to read a complete stranger's diary, however, I am really interested in what can be in it. Wacos like her usually write interesting and creepy shit, and I always loved horror as a genre in almost everything. Games, movies, books... let the genre be horror, and I always gave it a try. The chills running down my spine, before a good scare or when an eerie music began to play in the background, brought a sense of euphoria as well. Sometimes an effective jumpscare filled my mind with ecstasy as well however it always felt cheap on the long term. Guilty pleasure what I call it. Maybe I sound creepy, but tell you what, I am a genuine and cool guy. Sometimes a little bit too passive.

I put down the folder on the closer end of the desk and jumped into my chair. The diary was inside my pocket, ever since the arrest so I did not need to take it away from the evidence safe. There is a smaller chance I get discovered this way. Holding back evidences can put me into every kind of trouble however curiosity got the better of me. I guess there is no turning back at this point. My fingers slip under the cover and with a steady motion towards myself, I opened it on the first page. As expected, nothing was on the first page. Why the hell did I even open on it. Turning on the next page revealed what I was looking for. The handwriting was pretty and organized. It was odd from a sort of artist as far as I know. Or maybe I am just generalizing.

Entry 1:

Dear Diary,

I’m happy I’m starting you.

Well, my psychiatrist suggested writing a diary so that I clear up my mind from all the things happened to me. I am not entirely sure though what he was referring to...

He was asking questions about what was the last thing I remember before I fell into a coma. I had a really hard time answering them. Until my CT scan doesn't come back to him I am restricted of using anything electronic since it can worsen the possible damages in my brain. Better safe than sorry I guess. However, he recommended me to write a diary or some sort to clean my head from the cloud that blocks my thoughts and help me remember certain scenes. I have no idea why he wants me to do that. Did I see a wanted criminal or something that bad happened they need to catch someone? I think it is better for me to pull myself out from the case entirely. I don't want any other trouble in my life I already have. Speaking of problems, ever since I got back to my senses I can't shake this odd feeling off of me that someone or something is watching me from behind. I also happen to catch glimpses of it on my horizon but never too close to identify it...

Sound and feels pretty unnerving if you ask me knowing someone is watching me maybe going to do something to me… I just hope nothing happens and I am just imagining things.

Oh well, this all that I wanted to write down for this day. Wow writing my thoughts down to you is pretty fun as well. I might develop a habit out of this. I feel so old school right now...oh well I hope I write down on you soon.

From, Naomi

I put the diary down on the wooden table, under the light of my desk lamp then crossing my fingers in front of my head and resting it. Thoughts rush through every synapse of my brain, piecing together the unnecessary info and the already known facts about the caught girl. No motive or possible explanation in this entry…

Reaching down under the paper again, I turned the page to reveal the next entry in the strange diary

Entry 2:

Dear Diary,

Finally, back at school. I was worried that I would fall behind my studies and fail, after working so hard for getting mom and dad’s approval to get in this college. I cannot let my hopes and dreams shatter just because of this little coma. I know they can’t make huge exceptions like letting me pass all the test. I would not want it either. I would just pull more unnecessary attention on me. I don’t want that…. I don’t want to be noticed anymore...Please just leave me alone...Not anymore...I think I uncovered the secret that lying that certain night’s shadows...

It looks like the entry ends here. The part with the dots appears to be less organized and more like scribbles. The psychology book about handwriting would say that the person who wrote this was in fear. The strokes of the pen suggest that the writer’s hand was shaking while writing. I bit down on my finger, ripping of a small fragment of my skin chewing them into softer dusty matter then swallowed it. A really bad habit of mine. I start doing this thing when I feel excited or I am bored. Few of my colleagues who I am friends with said that I should try dropping this childish habit, since they and science says that removing your skin causes bacteria to invade your body. Are they thinking that I am some kind of idiot? I am fully aware of that fact. I just can’t help it…

Shaking my head, I turn a few more pages only running through the lines with my eyes. Nothing really interesting except this shadow figure that entry 7 describes. I stopped scrolling to put on under my metaphoric magnifying glass.

Entry 7:

The shadow person is getting more and closer with each passing day. This goddamn faceless figure. I think it resembles a huge figure. Mostly humanoid in shape however it keeps on warping and warping sometimes. And not just that but I think I began hallucinating even weirder shit. Sometimes when I turn on a corner, everyone disappears from this city. It becomes abandoned. I roam the empty streets for a while, begging to find someone with me without any luck whatsoever. When I snap back to reality I am usually at the same spot where this hallucination started. Yes, I classify them as hallucination since I see them clearly but no one else does. I never move from my original spot either. What else could it be? Exactly, nothing else, other than a hallucination.

