#play norco

[knowledge-based-wumpus-agent]

I don't think this line was even supposed to be funny but its the hardest I laughed in the entire game

[sableprince]

visited lake pontchartrain, specifically near the metairie lakefront. thought it would be fun to do a super quick photoshoot of my kay madere cosplay while watching the sunset.

silly outtakes under the cut

[behaemoth]

Playing an indie game post 2019 or so is just going “so these guys played disco elysium” over and over and over and over

[jennaflare]

So You Finished Disco Elysium and Don't Know What to Play Next

You may have seen my other games rec post (if not, there are a lot of recs there). But I have since played many more games that, if you love Disco as much as I do, you might also really enjoy! (Many of these are on sale for the Steam Winter Sale until 1/2/24, go check them out! Some are even as little as like 2 USD!)

A House of Many Doors

This one was mentioned very briefly in my last rec post, but I think A House of Many Doors deserves more words dedicated to it. This game is set in The House, a strange dimension of huge rooms that pulls things and people from other worlds into it, trapping them forever. You play as one of the house's denizens, and you are on a mission to escape.

If you enjoyed the concept of The Pale in Disco, I think a lot of aspects of The House will appeal to you as well.

Norco

Norco has been on my wishlist since I made the last post, but I finally got around to buying and playing it a few months ago. Norco is an RPG set in the oil town of Norco, Louisiana, and paints a beautiful and strange picture of the rural-industrial south. It contains heavy Christian themes and absolutely stunning pixel art. One of my favorite games I played this year.

Clickolding

Cickolding is a very short horror game in which you play as a person getting paid to click a clicker while the man above watching. It's weird and highly sexually charged, though no actual sexual content occurs. I can't say too much about this but it is an experience, for sure.

The Pale Beyond

In The Pale Beyond, you play as the first mate aboard The Temperance, which is bound for the Antarctic in search of a missing scientific vessel. Things, as you might expect, do not go according to plan. You must keep your crew alive, relatively healthy, and in good spirits.

This one's also a strong recommendation for fans of The Terror, for obvious reasons. (Side note: if animal death is a trigger for you, I'd recommend playing this with caution, or not at all.)

Inscryption

Inscryption is the game that changed my mind about deckbuilders (I used to really not like them), which opened the door to my current addiction (Balatro. If you haven't bought it, don't. Your friends may never see you again).

Inscryption is a horror deckbuilder roguelike that is by the same creator as The Hex and Pony Island, both of which I also recommend. It's an incredibly fun game, and I recommend not looking into the plot too much because it's way more fun going into it as blind as possible.

Slay the Princess

In Slay the Princess, you are the Hero. You must slay the princess. If you don't the world will end. That's all there is to it. Why would you do anything other than slay her, after all? You don't want the world to end, do you?

Slay the Princess is a time loop game where your choices affect the next loop -- I don't want to say too much on that because it's a fun thing to experience yourself.

80 Days

Inspired by the Jules Verne novel, you play as Passepartout, valet to Phileas Fogg. Your employer has entered a bet to race around the world in 80 days. In this text-based adventure, it is your job to balance his budget and health, and to plan your route.

There are so many ways to make this journey, and enough different events that I'm far from having seen it all despite how many times over I've played it. Highlights for me include: falling in love with a man while we nearly died in the arctic, getting jailed in Russia for nearly a week because I made some poor choices, and abandoning our mission to become a jewel thief.

Other Games You Might Wanna Check Out

Jalopy, Overboard!, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Yes Your Grace, Buckshot Roulette, A Date With Death, Fields of Mistria, Obscura, Tavern Talk, Killer Frequency, Not For Broadcast, The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante, Bastion

[aleksikesa]

▸Games Played in 2024

Norco (2022) dev. Geography of Robots

[mercurialmalcontent]

Game Review: NORCO

NORCO is one hell of an experience. It's point and click, and it's text adventure, and there's minigames too. It's cyberpunk, it's set in an alternate modern day Norco, Lousiana, it has a heavy supernatural undercurrent. It's about alienation from society, from family, from nature.

