#turq plays a game

[turqrambles]

Not sure how many people on here follow my Twitter, but I just want to inform everyone that for the last couple of days, I've been going viral because of naked Grubba. I tweeted about my favorite Supper Mario Broth post before a cousin's wedding, expected it to get like 20 likes tops, and I've been living in a weird fever dream ever since.

259 bookmarks.

This resulted in a mod for the remake, revealing that you can, in fact, prevent Grubba's clothes from loading in the remake as well.

This is currently my biggest contribution to the Mario fandom. I revealed that you can take Grubba's clothes off and now the whole world is paying for it.

[misscammiedawn]

Plurality Weekend

Hey all. This post is for anyone discovering my blog for the first time this weekend. My name is Cammie Dawn and I write a lot about DID and Hypnokink. Both of these things will be quite relevant this weekend.

I'm attending The Plurality Positivity World Conference (info in link) this weekend after our therapist sent us to last year's event and it went well. Unrelated to the event, I'm also a panelist for a talk on hypnokink and plurality tomorrow (Saturday 5/18 at 1pm-3pm CST - info in link)

Networking at the PPWC for my Media, Myself and I essays (one kind person has already reached out to us about them which makes me glow with pride and grateful to know my stuff is getting out there) and providing my links to the panel tomorrow, I imagine I may get a few first time visitors to my blog. I thought I'd do a quick "resources and links" post.

For Media Essays:

Recontextualized Memory and Unprocessed Trauma in Umineko - A visual novel about generational trauma goes over how a young woman goes over and over the events of a tragedy in her childhood and how adult knowledge will recontextualize our adult recollections.

Derealization in Night in the Woods and Metal gear Solid 2 - Describing the sensation of derealization where the brain stops connecting associations between the self and the things one perceives in their surroundings. One example displaying how this impacts a person living with DPDR and the other showing an example of a game attempting to make a player share the experience with the player character.

DID and the healing process in Mr. Robot - A run down of the experiences of discovery, exploration, rejection and healing within DID as displayed in each season of Mr. Robot, along with a disappointed rundown of why the final episode fumbled the ball.

Bruce Banner and the roles of his alters - A breakdown of the formation of The Incredible Hulk’s DID and what roles his many alters play.

Romantic relationships with systems - A look at the marriage between Bruce Banner and Betty Talbot-Ross Banner in Hulk comics and a frank discussion between Betty and one of Bruce’s alters about how relationships function in a system.

Personality Play in Penlight - A review of one of the routes for a hypnokink visual novel called Penlight in which the protagonist hypnotizes a woman to have an alter personality, along with some descriptions of how dangerous play like that works in real life and what the consequences could be.

For Hypnokink Resources (more in our Hypnokink Writings tag):

Hypnosis and Dissociative Disorders - A Rebuttal to a recent claim at a hypnosis convention that we shouldn't practice with those who dissociate as part of a mental illness.

Ethical Personality Play - A discussion about the real psychological damage that can and will happen if you play with personality play in hypnokink without setting safeties and grounding as part of your play.

Unreality and Hypnosis - A small note about how derealization symptoms mingle with hypnokink and why grounding and ensuring "reality remains in the scene" is important.

Anyway. Thank you all. For those who follow me normally, I appreciate you indulging the link spam.

[princesscallyie]

Anonymous said: In honor of Mother’s Day, got any cute Headcanons/facts about Topaz as a mommy? 🥺🧡

I do want to do a pic with Topaz and all the kids for Mother’s Day but here’s one with her and Turq. Now for the headcanons.

Even though her pregnancy with Turq was high risk and there were a few close calls when she gotten very sick, her other pregnancies were smooth sailings. Vander basically slid out of her.

Topaz wasn’t really housewife material before she had kids, but she tired really hard to learn what she could to provide the best for her kids. Even though she has access to all the cooks and nannies in the kingdom, she still prefers and takes pride in taking care of her family herself.

She gives the best warm and comforting hugs ever. Her kids always feel safe and secure in her embrace. Even when they’re older.

Topaz is the one who starts training with all her kids at a young age. She probably the main reason all of them began walking so early. She would “train” them in crawling and walking. Her prodigy so to say is Vander. She picked out his weapon and helped perfected his Flicker. She’s the one who persuaded Hody to ease up on Delphine so she can fight and she encouraged Phyrus to pick a weapon and try even though he didn’t think he could do it.

Topaz is known as the most laid back parent. She doesn’t often scold or discipline her kids. They just tend to naturally respect her. But when she does get stern or irritated, it can be pretty scary. One loud “HEY!” can get all on them to fall in line almost instantly.