I heard about killings taking place in the city more and more frequently. Coincidentally, my hallucinations became more common and longer. What if...these two things are linked somehow…

The entry ends here. The author noticeably became more frustrated than ever. Organized writing and structure were thrown out of the window at this point. Her fear emitted from her writings, like a sinister miasma choking me. Chills ran down on my spine while reading the entry. This is what I was waiting for. Excitement. From the very moment I first averted my gaze at her broken facial expression and empty emerald green eyes I knew I was in for some exciting events.

My pupils filled most of my eyes, pushing out my iris to the outer rim of the inner ring and every single hair on my arms stood on their edge. I could not wait even a millisecond and turned to the final page. The entry was this:

Entry 13:

Dear Diary,

I was really glad to start you so I could talk about this dark secret with you. Dark secret... sounds pretty cliché if you ask me. I am finally putting together the pieces of the puzzle. The meaning behind this hallucination, the Shadow Being and the genocides occurring across the city. Meaning? What the fuck am I even trying to say. There is no meaning to anything what am I doing. I don’t even know why am I hallucinating. Maybe I am just simply going nuts. These medications that the doctor gave to me have no goddamn use.

I hear him telling things to me. I don’t know what, but I am certain that he is talking to me in a strange language. I can’t even think it is human language… He is getting closer to me. One night I woke up to him staring at me, just a couple inches away from my face but when I blinked, he was gone in an instant. Why am I referring to that thing as a “he”? It is something beyond human knowledge. A malevolent beast that wants nothing else just to take people away and murdering them in unspeakable ways. Or maybe this is just all in my head…

Never mind... Nothing matters anymore. Whatever that thing is, imaginary or real, I am giving myself up to it. I am tired of running…

Thank you, my dear Diary. You were a wonderful companion throughout this journey.

I closed the small journal and put it back on my table. Averting my gaze at the case folder on the very edge of my desk, I pulled it under the yellow light of the desk lamp. The newly gained information fit right into the missing spots of the case’s jigsaw puzzle. Though the case was solved as soon as we caught the poor thing in the forest. She made a shelter there to keep herself from hurting more people. Her final acts are worthy of acknowledgment, as Naomi, however, it will not erase the fact that she killed people.

I let out a long sigh then got back up from the comfortable hold of the leather chair and I left my office with the journal in the pocket of my coat. The rain was pouring from the sky so for the distance between the door of the building and my car, I opened my umbrella. If I am correct, she must be in jail still. I don’t remember the chief talking about transferring her to an asylum or prison. Starting the engine, I drove down in the dim lit road towards the district’s police station. The words from the diary formed images in my head, flashing into my mind like lightning. For some reason, I felt myself more and more agitated with each passing street light as the distance between me and the complicated serial killer lessened. Pain stung into my stomach like a tiny blade and my arms became shaky again. I have not felt like this ever since my first case. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and my heavy feet pushed down on the gas pedal ever so slightly. The engine roared up and the mechanical beast that I was sitting in almost muting the popping sound that the rain gave as each drop landed on the windshield. The adrenaline rush got the better of me until another traffic light put me to a halt by changing to red. It was strange that only the final light gave me a red signal. All other were green or just changed to green like some strange coincidence. And only the final one stopped me, for the better. I would have been sent to the afterlife by the coming truck with a frontal collision. most likely sending my body flying across the windshield or the breaking glass piercing through my skull.

As the light switched to green I took the final turn to the police station. It was technically closed by this time of the day, however, there were always a few officers who were on nightshift to look out for the ones locked up and to answer possible calls. Rushing inside the station from the rain, the officers looked at me dumbfounded.

I asked where can I find the girl that we took in a couple of hours ago. They looked at each other, dumbfounded by my request then one sighed and took me to the cells in the room that opened from the very back of the building. I told him that I would want some alone time with her, to that he widened his gaze then shrugged, leaving the room. I venture forward to the only cell that held someone captive. There she was, sitting by the wall, looking downwards at the floor, or at her feet. Her hair, a brown and semi-short mess. The body was still covered in dirt and her clothes were tattered and torn. When she heard my steps getting louder she raised her head up from between her knees and looked into my eyes. The same soulless eyes I have seen when we caught her. Her huge pupils, trying to focus onto mine, as her emerald iris was only visible on the very outer rim of the central ring. It was like she was in some sort of trance.

