#video games as a cosmic horror story

[regallibellbright]

Going back to the longtime Pokemon player thing and then picking up a concept from meta-cosmic horror Pokemon stories (ie, that one story about undoing a Bad Egg from the perspective of the Bad Egg, even if it’s not horror by the end, Twitch Plays Pokemon depicting themselves, the Twitch Chat, as a force of Unown possessing a single Trainer,) and given I DO give my Trainers at least some degree of personality remove from me the Player (only the first game I ever played uses my name as the Trainer, all other Pokemon in the intervening decades are still mine but I started making up stories about these other Trainers pretty much immediately,) you do gotta wonder. Plenty of this conceit talk about the idea of the PC not being in control of their lives and all the horror there, but you’ve gotta wonder what it feels like as the rival, too.

Like, ESPECIALLY with rivals who are either established trainers already (Nemona being the latest type, also Brandon/May, I can’t remember if Hau has experience or not) or have noted insecurity not measuring up to you even if you start simultaneously (Hop, Serena/Callum, Cheren). Because they’re going about their lives, thinking they’re a pretty decent Pokemon trainer or excited to start their journey and be the very best, and then they’re getting thrashed by this other kid. Total newbie. Absolute battle prodigy.

Only this other kid ISN’T a total newbie. This other kid’s gone through at least one round of it before, and has a full team of Pokemon they saved the region and became Champion with, and they love those Pokemon very much but they want to have another adventure and get to know new Pokemon. Again. And again. And again. They’re utterly screwed through no fault of their own, not just because they’re up against their universe’s protagonist, but because they’re up against their universe’s protagonist who already knows what they’re doing, and therefore feels no shame hitting you with a massive STAB attack that they wouldn’t have had down if this were their first rodeo. (Granted, I still don’t always have everything memorized - say, Bug vs Ground, I might get reversed from time to time - but I’ve used every type at least once by now on a final team, I’m pretty sure, and that leaves some resting awareness of most of the big type advantages to disadvantages. I can’t tell you how many Pokemon are in any given type, but I can tell you what typing any given Pokemon is up to Alola or so, and at least one type for the rest.)

The fact that in recent years, rivals get the type that’s WEAK to your starter rather than strong only reinforces how cosmically screwed they are.

Poor kids. Not your fault your universes are constructed so that your repeated failure is both inevitable and necessary.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing this game’s speedrun in a few weeks. Happy Pokemon Day, all.

[absurd-visions-studios]

Creator Log #1.0: Stargirl

So... I've decided to start making my first game! From what I can tell, it's a horror story-rich RPG that I'm going to call Stargirl for now.

I'm doing this on the RPG Maker MV engine, as I don't know how to code... yet.

Some of the vibes I'm getting so far:

Beautiful landscapes

Lineless art (like the backgrounds from Steven Universe)

Etherealness, Celestialness, Eldritchness

Lots of body, cosmic, and eldritch horror

Some psychological horror

Alienation (literally and socially)

That feeling of being so utterly small and alone that you only get when going on nature walks in open plains spaces

Or looking up at a night sky that is either so starless and cloudless OR so full of stars you feel microscopic among the vastness of it

Being in your own home with the lights off, so it feels like you're somewhere else

Much more I have yet to discover

I'll be updating this blog with devlogs, random ideas and moodboards/inspiration, and random thoughts for this first project, and my asks are open for people who want to contribute ideas, ask questions, or give feedback!

[outerrimhorror]

So I made this blog literally yesterday late at night and fell asleep soon after, so I wanted to make this as a continuation of my previous post to give some more details of what this project is. So, Outer Rim is a world-building project that I began as a means to challenge myself and my writing abilities. I love writing, but I hadn't really done so in a very long time and I also believed that I sucked at writing horror. So, with the help of some good friends, I'm here to prove myself wrong and make something real spooky and, so far, I'm pretty proud of what I've got so far!

So to expand on what I wrote yesterday, this is a cosmic horror story that I hope to one day make into a game! You would play as a cowboy that lived in a settlement in Missouri that managed to keep itself isolated away from the effects of the meteor and it's abilities to completely morph the life around it. That is until word spread that wildlife with strange deformities were seen in the plains nearby, signifying that the mutation is making its way east. So you and other settlers come up with a plan to make their way to the old growth forests in Oregon as it seems to have been left alone by the mutation.

