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hummingbird-games · 5 months

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2023 In Review (Indie Games)

Last year's! | 2021

I apologize in advance for how long this might be. As a reminder, I don't bash games here so even if I hated something with every fiber of my being...I ain't sharing. As a second reminder, my more in depth reviews and live blogging has moved to Gem's Game Gems so I don't clutter the HBG's main blog. Okay. ON WITH THE REVIEW!!

DEMOS

Diffraction (Demo)- A rainy day otome indeed. I love the quiet gentleness of this game, the two romance options, and the fact that our MC is a photographer and struggling with her art and stack of life "failures" (because...SAME!!)

Alaris - I was asleep and now I am awake: I came late for the advertised fae and dragon lore, stayed seated and waiting for Fenir zjgjdf. Oh, and I guess the mystery surrounding our MC's abilities LOL.

The Summit Library - When I say I was maaaaaad when I realized I blew through chapter 1 and would have to go back to waiting for more content??? LOL, I was very miffed. Anyhoo, check out this title for the gorgeous art, another intriguing mystery (like what is *up* with the magic in the poor library?? who or what is to blame?? 👀) and of course the lovely characters we've been introduced to thus far.

Of Sense and Soul - I'm a regency romance girl. Like after you strip away the other stuff, I am but a poor woman with simple needs: a good ass love story 🤧💛 It's about the yearning and the slow burn and the will they/won't they/PLEASEEE they...I've never been so charmed by a demo, and the full game is going to be amazing I just know it!

Made Marion - This project is a game I've been keeping tabs on for a hot minute but hadn't taken the time to sit and properly enjoy the demo. I'M SO GLAD I DID!!! It's in early access now, so I'm hoping eventually I'll be able to carve out some time to play, but guysss Velvet Cupcake is doing the Thing?!? No idea which love interest I'll go for first, but I had a fun time meeting the Nottingham peeps in the demo.

Herotome (Super Demo) - Oh gosh. Oh gosh oh gosh oh my GOSHHH. Where do I even began?? (Really the question is where the hell do I end because this is one of those projects I talk about a lot/think about a lot and surprisingly haven't run out of things to say zkjfksjd). Another game I've been following for a while, it 100% lives up to the superhero genre in its aesthetic, the characters you interact with, the music and sound design, and of course the slowly unfurling story. Jade and Mia had come out as my top faves, Warden is still there, like hovering in the backgroud, shhhh but I have a special place in my heart for Griffin too (that conversation we have with her?? I have so many screenshots just so I can go back and reread and sear the words in my brain. Like a weirdo. Yup.)

Celestial Crowns - Stats building, celestial royalty, dating sim where you fuck around and find out your choices directly affect your MC's personality?? I'm sat. I supported the Kickstarter and now I try to practice patience for the full game's release siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighh.

OTOME/JOSEI JAM

Please note this is a SUPER abridged list for my sanity and I fell a little more in love with these 2 jams with each entry I played...

Intertwine - As embarrassing as it sounds, I've never given much thought to the "red string" thing, and I consume more than enough romance media LOL!! But Van is suuuuuch a beautiful man, the UI for this game is so interactive and lovely, the music is ALSO lovely, just lovely-love all the way around teehee. (Also this game encourages replayabillity so like, do with that info what you will.)

Spring Boy [Demo] - I believe this game is going through a complete rehaul, so my thoughts and feelings refer to the original jam entry I played. The art is bright and cute and it's a super super short demo, but I was intrigued by the other student we meet on our mission to plead with our professor about our bombed exam lol!

Assignment Due: Project Blue - IRl group projects??? Suck absolute ass. Group projects with a guy name Asher?? Suddenly it's my new favorite thing in the world 😁

Cryptid Campaign Manager [DEMO] - Remember the last time I looked over a cryptid dating sim??? Remember how I was SUCH a fool?? Good thing I didn't make that mistake again!! The prologue is such a tease but you get an idea of what the full game is gonna be like, and I'm excited to see where my career involving love (and politics) goes!

Heart Cage [Demo] - Yoooooo I stay my ass far far far away from yanderes (could never get into the trope or the character type). WELP. Guess I just needed to keep searching because I really downloaded this off a whim--well, the whim being one of my fellow dev peers playing and rating-- and proceeded to get sucked in 🤧I thought being a detective would be the highlight, but I guuuueeesssss I was more into the romance options than I thought. Oops.

Evernight - I tried to explain what this game meant to me on the side blog, but words failed me. I still don't know what to say other than I loved it?? Which is like ummm I say I love everything, and yeah I'm easy to please BUT Y'ALLLLLL if you play no other game, play this one. Please. Date a werewolf. Or a vampire. Or a fae. Plz. Also figuring out the mystery of your MC's abilities and past is just delightful, ugh.

Bright Oak (demo) - Anotha one I wrote about on the side blog!!! Play this one!!! The writing is lush and atmospheric and the characters are all delightful and it's another game with a mystery to untangle!

The Faithfulness of the Universe- This one gets the award for most unique all around entry that I played. Theeeeee prettiest pixel art to bless my eyeballs, and this tasty mystery concerning Fate and witch Faustina's future (or lack thereof 👀) and what it all means. As a player I very much want to know what it all means!

A Cup For All Seasons - Another game that needs its flowers y'all. It's short but super healing and super cozy and the voice acting and music really tie the gaming experience together???

The Working Woman's Guide to Burning Bridges - DEMO - It's the way I played the demo twice and I've been thinking about it ever since 😭😭😭🙃 obviously life happens and things come up, plus this was a demo. But. BUT!!! I am on my hands and knees prayinnggg the team gets together again to finish the game. I love playing as a stressed, lowkey bitter hot mess who doesn't have her life together 😂somehow the fictional version is soooo much more entertaining!!!

Keyframes (Spring Demo) - After the game College Craze, this is legit THE college, slice of life visual novel of my dreams. I cannot wait for the updated demo next year, and the Kickstarter whenever that rolls around. And now that the developer is on Tumblr, I've definitely been stalking the account and reading each new post like it's my day/night/weekend job 🤧

Hello Counsel 💋 - Okay I take it back, Evernight is like a 20/10 but Hello Counsel is like an 100/10 👁️👄👁️ This game is necessary for my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health, alright? The banter ✅ the character designs ✅ the music ✅ the sizzling chemistry between Poise and Salem ✅ I wish this game had more buzz because IT'S SO GOOD!!! (also the dev, Miseri, is who I wanna be when I grow up. I've made it through almost their whole backlog of games and there are no misses and EVERY game is different from the rest and it makes it hard for a toodler dev--ME--to cope LOL)

Candied Hearts - Isekaied into a candy themed game?? Sign me TF UP!!! (Peppermint I love you dearly, you must understand.)

Fully Released & Played (at least 1 playthrough)

The Knight's Dilemma - I don't even know how I originally stumbled upon this??? I just know it had been in my backlog for a hot minute and I was intrigued enough to save it way back when. Y'ALL WHY DIDN'T I PLAY SOONER SKJFHFJFH! There's a couple different endings, I loved the voice direction, AND it's such a simple concept of a game that was just executed beautifully.

Trouble Comes Twice - If I had to make a top 5 list of romance VNs, guess who makes the list?? Guess. Guess guess guess. Have you guessed yet??? LOL! I have been in love with TCT since it's development days and with each passing month, waiting in anticipation, playing the Pateron beta builds, screaming on the main blog about every single thought I had about Jace and Hazel (shoutout to Jace for helping me figure out *me*) Lol if you're curious about said thoughts, those posts are on this blog and not the side blog.

Aelfric the Wondrous - 10/10 would love to forget my first play through JUST to have that experience fresh again 😭😭💛Cute and funny and a wonderful parody type game all around.

A Summer's End - Hong Kong 1986 - Goodness, there's no excuse for why this took me years to finish but anyhoo, I finished, I loved it, I recommend it! It's romantic and achingly authentic and the art is soooo gorgeous I literally can't stand it 😭

The Things You Do For Love - Unhinged yandere manages to entertain and garner sympathy and laughter from Gemini. And that poly ending is chef's kiss too????

Band Camp Boyfriend - There are a handful of games I found and loved before I began my game development journey, and this is one of them. BCB is so dear to me, because of the story and characters but also because of the Dynamic Duo creators and their team behind the scenes. I was never a band kid I was a chorus kid but just as the band geeks loved this game to pieces, us normal folks do too!! Even the boys who I didn't like I STILL managed to find joy in playing their routes (still have a few more to finish at the time of this posting lol, GOTTA GET THE FINAL ROUTE YO). Anyway, this game more than delivered for me and I hope more people keep discovering it!!

Belle Automata: Chronicle I [RELEASED] - While only Chronicle 1 is out at the time of this posting, I already know that the 2nd and 3rd parts are going to be just as amazing???? I wrote about this one on the side blog, so here's my copypaste that still rings true:

I love TNP (The Nightmare Prince) but Victor’s route hit the sweet spot for me. Maybe it’s the slow(er) burn nature of this route, maybe it’s the reserved nature of Victor and watching him slowly start to care (AND NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE FEELINGS TEEHEE) for me.

A Date with Death - I wrote about this on the side blog--again--. The demo. And then right after finishing a route. And then again where I was fully awake and still managed to sound deranged. No copypaste for that, I shall be nice. But yeah!! Another game where I was screaming at the sky about how much I love it and how I'll never know peace as long as I live.

Our Life: Baxter DLC - I need to offer an official apology to both Cove and Derek because falling head over heels, down the stairs, crashing into the parking lot, falling again but down a manhole for Baxter's infuriating ass was NOT on my 2023 bingo board??? HELLO???? I bought his DLC just to complete my OL collection. Was not expecting to love it this much. Was not expecting to be called to write fanfic and abandon all responsibilities to do this. WHILE DOWN WITH COVID TOO. Allow me to play the song of my people. *Send in the Clowns plays*

Our Cinderella - (this is so funny I'm taking about a side game before the main game LOLOLOLOL) Guys. Guysss. You guyyyysss 🥹if you're looking for a cozy, hilarious, equally oddly and wonderfully sweet short game, this is the one!! You may have your personal favorite Iggy ship (like me) but all the pairings are so amazing and just make sense lol!

Wylde Flowers - This is the only non visual novel game on here but it gets the spotlight because I did NOT spend 90+ hours on this game to gatekeep this beauty. No. It the coziest, the funniest, the funnest, the most addictive Switch game (after Teacup) I've ever played.

Fully Released (& still on 1st playthrough)

Garden of Seif: Chronicles of an Assassin - Life kicked my butt and then sat on me SO while I finally got my grubby hands on the full copy, I still have only played the entirety of the demo. But. We will return to this in 2024 and hopefully I'll have a full review for the next wrap up!

Our Wonderland - I looked back at the side blog and I can't believe it was only THIS year that I started OW??? Because I'd known of the game and the dev for longer than that??? So basically what I'm saying is that I was chicken shit for longer than I've been in love with this world that Developer Carrot has created kjzhhshggj. But OMG to get me, who is scared oh so easily to get hella invested in this clearly labeled horror game??????????????? And even with shit gets super absurd and hella disturbing, I cannot stop playing. At the time of this post, I'm only in Act 4, hence the category above, but it's only because I play each act in a sitting and lose track of space and time and myself. That's a compliment btw.

...

Okie!! That's 2023 in a nutshell! I played a looooot of really good games this year and while I would have liked to talk about them all, I think this list provides a nice overview.

Let me know if we share any favorites!

- Gemini 💛

#gaming year in review #gamedev rambles #yeah no I cannot keep creating more work for me #2024 I am GOING to make a shorter list 😭🤧#hmmmm fun drinking game:#take a shot every time the word 'mystery' is used ☠️

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jommycham · 2 months

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Spirit Hunter NG Radio Drama Bonus CD [Ultra Rough Translation]

[Spirit Doctor Yashiki Kazuo's Consultation Room]

An honest attempt at a translation of the bonus drama CD that came with the purchase of NG: Extreme Kaidanchi. Beware of some minor spoilers if you have not played through all the Spirit Hunter games.

Note: Only did this for fun, and I am not fluent in Japanese, so inaccuracies are expected.

Disclaimers:

This bonus CD is an edited version of Yashiki's Consultation Room that was originally broadcasted on the EXP channel. Some questions sent in by viewers have been altered. What occurs in the Consultation Room should be treated as a parallel universe to the main storyline— therefore all comments made in these sessions are NOT canon.

(btw, Yashiki's title here is "Kai Ika" (怪医家)— or literally "Strange Doctor," which is probably where the "Spirit Doctor" came from.)

✄--------------------------------------------

I did my best with my (admittedly) shoddy translation, and cleaned it up a bit to have it sound more coherent. Again, I do not speak or understand much Japanese, so despite my best attempts, portions can be wrong (though most of it should be reasonably correct). I will highlight those unsure sections accordingly. There are also very small parts I've omitted, either due to it being too difficult to understand (for me) or to smooth the flow of the translation. 🙇‍♀️Thank you very much for your understanding and putting up with my impulsive DM brain rot.

