#obviously this may change as i progress through the game. but for now

[angeltannis]

my assessment so far

[NO SPOILERS PLS I'M ONLY IN ACT 1]

[rainstormwrite]

The new update is now public.

Hello again, people!

That's it. This is the day.

The new update is now public.

(You're required to start a new playthrough if you don't want any game-breaking bugs, by the way.)

What's done:

All three routes are finished.

All the POVs are rewritten to be in the third person (they actually feel way better than I thought they would be).

Some parts of the first fight scene are fixed and clarified.

Some pronoun bugs are fixed.

What's planned:

…

Writing another update, obviously.

Word count:

Including command lines: 271245 Excluding command lines: 260837

But, I would ask you to temper your expectations in terms of the new content's single playthrough length. I'm going to paraphrase this from my previous post: the actual amount of content that was added with this new update is somewhere between 15 to 25 pages (approximately).

Even though the word count increased from 53k to 260k, the only event to happen in this update is one conversation/confrontation (ridiculous, I know). This is primarily due to the overwhelming amount of variable text that changes depending on your earlier choices and due to the number of routes you can take. If you're interested in the reasons for me to decide to do that, check out my previous post.

So, basically, each reader will experience the new content very differently but may not get as much satisfaction due to its shortness. If that is the case, I can only suggest you make another playthrough with different choices, but, if that's not your cup of tea, I would totally understand. But, overall, the game is very… how do I put it..? Multiple-playthroughs-friendly, I'd say.

Safe to say, the update will be incredibly polarizing, no doubt, but I'm always open to feedback.

And, even though I haven't found any bugs or inconsistencies, I am obviously aware that someone else may find them, so, if you are that someone, please report the bugs to me.

I think that's all regarding the update itself, so go ahead and play it. Hope you will like it!

PLAY THE UPDATE

Now, onto other interesting things…

From this point onward, I'm starting to take writing seriously, and that's why I've finally decided to open my Patreon page.

I've made a free introductory post there that explains what I'll be offering, but, right off the bat, I want to tell you that I can't offer you things that other creators are usually offering: Q&As and What-if scenarios. If we're talking about Q&As, I don't want to do them because I consider mystery to be a big part of my work, so I don't really want to wiggle around every question that people will ask me because it won't be fair to them and won't feel good to me. As for What-if scenarios, I don't want to write out some hypothetical scenarios when I can spend that time to progress the plot forward in the actual story. And, trust me, if I'm going to spread my attention too thin, I'm never going to finish this project… And I don't think you and I want that.

What I will provide, however, are progress updates, sneak peeks, early access, and monthly side stories, which the community will be able to choose by voting.

So, I'd advise you to read through the new update first, decide whether you're willing to put up with my approach to the content, and then consider subscribing if what I offer on Patreon is enough for you. If, after all that, you decide to become a member, I'll be very grateful to you. If not, I will still appreciate you being interested in my work and taking the time to read through it.

Thanks for tuning in, and have a pleasant day or a peaceful night!

[blueskittlesart]

I've heard that while most people really really love BotW and TotK, some people hate those two for going open-world, and some people hate TotK specifically for something about the story. As the resident Zelda expert I know of, what do you think of those takes?

"something about the story" is a bit too vague for me to answer--if you look at my totk liveblog tag from back when the game was newly released or my general zelda analysis tag you may be able to find some of my in-depth thoughts about the story of totk, but in general i liked it.

the open world thing though is something i can and will talk about for hours. (I am obsessed with loz and game design and this is an essay now <3) breath of the wild is a game that was so well-received that a lot of the criticism from older fans who were expecting something closer to the classic zelda formula was just kind of immediately drowned out and ignored, and while i don't think it's a valid criticism to suggest that botw strayed too far from its origins in going open-world, i am more than willing to look into those criticisms, why they exist, and why i think going open-world was ultimately the best decision botw devs could have made. (totk is a slightly different story, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.)

Loz is a franchise with a ton of history and a ton of really, REALLY dedicated fans. it's probably second only to mario in terms of recognizability and impact in nintendo's catalog. To us younger fans, the older games can sometimes seem, like, prehistoric when compared to what we're used to nowadays, but it's important to remember just how YOUNG the gaming industry is and how rapidly it's changed and grown. the first zelda game was released in 1986, which was 31 years before botw came out in 2017. What this means for nintendo and its developers is that they have to walk a very fine line between catering to older fans in their 30s and 40s now who would have been in nintendo's prime demographic when the first few games in the franchise were coming out AND making a game that's engaging to their MODERN target demographic and that age group's expectations for what a gaming experience should look like.

LOZ is in kind of a tough spot when it comes to modernizing, because a lot of its core gameplay elements are very much staples of early RPGs, and a lot of those gameplay elements have been phased out of modern RPGs for one reason or another. gathering collectibles, fighting one's way through multilevel, mapless dungeons, and especially classic zelda's relative lack of guidance through the story are all things that date games and which modern audiences tend to get frustrated with. for the last few releases before botw, the devs had kind of been playing with this -- skyward sword in particular is what i consider their big experiment and what (i think) became the driving force behind a lot of what happened with botw. Skyward sword attempted to solve the issues I listed by, basically, making the map small and the story much, much more blatantly linear. Skyward sword feels much more like other modern rpgs to me than most zelda games in terms of its playstyle, because the game is constantly pushing you to do specific things. this is a common storytelling style in modern RPGs--obviously, the player usually needs to take specific actions in order to progress the story, and so when there's downtime between story sections the supporting characters push the player towards the next goal. but this actually isn't what loz games usually do. in the standard loz formula, you as the player are generally directly given at most 4 objectives. these objectives will (roughly) be as follows: 1. go through some dungeons and defeat their bosses, 2. claim the master sword, 3. go through another set of dungeons and defeat their bosses, 4. defeat the final boss of the game. (not necessarily in that order, although that order is the standard formula.) the ONLY time the player will be expressly pushed by supporting characters towards a certain action (excluding guide characters) is when the game is first presenting them with those objectives. in-between dungeons and other gameplay segments, there's no sense of urgency, no one pushing you onto the next task. this method of storytelling encourages players to take their time and explore the world they're in, which in turn helps them find the collectibles and puzzles traditionally hidden around the map that will make it easier for them to continue on. Skyward sword, as previously mentioned, experimented with breaking this formula a bit--its overworld was small and unlocked sequentially, so you couldn't explore it fully without progressing the narrative, and it gave players a "home base" to return to in skyloft which housed many of the puzzles and collectibles rather than scattering them throughout the overworld. This method worked... to an extent, but it also meant that skyward sword felt drastically different in its storytelling and how its narrative was presented to the player than its predecessors. this isn't necessarily a BAD thing, but i am of the opinion that one of zelda's strongest elements has always been the level of immersion and relatability its stories have, and the constant push to continue the narrative has the potential to pull players out of your story a bit, making skyward sword slightly less engaging to the viewer than other games in the franchise. (to address the elephant in the room, there were also obviously some other major issues with the design of sksw that messed with player immersion, but imo even if the control scheme had been perfect on the first try, the hyperlinear method would STILL have been less engaging to a player than the standard exploration-based zeldas.)

So when people say that botw was the first open-world zelda, I'm not actually sure how true I personally believe that is. I think a lot of the initial hype surrounding botw's open map were tainted by what came before it--compared to the truly linear, intensely restricted map of skyward sword, botw's map feels INSANE. but strictly speaking, botw actually sticks pretty closely to the standard zelda gameplay experience, at least as far as the overworld map is concerned. from the beginning, one of the draws of loz is that there's a large, populated map that you as the player can explore (relatively) freely. it was UNUSUAL for the player to not have access to almost the entire map either immediately or very quickly after beginning a new zelda game. (the size and population of these maps was restricted by software and storage capabilities in earlier games, but pretty muhc every zelda game has what would have been considered a large & well populated map at the time of its release.) what truly made botw different was two things; the first being the sheer SIZE of the map and the second being the lack of dungeons and collectibles in a traditional sense. Everything that needs to be said about the size of the map already has been said: it's huge and it's crazy and it's executed PERFECTLY and it's never been done before and every game since has been trying to replicate it. nothing much else to say there. but I do want to talk about the percieved difference in gameplay as it relates to the open-world collectibles and dungeons, because, again, i don't think it's actually as big of a difference as people seem to think it is.