The gameplay would consist of recourse management as you cross the otherworldly, unnatural biomes created by the meteor, encountering flora and fauna that can both help and threaten your posse, meeting survivors that can help you on your journey or try and kill you, all while doing everything you can to make sure your posse makes it to the old growth alive. This project is inspired by The Oregon Trail games but with a cosmic horror twist to it. Here I have some concept art depicting some lovely wildlife you could find traveling the Outer Rim! These were illustrated by a good friend of mine who has helped me stay with the writing process of this project. Enjoy!

[eosofspades]

i hate how difficult making massive projects is when it comes to art i am having the GREATEST idea for a video game but the only way it can come to actualization the way it needs to be to make it work is if i could get it picked up by a triple A studio

[kaesaaurelia]

soooo I just finished watching that star wars hotel video and oh my god the fire safety what the fuckkkk

BUT ALSO if you are some kind of weirdo who watched this (or the evermore video) and was like "man I wish that thing existed but was good," I... can't help you specifically with Star Wars (or generic high fantasy settings) but if you are an adult or a family with teens (who are okay with some mild references to sexuality in a coming-of-age context -- which honestly would go over the heads of most kids too young to deal with them?), don't have issues with darkness, flashing lights, or potential immune issues due to touching touchscreens, and enjoy a little light cosmic and/or implied body horror I highly highly suggest going to Omega Mart next time you are in Las Vegas. It is surreal and fun and while I definitely ran into some issues there with 1. going down the story path I didn't mean to go down and 2. LOSING MY EMPLOYEE ID CARD (to be clear I did not work there, in the fiction of the game all guests are Omega Mart employees), there were helpful (actual) employees there to jump in and help me without breaking immersion at all. They were great.

There are some pathways (physical pathways) that require an ability to climb stairs but there are ALWAYS multiple paths between two points so while you might not be able to crawl through the tunnel and then climb the rope from [spoiler place] to [other spoiler place] or do the slides, you can still physically get to the plot-important places and I think at most people who can't do stairs miss... some kind of pointless music machines? (Which I had fun with ngl but I fucked around with them for like 10 minutes more because I was in the area looking for my lost ID badge and asking if people had found it.) I haven't been to the other Meow Wolf installations but I would love to go given the chance.

And if you really want a themed hotel... well, you can't find an eldritch dimension-hopping supermarket-themed hotel, no, but if you stay on the strip there's going to be a lot of neon and trying to sell you things, and also optionally a theme, so like. That's not dissimilar.

Fire safety both at these Vegas hotels and at Omega Mart will be better than crawling into a small closet with 4 of your closest friends and hoping to not die, also. And a substantial amount of the story of Omega Mart is "wow corporate greed does ruin everything," so if you liked the video you probably will also like this.

[Edit: also to be clear I don't really think Omega Mart is small-child-friendly, but mostly because it's a lot of reading, and the bulk of it is either corporate memos or a teenage girl's diaries. A lot of the stuff I found most engaging was exploring the strained intergenerational family dynamic between the girl, her mom, and her grandfather, something that small children would find either boring or upsetting or both. It's not the sexuality that's the issue, it's some offscreen implied character death-but-not-really (that not-really doesn't make it better!) and just plain bad parenting, plus the broader theme of a greedy grocery chain turning ancient mystery and natural wonder into queasy reality-breaking horror.]

[gilverrwrites]

i’ve sent this request to river-rat69, but wanted to see how you would potentially interpret it >_>

exploring interests with jack and finding a common one? like art? perhaps?

just a cute idea idk

Finding common interests with Jack

Author note: That is super cute! I'm note sure if this is what you had in mind, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

I will also note, I know a common opinion is that Jack is like a child in an adult body, but I always read him more as like an adult with minimal world or social skills.

Can be read as romantic or platonic.

Rating: General

Genre: Pure fluff

Please be kind to your mind ❤︎

I feel like if Jack wants to make a connection with someone, he will try anything at least once.

He's a 20-year-old who has never had to make friends before. Cas and the Winchesters are family, thats different. Friends he has to make an effort for. (At least in his head.)