It's also a mystery. Kay, who has spent the past five years drifting and getting into skirmishes -- real? LARPed? I'm still not sure -- finally returns to help her brother Blake after her mother dies of cancer, only to find that Blake is missing and something very, very strange is going on. Kay herself is something of a mystery, her face represented by that of a simple stick figure's; while the player's choice of her reactions range from completely disconnected to muted, I felt that there's a deep grief in her that she doesn't seem willing, or able, to let herself feel.

Grief and regret underly much of the story. Grief for a community slowly poisoned by the nearby refinery, the present and the past haunted by regret and things left unsaid. Grief for lives with nowhere to go but drugs, cults, or drifting.

It's also deeply weird and delightfully funny. I won't spoil the weirdness -- go into this one blind if you can, it's worth experiencing the reveals and unraveling without expectations -- but I can say that the often heavy subject matter is balanced very well with humor. Sometimes it's dark, sometimes it's absurd, and there's enough of it without it becoming too much.

Gameplay-wise you experience the world through clicking hotspots and reading text. It's in first-person perspective, and you navigate via hotspots rather than moving a character (if you're old enough to remember it, it's like games like Dejá Vu). You also have some interactions with the world beyond dragging items in your inventory over to things or people -- and fortunately, that aspect expects reasonable combinations. No combining rubber chickens with pulleys here. This doesn't mean there aren't puzzles, however; besides finding and following clues, there's also a variety of ways to solve some problems and some interesting interactions to discover, with lots of achievements to point the way.

I honestly found the minigames -- two combat styles and navigating a boat -- to be a pain in the ass. The Simon Says one and the boat navigation aren't too bad, but the reaction-based 'click when the circles overlap' one is janky and laggy. Fortunately, this isn't a huge part of the game and you can set the combat to auto, although I can't say how well auto combat works because I kind of forgot it was a thing.

There are a few other annoying things -- the text window has no scroll and Kay's mind map doesn't cover a lot, so you'll probably want to keep a pen and paper handy. You can't remap the keys, and while there is an input map for controller, there isn't one for the keyboard, so you'll have to seek outside sources to find out how to, say, highlight hotspots (I ended up playing a psuedo-expert mode run because I forgot there was supposed to be a highlight button). There's some accessibility options for text size and font, but none to disable flashing. I once I found myself unable to interact with anything but the menu, and another time the camera's zoom out as you enter a room effect got stuck halfway through so I could only see and interact with half the room, but saving, quitting to desktop, and restarting resolved those each time.

Despite these annoyances, it's overall a fantastic game that's going to stick with me for a very long time, and seven hours very well spent.

[all-the-fish]

Consider: a crossover with NORCO and its many eyed mind controlling big bird

[videogamepolls]

Requested by @goingtolebanon

[bastardtrait]

apparently my choice of lots made downtown willow creek maximum industrial so the sky turned smoggy...ngl i'm kind of obsessed with it.

making over willow creek is so tedious bc the original build team were giving us fuckin peanuts. PEANUTS!!!

[ludinusdaleth]

forgive me for bible belt & niche interest posting, but i think part of why me & a few other southerners im friends with enjoyed the southern reach book authority is because it plays subconsciously into the inherent horror & grief of understanding that the ground you stand on will probably be gone or at least entirely changed within a mere few years. jeff vandermeer is a floridian environmentalist, and while you can tell that through his books' worship of ecosystems, i feel you can also percieve it through how area x is a metaphor for its climate change. control is the perspective of a man who, even when moving forward to do what he can (in a government office job), has this inherent disjointed, numb-yet-about-to-panic view of the world he knows being in danger of something unfathomable. he is walking in what will soon be a ghost of a land. maybe, since the colonization of america and his father's family, he always has been. as the first book annihilation says, "desolation tries to colonize you".

the book reminds me of a quote by yuts, the man who created norco (a near-apocalyptic game set in louisiana): "we’re moving back to new orleans this summer after being away for a few years and knowing that it’s not necessarily a place we can settle, or it’s not a wise investment to stay there long term, is a difficult thing to factor into decision-making. but nonetheless, we want to be there for a while. we want to experience it. there’s something inherent in louisiana where you have to be present."

