#take a shot every time i say omori

[catherinekal]

Giant Fucking List of Obscure Video Games I Recommend!

It's finally done!! Took me long enough, but here it is. Over 50 games I recommend. Just in time for the Steam Sale. Holy shit I spent way to much time on this.

Some of these are well known to anyone into the indie/AA gaming scene or just on the internet often, but I still felt the need to mention in case people haven't heard of them. All of these are obscure compared to any AAA game and I'm confident no one would have heard or played all of these.

They all have something I found interesting in someway. I was going to include a trailer for each game, but apparently Tumblr doesn't like that. So I have put a link to a Youtube playlist for all of them in the same order as this list. Some of these games are also on various consoles to, but I can confirm they're all on Steam beyond one.

I only picked games I've played personally. I know of many other good obscure games, but haven't tried or bought them yet so they don't get on the list. Also many games on this list remain unfished to me, but that's more due to time and other life shit then them getting bad.

There's a lot of fucking games In this list so hopefully you find something you've never tried before and give it a shot. All these games are on Steam with one exception, but that's a free game. I also organized them by genres that make perfect sense to me.

Trailers Link:

The Best Game Ever:

Outer Wilds

Fuck it let's just start with the only mandatory game on this list you need to play. You know how nearly every space game is a overpromised underdelivered fucking mess? Like all of them.

Outer Wilds is the actual good one. Don't want to say much more then that. This is very much an experience that you need to know as little as possible to get the best experience. Not even linking the trailer in the playlist.

Absolutely play this game if you had to pick only 1 thing on this list.

EarthBoundLikes:

OMORI

OMORI is a game about a group of kids who go on magical adventures and save the day. That's it. Nothing else sinister going on here.

It's a well known indie game and for good reason. It's fucking good. One of my favorite games of all time.

Art style is peak. A mix of pixel and pencil drawn art that works so damn well for me. The battle system is turn based and revolves around changing emotions and teamwork. It mixes a happy child like vibe with a darkness underneath it, which is right up my alley. A tale of trauma and grief. I'm still fucked up thinking about some story bits in there. 

All the characters are wonderful and the story is helped a lot by keeping it focused on a small group of friends.

Play it.

LISA: The Painful and LISA: The Joyful

LISA: The Painful/Joyful are a pair of games that fuck. They fuck hard.

They're morbid, tackle many taboos, and have a dark but also stupid sense of humor. The visuals are nothing groundbreaking, but this isn't a game that needs perfect pristine pixel art. The combat system is a lot of fun, but takes very clear inspiration from Earthbound. The story is just perfect though.

You play Brad whos on a journey to rescue his adoptive daughter who was kidnapped in a post apocalyptic world of only men. You meet the strangest allies and the game has a lot of odd characters in it. Want a lawyer fish in your party? This game has it.

It does not shy away from throwing punches and is not for anyone who can't handle a story that tackles themes of abuse, depression, suicide, and more. The game also has a sequel I don't want to say to much about, but it's absolutely worth it as well.

If you want a fun and fucked up 2D RPG adventure and somehow haven't played this then please do so.

Mandatory Metroidvania Soulslike Indie Game Darlings:

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights

Ender Lilies is the first of many metroidvania's on this list. The indie scene is filled with them and for good reason. The formula works so damn well.

What I love about Ender Lilies is the concept of the player character. You play a white priestess who is also a child and helpless on her own. However, you can summon the spirits of allies and slain enemies to fight for you and those spirits are all your attacks. Gameplay is the same as any other Metroidvania, but knowing I'm this helpless child in this world infected by blight really sells me on the setting.

There's nothing revolutionary to this entry in the pantheon of Metroidvanias, but the visuals and setting are why I recommend it. This game is a slow descent into hell. Also you do get a big heavy hammer attack and any game with a big hammer weapon attack is a good game. Big bonks.

Craving a Metroidvania with a macabre setting? This will do it.

GRIME

GRIME is something else. I don't hear anyone talk about this game and it's a damn shame. I don't even know how to even describe GRIMEs setting. You play as essentially a sentient black hole on a rock body. You go through, with lore slowly revealed as is the Metroidvania stable, and absorb your enemies.

This games aesthetic is best described as fleshy stone. It's very unique visually and what made me want to try it out. As for gameplay you'll need to learn parrying as this games combat system heavily relies on it.

This game surprised me and has a entire level I never expected with one very unique boss to top that off. Also be warned. This game is very much a platformer as well. Similar to how the Ori games are, not just pure combat challenges. If you like your metroidvanias with little to no platforming then you won't enjoy parts of this game, but nothing as difficult as things in Hollow Knight.