If he thinks you really enjoy something that he doesn't, he won’t want to hurt your feelings. He wants you to like him.

So even if he doesn’t enjoy something that much, he’ll try to pretend.

It’s up to you to figure that out and stop him from torturing himself.

He’s too nice, loyal to a fault.

Although, the many sceptical questions and the suspicious looks are a dead giveaway.

“Is it supposed to smell this strong?” Yep “And I can’t eat it?” No, Jack, it’s soap! “And we’re wearing gloves because? It’s dangerous, yep, got it.” “Is this what a headache feels like? NO! It’s fun! If you like it, I like it.” “It takes HOW LONG to cure?”

Probably stay away from things like candle and soap making.

He likes stability, so I think having a set day each week, or a couple of hours each night to do stuff together, would be ideal for him.

He’d love bonding over shared interests in films and TV.

He doesn’t have to eat, but I think he would enjoy trying new foods.

So: having a weekly film night would be awesome. Where you can both veg out on the couch together, eat whatever new or different foods you find at the supermarket, and watch horror (primarily zombie) and/or sci-fi films together. 

Or spend the weekend binge-watching The Walking Dead or The Cornetto Trilogy (+ Paul, non negotiable).

Video games too: Left 4 Dead, Fallout etc

Then fall asleep where you're lounging, talking about your faves and your fan theories. 

I don’t know that he would be into making art, per se, but I think he would like crafts.

I feel like Jack would really like those diamond painting thingies. Or just like, bedazzling things in general.

Like, I can see him contracting some weird cosmic-being version of the flu, being quarantined with an Angel!Reader and it being like that one episode of Malcolm in the Middle. 

Also legos. Just things that take a lot of attention to detail, something that can take his mind off of the constant pressure he is under, that you can really focus on, but that has a cool pay off at the end.

Animation as well, both watching (more 2D stuff like Batman, Invincible, Nimona)

And doing– probably more like stop motion, with again, legos, or claymodels. 

(I’m totally not projecting because I am an animation nerd)

He would, however, enjoy art galleries and museums.

Being able to admire and learn about things created by humans throughout history would be so astounding.

Would like to have you with him so you can observe, learn, and discuss together.

If you’re interested but unable to go with him, he’ll memorise everything so he can relay it all to you later, or pick up a bunch of leaflets for you to read. Or he’ll make a note of all his favourite parts so he can take you there another time.

He would have a similar sentiment if you are an artistic person. 

He doesn’t want to draw or paint stuff with you, but he would like watching you and your creative process (if you don’t mind being watched)

Like absolutely fascinated by your ability to create something from nothing. Something that evokes emotion or tells a story – wow!!

Your number one supporter. Gift him your art, and he’ll put it on his bedroom wall.

Those galleries I mentioned earlier, he’s buying you both tickets to go see your inspirations shows or displays.

Wants to look through all your old works, he doesn’t care if that horse you drew when you were 12 is the wrong shape and has wonky eyes, he thinks its so cool that you tried, and practiced, and learned. That’s human ingenuity.

You’re so cool.

[johnny-neurontin]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Signalis is some of the most breathtakingly beautiful sci-fi/cosmic horror that I've ever experienced. I'm revisiting the game and just like whenever I've played it before, I'm rendered speechless at the inventiveness and creativity in telling this tragic love story that transcends time, space, and the physical form. If you haven't played Signalis, I couldn't recommend it more strongly. It's one of my all time favorite games and possibly my favorite sci-fi story I've experienced. Play it with a loved one, read the in game notes and story elements, really get stuck in and you will be rewarded with unimpeachable evidence that video games can very much be art. /rant

First poster by Ray-Ana on DeviantArt

Link: https://www.deviantart.com/ray-ana/art/Signalis-Poster-941068347

[justalazysam]

Hello all my favorite people, welcome to my introduction post! :D

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Nicknames you can call me: Sam [ aka my usual nickname I get called in real life ] and Samuel [ a other nickname I get called by this in real life too but I don't really mind and will definitely allow people to call me this! ]