Once again, let's look at the classic formula. I'm going to start with the collectibles and lead into the dungeons. The main classic collectible that's a staple of every zelda game pre-botw is the heart piece. This is a quarter of a heart that will usually be sitting out somewhere in the open world or in a dungeon, and will require the player to either solve a puzzle or perform a specific action to get. botw is the first game to not include heart pieces... TECHNICALLY. but in practice, they're still there, just renamed. they're spirit orbs now, and rather than being hidden in puzzles within the overworld (with no explanation as to how or why they ended up there, mind you) they're hidden within shrines, and they're given a clear purpose for existing throughout hyrule and for requiring puzzle-solving skills to access. Functionally, these two items are exactly the same--it's an object that gives you an extra heart container once you collect four of them. no major difference beyond a reskin and renaming to make the object make sense within the greater world instead of just having a little ❤️ floating randomly in the middle of their otherwise hyperrealistic scenery. the heart piece vs spirit orb i think is a good microcosm of the "it's too different" criticisms of botw as a whole--is it ACTUALLY that different, or is it just repackaged in a way that doesn't make it immediately obvious what you're looking at anymore? I think it's worth noting that botw gives a narrative reason for that visual/linguistic disconnect from other games, too--it's set at minimum TEN THOUSAND YEARS after any other given game. while we don't have any concrete information about how much time passes between new-incarnation games, it's safe to assume that botw is significantly further removed from other incarnations of hyrule/link/zelda/etc than any other game on the timeline. It's not at all inconceivable within the context of the game that heart pieces may have changed form or come to be known by a different name. most of the changes between botw and other games can be reasoned away this way, because most of them have SOME obvious origins in a previous game mechanic, it's just been updated for botw's specific setting and narrative.

The dungeons ARE an actual departure from the classic formula, i will grant you. the usual way a zelda dungeon works is that link enters the dungeon, solves a few puzzles, fights a mini boss at about the halfway point, and after defeating the mini boss he gets a dungeon item which makes the second half of the dungeon accessible. He then uses that item in the dungeon's final boss fight, which is specifically engineered with that item in mind as the catalyst to win it. Botw's dungeons are the divine beasts. we've removed the presence of mini-bosses entirely, because the 'dungeon items' aren't something link needs to get within the dungeon itself--he alredy has them. they're the sheikah slate runes: magnesis, cryonis, stasis, and remote bombs. Each of the divine beast blight battles is actually built around using one of these runes to win it--cryonis to break waterblight's ice projectiles, magnesis to strike down thunderblight with its own lightning rods, remote bombs to take out fireblight's shield. (i ASSUME there's some way to use stasis effectively against windblight, mostly because it's obvious to me that that's how all the other fights were designed, but in practice it's the best strategy for that fight is to just slow down time via aerial archery, so i've never tried to win that way lol.) So even though we've removed traditional dungeon items and mini-boss fights, the bones of the franchise remain unchanged underneath. this is what makes botw such an ingenious move for this franchise imo; the fact that it manages to update itself into such a beautiful, engaging, MODERN game while still retaining the underlying structure that defines its franchise and the games that came before it. botw is an effective modern installment to this 30-year-old franchise because it takes what made the old games great and updates it in a way that still stays true to the core of the franchise.

I did mention totk in my opening paragraph and you mention it in your ask so i have to come back to it somehow. Do i think that totk did the gigantic-open-world thing as well as botw did? no. But i also don't really think there was any other direction to go with that game specifically. botw literally changed the landscape of game development when it was released. I KNOW you all remember how for a good year or two after botw's release, EVERY SINGLE GAME that came out HAD to have a massive open-world map, regardless of whether or not that actually made sense for that game. (pokemon is still suffering from the effects of that botw-driven open world craze to this day. rip scarlet/violet your gameplay was SUCH dogshit) I'm not sure to what degree nintendo and the botw devs anticipated that success, (I remember the open world and the versatility in terms of problem-solving being the two main advertising angles pre-release, but it's been 7 years. oh jesus christ it's been SEVEN YEARS. anyways) but in any case, there's basically NO WAY that they anticipated their specific gameplay style taking off to that degree. That's not something you can predict. When creating totk, they were once again walking that line between old and new, but because they were only 3ish years out from botw when totk went into development, they were REALLY under pressure to stay true to what it was that had made botw such an insane success. I think that's probably what led to the expanded map in the sky and depths as well as the fuse/build mechanics--they basically took their two big draws from botw, big map and versatility, and said ok BIGGER MAP and MORE VERSATILITY. Was this effective? yeah. do i think they maybe could have made a more engaging and well-rounded game if they'd been willing to diverge a little more from botw? also yeah. I won't say that I wanted totk to be skyward sword-style linear, because literally no one wanted that, but I do think that because of the insane wave of success that botw's huge open world brought in the developers were under pressure to stay very true to botw in their designing the gameplay of totk, and I think that both the gameplay and story might have been a bit more engaging if they had been allowed to experiment a little more in their delivery of the material.

[rotten-games]

Rott Update

So! It's done and debugged.

It's been a long year, a hard one, but hopefully things will change and I'll be able to get back into gear and into the groove of things again (an explanation post coming soon to a theater near you).

I'm not going to lie... there's a lot here that is rough, there's a bit I'm not too proud of, but truth be told if I don't release it as is I'm never going to get anything done. FOR THE MOST PART, it is a complete experience; there should be nothing here that isn't completely playable or obviously a placeholder. If there is let me know and I'll fix that.

Keep in mind that old saves might not work with the current build. If you come across a bug and you have used an old save, you may need to restart the game to get it to work properly.

With that all well and said, if you just want to experience the game here's the link as always: https://rotten-games.itch.io/rott-book-one

If you want the full rundown here's the change log below the cut.

This version of the game includes the following:

The equivalent of the full first four chapters that were included in the original version of the game is now included. I've now caught up on the rewrites and will be moving onto the completely new chapters after a brief break.

You can now meet an additional three to six romancable characters with varying degrees of interaction; Lokeira, Korrin, Ettia, Ardwen, Nox, and Bex!

Train with Severa, Herron, or Spotter and potentially see a start to your own romances with them during the festival.

Get rejected!

Make a bargain.

Speak to a messenger of the Gods?

The original dreams in chapter one were edited. Typos were fixed and some passages were changed. In some cases, additional choices were added.

A light mode has been added. It's a little bit rough and I would like to do some further changes to it but for now it's here. If you need some changes made or additionally want further colour modes added just reach out and I can see what I can do.

The relationship screen now mentions milestones in your relationships with certain characters (both romantic and platonic!)

Known bugs:

As far as I can tell I've ironed out most of the bugs but there's always inevitably some that sneak through and I have no doubt that there will be others. There's two main things I haven't yet been able to fix.

There may be some visual issue that I haven't gotten around to but aren't a priority at the moment. If you see one please let me know so I can note it down for later.

This one is a bit illusive. You may find you are unable to progress the game near the end of the final chapter. I currently cannot replicate this bug (I've tried, trust me I've tried) and thus have no idea whether it's fixed or not so... watch out.

​That being said, I'm glad to finally get this finished. I'm gonna be having a brief break before getting back into it (mostly to find and compile my old notes for the next few chapters).

Hope you enjoy :)

[simularsimmer]

Discontinued

Introducing (づ ◕‿◕ )づ

The Garcia Brothers! This is a storyline I have been workshopping in my pea brain, in my spare time over the past couple of weeks. I've already introduced Zealand to some, but he also has a little brother.

As I weave their story, their mysterious past and dynamic pair will be explored in detail, when and if I decide to go through with sharing it with the world, which is looking very very likely. There's still a ton of worldbuilding to be done, but I have decided that I want to share some of the progress with you all.

