#under the cut. don't look if you haven't played it it's an amazing game

[front-facing-pokemon]

I just found this blog so I'm jumping aboard the plushie bandwagon.

First we got Absol. (i feel like maybe i should've taken a closer-up picture but it's the face sooo)

Then a Wooloo

And, saving best for last, this Leafeon plush I own... of which I swear on my life is official merch.

I also have some more eeveelutions (plus an eevee and a few more) but: 1. I didn't want to send too many. 2. Eeveelutions are more popular so I wanted to give some other people the chance to submit their own. 3. I don't know where my Pikachu and Snivy plushies are cuz I own too many stuffed animals.

Only reason I submitted Leafeon was so I could show off this ~masterpiece~ of a plushie I own. And it's face isn't the only thing wrong with it too lol. Also I just noticed I accidentally had one of the ears hanging back but I'm too lazy to go take another photo but i hope this amuses you nonetheless.

ALRIGHT THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF YOU AS I'VE BEEN OUT WITH MY FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS HUH

let's start with these guys. beautiful. wonderful. i do not believe that that leafeon is official merch. this statement is baffling to me. welcome to the front-facing pokémon family. i love the eyes on that absol and wooloo is one of my faves. i was rather obsessed with it when it first came out and have a whole wooloo tag on my main blog because of it. though i guess i cleared that whole thing out recently so i don't anymore

let's get the nose ratings out of the way:

↑ this is a lie. 10/10 chespin

it's very wide and also 10/10 you're being too harsh. merry day to you too

circular face indeed. did i already post this one? if i did you can have it again

clodsire be upon ye. clodsire fans this is your treat until gen 9

this is a trend now. i think tumblr just crunched this image to hell for some reason so here's what the text says:

"Felt like joining the others for front facing pokeplushies [images] I have more pokemon but its early morning and these are the plushies that are easy to access"

i have not but i imagine "a moment" has long passed by now. my apologies but apparently today was an important day or something? idk

YEAH it's super unbelievably fucked up. i think i kinda remember the circumstance being a bit dire so everyone else was more worried about either 1. protagonist getting stomped on brutally or 2. saving the world from kyurem / the bittercold. i was totally under the impression that he was dead in that moment but i guess the characters may have known that he would just come back? i seem to vaguely remember partner being surprised that he came back and being like "but we watched you die :OOO" but maybe i'm misremembering that. i do create a lot of pmd lore on my own time so i have a hard time telling the difference between canon and fanon sometimes

two a day makes the world go round! this blog started when i started college, paused for 80% of my college career and now has started back up and i just graduated college a week ago. i would say "how time flies" but it has been a very, very long year

i've said it before and i'll say it again: gen 6 is my favorite gen, so you'll be seeing lots of favor for this gen from me in the tags i'm sure. maybe gen 6 is my excuse to start doing other things here. like that stream i keep talking about

if they put meloetta as a little obscure puzzle thang in sv, i'm sure they'll do something for genesect. i hope. at least for keldeo probably. genesect i'm not sure is very popular, unfortunately, outside of the tumblr crowd. if the general public's opinion on genesect is favorable, then maybe

okay and then i tried to scroll down further in my screenshots for more asks and saw the wobbly will smith in a hospital bed Gimme a Hug, Man that i copied from the "i get a little bit genghis kanghis" post so that's it. to everyone who christmases: merry it. it is today. although it's basically over by now so! merry boxing day for tomorrow if i don't say anything tomorrow. but i probably will. now i'm gonna go queue up today's 'mons because i haven't done it yet today. see you all in a few weeks when those post

[ipilokko]

I am obsessed

I’M OBSESSED WITH ASSASIN’S CREED ll

The soundtrack the gameplay THE MAP I CAN’T

Thank god i like to tour around so that the game will end much slower 🌱🌱🌱

Here i drew Ezio and Federico i was so in the vibe 😭

Under the cut is me yapping about the game and the soundtrack 🤭

Ac ll is my first assasin's creed game (and it’s the first game I’ve ever bought… well after superliminal but i bought them the same day so WHO CARES) and god i love it so much. I am planning on also buying brotherhood (maybe revelations too) , black flag, unity and syndicate hence i heard that they are the most stealth based ones... I like the stealthy assassinations the most.

The parkour in the game merged with the soundtrack make me feel FREE like i get this weird feeling i can't really name

LOOK

LOOK AT THE SOUNDTRACK

Okay the last one is not from ac 2... I haven't played Revelations yet but i got the track spoiler... I was just looking at the soundtracks then the name caught my attention because well, i am from Istanbul and i was curious so i opened it AND THANK GOD I OPENED IT

IT IS SO AMAZING I CAN'T STOP LISTENING

Every damn second is perfect

I'M OBSESSED

Also thanks if you read till here i can't gush about games to my family since well they don't know anything about games NHHHWHNM

[ecrivainalene]

Leviathan Panel at Otakon 2024

I was OVERJOYED to be at the Leviathan panel during Otakon 2024! I'll do my best to recap it below, but if you want a more coherent play by play, this Twitter user did an excellent job.

I've got a handful of photos, recap of Sharp Gender Discussion, plus misc. things I remember.

Not everyone was up for the entire time, but I snapped this photo near the end when everyone was on stage! From left to right: Waki Kiyotaka (Studio Orange), Yoshihiro Watanabe (Studio Orange), Scott Westerfeld, Christophe Ferreira (Quibic Pictures), Justin Leach (Quibic Pictures), Katrina Minett (Quibic Pictures), and Diana Garnet (ending theme vocalist).

New concept art! Looks like Dr. Barlow, Klopp, Alek, and Sharp, right before the Germans attack the Leviathan.

More under the cut!

Alternative shot of that art bc I couldn't get my lighting right:

Clanker and Darwinist technology designs. Watanave explained that Studio Orange's early days were spent doing contract work on Gundam anime, so I can't wait to see how that translates to the Clanker machines.

Some more concept art:

By the way, the entire series is being adapted at once - so we'll get the complete story at once! That in mind, the second image here makes me think of that maneuver near the beginning of Goliath to pick up the cargo.

Sharp!!! Look at them!!!

I don't have much to say about these but I'm fairly sure I hadn't seen them before. I am wondering if they downsized Alek's crew for the sake of the story, or perhaps we just haven't seem Bauer and Hoffman yet.

We got some new character art! The panel was very cryptic about who the character designer is. Apparently they're pretty well known, but they can't share it yet!

Volger I am so sorry your photo was unfocused. Forgive me.

The panel jokingly described him as "Alek's dad," which feels accurate. And maybe I misunderstood, but it sounds like he plays an even more important role in the anime than he does in the books. I've always considered Volger to be a pretty important character, so I wonder what else he'll do in this new series.

Klopp looks exactly like how I pictured him in my mind!! They said if Volger is Alek's dad, then Klopp is like his mom. Which is very fair but also made me laugh a lot.

Dr. Barlow!! She looks amazing. There was a lot of talk about the dynamic between her and Volger and how they're often playing mental chess games with each other. I'm really glad they're leaning into that dynamic.

And one more concept art:

This looks like the visit to Istanbul, which I'm desperately hoping means we'll see my favorite chaotic bisexual, Lilit.

That's all of the photos I have! They also showed us a preview of the show plus a live performance of the ending song with Diana Garnet. No video recording was allowed and I don't break rules, but believe me when I tell you it was stunning. The world feels so full of life and adventure and I can't wait to see the final show.

Tbh I was too busy holding back tears of joy but one thing I remember distinctly is there's a shot of Sharp getting ready for the day, and we see a sheet of paper with a bunch of names written and crossed out before finally (I think) "Dylan" is circled.

Which actually brings me to the Q&A part. TLDR, between the use of "Sharp" for Deryn's name, Scott referring to Sharp as "she/he/they" during the panel, and the scene I mentioned earlier, I feel really hopeful about how they're approaching Deryn's gender and identity in this adaptation.

I asked a question about this at the Q&A and voice recorded it, so I'll try to transcribe it here as best I can because the audio is not great lol. I stumbled through my question so I trimmed it down here but I'll transcribe the response as clearly as I can!

Me: I just finished re-reading [the series] for the first time since I was probably in high school, and one of the things that interests me about this adaptation is the approach to Sharp's character... I guess I'm just interested, like, was there a lot of thought put behind, or what kind of thought was put behind how to approach their character in the anime, I guess as a chance to re-approach the story however many years after it was originally written.

Scott Westerfeld: Yeah, there's a lot to that. The "girl dressing as a boy" as a trope was something completely different in 2007 when I started writing this than it is now. And so we really approached Deryn's identity as what was at stake rather than just... rather than just her being in disguise, it's about their recreating themselves and becoming a different person and transitioning and, and so... but it's always been interesting to me that the words that I wrote back in 2009, 10, 11, y'know, as an old guy who grew up in Texas in the 70s - who was David Bowie fan! - but otherwise didn't have a lot of access into issues of gender, I'm amazed at how many people have been [able to?] adopt Deryn/Dylan as one of their own. I just got an email a week ago from a trans boy whose chosen name is Dylan. So it is amazing to me how whatever imperfections or whatever problematics there are in the text, people still find their way into what they need from a character. And as a writer, I can say that I always respected that character, I always respected their choices, I always respected who they were. I never tried to stick them into a dress and have everyone go "Ooh now you're pretty 'because 'cause you're in dress!" We didn't do that, and I think that what may be important for people and I think that's why it's still what's gonna work here, but it's been fun to be able to update it and everybody on the team's been really great about understanding that.