My besties/mutuals!: @aprosin @diabollicallyangelic-deactivate @hoodiewearer09 @luz-is-a-faggot @accidentalslayer @rollercoastermalfunction @art-crumbs-main @malet-depressive-psychosis @cosmic-radio-station @thespikezz @ayozonotakaderu0fficial @thiccydriftyy @randomperson1352 [ please follow all these people they are so cool and deserve all the love in the universe! :D ^^ ]

My ocs:

My persona [ I drew it a while ago ]:

Randoms I am in: blueballs incident / trollge files, the analog horror community, trollge incident and trollface fandom, the doctor nowhere fandom, Wii deleted you fandom, the rage comics community, and the horror movie community

Stuff I enjoy: analog horror, horror movies such as “late night with the devil“ “scary stories to tell in the dark“ “house of 1000 corpses” and “sinister“ [ they are all such amazing movies I recommend you all to go check those movies out ], short horror films, lord of the flies by William golding, drawing, watching trollge incidents, watching trollface memes, listening to music, watching true crime videos, and talking to my besties/mutuals!

Rules for my art requests!!

Art requests I will do: oc x canon [ platonically ], fictional characters, gore [ blood, organs, bones ], my ocs with other characters [ if wanted ], other peoples ocs, and fanart. I mainly draw monsters and also fanart especially characters from my favorite fandoms but I will draw other ocs too

Characters I will draw: horror characters, goofy characters, crazy characters, just any characters from any series in general

Art requests I will absolutely never ever do: anything inappropriate and sexual or just anything disgusting in general [ I'm 12 please respect this :( ]

characters I will not draw: characters from any problematic series/game or have awful creators

More rules !!

All blogs are welcome here such as other horror blogs, non-horror blogs, blogs that are in multiple fandoms, overall every blog that isn't inappropriate :)

Dni: racists, homophobes, transphobes, all bots such as porn bots, scam bots and many more, overall anything disgusting, rude people

All blogs are welcome here such as other horror blogs, non-horror blogs, blogs that are in multiple fandoms, overall every blog that isn't inappropriate

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have a very nice day all my favorite people and thanks so much for the visit !! :D ^^

[gremlinmodetweeker]

I LOVE your eldritch horror kinky story! I can’t get enough of it! Were you inspired by HP Lovecraft? Where did you get your knowledge of eldritch horror because I love the genre and would love to read more

Okay so, SO, I have a lot I take reference from. The big one yes is Lovecraft, of course. I read his stories, but then I went on to read a bunch of Call of Cthulhu mysteries and ran a couple of Call of Cthulhu campaigns (ttrpg) and stuff like that. I also just consume cosmic horror everywhere I can! A big resource for Eldritch!König is really based on Lovecraft plus a couple of SUPER COOL video games.

The first game is Dredge, which is beautiful and stunning and through the story isn't too exciting, the world? OH MAN THE WORLD. Also, I love the ocean and fish and marine biology so that shit is just my game. I'm into it big time.

Another game is World of Horror, which is heavily based off Junji Ito's work. If Lovecraft isn't your jam, try reading some Junji Ito mangs. They're extremely graphic, but also the stories are wild and super cool. A lot of the times, people don't pick up on the social commentary on Japanese culture in his works.

Speaking of manga, Berserk? Crazy good, but read up on the trigger warnings before reading because despite being (imho) one of the best mangas of all time, it has graphic SA and abuse and gore.

Bioshock and Fallout also heavily inspired the bug horror (though I haven't finished either game but shhhhhh).

Finally, the classics inspire me. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is genuinely one of my favourite books of all time. The themes it explores? The imagery? The characters? All incredible. Just a beautiful book that I desperately needed to read when I was in high school. The monster's dialogue really hit home for me when I was a very depressed teen struggling to find hope and friendship in high school.

Various different body horror artists and analogue horrors also heavily inspire Eldritch!König. It's a big mix.

My main elements when writing him are incorporating marine and cosmic (astronomical) horror with him. I also notice I tend to rely on bugs a lot, despite his biology not being bug-like at all. I will say, he has tentacles and a beak under his mask, but that's about all that your mind can comprehend (also let's be honest, he's not gonna let you see anything else). When I think of how I want to write his horror, I sometimes think of Over the Garden Wall or a Ghibli movie with how he interacts with horror. To him, it's mundane. To you, it's shit-balls crazy off the walls insanity. He genuinely does not get why you find it so foreign until he remembers that you're a human.

