zeno anon once again, most likely for the last time (my apologies for bothering you so much haha!) thanks for the rec! I was planning to play that but I wasnt aware of that part, so thank u for the heads up so I could prepare ahead of time. if you have any other game recs in general id love to hear them
i promise youre not bothering me at all, no worries :D! i love talking abt games and stuff so i promise im having fun dsalkjakjdslkjds
Here is a list of game recommendations, with a summary and the major TWs that i can remember! I'll edit in links after i post this ask too! and ill put them under the cut bc this is gonna be long lkjdsalkjdskjads. All games listed are free!
Cell Of Empireo - Sharktale Factory:
Major TWs: Cults, Human Experimentation, Body Horror, Character Death, Suicide, a single implied mention of cannibalism (very brief), Overall Dark themes, Two (2) jumpscares.
My personal favorite right now! Haruki Atou is a 28 year old detective. When his friend and coworker, Eiji Shinano, goes missing, he follows him to his last known location... the mysterious cult known as the Empyrean Heaven Research Institute.
LOTS of lore. Like genuinely every single detail feels so fleshed out, it's insane! Foreshadowing EVERYWHERE. this one has a similar vibe to ZENO to me? Also i love the character writing in this game, everyone has their own motivations and plans and its SO DETAILED. Theres a gay mad scientist! a headless rat! a puppy!!! No official playable translation, but there is a translator who has uploaded the entirety of the base game on youtube! The DLC is currently being translated. 7 endings, + bonus scenes based on whether a specific flag is triggered.
Witch's Heart - IZ (Blue Star Entertainment):
Major TWs: Body Horror, Suicide, Murder, Dark themes.
While playing up in the mountains, Claire Elford finds herself taking shelter from the rain in a mansion. Soon, she finds four other people, some bizarre monsters - and no way back out. In the company of demons, the five must figure out how to escape... and solve the mystery of the legendary wish-granting treasure, the Witch's Heart.
This one is split into multiple scenarios. There is the base game, Witch's Heart Bonus Stage as the direct sequel, and Sirius' Conclusion. There are more to come (more character conclusions). This one is fun! Wonderful Character writing, fun gameplay, and charming interactions between the whole cast. Five endings.
SHTDN - Umami Mazu (Marutoku Kichi):
Major TWs: nothing major iirc. brief mention of sex, some discussion of death.
The desktop is peaceful as usual.
In order to delete the computer virus called "Agape", the anti-virus program, Virus Buster "Goyou", must cooperate with it while searching through the computer's files.
This one is short and genuine, with GORGEOUS backgrounds. It's STUNNING. It’s so so so cute and the conversations between Goyou and Agape are genuinely sweet <3!! Same creator as ZENO, different translator! Three endings.
Eloquent Countenance - RachelDrawsThis:
Major TWs: religion, horror imagery, blood
You have been told that the pastor of your church had suddenly passed away last night. As you helped with his wife's funeral not so long ago, you were assigned to assist the pastor's funeral service today as well. But as soon as you were about to start the service, you hear a strange voice in your head…
This is short but compelling! Made for a game jam where the entire game takes place in a single room. I had a lot of fun with this one :D WONDERFUL character writing! Two endings.
Cold Front - RachelDrawsThis:
Major TWs: Blood, gore, disturbing imagery.
Augustine and Winnie have always been together their whole childhood. Ever since elementary school up until now, when they have graduated high school. They were inseparable.
But now that Winnie got accepted to his university, he is soon leaving town. The two decide to spend their last day together before his move. Not long after they hopped into Winnie's car, they suddenly find themselves trapped in a freezing blizzard... It's currently July.
also short with 2 endings! FANTASTIC character writing, both Winnie and Augustine feel SO fleshed out <3
Your Turn to Die - A Death Game By Majority - Nankidai:
Major TWs: Death, graphic depictions of violence, Hallucinations, Trauma, overall dark themes.
Sara Chidouin returns home from school late one night to discover that something's gone terribly wrong. When she comes to, she finds herself, her friend Joe, and 9 other people trapped in a mysterious place. Placed in life-and-death situations, they must come to an agreement about what they should do - and who should die.
YTTD <3 this one is released up through chapter 3-1B, with part 3-2 to be the final part when it is released. Multiple routes! this is what got me into playing these kinds of games in the first place :D very fleshed out characters, details matter! your choices determine who lives or dies!
Therapy With Dr. Albert Krueger - Dino999z
Major TWs: jumpscares, cartoon gore, blood, flashing images, loud noises
The genius of Dr. Krueger shines again with his newest revolutionary breakthrough therapeutic sessions. Allow Krueger’s new treatment to tackle the toughest cases of mental disorder (peer-review pending) and fears in our ever changing day to day world. The genius lies not only within Krueger's stunning techniques as a therapist, but also with what he calls “Dream Therapy”, combining breakthrough neuron technology with his closely held therapy principals. So what are you waiting for? Sign up for your therapy today!