TLDR I don't want to get anyone's hopes up too high, but I'm really appreciative of the care that's being taken with Sharp's story and identity in this adaptation. It seems like Scott and the others on the team are taking that into account, and I'm excited to see how it plays out.

Other random things I remember:

THERE WAS AN ALEK COSPLAYER. I took a photo with them but I won't post it without their consent. Just trust that they looked fantastic.

Scott said one of the first things he was told was that Alek can't actually kill Nikola Tesla because he's too well loved by people in Japan, which I think is the funniest possible reason for a change to be made in an adaptation.

Diana Garnet (they/any) mentioned how much they love Sharp (don't we all) and also how they used to work at a Barnes and Noble and remembers selling lots of Westerfeld books!

Scott said his approach in writing Leviathan was taking everything he'd always wanted to write about and basically throwing it together, because he was just coming off of the success of Uglies and figured he could get away with it.

If I remember anything else I'll add on to this post! Overall, it was a wonderful panel and I'm incredibly excited for this project.

[digi-lov]

Digimon Liberator Chapter 2-1 [Out of Control]

Official Website | GlobalComix | Webtoon

Again spoilers start under the cut!

Chapter 2 of Liberator is out! I had a lot of fun reading it, but it did feel shorter than the last Chapter. Would have loved to read more! Again, the artwork is amazing! There is not much to say without getting specific, as the story didn't move too much further. Its just fun to read. I love Digimon! The balance of the battle pacing, as in the parts they summarize and the ones we se play out in more detail, feels good to me and keeps it from feeling too dragged out!

Next week we get the first chapter of the Liberator Web Novel, and then the web Comic returns the following week!

Now more detail!

I really love Pteromon! Chapter one already alluded to it (first picture below), but the continuous focus on its gem really has me intrigued! It appears to be able to control the game to an extend?

Also thought Pteromon talking through the D-Storage was nice! This way it's still "present" as a character, separate from the Card Battle Digimon. I hope this is not unique to Pteromon, and Shoemon (and other partners) will also be able to communicate during battles like this.

The Digimon also just look great! I don't know what to say, Digimon are so cool! They look amazing!

Something I wanna point out though in terms of game rules, the comic takes some liberties (HAH) in this chapter and the first.

In the real game, a turn starts at 0 Memory, not 3. (A common first turn for example could go a free hatch in the breeding area, then hopefully a 0 memory evolution from the baby to a Lv3 Digimon, and then potentially evolving that to a Lv4, or playing a Lv3 in the Battle field, moving the memory counter to the oppontents side.) Shoto also attacks with his Muchomon the turn it was played in Chapter 1, despite the card in question usually not having the abilitx <Rush>.

This appears to be special rules for this "Situational Battle". Here is an excerpt from last weeks Column about NPCs, the section about special Battles:

- Starting Digimon This special rule involves having a Digimon already in the battle area at the start. In some of these battles the memory gauge will not start at 0 and may begin on either the player's side or the NPC's. Furthermore, the starting Digimon might have abilities not typically found on standard cards, such as <Rush> or <Jamming>. These are among the most challenging rules in Conditional Battles.

(Read the Columns here if you haven't already!)

These could explain the "rule breaking". Though some of those instances were in the battle between Arisa and Shoto, the "Friendly Battle Mode" of the game could possibly also have custom or customizable rules.

We also just got a new card reveal from the EX7 Liberator set, featuring the girl and Ghostmon with our heroes! This, and her prominent placement in the promotional artwork make me wonder if she'll join them as part of the main cast!

Vortex Resonance EX7-074 by Takase from EX-07 Theme Booster Digimon Liberator

I also thought the little cameo of Yuuki and Impmon was cute!

We already know the name of Saikiyo/Winr, the character with the FunBeemon, and the character with the Yukidarumon appears to be tha same as one featured on promotional artwork for the novel. I wonder if they'll be friends with Yuuki too, like Winr.

[undertalerebirth]

Happy Halloween from Team Beginnings!

Let's get to business!

There hasn't been much progress this month but we hope to get more done in November!

[Writing]

(At the time of writing this dev log)

We've decided to go back and rewrite the script for UTBB's demo, not only that but the overall story has gone under some major rewrites including a new direction for the game and its meta narrative. You see, we’ve decided to take a more fantasy RPG like approach with Magic now being one of the core aspects of UTBB. We’re also introducing a lot more new magic based mechanics & interactions (We even switched up the UI a bit but that’s for a letter date haha).

For our metta narrative . . . Let’s just say, Reed has played Omori, In Stars & Time, Oneshot, & Slay The Princess. And remember one thing, Valor will not be a silent protagonist. You have been warned.

We've also decided to do something different with the way we execute our Cyan soul sub plot. Before cyan was going to be a full fleshed out character however there was some difficulty making it fit into the story even with the rewrites. So, we've decided to make it so we will focus on the consequence of their death/capture instead their possible actions meaning that the cyan soul will be up for interpretation (Not in the way UTY)!.

In summary: Any cyan take (That follows Omega Flowey order) can alien with UTBB's timeline now without any confections! (There’s no UTY Axis situation here lol).

And we would like to give a special shout out to the amazing @/Radiaction & Knightyume for being awesome Writing Consultants!

Also, a little bunny told me that UTBB & UTR might be doing something special together real soon so be in the look out for that 👀

Minor Change -

We've updated something about Valor. . . They're now are Genderfluid and use He/Him/She/Her/They/Them pronouns! But most characters in game will use They/Them pronouns.

[Sprite Art]

Not much, sadly, for the first half of the month our main tileset artist haven't been able to make anything due to personal IRL issues. Everything seems to be cleared up now and with the new addition of some amazing spriters joining the project (That being @/_pancakez & Tweetertweers, we're back on track and making progress.

[Characters]

Sadly, we can't show much in this department yet, but the crew has been working on designs for the main, support, & random encounters cast of characters!

We've also taken the time to redesign a character already revealed. that being - ???? (Oop, looks like he still doesn't want his name to be revealed, maybe you see it soon?)

We want to at least get battle sprites made before showing off any random encounters, sorry for the wait!

[OST Situation]

For those who don't know, we used to have a few OSTs posted on out YouTube channel, however we got into some complications with the now former team member who drew the artwork that was featured in said videos. We are happy to say that new artwork for the videos are being made as we speak!

Once it's done, we will be working towards putting the OST videos back up + the addition of a few new OSTs.

[Twitter Situation]

Due to Twitter's new policies we decided that we will no longer be posting any artwork on the platform. We have also made the decision to switch over to BlueSky since it seems to be the more healthier alternative to Twitter. We will still have the account up and running and post links to out dev post, however if things get worse then we might just ARCHIVE UTBB's twitter account, cut ties with the platform, and no longer post on it.

[Team Members]

Please welcome the following people who have recently joined Team Beginnings!

@_/pancakez 

Skitastc

Lawless

St4ngray

Tweetertweers

Yuki.b

@/Maniek_ 

And a special thanks to

dusklight_ For helping make overworld sprites for UTBB!

[Support The Team!]

[Hollow]

The Halloween special artwork was made by one of the teams amazing artist- @hollowgears! Whose commissions have opened up.

It would mean a lot if you could go and support her.

Hollows Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/hollowgears/commissions

However, she only has 2 commission slots open at the moment, so first come first serve!

[St4ngray/Ray]

One of the teams new artist @st4ngray has opened up their special keychain commissions!

Link To Card: https://st4ngray.carrd.co/#

It would be awesome if you could check them all out and lent them your support!

That's it for now, see you all next time!

[echoesofwisdomcountup]

25 Days until Tears of the Kingdom Release. Is it really? Haha the smaller the number gets the more I doubt reality. I've just been waiting for this game for so long that even with all the marketing and the trailer analysis it's hard to believe its actually happening.

Spoilers under the cut for the last batch of screenshot trailer analysis.

So this tear has the recall chicken symbol on it. I checked. Zelda also has the Master Sword with her. Either she's fixing the sword and that's something only she can do or Zelda is in the past so the sword isn't broken yet and she is leaving something there for Link.

Ganondorf, mummy version I'm assuming, spewing red malice stuff but much brighter red this time. I wonder if Malice is just Ganondorf's version of fuse. Link gets green glue and Ganondorf red. After this there is a shot where the red stuff hits the sky and starts summoning monsters. The trailer transitions it to make it look continuous but once we get into the game we'll most likely find that it's separate cut scenes or different parts of the same cut scene but not continuous. Honestly, I think this might be where Link and the Master Sword get attacked but I'm still not giving up on the possibility that the malice emerges from the Master Sword outwards as Fi looses control on Demise.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned the lack of lynels in the other analysis I did. Welp here they are with their massive antlers (oof on the damage those things will probably cause) and the sword looking thing sticking out of one of their heads. I wonder what fusing Lynel horns to shields, swords, or arrows will do. I think I'll fight some just for that.