I do want to write more gore and horror with him, but I haven't found a good opportunity... If you have any suggestions, let me know. I want to have Eldritch!König fuck somebody up. His tentacles are crawling for kills...

[tragedycoded]

writeblr interview tag!

Thank you to loves @the-golden-comet and @sableglass for tagging me here and here. I need you know I made a serious effort not to be a sarcastic asshole as I answered these questions... four days ago. And then forgot to post them.

Let's ggo!

Short stories, novels, or poems? I published short stories in a previous life, but I suck at following prompts or instructions and have accepted my fate as a novelist.

What genre do you prefer reading? Horror. I'm in my post-cosmic horror era right now. Existential. Yeah. Although I don't write folk horror myself (I'm thinking Laird Barron, T. Kingfisher, Stephen Graham Jones) I do enjoy folk horror v much. Bonus points if the protagonists are middle-aged and it's not about how apartments/houses or children are scary. (No hate to domestic horror, I'm just not the target audience.)

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person? The first draft is me explaining the Situation to myself. If it happens to make even a tiny bit of sense, we're all lucky. Like, that almost never fucking happens. I didn't show Doom Metal Love Story to anyone until the third/fourth draft because any sense it makes came from me rambling at my roommate in the kitchen while high off my ass at ten in the morning last autumn.

I'm a rambler, baby~

What music do you listen to while writing? That depends! Most of the time it's the soundtrack of whatever video game I wish I were playing instead of working LOL. I've always been like this, it's not cute. Sometimes I rotate in a specific heavy metal album I've heard a million times if the vibes aren't right. If I'm really having a good day, it's '80s music.

Favorite books/movies? Yeah man I have some of those!

Favorite book is House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Yes I realize this is a corny and uninspired answer. This book whipped ass when it was published and it whipped ass when I reread it in 2014 and I'm willing to bet money it would whip ass if I reread it in [current year].

Favorite movie is Aliens. The second one. It's the perfect movie. I refuse to acknowledge any film in the series other than Alien and Aliens. Corporal Hicks and Newt are still alive, you sons of bitches.

Any current WIPs? Yes.

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you what would your standard outfit be? A hooded sweatshirt, jeans, no shoes unless I'm out in public. Then it's flip flops. Fingerless gloves if it's chilly and muh arthritis is acting up.

Create a character description of yourself: The smell of pot smoke and the clicking of keystrokes barely penetrates the unopened window. Occasionally, they step out onto the back deck to smoke a cigarette and simultaneously praise and complain about the sun. They might be in their forties. They might own a cat. No one can agree on their height or their gender or whether they actually exist. Can only be contacted through instant message or email. Might be a ghost.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing? Hell, no LMAO. When I realize I've done it accidentally, I feel like I just got read by a therapist.

Are you kill happy with your characters? I may have killed all three main characters in DMLS multiple times, killed Khalid (from A Living Machine) when he was 12, in front of everybody, and I may intend to kill every character who appears in The Cave Dive, but...

... yeah OK there's something wrong with me.

Coffee or Tea while writing? Coffee all day every day.

Slow or fast writer? I type like someone is threatening to tickle my feet if I stop.

Where/who/what do you draw inspiration from? Uhhhhhhhh...

"OK yeah like that initial idea would be cool and all but make it worse."

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

Most fav book cliche: This author comes from the land of "all cliches suck and should be avoided like the plague."

Least favorite cliche: Like the plague.

Favorite scene to write? Fight scenes. If I can't write a fight scene, let me write a fuck scene.

... why do I not write hockey romances, again?

Reason for writing? I've tried all other legitimate forms of occupation. This is the only one that rewards me for my ability to make shit up and type 40 wpm in first draft mode.

Tag! Usual apologizes for double-tagging go here, Jamie is silly.