Sighing, I pulled the journal out from my pocket and giving it a push, I slid it to her. To this it looked like, life went back into her. Reaching out to it with shaky hands, she lifted it up and held it close to her chest. A gentle smile curved onto my face then took a few steps backward.

“So you have read it. But why?” she asked, in an extremely low tone. It was like she was whispering. My answer was presented to her with a sigh.

“No particular reason. I thought that a psycho’s diary would hold many horrors, waiting to be uncovered. And it looks like I was right.”

She responded with an “Oh,” then looked back down on the floor.

“But why did you bring the diary back to me? It makes no sense…” she said. And that struck me. I had no answer to this question. Possible answers raced through my mind like cars, however, neither of them would have done any good. I was wondering if I would be able to chat with the other one inside her. The so-called Shadow Person, however, it was a fact that bringing her out would only do harm to her. I already broke a few unwritten regulations of mine with bringing the diary back to her. It was time for me to leave, so I left her with the question, hanging unanswered.

On the way back home, in my rear-view mirror, I noticed something. I adjusted it a little bit to gain a better sight on it. Something that I should not be able to see. It looked like a hole anomaly in space, warping and changing into... into a humanoid shape.

[austinpanda]

Dad Letter 082921

29 August, 2021

Dear Dad--

I am so pleased that August is almost over and I can start watching my scary movie marathon again soon! I spent some of yesterday getting the media PC ready. That’s my tiny cheap living room computer that does nothing but play movies on the TV. I will begin, as I always do, with Night of the Demon, from 1957, starring Dana Andrews, who was a man. After that is The Uninvited from 1944, and from there, I go with whatever I feel like watching that day. I’ll be watching The Giant Behemoth soon! And Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, and George C. Scott in The Changeling.

It was an interesting week at work in the casino. My boss chewed me out over failing to notice an important thing, and it turned out that I not only noticed the thing when it happened, but I emailed the boss about it, and he completely dropped the ball following up after my email. (Score, Weidmann!) Now my boss is not the type to apologize after something like that, as though he were an actual human, but he is the type to recognize that he got OWNED and be a bit less of a self-absorbed dick because of it. So that was nice, I was vindicated, and my boss was less of a dick for a brief period. It’s those little victories.

I’ve mentioned the seven big audits that we do, and my efforts to learn all seven. Right now I’m at about 6.8. The biggest audit has one part that’s so complicated, I still haven’t mastered it. Basically it’s an audit of the problems that appear in the data coming in from our slot machines. So there’s nothing about it that’s simple, or sexy, or fun; it’s just head-scratching drudgery. When I reach this part of the audit, I get my boss or my coworker Justin and have them walk me through it. My goal in the next week is to be able to get through it on my own. Then I’ll be able to do all seven audits. Then the biggest test, the ultimate goal, the thing we’re given six months to learn: doing all seven audits by yourself in one eight-hour shift. For those who’ve done it for years, like Tyler, my sparrow fart of a boss, this is second nature to him. He can do all seven in significantly less than a day. Tomorrow is my first attempt, kinda. He’s going to have me do all but one of the easy ones. I’ve never tried that before, doing six audits, including the long complicated one. It’ll be quite a challenge. But if I can do it, then I can pretty much do all seven in a day.

And now it’s Saturday morning and I find myself alone in the house. It’s nice! Zach went off down the road to visit plant scientist guy and see what kind of goodies he can bring home from our mutual garden there. You’d expect a garden grown by a plant scientist to be healthy and productive, and it looks like this garden is living up to the expectation.

And now Zach has returned, and the house smells of fresh basil. Of all the herbs I never use in cooking, basil is right near the top of the list. But we now have three kinds, including a purple variety, in case you needed basil, but were irrationally angry over how green it insists on being all the time. We got some cherry tomatoes, and two ears of corn, and four green beans (I guess we’ll make the world’s tiniest casserole), and a giant green phallic thing that we think is a cucumber. Zach thinks it may be a zucchini, but it doesn’t have the color and the stripes that a zucchini has. It doesn’t look like a cucumber either, though. It’s covered with little spikes, little pointy protrusions that Zach said made it difficult to pick. Not sure what we’re going to do with the green mystery phallus, maybe carve it into an erotic centerpiece.

