#someday when i have a good pc i will play it

[cosmicpoutine]

did i brought arkham knight because it was 90% off even tho it could never in a million years run in my current laptop? maybe i did but mind your business

[neverendingford]

.

[raspberrybluejeans]

for no real reason i was just pondering about which is my favorite PC each mcelroy has played in The Adventure Zone.

I can say immediately with pretty much no contest that Taako is my favorite Justin PC. I think you all know how mentally ill I was about Taako. I love Duck and the Firbolg and all the others but i am insane about Taako.

Also pretty much immediately I can say my favorite of Clint’s is Argo. I think Clint mentioned at some point that he put more work into Argo than any other character (this may have been before Ethersea so idk if it’s still true) but I think it shows so much. He was so interesting and I love him and I loved learning about his background and motivations and stuff.

I was a little more torn about Travis because I do love Magnus a lot, but in the end I decided I like Devo the most. I just wish we had gotten to delve into more details about his background and upbringing and stuff and I hope someday when they make the Ethersea sequel we can learn more about him because he is a very interesting character.

I was the most torn about Griffin because I love almost all of his PCs so much. The two other contenders I was really torn about was Errol and Montrose. I was so devastated he didn’t play Errol again in Dust II because I fucking love Errol. Montrose is also such a good character he’s such a freak. But in the end I decided on Fitzroy. My sweet cheese my rotten soldier. I love that stupid bitch

Thank you for coming to my ted talk

[mttcafe]

I’m back!!!!!! do you have any UT or DR merch you wanna show off? :3

YES!!! sooo much. i'll attach everything and then yap under the cut about them. long post incoming! sorry!!!

okay so starting out! i have my plushie collection. i have sans, papyrus, flowey, lancer, and two chapter two ralseis that my bf got me the second he released. one of them is wearing the butler outfit. i got one for free because my first one had stains on arrival. so now i have a second to wear the costume! i also have bootleg sans and papyrus and bootleg asriel.

i have all of the nendoroids sans spamton. the undertale cast is displayed on one shelf and ralsei on another. undyne broke into toriel's house and took the pie that's why she's not on her mountain.

i have the fangamer undertale vinyl boxset! i have the first run boxart with gaster on it [picture included]. he is not in any prints you can get now. i own the fangamer deltarune chapter one and two vinyls as well.

for one of my holy grail pieces of merch, i own the iam8bit undertale vinyls! they stopped making them a long time ago. you can find them average between the 100-200+ range. but the real holy grail is the 7" vinyl. it's in the first picture and then there's a picture of the vinyl attached. it has dogsong on it. it was a preorder bonus for the original vinyl and there were NOT many made because the vinyl went up for preorder in 2015 or 16 iirc. i have only seen like four listings for the dogsong vinyl ever and most sit in the several hundred dollar range. i bought a bundle of the original soundtrack AND the dogsong vinyl for one hundred and fourty dollars. AN INSANE COP. i won. I WON!!!! i had been looking for a good listing for YEARS.

i have quite a few pins although i would like more. i have the flowey fanclub pin, the lancer bike pin. the fanmade ones i own are both mettaton + a ralsei button that i made. on this backpack i also have the mewmew keychain. they stopped selling her a while ago so i had to find her second hand. it was also EXTREMELY difficult to find a listing for her!! but i found one for 15. only two over retail. yay!

i have the cyber city desk mat. i love it very much. i have the nubert beanie that my friend bought me. thanks casper. i have the undertale collectors edition for the switch, and the undertale art book. i have an eshop card that was never active i'm not gonna lie to y'all i just swiped that thing one day. no harm done it's just a piece of cardboard. i own the game on pc, switch, and my xbox. if i owned a ps4 you best believe i'd own it there too. i plan on getting one someday and 60% of the reason is for the ps4 dynamic theme and so i can play all versions of undertale. also i have a lot of undertale stickers and tags, mostly the bonuses from fangamer and such. plus a few art cards from there. oh! and my bf made me that cup + coaster. i love it. when the cup is set down it squishes ralsei.

now for the clothes that i have! i own two sans jackets from fangamer [not pictured i forgor]. i got one in a size too big so had to get a second. i have the shirt showtime, disruption, your best nightmare [it has a little flowey on the back!], the fifth anniversary shirt [it has a bunch of quotes from the game on the back. i love it.], the deltarune hoodie, and the flowey scarf.

as for unofficial clothing, i have two hoodies from etsy. one of them is a chara hoodie, and the other one is a lancer inspired hoodie with a spade that comes down over your face! it's so cool despite the fact i can't see out of it.

i also have a few kandi bracelets that i made and a golden flower headband i made for a cosplay. and with that.. i think that may be it..! i have a few pieces of merch that i really want but that could go into a seperate post. thank you so much for asking! i could talk about this forever haha. if i forgot anything i'll mention it. i'm very forgetful.

shoutout to all the people that have helped me cultivate this collection. a lot of these are gifts or things i've made myself broke buying.

[bloomsinthespring]

haiiiii people on my blog... i meann no one is here but i'll be discovered soon, i know it ｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡ ive seen that those blogging things are getting popular as of late, so i thought why not...

to be very honest with you guys i don't know much about the internet (>.>) i asked this girl who lives here who's always on the school pc and she told me to just talk about myself so i will do that!!

umm where do i even start. so much to say hehe!!!! ... wellll my name is foxglove, to start... im 18 years old now!!! and im in my last year of highschool (⁠´⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠.̫⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠`⁠) i will miss my friends when its over... i live in a not very nice place but it's okayyyy because my girlfriend lets me spend a lott of time at her place. btw i have a girlfrienddd and shes the best ever!! (⁠✿⁠ ⁠♡⁠‿⁠♡⁠)

she doesnt like taking a lot of pics with me (⁠´⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠.̫⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠`⁠) umm i didn't ask if i could post it but i covered up her face so it should be okayy. hehe... she'll get mad if she finds out (<.<') idkk if she'd know... the girl who lives here said blogging is popular with people our age and my girlfriend is too mature for that!!! but anywayss she always forgives me bc im cutee and she loves me very much and i love LOVE her too (⁠♡⁠ω⁠♡⁠ ⁠)⁠ ⁠~⁠♪

asides from that... i really like dancing and acting and i want to be on a big stage someday (⁠☆⁠▽⁠☆⁠) after i graduate and both my coach and sister jordan even said i have the spirit for it (⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠) ... oh yeah sister jordan is a person who works at the temple... i like going to the temple too. im more comfortable there as of late. it's not that i didn't like the guy who was in charge before sister jordan buuut i think she doesn't play favorites as much... ◉⁠‿⁠◉

ummm i don't know what else to say, but maybe i've said a lot already (⁠ʘ⁠ᴗ⁠ʘ⁠✿⁠) hehe thats good... maybe if i talk a lottt here i can let my girlfriend rest more... umm she's always tired bc she works a lot but i always want to talk (>.>'') sometimes she gets annoyed...

anywayss, thats it!! feel free to talk to me, i dont bite (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧ (only a little!!)