-----------------------------------------------

This CD features Yashiki and Mashita answering the audience's concerns/worries. Yashiki receives these burning questions through occult magazines. This time, however, Yashiki specifically calls Mashita in due to a request from OOPArts, much to Mashita's chagrin.

☕︎ Late for School Reader: This question is basically taken from EXP 4th Season #3 Voice Drama (where it's Yashiki, Moe, and Mashita) regarding the viewer who couldn't get up early.

Yashiki: Moe has answered this before, and I suggest rather than buying a cat, to take supplements, don't accumulate stress, go to bed early, get plenty of sleep, and have yourself plenty of coffee and sugar as soon as you wake up.

Mashita: Well, I guess that's the sort of advice you'd give. At my previous job, I'd take a shower or wash my face with cold water.

Yashiki: Even if someone else wakes me up, I still have to put in majority of the effort through the rest of the process.

➥The answers to this question are a lot more fleshed out in the actual livestream VD, such as the cat thing, the supplements being part of Mashita's answer, and Saya mention for the "someone else."

☕︎ Bug Hater Reader: Also a question taken from the above mentioned Voice Drama about a reader asking about how to handle cleaning the house while bugs are roaming during the summer.

Mashita: You're the type of person who doesn't hesitate to pick things up and put it in your bag. You (the reader) can also try hiring someone or contacting a cleaning company.

[Yashiki is concerned that Mashita also doesn't really like touching gross things and asks if he's okay.]

[Mashita explains that both of them are basically in the same line of work, so it's not like he hesitates either to touch things.]

Yashiki: That's true.

☕︎ Summer vacation is almost over, but my eldest daughter hasn't finished her homework. What should I do, Mr. Yashiki? What did you do with your homework during summer vacation?

Yashiki: The Kujo Family already finished their homework early into summer vacation. How about you, Mashita?

Mashita: Well, it's kind of a hassle, so I tried to finish it early. But I always remember not being able to finish my literature essay/book review until the last moment. It was the only part I didn't fully understand.

*TERROR SOUND EFFECT*

Yashiki: I loved reading books and I don't remember having difficulties with them. Shou doesn't do his in the first place. Moe and Tsukasa seem to be the types who get it done first thing. Suzu seems like she'd get it done unexpectedly early. Eita probably does it early, too. Ai seems the type to get it done and put the rest of her energy into her hobbies.

Mashita: If your parents are willing to help you, it might not be a bad idea to plan your hobbies and leisure activities for the latter half of your summer vacation and finish the homework by then.

Yashiki: And if you don't finish your homework...

*dramatic sound effect*

Yashiki: ... you'll die at dawn. Well, if you can imagine a curse like that/wouldn't be surprising if there was a curse like that.

Mashita: Tch, I wouldn't want that.

➥ The term Mashita uses here is "Dokusho Kanshoubun," and I am not familiar with the specifics of what summer homework consists of, so the closest thing I went with was a book review of sorts.

➥ I got kind of lost on his descriptions, so I honestly wasn't sure who was being described, so the details may be mixed up.

☕︎ I'm waking up in the middle of the night with the need to go to the bathroom. But there are times where I get scared and don't want to go. What should I do in times like these? If you have any tips or advice, please let me know!

Yashiki: Actually, come to think of it...

Mashita: Wait. Just turn on the lights, that's the answer.

Yashiki: What's the hurry, Mashita? I was just trying to...

Mashita: I'm trying to keep you from making an ill-advised comment.

Yashiki: Was it going to be that terrible?

Mashita: No doubt. With this, we're done with the question.

Mashita: Tch, who was the one who chose this question? Maybe they were half-asleep at the time. Well, off to the next one.

➥ I could not tell if Yashiki was asking if his answer was going to be that awful or he was saying "that's terrible (coming from Mashita)." I went with the former to be safe.

☕︎ One afternoon, I was taking the bus to the hospital, and the bus stopped at a bus stop. It was on a main street with only cars and a few pedestrians passing by, making it look quite deserted. The bus driver opened the doors and stared outside. I watched from the back seat as the driver repeatedly, with an impatient tone, asked someone if they were getting on or not. The driver gave up on asking and started driving off. As the bus drove away, I kept looking outside, but didn't see anyone at the bus stop or on the sidewalk of the main street. I wondered who the driver was talking to, or if he had talked to anyone in the first place.

I suddenly remembered this recently— what exactly happened, and how would you interpret it, Mr. Yashiki?

There's a section where Mashita goes into a short explanation in regards to this particular question. I am not sure if he is talking about the reader's question or their reply— but basically either this question has been submitted before (didn't make it into the actual Consultation segment) or it has been replied to, but the reply was not published. Therefore, the editorial department has requested this question be submitted/replied to again.

Yashiki: I remember this question. My original reply was that since it was the driver's actions, it's technically not a paranormal phenomenon.

Mashita: Well, if we can't be sure, we still need to interpret it from that angle (?). What do you think about the situation?

Yashiki: I think it might be someone from the future who came to your rescue, and thanks to them delaying the bus' departure, a major accident was avoided.

Mashita: You're still naive as ever, but worse. No matter who that person was, in the end, you're the one who created that anxiety. You shouldn't willingly go with their plans.

Yashiki: By interpreting the situation in a way that doesn't make me anxious, it allows me to avoid getting swallowed up by fear.

➥ The specific phrase Mashita uses is "お花畑," or "ohanabatake," which means a field of flowers. It seems to be used to describe someone who is carefree or blind.

➥ The answer sort of starts leaning into the more philosophical side towards the end? At least on the basis where my interpretation of "that person" is the imagined time traveler of Yashiki's explanation. If not, I'm terribly sorry.

☕︎ At my previous workplace, there was a tree (?) that always made a ringing noise at night. It was close to a residential area, with an apartment building and a small community center in its parking lot. For some reason, it doesn't bother me on my way to work, and I only hear it on the way home. It also doesn't bother me during early shifts, so I assume the noise only occurs at night. The sound is different every time, ranging from the metallic sound like that of gold or a sandstorm. On bad days the ringing in my ears causes headaches and anemia. I had heard from a friend that the place was haunted/visited by spirits; so I started wondering if it was a paranormal experience.

Yashiki: I answered this question at the time it was originally submitted, but it remains the same. I can't deny the possibility [of it being a paranormal event]. I'm pretty sure the advice given to you was to sing a song. There's also the option of keeping an omamori and listening to your favorite music through earphones. I don't know how effective it is, but as I have said previously— try to avoid feeling anxious as much as possible.

☕︎ I'm an idol who loves the occult, and I love reading about them. I want to consult Mr. Yashiki, as there have been many instances of paranormal sightings in H City. There are also rumors of new sightings circulating on message boards as of late. I'm a bit nervous about investigating it by myself, so can you please help me out? I wonder if the rumors are true or not...

Yashiki: I don't recommend investigating it, because there's a chance you could die.

Mashita: But I guess they can't just leave it be.

Yashiki: This is a difficult question...

Mashita: In any case, I would like to have some more information so I can do some research on this.

Yashiki: I'm sorry, but I'd appreciate it if you could send what you know to the editorial department. I recommend you never investigate matters like these alone.

Afterword

Yashiki: Alright.

Mashita: I think this is enough, about 10 minutes.

Yashiki: I’ll hand the audio recording to Moe later today.

Mashita: I'll leave it to you.

Yashiki: I hope this helps someone with their troubles.

Mashita: Perhaps.

Yashiki: Will you be willing to help out next time?

[Pause]

Mashita: ... Tch. Hm.

Yashiki: Please look after me./Thank you in advance.

➥ The phrase is "yoroshiku tanomu yo," which I've seen can be translated into "please look after —" or just used generally for requesting a favor. I was debating using "I'm counting on you" since it sort of made better sense in this context, but Yashiki ended it with "よ" which is much more casual/polite than "ぜ." I ended up opting for a more... gentler way of phrasing this? I genuinely didn’t know how to write it in a way that conveys how he spoke other than this ( ´_ゝ`).

Spirit Doctor Yashiki's Consultation Room: In addition to our regular consultations, we are also accepting everyday troubles. Please contact us here.

Thank you very much for sticking til the end here. ヾ(´ー`)ﾉ゛ I've been going through some pretty severe rot and this helped to alleviate it somewhat (despite how piss poor my efforts are). It's interesting to see different sides to characters even if it's not entirely canon.

As a lil bonus, I want to show those of you who haven't watched Nezuka Ryo's voice over for the entirety of DM1— Kawabata Yoshiaki's (Mashita's VA) introduction! The gap is... actually really cute in a way???

#death mark #spirit hunter #kazuo yashiki #satoru mashita #spirit hunter drama cd #very awful translation attempt pls do not look at me #death mark brainrot got me #死印 #死噛 #shiin

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lightninginapuddle · 5 months

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Blackbeard's musical theme S1 vs S2 observations

I've been rewatching the show recently to find the scenes where Blackbeard's Theme is used, and here are some observations I can share with those interested. I'm not going to get technical or anything, just pinpoint some things I found interesting in the use of that theme in the context of the show, the characters, and the scenes it appears in.

Just so you have it in your ears, this is Blackbeard’s Theme. When I searched for scenes, I was looking for a specific leitmotif that derives from the very beginning of that linked song: the 3 held, rumbly, low notes (E, G and D#/Eb in that order), or a variation of that pattern. In the show, this main theme is often followed by strings playing a high-pitched sustained harmony with fast repeated notes (that or maybe these are long slow strokes with lots of vibrato, you tell me, I don't play a string instrument).

The theme is meant to be menacing.

My observations under the cut, sorry it's a little messy!

- Season 1: the theme is introduced by Izzy in A Damned Man and last heard in a scene with Ed in Wherever You Go, There You Are. The theme is never played for anyone else but them throughout season 1.

- Season 2: the theme is reintroduced by Ed at the wedding in Impossible Birds, and we last hear it at the beginning of Izzy’s death scene in Mermen.

- Contrary to season 1, the theme also appears with the crew when they are fighting with each other in Fun and Games, and with Lucius when he's alone and holding the wooden shark in The Curse of the Seafaring Life. The theme we hear in the scene with the crew is a variation from the original theme.

Some analysis could be drawn from this, such as Blackbeard's poison leaking out of Izzy and Ed and contaminating the crew and reflecting in the way their trauma is portrayed on screen. The theme being heard with lucius is particularly interesting to me, though I'm still trying to form my analysis of this. Maybe because the shark is a physical embodiment of Blackbeard to Izzy? And thus the essence of Blackbeard is transferred to that wooden shark? Who knows, your guess is as good as mine.

- Season 1: the theme is in 21 scenes in 5 episodes only (2,3,4,6 and 10). I’d argue that Izzy is the driving force of the theme in at least half of these scenes (12/21 vs Ed 9/21) as he carries the threatening essence of the theme.

- More than half of those appearances are in only 2 episodes: The Art of Fuckery (7 scenes) and Discomfort in a Married State (5 scenes), but never less than 3 scenes per episode for the other episodes.

- Season 1: we don't hear the theme in The Best Revenge is Dressing Well, This is Happening, We Gull Way Back and Act of Grace. It's interesting to note that, apart from Act of Grace, Izzy and Ed don't interact at all in those episodes.

- Season 2: 14 scenes in 6 episodes (1,2,3,4,5,8). The theme centers a lot more around Ed. At first because he's lost in the persona of Blackbeard and carries the threatening essence of the theme, and then because his fractured vision of himself is mending back with the Kraken and Ed to become one by the end of the season.

- 11 of those scenes are in 3 episodes: Impossible Birds and Mermen (4 scenes each) and Fun and Games (3 scenes). We hear the theme in only one scene for the other three episodes.

- Season 2: similarly, we don't hear the theme at all in Calypso's Birthday and Man on Fire. Maybe signifying the healing amongst everyone involved with Blackbeard? Ed is turning poison into positivity and the crew is healing and embracing him back, and similarly Izzy is embracing his own self-discovery rather than focusing on Blackbeard. In Man on Fire, Blackbeard seems to have become something of the past, especially symbolised with Ed throwing his leathers in the ocean.

- Season 1: the theme is recognizable from one scene to the other, sometimes changing the melody of the motif a little bit, sometimes it’s instrumentalized a little differently (a piano instead of a cello for example), sometimes the motif is only one or two notes, but it mostly stays the same throughout the season.

- The only two times I can think of when the theme is the most “different” is in 1) The Art of Fuckery, when Ed is doing a fuckery with fireworks and descending from the sky with a harness. There, the theme mirrors the theatricality of the scene; 2) the very last time we hear the theme in Wherever You Go, There You Are, when Ed keeps Jim and Frenchie on his crew. The theme is sped up, more colorful and rhythmically more dynamic. To me, it symbolises the change in Blackbeard's persona as someone a lot less stable and more dangerous.