What else do I have to say? It's the main man, Ganondorf. I can't wait to kick his ass again.

Never seen this enemy in any of the Zelda games I've played. However, I will look forward to this boss fight/mini boss fight and whatever skill or item we need to defeat it. Maybe ascend or some ice weapon? I heard that ascend works on certain enemies and I'm very curious about which ones. It'd be interesting if this enemy tries to swallow Link and Link just ascends through the roof of its mouth.

This is Hylia or some version of Zelda from the past (yeah I'm aware that Hylia is technically a version of Zelda but whatever.) I think she's very pretty, super amazing, and very strong considering she laser beams a bunch of Molduga with no sweat.

RIJU!!! Look at my girl double wielding swords (Can we do it too as Link? Nintendo?? I wanna duel wield.) Riju appears to have grown into her own and mastered her lightning powers without needing the Helm. I'm so proud of her and I can't wait to fight along side her.

I can't tell you how cool it is to see that Link will be working and fighting alongside other citizens of Hyrule. The resistance in Twilight Princess walked so that TOTK NPCS can run. At least that's my hope. Also neat looking sword Link.

Now this part of the trailer nearly gave me a heart attack. I was like no freaking way will the new champions literally fight besides Link and not just in a cut scene. How sick is this? Of course, I heard some people say co-op but I don't think that's what's happening. You see the blue glowy stuff on Sidon? Yeah it was on Tulin too. I think the new champions might be like summons, automated companions. I think Nintendo took the wolf link amiibo and the Yunobu follow quest and beefed it up. I'm very excited about it.

So Riju doesn't have a tear that we can see and they haven't shown Yunobu but Tulin and Sidon have different tears. I'm very curious about what these things do. I'm also amused that Sidon got blue and Tulin green considering the colors of Mipha's Grace and Revali's Gale. I'm not sure about the symbols on them since I don't think they correspond to any of the abilities icons unlike recall. Anyway, it's just another thing that can't be answered until the game is out.

Giant fire gleeok or three headed evil dragon or whatever it's called, it's a sick looking boss that I can't wait to fight. Also the weapon that Link is using looks so other worldly. It's got the shape of a wing and its probably ice related. I wonder what enemy Link got it from but it does remind me of Naydra so maybe it's a dragon part? Nintendo really popped off with the Fuse ability.

So Ganondorf is most likely what this mural figure represent but look at the Hylian (i think it's a hylian, could be a Zonai) beneath him. I think the figure with its hand raised represents either Link or the person who owned the ancient hand and sealed Ganondorf.

It's a bit hard to see but see these four warriors? I think they might represent the four champions since these guys are the only warrior figures in the middle of the horde of monsters. The warriors that aren't yet in the midst of monsters must represent the other NPCs, the citizens of Hyrule that are also fighting back. I think the mural is neat and I wonder where we might see it in the game.

Lastly, Zelda holding the Master Sword and saying "You must find me Link." The first time I watched the trailer I went "Zelda?? If Link has to find you then where the heck are you??" And that's where time travel to the past is looking like a more and more likely theory. The only other theory I have involves realms/alternate worlds since A Link Between worlds exists and so do the Twilight and Silent Realms. But again, I think we'll just have to wait and see what the game has in store.

Thank you for coming to the end of this analysis with me. I'm ecstatic to have my questions answered on May 12, 2023.

Edit: It has been brought to my attention that Riju does in fact have a visible tear and I even posted a picture where it is visible. Guess my brain was so focused on how badass she looked while duel wielding swords that I missed it. Welp that's three for three tears so I'm expecting Yunobu to have one.

[plottwiststudios]

Women of Xal II Kickstarter: Delayed?

Hey, have you heard of the overly ambitious visual novel titled "Women of Xal" for Steam and Itch.io? (PC/Mac/Linux) Because that plays into why we might need to shelf the series for a few years. Full breakdown under the cut. (No spoilers)

For those who have gotten the True Ending, you should be fully aware that the story is about to vastly expand outside of Xuna's castle. It's a narrative must where everything that happens, happens well outside the scope of the original game in so many ways. And let's talk about scope! Especially if you have no idea what's so staggering about the original Women of Xal visual novel:

600+ optional choices we painstakingly programmed

Branching paths that people are still asking for guides on

A dozen romance options

Poly and gay options that interact with one another

Voice acting from now VERY popular voice actors

A 15 hour story full of mystery, lore, and tense politics

110 track soundtrack

4 Endings

Animations

Thousands of art assets (Bless Cat)

Years of hard work and long nights

No AI Art

100% positive reviews as of this post

Recouped $6000+, or roughly a fraction of the cost of development. After 2+ years of being released

Note that very last bullet point. Doing things for the art and passion is amazing and all, but I can't be investing literal thousands of hours into creating a game for a subset of a subset of a subset of people. I have bigger projects I want to finally get to work on. Ones I really hoped Women of Xal I would help a bit with funding. But it's not. And because of certain facts about the game, it may never be able to do so. To no fault of any of the players.

When I made Women of Xal I, my time was more readily available and I was quite a bit younger. The cost of running a company and creating a game like WoX as the first product hadn't quite hit me. I was also silly enough to believe "if you make it, they will come" to a degree. That part makes me grin in a not fun way.

But these days I have a job that takes me away from creating, but does pay the bills and debts. Debts I don't want to get into again in order to create the sequel that will undoubtedly come with far higher costs due to the game's scope. I have a better understanding of the costs of hiring returning and appropriate talent necessary to create a game better than the last. (I don't personally believe in being satisfied with an intentional steep downgrade.)

Yes there is the Kickstarter option for Women of Xal II, but there are plenty of costs and time investment that makes it an unviable avenue to explore during this point in time. After all, who but the people who sat down and explored everything the first game had to offer would understand how we came up with a $50,000 Kickstarter price tag for a visual novel's sequel? Especially since too many will look at the first Kickstarter and believe we made the first game with only $14,000.

I have thought about giving Women of Xal I a modernized facelift with a smaller Kickstarter, complete with a ton of new features and fun ways to streamline and highlight the narration's strong points, but there's a LOT of baggage that comes with that, including not wanting to go backwards when I still want to create my "pipe dream" projects.

So I'm thinking we'll give it a bit more thought these next few days, and if we can't think of a solution that we haven't already tried, we'll officially announce the delay (and before you suggest your own ideas, know that there's a 99% chance we've already tried it).

A long, long post just to say I do sincerely apologize for having people wait longer, but I am literally still a few thousand dollars away from paying off all my debt that came from funding the first game. It's a micro-trauma I do not feel inclined to repeating again. When the franchise is in a better place, or I am emotionally/physically, I will return back to Women of Xal to finish the story. If I cannot, I will release a summary of events that transpire after the first game's true ending.

But for now, I'm going to focus on financial and emotional healing, and creating projects that I feel will be more appreciated by both myself and people who are turned off by what "Women of Xal" offers.

Thank you all for supporting our small company these past several years. <3

-John

[elfenphoenix]

Honest review of Dragon Age: the Veilguard so far

Positive: I like the map layouts, the exploration mechanics, and oh my GOD do I love the hair graphics. I'm still getting used to the equipment upgrade system, but I think I'll figure it out with time.

I haven't met all of the cast yet (outside of reading Tevinter Nights and listening to Vows and Vengeance), but so far they're pretty interesting! So far the least engaging has been Neve, but I think that's just because she hasn't shown very much strong personality yet? Which might BE her personality, but I'll see.

Negatives: i don't like the redesign of the darkspawn. They look like cartoons, now. Part of what made them so creepy/interesting was how they looked very much like twisted versions of the races that each variety came from, but that's all kind of gotten lost in the weeds, i think. They just look like generic beasties now. Like something fortnite would put out for a Halloween skin.

I'm tentative about the world state. I don't like that apparently my Inquisitor's love interest is more important to the narrative somehow than... idk drinking from the Well of Sorrows? And lore-wise i am uncomfortable with the retcon that the elves apparently just... all recognize that their gods are evil? Like that was a HUGE revelation in Inquisition so it feels kind of... dismissive? That everyone is just like "oh yeah the elven gods are EVIL we all KNOW it'd be TERRIBLE for them to return.