[otakween]

Digimon Rumble Arena 2 - Final Thoughts

Omg, I think this is my favorite of the fighting games yet! There was just something so satisfying about it. They found a good sweet spot in terms of difficulty level and simplicity in the gameplay. Also, I'm so happy to get to the PS2 era and that PS2 games WORK on my PC! I've never had a PC that could run PS2 games until now so this feels huge 🥹

Notes:

It's probably because it's on the PS2 instead of PS1, but this game felt a lot sleeker and more "serious" than the first installment. There was no goofy Guilmon voice saying "DIGIMON RUMBLE ARENA" and no Culumon going "which digimon are you gonna play as, huh?" instead we got intense techno music. Although those goofy aspects of the first game were charming in their own way, this one kinda feels like it's for the cool older kids in comparison lol.

I played through single player and did feel motivated enough to unlock all of the digimon this time. I think it's because the criteria for unlocking digimon were way more straightforward. (Also, I was just having fun).

The janky sports mini games from the first game are gone which is probably for the best. In their place we get "secret stages" that are set in the same arenas as normal fights but have different rules. I liked that idea and feel it added a lot to the replayability factor.

I did play through using "normal" digimon twice (Flamemon and Guilmon) but then I just had fun demolishing everyone as boss digimon. Playing as the boss characters definitely feels like cheating, but oh well. Maybe someday I'll challenge myself and do hard mode with Neemon or something. Or maybe not

I found both the controls and the UI to be pretty intuitive which I often find are big barriers to fighting games. It was a nice touch to add instructions to the load screens. Doing each character's "ultimate" attack was fun.

I really enjoyed the digivolution feature. It was easy to understand how you were supposed to achieve it and when you digivolved it actually lasted a decent amount of time. In some digimon games the digivolution is more like a quick summon that doesn't last very long. Here you get enough time with the higher level forms that it feels worth it.

Loved all the dub voice lines. It was pretty funny how your digimon would go "I win!" or "I lost..." basically repeating what the narrator had just said. Hearing the attack names scratched the itch I had from Battle Spirit 2. Some of the "taking damage" sounds were pretty distinct, especially Biyomon's ("owie!")

Winning as BelialVamdemon felt wrong lol. Just a massacre.

I thought the variety and creativity in the stages was good, but some of them were pretty annoying. Steam Town and the Great Waterfall were my least favorites because there was so little surface area to actually fight on. I thought the ones with moving platforms and the Toy Town one that was a sidescroller were really fun. It was satisfying seeing my opponents get KO'd by the scenery mwahaha

In some stages the camera would zoom so far out that I would lose track of my digimon and die as a result.

I enjoyed some of the silly little touches they added via items like "Sleepy time" (makes all of your opponents fall asleep) and "Piñata party" (turns you into a piñata).

Neemon being a boss was funny and unexpected.

I really enjoyed the boss stage because it was over quick, kinda like a wild west showdown. My fave move was cornering the boss, knocking him over, and then throwing him off the ledge >:) Come to think of it the boss in the first game was way harder because it was very difficult to dodge his attacks sometimes and there was less room to move around.

The Black versions of Agumon, Gabumon and Guilmon were interesting. I did feel like this game was a little too Adventure heavy though. We only got one digimon each from Tamers, Adventure 2, and Frontier (not counting bosses). I don't like the obsession this franchise has for Adventure in general...

There's only one more Digimon fighting game for me to play! That's wild to me. Looking forward to it.

[thirteen-jades]

hi Gamer! :3

1. Games you’re currently playing?

2. Do you like playing with mods?

5. Games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed?

8. A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved?

13. A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to? damn, i wish i'd asked nee-san this one, i missed it earlier...

14. A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing?

19. A game you didn’t finish but would like to get back to or restart someday

23. A game ending that’s really stuck with you

32. Game you think you’ll finish next?

35. What's your favorite genre of game?

56.Multi-player or single player?

57. Ask anything you wish!: Games you're looking forward to playing soon?

❤

1. Games you’re currently playing?

OSRS, Ace Combat 4, and Old World are the main ones I think? Also Wartales whenever the GOG and Steam versions sync so we can actually do that again

2. Do you like playing with mods?

I tend to default to not modding things just because for a long time mods never really seemed to work right for me in just about anything I tried to apply them to. I've been doing it more though, and I think they're frequently quite good.

5. Games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed?

Armored Core 6 has to take the #1 spot here I think, but there's a bunch of others too. In no particular order, Old World, Old School Runescape, Ace Combat 4, Age of Empires 2, and... probably a lot of others I'm forgetting. I think I first played Wartales more than a year ago, but I've really been enjoying the recent playthrough again

8. A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved?

Dark Souls. That game was an absolute blast, even if I was remarkably bad at it at first. One of the few things that's gotten me so immersed/distracted that I actually forgot to do homework/school-related responsibilities.

13. A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to? damn, i wish i'd asked nee-san this one, i missed it earlier...

Oh, I'd have to think here. Starcraft was my old favorite for sure, but I've sorta fallen off the train with that one, so to speak. I'm not sure there's much left that I still play from my early days? I think if I had to pick *something* for an answer, it would be Lego Racers. I really liked that as a kid. Should go back and replay them sometime

14. A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing?

None of the games I'm currently playing are particularly heavily character-focused I think, unless I'm forgetting one. If we include TTRPGs, then my PC for Skull & Shackles. Otherwise maybe my character's daughter from that one Old World campaign that snuck out of her room three nights in a row to go fuck some other noble family's daughter. I really liked her

19. A game you didn’t finish but would like to get back to or restart someday

There's a lot of them, but Gothic 2 and Planescape: Torment both come to mind

23. A game ending that’s really stuck with you

Mary Skelter 2. You know why

32. Game you think you’ll finish next?

Ace Combat 4 tonight, probably/hopefully!

35. What's your favorite genre of game?

RPGs, particularly when they actually remember what the first two letters of the acronym stand for

56. Multi-player or single player?

Never choose "or" when "and" is on the table

57. Ask anything you wish!: Games you're looking forward to playing soon?

Many! AC4, AC 6-7, trying out Runescape 3, the eventual AC6 DLC/expansion, probably some others that are eluding me still. Maybe Elin sometime too

[journalsouppe]

Stardew Valley!!! I love a lot about this spread but I wish I didn't use so many pen colors. This is another game I played before I even started journaling so I had to recall a lot of my older thoughts. Sebby's little corner might've been even bigger 😅 (Y'all might even guess where the name PumpkinSouppe came from, but it is also my favorite dish irl)

The Sebastian sticker is by ArcaneGoldArt! They have a whole collection of all the love interests.

Writing typed below!