[love-fictional-men]

Blinds Wide Open

This story is inspired by Tyler, The Creator and Frank Ocean's song "She."

"The blinds wide open so he can See you in the dark when you're sleepin' Naked body fresh out the shower Uh, and you touch yourself after hours."

Summary: Reader has just moved into her own apartment in the Boston QZ. Her neighbor, Joel, catches a glimpse of her post shower. As he watches her, his thoughts get the best of him.

Warnings: daddy kink, age gap, mild stalking, D/s, PinV, spanking, teasing, mild degradation.

Word Count: 3,151

Heat stuffs the apartment you just moved into. Feeling sticky, you open the window in your bedroom. Across from your new home, you see a familiar man look down at a table, murmuring and presumably reading some papers. His eyebrows furrow as he looks down a look you’ve seen him make a thousand times before. You can’t quite make out his words but if you had to guess the topic is related to smuggling; pills, guns, bullets, anything that is prohibited inside the walls of this QZ. 

This lifestyle is all too familiar to you, as your uncle and this man have worked together bringing in contraband for years now, ever since you were about 14. Probably longer, but after your father died fighting Fireflies as a FEDRA officer. The two brothers were at odds in almost every manner, but after your father’s passing your uncle felt a stark obligation to his last remaining family member. It wasn’t long before you proved your worth. Growing up around FEDRA officers proved useful. You had a certain inclination to what they wanted to hear, the respect they felt they deserved. You knew how to play their game, and as a result you became the most inconspicuous smuggler in all of Boston. 

When you first met Joel, you tried to read him but became stunned from his cold, hard stare. He was a man of few words, and rarely any of them directed toward you. Upon your first introduction, he glanced at you then back to your uncle,

“A kid, really Vince?” He said to your uncle. You’ve been surrounded by hardened men throughout your whole life, your uncle being one of them. At that moment, you decided it was best not to speak unless spoken to.  

Over the years, after multiple interrogations at various check points across all of Boston, Joel became impressed on how you held your own. You knew that smuggling was an infraction punishable by death, but the way you carried yourself impressed him. It was almost as if you believed you weren’t doing anything dangerous, but you were too smart to be that naive. The way you held eye contact with FEDRA soldiers, addressed them as Sir or M’am at the end of every sentence, thanked them for their hard work and glanced a smile left everyone in your smuggling crew impressed. Occasionally you name dropped your deceased father, but only in times where suspicion arose. You even befriended a few guards and landed connections to ammunition, pills and other illicit contraband as far south as Georgia and as north as upstate New York. Everyone, including Joel, had you to thank. 

Over the years, conversations between you and Joel became more casual. As a teenager, he only spoke to you through your Uncle Vince. As you entered your young adult years, he’d nod to you and occasionally say, “Good job kid.” At 16, after bringing back over 500 norcos from a factory in Atlanta, Joel grabs your shoulders from behind then roughly pats your back, 

“I’m proud of you kid.” In that moment, shivers run down your spine and into your vulva. Although you’re not one to be easily flustered, but you turn away and murmur,

“Thank you Joel,” before exiting the room. That was when your crush began. Since then, you’d been trying to push down your feelings. Here is a man in his 40s that you are pining for, it’s inappropriate, the gap in age is too stark. But you can’t help it. His eyes were too beautiful, as unwelcoming as they can be. His shoulders so broad, and his aquiline nose would be perfect to sit on… 

You find a new motivation for smuggling contraband, and it’s Joel’s approval. On a run, he mentions to you how he used to play guitar before the outbreak, and although finding a whole guitar proved to be too bulky, he was surprised when you handed him nylon guitar strings two weeks later. 

Now, at 23, you finally have your own space instead  of a small, cramped office with a makeshift bed in your uncles house. Housing was hard to come by, and when Joel mentioned to you that his neighbor across the way was put on the wall for Firefly affiliations, you jumped at the opportunity to be his new neighbor. 