Topaz doesn’t really cook at that well, but Turq enjoys all her cooking the most. He thinks even her disastrous dishes are amazing. Turq will smite anyone who says otherwise. Would probably force the picky eater Vander to eat by shoving it down his mouth. When Turq storms off or gets in arguments with his father, she kinda feels like its a reflection on her parenting so that’s why she doesn’t like it. She also just wants him to see the good qualities Hody has that made her fall for him, but sometimes it doesn’t get through to him.

Her and Delphine seem like they are the opposite but they are pretty close. Topaz allows her to loosen up and have fun, and Delphine makes her embrace all the nuances of being a royal like fancy dresses and parties. They can be either running around hunting a monster or going dress shopping together. They have a lot of mother daughter time.

Topaz loves all of Phyrus’ jokes and petty pranks. She thinks he really lightens the mood in the uptight castle. She often assist him if she’s feeling bored. They’re favorite thing to do is to tease Hody of course. She encourages Phyrus to be himself and doesn’t mind that he’s not a super strong fighter. She knows he’s the best in his own special way.

Vander is her little fireball and she loves how similar in personality he is to her. They play with each other all the time and she’s honestly the only one in the family who can keep up with him. One of the games she used to play with him when he was a baby was Flicker tag. It was a way Vander could get control of his power when he first gotten it. She can catch him pretty quickly. Hody hates the game obviously. They also share the same loud obnoxious laugh which also annoys him but he does find it adorable when they go in a laughing fit together.

[kururu418]

Future AU Facts

Ravana is considered an almost sacred name to insectoids. And a rather manly one at that. It used to be bestowed to the mightiest of warriors among all of the swarms in mewni. Gadfly didn’t tell Scylla this when he suggested it as a name for their daughter, which she is still annoyed about to this day. Gadfly doesn’t regret it however, and named her having full confidence she'd be the strongest of their people.

Scylla got Dagon’s name from a book she came across on Earth from Stanton. When she ended up running across the actual Dagon later, he was flattered that someone named their offspring after him.

Cetus found Deep during a swim to clear his head and quickly grew attached to him. When he asked if he could keep him, Astro (with Fum’s help) carved out a tunnel from the castle ground to the sea so they could accommodate the kraken, forming the lake outside of the castle today.

After Astro took the throne, one of his first deeds was rearranging the land and territory of the kingdoms and tribes to accommodate everyone as much as possible. It was a long and tedious process and more than a few complaints rose up from both the kingdoms and tribes.

During this process, he had the Butterfly castle relocated to the middle of Mewni so that he could oversee all the kingdom and tribes equally. Some of his advisors were worried that it might be easy for his enemies to surround and attack him, but Astro told them they were welcomed to try. So far the few attempts were easily crushed.

Astro and Python are still on uneasy terms, and there’s always tension when they’re around one another. They won’t hesitate to show up when either of their families are threatened however, and when Dorado and Lars were younger Python often hovered around the castle whenever Astro was away.

Lacerta considered Vander a ‘Junior’ member of the King’s Crew. He allows him to tag along on missions (despite both Astro and Hody’s concerns) so he can watch how ‘real monsters’ do things.

Astro once admitted that Turq was his favorite nephew. He didn’t know anyone else was listening but the rest of his nieces and nephews have never let him forget they know. He’ll deny it and say he was just joking nowadays, but when nobody else is looking at him and Turq will share a nod or a thumbs up.

Sirius and F5 both still live in the Butterfly castle. Sirius serves as a tutor to them and will answer any questions they have, while F5 simply roams the grounds and acts as a sort of bodyguard for the family. Aqua likes to study with the golem sometimes, and Cetus will just sit and talk with him since he’s a ‘good listener’.

Astro still gets into arguments with some members of the air nymph tribes about F5. They claim that he should be returned to them since he’s technically their property. Astro contests this but welcomes them to “Come try and take him” if they like.

Delphine and Hikaru are rather passive aggressive towards one another. They’re all false smiles and thinly veiled insults. Hikaru brings up that she’s counted among the 12 Zodiacs, while Delphine always holds that she’s an actual princess over her.

Dusk and Dawn had been obsessed with fusion ever since they’ve seen Morgan do it. They’d been doing research and trying to learn a spell to fuse with each other. Astro and Nia know of the spell, but don’t use it since they're not sure the boys are ready for that type of power yet.

Umbriel once picked the Twins, Rain, and DJ up from school. While there he heard a student poking fun at DJ and turned him into a ferret. The kids made him turn the kid back… eventually. They’ve never poked fun at DJ again.