Today’s adventure was surgery on our living room sofa. It is (apparently) a cheaply-made piece o’ shit, and I think I know what has happened. Firstly, obviously, it has three segments, and the middle one has, for lack of a better word, collapsed. Remember back in Plano when we had the brown sectional sofa and certain sections of it sort of collapsed and became awful to sit on? The center segment of my living room sofa has done that. I attempted to put some brain on that problem, and determined that whatever was holding up that part of the sofa before has, almost certainly, NOT disappeared into the fifth dimension. Obviously there’s a layer of something--let’s call it ingredient X--whose job it was to hold up the springs and foam rubber that make the sofa a working piece of furniture. Now ingredient X has decided not to be a team player, and springs and foam rubber and shit have collapsed through to the bottom of the sofa.

We discovered this when we flipped the sofa over. I had to remove a piece of black fabric that blocked access to the bowels of the center section, which Zach and I both agreed was quite resourceful and brave. (We couldn’t imagine what purpose that fabric served, other than to make the sofa more aesthetic for someone standing under it.) Then we immediately saw the problem. There were a couple of places where the layer of sofa-innard-retaining-crap had developed big holes, and chunks of foam and large springs had fallen out. I tried cramming springs back in. That did not produce the desired result. In the end, our best option was to remove as much detritus as possible, staple the aesthetic fabric back into place, and put a folded-up blanket over that part of the sofa, which just sucks now. Next time, I think I’m going to try for an estate sale sofa.

The weather has been hot lately, and that, too, has sucked. We use our window unit AC to create a little cone of tolerable space in the living room, but the rest of the house is 85 to 90 degrees. I notice it’s become warmer in this state since we moved here. (Which, you know...fuck.) but we’re conscious of the fact that global warming does mean, on a local scale, weird weather, not always hotter weather. We’re hoping for a serious winter this year, because the last couple of years have been wussy little training winters. I want to drive to work in the snow for the first time! And, as I’ve probably mentioned, if I get stuck at work in a blizzard, they’ll let me stay in one of the off-market hotel rooms for free. I take it for granted I’m still not allowed to touch any of the slot machines.

I have taken some of the pretty rainbow dichroic film and applied it to a small window on my car, Beige Lightning. I will include a picture. I’m a little bit worried about it getting me pulled over, but since it’s just one small part of the passenger’s side rear window, I’m thinking it’s not going to cause any traffic stops. Plus, the way it shifts colors is just gorgeous to look at. “Sir, do you know why I pulled you over? Your little back triangle window was too beautiful, sir. You’re not allowed to display something so nourishing to the soul in full view of the public like that, sir. Little kids, and those who enjoy sparkly shit, might be inadvertently delighted, sir.”

I’ll write again next week, assuming I’m still a free man. All my love to you both!

[j86cal-blog]

Copy and paste objects in photos with the photo editor for PC

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Balancing the camera on the side of the boat dock meant that the photo was uneven this is especially noticeable to the eye whenever the photo has a plainly defined horizon line, just like the lake.

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It is generally easy to erase any kind of objects directly out of an image however the photo editor for PC works great on unique, tiny things that are usually been around by the same color or textures. This is since the recover device needs to replace the location you desire to get rid of with something else, as well as this functions ideal when it has an area close by that looks comparable. For instance, bright spot on a face is bordered by a great deal of similarly tinted skin, so the recover tool can easily calculate what to replace the dark point based on the bordering area. That is actually for the photo editor has to change out the spot you desire to erase together with another thing besides, and also that does work ideal whenever it gets an area close by that seems very same.

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Tone array inside a photo is generally one of the primary priorities. Your eyes are able to typically see a wider range of hue than the cam can record. The meaning of picture editing is the act of modifying a photograph, put simply. However this is simplifying a problem that is more or less problematic.

You can generally implement basic picture editing methods like soften photo fairly easily and also quickly but complicated strategies and also electronic editing and enhancing may need photo editor and also more practice. Photo editor is a gadget which you can easily utilize to manipulate and also increase pictures. Since images come with a raising variety of uses, increased services are experiencing ways to reutilize images and utilize them on different media.

[makingawkwardsexy]

Stuff I Liked In 2017

I guess I want to do a little round up of a few Best Of lists I have so I can look back on things I enjoyed! Though for it, I’m not sticking to things released in 2017 but rather things I experienced in 2017. I don’t think I started any new live action shows that were worth it. 

Movies:

Baby Driver - oh man, this movie. The editing is great, the music is great. It’s a musical without singing. The feeling when you imagine yourself in a music video, but conveyed in a movie. I liked the movie a lot, it’s safe to say. Edgar Wright is possibly my favourite director now with his meticulous filmmaking in the movie. It also hired a deaf actor to play a deaf character and it’s so charming. The bad side is Kevin Spacey is in it.