And now (true rant under the cut):

I hate the combat. I HATE the combat system. It doesn't feel different at all to play as a warrior versus a mage versus a rogue. The abilities all have different names and different animations, but functionally what you are capable of is the same. Which i don't like. The whole point of having different classes is to accommodate different playstyles, isn't it? I like to play as a warrior because I DO NOT LIKE FAST-PACED BUTTON COMBINATIONS. I like to play as a simple meat shield, cutting through enemies or taking the hits. And with every single other Dragon Age game, that was fine. But with the current mechanics, it doesn't fucking matter. Can't just use a shield--enemies have attacks that you HAVE to dodge. So there's combos for blocking and attacking, plus there's the stagger bar, plus the little aura that shows up when you're about to get hit, which you have to watch carefully becaus if it's YELLOW then you want to block but if it's RED then you MUST dodge... ALL THE WHILE your health bar is on the BOTTOM LEFT corner of the screen, nearly impossible to keep track of while you're ALSO keeping track of all that I've already mentioned. There is so much going on on screen at all times that by the time I remember what buttons to push I've already lost half my health or more. In many ways, the combat reminds me a lot of the Spider-man game, which is a very great game! Which I can't play. But what makes it a good game nonetheless is that it makes sense? Like, you're Spiderman, of course the gameplay is going to be fast-paced and reflex-based. If you don't like that, then play a different game. But what I always liked about combat in Dragon Age up until now is that it WASN'T like that, provided you chose a class that worked for you. It WAS the game i played because I'm not cut out for Spiderman. It still posed plenty of challenge without getting my fingers twisted in knots. And I know people will say "well hey if you don't like it then just turn down the difficulty!" But that's missing the point. If I wanted to play a fast-paced button combo game, I'd play something from Fromsoft. But I don't. Why? Because I'm not good at them. Which is why I play Dragon Age. I got to play an amazing fantasy RPG without feeling like i needed to "get good" just to enjoy the game. It's just... so incredibly frustrating to me that they took one of my favorite things about the franchise and just... destroyed it.

That's not to say that I don't understand the desire to make a different game than what came before. Inquisition had its issues, da2 had its issues, origins had its issues... and it makes sense to want to make changes and improvements, but this...

My friend told me that she thinks the changes are to make it more similar to Mass Effect. I can neither confirm nor deny, but I don't want to play Mass Effect! I want to play Dragon Age.

...anyway. tl;Dr I hate the new combat system and I wish bioware/EA didn't feel it was necessary. Not everyone wants every game to be complex button-combos.

[invisiblebadword]

My Top 10 Video Games

I've decided to put together a list of what are my favourite video games of all time. Its completely subjective, so you WILL disagree, but I just want this to be somewhere on the internet.

First up though I'm gonna post two things:

The Games that were disqualified

The Games that came to mind, but didn't make it into the consideration for the top 10

The Disqualified Section:

The reasons I didn't put these up for consideration is simply that I have played them too recently for me to be sure about them, or that I haven't played them enough yet.

Core Keeper

Deltarune

Lethal Company

Just Shapes & Beats

Metal Hellsinger

Slime Rancher 2

Wuppo

The ones that didn't make the cut:

Games in this section either have something slimy about them, like some glaring issues (like We Happy Few), scummy monetization (Like GTA V), or I was simply already sure that they wouldn't perform well when I was getting to eliminating games for the top 10 (Like Cookie Clicker)

Barotrauma

Brotato

Cookie Clicker

Dead By Daylight

Devour

Doom

The Escapists

Grand Theft Auto V

Helltaker

Hitman 3

I’m on Observation Duty

Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes

Move Or Die

Phasmophobia

Payday 2

Sea of Thieves

Subnautica: Below Zero

Supraland: Six Inches Under

Turmoil

We Happy Few

We Were Here

These aren't all the other games I've played. Just the ones I do still like very much, that do still deserve to be named somewhere.

That being out of the way, here's my Top 10 games:

Number 10:

Undertale

I don't think I have to say a lot about Undertale. Everyone and their religious leaders has at least heard of it, played it, or has been told the story in some other way. A good rule of thumb was, that if a game made me cry I would have to put it up for consideration. This game made me cry. Back when I was in boarding school my shitty laptop couldn't run most games, so I ended up playing through Undertale at least 20 times (I really wanted to see Gaster). It is also one of the few games, whos soundtrack still makes it into a lot of my playlists.

Number 9:

Plants vs. Zombies

I don't know if the game is just that good, or if the nostalgia carries it, but PvZ will always have a place in my heart. It was my "mom, can I have your phone while we wait" game. And when coming back to it years later it still holds up for me. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the rest of the franchise, even though pvz2 has been a good amount of fun. But at that point the monetization was already so horrendous that I didn't sacrifice a thought to it. PvZ however is a delight to come back to. I think the pacing is great, the characters are all funny, and the minigames are a lot of fun (except pogo party. I hate pogo party). Don't even get me started on the soundtrack either. I adore Graze The Roof with my entire being.

Number 8:

Cult Of The Lamb

I tried this game out not that long ago, and what followed was me falling behind on all of my assignments. I am a huge fan of roguelikes, and cotls spin on it made it an instant source of addiction to me. The OST is amazing and prime dnd background music material, and I love the asthetic of eldritch entities combined with cute widdle animals. I've had so much fun with the game, and it somehow managed to never feel stale, something that happened with pretty much all other games on the list at one point or another throughout my playthroughs. If you're a fan of roguelikes I can highly recommend.

Number 7:

Portal

This should be another one of those games that just speaks for itself. Portal is one of the greatest games ever made and that is not an opinion, but an objective fact. While not being as great as its successor, it already innovated so much, and immediately gave GLaDOS so much character, so efficiently. The way it conveys the story of Aperture is amazing, and the gameplay enhances the experience by magnitudes.

Number 6:

Subnautica

I love Subnautica. I don't know how a game manages to look this stunning. My partner loves bioluminescence, and big mushrooms. If that is your cup of tea, then this game is for you. The way it builds horror is magnificent too. Not many games find their horror so naturally. You genuinly feel scared of whatever could be in the depths. I think Below Zero kinda forgot what made the first game so great by relying on small, narrow corridors too much, instead of giving the player the anxiety of being vulnerable from all angles, but subnautica combines the awe inspiring flora and fauna with a constant feeling of lurking danger. It even manages to build a memorable cast of characters without you ever seeing another face. I'm gonna stop myself from rambling further.

Number 5:

Inscryption

I never thought a card game would sweep me off my feet this hard. I love myself a good strategy game, and the way Inscryption rewards you for learning the mechanics of the game feels incredible. It's super creative mechanics like being able to stand up, or making your own death cards aid the game so much too. Not only in gameplay experience, but also in building the many supporting characters, as well as the world in general. Every time something new is introduced it breaks the roof the game has built so far, and it is a delight every time, like all the arg aspects, or the gameplay changing completely, or characters returning, revealing that there is more and more to people you didn't even think had anything behind them. I am being very vague, but that's just because I don't wanna spoiler anything.

Inscryption would've easily made number 3, but there are passages that felt a bit tideous, especially in the middle, but for how short these are, and how exciting the story conveyed within them still is, it still makes the game worth every penny. Towards the end it also absolutely made me cry, so that's something.

Number 4:

Portal 2

I think this is a good point to say: Any game from this point onwards is a serious contender for first place. They're all just this good, and I could never say I like Portal 2 less then third place, for example.

I think Portal 2 shattered my expectations for what games can be. The humor is still one of it's greatest strength, and I almost feel bad not gushing about how amazing the mechanics of both Portal 1 and 2 still are to this day, but somehow the rest of the game manages to overshadow what would otherwise be the greatest aspect of it. All the characters are amazing. You either love them, or love to hate them. From Cave Johnson to the little ball that would later go on to inspire Elon Musk, every character is memorable. God damnit, I will never look at a potato the same, because I played this game.

Not only is it amazing on its own, it is also amazing as a sequal, expanding the world in ways any story teller would dream of. Every little detail feels like there's so much love put into it, and the way all of the story beats are conveyed via some of the most engaging gameplay is amazing.

And I have to stress again, the humor is S++ tier. I will never not find The Part Where He Kills You funny.

Number 3:

Papers Please

I almost feel bad, putting this game so high on the list, because of how simple it is. But god, it delivers. It builds such an engaging story on top of such a simple gameplay loop. And i think the monotony of said gameplay loop is exactly what end up making the story feel so special. By all means, this game should be boring, but the job of working as border control has the fact going for it, that you will meet so many different people, all at varying levels of desperation. Every time you meet a character it feels like an actual person, and every time they plead for you to let them through it feels heartbreaking when you have to send them back. I really can't say that much about Papers Please, especially because I don't wanna spoil anything. It is one of those games you just have to experience. And I highly recommend it. Glory to Arstotzka.

Number 2:

Terraria

There are few games holding as special of a place in my heart as Terraria. Unlike most of the games on this list Terraria doesn't have an amazing story with highly fleshed out characters. At least you don't get that through mere gameplay alone. I know that there is more to it, don't worry, but I can't get into all of that.

Terraria is the first steam game I've ever owned. In a way, it might even be the first game I've ever actually owned, aside from minecraft maybe. Even before I had a computer I played the mobile version, with Ocram and everything. I must've been in 5th grade back then. I ended up getting the game as the Premium edition in a store. I didn't have the money at the time, so a friend lent me his store gift cards. I must still have the collectors cards and poster that came with the game somewhere. There are many anecdoted I have about this game. So there's undeniably a lot of nostalgia fuelling it's place on the list. But god damnit, Terraria deserves it. With the game still being actively updated today it is clear that I am not the only one that loves it this much. Terraria is just one of these games I will always come back to. It will always be special, and I hope that generations in the future, when I'm long gone there will still be people enjoying this piece of history. But torch luck should've never been in the game lol

Quick Intermission

Im gonna take some time now to talk about the contenders that didn't make it in the top 10. I won't say as much about every game though. There are kinda ordered by how much I like them, but rather than a ranking its more like its ordered into vague groups.