If you enjoy metroidvanias then this is a must play. More people need to talk about it.

Salt and Sanctuary

This is where it all started. Certainly not the first Metroidvania by any means, but the first 2D Soulslike Metroidvania or at the least first advertised as such. The devs intended to make Dark Souls in 2D and they did it. Before Hollow Knight, the games listed above, or so many others that took inspirations from Souls in the 2D world, was this game. I know this game was popular with the souls community as it came out, but I don't really hear about it anymore. Hollow Knight just dominated all discussion.

The controls and combat are very much Dark Souls but in 2D. The lore is cryptic and hidden away. There's a fuckton of weapons and spells and multiple playthroughs worth of stuff. The game is hard though Hollow Knight would easily one up it in terms of difficulty.

This game also has covenants that are actually good and the mechanics around them are vastly improved over any souls game that has covenants. I won't go into detail, but I wish the souls games copied this games mechanics for that.

The setting is high fantasy with the lovely dark bloody horror underneath it all. The art style can turn people away, it's not as pretty as other 2D souslikes, but I enjoy it personally. It fits.

The game has a lot to explore and you can get lost in its world pretty easily. I remember walking into a boss room from the exit somehow and got behind the boss and it was all intended if you navigated around him.

If you can appreciate or just get past the visuals and want to see where the 2D soulslike genre began then you should play it.

Metroidvania's Before the Dark Age of Soulslikes

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Long ago there was a time where Metroidvanais didn't have soulslike mechanics defaulted in and set in these bleak post apocalyptic worlds. I have 3 of them to recommend. Starting With Dust: An Elysian Tail

This is a fun little game. A game that I'm not sure many people know about or would think to play today. Metroidvanias pre Hollow Knight tend to get forgotten when I see people about them now. It has a mix of platforming and hectic combat. I remember the game having a cool spin sword attack with a even cooler aerial attack. I liked it a lot when I played it many many years ago.

The art style is colorful and everyone is an anthropomorphic animal. More games need anthropomorphic animals beyond catgirl or rabbitgirl, seriously I grew up on shit like sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank.

You play as Dust and are accompanied by Fidget. you got a magic sword and you kill a bunch of shit while saving the day. Just a fun little Metroidvania that doesn't overstay and go on forever.

It may be dated in some ways, but if you're a fan of these types of games and want to play a older one then here you go.

Guacamelee!

The combat in this game feel great. Another little forgotten gem of a Metroidvania. It has such a unique style to it and has a fun cartoony vibe. It's pretty fucking great.

You play as a farmer who dons a luchador mask to save his friend he loves and the world being taken over. The combat is a mix of punches, kicks, and throws which is unique from the usual swords and magic these types of games tend to default to. As the game goes along enemies will have shields that need certain moves to break and you'll be switching from the land of the dead and living in combat and platforming.

Both this and Dust before it don't reinvent the genre or anything, but have their own unique charms that I recommend them both if you're a fan of Metroidvanias.

Cave Story+

This is a old classic. The original Cave Story came out in 2004, and was released with a enhanced version in 2011. This is a must play Metroidvania and an old gem. It's the oldest game on this list technically.

This game has little to no melee combat, but instead goes all in on using guns. More Metroid then Vania in that sense. What's unique to the combat is enemies will drop experience that will level up your guns automatically. Each gun can be upgraded to 3 levels, but when you take damage you lose experiences and levels. This adds a extra layer or rewards and punishment to getting hit that I like. Your weapons are perfectly usable at level 1 so it's not like you're fucked, but it gives a greater incentive to avoid damage.

It has fun characters and and fun gameplay. It's a genuine indie gem that I think everyone should play.

Pixel Action Adventure Games With A Dash of RPG Elements to Taste:

ANNO: Mutationem

This game is a pixel art cyberpunk adventure. I adore the art style. It's a 2.5D action platformer set in a futuristic setting. You're on a quest to save your brother with the help of your hacker friend/girlfriend. A quest which leads to a far more complicated story.

The story in this game goes off the rails in ways I love, but I know it threw people off. People have compared the latter half to Evangelion and It can be confusing to follow at times. I still highly recommend it, even if you get lost near the end. A simpler story in terms of Lore would have worked better, but I say fuck it. Go all in.

To me the appeal of this game is the setting. A fascinating cyberpunk sci-fi setting shown through wonderful pixel art. Just walking around the various cities was a joy on its own. There's a lot of attention to detail and I think it's worth playing for that alone. Combat is your standard side-scrolling Metroidvaniaish kind of stuff with various weapons and upgrades and all that. I found it a little challenging at times, but this isn't a game meant for extreme difficulty from what I remember.