The twins always have their powers restrained by Nia and AJ when they’re in school since they know how quick to get irritated they can be. They always play nice during school hours, but when it’s over and they're back they consider it free game and start going down their hit list.

[turqrambles]

Finally...a topic I’m well-versed in.

I have Platinum trophies in every Skylanders game except for Imaginators (and that’s because I own it on Switch and not a Playstation title) and long story short, you DON’T need all the figures in order to get all the achievements/trophies in this game. You can reasonably get all the achievements with just the starter pack Skylanders, which is like...two, maybe three guys.

I’ll break it down in alphabetical order:

SKYLANDERS GIANTS - You need a Giant and an Undead Skylander, an Air Skylander, and a Life Skylander. You get all four of these things with the starter pack with Tree Rex, Cynder, and Jet Vac. 

Number of figures: 3 (they have to be specific elements for the Chapter 1 achievement and one of them should be a Giant for several Giant-only achievements)

SKYLANDERS SPYRO’S ADVENTURE - you literally just need Gill Grunt (who has a specific achievement) and a Skylander that can reasonably dodge things because there are dodging thing trophies. I used Drobot because he can strafe and he’s very broken in the original game.

Number of figures: 2 (Gill Grunt and someone who can dodge stuff and therefore isn’t Gill Grunt)

SKYLANDERS SUPERCHARGERS - This one is the easiest one to 100% because they literally only care if you have all three types of vehicle and don’t really mind what character is driving them. There is a trophy that requires an internet connection and PSPlus if you’re not on PS3 so technically that counts as an extra cost.

Number of figures: A car, a boat, and a plane, so 3. Getting the guys that match the vehicles is probably preferable but you know.

SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE - The hardest one to Platinum, but that’s not because of a toy requirement. It’s because those time attack and score level requirements are pretty steep so you better Get Gud with the figures you have. I personally used Bash because he can roll his way to victory and hits like a truck. One trophy requires an internet connection and PSPlus if you’re not on PS3.

Number of figures: Just 1, seriously. They don’t even care if you use a Swap Force. You can just use Bash for this entire game.

SKYLANDERS TRAP TEAM - This is probably the second hardest Platinum, but not because of a toy requirement. It’s because of the Nightmare Mode run and Kaos will kick your ass if you didn’t Get Gud. There is also a trophy that requires trapping 10 villains, so you need the traps. I think for this achievement you can squeak by with...four?

Number of figures: 4 (four traps), I THINK 1 Trap Team Master guy to get past a story obstacle but Snap Shot is less than 99 cents on eBay.

So no, you don’t need all the figures for the achievements. You can be pretty frugal with this game. You don’t even need all the portals. Just get the Superchargers portal that’s like 5 dollars on eBay.

It's so hard to introduce anyone to skylanders and be taken seriously because no matter how hard you try to explain the details of the world building and story every piece of official lore is written like circus clown slam poetry

[sugaryvirtualsimblr]

Fairy: “I’m sorry that I’m so bad at playing video games. I imagine you’d have a lot more fun playing with your friends instead.”

Turq: “Don’t worry about it! I’m always having a really good time when you’re around. I just wanted you to try it to see if it’s another thing we could do together.”

Fairy: “Awww, you’re truly the sweetest!”

[turqrambles]

I keep thinking about this really cute and heartwarming scene where someone tries to make a homemade apology dessert to repair his relationship with his vegan girlfriend and, even though they got into a big fight, he's still honoring her dietary needs and is super stressed out because the house he's staying in is filled with animal products. Like they could've had him be spiteful and mean and go "well screw you, I'll just lie and use milk" but instead they take the really thoughtful approach.

...said scene was in a game called Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People.

Sometimes it's the little things.

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 1]

-claps hands together- Okay, this one’s going to be a little different. My primary goal when I first started the Nuzlocke thing was to replay games with some more variety in the choices. The Nuzlocke element was more about limiting the chaos of the Randomizer than really doing a proper Nuzlocke.

This, though, is going back to the basics. It should be very fun.

Rules:

After possessing poke balls, only the first pokemon of any route is eligible for catch.

Barring duplicates. Waiting until an unregistered pokemon appears is valid.

Any pokemon that faints will be considered dead, and go into a specified box.

Each pokemon must be nicknamed.

Starter pokemon is determined by Trainer ID number.

Team wipe means the run’s over.

Plus one extra special one:

Only battling Trainers is allowed.