Boy (2010) - Taika Waititi wasn’t on my radar for long before I saw this. It’s got charm, humour, and emotion. I can’t say much about this movie other than it was a pleasure to watch. It’s a coming of age story that was told by a director that is a cross between Edgar Wright and Wes Anderson (in my opinion).

John Wick Chapter 2 - it’s even more fun than the first one. If you just want a fun action movie, this would be the best one for 2017 I think. It’s nonstop gunfights and cool choreography. 

Logan - the first of three superhero movies on my the list. Logan was just a nice break from the standard superhero story we’ve been getting. It was serious and dark at times, it was touching as well, in it’s own way. Possibly the best shot superhero movie as well. 

Spider-Man: Homecoming - so I love Spider-Man and this may just be on this list because of that mostly. But, boy was I happy with what they did with Spidey. Sure, there are some parts that could be changed, but that’s the case with almost everything. 

Thor: Ragnarok - this movie could’ve been awful...it ended up being amazing. It was hilarious (to be expected with Taika Waititi to be fair). He knocked it out of the park and made the funniest superhero movie I’ve ever seen, and one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. 

Anime Movies: A Silent Voice (2016) - this movie is beautiful. By the end of it, I felt like I had experienced a whole TV series with the characters with how well done the character development was handled. It’s about a boy who bullied a deaf girl, and was subsequently shunned by everyone for being a prick (fair enough). They’re in high school now and he is trying to redeem himself, and tries to make amends with her. It’s a touching story with gut wrenching moments. 

Majokko Shimai no Yoyo to Nene ( Magical Sisters Yoyo & Nene) (2013) - I didn’t expect too much when going into this, but it has some lovely art and animation. The story is fun as well. A nice adventure story that uses the “Magic Users Trapped In A Different World” trope well. 

Patema Inverted (2013) - an accident took place in the past, and now there are people who live underground. But not only that, their gravity is reversed. There are complications when the rich, dictatorship above ground discovers them. But the story is about a boy from the above and a girl from below who befriend each other and try to get the girl back to her people. They start to discover secrets along the way! Again, very lovely looking!

Anime Shows:

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (2011) - made by the same team behind Toradora, it’s a story about a group of friends who have grown apart since one of their friends died. They all blame themselves for it as well, which causes some lovely moments that are touching and heart breaking. What makes it interesting, however, is that one member can see their dead friend’s ghost who has returned for some reason. They try to help figure out why, whilst grappling with the conflicting emotions they feel (and the fact that they cannot see or hear her).

Erased (2016) - about a character who can reverse time to stop an event from happening. He has used it to save lives before, and suddenly he is transported to the far past, when he was in school. One of his schoolmates was murdered, so he is trying to find ways to prevent her murder. 

My Hero Academia (Season 2) - kind of a cheat, but it was a fun ride. I don’t like it a lot, which is weird, considering it’s going on this list, but there’s something about it that just draws me to it. It’s shounen, and typically so, but not obnoxiously so. Unlike Naruto, for example, I actually like the protagonist and his close friends. It’s generally a feel good show.

Ping Pong: the Animation (2014) - an ugly art style? Check. Initially unlikable characters? Check. But, man, it has some cool imagery when they play. It’s also an interesting take on sports anime from my limited experience with the genre. The director did the movie Mind Game, which is also an experience. 

ReLIFE (2016) - there are some things not too great about this show, but it really resonated with me at the time of watching. The main character feels like he’s wasting his life and has found it hard to get into employment after his first job. He’s offered a chance to re-do his life, which he accepts in a drunken state. When he wakes, he is 17 again and enrolled in school (this is the dodgy part). But ultimately the anime is a nice story of him using his experience in life to help students out. 

Shirobako (2015) - about a group of female friends who all want to make it in the anime industry in their respective roles. It is a very interesting anime that shows how anime is made really. It really highlights how difficult it is to make an animated show, and gives a diverse cast of characters as well. It really put me in creative moods after watching episodes, so that’s the main reason it’s on here.

Video Games: 

Moon Hunters (2016) - this game has pretty pixel art and also the portrait art for things is also very well done. You choose a class and go on an adventure to save your tribe from the Sun Cult. Along the way you can meet random people and interact with them, as well as take part in random events. Each choice builds your personality and gives you traits. The main thing that makes this game fun is that you can also do it with up to 4 friends, so it feels like you’re in your own Fellowship trying to save the world. 