Rating: 9.3 Played: Fa 2021 Port: PC (steam) Favorite? Y Replayable? Y Recommend? Y

Comments:

Name: Beans

Farm: Soup

German Shepherd

Beach Farm

Spouse: Seb <3

The Junimo are SO cute

only talked to like 7 characters lol I'm so introverted

had so many wiki pages open

LOVE the dungeons and enemies + the hunter log/achievements

It's sometimes pretty creepy

You can put hats on the horse and children lmao

don't like Shane at all (skull emoji)

stopped playing when I got the child, not the biggest fan [but I'm also against sacrifice]

#1 Krobus fan, love him

love my crazy animal names

made a little statue garden

so many eggplant parms

so much fun catching all the legendary fish!

the movies are so pretty and fun

The Sebastian corner: (DO NOT SAY ANYTHING)

(List of his favorite and liked gifts) Frozen tear, obsidian, pumpkin soup, sashimi, void egg, flounder, quartz

motorcycle kiss T^T

LOVE his theme

when he hid behind the tree lmao (I accidentally planted a tree right in front of where he would stand and I thought he would just disappear once a week and I could never find him)

quit smoking for me

he loves Jasmine tea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you can kiss him <3!!!

Frog Sanctuary

Game Dev notes:

really good day/night + seasonal cycle with relation to player mechanics

great progression of unlockable events -- well paced

great long term achievements

amazing cooking mechanics and storage

no definitive objects, very choose your own adventure!

easy controls, nothing memorable

beautiful pixel art and boundaries

Summary:

One of my all time favorite games. It is the gold standard of farming games and even has one of the best fishing mechanics. I played this during the beginning of my health problem during senior year and it really helped me cope a lot. Although I didn't play multiplayer, my friend and I played at the same time. This game has so many cherished memories especially when I got to compare gameplay with my friend. Made by one man, this is such an unbelievable game. There's unlockable events after x amount of years that entice players to continue playing.; There's also no one way to play, for example I was a lot more introverted and only talked to a few characters whereas my friend played more socially. Maybe someday I'll continue playing to complete more achievements. My one gripe is there's a lot of responsibilities to get back into, so it's a little hard to get back into. It's one of the games I can recommend to everyone. It's hard if you makes it hard, cozy if you make it cozy, etc. Excellent designs, animation, gameplay, story, choices, etc. My worry is that this game is so well crafted I'm worried playing other farming games won't live up, I am so excited for ConcernedApe's new game. He is a major inspiration to start making my own games. I have also heard modded Stardew is really good and really worth checking out. All in all, a superb game loved by so many fans. Highly recommend.

[asterroses]

5, 7, 20, 22, 31, and 39 for odessa? for those rook asks you rbed earlier :)

i need u to kno i did heart hands at my pc screen when i got this LMFAO

5. What was life like for Rook before joining the Veilguard?

odessa's life was kind of . in the shit . considering she flunked her chance at becoming a full-fledged crow that she was banking on [she couldn't let it happen , though . the people were more important . but she does have regrets] , and she was kicked out of the only home she's ever had even if it hurt her more than nurtured her , so she was just kind of coasting . she was by herself which would've also been causing harm to her , as she's never done well all on her lonesome . most of it was disassociation , if you asked her what she was doing , all she'd bring up was varric recruiting her - solely because she cant really remember .

7. Why does Rook agree to join the Veilguard?

for something to give her purpose , and to prove herself . she needed to see for herself that she Can do something , and do it well , without fucking it up . and maybe she was hoping viago would somehow see , and allow her back home . the good thing about joining the veilguard was that she was present , and in the moment , instead of vaguely hovering . we dont talk about how it basically backfired - thats haunting her every step to the point she's refusing to sleep .

20. What’s it like to see them smile? Their laugh?

odessa's smile is cute ; its more of a smirk , a raise of the corner than a smile , but enough that her front teeth show . its something that hasnt really changed since she was little , and her laugh lines are much more noticeable with a smile . she snorts more than she laughs , and its more of a cackle , and its really easy to make her laugh . she loooves jokes , even making her own no matter how terrible they are .

22. Most embarrassing memory as a teenager:

truly she has many to choose from ; most of which were witnessed by viago . one she claims was the most embarrassing was her falling from one of the ziplines into the canal . which was also when viago realized she never learnt how to swim and had to fish her out of there himself . and also when he realized she didnt know how to use the ziplines . that was certainly a time for both of them . and totally not in the presence of many other fledgelings . some that definitely let her forget [they dont let her forget ; heir lets her know shes not the only one who has done it , though]

31. What specialization does Rook pursue? What called them to it?

duelist ! she's been trained more with daggers most of her life , she knows how to dodge , how to avoid , and how to hit Hard . she couldn't see herself being anything but what a crow Should Be . its been ingrained into her . she loves being a duelist , to be honest . is it because she's been read stories abt dashing , mysterious and troubled rogues ? and now she is one ? Maybe So . she will never admit it , though . [yes she will . she has multiple times . shes a bad liar]

39. What is their room at The Lighthouse like?

its very eclectic - which fits her . theres an antivan coffee maker that she bought at the cafe , theres a lute she's trying to remember how to play when she's not so tired , theres sketches of wings on her walls , and a plant in a terrarium on one of her small tables , maybe because she was thinking of lace when she bought it , and how she'd like to grow plants someday . the floor is messy , various articles of belts and holders scattered about . she has a hard time staying in the room , as she doesnt want to sleep , but she tries to spend as much time , so that the fish dont get lonely . shes named them all , too , and gets stressed thinking about how they're fed with glass up to the ceiling and no fish-food designated spot . she thinks solas cruel , for that .

[limbel]

20 questions for fic writers

thanks @dogearedheart for the tag :D

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

3! I'm a baby writer (but I do have a few more in my wip folder that I never got around to publishing yet)

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

6.427 🐛

3. what fandoms do you write for?

supernatural! it's the only show that scratches my brain the right way, and the only one I feel confident enough to write about. but in the future who knows :^)

4. top five fics by kudos

well adhsj

5. do you respond to comments?

always and forever when I get any

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

uuh probably my Jo fic, Fil Rose, although to me it's more on the bitter-sweet side

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

... none of them :| I tend to favor sad/angsty themes when it comes to writing, and I'm hardly ever interested in finding a resolution, I just like to explore the situations and the characters

But if I have to choose one, I think my latest dean-centric fic Harvest Moon ends on a more positive note – not exactly happy but at least peaceful (or that's how I read it anyway)

8. do you get hate on fics?

i've got like 2 comments per fic thank god they're not hate lmao

9. do you write smut?

I have some smut in my drafts for fics I've never written/never finished. I don't mind the idea of writing sex, I'm just not very confident about it being any good :')

10. craziest crossover?

there's one only crossover in my mind that I desperately want to write about and that is a supernatural/x-files au

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

nope!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope!

14. all-time favorite ship?

well I don't have much experience with writing ships if I'm being honest! but I love rarepairs and I'm also working on a dean/cas short fic and then there's my infamous dean/lee fic gathering dust in a folder on my pc and a dean/cassie one that's just waiting to be published. so I'd say anything with Dean in it 😬

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

many such cases... my dean/lee fic first and foremost, but there's also this fic that I started writing some months ago about pre-s4 Cas traveling back in time, and I'd love to keep working on it, but the direction it's taking feels kinda intimidating (very introspective, very philosophical, etc)

16. what are your writing strengths?

uuuhhh I'm not sure? I've been told that I do a pretty decent job of getting into the characters' heads, for example. If you ask me, I think I'm kinda good at finding rhythm in my sentences, and I do love to play with structure and length and pacing and all that stuff!

