thealexchen

[thealexchen]

my fave duo that barely interacted

[thealexchen]

HOW SWEEEET 😭

[thealexchen]

[thealexchen]

Chasing a loss, are we blooming or raging? Can a game really blend all these emotions into one

Hi again @daraactualtrash

I'm gonna answer "yes."

[thealexchen]

Min would

[thealexchen]

BLOOM AND RAGE - Autumn Lockhart

[thealexchen]

god the close ups in this game are phenomenal

[thealexchen]

BLOOM AND RAGE - Kat Mikaelsen

[thealexchen]

I got back from hiking in the snow with my huskies and I feel endlessly inspired by the beauty of the snowy landscapes. The snow creates such an ethereal world, I wish I could have stayed longer.

The inspiration photo and bonus dog tax

[thealexchen]

wait, there's shadows of swann too? I've only seen stuff about the kat and corey ones

Yup! It's speculated that adult Swann's shadow appears during the Bloody Mary scene, and it's her voice saying it back to teen Swann.

[thealexchen]

What do you think will happen in Tape 2? I think, based on the trailer and the reminiscing flashbacks, we're gonna do something to Corey's bike, by keying it, or choosing to do something worse, and then he'll burn the hideout as payback and cause a forest fire. I feel like we might get a choice that determines what happens to Corey. Like, do we save him, or let him die in the fire? Also, I'm curious what could be in the box. If it turns out to be a head, I am gonna scream.

I don't think it's a head!! 😂 It's the size of a shoebox and you can hear something small rattling around inside if you turn the box around. If anything, it might be Swann's VHS tapes of that summer or her old camcorder. I don't do a lot of theory crafting, so just bear with me here.

From the reveal trailer, we definitely know Fawn's Rest/Curse will sadly burn down at some point. The group in 2022 speaks about it in the past tense in a way that implies it's not there anymore, and Swann also implies she "lost" a lot of her sentimental items before she moved like they were destroyed instead of simply misplaced, and a lot of those items were in the cabin.

Given DN's track record (like Nathan and Victoria), Corey and Dylan are likely red herrings. This game might not have a main antagonist at all, with its pacing and smaller cast of characters. More likely, the fire could've been an accident, since there's a prominent fireplace in the cabin, and it spread into the forest.

Alternatively, Kat could start a fire at the ranch out of anger at her family-- maybe her beloved fawn Gertie was killed, or the Abyss is affecting her mental state. All the girls' eyes glow purple the day after they see and throw something into the Abyss, and it seems to be strengthened by anger and hate, given how the purple glow shows up on Corey's face and he seems to become physically hurt and feel threatened by them enough to leave the scene.

In the very beginning of the game, the girls are running for their lives from a person in a wolf mask. I think that's most likely Corey. If he's a red herring, either it's a prank gone wrong, or the Abyss is affecting him.

Some other theories I've seen mostly on Reddit:

You as Swann have to make some big choices during the fire, and her appearance in 2022 could be choice-determinant (a possible reason why all her 2022 scenes are in first-person. Like, maybe she has burn scars depending on your choices).

Kat is trapped in the Abyss and possibly still 16 years old. Either she jumped in herself, or the girls made some insane trade to keep her alive and healthy.

Kat is in the Abyss and that's why the group can't remember the summer of 1995 clearly

Swann got affected by the Abyss somehow and it altered her appearance or memories

Time travel/shadows theory: The freeze-frame shadows of various characters (discovered to be Swann, Corey, and Kat) are their characters across time. The person who says "Bloody Mary" back to Swann sounds a lot like... adult Swann. Could that be her stuck in a time loop or briefly sent back to 1995? Another example is in the last scene of Tape 1, when Swann, Nora, and Autumn in 2022 briefly see their teenage selves in the parking lot of The Blue Spruce the night of the concert. Swann looks down at the box, back up, and they're gone again. Stylistic choice, or did they actually see their past selves?

The fifth girl theory: Some Redditors have speculated that the Abyss affected the girls' memories to the extent that they forgot an entire additional person. The box says "I WAS THERE" and "REMEMBER 1995" and the game has a few odd moments where the camera is no longer behind Swann's shoulder but from the POV of someone else. Fake cameraman, or secret fifth girl? I don't think it's as likely for DN to introduce a whole new character at the end of the game when they put so much effort into characterizing the quartet, but it's fun to think about.