Antichamber

I loved playing it. Just a great overall gameplay experience. Very trippy!

The Binding of Isaac

As I said, I love roguelikes. I never got any of the dlc, because money, so it's kinda sad to know so much of the game is paywalled, but seeing just how much they add I don't see it as a huge problem. Really fun game, really great story, will play again (And I will buy the dlc, just not now).

Factorio

Can recommend if you haven't played it already. It's just a very fun base building game. When things work it feels soo rewarding. I just love how the main problem is how to fit things into spaces. That's what makes minecraft redstone so appealing to me.

Spore

Love it. Funny little creatures. Spore is just an overall silly game with a fun gameplay loop.

Superliminal

Again, very trippy. This time it also has a nice story. I adore the setting, and the gameplay mechanics are on the same level as Portal's to me. (I'm sure Stanley Parable would also be in here, but I have yet to play it)

Mortuary Assistant

If you like horror games, this one I can recommend. The scares are awesome, and it somehow has replayability. The animations could be better, but thats whatever. Nothing I would hold against it.

Raft

Raft is absolutely top 10 material. The gameplay is super fun, and the story telling is decent, though it could be better. Especially if you have some friends to play with, you should give this one a try. Too bad they added other people to the game. That kinda ruined the whole vibe for me. I still wanna see the rest of the update though, but my friends got bored of the game. :(

Supraland

Got this one free on Epic Games, and I gotta say, I would pay money for it. Super fun game, super fun characters, and super fun gameplay. As a completionist this game is just like a giant bowl of food, though I am having trouble finding the final treasures, and no matter how hard I try, I can't figure out how to get them. I can't figure out how to look them up either, so I guess ill lever have the 100% :( (Also, the credit song is really fun).

Minecraft

I mean, it had to be in here somewhere. I'm sure if anybody is actually reading this, they might even suspect that it would be Number 1. But no. I love Minecraft, don't get me wrong. There is a reason for why it's so popular. I even have some anecdotes similar to Terraria, like how after buying it, it was just laying on my PC untouched for a year, because 6th grade me didn't know how to install java. But I feel like minecraft very much relies on modding and servers and whatnot. I could always replay vanilla terraria, but I'm kinda done with vanilla minecraft. Feel free to disagree, by any means. At the end of the day, its just 3D Terraria to me /j.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

Silly little turnip guy committing silly little crimes. The game is just a lot of humor and its cute af. Just a very good time :)

Fran Bow

I love the Alice in Wonderland horror this game has. The mechanics aid so hard in telling this awesome story with all of its whacky characters. Just something I can recommend.

Slime Rancher

You get to live on a farm, on another planet, and get to goof around with little slimes all day every day. This game is living the dream. I wanna live in the Far Far Range! The supporting characters are also amazing. Love them all.

Stardew Valley

This and the game after are absolutely contenders for the top 10. In my eyes Stardew Valley made it on that list. We should switch to duodecimal so that a top 12 list is more intuitive, because Stardew Valley Deserves to be on it. If you haven't played it, you should! I'm gonna stop myself from trying to explain what makes it so great, because I could never do it justice though.

Celeste

Once again, Celeste is on the list. It should be. I cried. I cried a lot. Celeste is such a great game. The story makes me cry, the characters make me cry, the music makes be cry. I am too trans, not to cry. Play Celeste, if you haven't already. It's also hard as shit though.

Ok, it's time.

My number one game of all time is:

Number 1:

Hypnospace Outlaw

There is a very very good chance you've never heard of this game. Maybe you have though, its hard for me to really tell just how popular it is, or not. It's popular enough for me to have bought a plushy of it. I don't usually buy merch, so thats a big deal. There is a reason I put this game on number 1. Whatever I tell you about the game will not do it justice though. The game is just so human. The characters are all just so great and fleshed out, and believable.

I wish I could play this game blind again, so that I may experience it all over again. But there is no way that anything will be as great as playing it blind. You are tasked with moderating this late 90s alternate version of the internet called hypnospace, and find out aboiut all of the people using it, and maneuvering it like an actual PC, kinda like Welcome to the game, or whatnot. Again, I could never do it justice. You just have to try it out on your own.

The soundtrack is also one of the greatest pieces of art I've found in a game. There are so many songs by so many artists. The humor too. The humor is top notch. Not only in regards to the characters, but the technology as a whole. The references to the real world are awesome, like conspiracies, and viruses like bonzai buddy, edgelords on the internet, and web comics. It all feels so real and alive. Thus, experiencing the story doesn't feel like reading a book, but like actually being part of it all. The fact that your choices actually have an effect on the ending of the game enhances this even further.

Im repeating myself, but I cant stress enough how much I would love to be able to experience this game all over again.

Alright, that's it then. I doubt anyone will read through this. If anything youll probably scroll through and see if your favourite game is on the list. That's fine. I'd do the same, honestly. I just wanted to put this somewhere, to express my love for these games somewhere. I'm happy if you've made it this far. This isn't much more than me rambling on for hours, but I'm glad I put it somewhere. If you have any other games you think are great, feel free to tell me about them. Cya!

[fairytale-poll]

MOD'S CHOICE POLL

Mod's own propaganda under the cut:

Sasha as Red Riding Hood:

During submissions, I became so absolutely excited when I saw this pop up. I don't know who decided to submit it, but they unlocked some childhood memories for me. Back when I was a child, my family visited Pakistan (my parent's country of origin) for the entire summer. One day I, bored, asked for some movies to watched and my parents and uncle brought back some clearly bootlegged DVDs dubbed in Hindi/Urdu, and Bratz Kids Fairy Tales was one of them. I watched it so many times, you have no idea- I think that I might have wrecked the whole DVD with how much I watched it. (A similar thing happened later on when I obtained a clearly bootlegged copy of Bratz Fashion Pixie too but that's another, non-Red Riding Hood related story.) I wasn't surprised that it was eliminated right off the bat, but my childhood nostalgia dictated I put it here, or else I would be betraying the 7-year-old in me.

Shang, Tao, and Paotze:

Another childhood favorite of mine. This picture book has such beautiful art and I remember being very surprised by the story as a child. I found a PDF of it online to reread when the contest started and honestly it still holds up. The three sisters that are the Red Riding Hood in the story I feel are genuinely very clever. And for nothing else, look this one up solely for it's beautiful art which is just breath-taking whether you're a child or an adult!

Lamb:

Not going to lie I never played this game. My good friend who I adore submitted this to the poll and it immediately got eliminated and I just felt bad lol. But it does look cool & I trust their taste so I do think that this game is great. I want to play it but I am really bad at getting myself to play games.

Aku:

Samurai Jack is a CLASSIC and I dare you to not watch this clip and crack up. Mako was a gift of voice acting and I miss him so much. Also this episode is just pretty amusing.

Amy Lee:

My sister was actually the one to submit this and I will use her own propaganda here: "Evanescence was a voice of a generation." Honestly this song is kind of just okay, there are better Evanescence songs, but got to respect the effort they put into the music video. Who can resist to choose Amy Lee anyway?

The Path sisters:

Like many people who know this game, I know it through Izzzyzzz's two video essays on it. I didn't play the game afterwards, but I did watch some play-throughs since I don't play many games + it seemed mostly like a walking simulator anyway so I felt like I got the same effect. It is AMAZING and has so much story and analysis and I love shit like that... In particular, Scarlet, Ruby, and Rose are my favorites whose stories really resonated with me, even if I haven't exactly gone through their life experiences. Ginger too. And there's some really horrific imagery in Robin's...I would recommend everyone find a way to experience this game-- whether that's playing it, watching Izzzyzzz's videos, or finding a walk-through/analysis of it, it's worth it!

Lisette:

So this manga is sort of obscure but it is also sort of nostalgic to me. Well, nostalgic by proxy. My sister read it when I was younger and told me some details about it and for some reason it stuck with me. Like??? For no reason. It's not even that good lmao. The first chapter right off the bat is pretty edgy & handles sensitive topics very badly. But goddamn if I do not think about random elements of the story for no reason. I don't really remember shit about Lisette but hey this picture of her looks really cool.

Red:

If you notice a theme among these being "nostalgia" you would be right, as this was another nostalgic offering from my childhood that I would watch semi-annually. I was also fond of the sequel, though I thought it felt like a different series than the first one. (Which isn't unusual with animated sequels to popular movies, but the fact that the sequel was set-up by the ending of the first one implies it was planned? Weird). But anyway Red is iconic and funny and voiced by Anne Hathaway and also her sad emo song "Red is Blue" sometimes still gets stuck in my head, so take that as you will.

Chacha:

I know absolutely nothing about this series. But it looks very cute so I like it. I love cute magical girls they deserve the world. Also I looked it up and apparently the Studio who did the Akazukin Chacha anime would later do the Yu-Gi-Oh animes from the 2000s and 2010s, so there's the obligatory mention of nostalgia.

[pink-tonic]

Drama Kings📰

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Warnings: None

It's finally Friday, and the week is almost over. I seriously can't wait. During this whole week, I've been dealing with two drama kings.

These two kings being Kizano and Shidesu.