As some of you may already know, I am a huge Life is Strange enthusiast. I always have been. My favorite installment of the franchise is the second. So, you might spot some similarities to the game's plotline, characters, and plot points in my work.

While I plan to stay loyal to the series, I'm also obviously aiming to keep things fresh and original.

I've been working on some worldbuilding, and this rough draft of a dingy little house is the result. While this is far from complete, the basic structure is in place.

As for the landscaping, it is still in the works. Coloring may also not be accurate, as I am colorblind and can't always tell if something isn't quite right.

Overall, this a work in progress but a decent start, so far! Here are some shots of the interior:

This house might not be in tip-top shape right now, but this is their new home for the foreseeable future. As Oscar started unpacking his belongings, the first thing he made sure to unpack was his video game console and all his games. Gotta keep busy and entertained during the move, you know?

Right now, it may be more bare-bones than Oscar and Zealand desire. But it's alright, considering the current situation. Having just moved in, there isn't a whole lot of cash for furniture - as the basics are more important. So, for the time being, this place will have to do!

Alright, let's move on to something you guys may be familiar with.

You know him, you love him.

Let me remind you all of Mason, one of the focal points of my story. As I have mentioned before, I tend to play loose with the plot as I go along, tweaking and changing things to suit my evolving vision.

I can't guarantee any level of consistency as I am known for taking liberties with how quickly I can change things up. That being said, don't worry. If he goes, everyone else will follow!

Totally almost forgot to mention, the story will be taking place in the beautiful town of Copperdale.

Thank you for reading and giving me this opportunity to lay down my thoughts and plans. For me, Tumblr is like a way to document all my ideas and visions.

As a reminder, this is all still a work in progress, and nothing is set in stone just yet. That said, I am feeling optimistic and confident about this story.

As I take things slow, I aim to connect with not only the Sims, but also the world and story they inhabit. There are so many more characters and locations to be created, so I feel like I've only scratched the surface.

Can't wait to share more with everyone as I continue to create this narrative!

[black-arcana]

JINJER Releases New Song 'Someone's Daughter'

Ukrainian modern progressive metal icons JINJER have released a brand-new, blistering single, "Someone's Daughter". The song arrives with a thrilling music video, and is now available on all streaming services worldwide.

JINJER singer Tatiana Shmayluk comments: "'Someone's Daughter' is an artistic attempt to cast the light on the inner world of women, who in various scenarios and circumstances have had to choose a path that was historically made by men.

"In a world where women are often underestimated and overlooked, they are still powerful heroes who navigate hardship with strength and resilience, unapologetically becoming themselves and breaking barriers in the face of the challenges that face them.

"'Someone's Daughter' celebrates transition from naivety into wisdom, weakness into force, unwavering determination and fearlessness as our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives walk through adversity and fight for better change. These women are often forgotten but they have earned respect. They've earned mine, that's for sure!"

JINJER recently completed recording the follow-up to the 2021 album "Wallflowers".

During an appearance on a recent episode of Knotfest's "She's With The Band", Shmailyuk spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for JINJER's new LP. Tatiana said: "My purpose is just to write lyrics and sing them. I'm so behind right now with the writing lyrics. And I warned my guys. We were at least to get a really rough draft, rough sketch or a demo of one song, like maybe first single from the new album, at least get this, but nope. [Stress and creativity don't] work with me. Well, but when the deadline's coming, and everybody knows that — I've been talking, like, every single time we release a new album, I say that, I say this — deadlines push me. So I just have to write, so I get this stream of consciousness, basically. I write down whatever the bullshit is in my head. And then you build it. At least you have to have bricks to build a poem or whatever it is, just lyrics."

Regarding the musical direction of the new JINJER material, Tatiana said: "It's gonna be different, first of all, because I feel that the music differs a lot. And to my mind, the whole — I won't say how many songs are there; I guess 12 or even 15; let's say 13; I don't remember — but they all have… not all of them, but half of them, at least, they have a similarity in them. They're similar to each other or they remind me. They have this concept within — without any lyrics, they still sound like they belong to one box. They are a set of songs. And I already think about all the… I'm not even thinking about like the lyrics — I think about the topics and stuff, but I think about the booklet or the cover or even the music videos and what I'm gonna wear there. And it has a certain flavor to me that… I feel like it has this flavor of 19th century. It's very romanticism from the 19th century. If you listen to it, you will think, 'Oh.' You know, when you listen to MUSE, you feel he was inspired by a lot of classical composers — obviously. So our new music has this flavor. And I'm so excited."

JINJER will embark on a North American tour in the fall. Support on the trek will come from fast-rising Japanese metalcore unit HANABIE and progressive metalcore mainstays BORN OF OSIRIS.

JINJER released its first official live DVD/Blu-ray, "Live In Los Angeles", on May 17 via Napalm Records. Recorded and filmed on December 22, 2022 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, this offering is intended to celebrate not only getting through the last few years in one piece, but also the band's 15-year career.

"Live In Los Angeles" was a spontaneous decision by the band, recorded as raw as possible, to emphasize the passion that can come from a live show. This release is an explosive mixture of JINJER's discography — featuring fan favorites like "Sit Stay Roll Over", "Home Back" and the game-changing "Pisces". The live album contains 16 songs in various audio formats, with some strictly limited: the deluxe digipack features not only a DVD, but also two more songs, "Wallflower" and "Disclosure!", recorded in Paris in 2023.

JINJER is:

Tatiana Shmayluk - Vocals Roman Ibramkhalilov - Guitars Eugene Abdukhanov - Bass Vlad Ulasevich - Drums

Photo credit: Lina Glasir

[transflynnscifo]

Tell me about ur Flynn Scifo thoughts

HI sorry for taking a bit! I decided to take the tangent I caused in my friend's DM's and structure it more coherently

Choc's original question: “Do you think Flynn might get touch starved while hes in the knights? […] I don’t have context, I was just thinking about how Yuri probably gets to casually touch ppl all the time, but Flynn has duties.”

DISCLAIMER this is headcanon-y and self-indulgent. While I give specific examples to support certain ideas, I by no mean intend to act like this is gospel.

This has spoilers for the game too

I assume that because Flynn and Yuri grew up together, they definitely were able to hold hands/hug/nap (and obviously sparred together). The former things probably got dropped as they entered adolescence as a lot of teens tend to be mortified over showing they have any feelings. This is to establish that they have likely always been comfortable around each other. Regardless of how much one may consider side content canon, it is enough to infer from in-game that Yuri’s leaving the knights resulted in their relationship becoming strained. Though Flynn pre-game is stated to have dropped by often enough in the lower quarter, it still shows that they probably barely interacted normally until Capua Nor in Act 1. (and even Capua Nor interactions are something, to say the least)

In my opinion, by the start of the game, Flynn had become good at suppressing a lot of different thoughts and feelings. I’ve already mentioned it in a previous post, but Flynn has a tendency to be quieter in group skits where he isn’t the topic of discussion. Though there is a subtle characterization I enjoy there-- he does react with his portrait changing even whilst not speaking. But even when prompted for an opinion, he struggles to express it, defaulting to saying a general statement that ultimately results in a non-answer on at least one occasion.

This suppression would behave like a sleeper agent. As the game progresses, the player is able to see more of Flynn. His banters get more known, his flaws stick out more, he becomes more closer to a regular man VS the knight paragon that he is expected to be. Those walls could have subtly started crashing around the time he and Yuri started speaking again. Now, I also look at it through a fluri lens. After not having spoken for years, feelings would naturally reignite, and Flynn would become stuck with feelings of longing for more.

That’s where it gets trickier for Flynn. Though he shows signs of opening to the other party members, we are dealing with years’ worth of repression. Though Flynn’s primary character conflict is about where one would draw the lie between crime and justice, there is another that is strongly related to another important theme of the game: choices, and being able to make them on one’s own. This part of Flynn’s character development is most apparent in the second act of the game, especially notable during the part of the game where Estelle is absent. It’s about what he wants to do himself, as opposed to what he should do as a knight. I won’t go too much into it, but the Baction and Heracles dungeons, as well as the scenes before Zaphias castle exemplify what Flynn ends up operating on. Ultimately, he is stuck doing the job he has vowed to take up, as there is no one else to do it. (Much like Yuri choosing things of his own volition, but only because no one else wants to.)