If you want to play as hot badass woman in a cyberpunk setting given life through detailed pixel art, then this is the game for you.

CrossCode

This is the most dense indie game on this whole list. CrossCode has so much to do. The game is expansive and slowly drip feeds you with more. You have 5 skill trees, 4 of which are tied to an element, multiple upgrade paths in them. You have a mix of melee combat with twin stick shooter mechanics thrown in. The game has multiple dungeons with puzzles that are both difficult to figure out and then execute the solution for. These aren't like a 2D Zelda dungeon where things never get to complicated, I really took a lot of time with every dungeon.

The setting takes place on another moon physically, but its actually all virtual and a MMO people are playing from all over the galaxy. Though the game itself isn't a MMO really. You play as a set character in a set linear story that's unrelated to that actual in lore story of the MMO. 

The characters are fun and the setting is a joy to explore. There's a lot of side content and I don't remember any of it being a drag. This games also challenging and I know It took me a bit to progress at various points. The pixel art is very detailed, especially with the outdoor environments.

This game will keep you engaged for a while and there's challenging DLC and even fun incentives to play new game plus. This is just all around a solid game experience.

Hyper Light Drifter

I played this game a long time ago so details are hazy, but I know I really enjoyed it. It's top down and filled with action. You got a sword. You got a gun. You go kill things and I do remember many challenging combat encounters.

I have forgotten all story elements, but even now I still remember some imagery that reminded me of Evangelion, which is always a plus. Though story was never the main draw to games for me so the setting and combat were all I needed to keep engaged.

Not the most descriptive review of the game, but I know this is one of the furthest game on this list from when I played it and I only went through it once. It's a cool game though and if the trailer enticed you then you owe it to yourself to get it. 

Phoenotopia: Awakening

I adore this little hidden gem of a game. If CrossCode is the most dense indie game on this list then this is a very close second. Possibly even more dense, I truly can't decide for sure. It's cute, funny, charming, and full of legitimate challenges.

You play as Gail who lives in a small town village. Some shit happens that I won't give away, but you end needing to travel the land and go on a fun adventure. The story is full of comedic and lively characters. It never takes itself to seriously or gets really dark which Is a nice change of pace.

This game really is an adventure. You will travel a lot and get very familiar with any hub area. There's secrets and puzzles packed all over and gives you good reason to revisit. A nice drip feed of progress is felt as you unlock more stuff.

In terms of combat it's bar far the most simplistic on this list and could even frustrate others, but like everything else in this game it has charm and I adore it. The simple mechanics don't mean no challenge though. I was stuck often, but felt so satisfying when I won.

Some of the late game areas can be bullshit and will frustrate you, but stick with it. This is a genuine top tier hidden indie gem that got no attention. Honestly just under Outer Wilds this would be the other must buy. Absolutely play this.

Vampire Survivorlikes:

20 Minutes Till Dawn

Everyone knows about Vampire Survivor and everyone knows many games came out that tried to capture that style of gameplay. This one is the only one of those I've played and it's wonderful.

You unlock multiple characters and multiple guns with various upgrade trees. Kill the horde, survive, upgrade, survive even longer. Each level only takes 20 minutes, hence the title. I appreciate that as the game would never end with how strong you end up being by the end after you learn the mechanics.

This isn't anything groundbreaking, but if you need to kill half a hour then it's a fun thing to play.

Hawklikes:

Umurangi Generation

Let's fucking go!! This game rules!

As someone who is going to pursue photography more seriously as a hobby this game is perfect. Unlike something like Pokemon Snap or games with photo modes, this game really captures the feeling of holding a physical camera and the moment to moment decisions you make with each shot.

You unlock different lenses and control each shot as you would a real camera. After each photo you can edit it on the spot purely for your own creative reasons. The visuals are low poly and very colorful.

The game has a tony hawk style of progression. A hawklike if you will. You get dropped in a level and are given a list of photos to try and take. You can of course take photos of anything. You have a limited amount of film and can find more throughout the level.

Also there's a story. There's a dark undercurrent to the whole thing and the game is very overtly political in all the right ways. Don't like politics in your games? Fuck you! This game dives right in while still maintaining the core gameplay loop. Need more games like this please.

Please buy this game and it's DLC.

Action Games:

Furi

Top tier action game. It's a boss rush game, that's it. 10 bosses with some vague story that briefly connects them. It's not bloated with bullshit and knows exactly what to focus on.

The combat is a mix of intense melee combat with parries and dodges and the like, with twin stick shooting. No upgrades. No farming. No choosing between this weapon or that. No additional moves or mechanics. You fight a tutorial boss which teaches you everything and then you go. You have the full toolkit from the start and that lets you master it slowly over the game.