HELLOOOOO MR KRUEGER! Same creator and world as VTSOM, with some connections between the two (though the order in which you play them doesnt matter)! three endings! I love this silly goofy marine biologist turned therapist! the protagonist is NB :D
IM.SO EXCITRD!!! TO WRITE CHAPTER 5 OF MY FAN CREATION!!! I GET TO WRITE OUT WHATS BASIVALLY MH OWN DEATH!!!
Im fucking morbidly excited to write ayakas pointless note bc she gets killed off before she can do it herself,
Ive planned a lot lately how to properly show Hoshiko/Kichi's decent from being like #1 bullshitter and silly in the group left to just being miserable and having an eerie silent stage where she's either not speaking at all or if she is it's quiet and any questions about it sends her into a hissy fit where she starts throwing shit and threatening ppl, ans stomping her 4'10 ass out of the room
For hwe silent stage I wanna take inspiration from this one ouma sprite
Just the dead stare, isk I may try and edit it ltr
Mammon: I think the better question is why we’re all here…
Rielle: that is something I like to know.
Nobunaga: better question is who you all.
Me: better question if your all still complete d1cks?
Them: …
Me: let’s talk about replacing our BELOVED mcs~!!
Mitsunari: replacing what now??
Me: sweet somersault child, it means completely and disregarding MC for another.
Malleus: why would I do that to child of man?
Me: let’s call it…a possibility. Not to mention almost all of y’all have horrible sense of telling which woman is good or bad.
Azul: hey!
Me: I kinda wanna add Diabolik Lover dummies here but I scratch the idea by giving them nightmares or basically bloody letters of warnings since I kinda not in the fandom anymore but- that’s not the point.
Clavis: why would we replaced belle for that matter?
Arthur: yeah! I would have to agree with this bloke. Why on earth would I disregard MC for another woman?
Me: cause you can’t read the room and unintentionally make them feel insecure and jealous. Not to mention those flock of women and sometime not knowing it. If you do an uno reverse, you get what I mean you dense birds for brains.
Shingan: wait…so that’s why MC avoided all of us cause women were around?!
Me: yes! Why do you think Kichi and Sasuke got the assignment, they went with her to take it off her mind. Actually, why do we even adore y’all in the first place?! Oh wait— red flags. Yep. Why do I even bother…
Mitsuhide: you sound very similar to hideyoshi, M.I.
Me: I know I sound like hidemama.
Hideyoshi: I’m a man! Not a woman.
Me: yeah..yeah. Anyway. Here’s a warning. Break their hearts and use their kindness and help vainly and not being grateful. I’ll break your legs and cut off yo d1cks.
Epel: your sounding like Jiang Wanyin-sama…
M.I: I know. Don’t want what happen to Wen Chao on y’all do you?
Twst boys: *nod*
RSA: ?????
Wei Wuxian: WHO SUMMONED ME?!
Me: WTF-?! Aren’t you guys suppose to be in your world or the multi-mansion or at tthe ramshackle dorms?!
Wei Wuxian: nope! Whatcha doing~?
Me: threatening them to not break or use the MC kindness and helpfulness and disregarding them for another. Similar to how you do it for Jiang Yanli-Jie Jie.
Wei Wuxian: oh~! You mean them? Yeah, I’ve met them. Really remind me a lot like shijie. Now here a word, break their heart and replaced them. We both break you. *has scary green eyes*
Theo: first of all, where is this coming from?!
Me: blame the demons. *slaps the replaced Au and sad mc angst on the table*
Ikemen series boys: … *pissed*
Twst: *very pissed*
Obey me: …*feeling weirdly guilty cause of their alternative selves*
Me: to think…to think…you would do this to a poor INNOCENT LAMB!!! *being held back by Wei Wuxian and Vincent* YOU DESERVES PUNISHMENT!!!
Mammon: but it’s not us!!! Alright!!
Me: it could happen.
Chevalier: don’t worry, we don’t really open easily to others beside our belle. But if this were to happen. The sheep can stay with us.
Comte: or us. I’m sure it be a lovely editions.
Leona: for a mere sheep, I suppose Savanaclaw will welcome it.
Lucifer: why are you all looking at us like that.
Jean: why else. Madame MC and her friends do not deserves sinners and filth. *sheathes rapier*
Napoleon: Jean. Rapier down. Surely some of you can see this is idiocy right? *smiling not meet his eyes*
Simmon: of course. MC deserves better than that. The heavens will welcome.
13: seriously, men am I right M.I?
Solomon: when did you get here?!
Me: she was here long ago solo cup.
Solomon: …
Arthur: guess we’re not the only victims huh?
Solomon: shut it you 2 star rated writer.
Arthur: EX-cuse?!
Me: I’m sure you all understand the assignment correct?
Nobunaga: of course we do. Though, thank you for telling us about the jealousy part.
Me: go suck Kenshin d1ck.