- Season 2: still mostly the same theme but it shapeshifts a lot more. The range gets broader, getting more and more high pitched, to the point of being shrill at times, which contrasts a lot with the low, rumbling sound of the cello we're so used to hearing, the main melody has more variations (with the crew in Fun and Games, with Izzy in Fun and Games and Mermen) and it even appears very distorted when Buttons is talking to a bound Ed in Fun and Games. Interestingly, the theme appears in more distinctly different variations in Fun and Games than any other episode, when every one is dealing with the brunt of their trauma.

- Season 2: when Ed is pointing his gun at the crew then at himself in Impossible Birds, the theme is the most shrill we've ever heard as the tension rises, with the same sustained harmony from the original motif played at a very high pitch and doesn't cease to be played until Izzy yells and the music completely stops. It picks back up once Ed shoots him, and the lower range of the theme emerges as well with the shrill harmony.

- Season 2: When we hear the theme with Ed by himself in Mermen, it's never heard on its own anymore. We hear it partnered with the Kraken theme and/or Gnossienne n°5. BUT the theme is pretty much in its original form and at that point in the season, we haven't heard it like that since Impossible Birds (if I'm not mistaken).

- Season 1: This happens only once, where the echo of Blackbeard's theme quickly morphs into Gnossienne when Stede realizes that maybe Ed does fancy a fine fabric in Discomfort In A Married State. (And no, I’m not taking the Kraken Theme followed by Gnossienne in The Art of Fuckery into account, as I’m only focusing on Blackbeard’s Theme here).

- Season 2: Let me also point out that we don't hear the theme with Ed after his discussion with Buttons in Fun and Games, and it's so fractured and distorted that it's hard to recognize at all. We hear it with the crew, Izzy and Lucius but not Ed until Mermen. And it comes back in Mermen following Pop Pop telling Ed to go back to what he is good at. This time however, what he's good at is not only being Blackbeard but channeling all the parts of himself to protect others.

- Also, as mentioned before, Izzy has a strong connection to the theme in season 1 but not nearly as much in season 2, if at all. The theme really is his in 2, arguably 3, scenes even though he is present in more than those two scenes (6/14). Now this is my interpretation, you're free to make your own, but I tend to analyze this as him losing control over Blackbeard, especially at the beginning of the season where we can see how he doesn’t know how to stop the spiral Ed is in. Izzy wanted Blackbeard and not Edward but it resulted in him having neither. And the disappearance of the theme with Izzy also symbolises that, Blackbeard doesn’t belong to him anymore. It's even more clear when we consider how Izzy was a driving force to the theme in season 1 or at least Ed and Izzy shared the theme somewhat equally -though in Izzy's favor (12 for Izzy, 9 for Ed)-, yet in season 2, 9 scenes out of 14 are all Ed compared to Izzy's 2/3.

- When the theme is heard with him again, Izzy is at his lowest point mentally. He's lost his leg and throws the unicorns ones to the feet of the crew before falling down and crawling away while the crew watches him move away with concern and pity. I personally think the theme coming back in that moment is some sort of reckoning for Izzy, and the theme is a variation of the original one too. Izzy fully faces what pushing for Blackbeard to keep existing cost him and he's having a hard time coping with it.

- The last two times we hear the theme with him after that, are: when he talks to Ricky, and the theme turns almost positive, hopeful even, maybe Izzy is allowing Blackbeard to be something positive instead of negative, paralleling Ed doing the same as he embraces all the parts of himself? Then, as a last echo, the final nail in the coffin so to speak, the theme shows up at the very beginning of Izzy's death scene. Here, the theme is higher pitched than the original version of it, and feels tight, strained and weak, almost paralleling Izzy holding onto life.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions if you even read all of that. That was a lot of rambles, sorry!

#ofmd #our flag means death #no one will care but eh #ofmd music #ofmd meta #ofmd analysis #feel free to correct me as well I might have missed A LOT of stuff #but this is at the top of my head for now #might add some stuff later on #my gifs

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hesokuri-wars · 6 months

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I never got the chance to play this game, but it looks so fun... Why was it shut down? Also, are there any other oso-san games still available?

Well, nobody here was playing around the time of the shutdown, so we wouldn't really be experts on the situation. Either way, game staff in general don't just outright tell players the reasons for discontinuation, but I think the safe assumption would be that they simply didn't have the budget to keep it running anymore. Which... honestly, was a possibility that I had been concerned about for a while, given how much the game grew to rely on its whales. I could be way off on this, but the fact that they flat started requiring to spend money to roll for premium sets had the alarm bells going off in my head.

As for the (mobile) games still available now, there are three - Pokomatsu, Tabimatsu, and NEETPro, all of which region-locked to only Japan (assuming you don't live there, if you want to know of a way to get around this issue, follow the instructions in the FAQ under "how to install the app" - the process should be the same).

And because I have thoughts on all of them, I wrote up a brief description on each game before concluding with my personal thoughts on the current state of the Ososan Gaming Experience, but I'm not sure if anyone else really cares that much so I'm putting it under a cut lol. Links to downloading the games are included below as well for those who are curious.

Pokomatsu (Apple Link / Android Link)

I kind of talked about this one just the other day, but basically, it's the game that "replaced" Hesokuri Wars. Not only does it use a lot of Heso's assets, but the Twitter account for Hesokuri Wars and Pokomatsu is one and the same.

And... that's really it as far as similarities go. Hesokuri Wars was a tower defense game, and Pokomatsu is that one game where you aim and shoot balls at objects/people that are slowly advancing towards you and have to hit them enough times to win (idk if there's a more succinct name for this type of gameplay). Also, you can collect screenshots from the anime, movies, and Heso, either by playing/progressing or by rolling in the gacha. The basic story of the game is that the sextuplets are defending themselves from having their roles as the protagonists stolen by the other characters.

Here's a sample of some gameplay, if you're curious. Note that the voice clips are recycled directly from Heso. Also, it's incredibly noisy, so I guess that's just another similarity the two share.

Mod Ichi's Opinion: If you like this sort of game, then go ahead and give it a try, but I personally can't see myself getting too invested in it. Collecting the cards is its main selling point, but even that's not really all that given that they're just screenshots as opposed to original art. Also, I think I'm bad at it because I can't get past Stage 8. Never mind, I was playing it while I was typing this and I just beat it lol. But now I can't get past Stage 9.

Tabimatsu (Apple Link / Android Link)

AKA the other big Oso game from back in the day, although it still wasn't as big as Heso. The premise is that the sextuplets are traveling to all of the prefectures in Japan to pick up money, and the gameplay is in the form of a board game where you roll a die and move around. Much like Heso, had its fair share of original outfits and events, but it's currently in a bit of a weird place because it's been dormant for the past few years; it's still there for people to download and play, but it hasn't had a proper update since like 2020/2021 aside from the occasional maintenance. It's very clearly on its last legs, but it's still available to the public, presumably because it's not as costly to run as some other games of the past.

A sample of gameplay.

Mod Ichi's Opinion: I really enjoyed this game when it was more active! I'd like to replay it for the nostalgia, but it refuses to load properly on my phone teehee.

NEETPro (Apple Link / Android Link)

This one was released in conjunction with the first movie. It's also made by the same people who made Tabimatsu.

NEETPro is by far the simplest out of all the games, being more of a story-driven visual novel and not much else - I think this is the first and only Ososan mobile game to not have any gacha function? You play as a female showbiz manager, Totoko is your supervisor (she quit being an idol), and you're responsible for managing a sextuplet of your choice. Depending on the choices you make throughout the story, you either succeed in turning him into a movie star, or he stays a NEET.

In other words, this is the closest thing to an official Ososan otome game that exists. Like I said, this game is very much just a visual novel and not much else, so it basically was just released and not really updated since. I also found a tweet posted by the official Tabimatsu account from this September announcing the app would no longer be available on the Google Play store (though people who already had the app can still play), so like. That pretty much confirms that keeping this game up to date isn't exactly a top priority of the staff.

A sample of gameplay.

Mod Ichi's Opinion: I'm playing Ichi's route and I keep trying to brute force him into letting me become his manager and at one point he grew convinced that I was secretly an assassin plotting to kill him. Anyway, I don't think you'll have much use for this if you can't read Japanese or can't find a translation somewhere.

Overall

I feel like I've been hinting at this all throughout this post, but Ososan doesn't seem to be thriving in the mobile game sphere as of late. We used to have games like Hesokuri Wars, Damematsu, and Shimamatsu, all of which were rife with content, but all three current games I described above are fairly low-maintenance to keep running, have very sparse updates, and overall just don't seem to be here to keep your long-term interest. Maybe it's not too fair to say that about NEETPro, given the type of game it is (not to mention that it mainly served as promotional material for the movie), but like. Tabimatsu? That game used to consistently get new content, until one day, all that just stopped.

Idk I don't really have a conclusion to all of this lol this isn't meant to be some thesis or anything. It's just that when I went back to see which games were still available to the public, I immediately noticed the lack of actual content, and it's such a downgrade. It kind of bothers me as someone who not only rigorously played Heso for years, but also was super into checking out every other game the staff would drop.

🐾 Mod Ichi

#SORRY ANON I KNOW YOU DIDN'T ASK FOR LIKE 80% OF THIS ANSWER BUT I HAD THOUGHTS #disclaimer that i have absolutely no clue what's going on behind the scenes i'm just making observations as an outsider #mod ichi #memorial and legacy #ask

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widowsistersandfriends · 1 year

Text

Team Bonding

Request: pleaseeee can I request lee!wanda in AoU where she's really shy with the team and pietro mentions she loves being tickled but she gets super shy and embarrassed by it, and so clint absolutely wrecks her trying to get her out of her shell? thank you! <3 @natashaslovxr

Note: Thank you for this very cute request! I am so sorry it took a while to get to, but I hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 1625

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The Avengers had all gathered together in the compound for a team dinner and game night. The large table was filled with various delicious foods, which made all of their mouths water and stomachs grumble. Wanda was still shy with the team, as she and her brother were fairly new to the crowd. She took a seat quietly next to Pietro and also next to Natasha.

The dinner consisted of various conversations, laughter and stories. Wanda tried her best to keep up and follow along, but she couldn’t find herself offering more than a few laughs at other people’s funny stories. It’s not that she wasn’t interested or anything. She just felt like she had a hard time fitting in with them. A majority of the team were guys, and Natasha had been with them from the start, so she was pretty much family.

“So what’s everyone’s favorite game? I want to have some good ideas for when we play afterwards,” Steve said, looking around the table.

“Uno! Monopoly! Sorry! Trouble! Life! Scrabble!” Various answers had come out in shouts around the table, as they were all eager to get their opinions out there.

“What about you Wanda? What’s your favorite game?” Clint asked gently.

“Umm, I’m not really sure,” the young witch said, looking down at her plate and poking at her food.

“I know her favorite game!” Pietro chimed in. The whole table became interested and waited for more details.

“When Wanda and I were little, we loved to play hide and seek with a twist. Basically, whoever is hiding also hides an item and the seeker has to find the person and the item. First they search for the hider. Then the hider tells them what item they’re looking for and they look for it. Whoever has the fastest time wins,” Pietro explained.

“Why was that your favorite game, Wanda?” Natasha asked curiously.

“Oh! Well, I guess it was just a fun way for me to bond with Pietro,” Wanda said shyly.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Pietro asked mischievously, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Pietro no! Don’t tell them,” Wanda whined, now gaining the curiosity of the entire table. This was the most she had said at dinner, and the slight panic in her voice got everyone’s attention.

“I think they’d love to knowwwww,” her twin brother teased.

Wanda covered her face in embarrassment, hoping that Pietro was just messing with her and wasn’t actually going to expose her secret.

“I have a strategy that lets me win every single time,” Pietro bragged, which earned him a sharp pinch to the thigh by his sister.

“Yow! That was so unnecessary,” Pietro yelped, as Wanda gave him a look of warning. She even made her eyes glow red to scare him even though she knew she would never hurt him on purpose.

The avengers all looked amused, seeing the twins interact in a playful setting. Pietro looked like he was gonna give in and keep her secret. However, he then quickly blurted out her secret before running off with his super speed. “Wanda is super ticklish and loves being tickled, so I use it to get her to confess where she hid her item!” With that, there was a blur and a young witch there with the rest of her team. Wanda looked around fearfully at the other avengers, knowing what was coming next.

The witch quickly pushed her chair back, making a run for it. She knew those smirks on all of her teammates’ faces meant trouble. She didn’t know where Pietro went, but her main goal was to hide. She figured if anyone found her, she could fly away. The only exception was her brother, who was so fast she wouldn’t have enough time to escape.

Wanda squeezed herself into the shower and closed the curtain. It wasn't the best hiding spot but it was all she had time for, as she was getting trailed by the other avengers. The tub was not super wide, so she was able to use both hands to hold the ends of the curtain to either side. This way, even if they tried to pull it open, they wouldn’t be able to. Or so she thought.

It was silent for a while, and she had hope that they had given up. Unfortunately just as she got her hopes up, the bathroom lights turned on and her shadow could be seen through the curtain.

“Well well well, what do we have here?” Clint asked, and Wanda could hear the teasy smirk in his voice. The witch stayed quiet for now.