It's so fucking satisfying finally winning and knowing you improved and earned that win. I like the story as well. It's not that complex, but the ending bits worked for me.

If you want a genuine good action game that has no bullshit attached then get this.

Amid Evil

There's not much to say about this one other then it's really fucking fun. It's a first person action game where you use magic and weapons to go through combat filled levels. You have health and mana that all weapons use outside of your axe. The levels are filled with secrets, you move fast, and it's just a fun action game.

Sometimes a game isn't more then that and it beats games that are stuffed with unnecessary mechanical bloat. If you want a fun first person action game that's not just a full shooter then this is the game for you.

Adventure Games:

The Cat Lady and Lorelai

I love these games. No one ever talks about them or knows about them and they will certainly linger in your mind. The devs have made 2 other games that I have yet to get to so for now I am recommending only these.

Play The Cat Lady first. It's the first one and tells the story of a very depressed middle aged woman who gets a second chance at life, at a cost.

Lorelai is about a young woman in a very abusive household trying to survive while seeing what lengths she will go to save those she loves.

Both these games revolve around deals with a devil and feature a lot of horrific violence. Fun!

The stories in both evoke a creepy disturbing feeling and you're always on edge. I won't say these are straight horror games, but they sure use horror imagery. The art style really helps sells it. The animations or character models may not be the most beautiful thing around, but it has that indie charm I love. The voice acting isn't perfect either, but these aren't negatives for me. These are passion projects and imperfections are what make any piece of art shine brighter. Real people put their soul into these games and it shows.

The gameplay is standard adventure game fair, but all keyboard controlled. So no endless mouse clicking everything on the screen. which works wonderfully. Though being pure adventure games you're here more for the story then the moment to moment gameplay.

Please play these.

Detention

Detention is probably well known due to the controversy with Red Candle Games other game, Devotion being wiped online for shitty reasons. It's available now on their own websites store, though I still have never played it. I should one day as Detention was pretty fucking good.

The gameplay is the usual 2D adventure game fair. A lot of clicking and puzzle solving with some horror thrown in. The story and setting are where it's at though.

The game is unique in that it's made from Taiwanese devs and the games setting is rooted in their cultures history. I don't want to give away any real details beyond that, but it certainly left an impact and seeing a game not set in Europe, America, Japan, or any fantasy equivalent to those was refreshing. The games also not super long and could easily be beaten in a day.

Go buy it. Play it on a long free night. Support these devs.

Rime

I love the aesthetic of this game. Cel shading indie colorful goodness. I got this for the visuals alone and was very happy the game that came with it was good to. Visuals are a major factor in me getting interested in a game and the reveal trailer was enough for me to play it.

It's very light and cryptic on story for most of it as to be expected from this kind of game. You're a kid, you wake up on a beach and go forth exploring. You solve puzzles and hide from danger and go through each of the unique levels trying to piece together whats going on.

Like the game before, this isn't a super long one. Shouldn't take more then a day or a few to get through it all. Though I do recommend you take your time and explore like I did. Let yourself be immersed in the setting.

This is another example of just a pure perfect indie game. Doesn't overstay it's welcome, tells a simple but cryptic story, and has lovely visuals.

Atominous

This is the one of the few games on this whole list that I would say is truly obscure. In fact I have no doubt this is the most obscure. If you're big into indie games then nothing on this list will honestly surprise you, but I'm confident this is the exception.

In this free game you place as a a little guy who's job is like pest control. Instead of bugs your job is to collect and protect the world from rare atoms called Atominous. Basically little atoms that can alter reality. You go into a big house and your job is to find them through the power of puzzle solving and clicking every little thing you see.

This game is all about clicking everything. Nearly every object has unique text that pops up, if not multiple. You find keys to open more of the house and slowly suck up the atominous atoms and clean up the place.

That's it. It's a fun quirky little free game that shouldn't take more then a couple hours. No excuse not to try it, it's free. It's also the only game not on steam, but instead here

Adventure Games Where You Hit Things:

TUNIC

TUNIC is a lovely indie game. You play as a little cute fox and go on a adventure to save your poor trapped mom. such a cute game :3

I adore the visuals, I love low poly stuff and the game is full of charm. Looking at this game makes me happy. The game is like a mix of a top down Zelda and Fez and it being reminiscent of FEZ was what really took me by surprise. I won't go further in how it's like FEZ, but it really elevated the game for me.