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

I feel like I have many. Like, I wish I were better at choosing more interesting words and sentences and imagery. I also think that sometimes I get too lost inside the character's head and forget about describing things - like emotions, places, actions, situations, etc. But to be honest a good portion of my problems would disappear if I were a native english speaker adsadj

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I've never done it, probably never will, but if it makes sense for the story then why not

19. favorite fic you've written?

It has to be Harvest Moon, for sure. Very self-indulgent of me, but I've loved writing that fic sososo much: it has young!Dean, pre-series family dynamics, religious imagery, a non-linear narrative that allowed me to explore many different themes and situations. Plus the little game I played using the prompts as first and last words of each paragraph was genuinely so challenging and fun! From a stylistic point of view, though, the one I'm most proud about it's the dean/cassie one, which I swear I'll publish someday sfdfsd

20. tagging: @angelsdean @mrcowboydeanwinchester @hornystiel @lesbianjoannaharvelle + anyone who wants to do this pleas go ahead and tag me <3

[jackalsinthekitchen]

pop report #8 (today's top hits, 9/24/24)

today's top twenty – short n' salty

A whole Brat Summer has come and gone since we last left off. I tumbled belatedly down Charli’s rabbit hole in January, when I was looking for something to flatter a high, and she ended up blowing my world apart. I’d slept on her a decade ago, when she was both sugar and spice – everything nice, really – in hits which have aged varying degrees of well. Yet her 2015 union with PC Music was what put the form to her urge to soundscape – unlike the DMT-addled Todd Rundgren of fifty years ago, of whom she’s a fan, she’s nothing if not collaborative. When I first played brat, besotted as any sane person would be by the effervescent “360”, I found its music too metallic and its melodies overly astringent. Mea culpa – now no less an authority than our next president [knock, knock] has validated her cultural primacy.

So you won’t catch me complaining anymore – it couldn’t have happened to a more visionary icon. But of course, the year belongs to neither Charli, nor the victor in the battle of the quarter-century (not talking about Beyoncé v. Swift, who I think it’s safe to say overdid themselves into a draw this time out). Armed with little more than a wand, a rabbit, and a kabuki-meets-Cyndi Lauper aesthetic, the Midwest Princess finally completed her year-long rise this fall. Meanwhile, in Chappell’s shadow, the Last Straight Femme has put a bow on a fascinating saga that kicked off with “Drivers License”, while Olivia takes sour selfies abroad. And the season of the sticks is long over, with the cabal of bros who once threatened to turn 2024 into the Year of the Dude proving one-hit wonders – or if not one, at least a lot less than F-1 trillion.

But the bro atop half of Today’s Top Hit, Bruno Mars, is a different breed altogether – like his duet partner, one L. Gaga, a star so massive he’s transcended this plane, if not the material world. The languidly soulful waltz “Die with a Smile” sounds to me like an AI dream about “Beautiful Things” being less annoying, and as with everything else America can’t stop listening to (including “Beautiful Things”), someday soon I’m sure I’ll love it. But it still turns on vocals which grind into sincerity, yielding more sawdust than sparks, and presumably won’t unite a wedding dancefloor like “Uptown Funk” or “Bad Romance” ages from now. I suppose each artist thought they had to remind us that they were alive, and forgive my cynicism that the song is doing so well on branding power alone (well, and maybe those outfits).

Tate McRae is another one who feels greedier for the public than vice versa, but it’s ok – “It’s ok I’m ok” is a bit more than OK, the rapid-fire rap hook and sudden wash of synth atmospherics disrupting its relative self-repetition. It's another one that promises to grow over a slow fade; I’d say pop hits are fading slower than ever, but really, it’s always been this way. It does boast some brevity, said to be the soul of something in limited currency – its brisk two and a half minutes feel closer to 75 seconds. Lasting as long is #3, a single about lingering, Short n’ Sweet (ha)’s attention-seizing opener “Taste”. Whereas Olivia’s overtures to authenticity made her so compelling, Sabrina leans into the prefab, and it’s fab every time, fam. Its throwback feel is one of its chiefest virtues – it’s a dead ringer for the Divinvyls, and who doesn't dig the Divinyvls?

The fun of Chappell Roan is which of her big hits you can’t escape at any given moment – only “Pink Pony Club”, which is basically a standard now, is falling behind the rest of the pack. #4 on today’s TTH is “Good Luck, Babe”, its chorus such a pristine flourish of frosting it’s always good for getting through, coming out or kissing off. It’s the first in a trio of queer victories down the list, followed by Charli’s zero-melody banger “Guess”, feat. Billie E, whose subsequently-slotted “Birds of a Feather” is to “we can’t be friends” (#21) as Sour is to Short n’ Sweet. Here’s a girl who writes like she earned both her Oscars. This sapphic streak goes up in flames with the Weeknd, a painfully-straight whose strongest hits sound super gay anyway. After The Idol, the flames are all he can dance in.

#s 8-12 are five stalwart inescapables – that me espresso, H-O-T-T-O-G-O, J.J. Abrams’ nepo baby keenly cornering the “wounded submissive with an acoustic guitar” half of the Taylor Swift market (her vocals softening Olivia’s bratty diction with Billie’s volume control – “I Love You, I’m Sorry”, not as good as “Risk” but still good), Hozier cornering the Adam Levine market (it’s not my aphrodisiac, but the sky still splits open at that wailing instrumental break), errybody in the bahr gittin’ tyup-seh. Then the crisp, honeyed “Apple”, one of a handful of excellent hooks (not to mention lyrics) I missed like a dumb bitch when I was being a brat about brat. Benson Boone’s “Slow it Down” (no one asked you to, BB) sounds extra hoary directly after – though yet again, he builds up to something more worth your while than you expect from the first minute.

Depending on how you look at it, no two bros need more or less help than Post Malone and Morgan Wallen. But for their stab at the song of the summer – per Billboard, it worked – six additional bros lent a hand (though, credit where due, one of them is named Ashley). “I Had Some Help” is solid, and as with all decent-plus generic pop hits gets better or worse depending on the weather in your town or head. Still, the main takeaway is that both men would love to be Sabrina Carpenter, if not Chappell Roan. Next in line is the only member of the Tortured Poets’ Department that doesn’t sound asleep, "I Can Do it With a Broken Heart", a missile aimed directly under Joe Alwyn’s skin – the same summer the latter decided it would be a canny career move to play a rapist in Yorgos Lanthimos’ hasty surrender of his newly-acquired feminist cred.

After Tommy “Temporarily” Richman’s programmatic percolator “Million Dollar Baby” – his album will be called Coyote, though he might’ve just as easily gone with I, Robot – comes a new one for the stomp-clappers Noah Kahan pulled out of the woodwork: Myles Smith’s “Stargazing”. Anyone who’s ever wondered what Chris Martin would sound like fronting Mumford & Sons will be free to turn their attention elsewhere. Then there’s an arresting little club-designed mystery I haven’t heard before – “Move”, by two white guys (Adam Port and Stryv) and a Black vocalist (Malachiii) gently cashing in on a bourgeoning Afrobeats bubble (on this hemisphere, anyway – it’s an embarrassment of riches on the other). It’s a big hit in Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Austria – shades of ABBA, who never crossed the color line in their lives.