Persona 5 - okay, favourite game ever. I hate the colour red, and this game made me love it. I love Persona 3 & 4, and this managed to exceed those expectations. The characters in it, the gameplay, the style of it. Oh boy, I don’t think I’ve played a cooler game. It won’t be for everyone, but if you get a chance to try it out, I would recommend it. 

Stick Fight: The Game - a silly physics based brawling game with guns that spawn that are as likely to get you killed using them as they are to kill your enemies. You need friends for it sadly, but you can play with up to 4 players and it’s a quick, fun, round-based party game.

Tekken 7 - I just like fighting games to be honest. It also has a bunch of female characters that don’t just fight like female characters do in older fighting games. They have some real brawling moves, which I dig! 

Titan Quest: Anniversary Edition - another cheating item on the list, I played the original version years ago. It’s an isometric RPG set in Greek mythology (and Egyptian and Norse as well). You can mix and match from a variety of classes, and play with friends. I enjoy running around with two wolves, a lightning wisp, and a nymph following me, whilst my friend can summon a magma golem. Pretty rad.

[bakechochin]

Book Reviews - Shades of Grey

Shades of Grey – Jasper Fforde - I ordered this book on a whim whilst looking for British comic fantasy in the vein of Pratchett and Howard, and because I liked the idea of a fiction book that could do something interesting with colours (ever since Warbreaker didn’t really have much to do with colour at all and The Black Prism turned out to be dumb); as it turns out, this book totally fucking excels at both of those things, enough so that I can forgive how horribly garish and terrible the front cover is (like seriously, look that shit up on Amazon, it makes my stomach churn) - I never thought that I’d ever read a funny dystopian novel, but here it is; sure it hints at the fall of the past world and makes fleeting references to the unfairness of this new society, but generally it doesn’t focus too heavily on the bleakness of this world and there’s an underlying British sense of humour throughout it all that was constantly making me laugh -> The book really managed to capture the asinine rules and regulations that so define a dystopia, but played the ridiculousness of said rules for laughs whilst the characters still treat them completely seriously, which was great fun to read - The world is just so much fun; the overall idea of a class system based around one’s colour perception is novel and bloody cool, all the little tidbits of information that the reader is constantly discovering is great, and I can appreciate any book world wherein two of the main threats to a person’s livelihood is lightning strikes and swan attacks -> The world, the Rules, the dialogue, everything is fucking hilarious and I eventually came to love it all dearly - But there’s more to it than just the humour that adds to the world; it is fucking rich with side plots and storylines of other minor characters and an overarching mystery narrative that really fucking piqued my interest, and when the story really picks up pace and pieces start falling into place I was fucking hooked - I found myself really liking all the characters, and the fact that I like them all is made all the more incredible when considering the massive variety of characters; there are bawdy bros with quality banter and sneering pompous prefects and bitchy old women and dreamy druggies and our protagonist Eddie in the midst of it all, torn between his adherence to the Rules and his curiosity to find out about the mysteries of East Carmine and it’s inhabitants (and with the unique eccentricity of being an innovator in the field of queuing) -> I’ll admit that I was a wee bit peeved at first by the lack of any detailed descriptions, thinking that it would reflect on some overall lack of characterisation (see also: Warbreaker or The Devil’s Detective), but characters get described just enough to differentiate them all and the characterisation is otherwise fucking superb - When you read the blurb, the story is set up to be just a love story between Eddie and Jane, but with all the different complicated storylines going on, it’s much more than that, and it’s perhaps this lack of any ‘main’ storyline, all these mysteries to be unsolved and endings to reach, that is my main reason for loving this book; the title of the book drawing attention to how ‘everything that looks black and white is really shades of grey’ is so fucking fitting, and putting aside the obvious comments from people drawing connections from this to Fifty Shades of Grey, it’s honestly one of my favourite book titles in a long fucking while - In all honesty, none of the gripes I have with the book are enough to make me hate the book, and are all just minor issues when compared to how good everything else is - I was liking how this book focused more on the lives of the characters instead of putting emphasis on how the dystopia came to be, as a load of post-apocalyptic stories I’ve read always do (Railsea comes to mind), but inevitably the story did eventually devolve into a load of world-changing revelations and explaining the mysteries of the world, and my good will started fading a wee bit -> However, I am liking how with the grand revelation stuff put into place, the future books in the series will be able to use the ‘striving for a better world’ malarkey as a stronger main story basis that what this book had, so all the subplots and character arcs can work around it well (as opposed to in this book, where the subplots and character arcs were the main story basis), so I can’t complain too much now that at least in the next book the characters will have something to do - There was a point when I thought the book would and should end, because all the puzzle pieces just slotted into place in a way that I thought made sense, but then the book went on for an additional few chapters after that; initially this vexed me, but the ending few chapters did allow for a good set up for future books - The love plot between Eddie and Jane seems kind of rushed; the progression of their love is Jane hating Eddie for long periods of time, and then at one point near the end of the book one minor character makes one cryptic hint that Jane may very well be into Eddie, and then all of a sudden she’s got feelings for him - It’s made pretty clear that the Collective (the world of this book) is basically a dystopian United Kingdom, and when you’ve figured that out you try to explain the weird and mysterious aspects of this far-future world through our modern perspective, like the magical artefact being a gun in the Shattered Sea series -> But then I ended up confused, because as it turns out the mysterious seemingly supernatural shit in this story could be attributed to the future technology of the past, so it’s just as unknown and supernatural to us as if it had just been supernatural shit- you know what this is just a clusterfuck of a point, let’s just attribute it to me being an idiot - 8.5/10