“Not answering hmm? We’ll get you talking soon,” Natasha said, and Wanda could imagine her facial expression as she said that.

“As captain, I order that we capture the witch and tickle her to pieces,” Steve said, joining in on the fun. The avengers tried tugging on the curtain, which held up nicely due to Wanda holding on to the ends. However, she didn’t realize a small loophole in her plan.

Natasha moved closer to the curtain, before reaching out and tickling Wanda’s ribs through the curtain. The sudden touch to the sensitive area made Wanda immediately jerk away and use her arms and hands to protect herself. With that, the curtain was ripped open by Natasha, as she grabbed Wanda despite her attempt to fly away.

“No! Natasha put me down!” The witch cried. Natasha’s response was just a jab to her ribs, causing her to flail in her arms helplessly.

Natasha laid her down on the bed, sitting behind her and bringing her arms above her head. Clint then came over with a teasing smile.

“Don’t worry little witch, I’m not going to hurt you. We just want to see you smile and laugh since you’re so shy,” Clint said.

Natasha looked down endearingly at Wanda, reassuring her.

“Don’t worry. This is all part of the initiation. Breaking people out of their shell,” Natasha said, as the witch attempted to pull away.

“I’m not ticklish!” Wanda blurted out, desperate to get out of this.

“Nice try. I know we can’t read minds like you but we can definitely read body language,” Clint said, as Natasha lightly tickled her armpit to catch her off guard.

“AHAHA no! Stop that!” Wanda demanded, a deep blush taking over her cheeks. It was clear she was trying to hold her laughter in.

“But I thought you said you weren’t ticklish?” Clint asked, squeezing her sides.

“IHIHIM NOHOHOT OKAHAHAY,” the witch laughed, as the two of them chuckled at her futile attempt at lying.

“Sure, we believe you,” Natasha and Clint said at the same time. With that, Clint began squeezing her hips while Natasha continued to tickle her armpits.

“NOHOHO PLEHEHEASE IHIHIM SOHOHORRY,” Wanda cried out, letting her laughs let a little more loose.

“What are you sorry for?” Clint asked, tickling her stomach now.

“FOHOHOR LYIHIHING,” Wanda shouted.

“So you admit you lied?” Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow. The witch shook her head from side to side, gasping with giggles as Clint poked and prodded between her ribs.

They gave the witch a small breather, as she laid there helplessly.

“You guys are so mean,” Wanda whined with a pout.

“Nah, we’re not mean. We just make a good team,” Natasha said with a smirk.

“wE jUsT mAkE a gOoD tEaM,” Wanda said mockingly.

“Oh you are so asking for it,” Clint said, as he moved down to sit on her shins.

“No no no please! Anywhere but thehEHEHERE CLIHIHINT STAHAHAHAHAHAP,” Wanda screamed with laughter. To add on to the torture, Natasha began to shake her hands into her ribs.

“PLEHEHEHEASE STAHAHAHAHAP IHIHIM BEHEHEGGING! MEHEHERCY,” Wanda cried out, helplessly trying to squirm to the best of her capabilities.

“Aww look at you coming out of your shell,” Clint teased, as the witch couldn’t do anything but laugh.

The two of them eventually let her go, realizing that she had met her limit.

“Don’t ever team up again,” Wanda said to the two older avengers.

“Oh don’t worry, we plan on tickling you a lot more now that we know how ticklish you are,” Natasha said with a grin.

Wanda groaned, as the two of them helped her sit up and catch her breath.

“How about we make a deal,” Clint offered.

“What deal?” Wanda asked.

“If we find Pietro for you and let you tickle him as revenge, will you forgive us?” Clint asked.

Wanda narrowed her eyes at him, knowing she was bound to just get tickled eventually. She saw this as her opportunity to catch one of them off guard. She quickly flipped onto Clint, pinning him to the bed where she just was.

“I think I’d rather tickle you first. After all, you were the one who tickled me,” Wanda said, asking for Natasha to help her.

“What! I’m not the only one! Natasha tickled you too!” Clint protested.

“Not as much as you though. Besides, I’ll get my revenge on Natasha too, don’t worry,” Wanda said confidently.

“Oh really?” Natasha said, giving her sides a good squeezing, causing the witch to immediately take back her words all while squealing and giggling.

“Come on, I’ll help you tickle Clint. It’ll be some good bonding. After all, we need to have lots of team building and teamwork skills so we can work together as avengers,” Natasha said, as Clint began laughing and protesting as the two girls tickled him to pieces. His weak spots were his armpits and knees, much to the girls’ delight. The archer couldn’t help but snort and laugh through the tickle torture.

Wanda was still somewhat shy at times, but after her tickle torture experience, she became a lot more open and vulnerable around her new family. As for Pietro, Wanda also was able to sharpen her tickling skills, which left the speedy guy in for a day of torture.

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tomiyeee · 1 year

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Genshin Character Design Notes

wanted to write down some stuff i’ve noticed while studying genshin character designs for my rottmnt au in case anyone could find them useful for their own crossovers/ocs.

these are not hard and fast rules as much as they are simple observations and patterns i’ve seen across characters. i am by no means telling people how to design their characters!! these are just things that i personally try to keep in mind while designing and wanted to share for those who are interested.

sorry it’s long, i’m obnoxiously meticulous and wordy 😔

5-star characters will almost always be using their burst in their wish art and the effects will usually take up half or more of the space. many will either have an almost solid background and/or ground to stand on. an exception to both of these would be klee which could be due to her being made very early in development.

4-star characters can be using either their skill or their burst and their effects will usually be pretty minimal with much more empty space around the character. effects are also much more generic save for some talent-specific visuals like sucrose’s butterfly or xingqiu’s swords. even the 4-stars with more complex art look basic next to 5-stars with similar effects (ex: chongyun/eula, xinyan/dehya, candace/tartaglia).

all of the archons so far have had their nation’s scenery incorporated into their wish art. nahida is possibly an exception as it looks like it’s just her burst, even though the burst itself seems to be based off of sumeru’s architecture, but this could also be due to her being isolated compared to the other three.

i feel like this one’s a given but long loose/draping fabrics and dangling ornaments are basically a requirement. this game has gorgeous cloth physics and they very much like to use that to their advantage in their designs.

also the characters’ movements and combat style often play a part in how they are dressed, especially in regards to the cloth physics. characters with quicker and more active movements, like sword users or those with more energetic personalities, have smaller capes, wear pants/shorter skirts, and overall have fewer loose fabrics to obscure those fast movements; their clothing/silhouette tends to hug closer to the body. meanwhile characters that have less movement and/or are more elegant, like catalysts, will have longer skirts or other long clothing items that accentuate those types of movements better. there are no strict rules for this one, but in general the clothing should complement how the character moves, not work against it.

most characters will have a very unique hair style/coloration (yelan, dehya, xiao) or they will have hats/hair ornaments (shogun, shenhe, childe) and many will have both. either way, their hair and head is an important point to add visual interest.

this one’s kind of specific, it’s just a fun thing i noticed: there are very few characters, if any, without a high collar, choker, or otherwise covered neck. i guess they don’t really like leaving the neck exposed lol.

basically this entire video has a ton of very good observations, but the main thing i keep in mind from it is that characters will “always have an appealing view from behind” since that’s how they are primarily viewed by the player during gameplay. characters in most other series will have a backside of their design that basically gets the job done and not much else. but genshin takes care to have a back view that is just as unique as the front. skirts and capes will have their own unique silhouette and flow. clothing cut, fabric patterns, and accessories will create shapes that are just as eye-catching as those in the front. they are basically almost their own unique character design, completely independent of what’s going on in the front.

the legs tend to act as a sort of “break” for the eyes, especially when viewed from the front. not counting skirts, the legs will usually have less patterning and/or darker, more subdued coloration compared to the torso. many characters will have bare legs or plain colored stockings or pants with large amounts of blank space/simple patterning.

some will have brighter colors or noticeable patterns compared to other characters, but it is almost never the main point of interest in the overall design. ex: yelan, shenhe, and albedo all have very ornate leggings/pants, but at first glance it’s generally drowned out by the brighter colors + higher contrast shapes on their torso.

some characters like razor, noelle, and heizou are exceptions to the pants rule. in these cases, the legs serve to simply balance out the design. razor and heizou’s brighter colors add interest to an otherwise simple and almost monochromatic design and noelle’s armored legs make her feel sturdy and more ornate, fitting for a knight. they are detailed enough to enhance the design, but not enough to take away focus from the upper body.

since the characters spend a lot of time running, climbing, etc, their legs are never completely covered/obscured. skirts, if not split, are knee-length at most. otherwise their animations would probably be a clipping nightmare.

pattern placement is very intentional on every part of the character. fabric patterns will generally follow the cut of the fabric so as not to interrupt the “flow” of the design. repeatable/tileable patterns are almost non-existent, except to add texture to a small area like the scales on zhongli’s coat, dark patterns on sara’s skirt, and glittery star-like textures on parts of several characters’ outfits.

(this one is very iffy and better left to your own judgement, but..) asymmetry is common, but not necessary. in fact, most characters’ silhouettes are pretty symmetrical; the asymmetry is more often in the smaller details like patterns or ornaments/accessories than anything else. more noticeable asymmetry is usually in angled/layered skirts (ningguang, faruzan, barbara) and one-sided capes/sashes (kaeya, alhaitham, wanderer), while the cut of the “base” outfit is otherwise symmetrical. the asymmetry in these designs is noticeable because it is used well, not just often. exceptions to this (namely yoimiya and tighnari) are usually going for a specific look that fits the character’s personal and cultural background and their personality.

aaaand that’s about all i can think of at the moment. i’m sure a lot more research and thought goes into these designs than what is listed here, but i am just one non-professional artist and i am far from knowing all the ins and outs of mihoyo’s design process 😔 these are just a few of the (purely surface-level) visual observations i’ve made while making my turtle au lol.

#genshin impact #equishit #long post #rise genshin au #reference #if any of these seem weirdly specific..#it is generally bc i ran into a problem regarding that thing in particular while doing my designs #like the head/hair point isn't usually notable since anime hair is already pretty wild to begin with #but. the turtles are bald. and i realized that was what was throwing me off fjdsklfjsdk #also if i seem weirdly invested in the designs of this game it's just because i am very passionate about character design #and this game has some of the best i've seen #(at least according to my tastes)

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lucabyte · 1 month

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what would your ocs be as pokemon? or if you've already done that what would they be as bugsnax??

Oh I have never been asked this publicly before (for I have not been asked... anything publicly before this week LOL) but I don't know if you're prepared for how much I have thought about my ocs as pokemon or how much effort I am currently putting in to... Well. You'll see.

So. I have Thoughts.

Here are my thoughts (names quickly added for this to be understandable by anyone but me. But I've had this image made for quite some time)

(I love that regular wingull appears on here twice. It was kind of the only choice for both of them LOL.)

(also I like how this shows you who my brain considers In A Group with each other... hee hee)

So this is like.. The whole cast of MYMK lmao. Even down to background characters. These are like... PMD style pokemon assignments. I tried to balance "literally looks like them" with "has the right vibes, thematically". So you can see a couple thematic pairs of pokemon like the cherrims, meowstics and such. Then other fun picks like Charizard for Hainu, since he's a, well, hypebeast more than he is a person. Then, Markus and MacGuffin get Silvally and Type: Null for (wink) reasons.... And Miao is Marowak because don't even worry about it. Lupus is Lycanroc-Dusk because funny doggy shounen protagonist :)

Also there are ABSOLUTELY pokemon that fit Tabitha better than Persian does but I've been saying hes one of those since 2015 and I'm attatched to it now.....

The reason I went ahead and planned these out and finalised these recently though.... Is because I also assigned them all ideal ribbons/marks/pokeballs and am going to hunt them all! Right now I'm prioritising getting ones where the ribbons/balls necessitate getting them from gens 4-7, but they're all nearly done and are sitting in ultramoon while I grab the royal master ribbon for a few!

(Obviously I've named pokemon after OCs before but these will be The Definitive Guys... Until next gen inevitably introduces the perfect guy for someone lol. C'est la vie!)

I've got a couple more already in swsh and scvi (recently I caught Lazulite in swsh! Go Raid RNG!) but this is the big first step. As for how many other steps there are....

Don't.

Don't even worry about it.

Anyway! Most of the main characters have fully assigned "if they were a pokemon trainer" Rosters too with some lore. (Chrome does contests, All of Tabitha's pokemon have been gifted to him, Lupus has insane shiny luck, Ali Will Summon Giratina....)

Also! The Alighieri triplets map perfectly onto the shiny meowths! They were the first three I went out of my way to hunt back when I saw shiny G-Meowth and realised!!! Pink Yellow Blue!!! My little guys!!

And lastly the thing you almost certainly weren't asking was "what would your OCs look like if they were fakemon, but I also have that for, you guessed it, Chrome, Tabitha and Ali.

Now... As for bugsnax. I have not played bugsnax but I DO have a resident bugsnax fan... So I asked him out of curiosity and they Extremely Delivered. So, Courtesy of @thebrightesteyes....