Ever since I had lunch with Shidesu on Tuesday, Kizano has been trying to look for me more often. At first, I thought he really wanted to show me the progress of the play, but over time I've come to realize that he just wants to take me away from Shidesu, and I'm sure that Shidesu has caught on to it.

During lunch, it feels like I'm being pulled side to side by the both of them. Kizano on my left and Shidesu on my right, and both are playing a harsh game of tug of war where the winner gets my attention. I'm a little dense, but I can tell that Kizano is jealous of Shidesu because he has my attention now. But Shidesu? I really don't know why he wants my attention.

On Wednesday, I remember I went with Kizano since I did say that I would be with him. I saw him perform, and it was really amazing, but in the middle of a line, the doors burst open with a loud slam. The door hit the frame harshly, and we looked in shock at who was standing in the doorway.

It was Shidesu.

His tall, intimidating form stood in the doorway, and his shadow casted an eerie feeling in the room. I remember Shidesu grabbed me and made me stand up, while Kizano protested to put me back down because his performance wasn't finished.

I proposed the idea that Shidesu could watch too, but Shidesu said - well, some not so nice things about Kizano and the Drama Club as a whole, that I don't really want to remember

Shidesu dragged me out of the room, and I was practically forced to spend the rest of the lunch with him. Kizano didn't even bother to come after me, but I'm sure he was livid.

On Thursday, things weren't much different. Kizano was the one to come find me, I was on my way to be with the siblings, but Kizano insisted that I should spend time with him. I gave in since our time was rudely cut short last time. We ended up going outside and walking around, but Kizano desperately wanted to avoid where the delinquents were. And I couldn't blame him, after everything that happened the previous day I can understand why.

No one bothered us, but when lunch ended and I was heading back to class, I was cornered by Shidesu. He asked me where I was, and I told him the truth. I feel dumb now since I really did fold under pressure, but the guy is stronger and taller than me. What could I do?

I told him not to do anything to Kizano, and he actually listened! It was odd that he did listen, but either way, I was happy.

Now, it's Friday and I quickly went to the club room so I can be with the siblings. I've finally caught them up with everything that has happened, and Taro was happy that nothing happened to me, but his sister was a different story. Taeko was mad. Maybe even enraged. I calmed her down, and everything was fine.

"But we have something we need to tell you," Taeko speaks up, and I start to wonder what it is.

"Taeko, when you say it like that it seems more serious than it actually is," Taro tells her with a nervous smile, "We just wanted to let you know that our little brother is coming here next week."

"Little brother?" I ask, confused. I haven't heard anything about them having a little brother, I thought it was just the two of them.

"Have we never brought him up?" Taeko asks me, who seems just as confused.

I shake my head, "Not that I remember. But the school year is going to end soon. Why is he coming right now?"

"He was supposed to come here earlier, but Akademi has a waitlist, and they recently told him that he could be enrolled," Taeko answers me, and the reason does make sense.

"I'm guessing that he is going to join us, right?" I ask a question that's been on my mind, and both of them nod.

I really don't mind having another Yamada sibling with us. I wonder how different he is from his older sister and brother? I guess I'll have to wait until next week.

[ancenth]

I think you should do all the numbers for the storytelling ask 💖

ELLE THAT'S SO MUCH thank you i love this

under the cut bc LONG

what’s the last screenshot you’ve taken for your story?

lol this one, but you've already seen it bc I haven't had time/energy to shoot more

describe your story in three words or less

im a wordy bitch so this is hard for me BUT let's go with: haunted by past (for gen 4)

describe (insert character here) in three words or less

I did an RNG with the characters listed on my character page and got Sapphire so: just a baby

how did you choose the name of your story?

In terms of the legacy name, I was thinking about last names for my white berry founder, and thought Mirror sounded cool, and I didn't really see it too often amongst other BPRs, so I went with it! In terms of each individual gen (gen titles can be found on the full story hub here!), some were named after the fact (Beginnings and Dreams), but I tried to choose names that reflected the overall story of the gen/what the biggest things are. So like, I feel like Beginnings, Dreams, and Nightmares are extremely on the nose after the fact, and tbh all the others are very on the nose too! Similar to how Dreams and Nightmares are kind of part one and part two of the Garden introduction arc, Mishaps and Shattered are also going to be part one and two of their own mini arc too :)

how do you choose your characters’ names?

Typically after things that suit the colors! But also some are based on things that suit their story/concept! For example, Jasper is orange like the stone, but also jasper the stone tends to represent protection/grounding and calming your troubles (in my very basic understanding) which I thought was a fun reference to his bella swan powers. I very occasionally hide things in names.

how long have you been working on your story for?

Oh man I started it in spring of 2020!!!!! It's been four and a half years, that's wild. I'm impressed I've gotten to gen 4 already, I never thought I'd get out of gen 2

whats the biggest risk you’ve taken with your story? did it pay off?

i feel like briefly killing Irus was a bit of a risk lol I wanted to scream that it was gonna be okay while I was posting that, but I feel like it paid off bc that scene turned out so amazing and I love how well I managed to pull it off

what about your story are you proud of?

See above!! I feel like in general I've gotten a lot better at writing as this has gone on! I also LOVE whenever I get to make gifs for my story, it's so fun

what about your story are you looking to improve on?

Still my writing/delivery of scenes lol I've gotten a lot better but I still struggle when writing certain conversations or fleshing out the plot points between A and Z. Like gen 2 was way too long winded, but then I feel like gen 3 was too short/I didn't expand on things enough

is your story fully planned or are you still working things out? is there a definitive end?

There is a definitive end! I don't have the entire thing fully written, but I have gen 4 set, 5 is mostly set, 6 is like 25%, and then the general concepts/maybe a few scenes of 7 8 and 9. I kind of think of gen 1 as it's own thing and then 2-6 as the first act, and 7-9 as the second act.

why have you decided to tell this story? are there any messages or meanings within it?

tbh it just started as my silly little berry sim story, and morphed into this giant supernatural monstrosity, so really it's just I'm having fun with it and getting to be creative :)

do you actually play the game or do you just use it as a storytelling medium?

haha noooo i definitely never play the sims.... but no like actually i do legitimately love playing this game, and you'd THINK that means I'd post more gameplay, but my problem with that is I either spend too much time taking screenshots and then barely make any progress, or I get too locked in and forget to take screenshots

from basic planning to a finished post, how long does that take you?

On average, it takes me like 30min to write the dialogue for a scene, and then maybe like 30min to actually shoot it (depending on the complexity/number of sims), and then like. 15 seconds per image for editing because I have a PSD and editing actions that I use to speed up the process, and then like maybe another 30min drafting the posts before I add them to my queue (which is taking longer now bc 50% of the time tumblr goes "oops! something went wrong!" when i try to upload a photo and it's driving me insane). Obviously things like making poses/gifs, or drawing in magic effects, or searching for hyper specific poses make it take longer!

do you have any regrets about your story so far? if you could go back in time, how would you fix these?

I really wish I was a better writer back when I killed Howlite! It feels very shoehorned in and like I just killed her for the sake of killing her which I absolutely hate and tbh kinda ruins gen 1 for me! but we're gonna have a Howlite backstory told in flashbacks eventually, so I'll hopefully get to right some wrongs

what have been the highlights of creating your story?

reactions from people!! obviously I love getting comments on my post, but I also love when I see someone clearly going through and catching up on the story and liking every post as they go lol

what about the process do you enjoy?

i looooovvveeeeee dropping little hints and foreshadowing in my story, i have a folder where I am keeping every single hint/reference I've ever made to a huge plot detail of gen 5 and I cannot wait to post it. this has been going on since 2020

what about the process do you hate?

uploading/queuing and also the fear at the back of my mind that one day tumblr is going to shut down and my magnum opus will vanish

choose a song that reminds you of your story

lol so i initially wrote the answer to the next one for this one before i saw what was below this so UHHH it's hard to narrow my story down to one song! I feel like each gen is such a different vibe. I'm gonna say gen 4 as a whole and go with Daffodil by Florence :)

choose a song that reminds you of (insert character here)

I'm doing all my heirs, so my picks for each gen (that I have playlists for so far) in order starting with Star are: 1. In Bloom - Neck Deep 2. Cowboy Blues - Kesha (this one is just kinda funny for Holly lol) 3. Sleep - MCR 4. I Will Follow You into the Dark - Death Cab (for Carn)/Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - Florence (for Yarrow) 5. The Archer - Taylor Swift 6. Family Tree (Intro) - Ethel Cain/Millstone - Brand New Plus a bonus Howlite song: Valley of the Dolls - Marina

choose your favourite shot from your story so far

ohhh there's a lot but lets go with these:

choose your least favourite shot so far

these bc some idiot (me) messed up the wall settings/made build mode errors. no joke i think about these all the time. they haunt me

choose a favourite character from your story so far

haha i have no idea who my favorite character is. not a single clue

choose your least favourite character so far

lotus bc i just irrationally hate him

are there any characters who remind you of yourself?