I have a load of other book reviews on my blog, check that shit out.

[thelabyrinthoftime]

Mind The Gap

I wrote a little bit about how I started playing this game as a kid, but didn’t get to finish it until many years later. I first played it when I was 9 and played it occasionally for a year or so. It’s easy to get stuck in the game, especially when you’re a kid. I can remember making it to the other side of the mirror maze for the first time, and quickly realizing that I reached another dead end (a card key was required to advance), and I remember being trapped in the section of labyrinth that’s past the mountain road- it was a while before I found the helmet, and for a long time, I felt like I reached a hopeless dead end with the construction site. I never put the pieces together that the numbers on the wall corresponded to the tile puzzle in the movie lobby. Even then, I’m not sure if I could have figured it out.

Some time later. I’m thinking I quit playing it after I had seen all that I could see with my progress, I remember noticing some other kids playing the game and looking around at everything. It was fun to just “look”. Actually, it’s still fun to play the game just to look around, and I still hunt for images, usually in the form of close ups and weird angles, that I’ve never seen before, but back then, it was the mid 90s, and we all feel in an interesting Goldilocks zone. A few years older, and we would have been adults, and maybe the novelty of the game wouldn’t have been marked with so much heart pounding excitement. As a kid, the imagination does wonders to extend those 8 bit images on the screen. How I wish I could still get THAT excited and lost in my own made up world at the sight of some pretty images. Had we all been born a decade in the other direction, computer games- even computer technology in general, would be taken for granted and there would be no novelty from such a game.

 Anyway, they happened to look at something I never paid attention to- the door to the south was sealed with a large screw. My mind immediately connected it to the ACME screwdriver, and my jaw dropped.

I convinced them to let me take control of the game for a minute while I retrieved the screw driver from the other end of the Labyrinth. I remember the three of us being on the edge of our seats as we bravely opened the large metal door and stepped out on that dark city street:

And before we can venture too far out, we’re struck by lightning! I’m sure we jumped, but it was followed by:

And then it went to the Surreal Maze, a place so bizarre, the game was unable to map it.

It probably took a few days or longer to get past the maze, and I arrived at the Ziggurat, and found a way to open the doors on the sides of the steps up to the top, but when I got inside:

And the game wouldn’t let me continue because it was “too dark”. I reached another dead end, and years later, I found out that this was the kind of dead end that you can’t undo.

And this was as far as I got in the game, and shortly afterward, that was the last time I played that game as a kid.

IT DROVE ME NUTS! What was inside that Ziggurat?

I also wondered about that city street, and the red light that foreshadowed your inability to cross the street. Because of the illustrations on your map, it’s obvious that there’s no where to go, but as a kid, I believed there had to be a way to get into the garage, or enter one of the buildings on the side. I even waited patiently for the light to change color. I wondered about what was across the street, too.

And for a game that had such a WOW! factor for me, it haunted me. I no longer had access to the game past a certain point. I tried to set up a time to purchase that very copy of the game even though I didn’t have a computer, let alone a Mac, that I could play it with. I would be a little more content if I just had that orange and black disc, but it never panned out.