But going back to touch starvation and yearning, this would all come to a head for Flynn until, I presume, post-game. This is because by Aurnion, Yuri and Flynn are finally able to patch things through. The game strongly implies in certain ways that their repaired bond (regardless of whether one sees it as romantic or not) would be stronger than ever, and harder to damage. But even as they become on good terms again, they aren’t able to often see each other. This part is apparent even throughout the game, as Flynn and Yuri are pulled in different directions until their paths cross again. This could be like an odd repeat of the few years they barely interacted, but this would be not because they would be avoiding each other. Rather, this is because they’re finally maintaining the promise over protecting the smiles of people, and making the world a better place.

It could make the times they spend together both a relief and an incredible pain for Flynn, who is able to spend time with his best friend, but the nature of their roles now means that they are ever so slightly out of reach from one another. Flynn would be happy to be in Yuri’s life again, but would he allow himself the selfish wish of having Yuri around always? When he has knights to lead, and Yuri is free to travel and do as he pleases? (in the “Feelings regarding the knights” skit, Flynn, albeit jokingly, wishes Yuri could still be in the knights, while acknowledging that the freedom he has now suits him better.)

And Flynn’s duties matter too much, that much is true. However, Yuri matters even more. Remember how he used his knightly authority to use ships to look for Yuri’s body post-Zaude?

The worst part of Flynn’s touch starvation is if he is actively pining for Yuri in the romantic sense. Imagine wanting to take Yuri’s hand in the same way like you used to, except you are both too busy and important as people to indulge so simply. That isn’t even acknowledging Yuri’s complexes against Flynn and the manner of which he puts Flynn on a pedestal by the end of the game. I don’t think Flynn would worry that he doesn’t deserve Yuri, though I myself like to entertain the idea that if Flynn had insecurities about being good for Yuri, they would definitely manifest differently. The issue for Flynn would be essentially choosing between his happiness as a person or to jeopardize that because he is the Commandant. And Flynn tends to be characterized as a workaholic due to how serious and dedicated he is to his tasks.

Interestingly, Baction (which is the earliest dungeon of the three), has Flynn behave selfishly in his wish to help save Estelle and inquire Alexei for his motifs. But when Flynn wanted to go with Yuri and the others in Heracles and Deidon hold, he went against those wishes in order to lead the knights who needed a leader. Ultimately, it all ties back to the fact that his duties as a knight, and as a leader, mean that he has to jeopardize his desires. He expresses that he missed traveling in the “Battle maniacs” skit. He enjoys fighting, but he also doesn’t get to do it as much when he isn’t in the party. By extension, he would also miss spending time with Yuri like how they used to. He would be biting down leather with his teeth over this, in private. Unable to have time for what he loves.

Though there is warranted criticisms over certain aspects over Vesperia’s comedy, Flynn is, admittedly, definitely repressing certain thoughts. In skits, if a dialogue/topic with a more suggestive tone comes on, Flynn tends to become embarrassed and quiet about it. Though this is intended with a humorous effect, given Flynn is the designated “spoilsport” in many aspects, it does leave an interesting implication: the one most against suggestive topics gets the most embarrassed about them. I tend to see it as Flynn’s imagination running rampant enough to go down the gutter by itself. So it’s worth to assume that Flynn’s self-imposed repression isn’t even doing that well, given it is fairly easy to generally fluster him. Applying that to the fact he already is strongly guarded, he would probably short-circuit if he received a hug from anyone (and for the sake of this post, likely from Yuri too). It’s a metaphorical imagining of Flynn’s very armor. Does it protect him from attacks? Yes. Does it make it harder to see him under the bulk and to touch the skin of his hand? Absolutely.

Even if he took Yuri’s hand, he wouldn’t feel it under his glove, and Yuri, in turn, wouldn’t feel Flynn through it either.

Yuri acting skittish about his insecurities wouldn’t help either. And that’s what makes it even more compelling for me! In many pairings where one character is a knight, it’s usually the other party that wants to push the knight to accept selfishness. In fluri’s case, Yuri first has to stop thinking he’s going to hell in order to consider wanting to push Flynn into indulging his own wishes!

And then Choc told me they meant general touch deprivation, like even with friends, to which I put my clown nose and honked.

[callsignspark]

Ik this isnt part of the ask game, but would you consider showing us how you outline in Trello?? It looks so freaking effective!

I have been waiting for someone to ask me this question. thank you so so so so much you’re going to regret asking lmao

so as I said before I use Trello - a free cloud based project management tool - to outline and write my fics (and also for my to do list and my Christmas present shopping and vacation planning and literally everything) because, to be 100% honest with you, I have no chill. I have never been relaxed about anything. ever. not a single day in my life. and therefore I marinate on fic ideas in my mind for months (sometimes years!) before I start doing anything with them. this is my process I use for everything I write and we’re using Mar[r]y Me as my example!

the first thing is the idea. I get an idea and I word vomit vibes into the closest thing (notes app, google doc, scribbling into my work notebook, texting a friend) and then I marinate on the idea. I first had the idea for Mar[r]y Me on January 25, 2023. it went through several iterations as I shaped what it was going to be and below is what I sent to Jordan in June 2023 and it’s the basis for the story we’ve all been following. (or mostly, it’s changed quite a bit since then.)

once I’m ready to start writing I create a board in Trello. think of a board like a white board, you then add “cards” which I think of as sticky notes except with a lot more features. also my process is the same no matter if it’s a one shot or a multi chapter fic, it just depends if it gets its own board or it goes into my one shot board. (which is filled with ideas waiting to be written lol) anyway. this is the Mar[r]y Me board!

for a multi chapter fic like this each chapter gets a card in the IN PROGRESS list (they move to the right as things get written/posted). each card follows a template: title, due date (loosely assigned to get an idea of what a posting schedule may look like), a label (always being with need to plan), and a checklist. also the chapter outline - obviously.

before I get into the outline, I use the labels as a nice visual representation of what the status of everything is. as the screenshot below shows, the each writing stage has its own color (and I use the color blind color schemes so I get the fun patterns too!) and it gets changed as we go along. it helps me know at a quick glance where everything is at the moment.

I also love the checklist feature, see below. which basically has all the steps I need to follow once I have a chapter written and ready for final editing. it may seem like overkill but I work long hours and you’d be amazed at how easily my brain forgets things lmao. so this ensures nothing is missed when I’m getting ready to post.

now onto the outline. my outline goes from something super basic, to a few bullet points, to an in depth summary of what’s going to be written. using chapter one as an example of this progression.

1. this is the og outline for the whole story. just a dream and a vibe and one sentence. literally.

2. the expanded outline for chapter one

3. just a small section of the final outline I used to write the chapter. a lot of my final outline ends up being actual sentences that I use in the final draft, I basically write the chapter in bullet points and unfinished sentences.

4. I use the very expanded outline to write the actual chapter. following along bullet point by bullet point. an example from chapter 9 since that’s what I’m writing rn.

5. once everything is written, all the bullet points have been used up or ignored, I transfer it into google docs and read it to myself, editing as I go. once I’m happy with my final rough draft I use grammarly to idiot check things because I’m an engineer not an English major. then I start using the checklist (teaser posting, creating tumblr post, etc.) and then the worst part. I walk around my home office and I read the entire chapter out loud to myself and make final edits as I go. is it excruciating to have to listen to myself speak the flirting I’ve just written out loud? yes. have I made myself cry multiple times? yes. do I find a lot of rough spots and smooth them out? yes. that’s usually done on Thursday nights.