No grinding. The only smudge line is that if I can’t run away from a pokemon, I am allowed to defeat it. I’m not going to be locked into a situation where a wild pokemon ends everything because it’s too fast and I’m not allowed to attack it.

My expectation is that I’m going to fail at least a few times. So the part tag on these posts isn’t going to necessarily match where I’m at in the game. I’m just going to keep on until the Elite Four is beaten.

Hopefully this is as exciting as I’m wanting it to be!

Heyo prof.

Geez, the moments before you have the option to adjust the text speed are the worst.

In the spirit of having fun, I’m not going to go with my standard. For this game, I shall be... Coin. Only in caps, because I think gen three is still a gen where all of the names of stuff come in caps. Gotta make sure I fit in.

I love video games.

Rival names are always so difficult. You can be Turq. Also in screamy caps.

First thing’s first, after changing the text speed. Into my computer for a Potion. Which I never knew about until I started watching people play these games on the internet.

Second thing is...

ID number.

Bulbapedia says 4-6 is Fire. Yoooo.

Who knows if we’ll even have a chance to watch that play out. We have to make it through the rival fight first, and that’s pretty much RNG.

Charmander, your name shall be Heero.

First fight of the game.

Scratch, Tackle, Scratch, Tackle, Scratch, Tackle...

Yay, we get to continue forward!

Heero is level 6 now.

One day, this stat chart might be of interest to me.

Heero is a Calm female Charmander. She knows Scratch and Growl.

Up to Viridian, grabbing Oak’s Parcel, down to Pallet, delivering Oak’s Parcel... Pokedex get, and we have five poke balls! Plus vague instructions to visit our rival’s sister for a Town Map.

Route 1 reentered, and our first available catch appears.

What I’m dying to know is if I get exp for catching in this gen. I can’t remember.

Yay!

Nope on the exp, though.

Rattata’s name is going to be Cat.

Cat is going in the box. The experiment of this first run is going to be how far Heero can push. I have a limited amount of exp to harvest, and I want to have it go to something I’m planning on using for a while. Who knows how this will turn out.

Route 22 is going to be briefly examined for our next partner. We’ll be back later to fight Turq, but right now he would eat us alive.

First thing is Rattata. Nope.

FUCK YES.

Maybe. This is still complicated.

Caught!

Going with a theme here... Allenby.

Old dude int town teaches us how to catch stuff, he gives us the Teachy TV which I don’t think I’ve ever touched except by accident, yay, we move forward.

Into Route 2. I walk through the grass without getting anything, and you know what, for now that’s fine. Into Viridian Forest we go, and that means it’s finally time for trainers.

Allenby is going to be in front for as much as I can keep her. As much as I like the possibility of just training Heero into the invincible Charmander that laughs in the face of Brock... lol.

Bug Catcher Rick is our first fight outside Turq! He has a level 6 Weedle. ...This is already uncomfortable. Yep, Poison Sting poisons Allenby. But Allenby wins and grows to level 5.

Rick also has a Caterpie.

...I have Potions. I should have bought Antidotes, but I forget how low the HP is early on, and also that walking probably does damage. But Allenby should be able to take on a Caterpie. Maybe.

With the help of a Potion.

And when we’re running around trying to find an Antidote, a Caterpie appears.

Her name can be Rain.

Now I have the delightful project of looking at the menu every few seconds to check if it’s time to give Allenby a Potion. I... think it’s fewer steps to one of the Antidotes hidden in the forest than the Pokemon Center or Mart.

The exciting challenges of early gens.

...Fuck it, I don’t know where the Antidote is. I’m going to try out rushing to the Center.

One more Potion.

Made it.

Rain, into the box.

I’m buying ten Antidotes. Three more Poke Balls, and five Potions.

Back in Route 2, a Pidgey wants to join the box squad.

...

And I wasn’t going to use it anytime soon anyway, but I turned my brain off and didn’t nickname it. Sigh. Uh, for future reference, the Pidgey’s name is Ren. I don’t think I can change it until Lavender Town, but that’s its name.

Fight number two.

Opening with a level 7 Weedle.

Allenby makes it to 6 beating it. Allenby learns Low Kick!

Another level 7 Weedle follows.

Allenby is finally poisoned. After a lot of good luck. Needs a Potion before I can use an Antidote, because the Weedle’s probably going to use Poison Sting again, and if I use an Antidote, Allenby’s health is low enough that a Poison Sting + poison would be an issue.

Nope, it uses String Shot.

Allenby makes it to level 7.

And Doug’s last thing is Kakuna. Well, this will take forever, but that’s fine. Doug down.