I’d call #20 the secret song of the summer – while many of us are feeling hot to go and so Julia, there are still plenty of shitty vibes to go around, not to mention shitty men (this writer included). Justice doesn’t get more poetic than “Please Please Please” hitting the top in a surging crop of penis-pop. While Sabrina’s triumphs are often trifles, “Please” nails an almost unprecedented level of sexual-politics profundity without a speck of strain or waste (I’d be shocked if it featured more than three instruments). Sure, Olivia’s righteous rage always hits like a tonic, but something about Carpenter’s straight-to-the-point disappointment feels a great deal more potent. Imagine if Lesley Gore, not to mention Aretha Franklin, had had “I beg you, don’t embarrass me motherfucker” at their disposal. Even then, neither would’ve delivered that last word with the same score-settling perfection. Morgan Wallen and Post Malone will always have some help. 2024’s pop queens don’t need any.

[wheelie-butch]

The ship I must always ask about

Brian x Scott

(with the disclaimer like I said in another post that I'm not that attached to the PCs as individual characters)

I think it's cute! The polaroid of them on the football team together is one of the best I think because it implies a whole story way more than some of the others I think... they were teammates (oh my god they were teammates...)

I could see them having a lot of similar interests which is nice for them to do together (it's not like I don't think Scott would get involved with another partner's interests but more like it could get frustrating on both sides if he didn't really 'get' it or pick it up quickly idk) also I think Scott would like a big guy he could do big guy activities with lol.

Actually also if you don't mind me going off onto a little headcanon tangent here, I forgot to mention in my post about Green/Brian but one of my few headcanons is I like to think of him as having chronic fatigue + chronic pain (from being a zombie) (love to give my faves the same problems as me) and I could imagine at first Brian worrying about like the times he's not able to keep up with Scott, but realising Scott values being with him more than always being doing super active stuff 24/7 and adapting so they can keep having good times together. And I think Scott is very caring and would look after Brian as needed. I'm also playing around with thinking of the werewolves as having periods of fatigue/pain in the days immediately after the full moon, something I think Scott would find INCREDIBLY frustrating, so maybe Brian could help him deal with that and they spend some quieter times together too.

Also even though The Wolfpack are dickheads (i say with love in my heart but it is true) Scott does seem to super love them and I think it would be a big wish of his that any partner of his would get on with them. This obviously wouldn't happen overnight but I feel like Brian might be the best of the PCs at dealing with the Wolfpack being jerks when he's hanging out with Scott etc. I think both Amira + Vicky I could see getting angry if they push it too far which would probably escalate things, and Oz seems very timid and the Wolfpack would probably pick on them more if they thought it worked. Whereas Brian I feel like could keep it together and not give them any reactions they're looking for, just being kind of like -_-' are you guys done yet energy until they learn they're not going to manage to scare him off and they're not going to get any fun out of it and back off a bit. And once they stopped trying to be a nuisance whenever Brian and Scott are together, I feel like they would get used to having him around and Brian being on the football team they could eventually bond and maybe someday accept him as Scott's partner.

So yeah it's a good ship in my opinion, maybe my favourite for Scott I'm not sure :)

Send a character or ship I'll give my opinion

[yeehawpim]

My long-winded love letter to D20

When I was in grade three, I didn’t think much about stories. I was a voracious reader— it was quiet and engrossing, all that could be asked of a kid at home. I walked the shelves of the city library in summer with eyes flitting from spine to spine, too excited about the possibilities now that it was summer reading club time, and my mom had to bring me there. I even wrote an endless stream of unfinished stories for class, the half-nonsensical kid stories that didn’t have endings.

But I never really thought of them as real. Not that the stories I read were real in the literal sense, but when I would later learn that people thought of themselves as going to Hogwarts, it was a concept completely foreign to me. Stories existed in a space apart from my little existence, where everything seemed to happen to other people. I wasn’t sad about it until I was older, when I couldn’t connect that my loneliness had to do with my tendency not to participate. How do you interact with friends when you’d rather watch them play video games than join in? How do you talk to people about the things you enjoy and what you feel when you don’t know that’s a thing you can do?

I have a mom who loves me, but would say “be careful” before she said “be kind,” and my parents almost never joked or played with my brother and I. We weren’t taught to look out for each other, just to get along and focus on school. How do you be around people who make you happy? How do you be kind for kindness’ sake, and not because you’re afraid any stranger will hurt you if you’re not polite?

I think the answers were always there, even if I didn’t see them. I read so much as a kid, Percy Jackson and Harry Potter and Bone, and even before that Geronimo Stilton and Captain Underpants and World of Wishes. They probably did teach me things, even though at the time all I was thinking about was fighting boredom.

But I don’t think all that really important stuff didn’t hit me until the past year or so, when I finally felt myself climbing out of the terrible time I was having after secondary education. Without getting into it, I was collapsing under a lot of stuff I didn’t understand as things I hadn’t processed started catching up. I finally scrounged up the energy to get actual counseling. I started to make friends I felt like I could go to if I was in trouble. 

One of my friends introduced me to D20, which I’d only been aware of through a single episode being played in our university dorm common room two years ago. It was the first episode of Fantasy High, and I thought it was good then but I didn’t go seek it out after. High school stories haven’t ever really clicked with me, I think because my own high school experiences were so different. (Don’t kill me, it’s totally a series I’ll get to someday. Someday. First I need to watch Pirates of Leviathan. And Coffin Run.) I found Bloodkeep on Youtube for free though, and after hearing there was a behind-the-scenes on Dropout immediately paid for it after finishing the series.

Then I heard Crown of Candy was like Game of ThronesXCandyland, and I had to see that. And then I saw a clip of Mice and Murder on Youtube with Rehka’s incredible nat 20 (you know the one, the one that fucked all of Brennan’s plans), and went to see that too. And so on and so forth.

For a long time, I enjoyed it pretty much the same way I enjoyed all media. It helped me when I was sad and didn’t have the energy to do anything, it was there to fill up the empty spots of boredom. Sure, I watched The Seven even though I wasn’t big on high school stories and immediately cried in the first episode. Nothing had even really happened yet. The PCs were just such good friends with each other, in a way I realized was what I desperately wanted to be at that age. Sure, when Ravening War came out I watched every upload and wrote fanfic, the most I’d ever managed to write anything since I was 12. Never mind I’d felt unable to create anything except for brief stints and mandatory school projects since high school, never mind that I was actually waking up excited to make something. 

I watched Dungeons and Drag Queens and was on edge for the first few episodes off my own fear of being watched while learning new things. By the end I was getting through whole episodes in one sitting because I needed to know what was going to happen. I cried like hell at the finale. The me that gets critical about plot holes shut the fuck up and it only mattered that the characters and the players were doing their best to be kind.