As you see Joel deep in thought, you decide it’s best not to disturb him. You pour yourself a double of tequila, and sit down on your couch and begin to sip. You take in the apartment, feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment. This is now your domain, to decorate and arrange how you chose. A thought pops in your head… I could even invite Joel over and cook him a nice meal. You snap out of it, and shake the thought. You know he only sees you as a kid, a smart, well accomplished kid  but a kid no matter what. You lift your legs apart, and realize how sticky they are from the summer’s humidity. You decide to get up and take a shower, throwing back the tequila you poured. 

As the water is running, your mind races back to Joel. As you scrub your thighs, you imagine his big, rough hands grabbing them instead of you lathering yourself. Cool water sprays all over you, and you notice how hard your nipples are. You begin to pinch them lightly, and move your fingers in circles, imagining Joel’s tongue there instead. After rinsing off the soap, you grab a towel and begin to dry off. It’s evening and still warm out. You throw yourself onto your bed, backside to the mattress and in a tipsy state begin to spread your legs apart in a V shape, feet planted on your mattress. You circle your index finger around your bud, and use your free hand to begin to slowly insert two fingers from your other hand into you. You can feel your walls begin to lubricate. 

Unbeknownst to you, Joel catches a glance at your naked body fresh out the shower. He tries to avert his eyes, but something primal activates inside him. Joel has grown fond of you over the years, and he had an inclination of your little crush. He would be remiss if he didn’t notice the way your body became more full, how you spoke with such confidence even in the face of men who only saw you as a little girl. He knows you’re more than that, and dammit he would be lying if he didn’t harbor the same crush. He takes a deep breath in through that beautiful, broad nose. He can feel the blood rushing to his cock, he knows he should at least close his blinds but he cannot avert his eyes from your open legs, your small, dainty fingers attempting to please yourself. He knows if he was there, he could show you that his thick, calloused fingers can do more than strum a guitar. 

You feel the pressure intensify in your core, but stimulation isn’t enough to bring you to orgasm. You begin to mutter his name breathily, 

“Oh Joel… Joel you feel so good.” You become more aroused, and as a result your voice gradually evolves from a whisper to loud moans. You say his name multiple times, forgetting that you left the window and blinds open. You think you have total privacy, but you are wrong. 

As Joel watches you, he slides his cock out of his jeans and begins to grip himself as he fucks his hand. He feels a moment of shame, What am I doing? Jacking off to her… but his arousal is so high that he pushes this thought to the back of his mind. He continues to stroke himself but pauses when he hears his name leave your lips with such an erotic tone. 

Holy shit… she’s thinking of me… Y/N is thinking about me. Does she know the windows open? Is she putting on a show? Is she putting on a show for me? Is she teasing me? For a man of few words, Joel sure gets lost in a frenzy of thoughts in times like this. Something inside of him snaps, and he puts his now half erect cock back into his jeans, with a prominent outline seeping through his jeans. He makes his way from his apartment to yours. 

As you think of Joel pounding into you, you are so close to reaching your peak, you imagine him entering you, taking what he needs from you, how he would moan your name. You hear a stark few knocks on your front door, and you snap back into reality. You spring up, grab your towel and hope to God there isn’t a FEDRA soldier on the other side. As you open the door, you blush at the realization that the man of your fantasies is standing right in front of you. You feel a desire to drop down on your knees and show him how much you desire to please him, but you swallow your own spit and compose yourself. You are completely bare under that towel, and you both know it. 

“Just what do you think you’re doing,” he asks. 

“Did you need help with a job Joel? I’d appreciate a little more heads up next time,” you say, ignoring his question, attempting to mask your arousal. 

“Don’t play dumb with me,” he snaps. 

“Excuse me?!” You retort back. “You come knocking on my door just to call me dumb?” Deep down, his words cut to your core but you’ve learned not to let your true emotions show through. 

“Didn’t say you were dumb, y/n. I said you were playing dumb.”

“I cannot believe the audacity of you, I’m trying to enjoy my first night in my new apartment, and you barge in,” this is the most angry tone you’ve ever taken with him. 

“Oh I bet you were enjoying yourself, you little slut,” he chuckles.