I realized I didn’t do this for her. So here. Have a timely picture. And I finally found the Antidote. It was just in the middle of the path.

Missed the name. Don’t ask why. But Allenby faces a level 7 Caterpie. Allenby wins and is now level 8 (also the dude’s name is Anthony). Level 8 Caterpie comes out to pick up the slack.

Bug Catcher Charlie is next, and yay, Metapod. Allenby is level 9. A Caterpie and Metapod later, Charlie’s out.

Next up, Bug Catcher Sammy. He’s got a level 9 Weedle. Ick. But it’s gone now, even though Allenby is poisoned. Congrats on level 10, btw. Antidote time.

That’s all we have available before Brock, and that means we’re going back to Route 22 to fight Turq. If memory serves, he has two. His starter, and... I want to say Pidgey? With the Pidgey out front?

So Allenby gets to play second fiddle to Heero for a little bit. Hopefully Heero will survive long enough to get some exp before post-Brock, since she won’t have any participation points for that fight.

Happy fun times with rival.

Hey, I got it right!

He has his. level 9 Pidgey. Oh geez.

Yeah, Heero can’t handle this. Allenby? Save her?

Allenby succeeds. Heero grows to level 7. And learns Ember!

Squirtle comes out, and it’s level 9 too.

Allenby wins. Nice.

Brock time, I guess.

Iconic.

Camper Liam sends out a level 10 Geodude for Allenby to hopefully eat. Allenby does, and reaches level 11. Even better, Allenby learns Karate Chop! Liam sends out a level 11 Sandshrew. Allenby beats it and all that’s left to the gym is Brock.

Don’t worry, kid, we still love you.

Back to the Center to heal, then. Brock.

Hi. I’m Coin. I’m on a path of destruction.

Level 12 Geodude is my first opponent.

Aaaaand it’s gone. Allenby gets to live to level 12.

Level 14 Onix.

Allenby wins!

First badge get. Heero gets to go back into the first slot for switch training. Then Running Shoes for me! Yay!

Right we go, and Bug Catcher Colton is our first post-Brock opponent. He has a level 10 Caterpie. Heero handles it, and reaches level 8. Level 10 Weedle up next. Heero wins again, and level 9 she hits. Another level 10 Caterpie. That’s enough to get Heero up to 10! It costs and Antidote, but whatever.

Lass Janice is up next. She has a level 9 Pidgey. Then surprise, she has another. Heero hits 11.

This isn’t especially important I just wanted to break up the wall of text.

She has a level 10 Rattata.

She also has a level 10 female Nidoran. It poisons Allenby, who has to go in after Heero is nearly felled by two Tail Whips worth of Quick Attack. Allenby is level 13, and I’m about to be down another Antidote.

Trip to the Pokemon Center, and then it’s Bug Catcher Greg. He’s got a level 9 Weedle. Thankfully Heero can nail those in one shot, and is now level 12. Level 9 Kakuna. Level 9 Caterpie. Wait, let me guess, level 9 Metapod? Yep.

Yay Heero. Heero now knows Metal Claw. Double yay.

Next up is Bug Catcher James. He’s got a level 11 Caterpie. He’s also got a level 11 Metapod. Heero thanks them for the exp.

Lass Robin follows with her Jigglypuff. It is level 14, so I think I will let Allenby help out after Heero gets a nom in. I also think it’s time for Allenby to be up front again, if only for a little while. I’m still getting a feel for how to distribute the exp. In this case, I let Heero handle all the Bug Catchers, and intended for Allenby to get all the other trainers. Lass Robin moves, so I wasn’t sure if she was a trainer NPC or standard NPC.

Youngster Calvin! What’s on your agenda?

A level 14 Spearow.

I’m going to let Allenby stay in for a hit. Tune in to see how much I am filled with regret.

Peck is unpleasant, but Karate Chop can finish it in two, so that’s how we’re gonna do.

Same, my man.

Youngster Ben. With the level 11 Rattata. And the level 11 Ekans. With Intimidate. Ugh. And Wrap. More ugh. But Allenby makes it to level 14 through Ben’s contributions.

So there’s grass on this here route. Time to see if we’re getting another one for the box, or maybe adding someone to the team.

Box buddy. Hm. You can be... Herine.

The dude selling the Magikarp in front of Mt. Moon is technically in Route 4, so that Magikarp could conceivably count, but Magikarp needs loads of experience to level up to something usable. Efficiency demands we not add it.

The art they’ve added into these is really pretty. I like it a lot.

Mt. Moon gives us a level 7 female Zubat. Another for the box. Her name’s Dini.