Kat sent the package across time

Or, Kat sent the package in the present day and is secretly alive

Dylan sent the package

Pam and Gus sent the package

Pam and Gus are the secret villains or they're involved with the supernatural happenings in Velvet Cove

The possible "fifth friend" sent the package

Nora isn't actually married anymore and she's putting on a front for how happy she seems (okay I know this one is much more lighthearted but I wanna see endgame canon sapphic middle-aged relationships! Please!!)

The game will not have a happy ending (it's Dontnod, but the game also opens with Swann either agreeing or not with her mom's take about happy endings at her book club)

Call me crazy but... I think the girls might be queer. But I'm not sure yet. /j

Thank you for asking!

[thealexchen]

From each of the LIS games - did you have a fav episode from each of the games?

Yeah I do!

LiS1: Despite the conventional idea that stories lag at their midpoints, LiS1's pacing meant that Episode 3, "Chaos Theory" became my favorite episode. DN is so good at character-driven storytelling, so the scenes of Max and Chloe in the pool and in Chloe's room the next morning are my two favorite back-to-back scenes in the entire game. Nothing has been resolved yet, but it's the calm before the devastating revelations about Rachel, and a moment where the game intentionally slows down to let Max and Chloe have a rare moment of peace where they can reflect on the week (and their reunion) so far.

BtS: Similarly, Episode 2, "Brave New World" was my favorite for its back-to-back Tempest play and Chloe and Rachel's first kiss scenes. It's once again the moment in the story that allows the characters to breathe and just enjoy themselves, right before the bomb-drop about Rachel's mother. Those two scenes really, really capture what it's like to be a young and naive 16-year-old experiencing real queer joy for the first time.

LiS2: I think Episode 1, "Roads," really left an impression on me for how different it set itself out to be from LiS1. The raw grief, secret-keeping, early disorientation of the road trip where Sean is wandering without a plan, and emphasis on survival reminded me of TLOU and added urgency to the plot and pacing. There's bittersweetness in witnessing Daniel's innocence so early on and knowing it can't last. It's also Sean and Daniel's relationship at their purest before the morality system can set in, which is also bittersweet.

TC: Episode 5, "Side B," is honestly a mess, but it became my favorite episode because it hit me the hardest. True Colors played it much safer than previous games and was overall much more lighthearted and hopeful, but Alex's nightmare showed that all that darkness was always just beneath the surface. The back-to-back-to-back emotional punches of Mrs. Chen's death in the hospital, Mr. Chen abandoning his kids, and Alex being rejected over and over in foster care was devastating and proved just how resilient she is. There's a reason Gabe's quote is my blog title! If I could change the way it's presented, I wish these dream sequences could've been introduced earlier, like maybe Alex falls asleep in earlier episodes and dreams of the original scenarios with memories blocked out, and the nightmare in "Side B" is Gabe correcting Alex's memory and giving that speech. And after all that, it sets the context for how much hope and goodness she still has in her-- in being able to possibly forgive Jed and by extension herself, and envision a good future.

Thank you for asking!

[thealexchen]

Unpopular opinion but if you don't enjoy the process you should find a different thing to do.

And I think this is true in general but now I'm talking about it in the context of AI.

If you don't enjoy making art and only care about the end piece and how it'll look and how much traction it"lol get online then making art is not something for you, find something you enjoy from start to finish.

Same goes for writing: if you do not enjoy writing and rewriting and then some more and instead want AI to write for you, being a writer is not something you should pursue.

Sure, not every part of creative process is going to be equally enjoyable but you should get satisfaction from solving the problems along the way and you should get a sense of accomplishment on your way of "making the piece yours" and you should have a sense of ownership once you are done.

None of these things will come from typing in a prompt into chatGPT. And I am sad to see so many people are missing on the opportunity to experience the joy of making something with their own hands and brains.

[thealexchen]

Bloom & Rage

[thealexchen]

Oh my god that's fucking hilarious

[thealexchen]

shrek 5's teaser animation isnt bad you're just nostalgic for movies made in 2001

[thealexchen]

A little Kat doodle to start the week right.