Nobunaga: …
Kenshin: …
Shingan: kinky~!
Me: omg Shingan…WHY!!! NO! *sprays water on Shin-gone* BAD SHINS.
How many words have you written this year?
Near impossible to measure, with most of my writing done via penned draft and I am not about to go find and count the pages written. I write about ten words per line and the line count varies per notebook.
I’d guesstimate at 200,000-300,000 words, most of them on first drafts.
How many works did you publish this year?
Eight works on AO3, a couple more on Tumblr.
What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?
Cold Coffee & Empty Coffers [AO3] (Morston); it hits this balance between introspection and activity, tying together the pre-canon meta of the story into early-canon era content.
What work of yours has the most hits?
A Sinful Mercy [AO3] (fix-it; Sadithur) at 39,981; I finished it in 2021, but I took this question to mean overall. Within the works published/updated this year, Down On His Luck [AO3] (Morston) got the most traffic.
What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?
Treasures Unseen [AO3] (genfic); I tend to forget how much folk like to read young Arthur antics.
Favorite title you used
Cold Coffee & Empty Coffers [AO3] (Morston); I loved the play on the gang’s need for money against the coffee theme of that series of stories.
If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most?
N/A
Pairing you wrote the most for this year?
Morston; no one is surprised.
Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?
Morston; no one is surprised.
What work was the quickest to write?
Reassurances [AO3] (Marstongail) was a writing warm-up; wrote it in one sitting, then edit/posted in a second sitting.
What work took you the longest to write?
Cold Coffee & Empty Coffers [AO3] (Morston); I finished the draft in March 2021 and typed it up in May 2022.
How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?
You really don’t want to know. I’ve been tagging in a WIP meme, y’all might get a glimpse later rofl.
What’s your longest work of the year?
Presumption of Debt [AO3] (Morston, festive); at 24,839, it’s my longest “written in 2022″ story. DOHL is longer, but most of that was last year.
What’s your shortest work of the year?
Minding His Manners [AO3] (genfic) at 818 words - a veritable drabble for anyone that knows me!
What WIP are you taking into next year with you?
Down On His Luck [AO3] (Morston) is still being drafted in pen.
In The Moment [AO3] (Morston) is drafted in pen, just needs typing.
What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?
“This is the fault of Helvel” because many ideas can be stemmed from talking with them.
Your favorite character to write this year?
John Marston; I was concerned I couldn’t pull his character off, but this year reminded me of how much I loved RDR1 and John as a concept and character.
The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?
Susan Grimshaw for pre-canon pieces; I wanted to really do her justice and that cast a shadow over it, but not significantly, just a thing that was often on my mind.
What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?
No one single pairing stands out; most of my writing that has ships is “ships by accident” (outside of Morston). Hell, A Sinful Mercy [AO3] (fix-it; Sadithur) was never supposed to have a ship and the story is definitely not focused on that part. I’m much more into writing plot.
Which work of yours have you reread the most?
A Sinful Mercy [AO3] (fix-it; Sadithur) and Cold Coffee & Empty Coffers [AO3] (Morston).
How many kudos in total did you get this year?
As of 2022-12-08, I have had 399 kudos this year. Thank you, readers. <3
Which work has the most comments?
Treasures Unseen [AO3] (genfic); between the theme and @danger-r-98-5‘s beautiful art, it got a lot of interaction.
Did you do any collaborative works this year?
Writing-wise, I went with no co-authors this year. In The Moment [AO3] (Morston) is part of the companion prompts challenge @southernlynxx and I are undertaking wherein we take the same prompt and write separate stories.
Treasures Unseen [AO3] (genfic) was collaborative for art and fic!
Did you write any gifts this year?
Yes, but I have not posted them yet.
Did you receive any gifts this year?
None via AO3 this year, but many gifts of friendships and creativity et al outside it. <3
What’s your most common category?
Red Dead Redemption; it’s the only fandom category I am actively writing in.
What do you listen to while writing?
This is interesting, because I used to listen to music when writing as a means of focus. However, since being diagnosed ADHD and starting medication to support me, I find music to be disruptive when I’m writing. I’ll put on a YouTube channel I like sometimes, but I zone right out and get into the word groove.
Favorite work you wrote this year?
Cold Coffee & Empty Coffers [AO3] (Morston) and In The Moment [AO3] (Morston) are tied. The first for reasons writ above, the second for exploring the dynamic between Arthur and John right after John returned from his year away.
Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?
They stop before Dutch’s tent, the altar upon which John’s blood will spill to mark the lesson that no one, not even a favoured son, can leave without word. No one can abandon Dutch on the eve of greater things and expect absolution upon their return.
- In The Moment [AO3] (Morston)
Biggest surprise while writing this year?
Learning that I cannot use outlines the way others can; I struggle to follow it, feel like the story is being told at the wrong pace. I have to trust myself to write and let the story tell itself through me, not through steps. It’s just my process is all.