Holly when she's spiraling and overthinking and avoiding her problems lol also gen 5 and her caffeine addiction

what inspirations have you drawn on for your story?

definitely music a ton! I'll be listening to a song and then go "OH THAT COULD BE A FUN THING TO DO" and get an idea for a plot point. But also folklore and things! There was actually a pretty major piece of gen 3 that got cut at the last second because it was based on a folktale that was hyper specific to where I'm from, and I just ended up not being comfortable with posting that! Maybe one day I'll share what was meant to be, but no time soon

have other sim stories inspired you? 

yes!!! @tainoodles Fairyfloss BPR was the very first sims story I read and it made me get into berries and here we are :) and @simblrinterests Light Family BPR definitely pushed me to magic and supernatural things

what genres would you describe your story as?

Depends on the gen, but 1-3 definitely have that teen drama vibe, and then 2-the end is fantasy, and 4 is a bit dark academia

if you could reproduce your story in another medium (movie, novel, comic, etc.) what would you choose and why?

Possibly novel or graphic novel. I feel like a graphic novel could be fun bc I have a background in illustration and I'd get more visual freedom than I can achieve in the sims! As for a novel, it would be similar reasons! It is easier to describe things than it is to show them in the sims!

what would your story’s rating be? (G, PG, M etc.)

PG-13 maybe??? Maybe higher technically bc of swearing??

if you were leaving simblr and had to choose another creator to continue the story for you, who would you ask?

oh man I don't think I could ask someone to carry out this monstrosity. I'd probably just drop the links to my docs for people to read lol

drop some random trivia about your story

some of my favorite folder/scene names are "all according to keikaku (keikaku means plan)" "bella swan" "HOWLITE!!!!!!!!" "so..... we fucked up" "FUN-eral!" (tragically cut, that was Aster and Porcelain going to Pearl's funeral) "BRO ANSWER YOUR TEXTS" and in the scrapped gen 1 reboot "Rosalie energy" idk why I reference twilight so much

give a light spoiler

by sheer technicality, the gen 5 heir has already appeared in the story

recommend another creator’s story!

elle i know you're the one who sent this but for anyone else who has made it this far, pls go read the Labyrinth legacy by @lazarish, and ALSO the Dream legacy by @mmmatchasims

[seiwas]

hi sel!! #3, 23, & 24 for the end of year fanfic asks please!!

noos!! aaah thank you for sending 🥺

send me any number from this fanfic writer ask game!

#3 favorite line/scene you wrote this year

omg a favourite line is impossible bc i sadly forget what i write the moment i hit post 🥲 but i will say!! one of my fave scenes to write was the car scene from this megumi fic 🥺 mostly because it's personal to me!!

And you think, with your music playing over the comfortable silence you’ve built, being in his passenger seat one too many times—this feels nice.  Any other day and you’d hate traffic as much as the next person, but not right now.  Megumi’s eyelashes are long, pretty, stretching on for miles—and you wonder if this drive with him can extend to the length of them, if you can stay in this traffic jam a little longer just to be in this moment with him.  “Sorry, are you cold?” Megumi asks, interrupting your stare.

i always try to include 1-2 lines that feel ~satisfying bc i think my sentence constructions are really simple!! so to add some kind of dynamic to it i guess!!

#23 fics you wanted to write but didn’t

omg my wip list grows by the day noos 🥺 i wanted to write my ex!bakugo fic this year but am so intimidated by him that i struggle to start even tho i have everything in place alr 😭

there's also an escort!reader x nanami idea that i have but will probably never write 🥹 it's a skill gap on my end i think sfbsdhfsj idt i'm a good enough writer to give justice to that kind of concept!!

also wanted to write more for my iwa series this yr but figured i'd wait till next year when the hq hype comes back!!! (am gonna re-edit everything!! might reformat it too)

#24 favorite fic some unforgettable fics you read this year

noos... you opened a dam with this question... how can i possibly just choose one... are you kidding me... i can't choose one... so i'm putting everything under the cut... gonna give myself 5 per fandom 😭 (you can tell im very partial to friends to lovers 😭😭😭)

also!! there are a lot of fics in my tbr that i haven't gotten to yet!! and everything i reblog is pretty much a fic i recommend 🥹

hq!!

over the course of 24 hours by prettyiwa (iwaizumi hajime x reader) [10k. friends to lovers.] my favourite iwaizumi fic ever 🥹 i reread it once a year hence why it's here

an observer of longing by shibaraki (iwaizumi hajime x reader) [18k. friends to lovers.] took me like 4 hours to read this bc i wanted to savour it. and was lying down in bed, staring up at the ceiling crying when i was done 🥺

miya atsumu and the chronic lovesick disease by fushisagi (miya atsumu x reader) [12k. friends to lovers.] the thematic consistency in this is so good & i still think abt this to this day!!

long shots by ahtsumu (miya osamu x reader) [5k. TA!atsumu.] solidified me reading for osamu—he's soooo attractive here.

seasons by mintmatcha (hanamaki takahiro x reader) [6k. friends to lovers.] fully roped me in being a makki fucker 😭

jjk

half agony, half hope by seravphs (gojo satoru x reader) [ongoing series. knight!gojo.] superb. that's really all i can say about this. the want and tension is gripping.

wormwood by linkcities (gojo satoru x reader) [25k. friends to lovers.] heartwrenching and achey. so so good. 🥲

oh my destiny, how far you have sprung now by twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat (gojo satoru gen fic) [5k. canon divergence.] such an interesting look into something i don't normally see written on gojo. written beautifully too!

(though we may) fall apart by stellamancer (gojo satoru x reader) [4k. canon compliant ish.] amazing buildup & the tension is insane too. 🤧

keeping up with the fushigojos by augustinewrites (gojo satoru x reader)

[ongoing series. found family.] sooo cute and feel-good. their lil family lives in my mind rent free!! 🥹

bnha

i like to call myself wound but i will answer to knife by kirketeer (bakugo katsuki x reader) [59k. enemies to friends to lovers.] i reread this once a year oh my god it's one of my fave fics ever.

you had only to look at me by willowser (bakugo katsuki x reader) [7k. friends to lovers.] reread this recently and was tearing up by the end omg.

all the times i told you by gardenofnoah (bakugo katsuki x reader) [8k. established relationship.] the most teeeendeeer bakugo i've ever seen and i tear up every time i read this.

love to love you by shibaraki (midoriya izuku x reader) [2k. established relationship.] another one that's super soft. such a raw tenderness to this 🥺

nitroglycerine by alrightberries (bakugo katsuki x reader) [1k. fwb to idiots to lovers.] the dialogue here is amazing and there's so much in the unsaid i am gnawing my fist.

[thepageofhopes]

Talking about my choices and template under the cut!

Favorite Game of All Time: Undertale

Probably will stay my GOAT forever unless Deltarune manages to stick it's landing with the many cool extensions to undertale's themes and lore it brings up. Part of my love for it is based on how little games cared to explore the themes it brought up before undertale came out.

Favorite Series: Super Monkey Ball series

No other games have really managed to capture what this series had, though Rolled Out might by the time it's finally released. Lots of nostalgia baked into this choice- I used to do stunts as a teenager back in the day and learn the tech from forums.

Best Soundtrack: Terraria's Calamity Mod

Yes, I'm counting a mod as both a separate game and enough of one to have the best soundtrack. I already loved DM DOKURO's undertale remixes, and they just knock it out of the park with the Calamity mod. I will never not scream THE ENEMY HAS ASCENDED BEYOND YOUR CONTROL but Devourer of Gods is also something truly special.

Favorite Protagonist: Zagreus from Hades

I'm not usually super into the protagonists of games as I usually am with the supporting cast, but Zagreus really makes the story of Hades and his commentary brings the game to life so, so much. Other contender of this spot was probably the Voice of the Hero from Slay the Princess, but hard to say if they are really the protagonist, and also, I like Voice of the Contrarian even more.

Favorite Villain: The Masked Man from Mother 3

-endless crying-

Best Story: Mother 3

Listen, Undertale may be my GOAT but Mother 3 is my number 2 because of how good the story is. Please go watch Super Eyepatch Wolf's video on it if you haven't. The incredible themes, the knife-twisting tragedies, the goofy humor covering up extremely dark subject matter, all of it is so, so, so, good.

Have not played but want to: Alan Wake 2

This game seems so much My Shit™ but sadly it is only on epic games store which I hate. I've heard so many wonderful things about the game and all the visuals in those reviews look amazing and seem like it really is the peak of modern survival horror. Can't wait for it to come to Steam/GoG.

Everyone hates but you love: Continue?9876543210

'Everyone' is quite an overstatement for such a weird, niche game but it is the only game I really like that also has a non positive rating on steam. I've always loved the weird themes and existentialism tinged with hope that this game offers, despite everything from its mechanics to the story being vague and near impossible to parse.

You hate but everyone loves: Into The Breach

Nuclear Throne/Enter the Gungeon could also go here. All are roguelikes which are incredibly loved in the community that I just can't stand. I don't even particularly know why I don't like them, just something about the feel of the mechanics don't agree with me.

Best Artstyle: Splatoon series, but specifically Octo Expansion (until Side Order inevitably beats this)

Splatoon has always been a series marked by it's incredible visual design. Everything screams 90s, the color choices are vivid and striking, the character models are super expressive, etc. Octo Expansion adds even more with the retropunk aesthetic and dark environments mixed with the neon greens and blues.