(me, going on the wiki for the first time: WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE 112 BUGSNAX I THOUGHT THERE WERE LIKE. 20)

these things are cute i should play this game. i hear there's divorce.

Anyway I've been trying to rotate a PMD AU in my brain for some time now (purrgatorio lends itself well to it, obviously...) I wonder what I'd make the antagonist...

Also, of note. Ali (and their siblings) does actually have a canon favourite pokemon and opinion on pokemon because they're from a real-world setting. Thing is they are like, not a gamer. So...

Ali likes Dusknoir and Seviper because they saw them on trading cards as a kid and likes Hoopa Unbound because Ari showed them on pokemon go knowing they'd like the design. If they gamed though they'd LOVE Giratina but Hoopa would probably stay top spot.

Ari likes Raichu, Lurantis and Toucannon. (Gamer)

Avi likes Clefairy, Meloetta and Brionne. (The kind of person to seek out fanart and gifsets online to reblog)

#love how nobody caught i was autistic as a kid and then i dont even bat an eye at making spreadsheets and doing rng manipulation for my ocs #i tried to keep this shorter because. oh god. oh good lord. as you can see im normal about it #surprisingly though havent drawn them as pokemon in a few years though! i have some unfinished PMD sketches from pre swsh (so no Obstagoon)#but when i do draw them again i want to try and be very on model with my additions + design quirks. as a design excersize....#lucabytetalks #mymk #anyway thanks cecilia for the . burgs

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lostinthewoodsomewhere · 2 months

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please do talk about your zane & jesse feelings!!! whenever I see those two in your art I'm always curious as the thought process behind it, bc there's clearly something there! Smth I'm not seeing but want to see 👀👀

Hehe, thank you for asking! This got a little long, but please, come on this journey with me!!

Okay, so I feel I should preface this with saying, as you may have guessed, my favourite Remedy character by far is Jesse, (shocking, I know), and I think a lot of the feelings I have about this are partly filtered through my own understanding and interactions with her as a character (that other people might not feel the same way about), and also my need to put her in all the situations because I just want to :)

So, on the surface level, you've the general importance in AW2 placed on Zane specifically being a Director, which already hits those good parallels, along with the fact we have no idea why Zane was so freaked out by seeing Jesse and Darling on the tv, (which was also the only time in the main game she was either seen or mentioned, which makes this moment stand out to me- and its connection to the AWE DLC). Then there’s Zane meeting Darling, which bring us into head-cannon territory, being that Zane helped Darling make the Dynamite video, which- if he wasn’t already from the AWE DLC stuff- would make him aware of Jesse.

All of which lead to me just having... feelingssssss about them (which are explicitly none-shipping feelings!)

Like, my own sort of head cannon is that this current Zane is sort of a construct, an idea of what a sleezy 60s/70s filmmaker is, which in itself may unfortunately come with a certain level of not being particularly respectful towards women, his role as the filmmaker warping his perception of her. But also, at the end of the day, Jesse is both a very attractive and very powerful person, a combination I could absolutely imagine this Zane trying to purse and exploit for his own end.

However, unlike Darling who would trust him after a compliment and a flirty smile, Jesse- an infinitely more powerful person - would definitely not, and the clash of those personalities is fascinating to me! I need Zane’s sleezy attitude, the thinly veiled threat of danger he gives off to come up against the stubborn ‘fuck you’ energy of Jesse. Threat, tension, two dangerous people at an impasse all wrapped up in Hollywood glamour, sharp suits, pretty dresses, cocktail in hand! Do you see the vision???

And aesthetically, I just want to draw more of them being glamourous in suits together (or, at least draw Jesse wearing a full suit…), just two powerful beings being powerful, you know? But I need their power displayed as excess, extravagance, an aesthetic all caught up in the filmmakers lens, does that make sense????

(I also just really like drawing Jesse in suits, imagining her fully embracing the ‘look’ of her role as Director, giving in to the glamour of it all on some level, which is partly how I see post cannon Jesse, (Director’s suit my beloved), and partly just me projecting my love of clothes onto her honestly…)

(On a sillier note, they’re the kind of people who are enemies -because Zane is an absolute bastard, and Jesse is having none of it -, but I could also imagine it being fun to see them team-up because they had to, imagine the banter!)

I hope this explains the vision, sorry it got so long and all over the place!! I’m still trying to cement all my feelings, so there's probably stuff I'm missing, but this was super fun to put together and has solidified a lot of things!! It’s definitely half cannon, half my own interests, born from this wonderful speculation period where anything could happen, so I thoroughly expect all my feelings to be made meaningless by cannon 🙃.

Also, not to like shamelessly plug my work here, but I do have a fanfic of them meeting that kind of goes into some of these feeling… {x}

And a playlist... for the vibes… {x}

Thanks again!

#remedy control #alan wake 2 #jesse faden #she #Thomas Zane #The vision!

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otakween · 10 months

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Digimon Tamers - Episode 1

Dear God...the vibes are immaculate. THIS WAS SO GOOD! So cinematic! So atmospheric! What a fabulous pilot episode. I'm definitely hooked. I'm trying not to overhype this show because the internet has sung its praises to the high heavens and I don't want to be let down. Let's take it one episode at a time and see how it goes :) (so far, so good).

Notes:

-So many thoughts, so many questions. Firstly, I'm getting the vibe that this is a parallel universe to the worlds of Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02. In those worlds digimon weren't a fictional concept (as far as I know) before they became real. In this world Takato knows digimon from video games and TCG before he meets one in person. Also. the world isn't aware that digimon are real, so this wouldn't be in the 02 world post-epilogue.

-A very small cast in this one! Only 3 kids (so far). I think this could be a very good thing. Tighter writing and more developed characters. These kids have barely said anything but they already feel more 3 dimensional than the 02 kids lol. Also, their designs are a lot more subdued which I think helps with the realistic feel.

-Culumon was...a little annoying, but cute at the same time. I love his retractable ears and that he asks a zillion questions like a toddler. Just wish he didn't say "culu" ever 2 seconds lol. He looks like a magical girl companion.

-We're still in Tokyo, Shinjuku this time around. Will we ever get a Digimon MC who's a country bumpkin? That could be fun.

-The gamer in me shudders at all of the new digimon that are about to be introduced. Good thing I'm not a "raise them all" kind of completionist.

-Digimon TCG anime debut! When they were like "Option card!" I was like "omg! I know that! I know the rules!" I wonder if the TCG will show up again or if they just used it to kickstart the plot?

-Takato's school DOESN'T have uniforms!? What kind of anime school is this!? (No seriously, I thought that was more of a rural school thing).

-I can relate to Takato designing his own digimon during class. I totally did that in elementary school too (with Pokemon as my inspo tho)

-I'm not in love with the new digivice design (a little bulky), but I like that it has a keychain strap. How practical!

-I'm not sure where Takato is getting the "tamers" vocab from. I don't think that would be referenced too much in the TCG, so he must be getting it from the video games.

-Love that Takato lives above his family's bakery. Give me ALL the anime food!

-I just googled this, but apparently the "guil" in "Guilmon" comes from "guilty." Didn't see that coming. I thought it might be Gila monster lol. Of course we get another stinkin' dinosaur-like digimon for the MC. Oh well. I guess that's what the little boys like. He's kinda cute, I suppose

-I don't know the main girl's name yet, but damn, what a badass! I feel like we haven't gotten this kind of female character yet. Closest would be maybe Hikari in her edgier moments, but she's more on the sweet side. I know that the furries like her partner digimon lol (Renamon, I believe?) To be honest, I'm not sold on her design yet. I think it's a little weird looking. Maybe she'll grow on me.

-When Guilmon's egg hatched I thought he died lol. I forgot that an egg cracked in half can be a good thing too.

-I was kind of giggling when they kept showing the scientists in their cyberpunk chairs and wearing VR headsets. Very 2000s sci-fi vibes (still looks cool, don't get me wrong). When they kept saying "wild one" I was just thinking "hey I heard you were a wild one oooooh~"

-When Jianliang's sister dropped Terriermon on his face I died lol. Why was that so funny? I'm so making a gif later...

-My guy (Takato) really saw a rat infested tunnel and just crawled right through it. I hope you have a good immune system because Jesus...

-The concept of Takato meeting a digimon and then immediately realizing "oh wait, a fire breathing dinosaur IRL is maybe not a good thing" was great. And of course they had to use it as a cliff hanger! I'm wondering if Guilmon will be able to speak or if he'll be more baby-like.

-Guilmon's existence raises many questions. I guess we technically already knew that people can create digimon, we've seen that happen. However, we haven't seen it happen so casually/easily. Does Takato have some sort of special power or can multiple people do this? Also, if Guilmon was born at child level, what happened to the previous 2 levels. Did Takato draw those in his notebook so they're just coded in there?

(My questions are all rhetorical...I shall wait for the show to answer them, so no spoilers please).

#digimon tamers #digimon #anime

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ashes-writing · 2 years

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all or nothing | stranger things ; b.hargrove

A/N ; So I've been dying to try writing for Billy Hargrove because his character is one of those polarizing ones. People who like him love him and people who hate him, whew.. They hate him. There was a lot of potential for him to change, to grow as a person and like I just... I really wanted to play around with that so... I will be trying my best to do that with him here... I think this will have a few parts to it, depends on what happens with my muse, I guess.

Anyway, here I go again.. Writing stuff. Doing things. Enjoy, hopefully? Also, fun fact. The name is from a theory of a deadman song.

Pairing ; Billy Hargrove x Fem!Reader

Timeline / Other Stuff to Note ; Like with my Eddie Munson reader fic, the Upside Down and all it's unholy terrors WILL BE LEFT OUT of this. This is yet another 'slice of life / teen rom com with a heap of angst' things. This takes place roughly a few weeks after Billy and Max's arrival to Hawkins.

Tag List ; @musichealsscars is the only person on my tag list for Stranger Things buuut... i'll throw a tag out to @rampagewriting -- feel free to ignore if you wanna bb!!. if you'd like to be added to my taglists for anything including Stranger Things, please let me know or add yourself -> here.

Warnings ; Billy being a bit of an antagonistic asshole who takes attention when he wants it, a hint of angst, take no shit reader, mentions of a poker game, mentions of a fight, billy kissing reader to shut her up / calm her down bc hot temper af. Also, also.. there are hints here that maybe reader has been disappointed / hurt / betrayed in the not so distant past...This one is kind of like... weird? I tried to write something soft and fluffy, okay? I triiiied. This is what came. So, I'm just gonna buckle in and see where it goes.

Other Stuff ; tag list doc || my rules - fandoms and some characters I write for || requests are open (pls.. pls... send me things) but they're limited to headcanon asks + filth/fluff alphabet letters and I'm not accepting wrestling / wrestlers in my ask box. Any other fandom/character but wrestling that I happen to write for is fine and I beg of you -> send me things.

I do not consent to my work being reposted elsewhere or copied/reworked/rewritten and reposted here or elsewhere. You don't own this, I do. So like... don't steal my shit.

“What do you want, Hargrove?” you intone, not bothering to glance up from the cards in your hand. Billy lingers, gazing at your hand in the game.

You feel him staring and with quickness, you lower the cards out of sight. He smirks to himself and leans down, whispering loud enough that the guys gathered around the folding table in the back room of the arcade all can hear him, “I hope you plan on foldin’, darling. That’s a shit hand.”

You tense up and your jaw clenches tight.

“Fold.” any spunk you had previously was gone, the word was spat out flat. You were irritated. Billy was gone, leaving only a swinging blue door in his wake.

When you stand up from the table with enough force to send the chair toppling over, Keith and the three others involved in the low stakes poker game that was your weekly ritual all shared a look. It was Keith that jumped out of his chair and rushed out after you, determined to stop you before you did or said anything in the heat of the moment that might anger the notoriously hot-headed new king of Hawkins High.

But he didn’t quite make it in time.

When he walked out into the main area of the arcade he heard the shouting before he actually got to bear witness to the scene unfolding. As soon as he rounded the corner by the Pac Man machine and the row of Dig Dug machines, he got a real up close and personal view.

“Shit.” he rubbed his hand over his face.

You had Billy against the wall, your hand gripping at the collar of his shirt as you read him for filth in front of an entire room filled with the preteen set that frequented the place and you were furious. Livid. You were so angry about what he’d done that you were shaking.

Over by the pinball machine, Max Mayfield stood gaping.

Billy had been talking about you for weeks. Bitching, mostly. You were apparently the one girl who didn’t fall on her knees and worship him daily like he craved. And now, apparently, her older stepbrother had gone too damn far.

She grinned just a little.

It felt good to see someone give Billy a dose of his own medicine.

But when she caught a glimpse of Billy’s face, she was shocked to find that he wasn’t about to boil over and explode in rage like he’d normally do. No, he was taking it. Smirking, even.

He had mentioned at breakfast that he’d figured you out and he had a plan.