“What did you just call me?!” You spit out, but then you realized you left your window and blinds open, exposed for him to see. A wave of shame brushes down you and 

you break eye contact, and glance down to notice his half erect member. Joel… Joel fucking Miller is hard from watching me… Arousal replaces shame in your core, you look back up at him and step closer. He looks down at you, and you can see the pupils in those beautiful brown eyes widen. He grabs the sides of your face and brings you in for a rough kiss. His tongue dominates yours, and you are too frazzled to do anything but lift your hands up to his head and run your fingers through his salt and pepper hair. The towel drops to your feet.  You moan into his mouth and begin to melt, 

“Let’s get out of this doorway,” Joel suggests. He takes your hand, somewhat sternly, and leads you back to your bedroom. 

There you are, fully naked in front of a man you had a secret crush on for over 7 years. There were so many times you envisioned what having sex would look like with him, but in this moment you are so overrun with excitement that you freeze. He sits down on a chair across from you bed, and you grab his hand and try to lead him to your bed, letting out a moan in frustration. 

“Uh huh baby girl, you never answered my question. Now you’re gonna have to show me what you were doing.” You instantly know what this means, and you like him so much at this point you’re willing to do whatever he says. Sure, you’ve had sex before but nothing like this. 

You lay back down, and begin touching yourself again. Joel leans back in the chair, and puts his arms behind his head. You look up and see his biceps pop out of that dark green shirt. Of course he’s wearing that shirt, that color on him drives you mad. 

“Joel,” you let out. You lift your hips up, begging him to provide some sort of friction to relieve you.

“You think you’re funny? Teasing an older man like that? Thinking you can get away with it because of how cute and witty you are?” He asks. He stands up, and towers over you as you play with yourself. You blush and moan as the circles around your clit become more vigorous. 

“Now look at you, completely undone and I haven’t even touched you yet. Open up you little whore.” You do as he says, and he sticks his index finger down your throat and you try to relax your throat for him, but eventually gag. 

“We’re gonna have to work on that, but for now…” Joel says as he sits on the side of your bed. He jams his index and middle finger inside your heat, you let out a loud moan and your hips rise again. 

“That’s a good girl, let it all out,” he coos softly. He then thrusts his fingers back into you, picking up the pace. You rock your hips back in tandem with his fingers, moaning and repeating his name over and over until suddenly he pulls away. Again, you moan in disappointment that once again you’ve been brought so close to orgasm, only for him to take it away. 

He grabs underneath your elbows and moves you to the side, kicks off his shoes and now is sitting up dead center, with his back facing your pillows. You get up on your knees and begin feeling his cock underneath his jeans. He grabs your wrists, pulls them from under you and you fall into his crotch. Desperate, you begin licking the outline of his cock through his dark washed jeans. 

“Eager,” he teases, “but first I think someone needs to learn her lesson when it comes to teasing me.” Joel props you up and slides you across his lap with your ass directly facing his palm. You arch your back, and he swiftly smacks it and you let out a small whine. You feel the sting and as your cheeks become warm, he slaps you again, this time harder. You yelp out in pain and try to scooch away but he grabs you by the throat and pull you back. Joel bends down and whispers in your ear, 

“Next time I won’t be so forgiving.” 

The next smack is even harder, the one after that even harder. The spanks progressively get harder and more vigorous until what seems to be all of your body heat is on your ass, pink from the impact. He has you in a sobbing pile of tears. He lifts your chin up from his thigh and forces you to look at him, 

“Did you learn your lesson?” 

“Yes Daddy,” you let out, eyes pleading at him to stop. He rubs his fingers through your hair and massages your scalp. “That’s a good girl, now take care of Daddy,” he states as he begins to unbuckle his belt and pull down his jeans. You reach for his cock, bulging underneath his grey boxers, and pull it out. You begin to run your tongue from the bottom of his shaft all the way up to his tip. You place the tip in your mouth and taste how salty it is. You wrap your lips around the tip and swirl your tongue around it at a moderate pace. He lets out a groan, and you start to put more of him into your mouth until half his length is in your mouth. He grabs your head from behind and pushes his cock further down your mouth until you start salivating. After a few pumps he triggers your gag reflex and you back away, but he keeps pushing you down while you are gagging on his cock. Your eyes are watering, looking up at him, seeing him become more and more aroused. He lets out a few grunts and moans,

“That’s such a good girl, taking Daddy’s cock so well. Such a perfect little slut,” he murmurs as you continue to gag on him. He pulls you up for air and you gasp, then presses his lips against yours and begins aggressively kissing you. He grabs your breasts and begins to fondle your nipples. They stiffen up as he twirls his fingers around them in circles and gently pinches them. You let out a moan. 