Now for the long, long, long trek through a cave where I can’t attack any of the constantly spawning creatures. Yaay.

Bug Catcher Kent wants to spice it up with a battle. He has a level 11 Weedle. Allenby takes that, Heero nabs the level 11 Kakuna.

Lass Iris is also here. She has a Clefairy, and since Fairy Type doesn’t exist yet, tear it up Allenby.

I have no memory of what Type theme you have in this gen. I want to say Magnemite...? Yeah, level 11 Magnemite. Followed by a level 11 Voltorb.

Allenby grows to level 15!

There looks to be a Bug Catcher for Heero around the corner. Bug Catcher Robby. He’s got a level 10 Caterpie.

On a related note, Heero is level 15 now!

Hm. I think I want to check something really fast. Because I don’t have a ban on guides in this Nuzlocke. Eh, okay, that’s not going to work. I wondered if maybe exp needed to reach the next level changed when a pokemon evolved. It looks like no after a brief thing. Species line determines it, not present form. Moves are affected, but that’s a different...

I should look that up.

Okay, for my current team, I think I don’t want to delay evolution for anything. Risk is high, benefit is nil.

Anyway, Robby has a level 10 Metapod. Followed by a level 10 Caterpie.

I pick up a Rare Candy.

I haven’t decided how I feel about Rare Candy on this run.

She has a level 11 Oddish, making me happy I got lazy with switching Heero out of first position. Allenby can tackle her level 11 Bellsprout. No I’m not assigning EV preference that would be a level of insanity beyond anything I could manage shut up.

...I took a break to talk to a friend and I think I’m lost.

Youngster Josh wants to battle! Youngster Josh bringing it with the level 11 Rattata! Youngster Josh bringing it with the level 10 Rattata! Youngster Josh bringing it with the level 10 Zubat!

Heero can eat that one.

Heero hits level 16, and I think I know what that means!

She’s a good girl.

Hiker Marcos wants to fight now. He has a level 10 Geodude. And another one. And a level 10 Onix.

Allenby is level 16 now. Yay.

Um. Okay. I’m going to try to unlost myself. I think the ladder furthest from the entrance is the one that goes forward, but even more than usual, I want to be sure I explore everywhere.

This is how the most popular game franchise in the world starts.

No, Sandshrew should never be made to do evil. A curse upon you, grunt. It’s level 11. A baby.

The Rattata’s on-brand, though.

Congrats on level 17, Allenby. Heero can take the level 11 Zubat. She even does.

Another ladder, another Grunt. Another level 11 Zubat. A new addition of a level 11 Ekans. It is not match for our fierce team.

A different grunt has a level 13 Rattata. Allenby is not impressed. Also a level 13 Sandshrew. I am not impressed. This other Grunt also has a level 13 Rattata. Allenby is level 18. Heero gets the level 13 Zubat.

You don’t need to tell me that.

Super Nerd Miguel has a Grimer. It knows Poison Gas.

I forgot how much I hate poison. Level 12 Koffing is next. I need to spend two turns on Antidote and Potion. Heero gets the level 12 Voltorb since Allenby has kind of taken a beating from the poison. Because poison is awful.

Welcome to level 17, Heero.

I take the Dome Fossil, since the plot makes you take stuff from the poor guy.

I use an Escape Rope to get back to the Pokemon Center. I think this is the last stretch of Mt. Moon and there are some trainers outside. I’d rather everyone be healed to the brim before we go through them.

We made it! To the outside world!

Stopping point!

[misscammiedawn]

Penlight - A Quick Review

Download Penlight (Pay what you like) from Itch.io here

My detailed Penlight route reviews: Nozomi Routes - Sayori (Part 1 - Doll) - Sayori (Part 2 - Alter)

Turq's reviews: Hiroko Robot - Hiroko Tickling - Nozomi Zo

So I have spent the past week going through every route I possibly could of Penlight.

On Sleepyhead's Discord we ran a session of it on stream and a group of us were watching as two characters shyly open up about their hypnokink and the chat was alive with nostalgia over our own awkward starts into this kink and it was evident that the game knew our experiences well.

If you want my tl;dr review it is this: Penlight is a story written with love for hypnokink as a whole and a wariness of the toxic elements of the culture that it intends to subvert at every turn. It's a game about ethics, responsibility, trust and exploration from the perspective of someone who very clearly understands the ins and outs of this kink.

Download it for free on Itch. Support the Patreon. Play the game and enjoy it.

Now for the full ramble:

Penlight is a visual novel coded in Ren'py, a platform I have some experience with from my brief time as a member of a game developer circle.