6. from there it’s all final editing and formatting and scheduling the final post. I also have to create the accompanying recipe post for Mar[r]y Me so I do that too. and we post on Fridays! sometimes I share the google doc link with friends so they get an advanced copy of the chapter and sometimes they get to be surprised with everyone else (I’m running behind schedule and don’t have time to share it lmao)

it’s a lot of work for something I’m producing for free but I genuinely love it so much and it helps me keep everything straight. there would be so many lost ideas and abandoned thoughts if I didn’t do it this way. it’s crazy that this the first fic I’ve ever written and that I’ll probably be close to 90k words by the time it’s finished.

if you’ve made it this far thank you for indulging my very intense brain and it’s processes. I love the community we’ve created here on this blog and I’m so excited to keep writing and sharing. and I especially want to give a big thank you to my very good friends Ames, Alexa, and Jordan. Mar[r]y Me would not be the story it is without them and I can’t thank you enough for your love and encouragement during this story.

[andipxndy-writes]

meet the writer: aj

(a.k.a. my writeblr intro, done properly)

heya!! i’ve had this blog for a while now, but i realised i haven’t ever actually done a proper intro on here, so here it is!! (also did i want the opportunity to make an aesthetic of myself??? absolutely. image made in canva and portrait on the left is from picrew, all other images were taken from unsplash)

my name is aj (she/her pronouns pls)!! i’m 26, black, and i live in the uk. i graduated from uni 3 years ago and currently work in lab admin, but i’ve been doing creative writing for 10+ years!! i’m currently trying to get back into reading by reading a book a month (i usually share the book i’m reading in the sidebar of my main blog, which i follow back with as this blog is a sideblog: @andipxndy), and i write a variety of fanfiction and original works (both based off my own characters and those i currently/have rp’d with in the past). i also take requests for fanfiction, which you can read about below the cut or in this post (i’ve made some changes which mean the post is not relevant atm)!! but in general i love being asked questions about my WIPs and my characters and basically any characters i write, because i love delving into character thoughts and doing character development (so please send me some!!).

this blog started off as a way for me to share my fanfiction writing, which is how i got into writing in the first place and how i came to love it, but now i’m wanting to expand some more share/talk about some of my original works too!! i write ya sci-fi in my original stuff, but i’m known to drift into romance, action-comedy and crime when it comes to fanfiction works. i’m also over on ao3 as andipxndy.

my main fanfic writing fandoms are abbott elementary and alex rider, just to keep things managable, but i also enjoy watching ncis, criminal minds and lockwood & co., and sometimes dive back into old favourite animes (k-on!! is my current anime obsession). i may be slow to write or respond to stuff but i DO enjoy diving into discussing fandom stuff too!! i also like playing video games like sims 4 (ea is a money grab pass it on) and cities skylines, and enjoy dnd and rping with friends!!

before this intro gets too long, here are my main WIPs:

power play (1st draft completed, left to stew)

the first original wip i planned, the story is intended to be part of a 5-book series about a 20-year-old who accidentally gives himself powers, and ends up drawn into the science underground whilst trying to save people that he may or may not have also accidentally given powers. and all whilst trying to appear completely normal to his mum and get a summer job whilst home from university.

the crossover (still working on 1st draft, is my main/november nano project)

this is an adaptation of an old rp au i had with one of my closest friends, adjusted to have new, original characters despite the same plotline. it follows a 17-year-old girl as she’s accidentally transported into a parallel universe, where her parents aren’t her parents and she doesn’t exist. in an attempt to get home, she ends up crossing paths with the people who are meant to be her family, and finds out that they’re all superheroes. insert drama and shenanigans here.

the rich life: a modern bourgeoise au (working on 1st draft, is my camp nano project)

a passion project that i’m completing for my rp partners, this au is split into a 3-book series following the lives of our characters in the upper class, those who work for them, and eventually their children, going through the drama of their lives and how they try so hard not to have it all end up in the press. that obviously doesn’t work.

fanfiction fics and requests (ongoing but this is technically a wip)

technically counts as a wip as i have a backlog of fics in progress to write and share for requesters (and some ideas i’ve had myself), but these are mainly either alex rider or abbott elementary fanfics that have been sent in via ask. you can see extra info below the cut after the next paragraph. my requests are currently closed, and i’m working through my backlog. the request(s) active for the forseeable future are:

will you be my maybe? - an abbott elementary fanfiction (gregory x janine - injury + fake dating)

anyway, this is all i’ve got for now!! i do take part in things like nanowrimo and camp nanowrimo, so if anyone takes part in those too i look forward to writing alongside you!! other than that, that’s about it!! i’ll be sharing snippets of my work, and maybe eventually you’ll even get aesthetics eventually!! i’ve you’ve read this far, i applaud you, but thank you so much for reading!! i’d love to get to know more writers on here, both inside and outside of fandom spaces, so please feel free to jump at me and send me asks and messages and stuff!!

~ aj xxx

(for more info on fanfiction stuff, read below the cut:)

i’ve been writing fanfiction for over 10 years, and as something so dear to my heart i can’t let it go - it’s helped me to develop my writing and character development skills!! i have, however, grown in the fandoms i write, so please see below for more info:

I WRITE FOR:

alex rider

abbot elementary (more specifically, gregory x janine. i ship only those two. with my whole heart.)

fics getting to know my original characters (oneshots)

(i realise that this is significantly cut down, but i have other projects in mind that require more of my time and can no longer spend as much time on requests!! for this, i apologise!!)

GENRES WRITTEN (not completely restricted):

family/friendship

romance

hurt/comfort

action/adventure

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:

MY REQUESTS ARE NOW CLOSED

all fanfics will be cross-posted to ao3

please give me up to a month to get fics written and posted - if not done within a month, feel free to message me about it [please DO NOT pester me about it] - i work and am also writing original things, so do not always have the time

i preferably write oneshots, though the occasional multi-chap will appear - a fic ends up longer, well, it happens 🤷🏾‍♀️

i am a rambler so you are almost always guaranteed a longer fic

please try not to give me word count limits or specifications on fics - they are discouraging

that being said, any writing requests/prompts fulfilled will most likely be 20k words or less (though they may be longer if the inspiration strikes, don’t hold me to it)

i do not write smut, or any nsfw other than possibly gore/torture/violence. this is a personal preference and i will not change my stance on it

if you have any triggers that you do not want included in the fic, please message me and inform me of this

i have a ko-fi! if you would like to tip/donate to me for any of my writings, check it out here

all fics may or may not include a level of humour/sarcasm - i’m not sorry for this

[theycall-vn]

About "They Call"

In depth information regarding They Call will be shared as soon as testing starts; until then, the content will remain a secret.

If you have any general questions that aren't answered below, asks are open, and I will answer as much as I can.

(Real information regarding vn will be added to this with the release of the demo!)

Release date: To be determined.

FAQ below cut:

Why keep the information to yourself?

To be blunt, I'm paranoid. I do not want someone to find and use any of the work I've put into this before I can even put it together. I will give sneak peeks through development, but they will be very small sneak peeks.

Theme?

They Call is both dark and not? The story itself is dark, but it's intended to be balanced out by... mundane fluff. Both with and without the other main.

Who is the other main?

They have been called the guardian, protector, and BB, now officially named. I will continue to call them BB and I'll be tucking their name away from public posts. I'm doing this so it can be a silly little surprise for you to discover when you play!

Anyway, they are the (entirely optional) love interest. You can develop the relationship you have with them any way you want - you can even complete the story as total strangers that vaguely tolerate each other's company!

Are there bad ends?

Technically, yes, but it has nothing to do with the relationship you have with BB. There are a lot of bad ends, and I do mean a lot.

What about other endings? Any "true" ends?

Without getting too into it, there is more than one. The good ends are all the same in that they are all the "true" end. They're merely... flavoured by your choices throughout the story.

18+?

Yes, this game is definitely 18+! Not just because of the (optional) sexual content, but also because the story itself can get very heavy, gory, and generally unpleasant. At current, I'm unsure how bad it's going to be. It's already very dark, but it's still super early in development. Content warnings will be clearly displayed once I'm able to list them all!

When can we expect sneak peeks and updates?