Favorite Ending: Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations

The entire last case of this game is perfect. The ending montage where you get to see where all the characters are going is sweet and ties a great bow on the series, and the final picture with the vase gets me every time. This was another game that was a contender for best story.

Favorite Boss Fight: Undyne the Undying from Undertale

'Not Sans???' listen Sans is probably the better design but Undyne the Undying was my literal first true boss I ever fought in Undertale, and it will always stick with me. I love the rhythm game style of her mechanics and her intro into her music sets the tone perfectly for the genocide run.

Childhood Game: Ball Revamped 2: Metaphasik

Catz is also a contender here since that is even older and I also played that quite a lot as a kid, but Ball Revamped 2 and a lot of jmtb02's other flash games were really when I started to heavily get into video games. I still sometimes go back to this one, the design still holds up quite well, and the rest of the series ain't bad either.

Relaxing Game: Vampire Survivors

I don't generally play 'relaxing' games, I like my games hard and fast and brutal. But vampire survivors build crafting is incredibly relaxing and when you make a successful build being able to just sit back and let the game play itself to win is such a dopamine rush.

Stressful Game: Cook, Serve, Delicious 3

Honestly, most of the games I play could go here. CSD series however is a special type of stress that puts me on edge through the whole level, enough that I often can't do more than a 3 or so in a play session (lovingly). A rhythm game without music, there is no other game series that demands the level of intense focus and execution like this does.

Game you can always come back to: Fallout: New Vegas

I've come back to this game at least 10 separate times with new characters. A combination of incredibly relaxing due to the easy combat system and replayability given the role playing system mean it's an easy game to just jump back into even after a long time away.

Guilty Pleasure: Project Sekai: Colorful Stage

I play a lot of gacha games and most if not all could fit here given how terrible those games are with the players, but Project Sekai is one where I will actively gush about it as I think it's story and characters are legitimately great. Magia Record could also fit here if it the NA servers weren't shut down.

Tons of Hours Played: Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Not my most played game technically (Terraria and Tabletop Simulator beat it) but both of those don't count as many of Terraria's hours are idle due to holding a server up, and Tabletop Simulator due to waiting and also it's not exactly a game in it's own right. I've so far put 750 hours into Rebirth, and still only have 545 of the 637 achievements. No other game has ever captured BoI's way of insane item combinations that make each run a discovery fest.

And here's the template!

[luckyfluffy-ccs]

Hi hi! It's me!!

First off, happy happy anniversary to you and your amazing story! I was new to the Obey Me fandom when I discovered it while I was searching for Leviathan x Reader fics, and I'm so happy I did! It's such a detailed and wonderful story <3

Here are some of my questions to you! I'm sure others may have written similar ones lol.

How much time do you dedicate to writing and research for your story in your daily/weekly life?

When you're not writing or doing school work, what else do you do during your free time?

In general, which of the seven deadly sins describes you best? Does it correlate to your favorite brother in OM?

Of the OM characters, which one do you relate to the most?

How did you get into reader inserts? Have you played any other dating sims/otome games before getting into OM?

What other, if any, fandoms are you a part of or just like enjoying content of?

Depending on your answers, I wouldn't mind continuing the conversation for some of these questions (especially #5 hehe).

Take care as always and I look forward to you answering these questions, seeing your anniversary art, and reading more chapters! <3 ~Kkat

Hi Kkat!! I sincerely thank you for all your love of my silly story. I still can't believe it my fic you found when you were new! (I hope the occ never put you off back then HJSJH)

As you have asked a lot of (original!) questions, I have answered them under the cut! and I definitely don't mind you continuing to ask more in-depth ones. as long as I can keep it spoiler-free!

(I'm also very flattered there were questions about me haha!)

How much time do you dedicate to writing and research for your story in your daily/weekly life? It varies wildly per week if I am honest. Sometimes I can't write more than a sentence for three weeks straight and another day I pump out 3 spell-checked chapters. The research took up a LOT of time in the very beginning, especially figuring out how I wanted the cast to work out. Now it’s a whole lot less and I barely have to do it. Only when new characters appeared. Or now more commonly when a fact gets revealed about them I tend to thoroughly research it. Last time I had to study for a new fact I had like 7 tabs open on Ley lines and how they worked/their origins. Only to not use it at all lmao (well it's used but only if you squint) However, despite this the story is on my mind 24/7. Thinking about what I want to happen or cute/interesting character interactions. It is often a lot more difficult to put it down in words

When you're not writing or doing school work, what else do you do during your free time? …Well… I mostly uhm, read. Big AO3 fan here. Beyond that, I am a very creative soul. I draw! I used to have an art blog with like 500 followers, but that is in the long past- I'm also trying to make a Bullet Journal atm but I haven't done a whole lot. If I am not busy being so incredibly creative/lh I am usually playing games. I'm not a huge gamer like Levi, but I have a few games that I have quite a number of hours in! (Slime Rancher) Recently I became a huge fan of The Witcher 3 and Cult of the Lamb. If not any of those, I watch anime/read manga, regular shows or movies, talk or hang out with my friends. And I try to go to the gym! Although that's only like 2 hours per week since my stamina is utter garbage lmao

In general, which of the seven deadly sins describes you best? Does it correlate to your favorite brother in OM? This is not even a biassed thing. But my deadly sin would 100% be Envy I am such an incredibly jealous person, even since I was young. Not to trauma dump but all my life I've been compared to my siblings or other family members and now I get envious super easily. Now that I am older I can manage it a lot better than when I was little. But unfortunately, I have my fits. Also yes it correlates to Levi LMFAO Not asked, but if I had to make a tierlist of the sins that describe me. I’d have to say Envy>Wrath>Sloth>Lust>Pride>Gluttony

Of the OM characters, which one do you relate to the most? Extremely difficult question- I relate to so many of them, all for different reasons. Without naming Levi since I spoke about that in a different question, I'd have to say either Lucifer or Satan. Mostly Lucifer as we struggle with those delicious oldest sibling angst and responsibility. Ironically I really hated Lucifer at first, only to realise I was looking in a mirror. While I do not suffer from my pride in the slightest, and without doing a character analysis- I relate to the way he is perceived by others, many new fans think he treats his brothers so roughly. But if you take even 3 seconds to observe him closer you can see he holds so much fondness and love for his close ones. And I feel that. Satan is a similar case. When people don't see him for who he is they tend to quickly fall for the ‘he’s such a gentleman’ or ‘he’d murder you for a sprinkle’ guy. And I love the way Satan is complex because he IS a sweetheart, but he also is the sin of wrath. And people also tend to dumb me down to just one of my character traits so I relate to that so bad. And we are also both obsessed with books!

How did you get into reader inserts? Have you played any other dating sims/otome games before getting into OM? Have… have you heard of Mystic Messenger- that truly was my first otome/dating game. From there on it all went to hell with me- (Beyond Obey Me I actually haven't played that many other dating sims. Dangerous Fellows, LoveUnholic, HUGE fan of The Arcana. Got addicted to Character.ai for a while) Funnily enough, it wasn't that what truly got me into reader inserts. It was… it was Hetalia… while at first I only read their canon ships. I remember a 2p!Italy x reader that made such a huge impact on me, that I suddenly began reading a lot more fanfics with the trope I at first found cringe. (this fanfic has sadly been deleted) I still read a lot of ship fics, but also a big fan of my lovely reader inserts

What other, if any, fandoms are you a part of or just like enjoying content of? Please don't ask for my fandom list. It'd be worth 82 pages long. I’m a huge multi-fandom enjoyer. But if I had to numb it down to just the ones I am most active in then I’d have to be: (in no particular order) Obey Me(duh), FNAF(all media), Video Blogging RPF/Minecraft, Bungo Stray Dogs, Genshin Impact, Enstars, BNHA, Black Butler, Twisted Wonderland, MDZS/Grandmaster of demonic Cultivation/Founder of Diabolism, Dungeon Meshi, haikyuu, ect

[simmila]

Thank you for 1k in patreon!🥳🎉

I am so grateful for everyone supporting me and my work<3 i wanted to give you a free set for this milestone but it was so quick that i haven't finished yet :'( But hopefully i can finish it this or next week! I have mostly everything done but i want to add more deco items, a desk without clutter just feels unfinished to me. here are some wip pics under the cut! --- (Also i didn't do a grammar check with my partner since they're busy today so im sorry if my speech is a bit wonky!)

The chairs are Sanrio recolors from high school years, and the headphones (they are hidden behing the monitor) are from everyday clutter kit. So far this set's original mesh and textures include: a pegboard / a desk (there are almost 90 swatches so i had to divide them in 2 items) / 4 variants of computers / Deco Keyboard + Display / Keyboard Modding tools / Snack Cart! I really want to add a lamp, a computer tower, some plushes, snacks for the cart and general clutter, it might take a while but i just don't want to rush it and give you a pack that feels unfinished :(( here is a little peak at the computers:

And also a version with both together! with the laptop in different position for more comfort at decorating:

If you are not familiar with s4studio don't worry, they look fine in-game<3 Here my test sim playing some blickblock :p

Thank you for reading this far, i will keep working in this set so i can finish it soon. And thank you for showing so much support. Hope you have an amazing week! Lots of love, Simmila<3