The basic storyline is that you play Kyou Koyama, an 18 year old student about to take his college entrance exams. His entire secondary school career he has had his eyes on a classmate, Nozomi Akemi and after witnessing her volunteer for a stage hypnosis session during the prior year's cultural festival he has gone all in on learning hypnosis and has developed a tool that will help him win the affections of his crush...

So far this sounds like any old H-Game with a protagonist getting his hands on a brainwashing device, ready to go on a rampage... that's intentional. The tropes are set to make this seem like one of those games.

But have some faith and patience.

See, Kyou is viewed by the school as a creeper. He's been friendless for 3 years of his secondary school life and has spent much of that time longing for Nozomi's attention. He's not quite subtle about this, either.

Some routes have Kyou in a very self-defeating and angry state of mind where he feels victimized by the world and hated on. I admit it's not fun to have a perspective character being a shithead but I suppose that incentivizes the audience to improve him as soon as possible...

Part of Kyou's resentment comes from the fact that the hostility he faces is not all in his head. Just mostly.

Nozomi has two close friends, Hiroko the spunky tennis star who will routinely tell Kyou to go fuck himself and Sayori the smartest girl in class who harbors her own resentment for Kyou's devil-may-care approach to life. They both work overtime running interference for Nozomi to ensure her stalker will not get an opportunity to approach.

But Kyou is eventually given some time alone with Nozomi during an after school cleaning session and the game's thesis statement is made clear with the very first option in the game:

From here the game will branch off into a number of branching stories where Kyou and his classmates discover that he actually does possess a brainwashing device, even as he attempts to utilize mundane hypnosis skills. Anyone who looks at the penlight is helpless to resist and it will rewrite their brains to comply with the suggestions.

In my view the Penlight represents years and years of toxic approaches in a relationship with hypnosis all condensed down into a week. My thread on ethical personality play was entirely inspired by playing the Personality Play route and despite the lack of malice, Kyou makes severe mistakes which reflect mistakes that I have experienced in my life.

The penlight is simply a narrative device that takes years of conditioning and condenses the consequences, regrets and repercussions into a single week.

Fantastic storytelling for fables on how important safety and consent are.

At time of writing there are over 180 CG images, 33 endings with 14 unique routes. More being added every month via Patreon.

The themes of the game explore communication in exploring kink, trust within hypnosis play and safety. The terminology is really good and the understanding of how real life hypnokink is mostly good, spare for a few moments like "thousands" of people tuning in to a hypnosis livestream. Even our biggest and best content creators and streamers cap at 400 or so viewers.

Phrases like "hypnotee" and "hidden observer" which are used entirely within hypnosis circles get thrown around accurately and organically and many routes involve characters describing real world applications from hypnotherapy, anesthetic aid during surgery and even the ins and outs of how a stage hypnosis routine is performed behind the scenes and in-front of an audience.

Angela DeMille knows her stuff.

Nozomi Akemi also knows her stuff.

I'll go into spoilers and my more in-depth thoughts in the coming weeks/months but I wanted to at least break down the core three paths that you can pick and why they appeal.

Nozomi: In this route a repressed woman on the aroace spectrum meets someone who shares her kink and dives in too fast and too deep into her hobby. The route explores compartmentalizing kink and personal life, internalized shame for having sexual interests, "the slope" of chasing new peaks of a thrilling kink and losing regard to safeties and themes of "using" people for access to kink.

Sayori: In this route Kyou offers to help an overworked classmate with her sleep schedule. Regardless of your branching choices (Personality Play route or Doll Play route) it begins with a lack of security. Sayori starts the route feeling unsafe and afraid and your choices will lead to either damage being mitigated or becoming more than can be handled. Consequences, respect and honoring someone's wishes are all explored to their full.

Hiroko: In this route Kyou and his nemesis, Nozomi's best friend, craft an uneasy alliance where they explore hypnosis as a tool for focus in sport. Trust is at the core of this route with the two intensely disliking one another and constantly attempting to even their power dynamics via prank based hostility. This route is about crafting rapport, about belief in one another (which can even be hijacked for a "Gullible" route) and can lead to a beautiful friendship.

The game is amazing and I highly recommend you check it out.

...anyway. I'm gonna write about each route in a little more detail sometime in the future. I have so much to say about all the different little things like the consistencies between routes, the dramatic ironies of knowing things to be true in some routes and experiencing things that build upon that in others, the specific warnings and cautions at play and of course answer the question "who is best girl?"