I am working on this entirely alone. I'm writing, programming, and making all the art for it (characters, backgrounds, CGs) on my own. Which, obviously, is going to take me a super long time. Especially considering this is my first time ever making something like this! Basically, you'll get sneak peeks when you get them - sorry it's not a more concrete answer!

How much will it cost?

After giving it some thought, I've decided to keep it free. On Itch.io, anyway. There will be an optional payment thing, of course. Only $3, (the price may change) seeing as this is the first time I've ever done this.

But! If things go well, I'm happy with the finished product, and I can drum up the courage, I will put it on Steam too. (if they'll let me) But that one will not be free - same price as whatever the optional Itch payment is.

What inspired this?

In truth, it started with a (literal) dream. (You can find out more about this dream in the very first progress post!)

It was dark, violent, and I could see BB and the UI used perfectly. So I made it a reality. I will also mention that most of this is written as catharsis, using my mind and mental struggles as inspiration and creative fuel.

In terms of technicalities, though, I was inspired by my favourite visual novels. That specifically being story structure and how you develop the relationship you have with the other main.

FAQ will be edited as time goes on.

As I said, if you have any more questions, (or even suggestions based off the "progress" posts) do not hesitate! Asks are open and will remain open. I'll answer as soon as possible.

Progress posts are not structured currently, they're mostly rambling about what I did or thought about that day. I might structure them and make them less... my brain flavoured as time goes on.

Important tags: - theycallvn (general tag) - theycallvn progress post (progress posts - what i've worked on) - theycallvn peek (sneak peek tag - writing & art) - theycallvn chat (ask tag)

If you'd like to keep track of future projects, you can follow @chasm-critter-studios (link)

[blazehedgehog]

How much time do you feel Frontiers spent in actual development? It seems like the game's base had been around since 2019 through the leaks, but the overall game seems to be noteably more polised than the last decade of sonic games at best.

I assume the game has been in development since 2017 or 2018. Basically, more or less since they wrapped up on Sonic Forces. That's how these things tend to go.

As I recall, one of the focus group leaks (that I can't find right now) mentioned they thought the game looked very polished visually when they saw it in 2020 or even 2019. Certainly, we saw a clip of what an early (2021) version of the game looked like, with all the effects cranked to max (this is normal, lots of games do this and then things get scaled back during optimization to make the framerate more stable in edge cases). The main changes we know about, both from the focus group leaks, Kishimoto's comments, and the early gameplay clip:

Guardians dropped "orbs", not gears.

Chaos emeralds were tied to earning S-ranks in Cyberspace.

Island progress was gated by fog that was dispelled using the emeralds

Koco elders were originally located at the top of the game's numerous towers

A titan not in the final game is described (a gigantic tree monster)

If you ran out of rings during the titan fight, Amy would provide you with a refill

Obviously, Kronos Island was originally 3x the size it currently is, more in keeping with the size of the Ares and Chaos Islands. This change was probably pretty late, given one of Eggman's audio logs mentions the Starfall Islands consists of three islands, not five. That was recorded and finalized before Rhea and Ouranous were split off from the full size Kronos Island.

I point these out because there's also a tweet from Kishimoto where he straight up admits that Sega entered production of Sonic Frontiers without him, and he came in partway through the project and changed the game around a lot.

How far away were the focus group leaks from that? Who knows. Given that a lot of the focus group leaks were mainly "it's fine, but it's kind of boring" -- maybe they brought back Kishimoto after that as a "fixer" to refine their ideas and point them in the right direction. What did he change? Why did he change it? We may never know.

But the point is, Sega got to a significant gameplay milestone with "Sonic Rangers", something happened, they brought Kishimoto back, and he changed the game into Sonic Frontiers. It's likely that first gameplay milestone took several years, and then adjusting to changing directors took several more years.

None of this seems outrageous to me. Modern games take a long time to make now. And Sonic games have always had it weirdly harder than most in that regard.

This is why I'm saying whatever the next main, big, canonical Sonic game is going to be, we might be lucky to get a teaser by 2026. In truth, it probably won't come out until 2027. Maybe even 2028. Everything takes more work and makes less money than you think nowadays.

That's just what games are at this level. They literally can't go any faster than that without something breaking down along the way.

[blueskittlesart]

how would you define a ‘zelda’ game? im making an au of sorts for it but sometimes i cant tell if im taking the zelda out of zelda- whether the master sword is a requirement or not (maybe not because of the four sword?) or having light vs dark/good vs bad as a general theme. this also kinda fascinates me as people tend to complain abt botw as being less of a zelda game compared to past entries. why though? ive seen the lack of stakes being complained about but i dont think a story should have to have world ending stakes to be a zelda game or a good story- could be wrong though. also with how every zelda game strives for a different Vibe than the last what makes one better than the other? anyways yadda yadda replace a ships wooden boards until every board is replaced is it still the same ship, whatre your thoughts?

actually what makes a zelda game a zelda game anon here. i think a better question would be what makes a zelda story a zelda story

as someone who has also/is also writing their own zelda game i do have a lot of thoughts about this. obviously one of the things that defines mainline zelda games is the formula, which if you're doing a ganon/demise villain and you want to be canon-compliant, you're gonna want to follow to some degree in order to stay consistent with the lore. there are other things that go into it though, like the themes, writing style, the presence of certain elements, etc. let's get into what i think is important!!

first of all, the formula. this only applies to mainline games, so if you're looking to do a sequel-style story you have a LOT more freedom, and certain games bend these rules quite a bit so they're not hard-and-fast, but if you want your game to FEEL canon-compliant it's good to take these steps as a general guideline.

opening segment--this is where link wakes up with nothing and has to run around the starting point of the game collecting items to progress. almost every mainline game will have him begin sleeping in a bedroom of some kind, and the player's first action will be to move him out of bed, so if you're struggling for a start point, that's a classic. he usually needs to find at least a sword and shield in this segment, and the player will be encouraged to talk to npcs to get some exposition along the way.

at the end of the opening segment the player is given the true first task of the game, which usually involves travelling somewhere, often with the goal of meeting zelda. the player may also be told to begin seeking out dungeons at this point, or zelda might tell them when they meet her in person for the first time.

the first dungeon section of the game will usually include 3-4 dungeons, often forest/water/fire/air themed and located in those respective regions of hyrule. these dungeons will have a map item to be found as well as (usually) some other dungeon item which allows you to progress through dungeon puzzles (classic items include bombs, boomerang, bow & arrows, hookshot, etc) and a boss fight at the end. when the player completes each of these dungeons, they are given an artifact which they have been told will somehow progress the gameplay for them once they collect all of them. (e.g. in oot the 3 gems unlock the temple of time) this is a crucial point bc no one is gonna want to do your dungeons without a gameplay-advancing reward at the end.

after the final initial dungeon there's usually a mini-boss fight of some kind, often with a secondary antagonist (girahim, agahnim, zant, etc) (if you're using botw as a reference point, stop doing that now, because botw ends here in terms of formula)

after all of that, there's what i like to refer to as a catalyst. this can technically be anything, but the most important point is that it must dramatically shift the trajectory of the story and/or the player's perspective. in oot it's the time change, in wind waker it's the underwater-hyrule reveal, etc. often (but not always) this reveal will come along with a new gameplay mechanic in which something about either the player or the world can be modified to access new areas of the map/solve new puzzles. (oot age-switch, alttp dark vs regular world, tp wolf form, etc) if your game includes the master sword, this is usually when the player will get it.

with a changed perspective and access to new areas, the player is now informed of a NEW goal, usually to beat ganon, who by this point has definitely kidnapped zelda and is holding her hostage. this kicks off the second segment of dungeons. usually there are 6-8 dungeons in this section, following the same map/item/boss/reward formula. (most classic games have you rescuing PEOPLE from these dungeons, but modern ones kinda did away with the damsel-in-distress thing lol)

once those dungeons have been completed, it's time for the final dungeon of the game, which is ALWAYS hyrule castle. this one may have a map, but usually doesn't have any dungeon item or even that many puzzles, it's really more about hacking through menial enemies to get to the big guy. the final battle of the game will be your big bad (usually ganon) and will traditionally have 2 phases, one inside the castle (where, if he ever looked human, he will look human) and one outside of it (where he will become much more monstrous.)