@lychhiker-writes @cowboybrunch @finickyfelix @saturnine-saturneight

@ashfordlabs @autism-purgatory @noblebs @aintgonnatakethis

@the-golden-comet @asablehart @mauvecatfic @leahnardo-da-veggie

@sableglass @gioiaalbanoart @words-after-midnight

@lavender-bloom @jev-urisk @wyked-ao3

[starlightsuffered]

Ghosts (part 1)

Info - trans fem reader, ghosts, abandoned by family, series, blood

I carried my suitcases through the rickety door of my new house. It was dingy. A dark mark stained the floor of the bedroom. There was an oddness about the place. It was both homey and frightening.

I felt like there had been great love here. Every wall felt as though it’d been important and adored. If walls could speak, I knew this place would have a story to tell. I was reminded of the novella called the Brave Little Toaster that I’d read, and of the horror video game about a house that missed its previous owners so much it drove new buyers insane. I shuddered all over.

This would have to do, even though it felt haunted. Every step I took forward I felt like my body was weighted down by something. I didn’t know why I felt…. Almost contaminated.

“A ghost would love it here,” I mumbled.

I began the unpacking process. I didn’t have much. There wasn’t a lot I could pack quickly when my parents had decided I had no home with them anymore.

I was sweaty once I’d put the appropriate boxes in each room. This house had a rickety old AC unit that wasn’t nearly strong enough to cool the whole house. I grabbed a cup and used the sink. There was no water filter here. There was no ice button. I would have a bit of trouble getting used to this life but it would be worth it.

I surveyed my new abode. It was sparse but definitely liveable. I looked and looked until a strange anger over took me. I was prone to it. Biological. The amount of times I’d seen my parents fly into a rage was uncanny. At least I had a reason for the unjust component of it. They had no excuses.

I lowered my head and sobbed. The tension weighed heavy on me. It could’ve been cut like a knife. I needed a relief.

I decided to breathe slowly and take a tour of where I was living. I walked slowly. I made sure to sip water as I did. The technique of calming myself was working well.

My eyes landed on a door I hadn’t taken into account before. I cocked my head. I didn’t know about this door. The house was so small I didn’t think I could miss anything.

The door looked somehow like it was imbued with a sort of cosmic energy. I tiptoed as if there were anyone else in this house I needed to be wary about. I took the handle in a tentative hand. I noticed I was shaking just a little bit.

I took a deep breath and pushed open the door. I gasped, hand fluttering to my mouth as I took in the sight the small broom closet.

The walls were dripping what very convincingly looked like fresh blood. Words and pictures were made on the unsanded walls. There were hundreds of pictures of the same girl. Polaroids, but some in more vibrant colour as the years progressed.

I played nervously with the necklace around my neck as I stepped inside. I swore it was colder inside the closet. I tried to read the messy script on the walls.

“Maren”

“Love”

“Sacrifice”

“Eat”

“A meal for my love”

“I live inside you”

The phrases made me shudder. I also gently a bit nauseous. The girl in the photos must be Maren. On a pulpit, looking almost like an altar or shrine, was a book. Faded writing journaled about a young man’s life. I didn’t have time to read it and my mind was spinning.

“Do I scare you?” Asked a voice. I jumped out of my skin. When I turned to see the culprit, no one was there.

@pmak2002 @softhecreator @plutoispurplw @sp1deyyf4ngz @seungcheol17daddy @jesschalamet @vvsdreaming

[ordinorultor-if]

So I decided a while ago to do some facts about me when the demo dropped. Even though the demo’s been pushed back to Friday, I wanted to share some stuff about myself anyways!

So! You guys can call me JB, and today is my 21st birthday (shoutout to that one anon whose birthday is also today). I’m a cis man, and while I’m questioning my sexuality, I’m fairly certain I’m bisexual. I’m a practicing Roman Catholic, but I’m not an asshole about it - be who you wanna be, love who you wanna love, and believe in what you believe in, as long as you’re not an asshole I’m cool with you.

I was born in Chicago and lived there for a while, but me and my mom moved to Wisconsin shortly after my father passed away. Up here we basically live on a farm. We have a garden and lots of animals - two dogs and a whole flock of chickens, and we used to have horses and ducks too. I also used to have a bearded dragon (named George, because of St. George and the Dragon), but I took terrible care of the poor guy and he got sick and passed away.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a scientist really bad. To some extent I still do, but I’ve always loved story telling, so a few years ago I realized I wanted to be a creative writer instead. While I’m currently on break from university, while I was attending I had an English Major with a Creative Writing Focus. I never declared a minor, and I was intending on a Chemistry Minor, but I might decide on an Engineering Minor when I return.