But for now I just wanted people to have my whole-hearted recommendation.

Go download Penlight. It's hosted on Itch.io and is being updated monthly.

[atlasifyllm]

For your softest OC: F1, J5, S2, Y3

Ty so much for sending something in! I'll do this with Rose

F1: What do they do for fun?

I honestly think she likes kicking back eating pink candy while watching cat videos on Youtube, watching cartoons, or playing video games! I think she'd be into stuff like Animal Crossing or something

J5: What brings them the most joy in the world?

That's a tough one, she has a lot of love for the things around her. At the top of my head I'd think she'd say the other Paladins accepting her as an equal, hanging out with her friends, and protecting others as a sentry-in-training AND a Paladin.

S2: Would they give money to someone on the streets?

Definitely!

Y3: Were they different when they were first created?

I think she wasn't really DIFFERENT per say, but definitely not as developed as she is now. I'm surprised her (PLATONIC) relationship with Turq hasn't changed either!

Her design has definitely had some tweaks though (this pic is from 2017)

Most changes are minor, her last name used to be "Tourmaline" instead of Morganite (which I honestly wanna change too but :/) and she was aged up from around 13 to 16 so she's young but not too young.

[lunarthedragon]

Turquoise facts!

• Her nickname, as given by Amethyst, is Turq, pronounced Turk.

• She is a little too excitable when it comes to learning anything new

• She enjoys learning and being a part of human culture. (She even has a phone, social media accounts, watches tv, plays video games, and occasionally travels around with Connie and Steven)

•Turquoise is very active in Beach City life, knowing many residents by name, going to raves, buying food, going to Funland

•Turquoise, when not exploring or going out to have fun, can easily be found meditating either at the Temple or at Watermelon Steven Island, where she finds the atmosphere especially calm and relaxing.

•Turquoises cannot become corrupt, but they can revert to their “true selves” if they do not meditate. This is their Berserker form.

•Turquoise will only fuse recreationally if it is a very very stable fusion and she does not feel like one mind is more in charge than another. This is due to her time as a Berserker where she had no control over her mind. She will fuse into unstable fusions only when it is necessary.

•Turquoise is asexual aromantic.

•Turquoise has unique terms of endearment for everyone that she uses when they are having a good time. Steven=My Little Koala. Connie=Sweet Raven. Peridot=My Gecho. Amethyst=Grape(Fruit/Juice/Jelly/Jello/etc). Pearl=Swan. Garnet=Spitfire. Lapis=Rain Drop. Jasper=My Knight. Bronzite=Chocolate Chip.

•Turq, despite owning a phone, is terrible at using it, and often has to get help from Bronzite to use it. She is remarkably good at playing video games, but that's about it. All other technology she is sadly useless with.

[turqrambles]

Bless Sea of Stars for having NPCs in the final dungeon look me straight in the eye and tell me "Okay, in the next room is THE FINAL BOSS OF THE GAME, so here's a save point, a campfire, and a two-way teleporter that connects this room with the exit. You can LEAVE AT ANY TIME BACK TO THE WORLD MAP TO DO SIDE-CONTENT BEFORE THE FINAL BOSS."

[turqrambles]

One of my followers had to quickly grab a bite to eat while talking to me. (Featuring Narinder on the grill)

[turqrambles]

You can use the phrase "toxic old man yaoi" to describe the main overarching conflict in Sea of Stars and I think that's beautiful.

[turqrambles]

Pikmin lore that doesn't bother me: The fact that Pikmin 4 is a reboot.

Pikmin lore that DOES bother me: In Hey! Pikmin and ONLY Hey! Pikmin, Olimar lands on a second planet very similar to PNF-404 but isn't PNF-404 that also happens to have human-made objects, Pikmin, and all the Pikmin creatures.

Why is there a second planet, Hey! Pikmin. Why did you make a second planet.

[turqrambles]

I had assumed that when Rayman follows the Rabbids to the human world, he doesn't let the humans discover him.

But no! According to Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 for the DS, Rayman just let every big news station interview him, a strange limbless guy made out of magic and dreams.

This is the biggest lore revelation for me. For years, I assumed that Rayman was behaving like a ninja turtle in TV Party and was living in self exile.

Instead, after a bunch of sapient screaming bunnies magically appeared in modern day and started wrecking shit, a weird little man made out of floating body parts suddenly showed up and said "Hello, humans! I'm Rayman! I'm from another dimension and I'm made out of magic! Magic exists!" and somehow this didn't lead to the collapse of modern society.

Is Rayman's appearance in Laserhawk somehow a reference to this...?