For the next nine years, I would have the occasional dream about what came after the Ziggurat. I’d dream about night time at Revolver Springs, I’d dream about that damn Subway, and that feeling that something strange was about to happen. I remember dreaming about an area where you free fall in that endless sky... which is probably closer to the scenes at the end of the game than I realized, minus the falling part, and I remember dreaming about fantastic two story library with a spiral stair case. I think I was under the impression this was the end of the Labyrinth.

In wanting to have that experience again, I’d think about scenes from my own life, and how it’d be framed on the game screen with the icons at the bottom:

Somewhere in time, I discovered Art Deco. My love for Art Deco is connected to this game. Anytime there’d be a TV show that’d use the stock music heard in the game, I’d stop whatever I was doing and listen. There was a local commercial that used a different cut of the “sad piano” music (pastoral colours). Nickelodeon had access to the same stock library. There was one of those news stories by Linda Ellerbee that used the track, and there’s a classic episode of SpongeBob Squarepats all (six or seven) Labyinrth Heads like myself remember- the Hall Monitor episode where Patrick- alone at night with a walkie-talkie going “WEE WOO... WEE WOO” (a bad police car siren imitation) while he thinks something horrible is stocking him down an empty street.

There was an episode of the show Dream On that used the track, too, but I know nothing about the show, or the episode, or what was going on or why it was used.

My taste in music was no doubt colored by the game as well. I love stock music.

Back to those “in between” years, the internet became a more common thing to see and mess with when I was in middle school, and I’d eventually find the game for sale on eBay, but I had no way to get it... and still no way to play it. HA!

Then in 1999, I found a walk through of the game. This is the very reason I am extremely stubborn about going online for help when I’m stuck in a game. For all the “haunting” the game did, I ruined the game by reading about what followed post-Ziggurat. I learned that you needed to flip the levers in the Museum, and then- MOST IMPORTANTLY, go into the mine room, close the door, and find the lantern hanging, which was required to continue into the innards of the Mayan Ziggurat.

So... fast forward six years later, it was still “heart pounding” to see all these new areas, to see what that gold key unlocked, to see the inside of the Ziggurat, and to see what was on the other side of that strange door in the Cretan Maze. There was certainly more to see, more to do, but it all felt hollow because I knew what to do. Even though I read that walk-through years ago, I committed it to memory.

My first PlayStation game I ever owned (and still have) is RPG MAKER. Great game, great to use as a title maker when making home videos on VHS, and it taught me a lot about game programming. My own game development never got close to completion, save for a really lousy “port” of The Labyrinth of Time I made- this being before I finally got the actual game. I wonder if I still have it on one of my old memory cards. I bet I do.

But... yeah... it was great to experience TLOT again, but it was, at the same time, hollow, because there was nothing left to do but get to the end of the game, there was no idle exploration, no head scratching, just an attempt at closure.

But the game itself isn’t what makes it so special. I’m surprised that fans of vaporwave haven’t discovered this game. As my father might say, they’d be all over it “like stink on shit”. THIS is definitely a game that has...

Ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ. . .

The ray traced images, the 80s stock music, even the fact it’s a forgotten game would just make their heads explode. I’ve always said the game is like an art gallery or museum. One scathing review of the game when it came out suggested that TLOT should have been stripped down to its images and sold as cut rate clip art. Rather than take it as something bad about the game, it should speak to the quality of the art... and the...

Ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ!

I know I shouldn’t expect Bradley W. Schenck to make Labyrinth 2, but... DAMN! I wish he’d revisit TLOT in some form. It doesn’t have to be a game, if he’s sworn off ever working on a video game ever again. Back when I had money, I would have paid a nice sum of money to get large prints of scenes from TLOT, and I would have bought an equally expensive poster frame to hang it up in, too.

Anything from the Surreal Maze would have been amazing, especially if they were lenticular holographic posters. I loved the colors and patterns in the Mirror Maze, the detective’s office... really, only the most mundane settings would fail to get my money, and they were few and far between- like I probably don’t want a poster of a cave wall, or the gray muck that was the passageway to King Minos’s tomb... but if that were it, I’d probably cough up a few bucks anyway. These days are different, though, as far as my money is concerned. If my situation improves, I need to check out some of the writing BWS is doing these days, which feels like an extension of the “retro futuristic” stuff we see in the game.

I wish I was more motivated. I’d love to learn how to make ray traced 3D images, and see if I can emulate the look and feel of the game. I’d love to learn how to code to the point of being able to create a TLOT style game with a similar engine. The game doesn’t seem that complicated, but it’s still beyond my puny abilities to make a game.

Nonetheless, it’s on my bucket list.