Besides reading/playing IFs, I’m into video games, TTRPGs (which is actually how I got into Interactive Fiction), firearms, history, religion and mythology, and general culture stuff. Seeing some of that, I think you could see how I ended up with the ideas for this game lol. Some of my favorite games include Crusader Kings 3 (which is how I came up with the idea for this game, playing a custom character in the Duchy of Aquitaine), Hearts of Iron IV, Skyrim, Fallout 4 (I haven’t seen the show yet, please don’t spoil it ~_~), and Cyberpunk 2077.

As mentioned above, I got into Interactive Fiction because of my love of TTRPGs. I think I’ve mentioned this story before, but I’m into Vampire: the Masquerade, and shortly after V:tM - Night Road released, I bought and played it. Around this time last year I looked into Choice of Games because of it, and the rest is history.

Also, since I couldn’t fit it in anywhere else, some genres and writing/trope stuff I like:

Childhood friends to lovers (all time favorite romance trope)

Peggy Sue fix-it fics (after all, I’m writing one over on AO3 lmao)

The former friends reconciling while facing impossible odds

Blending genres, like with sci-fan or gothic western

Related to the above: when fantasy settings have sci-fi lore/origins, and vice versa (FE3H my beloved)

Tarot motifs (again, FE3H my beloved)

Eldritch/cosmic horror

Gothic settings

Dragons that are really weird (FEA my beloved. And again, FE3H my beloved)

Anyways, that’s really all I can think of. Also, a reminder: Warlock is the best class in D&D 5E /s

[airic-fenn]

If youre pissed that WOTC is revoking its old ogl, you might be wanting to boycott them go play other games for a bit.

Now Im not a die-hard expert on all the ttrpgs out there, but there are a few that I particularly like and recommend if you dont know where to start:

• Ryuutama

I love Ryuutama so much. Its a lot simpler than dnd and really gives older japanese rpg video game vibes. Its very cozy fantasy with a heavy focus on adventuring and story telling than on battling. The english translation was actually a kickstarter thing, and it’s also in dire need of more homebrew content because there was supposed to be a translation of the supplement but thats probably never gonna happen anytime soon, if ever.

• Call of Catthulhu

No, I did not spell it wrong. Put simply, Call of Catthulhu is Call of Cthulhu but with cats. You all play cats. Dont let that fool you though, it can get surprisingly tense and gruesome if you play it right. You’ll probably love it if you were a warrior cats kid.

• Delta Green (and CoC in general)

“Modern” (1980’s) setting for (actual) Call of Cthulhu. The CoC games are fun if you like mysteries, conspiracies and yknow. cosmic horror stuff.

• Traveller

A scifi rp where you play a dude in space (an explorer, traveller, soldier or trader). This one is fun because character creation is VERY extensive and is part of the gameplay, but before the story starts. You make roles to determine all of the things that happened to you prior to the adventure like, did you go to university, have you suffered any life-altering injuries to your mind or body bc of some terrible accident, did you accidentally get aged 50 years older by getting zapped through a wormhole? Fun stuff like that. My friend calls it the existential crises rpg.

• Pathfinder

I mention it obligatorily because people tell me its the most like dnd without technically being dnd but I havent played it.

Anyway there are definitely so many more games but those are the ones I’ve played (other than pathfinder) and enjoyed. Feel free to reblog with your own additions to the list.

[outerrimhorror]

Here are some cool pieces that my friend made with the pixel art style in mind! So, the first image is a rough concept of what the main game would look like. You'd move from space to space on the map to get from one side to the other, exploring, gathering resources, and avoiding dangers such as random encounters that would transition into a sort of text-based phase where you follow a short narrative (hopefully without losing a member of your posse), random weather events that are 100% not natural such as sand storms but the sand is shards of glass and literal acid rain that damages your wagon and hurts your posse, stampedes, giant creatures roaming about as depicted in the map image, etc. The other image is what a type of encounter could look like. In this case, it's a minigame where you have to slowly move your wagon across the screen without startling the creature in the background (which we shall call the turkey for now), or else risk it pecking at your wagon and having it gobble up something.