“You like that baby girl? You like when this old man plays with your young, perky tits.”

“Mmhhmm daddy, please Daddy keep going,” you beg. 

He puts his mouth on your breast and begins sucking on your tit, still swirling the other one with his finger. He pushes you down on the bed and hovers on top of you. He moves his hand down, caressing your body and makes his way to your heat. His thick, calloused fingers enter you with moderate force and he begins pumping them in and out of you. You squirm a big and let out multiple moans. 

“Look how wet I’m making you,” he says with a grin,

“I haven’t even put myself inside of you.” He pulls his fingers out of you and positions his cock between your legs. He slides the tip in, and groans with pleasure. You gasp and look up at him, seeing his veins begin to pop out of his neck, sweat beginning to permeate on his body. He thrusts himself halfway into you and lets out,

“Fuck baby girl, you feel so good wrapped around my cock,” as he enters you fully. His chest meets yours and he vigorously thrusts into you as you squeeze your pussy around him. You wrap your arms and legs around him,

“Joel your cock feels so good inside me, keep fucking me like that.” “I’m gonna keep fucking you, I’m gonna use this pussy for as long as I want,” he growls. 

“Yes Daddy, please use me,” you let out. 

“Who’s pussy is this?” He asks.

“It’s your pussy Joel, this pussy is yours,” you say. 

“You’re god damn right. 

He begins to thrust harder, his moans and groans bringing you close to the edge. You tighten up as you let out a long moan and come on his cock. Joel can’t take it anymore, he’s wanted you for so long and with how tight you are, he’s surprised he’s lasted this long. You are the perfect mix of innocent yet impish, everything he longs for. He looks up at your beautiful face and sees you glowing in pleasure. He then empties himself inside you and lets out a long moan. He fills you up, pulls out and lays down next to you taking a deep breath,

“I’m glad we became neighbors,” he chuckles. 

[heatwa-ves]

Like. Yeah man that's what life is about

Never not thinking about that Pete journal entry that's like . Sunsets in new Mexico met mikey way from my chem watched this movie called spirited away feels like falling in love

[lifewithchronicpain]

What if I told you that there was a medication that made it possible for my grandma to live at home instead of a nursing home?

And that the same medication allowed my uncle to endure prostate cancer treatments long enough to see his cancer go into remission. And that it helped my mom avoid pneumonia after hip surgery. Or that this medication is the only reason I’m pain-free enough to be able to write this column?

But that’s not all. What if I told you the same medication helps me take care of my cats, as well as the cats at the local animal shelter where I volunteer?

What if I told you that doctors hated this medication? And that many of them also hate anyone who takes it?.

In an age of opioid-phobia, it seems a lot of people – doctors in particular – have forgotten why opioid pain medications like Norco exist in the first place. And why they are such a miracle drug. (Read more at link)

Because of Tramadol I can play with my niece and nephew, foster kittens, do a few manageable hobbies even if I can never work again. I shouldn’t have to fight so hard to have some measure of pain relief when the majority of people who have taken opioids do not get addicted and that risk goes down the longer you take them without any issues.

[prototypesteve]

Solo Travel: Find Magic.

Venturing out on a solo vacation can be daunting. There’s a shit-ton of adulting you’ll need to do:

It’s up to you to make your flight. It’s up to you to not lose anything. It’s up to you to stay hydrated and healthy and mindful and motivated.

It can be easy to give in and say “hard nope” and stay home, even if you really want to start travelling solo.

How do you get past all that, and find the will to save up, plan, gear-up, get a passport or a reliable road-trip vehicle, and go? Magic. You believe in magic and you let yourself want it.