that's the VERY BASIC formula of MOST mainline zelda games. but like i said, plenty of games bend or cut out parts of this formula completely, and some games that follow it pretty well don't feel quite as 'zelda' to me as others. so there are obviously other things that make a zelda game a zelda game.

the first & one of the most important to me is the theming of the games. the franchise has cyclical overarching lore which really lends itself to explorations of coming-of-age, trauma, and healing, which is often what the most successful games focus on. I don't think a successful game NEEDS to be a coming-of-age, but it ABSOLUTELY needs to have SOME central theme to be built around. the best zelda games are the ones which clearly have something to SAY, a secondary thematic narrative that makes their stories relatable and impactful instead of just pure fantasy escapism. if you're looking to emulate the impact that zelda games have on their players, finding something relatable to the human experience and building your story around an exploration of that theme is a great place to start.

another thing to consider is the zelda writing style. zelda games occupy a really interesting niche among modern rpgs because they have such a long history and are often very married to emulating their predecessors. What this means in terms of writing is that zelda still employs a VERY player-based mode of storytelling. the games which define this franchise were built and released when storage space was the single biggest constraint game developers had on their stories; thus, they were built with the incentive to keep cutscenes and dialog to a minimum. this meant that if the developers wanted to tell a story in their games, they needed to get the PLAYER to tell that story for themself. what sets modern zelda games like botw apart from other rpgs (for me, at least) is the almost complete lack of action-breaking cutscenes and dialog. whenever you have a long cutscene in an rpg, you're forcibly removing the player from control of their character and therefore taking them out of the action to some degree, ESPECIALLY if the player character makes decisions during those cutscenes free of the player's influence. zelda games are very careful to avoid taking the player out of the action in almost EVERY instance. you will very rarely see cinematic cutscenes, and you will NEVER have link moving or taking action on his own independently of the player. the entire story & writing process tends to follow that same principle--how can we convey this story to the player through the player's own actions? very rarely will the story be outright stated to you through dialog or cutscenes, instead you will have to piece things together yourself, keeping the player centered in the story at all times.

you mentioned the presence of the master sword in your ask, and i think that breath of the wild is a good example of a zelda game that removes a lot of the standard elements of the franchise without losing the feeling of a zelda game. the master sword, while technically present, is not required to beat the game at all, and it's completely possible to beat ganon without ever finding it. the triforce is totally absent and not even MENTIONED throughout the ENTIRE game. despite this, (in my opinion) botw doesn't lose that zelda feeling. i think the reason for this is because it holds on so tightly to the theme and writing style i mentioned above, and pulls in just enough elements of the formula that it's still recognizeable despite clearly being something new. (the divine beasts are the dungeons, dungeon items are replaced with runes, there are clear REFERENCES to the lore even when its not stated outright, etc.) i also think part of the reason that botw is successful in this regard is because there's a REASON thematically for it to be divorced in this way from other games. it takes place at least 10k years removed from every other game and in the wake of a massive kingdom-ruining tragedy, so the fact that some changes have been made to the standard mechanics players are used to feels natural when paired with this changed version of hyrule. if you want to make a drastic change like that, i think it's always going to feel a bit more natural if you give players a REASON for that change, even if the reason is just 'well EVERYTHING is different so obviously this thing is too.'

final point, and not necessarily as important as the others but still worth noting, i think mood and art direction are something worth considering as well. I have NEVER seen a dark&moody adaptation of zelda that still felt like zelda to me. not to beat a dead horse, but these games originally come from the NES. for YEARS they were defined by sharp, brightly-colored graphics, and i really do think something is lost when you strip all the color and cartoonish-ness from them. (this is NOT a dig at botw btw, i actually think botw did a REALLY good job of creating a world that was both adequately colorful AND realistic. this IS a dig at twilight princess.) many of my favorite zelda games are defined by their bright and blocky art styles, and if anything i think zelda games are a testament to the fact that you can make a thematically dark game WITHOUT sacrificing your art direction to black overlays.

anyways!! hope this helps lol

[acromandus]

Finally getting around to doing this! Thank you @thelifeinmyshadesofgrey for tagging me ♥♥♥♥♥ I haven't done these in ages so it was fun to feel like we were back in the 'golden era' of tumblr xD

Tag someone you want to know AND/OR some of your besties: I don't wanna pressure anyone to have to do this, so consider this a warm suggestion rather than a I-will-judge-you-if-you-don't kind of situation @heyitszev :) (and if anyone else reading this feels like it, go ahead, the more the merrier lmao)

Favourite colour: This is a tough one because it all just depends on context so much. I'd say typically I veer more towards darker tones in general: really like a nice dark green, or a dark red or crimson. Purple is lovely too :D

Last song: Two Knights and Maidens by Crash Test Dummies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NS2EcHzdYY

Say what you want about the lyrics, but the chord progression in this song is *chefs kiss*

Last movie: 9. A bit of a strange one perhaps, but an interesting take on a post-apocalyptic world brought to life in a style that reminds me of Tim Burton a little bit. Basically, the world has been destroyed in a war between humans and machines, and we're introduced to a group of sentient dolls, each with a number on their backs from 1 to 9, who have had to survive in this strange new world while figuring out why they were made in the first place. I don't wanna spoil this for anyone who hasn't seen it, so I'll leave it at that :)

Currently watching: I'm in-between series atm haha. Waiting for season 4 of the Boys, and just finished watching season 2 of 30 Coins. Might just do a rewatch of Andor or the Punisher to fill this void.

Other stuff I watched this year: Err… from what I remember (and yes, since we're only in January, I'm counting 2023 into this as well) I'd say Moon Knight, Andor, 30 coins, a rewatch of Supernatural (up to season 12), and the One Piece live action series. Out of all these Andor was perhaps my favourite, but I enjoyed all of them, and was pleasantly surprised at how well the One Piece adaptation remained loyal to the original works :D they obviously had to adjust some things but it still felt true to form. With Andor, I was hesitant to watch it at first because the last SW series I had watched had been declining in quality (weird writing, etc), however… Andor completely blew me away. The way it builds up to the climax was just so well done, the writing is superb, music fantastic, and it's one of those series I wish I could forget about completely so I could experience it for the first time again.

Shows I dropped this year/didn’t finish: I haven't watched many series I've not finished since I usually watch them to the end anyway, but looks like that new Percy Jackson series may unfortunately fall into this category?

Currently reading: I've been powering through the Harry Potter books. Started during the Christams holidays and I'm now on book 6. So far so good, though I've had to slow down with holidays being over. Might need to reread the Robert Langdon series as well after this as it's still one of my personal favourites.

Currently listening to: This changes daily but I do find myself drifting back to Riot music very often. So, that's music made for League of Legends, Valorant, etc. Not the soundtracks, but songs like Worlds anthems like "GODS" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3GouGa0noM) and 2021's "Burn It All Down" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z6CHioIn3s). I also absolutely love "Breathe" from the official launch video for Legends of Runeterra (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNhKAJwlj04). I also like this vid for it heavily featuring Darius, the only champ I ever played when I attempted to get into LoL before the toxicity got to me and I decided it's not for me :3 (didn't take long, but left me with a bit of a soft spot for him lmao)

I absolutely do not play any of these games but man… the music is on point imo. Something again about chord progression, don't ask what my obsession with that is lmao.