What it takes could be some supplies, animals, a member of your posse, or nothing at all and just damage the wagon. Oh yeah, and your posse members have a chance of freaking out and yelling, making you have to quickly click on a text bubble that pops out of the wagon to shut them up, so that's fun! But yeah! I think what my friend has done her is really cool and I honestly couldn't thank them more for helping. I have trouble explaining things and having a visual representation of what's in my head reaaally helps! I know this is a lot of random info, but I wanna get some basic ideas out first. I'll make some posts dedicated to specific things sometime later, but ye. Thanks for reading my ramblings! :>

[cyazurai]

Horrorween: a Sims CAS/Edit Challenge

This is a 31 day CAS or edit challenge based on horror genres in media (movies, video games, books, you name it). I didn't specify days on the graphics because it doesn't matter what order you want to do them, and you can skip whichever ones you don't want to do. I'll list them all below in order of how I wrote them originally, in case it's hard to read the graphic (I know it's not the easiest font).

If you decide to do this, please tag it with #SimsHorrorween!

I hope you like it! 🎃 Stay Spoopy!

General horror (any)

Psychological horror

Ghost hunting

Slasher

Paranormal horror (different than ghost hunting)

Comedy horror

Found footage

Backrooms/liminal

Family friendly horror (think Goosebumps)

Thriller

SCP Foundation

Survival horror

Folklore/urban legend horror

Monster movie horror

Cosmic/sci-fi horror

Cute horror

Camp horror

Dark fantasy

Gothic horror

Lovecraftian

Real horror (think stories people tell of real experiences that scared them)

Ocean horror

The Mandela Catalogue

Creepypasta (any)

Analog horror

Apocalyptic horror

Action horror

Home invasion horror

Cyber horror

Surrealist horror

Anything you want to do

[peachpitss]

The Player in your Undertale fic is cool. People usually get meta like that in Deltarune fic. What made you do that for Undertale and what do you think the canon relationship between Frisk and the Player is like? :O

ah!! this is such a challenging question. i'm glad you like the way i tackled the subject in my fanfics! i don't think i'd suggest using them as a blueprint for how to interpret the canon player/meta elements in UT per se, since it was mostly just unrestrained summer fun for me. i was just playing in the sandbox trying to figure out how to portray subjects that work MUCH better in a visual/interactive medium. hahaha

i've stated this elsewhere, but i don't think undertale is nearly as concerned with direct player/protagonist relationship and conflict as deltarune. in deltarune, the friction created by kris being seemingly aware of this relationship and their lack of autonomy is one of the plot's primary occupations. undertale seems more interested in playing with the meta of actual video game mechanics/frameworks and turning them diagetic. (hence saving/loading/resetting = timeline/time travel shenanigans.) but in a story where player input still shapes the world, despite the characters involved being much less directly aware of the fourth wall, i decided to depict the player as a sort of eldritch third influence. (the first two influences in my fic being frisk and chara respectively, since i was writing a narrator!chara fic.) the player as a mysterious miasma presence that you can't quite pin down or look at directly. if you had a player, but didn't know what the player was, how would you perceive that? on some level, what i've written may not really be canon-compliant. especially when i tackled the no mercy route. (i really upped the drama there and made things very direct!) and i wasn't really aiming for that, since i was just having fun! there are some really great people doing UTDR analysis, so i'm sure someone has articulated the canon meta elements in undertale much better than i could myself. i'm not generally a theory-crafter and don't have time to go scouring for canon bits to analyze right this second. but to answer your question: i'm not certain if there IS a canon diagetic relationship between frisk and the player since i don't think frisk specifically is aware of the player in the distinct way that kris is.

in my fic, i implied that the repetition of timelines over and over made the memory of where frisk and chara's actions and desires ended and where that "third influence" player element began blurry. IS this something frisk wants to do? is it prompted by something else? are your desires really your desires? it was an echo of frisk and chara themselves finding the boundaries between the two of them increasingly porous. so i was just taking some artistic license and having a lil writerly fun with those themes.

but i'd love to hear other interpretations/answers here bc i frankly just wanted an excuse to write cosmic horror. (':