I know it’s a funny haha improvised show. I know obviously it’s a performance on screen, but I think somehow without me noticing it, D20 has given me stories that feel Real. Maybe because all the intrepid heroes and Brennan really are friends having fun even as they’re working. I think I saw them and all these stories and realized at some point that that’s actually possible. It feels obvious, of course it’s possible to laugh and joke with a group of friends and share something you all care deeply about. Of course, that’s a way to be happy with the people you love. Of course choosing kindness is the most radical thing you can do, of course it’s not stupid to care about things and try your hardest.

It all feels like stuff I should’ve fully absorbed as possible way sooner than now, already at 23. But I’m learning to be better to myself, and I’m glad that I got here and I’m still alive to think and write about it. I’m glad even though I don’t entirely know yet why I’m feeling better, I am able to feel like the things I make matter, that the things I do can make a difference even if it’s just to the one or two people that like my fanfic.

Maybe it wasn’t fully because of the silly little actual play show that I turned to for a smile when I was down, that’s probably too much to put on any piece of media. But D20 was definitely there through it with me, and it was there when I woke up at 5am today, unable to go back to sleep, wondering am I a person who believes in things now?

So I want to thank everyone who produces it, everyone on the art team, the intrepid heroes and Brennan, any guest star who was ever on it (incredibly special scream to Aabria and her Wuvvy and Karna, my beloveds. ALSO ERIKA AND DANIELLE.), literally from the deepest sincerest part of my heart. From someone who thought they wouldn’t make it alive at some point in the foggy future, thank you for making something that was there when I was in some of the worst times of my life and there for when I started to climb out.

I’m participating in the D20 zine jam now collabing with the friend who introduced me to D20, and I hope we can help raise money for WWRAP (Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project)! Please go check out all the fan work that's coming out in August!!!

[pastel-bruh]

The latest Sims 4 Update has completely broken my game.

(This is going to be a long rant, so buckle up)

For context, I play on console, which means any of the issues I am facing can not be blamed on mods or cc.

The first issue I (and many others) have is the whole simology panel being broken thing. If I ever click on it, not only does none of the tool bar actions like the career panel or inventory show up, but I also can't manage worlds or access the menu. This means that I can't even save and exit the game properly.

Another problem I have faced is sims being autonomously mean to each other. These sims will have literally no reason to be mean to each other and still do it anyway, which just tanks their friendship and romance bars. One workaround I have found is that if you have high school years, you can just abuse social bunny to rebuild their relationships. However, it's still really annoying to deal with.

Prior to this update, I have only faced minor bugs/display issues, but nothing that I would ever consider game breaking. And I have always been way more patient and understanding than a lot of other people when it comes to EA and the multitude of problems with Sims 4.

However, this is so ridiculous. I had to wait 4 hours for this base game update to install, only for it to totally break my game. It has me even doubting if they even play-tested this update beforehand. If they did, then they need to vastly improve their quality standards.

I do understand that EA and the Sims team are always going to prioritize the PC players because that's how most people play the game. That's fine, I get that! But that doesn't mean that they should just flat out ignore console players when it comes to testing out bugs. Especially when said bugs have also affected PC players!

Many people, myself included, have spent a good chunk of money on this game, despite EA's greedy cash practices (like charging $40 per EP and making EPs out of content that should clearly be GPs). We do that because WE ENJOY PLAYING IT. I love the sims, and this is why I'm ranting about it.

I know the Sims team can do better. Honestly, they have gotten lazy, and the sims has lost it's good reputation over the past couple of years.

This update sounded like a step in the right direction. It includes many long-time requested features such as romantic boundaries, eyelashes, and a copy and paste system within CAS. But in typical Sims 4 fashion, the team got lazy and just pushed it out as soon as they could before the EP dropped.

I know a long-winded Tumblr post isn't going to do anything to actually influence the Sims team, but it's just gotten to the point where I'm done having good faith within the sims team. They've proven again and again that the passion for the sims franchise behind the scenes is dead, and they're probably just using the money from sims to fund another shitty MADDEN game.

I really do love playing Sims 4, but it's just really disappointing to see that nobody behind the scenes seems to care about the quality anymore since they know people will just buy stuff regardless.

I really hope that they can release a patch for the current issues soon and that someday the Sims team will put more effort into their work. (I know it seems scary, but you can release game packs, and people will still buy them 😱)

[miharuhebinata]

monthly game tag time!

this is going to be a veryyyyy long post, so buckle in

may

1. Hollow Knight

[played on ps4.]

thoughts: i know i literally just replayed hollow knight back in like, what, last august? but i had a strong urge to play it again and after the shitshow that was my life in march/april, i decided what the hell. i'm probably going to be doing a yearly replay anyway, though i won't hold myself to any kind of strict schedule in regards to that. i'll just play it when i feel like it and keep track of when and how it goes with these posts.

but anyway, on to my thoughts (yes, i still have thoughts on this game lmao): the game is definitely getting easier with every replay, which makes me very very happy. don't get me wrong, there are definitely still plenty of challenging bits (looking at you, trial of the conqueror. bane of my fucking existence -_-), but apparently i've managed to memorize a good chunk of the attack patterns for most of the boss fights. hornet and the mantis lords are the most obvious example of this, as i literally beat both on my first try. which was a tiny bit disappointing, just because those fights are so fun, but also extremely satisfying. literally had me feeling like a pro gamer LMAO

2. Princess Peach: Showtime! (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i've been so excited for this game ever since i saw the first trailer, and the demo certainly didn't disappoint! the two levels you get to play, as swordfighter peach and patisserie peach, were very fun, and just everything from the level designs to the gameplay to, of course, the costumes are so cute. i definitely want to play the full game! ....unfortuanately i've heard the game is actually pretty short overall? supposedly it's around 6-8 hours of playtime, which honestly just seems absolutely ridiculous considering it costs fucking $60 for a game i could (theoretically) knock out in a day but hey, that's nintendo for you 🙃 so, yeah. not entirely sure when or even if i'll get to play the full game. which is a damn shame.

3. Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seems like a fun game! although i will say, it was quite jarring to realize it takes place in the modern day. hercule poirot does not look like a character who should know what a smartphone is, i'm sorry 😂 but yeah, i'm definitely interested in playing more, although i'll probably wait for it to go on sale. i liked it but i don't need to play it right now or anything lol

4. NOX

[played on mobile.]

thoughts: a quick little better-than-average mobile puzzle game. tbh i enjoyed the first half more than the second half. by the end i was just like meh, but i guess i still recommend it if you're looking for a decent puzzle game on mobile

5. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

[played on mobile.]

thoughts: i've been wanting to play this for a while, and it did not disappoint! such a fun, silly little game. pretty much my only complaint is that i wish it was longer, but apparently now there's a sequel? so i guess i can always try that! :)

6. Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seemed fun but also the demo was extremely short so idk. i liked the obvious zelda inspiration, but it mainly just reminded me of chrono trigger. honestly i think i'd be more interested in replaying that than in playing this, but who knows. maybe someday!