“All goddamn day, Hargrove. You’ve been popping up like a bad fuckin STD. Look, I dunno what the hell you’re on, buddy, but if you don’t fucking leave me alone, I’ll–” you grumble in exasperation because nothing you’re saying is getting through to the idiot. He's just standing there with that smug smirk on his stupid pretty lips and those baby blue eyes are fixed on you, sparkling with amusement.

“What the fuck do you want, huh? Why do you keep finding me? Look, you’ve got a fan club! Aren’t they enough?” your grip on his shirt is loosening and you step back and away from him, taking a few long and deep breaths as you pinch the bridge of your nose in exasperation. You’re just done with this whole bizarre fever dream of a day at this point.

“I don’t know what kind of sick joke you’re on, asshole, but it ends now. I’m not gonna crawl into your stupid fucking backseat just because you happened to make a lucky guess and gave me a sunflower this morning at school. I was an idiot one time, buddy. It’s not happening again.” you finish your rant and your chest is heaving as you work to catch your breath.

When it happens, Max is left gaping. Keith can only rub his temples because he can practically hear the unfiltered angry rant he’s going to have to endure as you and the boys get ready to close down the place for another night because every since the arrival of Billy Hargrove, all you’ve done is antagonize the guy and do everything you can to attempt making a dent in what Keith personally feels is an ego too large for this world.

Maybe even this galaxy.

Oh, it’s a running joke among Keith and the boys at this point. You want Billy and any day now, the truth is going to come spewing forth out of you in all its venom laced glory.

Keith just didn’t give Billy enough credit, of course, because he never saw this twist coming.

Billy’s big and rough hands settle on your hips and he pulls you against him completely. His lips latch against yours in a frenzy as one of his hands settles on your ass. And he smirks into the kiss when he squeezes your ass where he’s gripping it and uses that to rock you right up against him. Your hand starts out palm down against his shirt as if to shove him away but somewhere in between the time it takes him to trace the outline of lips he’s been dying to kiss for weeks now and the time it takes you to stop and give thought to shoving him away like you planned, your mouth falls open willingly. His tongue collides with yours and your palm down hand fists at the soft fabric of his white tee shirt.

“I can’t fucking believe this. Holy shit.” Keith laughs to himself. “I fucking called it.”

“Why isn’t she slapping the taste out of his mouth yet, c’monnn.” Max mumbles to herself but secretly, deep down inside, she’s a little too happy for her older stepbrother.

Because the past few weeks he’s been fixated on you -and why you don’t worship him like all the other girls, he’s seemed more alive. He’s fighting for something for once. His mood hasn’t really improved, but… He actually came into her room on more than one occasion. During which, he discussed the whole dilemma with her, at length.

It felt like he really tried to let her in the two times that happened. And if you brought that out in her older stepbrother then yes… she was happy he was finally going for it -and alternately, that you hadn’t slapped the taste out of his mouth yet.

Billy’s other hand tangled up in the way you’ve got your hair piled in a messy heap low on the back of your head and your hair tumbles free, his fingers catching in and tugging at soft strands. You whimper quietly and it’s the sweetest sound he’s ever heard in his whole life.

He wants to cause you to make it over and over again. As much as he can for as long as he’s alive and breathing. Your tongue starts to take control and you start to respond to the kiss a lot more, coming alive while he’s got you crushed against him. Your hand catches in his hair and your fingers drag over his scalp as you tug at curls. You deepen the kiss after biting his bottom lip until he can feel the bruise he’s going to have there when the kiss breaks. A bruise that’s so deep it’ll probably still stain his lips tomorrow. Your body melts against his and the kiss grows more gentle. Slower. When you whimper a second time, he can’t resist the smirk that comes as the sound is swallowed whole by the way your mouths keep meeting. Passionate. He’s surprised when the multitude of feelings you’ve managed to bring out in him aren’t gone because he’s finally won, he’s gotten you firmly backed into a corner. No, he’s shocked to discover that he wants more. He needs it. He needs you. Somehow, the focus he’s fixed on you for the past few weeks have been the bright spot in his normally shitty life. It’s given him something else to think about.

He wants you. All to himself. The kiss he just gave you only added fuel to the fire he intended to put out by doing what he’s just done.

For the first time ever, Billy Hargrove has fallen victim to his own stupidity.

The thought is so overwhelming to the surly blond that he breaks the kiss and you pull apart to breathe.

You’re breathing heavily again but now, it’s for a different reason. Your lips are nice and swollen, bruising a little.

You wipe the back of your hand across your lips and Billy’s hand raises as if he wants to pull your hand out of the way because he wants to admire his handiwork. You swat his hand down with a scolding look and a shake of your head No.

“You fucking asshole. Ugh. Just like…You got what you wanted, okay? Fuck off already.” you grumble out the words more quietly. You step away again but you turn back to stare at him for a second or two, lost in the way blue eyes are practically glowing with smug pride.

“You’re lucky you’re like a fucking Adonis, dipshit, otherwise I would’ve ripped your dick off and strangled you with it for the shit you pulled in the blue room.” you say it simply, with the most casual of shrugs before slinking out of the arcade and into the night air. Around to the alley between the arcade and the department store right beside it where you lean against the wall and just laugh until you almost can’t anymore and you’re doubled over, clutching your sides.

All you can do about what just happened is laugh about it. And be secure in the knowledge that maybe now he’ll stop popping up all the damn time. Maybe he’ll leave you alone because you gave him something. He won and this doesn’t sit well with you at all.

But damn it, if you had a choice, you’d march back into that arcade and you’d do it again happily. Because the shocking part in all this is the simple fact that you enjoy the way he’s spent the past few weeks trying to antagonize and goad you into doing something. You frown a little because that little kiss in the arcade was probably his entire game coming to a close.

Billy’s throat clears from the top of the alley. You can see the way he’s leaned against the brick wall of the building. Arms folded over his chest. Staring at you intently in the dark.

You roll your eyes. “Look, take your one win and go, Mr. Popular. That’s what guys like you do, right?.” you call out as you do your best to pull yourself together again and dig around in search of your Zippo and the half crushed pack of Marlboro Reds you could’ve sworn you put in the hip pocket of your favorite leather jacket.

Billy makes his way down the alley, stopping in front of you. He takes out his own pack of cigarettes and holds it out to you. You glance at it -and him, warily.

He offers again, wordlessly.

You let him place the cigarette between your lips and light it. After a few long seconds, he speaks up quietly.

“I don’t wanna win. You’re not a prize, alright.”

You tilt your head, blowing out a ring of smoke as you tap your boot against cracked pavement. “Right. I bet you say that to all the girls, buddy.”

“It’s Billy.”

“Buddy, Billy, tomato, tomahto.” you drag your fingers through your hair and take another puff. “You jerks are all the same.”

“Is this about that idiot Oliver?” Billy questioned, tensing up as he said the name.

You tense up. “You heard, huh?”

“Mhm.” -what he doesn’t say is that Oliver is the reason for his first detention, the one he got last week. Because when he heard what the shithead had done, he’d caught him in the locker room and given him a little something to think about. Can’t run your mouth when it hurts to move your jaws, Billy figured.

“I hope you beat the living shit out of him when you two got into it in the locker room last week.” you mutter quietly. Billy chuckles. “You heard, huh?”

“It’s a small town. News travels, sir.”

When you call him sir, he steps closer to you. You’re hugging yourself against the breeze in the air. Teeth chattering.

“Cold, darling?”

“I’m good.” you insist. Billy sheds the denim jacket and holds it out to you. Again, you glance from jacket to jacket’s owner with a wary look before a stronger gust of cold air blows and you reach out, taking it. Huddling into it, breathing in cigarette smoke, cologne and something that kind of faintly reminds you of the summer your mom took you down to Atlantic City, to see the cousins and your aunt and uncle.

“A thank you is nice.” Billy mumbles and you shrug. “Thank you.” you respond, blowing another hazy smoke ring up into the night air. “I can’t fucking believe you cost me fifty bucks.”

“You called me Adonis though. Kind of worth it.”

You laugh to yourself and glance over at him, studying him under the hazy moonlight. The shadows it casts on his face almost seem ethereal and for a second or two, all you can do is stare.

“I had to do something to get your attention.” he says it with a shrug and a smirk as he blows smoke into the air. “Everything else wasn’t workin. Ya know, most girls fall at my feet. Not you, though.”

You laugh. “Yeah, well.. I was dumb once. Now everybody in Hawkins thinks I’m an easy lay.”

He tenses again and you laugh softly. “Sure you want it getting out you sat in an alley with little ol’ me all alone after dark? You are the king, after all.” you roll your eyes dismissively at the title.

“Fuck ‘em.” Billy mumbles. “I do what I want.”

You lean your head back against the cold brick of the building. After a few seconds, he speaks up again. Chuckling. “I knew it. You like sunflowers. Kind of like.. Nevermind.” he frowns and you study him intently. “Like who?”

“Nobody important.” Billy says it through a jaw tightly clenched.

You don’t repeat the question. One, it’s not your business and two, seeing the pained look that lingered in baby blue eyes briefly really bothered you. A lot more than it should, truth be told.

You just want to see him smile. To be happy and really mean it. That’s another reason you’ve held back, you’ve met all of his attempts to get your attention with venom and vinegar. Because he’s being more real right now than he’s probably been in the entire short time he’s come in and taken Hawkins High by storm.

“I gotta get going. Gotta get my stepsister home.”

“I should uh.. Probably get back inside. Gotta start getting ready to close down for the night.” you shrug.

Billy’s hand settles on your hip to keep you standing there before you can walk off. “I”ll pick you up tomorrow.”

Your blank look makes him chuckle quietly. “For school.”

You nod. “I’ll believe it when it happens, Hargrove.”

He walks over to his Camaro and you make your way back inside. Keith and the boys who work with both of you are non stop giving you shit for the rest of the night.

“I should’ve taken a picture. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen you speechless.”

“I called it.” Keith smirks.

“You called nothing, dumbass.” you assert.

“Yeah? You looked like you were kissing back, heathen.” Keith asserts, smirking when all you can do is flip him off and storm away irritated.

“So, did you two have fun sucking face in the alley?” one of the other guys asks as you’re counting out the register.

“Fuck off, oh my god. That did not happen.”

“You were out there for a whole twenty five minutes.”

“And? That doesn’t mean I was sucking face.” you glare.

“You know he’s probably just gonna do what Oliver did, right?” your co worker asks, gazing at you as he shakes his head. Like he's already prepared to call you stupid when whatever just happens comes back to bite you right in the ass.

You flinch a little. For some reason, you start to argue that he’s wrong and Billy won’t, but you stop yourself.

How do you really know he won’t?

“Asshole.” you mumble, shaking your head. He just had to go and ruin the little bit of happiness you did feel.

“He’s one of them. You’re not. That’s how it works, sweets.”

You don’t argue because again, he’s not wrong. And he’s just trying to watch your back.

Remind you that you barely know Billy. And you’ve already been dumb once.

#billy hargrove #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove x fem!reader #billy hargrove fanfic #i... have no clue where this is going so i'm just gonna buckle in and see where it takes me i suppose.#there will probably be a lot of angst + bickering as a love languate + just like.. really getting in deep I think? idk.

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cherryberg · 2 months

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Also. This is your sign to introduce an OC. Here and now

hi ardate :] this is a bit late but, since i did it, i might as well introduce her now in this post

for my april fool's day joke, i did a little trick on the find everything discord server where i made a handful of screenshots showing a new (fake) character:

this is Myla Warper, a Whatsit Woods NPC

i don't have much on her at the moment, and i suspect a lot about her lore will become obsolete when 0.3 comes around, but essentially, she's an engineer and the inventor of the Warp, the in-game fast travel system. she spends a lot of time at home, but is getting out a little more, using the Warp and a range of mobility aids

she managed to trick a few folks (which, looking at how the first find everything hoax, wouldn't've been a hard thing to pull off) but, shortly after - though, in retrospect, it could've been left revealed until the end of the day, i revealed the prank with:

anyway, i'll put the fake screenshots under the cut and maybe post Myla concepts in a reblog :] + notes. there'll be notes. i've got notes

i don't remember when exactly i conceptualised Myla, but it might've been between when 0.2 was released and when the developers streamed their 0.2 launch stream a few days later. this is because i had this thought of Myla living in that old abandoned house, working away at her tech (in the early stages, Myla's outfit in my mind would be a the classic tanktop and half-worn jumpsuit where the top half was tied around her waist, you know the look), but obviously had to be just a fun scrapped idea when it was discussed on the stream that Old Man Majig lives there

still, Myla being hidden away in this corner of Whatsit Woods is reminiscent of that idea i guess. it is also just a very good spot for something you could've missed, especially since the community had been combing through save files looking for the second fun value, but it does sort of make her following dialogue a little strange as she's not near any Warp pads

this bit is meant to, like, mirror dialogue from "tutorial NPCs" who casually introduce new concepts to the player. having worked hard on drawing Illie last year for Halloween, i had her a lot in mind, with Illie also being a tutorial NPC. looked over her 5 lines of dialogue a lot to try and get the vibe down right (of course, she wasn't the only one, but she was the main one) .. i can wrap my head around the Find Everything art style, but writing stuff that matches the FE vibe got me stumped so i hope it didnt stand out all that much

originally, those first two lines where different and. stiffer for a long while ("I actually make a few Warp Drives myself!"/"Er… Let's not be humble, maybe more than a few. Maybe all of 'em."), but i think it worked out in the end. the very first bit of dialogue was also changed ("Hey there, blockling! Just on a walk.") to just be combined with the next line but i just really wanted to preserve that "blockling" here. i know it's just the species name of like. the Roblox character, but it also reads as a little endearing term to me

ahh, the reason why i sort of thought up Myla in the first place. see, a big contention in the find everything community is Whatsit Woods being the only major area in the game without a Warp Drive, despite there already being Warp pads by its entrances in two neighbouring areas. the lack of a Whatsit Woods Warp is very likely to be changed with the 0.3 map rework, but i always thought this (and the Construction Zone Warp.. ) discourse was stupid. Myla going "No. Why? I live here." is like. cathartic to me.(??)

but regardless, she and Watcher Macallit are kind of ocs born from asking "why is this the way it is?" why is there no Whatsit Warp Drive? what makes a Thing a Thing? just ocs to play with and sort of expand worldbuilding, and i love doing this

#long post #<- I'M NOT LYING #find everything #fe roblox #askberg #ardate #textberg #artberg #my ocs #myla warper #mspaint is an awesome program #ask art #was going to write more. but that might just be another post about how to make a convincing fe screenshot #if i ever get around to it. or still care enough to do it gdfgf #edit: wow! photosets don't work under cut .. didn't know that. this sucks!