If I'm not listening to these and songs like them, I'm listening to heavy metal (industrial or symphonic), movie or game soundtacks, or oldies belonging to various genres from the 70s and 80s, occasionally 90s as well. Here's a couple examples:

Once You've Tasted Love by Take That

Take the Long Way Home by Supertramp

Evil Woman by Electric Light Orchestra

Misplaced by Sonata Arctica

And I will leave it at that as I've already included too many songs lmao

Currently working on: I'm currently making a backend for a gym app I'm working on. I somehow got the GraphQL elements working, now I need to get it saving to a database of somekind. I could do this locally or learn to save data to the cloud but I haven't yet decided which approach to take lmao. Overall, I'm just upskilling in the hopes of eventually landing a job as a full-stack developer. NO LUCK SO FAR aside a couple freelance frontend opportunities :/

Current obsession: Hmm….. good question. I'd say, despite me not playing it as much as I used to, I am slowly getting back to Elder Scrolls Online? Fire Emblem Fates is another, as well as Bleach.

[bouncing-ball-enthusiast]

Studyblr Intro Post™

I already had an intro post but I'm revamping this blog now so here we go again

About me:

- I'm a Latin American student in my second year of university, getting a Bachelor's degree in Animation

- I am an adult, queer, and use he/him pronouns, you can call me Icarus

- I have ADHD, which means that even though I'm formally studying Animation, I may be interested in 112 different things at any point in time

Blog stuff:

- Mostly chaotic academia shit, tips for studying with ADHD, photos of my journal and desk, and maybe rambling about topics I'm interested in

- Posts about my study schedule, classes, topics, grades, etc etc

- Maybe, maybe, I'll share some of the artwork I do for classes. Just maybe.

My interests:

- Art and animation, obviously. My main interest is in 2D game animation, but that might change as I progress through college

- Language learning. Currently, I can speak Portuguese (native), English (around C1/C2) and Japanese (B1)

- Biology! Mostly human biology, but biology in general fascinates me

- Music of any kind, good or bad, as long as I can vibe to it I'm in

- Journaling, planning, organization, stationery supplies, I love paper and anything you can do with it

- History is also a big interest of mine, but usually I'm more focused on niche topics like the life of a specific person or a particular time period of a specific country or culture, that kinda stuff

That's basically it, I just wanna interact with people in the studyblr community and share tips and photos and whatnot, studying is fun so I wanna share that fun with more people ^^

[darthluffy]

So I’m playing through Horizon: Forbidden West for the 3rd time… and I really think Far Zenith was a mistake. Not just in universe(cause obviously) but as an inclusion in the game. Part of what I loved about Zero Dawn was that the end of the world wasn’t intentional. Sure Ted’s a dick but he didn’t mean for that to happen. It was a glitch that caused the HORUS line to go rogue and a culmination of events that meant they had no way to immediately react. Far Zenith feels like the opposite of that, a group of self-obsessed billionaires who do nothing but cause problems for their own personal benefit. Very hateable but they always felt empty to me.

The main reason I end up thinking they were a mistake though is that I believe there was much more interesting option. The AIs created by humanity before and during Zero Dawn. We see Zero Dawn’s progression but it’s not like the rest of the world would sit by and watch everything end without trying to stop it. And I think a logical method to attempt would’ve been taking as many powerful AIs(Vast Silver and CYAN level AIs) as possible, and forcing them to evolve by battling each other over and over until they had one that could break through the swarm’s firewalls. A self-contained program that runs continuously, trying to force a breakthrough to happen, in a hidden base underneath Metallurgic’s old headquarters in… Denver. Of course it fails, they don’t evolve quick enough, and with the swarm approaching everyone flees. But the program keeps running, for hundreds of years, the AIs battling and destroying themselves only to be rebooted and do it all over again. The end result would be something like Nemesis, but created accidentally out of humans attempt to survive. Then you could have the real fun begin, because eventually time takes it’s effect and enough system’s fail that the AI can take control of the program and start reaching out. Over time they find someone that has happened to find a Focus and begin speaking with them, learning what has happened to the world, and that person leads a team to Denver to free their caged god. The group breaks into Nora lands, take hostages to keep the Nora away as they excavate the ruins, before retreating out of the Nora lands with their prize. In short, they’re the group that kills Rost’s daughter. The group flees all the way across the Forbidden West, all they way to San Fransisco, where the AI intends to gain access to Ted’s Omega clearance to take control of GAIA, but Rost catches up with them outside the tomb and finishes off the AI’s human allies. Forced to adapt the AI instead send the Mysterious Signal that corrupts GAIA’s subordinate functions, hoping to wipe out humanity that way. When that doesn’t work they decide to rebuild GAIA, using basically the same plan as Far Zenith. But now I think you have an enemy that is more interesting, and would ultimately set up the final enemy for a third game, a fully evolved Hephastus after the events of the final battle(they’d play out similar).

The funny thing is how little needs to change in the game. Everything with Beta can happen almost exactly the same. You add datapoints from both Roth’s and the people he’s hunting perspectives to give context. The Odyssey actually explodes leaving the system and the AI constructs a probe to search the wreckage and return with Apollo. Most plot points still happen, just with a very different enemy. Sylan’s goals may need to have been adjusted a little but the broad stroke of creating an army to serve as a distraction remains. And I think the end result is a much more interesting enemy for Forbidden West, a personal connection to the enemy through Roth as opposed to Elisabet, and clearing the slate for Hephastus to take the stage as the ultimate enemy of the third game.

[black-arcana]

JINJER Completes Recording Fifth Studio Album

Ukrainian modern metal frontrunners JINJER have completed recording the follow-up to their 2021 album "Wallflowers".

Earlier today, JINJER shared a photo of the band from the recording studio and included the following message: "We are happy to announce that our fifth studio album is fully recorded".

During an appearance on a recent episode of Knotfest's "She's With The Band", JINJER vocalist Tatiana Shmailyuk spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's new LP. Tatiana said: "My purpose is just to write lyrics and sing them. I'm so behind right now with the writing lyrics. And I warned my guys. We were at least to get a really rough draft, rough sketch or a demo of one song, like maybe first single from the new album, at least get this, but nope. [Stress and creativity don't] work with me. Well, but when the deadline's coming, and everybody knows that — I've been talking, like, every single time we release a new album, I say that, I say this — deadlines push me. So I just have to write, so I get this stream of consciousness, basically. I write down whatever the bullshit is in my head. And then you build it. At least you have to have bricks to build a poem or whatever it is, just lyrics."

Regarding the musical direction of the new JINJER material, Tatiana said: "It's gonna be different, first of all, because I feel that the music differs a lot. And to my mind, the whole — I won't say how many songs are there; I guess 12 or even 15; let's say 13; I don't remember — but they all have… not all of them, but half of them, at least, they have a similarity in them. They're similar to each other or they remind me. They have this concept within — without any lyrics, they still sound like they belong to one box. They are a set of songs. And I already think about all the… I'm not even thinking about like the lyrics — I think about the topics and stuff, but I think about the booklet or the cover or even the music videos and what I'm gonna wear there. And it has a certain flavor to me that… I feel like it has this flavor of 19th century. It's very romanticism from the 19th century. If you listen to it, you will think, 'Oh.' You know, when you listen to MUSE, you feel he was inspired by a lot of classical composers — obviously. So our new music has this flavor. And I'm so excited."

JINJER will embark on a North American tour in the fall. Support on the trek will come from fast-rising Japanese metalcore unit HANABIE and progressive metalcore mainstays BORN OF OSIRIS.

JINJER released its first official live DVD/Blu-ray, "Live In Los Angeles", on May 17 via Napalm Records. Recorded and filmed on December 22, 2022 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, this offering is intended to celebrate not only getting through the last few years in one piece, but also the band's 15-year career.

"Live In Los Angeles" was a spontaneous decision by the band, recorded as raw as possible, to emphasize the passion that can come from a live show. This release is an explosive mixture of JINJER's discography — featuring fan favorites like "Sit Stay Roll Over", "Home Back" and the game-changing "Pisces". The live album contains 16 songs in various audio formats, with some strictly limited: the deluxe digipack features not only a DVD, but also two more songs, "Wallflower" and "Disclosure!", recorded in Paris in 2023.

JINJER is:

Tatiana Shmayluk - Vocals Roman Ibramkhalilov - Guitars Eugene Abdukhanov - Bass Vlad Ulasevich - Drums

Photo credit: Lina Glasir