7. OneShot

[played on pc.]

thoughts: I ABSOLUTELY ADORED THIS GAME!!!!!!!!! everything about it is so beautiful, from the story to the graphics to the soundtrack (which, if you know me at all, i'm a sucker for a good video game ost and this one DOES NOT DISAPPOINT 🥰). i don't want to say too much, because i really think everybody should play this one for themselves, but i will say it is EXTREMELY meta. which is not a spoiler, as you find this out very early on, but again, the less you know the better. so i'll just say this: make sure the name on your computer matches your real name! i believe the game *does* give you the option to input whatever name you want (i'm not 100% sure, but i think so), but i feel like the story will hit harder if you use your real name. plus, if you've changed your name recently but forgot to update the name on your account (like i had), this is at least a good reminder to do so :)

8. Ib

[played on pc.]

thoughts: while i played the remake, i can definitely see why this is a rpg maker horror classic! like honestly, idk what else there is to say about it that other people haven't said already? it's not super long and though it's not pants-shittingly terrifying or anything, it's got a very strong, creepy atmosphere to it. now that i think about it, it actually reminds me a lot of alice in wonderland.... which is such a huge plus to me, you guys don't even know :3 i especially adored the character design, particularly ib who reminds me of one of my oc's <3

9. A Short Hike

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i want to live in this game <3 seriously, if you're looking for a nice chill game to play this one should be right up your alley! it's not long but i promise it is still so, so worth it. beautiful pixel graphics, lovely soundtrack, and a surprisingly poignant story....yeah i loved this one a lot. my one and only complaint is that the beachstick ball minigame can rot in hell LMAO

june

1. Moonlighter

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: idk about the pc version, but PLEASEEEEEE DO NOT BUY THIS GAME ON THE SWITCH. IT SUCKS ASS. for as enjoyable as the actual gameplay is (which honestly, was not even that fun after the first couple hours), the game is buggy as hell. especially when rolling. do NOT roll near walls, or you risk getting stuck inside them. which is especially annoying inside the dungeons, getting stuck inside a wall on some random floor long before you ever meant to have to leave.... pretty much ruined my whole experience. i could barely even bring myself to finish the game, but i forced myself to do it, because i had been meaning to finish this game for forever, and i just wanted to be DONE with it, and so i did, and i was so SO happy....aaaand then i discovered there was a whole new post-game storyline to play through in new game+. -_- at first i felt obligated to finish that before i could say i completed the game, but after playing a few hours, i just said fuck it. honestly the new game+ stuff wasn't even that bad, but i was just so ready to be done with it by that point. fuck this game. absolutely adorable graphics and a nice soundtrack, but buggy-as-hell gameplay and an anticlimactic story. completed ruined it for me. boo. boooooooo. such a disappointment.

2. Another Code: Recollection (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seems like a very fun game, and i really do want to play the full version! …just not for full price. especially because, after playing the demo, i already had some gripes:

the controls are kind of wonky and by that i mean this just feels like a game that would be better played on pc (yet it's a Switch exclusive).

the (english) voice acting is… definitely not my favorite, to say the least. (that scene of ashley crying as a kid was so fucking annoying, and it went on for wayyyy too long.) ashley does not sound like a 14 year old. which ties into my next point:

okay so i actually FULLY admit this one is mostly on me, but i legit thought ashley was college-age until she explicitly mentioned being 14. like, obviously i understood in retrospect that the story literally said she was 14 long before that (i believe the letter from her father mentioned her 14th birthday?), but because i was pretty tired when i played and also because the character model does not look like a 14 year old girl aside from her being shorter than the adult characters, the voice does not sound like that of a 14 year old, AND she was wearing a university sweatshirt, i thought she was, like, 19-21 and that she for some reason had only recently received her dad's letter? IDK DUDE I'M A LITTLE BIT SLOW 😭

honestly this just kind of made me laugh but i did think it was a bit silly how ashley made a big deal of "yeah sorry D, but i can't help you get your memories back. i've got my own problems. sooooo... yeah, bye." then literally she walks down some stairs, he helps her open a door, and she's immediately like "okay i'll help you and also we're besties, obviously 🤗" like, i'm not saying the game has bad writing (i didn't get to play enough to truly make an accurate judgement) but that felt like the kind of contrived thing i would have written when i was in middle school ngl. but maybe that's the point, since ashley's so young? idk

anyway, i know i've kinda been ragging on it, but like i said, i do still want to play it. the story seems interesting, and i really want to see where it goes! just definitely not for the price of $60 lol

3. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: it was fun! like a mix between immortals fenyx rising, hades, and trine. all of which are right up my alley! but also i was not very good at the combat, which definitely detracted from the experience a bit. i imagine if i was playing the full game i could eventually get used to the combat, but there just wasn't enough time for me to do that in the demo. but i did like it, and i'll definitely consider picking it up if it ever goes on sale for a more reasonable price.

4. Chants of Sennaar (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i enjoyed it so much i actually bought the game. stay tuned for my thoughts on the full game!

5. Growing Up

[played on pc.]

thoughts: so, full disclosure, i only played through one of the routes in this game (richard). when usually i would play through all the route's (or at least more than one) before counting it as finished, honestly i just cannot be assed this time. which isn't to say it's a bad game! it was a very fun game (at first), with interesting stat-building mechanics. i especially enjoy that my previous character + whoever i ended up with become the parents in a new playthrough. however, despite the fact that i had already started having new events when i started a second playthrough, i don't think the gameplay is interesting enough for me to want to replay it multiple times just to see the new events/meet new characters, at least not any time soon. at the very least i wish there was some kind of carry-over bonus. for example, since my character ended up with richard, maybe my current player character could have a boost in empathy? or intelligence, since my previous character's intelligence was so high. something like that.

also the parents sucked, they had nothing to do with anything unless they were giving me their stupid parent expectations goals, which got really annoying by high school age because the goals often took up desperately needed schedule slots. also especially bitter because literally right after i had completed a goal of tutoring 10 times in a row, they gave me a goal of helping out some neighbors (aka buying groceries ten times in a row) and when i had my character be like "will i get paid?" stupid fucking idiot dad was like "omfg why are you so selfish??? 😤" BITCH I JUST TOOK UP A BUNCH OF MY VALUABLE SCHEDULE SLOTS TO DO TUTORING FOR ONE OF YOUR STUPID FUCKASS GOALS????? KYS YOU ANNOYING BITCH OMFG

6. Harmony: The Fall of Reverie (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: of the few (spoiler-free) reviews i've seen, reactions seem kind of mixed overall, but personally i really enjoyed what i got to play! the art is beautiful and the game mechanic of the augural is definitely unique and interesting. unless the story really starts to branch out though, i don't see there being much replayability; which makes me just a tad reluctant to buy it, even on sale, especially seeing as it's apparently only ~10 hours long. speaking of, i am VERY surprised the demo is as long as it is. hard to put it into hours, since i'm a slow reader, but you get to play 2 out of 5 chapters, i believe?? it certainly got me hooked and invested in the story, but that also just seems crazy, letting you play that much in the demo. so i guess, taking all of this into account, i think i'll just wait for a really good sale. like, i do want to eventually see where the story goes, but not for more than $10 lol