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chemicalbrew · 6 months

Text

2023 game list, part 1: I love complaining!

Once again continuing what has become an honorable tradition thanks to @smash-64 💜

I tried to promise myself I'd be more organized this year, trying to take notes after I beat things, making lists and gifs and everything, as it has become a consistent yearly undertaking. In truth, what happened is that I felt more overwhelmed by this than I did the last three years. The best explanation I can give is a combination of two facts: this year, while not particularly worse than what came before, still saw my confidence in myself tank a bit (i.e. What does this matter when few people read it and I don't bring much things of value to the table?)...

And the fact that I played very few games that really stuck with me, that I enjoyed enough to see through to the end and feel like that had merit, for a lot of the year. When that wasn't the case, it was more than likely I'd been on my nth playthrough of Katana ZERO of the year (more on that in a later post, hopefully).

I probably need help, don't I?..

games I played, but don't have much to say about at the moment without being prompted, aside from 'I kinda liked them, I guess', ordered best to worst:

Purrfect Apawcalypse trilogy (2019-2021) - series of VNs that's genuinely just good fun as you find yourself attached to the characters before you know it. You'll know if this one is for you at a glance. Also, this is how I found out about Panel Royale! LOL

The Witch's House MV (2018) - good old RPG Maker horror with a few decent twists. The remake has good QOL changes.

Gunbrella (2023) - the plot might be forgettable, but you get a gun that's an umbrella! What's not to enjoy?

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) - I played this game, but only in the most technical sense. Literally cheated the fun out of it - either that, or this platformer style is not for me.

Coffee Talk: Episode 2 - Hibiscus & Butterfly (2023) - the most upsetting entry on the list. The writer behind the original game has passed away, and his absence is felt keenly even if you're not aware of the fact - because this sequel lacks charm.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (2021) - yet another of those cheap and short indie 2D Zelda clones. The definition of the word meh.

Irisu Syndrome (2008) - a unique free puzzle timewaster. Tries to have a story and fails.

dishonorable mentions (the part with the most complaining)

2064: Read Only Memories (PC, 2014) [♪ Home (Not) Sweet Home]

Starts off decent enough, doing the bare minimum to string you along the mystery (which, for most people with standards, wouldn't even be good enough, but I was willing to stick with it for the sake of the neat audiovisual presentation).

As soon as the murder scene is revealed, however, the main plot starts to fall apart, and the longer you spend with the game's writing (which seems to go on and on forever) and characters (about as flat as a pancake fresh off the pan), the more bleak and yawn-inducing they seem (including Turing, who just took longer than everyone else to annoy me).

Do yourself a favor, play VA-11 Hall-A (which this game gratuitously references) instead. You'll get all the benefits of cute pixel art and upbeat soundtrack, but with an actually good story\character cast to match. I swear it says something about 2064 that one of its most exciting moments was seeing throwaway lines from a VA-11 character!

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (PC, 2015) [♪ Climbing the Ginso Tree]

This is a game that won awards back when it came out almost a decade ago. Unfortunately, it feels like it was made to win awards and little more. While the credits scrolling up the screen tried to convince otherwise - with the usual special thanks given to families and pets of the developers - I sat there, unsure of what I was supposed to take from this experience (once again, the less words you try to use to tell your story, the more it usually suffers!).

The heart of any platformer is its movement systems - and, while eventually Ori's tools open up just enough to make you feel at least a little free and alive in its world, they also never go beyond what is almost painfully typical. Double jump, wall climb, ground pound, glide, charged projectile? None of that is going to wow anyone. The way it comes together is not too pleasant, either - Ori's too floaty and the obstacles before him, while painted with a talented stroke, are too unclear in their presentation to make for truly fun traversal. The exception to this is the escape sequences - sure, a lot of the time they're not much less frustrating than the rest of the game, but they're definitely more memorable, to the point where the accompaniment to one was the only part of the soundtrack I could think to showcase.

I don't regret the time I spent on this, per se, but what I can tell you is that it probably didn't deserve the awards. Also, the way the wall jump worked was annoying! Pushing towards the wall to do it feels very counter-intuitive, and with this I found that I much prefer when games have you face away from the wall to register wall jumps, or do not require you to press a direction at all.

Celeste (PC, 2018) [♪ Checking In] + Celeste Classic (2015, played as part of full game) :)

I was in high school when this made waves. I pointedly feigned disinterest as it splashed all over the internet, while making sure to download the soundtrack quickly and listen to it - more than occasionally - over the next three or so years. Lena Raine's work carried me through my school years and empowered me, and all the while I hadn't a clue what playing the game is actually like.

Those were the better days.

Now, the things about this game that seem to appeal the most to a lot of people are how refreshingly simple Madeline's moveset is and how much the game respects your time with death transitions and reloading, and the story it tells through heartfelt cutscenes and gameplay working in sync. To which I boldly say... none of those things are good enough.

Having to climb and manage your stamina adds another layer to navigating the rooms, sure, but to my simple ass, that's one layer too many. To the game's credit, there's a setting to make climbing toggleable instead of requiring you to hold down the trigger, and using that was the only reason I managed to push past the hotel and Oshiro (call me a scrub, it was genuinely overwhelming otherwise), but it still did nothing to change how I feel about this mechanic fundamentally.

I get it, it adds precision and verticality to your movement, and, seeing as you're literally supposed to be scaling a mountain, it's more than a natural inclusion... but its existence did nothing but add pressure for me, somehow. I would frequently forget it's an option at all before realizing the room in question expects me to utilize it. Instead of feeling like climbing expands my options, I felt constricted and awkward.

My second issue is much simpler. I'm a spoiled brat, and Celeste's respawning process involving that annoying whoosh sound effect and a transition that, yes, takes only about a second, but is still not quite instant, was not good enough. I recognize that having it be truly instant would not be ideal, either, but I can't help but wish that was the case.

As for the story... It underwhelmed me even back when I was doing surface level research at the time of release, and it's not impressing me now. It's okay, and I recognize why it would resonate with people - the themes of self-acceptance and resolve are plain to see (and just as plain to mull over). But in my time with the game, Madeline never began feeling less like an avatar for my failures and more like an actual character, never changed into someone I would truly like.

By the time I reached the Mirror Temple, I was certain that this game, in most respects, is just not what I would ever want. I pushed towards the summit anyway, and left it feeling profoundly... nothing.

However... Celeste Classic did not have any of those things! That little prototype gem of a game wastes zero time trying to set the stage and make you feel things with ~a story~, doesn't give you any opportunity to climb whatsoever, and neither does it waste your time having the screen fade to black when you die! And these three things, I reckon, are key to why this smaller version, that's supposed to just be treated as an Easter egg now, a relic of the past, and to be forgotten in favor of the project it grew into... resonated with me so much more! I beat it twice! It's lovely! It's what I actually needed Celeste to be!

IT'S COMPLICATED

AI: The Somnium Files (PC, 2019) [♪ MonzAI] + AI:TSF - Nirvana Initiative (PC, 2022) [♪ Nefarious Institute 1]

You know how they say not to judge the book by its cover? This is a story of me learning (once again) to judge a game neither by its reception nor by the credentials behind it. When I plowed through this duology, I came to understand that sometimes, lightning might strike just the once.

Of course, most of my bitter feelings about it stem from just how miraculous of a fuck-up Nirvana Initiative ended up being as a sequel (it's impressive how much it had to twist everything its predecessor stood for to even have a chance at making a mediocre point!), but a lot of the disappointment came from the way the first game carries itself in general, and maybe even from the presence this game has among fans. 'Oh, if you want more of the magic and mystery that you so enjoyed in Zero Escape, you have to try this! It'll be just as good!'

I should have had my doubts from the start, given how little I had enjoyed the ZE series after 999. AI1 flounders in many things, like its obtuse, deeply unfun gameplay loop - most of which is pressing random buttons until you see the most ridiculous shit present itself. There's also the overt reliance on stale and perverse jokes, and a story that can barely do much except trudge to the finish line and attempt to convince you the journey was worth it with a trite dance number, of all things.

But the thing is… even with all that, the first entry was somewhat compelling during its runtime, though most of that comes from its bold novelty. The idea of taking advantage of the surreality of dreams to find deeply concealed truths is fun to occasionally ponder, and there's just enough fluff to the places you visit and things you do to string you along for the ride (though having to check the same spots for flavor text on each revisit to very little results is a deep annoyance I have with both entries). The characters actually got a chance to grow (if not by much… this series' urge to be immature at every turn is nothing short of ruinous, sometimes), and their designs strike a wonderful line between outstanding and cringeworthy that makes them just… stick out in your brain, you know?

So while I thought the song and dance (both the literal and the metaphorical) were ultimately not worth much, I was still convinced, fooled by the magic just enough to see things come to an end; and the resolution itself was satisfying and believable, if nothing else. And with how exhausted I felt reaching this point, I figured that'd be enough.

To me, AI1 is all about finding shards of diamonds in the rough, and it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that its fandom runs away with what little they have to try and improve on it (and often succeed). As such, you'd expect its sequel to take advantage of how much room there is to grow, capitalize on this chance to refine things, and use the few strong themes the original presented (value of bonds and family made both by blood and by choice, finding those you can rely on to carry what you have done forward, etc)... right?

Um, yeah, turns out it twists over itself even more than I'd already thought possible in order to make sense (not to mention seemingly forsaking most of that mess right at the true end in order to approach the established universe from a contrived meta angle). If AI1 can be described as having extremely unrefined gameplay coupled with a decently intriguing story, NI is just about the opposite of that.

While I'm glad they bothered to make exploring the dream worlds enjoyable this go around, there's no way in hell that makes it worthwhile to bear witness to the innumerable ways in which this mess of a sequel sullied the already weak foundations laid down by its predecessor. When I had finished that game, I wrote, on impulse, that 'I haven't been this confounded by a sequel's existence since Chrono Cross'. It just… did not need to happen, like, at all.

Nirvana Initiative posed to me one of the worst questions you can have while playing a game, which is…

'Why am I doing this, again?'

Let's be real, it was mostly for the soundtrack. Unlike AI1, this game had passable music! Though having to watch ANOTHER dance number (like half a dozen times, actually! and no, there's no skip button!) just about had me gagging.

That's not even the worst part about that sequence, no - that would have to be the way it almost actively ruins and undermines what's probably the only passable character arc in NI (and even then, you have to squint hard for it to pass your judgement, given how it starts... gotta hand it to this game for managing to have multiple relationships with genuinely questionable setups involving uncomfortable age gaps).

I wanted to feel touched by the new, somewhat expanded narratives, I wanted to see the world grow a little, despite all the grievances I was certain I would have... But not even halfway through the plot, I realized that my true wish was to just move on. I think that's what I'll do here, as well, as even reminiscing on this chaos is quite dreadful.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Switch, 2022) [♪ Agnus Colony]

Don't become prey and victim to your own expectations - or to bad advertising.

Xenoblade is a special series, full of wonder and power. Words fail me this year, as they did the year before, when it comes to describing how much of an impact these games - the second entry most of all, a game I think about now and then with a bittersweetness on my heart that I oddly never can get enough of - had had on my mental well-being last year. They might as well have saved me back then, and while getting to experience them was something I'd been planning to do for a while, the specific circumstances it all had happened under were just so special, so exceptional, so wild, that it's hard to think of those days as anything but a gift.