When I was in my late teens I was in a waiting room and idly flipping through a magazine (it was the late 80s). I turned the page and there was a two-page tourism ad with a massive photo of Lake Louise, in Banff National Park. Supernaturally milky blue water, tiny red canoes, backed by a colossal wall of mountain capped by an ancient glacier. I remember murmuring aloud, “I want that.” I wanted to feel what that photographer felt. I wanted awe. I wanted magic.

Years later, I finally had enough of my shit together to go there, and it was everything I expected, and it made all the hard adulting worth it. (I wound up moving to Calgary so I could go to Lake Louise any time I wanted to.)

Photo 1: Lake Louise, Alberta. (This is from 2012, and taken with an old iPhone 4S, but it most closely resembles the view I saw in the magazine ad.)

In 2003, I saw a video about Tofino and Pacific Rim National Park. By 2003 I had plenty of experience going on budged-friendly road trips to Vancouver, where I’d stay in the (at the time, affordable) Jericho Beach Hostel. But Tofino would cost more, require a longer vacation, and take me way out of my “there’s always a city close by” comfort zone. But I wanted to see real waves, walk through a real coastal rain forest, and see the ocean fog roll in. I wanted magic,

Photo 2: My (used) 1998 Pontiac Sunfire, and a budget kayak, and my mediocre Norco mountain bike, somewhere at a rest stop along the trans Canada Highway, in British Columbia

By 2005 I had the right gear, a decent budget, and enough self-confidence to drive out and hike down sketchy wooden stairs to Half Moon Bay near Uclulet and see the actual Pacific Ocean—not the Salish Sea between Vancouver and Vancouver Island—for the first time. That week I felt the magic of being at the edge of my world. It made all the adulting easy.

Photos 3 & 4: The first time I saw the Pacific Ocean without Vancouver Island or the Olympic Peninsula lining the horizon, and the first time I saw fog move in over Vancouver island from the Pacific Ocean,

Ever since my 8th and 9th grade teachers told us stories about the old Globe theatre, I’ve dreamt of seeing a play in the rebuilt Globe in London (back then, even rebuilding the Globe was still a dream that wouldn’t be finished until the late 90s). But I live an ocean away, in Canada, I’m introverted, and no matter how much money I make, I have always felt like I’m out of my class-depth at any social gathering. Wrong childhood neighbourhoods, wrong schools, wrong career field. It took me until my 2nd trip to England to work up the nerve to buy a ticket to see a play at the Globe. I wanted to be there like one of the people I imagined during English class as we studied Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, and The Scottish Play. I wanted the magic.

Friday night, August 23, 2024, I spent two hours almost dizzy with a flood of feelings I’m going to need months to process, because I sat in Bay H, Row C, Seat 29, at Shakespeare’s Globe, in London, and watched a beautiful, perfect, magical performance of Much Ado about Nothing, and like I said, I’m going to be sorting out my feelings about this for months.

Yes there’s the Osemanverse overlap, Much Ado appears in Loveless. There’s the Aroace angle, watching two seemingly aro characters get shipped by their friends and family, bla bla bla. There’s a lot. But whatever. For me the magic was being the adult who teenage-me grew up into, sitting there in my seat that I absolutely belonged in, on my trip that I put together for myself, to chase down dozens of my other lifelong dreams, sitting there, and feeling that I was allowed to be there, and then delighting in the magic of live theatre, compounded by the magic of loving myself enough to push through every excuse not to be there.

Photos 5, 6, and 7: The Globe Theatre (there’s no photography during the performance, and I don’t think I’d have bothered, if there was.

Find your magic. Thrive. It doesn’t have to cost a lot: My first solo trips cost me a tank of gas and a tenting campground fee, or a night’s stay at a hostel. It doesn’t need to be risky: Backpacker hostels and modern hotels often have more sophisticated security than your home or workplace. It doesn’t have to be ambitious: Maybe it’s lunch at a diner in a small farm town nearby, maybe it’s a low-key late summer concert in a park, maybe it’s building that sandcastle you never got to build because you grew up far away from water. Whatever it is, go find it! Let it change you.

[doyouknowthisgame]