7. AI: The Somnium Files (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seems like a fun game, but also kind of weird. one of the characters blew up a balloon to comical size and the main character's response was something like "i wish your boobs were that big" whshgsjsjlskdj ???????? still planning to play it eventually lmfao but i'm gonna play it on pc. definitely seems like a game that's better on pc

8. Chants of Sennaar

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: ah, what a fun game, and such a beautiful artstyle too (it actually reminded me a lot of sable!); however, while i did really like the game overall, i will say that— as with most people who have played both games— i can't help but compare this against heaven's vault and, personally, even with all the issues i had with it, heaven's vault is definitely the better game in my eyes. while i wouldn't say the translation mechanics in this game are at all easy, it was easier than in heaven's vault. in this game, all you really had to do was match the right glyphs to the right pictures. which, obviously was often a challenge, don't get me wrong, but it was at least somewhat easier than i originally thought it would be: i thought i had to get my guess at the translation right too, but that part of it mainly seems to be so you can remember what the glyph means (or approximately what it means) before you actually verify it. so that was a little disappointing, although it certainly helped make things easier in the long run. which turned out to be a good thing that was actually a bad thing, because i'm not gonna lie, i played the majority of the game over the course of a single day. this was not a good idea (obviously), because it resulted in sleep-deprivation and me hurting my wrists/palms from holding the Switch for so long. clearly this was my own fault, but it did still detract from the experience, unfortunately. the inability to fully concentrate really kept me from fully immersing myself in the latter half of the game, which is likely why the ending fell a tiny bit flat for me. also, i have to mention. there was one puzzle i had to look up a guide for how to solve it, and even now i still don't get it and idk if i ever will. so, i'm kind of bitter about that 😭 but yeah, i don't want to keep ragging on the game, because overall it was great! definitely worth the hype imo. and if the core game mechanics of translating made-up languages sounds fun to you, i definitely recommend checking this one out! just maybe remember to take breaks and get some sleep so that you don't ruin your own experience like i did mine :/

9. The Roottrees are Dead

[played on pc.]

thoughts: if you like mysteries, difficult puzzles, or even just family drama, this is the game for you! it's actually been compared to the likes of return of the obra dinn and the case of the golden idol, and that definitely holds up imo. not in terms of graphics, but just in that you are given a mystery that you need to solve (or an extensive family tree that you need to fill out, in this case) and the game does not hold your hand. i will say, although it's been a while since i played either return of the obra dinn or the case of the golden idol, i think this game was definitely easier than those two (shorter, too). but it was still very rewarding! like i said, it was easier, not easy. honestly i really hope this game gains some traction, because we definitely need more difficult mystery puzzle games like it!!!!

10. Unpacking

[played on pc.]

thoughts: don't really have much to say except that it was a nice chill game 👍

11. Tunic

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i actually started this soon after chants of sennaar, but i finished it last (the roottrees are dead and unpacking serving as breathers). i really REALLY liked this game at first. it was different than i thought it was going to be, but i was still enjoying the challenge even when i wasn't, you know? aaaaand then i kind of hated it, because certain parts of the puzzle you have to solve in order to achieve the true end were extremely frustrating and overly convoluted imo. but overall, after seeing the end credits you get after the true end, i think i left off on a good note. at the very least i would definitely recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a difficult challenge not just in terms of combat, but in solving deep intricate puzzles as well <3

started but not finished yet:

Sea of Stars (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, but only because i decided to buy the full game!

Neo: The World Ends With You (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, because the gameplay just seemed a bit monotonous.

Paleo Pines (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, because the artstyle was not very appealing to me.

Tangle Tower (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, but only because i think i'd prefer to play it on pc.

Who's Lila - started in june. probably won't be finishing, because it just didn't seem like the game for me. which sucks, because i had been looking forward to playing it for a while :(

[callmearcturus]

OKAY I'M AWAKE, actually i woke up like 2.5 hours ago, tried really hard to go back to sleep but was mostly thinking about the ending of that game lmao

I don't know if I'm interested in playing The Answer because it's locked to male PC only and by now I am extremely invested in my FeMC. If I had to play an Epilogue that was about a dude who didn't even have the option of having social links with half the cast, I don't know if I'd be invested. But Storm informed me that per the Answer, the PC is in a perma-coma to ward off Nyx and Aigis and some others are trying to find a way to save them so they can have a normal life. .

I'm torn between the fact that I called the fact the PC would die at the end and the reason they would die (mostly) ages ago, so that part was forecasted, with my confusion on why the game just.... gave me more time? Like, I don't understand the Why of "why did the PC come back, live for another month, then fall into a perma-coma." Why did that not just happen when she became the Great Seal to start with. That's really not explained and it's not super clear that she's even dying until the scene where it happens, on the roof with Aigis. .

On the other hand, i do like the resolutions that I got. Junpei and Chidori will find each other, Akihiko is eagerly waiting for Shinjiro to come back, Fuuka is preparing to be more social and leader-ly in the final year, all the little tie-ups with everyone. It's good! I do like that. .

I guess I feel like because they didn't Just Do It and kill the PC when the Great Seal happens, it... cheapened the ending a bit for me? The glimmer of hope offered at the end that's taken away just seems weird to me. Because at that point, because that hope was set up and everything was literally normal for a MONTH, why is that being yanked out from under me, yanno? .

In my head, the real ending is FeMC mentally relinquishes the Universe arcana and loses her memory like everyone else (sans Aigis). Shinjiro comes home from the hospital. Akihiko takes a gap year before college to take care of his boyfriend and girlfriend while they recover. Mitsuru tries to run her company but has a creeping feeling of unease about everything, causing her her research the company's past with Yukari. They find out about the HUNDRED KIDS and dissolve the Group and maybe go rebuild their lives in another country altogether. Chidori finds Junpei as he's working some weekend job at the Mall and asks him out on the spot. Fuuka invents Discord and makes millions. .

Despite all that: it's still a fucking great game. As someone who failed out of P4, I devoured this one and liked it a lot more. On the queer front, I vastly prefer this kind of dated media that basically does everything except say gay than the No Homo of P4. It was really welcoming and nice. I might play it again someday, but this time skip the Hierophant link and focus on Yukari and Mitsuru now that I know I like them. Good, coherent, fun, heartfelt game! I did cry at the big finale! Akihiko for best boy!

That's it for now! If you wanna read my whole liveblog, it is tagged appropriately. I would add /chrono to the end of the URL and start from the top so you can see my hiiiiiilarious experience with Ryoji in chronological order.

ETA: GOD YANNO WHAT MAKES EVEN MORE SENSE would be FeMC falling into a coma every full moon as she wards off Nyx. but whatever, what do I know.

ETA2: I said on discord "i still really like the game, i think it's shockingly well written, the cast is great, it's heartfelt and has actual things to say about life and death but i would have preferred either just kill the player off and let the tragedy be how she's forgotten, that's tasty or just let them live at that point, i feel like the message about the inevitability of death is made"