And yet, there are plenty of things in this particular journey I still have to reconcile with. I never settled on what my impression of 1 is, in the end (or, some might say, I never properly played it); I could use a fresher look at 2, and… I never, ever, will finish Xenoblade Chronicles 3. It's a game I once had hopes for, but nowadays don't ever want to think about.

I thought it a privilege, of sorts - the fact that I was there to witness (and acquire) a brand-new release in a series that became dearly important to me. I ended up hearing many things - the trailers, the rumors, the leaks. They all spoke of a definitive resolution to the series, of levels of refinement never seen before, of intrigue so big you can barely take it, of key character appearances we were all dying to see.

Turns out most of what we were so eagerly expecting came with an extra price tag.

The base game of Xenoblade 3 is a mirage, a mere shade of what came before it. The environments are open and vast, but they look more drab than ever - and with the new autowalk feature, it takes even less time to get sick of it. The music takes you on a journey, but you forget what it sounds like far sooner than you'd prefer. The battle system promises lots of options and a nice learning curve, but it only overextends, overwhelms and forces you to grind. The cutscenes look every bit the part of a Xenoblade story, but meander and stretch things out to the point of boredom, which means none of the characters get enough time to grow on the player, either… Though a lot of them would probably go nowhere even given all the time in the world.

And the setting as a whole? Well, it's a simulation, so who cares about it feeling unique or fun? That's the point, the game says, you're supposed to empathize with these characters breaking out of their bonds, out of this miserable existence! Well, I say that things can be made appealing even in decay. You don't have to actively worsen things to make a point.

Future Redeemed is an impressive demonstration of how things could have been. It fixes practically every point where the base game falters - and it is in this part of the game where all those promises that once seemed hollow finally come true. Sort of. The exploration process is smooth as butter in the way none of the games before were, characters are at last back to having defined roles in battle, and all that teasing becomes a thing of the past as 3 acknowledges its own roots and past in full, and you think to yourself… 'If only we'd got this in the base game all along!'

But we didn't. And the credits on Future Redeemed roll far too soon to truly be satisfied. Is this how you wanted the saga to end?

honorable mentions

Butterfly Soup 2 (PC, 2022) [♪ Night Tourist] *I hope you'll forgive me for not finding a GIF for a mostly static VN...

It's so funny. For me it has been two years; for the creator, it'd been five. But I guess time doesn't matter when it comes to maturity, as I feel like both myself and this game have done plenty of growth. And for that, I love it all the more, just as I am now thankful to be able to call Butterfly Soup a short series.

Compared to the first game, the art is more refined, the tone is more consistent, and treatment of serious topics is more grounded - in more ways than one, this sequel is like a fond, yet melancholic look at what you once had, what changed since then, and what you hope to make of things. But between all that, it stays sincere and silly in the best of ways - the ones that make you feel cozy on the darkest of nights, the ones that endear you for a good while yet. Truly, this game was a ray of light in a sea of mediocrity this year.

Road 96 (PC, 2021) [♪ Hit the Road]

Yeah, I know. The fact that I have played a goddamn walking simulator at the behest of a good pal (who might or might not be reading this, hi on the off chance that you are!) is nothing short of a miracle. Not to mention the fact that I ended up having a good time with it!

I'll put it plain: the vibes of this game are almost impeccable. It wastes little time setting things up - it's the turn of the century, and a massively corrupt government is practically folding in on itself as it closes its borders. It's up to you, as you're literally put into a blank-slate teenager's shoes, to go on a desperate journey and see whether or not you make your way out.

Over the course of Road 96, you do this six times, and the people you meet on the way and choices you make with them may or may not shape not just your own future, but that of the whole country. There's nothing for it, then, but hit the road and see what awaits you, as you sit in a car that's probably stolen, blaring music from your carefully curated tapes… or are dropped off on the wayside with nothing but a paltry backpack to speak of… or find yourself biding your time near a gas station… or… whatever it is the game throws at you, as you hope that the strangers you run into actually deign to help.

Yes, the biggest way this game attempts to stand out is with our good old friend, RNG. Even reading blurbs about it, you cannot escape the all-too-typical claims of 'your own personal journey', 'a thousand unique paths waiting for you' and all that… months later, I find myself unable to decide whether this helped the game or harmed it more, as it's definitely smaller than it makes itself out to be.

As a story hook, this setup is clever and delightful, as I tried to illustrate a moment earlier, but the moment you begin to overthink it, you realize that the randomness aspect clashes hard against the continuity the game tries to establish. You, as the player, indeed learn more about the world and colorful characters in it each time you venture forth, but the avatar you control is supposed to be clueless as ever, setting out on a path that is, in fact, not quite their own any more. It's a weird gripe to have, and I found it an easy one to ignore, but I wish something could be done about it anyway.

As for the rest of the plot, let's just say it's... surprisingly binary, and the supporting cast small and not always compelling in turn. The game sacrifices some of the personal intimacy and uniqueness it has built up to make a sweeping, painfully boring statement of 'freedom good, suppression bad' before credits roll, but as damaging as that is to the overall experience, I feel like one can't deny the fundamental appeal of just being asked to go on a journey with sweeping stakes and truly, truly banging music. Seriously, it was meant to be put on speakers and blasted as the world passes you by!

In a word, Road 96 is ambitious, and in a sentence, it is ambitious, yet falling short of itself. Nonetheless, I was impressed by how it managed to worm its way into my heart for a while.

A Space for the Unbound (PC, 2023) [♪ Don't Have Much Choice]

Wouldn't you know it? I had actually played two games involving entering people's subconsciousness to solve their problems this year!

Truth be told, I'd been looking forward to this game for about a year, given that it was published by the people behind Coffee Talk (which, if you recall, I had quite enjoyed). The warm and inviting screenshots on the back-then almost empty store page, showing off awesome art and promising a sweet little journey with slice-of-life tropes and a mystery waiting to be solved… well, to say all of that was alluring is to say nothing, really. I just about jumped when I received a notification for this game releasing at last at the beginning of the year, and wasted little time trying to dive in.

The sad thing is, what you see is not always what you get. The cozy, comfortable, sensible vibes of the early game - running around the city, doing chores at your school, naming every stray cat you come across, watching the protagonist's diary fill up as he crosses all the little goals he had set in life off his precious list… Yeah, those things won't last - definitely not long enough to get you attached to characters living in this world.

As the plot begins to unfold, it fumbles over itself trying to introduce various cliches and supernatural elements, to the point where you recognize the whole experience as a tedious drag as you see exactly where it's heading, and think to yourself that you have heard all this before. It's yet another heartfelt story about self-actualization, and as the game hammers it in harder than ever before, you sigh and wish you could go back to the times of bottle cap collecting and cat petting. Sometimes, simpler is better.

Unfortunately, that's not exactly true when it comes to actually playing A Space for the Unbound. The gameplay is as simple as can be - basically all you do is walk around (quite slowly) and interact with things. I can appreciate how linear the game is, for the most part, but I wish it let us accomplish our goals without wasting too much time! Not to mention, if you try to see everything there is, you have to be prepared to deal with quite a few mind-numbingly repetitive mini-games for far longer than you have to. Don't do that. It'll just sully your impression of the game.

If you're somehow still interested in this after reading this messy opinion of mine, don't be too discouraged - you'll see plenty of beautiful sights, hear some cute music, and, maybe, be affected by the story far more than I was. (Besides, for a cat lover, it's always nice to see others appreciate them!) Just... try not to waste too much time with the game's superficial sidequests.

Tales of the Abyss (3DS, 2011 port of a 2006 release) [♪ The Distribution Base]

There's something ironic in how playing (most of) this game has been one of the best things I have done with my lovely 2DS since I homebrewed it earlier this year... and yet I quite regret not checking how (ahem) easily available the PS2 version is, instead. They may be functionally identical, but the hardware is not - you have no idea how hard some of the goddamn Mieu Fire puzzles become when your character is taking up a mere four or so pixels of an already tiny screen. Man, that was trying my patience at its finest.

These horrors aside, though, what kind of game are we even dealing with here? Well, it’s a Tales game first and foremost. I can’t deny claims that Abyss has a few strengths of its own (most notably, of course, actually bothering to have coherent character development arcs), but it’s not quite enough to obscure the ever-prevalent issues this series has:

exploration and side-questing is still annoyingly obtuse, not to mention traversal is painfully slow in the first half of the game,

some characters (in this case, Anise more so than others, but I'd argue Mieu's whole existence is part of this too) are obligated to suffer because Tales has to meet its unhealthy anime tropes\wackiness quota per game,

the skit system has not, unfortunately, evolved one bit (the amount of times I would skip a skit on accident, because any input halts its playback entirely…),

while I’m inclined to say the battle system is, for the most part, an improvement (the Field of Fonons mechanic is quite a nice change given the foundations of Tales gameplay, I have to admit), any goodwill you might want to give it gets shattered when you realize Free Run breaks bosses in half. And aside from that, it’s just your usual button-mashy fare.

So why did I push on with this game as far as I did, pulling the classic move of quitting right at the final boss instead of, well, any earlier? A lot of that is because I was just in the mood to mash some buttons in bed until I realized I was slightly underleveled for the finale and caught myself groaning at the mere thought of trying to even cheese it. A shame, that, because the ending of this game is pretty wonderful for what it set out to do, and it was the only bit I did not see on my own. It's like my experience with Final Fantasy VI all over again…

That's not all there is to it, though. Abyss has some of what's probably the most involved and curious worldbuilding (once you get past all the awkward made up jargon it loves to throw at you) of any Tales game I know! Not that this says much, because that's a low bar, and I'm not too familiar with the series at large, but it was enough to keep me engaged for a long while. And, as mentioned earlier, it puts in greater efforts than I expected to endear you to the cast as they slowly band together and uncover their own talents, purposes and aims in life - Luke in particular.

I liked him almost immediately - because I'm not too hard to please when it comes to this series, and his design is, I feel, particularly sweet and striking (especially given how nicely the game used the Important Haircut trope with him, and of course, the contrast between him and Asch). But that alone doesn't a good protagonist make - it's the fact that the story allows Luke to make mistakes (from small ones to straight-up catastrophes), get his comeuppance and grow from them organically, at his own pace, that makes him stand out in my mind.

As Luke sheds his sheltered ways of thought and accepts his responsibilities, those that were traveling with him, either out of obligation or by chance, begin to support him more and stand by him in earnest. It all comes together gradually and at a satisfying pace, and is definitely a highlight of the experience to me.

Growth and connection are probably among the biggest themes of the game, so it's nice to see that it applies pretty much equally to both protagonists and antagonists. Sure, it's the job of a Tales' Big Bad faction to be goofy and up to nefarious activities, but beyond that, the group has solid enough chemistry both among themselves and with the party that I actually ended up looking forward to most encounters with them, even if ultimately it felt a little predictable. As an aside, for a game this old, the voice acting was really good and plentiful (though there is none for skits, which sucks), and further piqued my interest in the story along the way.

To conclude, I'd like to say that the biggest thing I learned while playing this game is that I'm a sucker for grounded tales of (ha) self-actualization even this many years later. And also that once you play one Tales game, you truly, to some extent, know them all.

SANABI (PC, 2023) [♪ Warm Hospitality]

Do you want to know why I ended up playing this one? Of course you do, that wasn't really a question. I only bring this up because the answer can be revealed with a single screenshot:

...yep, the inspiration is that blatantly on display. I was expecting it, of course - the Katana ZERO community is the only reason I know of SANABI in the first place, and even as you read people's thoughts on it, the extreme similarity is practically all they ever bring up, be it in a positive or negative light. It pleased me and warmed my heart, while also making me feel wary - it's one thing to be inspired by something, and another to actually carve an identity of your own.

That said, KZ is far from the worst thing to try to replicate, particularly when it comes to visuals - SANABI has some awesome scenery that makes me feel right at home. And while the story at times feels so much like an amateurish copy that it leaves me confused more than anything (I'm sure the awkward English translation sadly does not help matters, not to mention the fact that I'd played this game in an unfinished state - you might expect me to write about it again next year!), the gameplay is anything but.

I'm sure there are quite a few platformers out there that have you use what's essentially a grappling hook to swing through the stages, but SANABI is my first experience with something like this, and in this regard the game absolutely manages to shine on its own. Movement is lightning-fast and responsive, enemy targeting is extremely generous - almost to the point of being handholdy (and, of course, they all die in one satisfying hit - as do you, if you set the game to the highest difficulty. It's nice to be given an opportunity to learn the ropes before engaging with the game earnestly!), and there's something to be said about how the level design has that extreme kind of clarity to it that I always appreciate and favors speed over precision, with how spacious everything is.

My only big issues with how the game plays are how it doesn't seem to be designed with a controller in mind (it is an option, but I found myself moving much more precisely with KBM! Me! Someone who never plays games with that!), and, once again, the just-a-bit-too-long death animation\transition. Being able to skip it helps, but I just yearn for no time to be wasted...

#celeste #aitsf #xbc3 #tales #abyss #zero.txt #yearly game list #flashing gif #.gif

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