It's a fun top down game with simple fun combat. You kill enemies, find key items, unlock more of the world, and get fed cryptic lore. The perfect formula for a fun little indie game. The game is decently challenging to with it's boss fights, and overall a nice fun little experience with some neat surprises.

TUNIC is wonderful, go play it.

Kena: Bridge of Sprits

This is the most PS2 game I've played since the PS2. I mean that as a compliment. This game felt like going back in time to a simpler time.

Visually the game is not at all like the PS2. The visuals are beautiful and has been compared to Pixar. It's bright, colorful, and well polished. To me this is peak aesthetics. This game is worth playing just to see all the work that went into the game's visuals alone.

It reminded me of a PS2 game because it's a self contained fun third person action adventure. Just a fun game with no bullshit holding it down or any other purpose then being a fun adventure. The world is a joy to explore with a nice steady progression. I especially love how the Hub is mostly corrupted and you slowly restore it over the course of the game. Shit like that always feels so good.

There's a lot of unexpected challenge to. Some of the later fights and especially bosses took me a bit to beat. Just like a PS2 game you'll get random difficulty spikes that are so fucking satisfying to beat.

I highly recommend this game.

Adventure Games Where You're in the Desert:

Sable

Sable is a coming of age story presented in a very fun interactive package. This is a game about heading out into the world and exploring on your own whim to figure out what your character becomes as an adult.

You play as Sable, a young adult girl who has to leave her tribe and head into the wider world to discover herself. The goal is to find mask which representative a life path and pick one by the end. The actual game is about heading into a desert open world, solving puzzles, helping NPC's, and discovering what bits of hidden lore hide throughout. You do this all on a hoverbike you can customize as you unlock more parts.

As always the art style is important to me and this game has something really unique. The characters animation is low framerate and it can be off putting to some, but of course I loved it as I love any odd creative choice. I love the lighting and colors to. It's hard to describe just why I was so mesmerised by the art style, but I can safely say it's one of my all time favorites.

The only negative goes to technical issues. The game ran like shit on my PC and my PC isn't bad. Even people with far better PC's then me ran into frame rate issues and others didn't have any. Sometimes games aren't optimized well, but this game was so magical to me that I loved it, despite the tech issues.

It's a very chill game. You want to explore a cool world at a slow pace and get lost in it? Sable's the game for you.

It Comes In Waves

This is a short game where you have to start over if you die. A penalty I feared, but truthfully this isn't that difficult of an experience. You start on one end of a desert and have to carry something to the other end as it grows inside a tank on your back.

As you wait for whatever your transporting to grow you will explore minimalist environments with some unique imagery that speaks of a wider history you just have to wonder about. The whole time you have to watch out for raiders and watch your water level. It always depletes and you will need to explore and refill it as you journey on. I also love how you have a map, but the map is like an actual map. It doesn't show you on it, but just the overall area.

This game will take you a hour at best and is unlike anything else on this list. There's something about just slowly walking across the desert, not knowing what's ahead, and hoping you can make it to the next water tank. Just a little experimental game about a harsh journey.

Platformers With 2 Entire Dimensions:

MO: Astray

Ever wanted to play as a little blob? No? Well you should because this game was a hidden gem. I was thrown off by this game at first and then pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.

This game feels like it should be a metroidvania. It's 2D and you're on a broken down ship or facility or something. Nope. This game is fully linear and at first I didn't think I'd like that and was disappointed, but it works so damn well.

You play a slime essentially and you have the magical power to read the last thoughts and minds of corpses by settling on their rotten fleshy head. With this power and other little story tidbits you learn what's going on, your purpose, and so on.

There's no combat in this game really. You move by shooting yourself in any direction you can see and you can stick to surfaces. There's danger. There's enemies. There's boss fights. All without the usual fair of attack/dodge roll, that's standard for 2D metroidvanias now. This game is something different and that alone makes it worth it.

Also a note on the boss fights. All of them felt very unique from each other I prefer having a few well crafted unique bosses then having a bunch of the same type of fight over and over again.

Another genuine hidden gem you should try.

Platformers With 3 Entire Dimensions:

Frogun

Frogun is adorable. It's like a N64 game and I love it.

You have a frog grappling hook and go through little short levels that ramp up in difficulty. There's optional challenges in each one. The art style is absolutely going for that early 3D low poly vibe that is starting to become more popular.

This is a perfect example of just a fun video game for the sake of being a fun video game. No serious story or message or intense complicated gameplay mechanics. Just a cute 3D platformer reminiscent of a older time.

Also I played this back when I used to stream and a Frogun speedrunner showed up in chat and helped me pull off a couple speedrunning tricks so that was fun.

If you want something simple and fun then here it is.

Cyber Hook

The ultimate speedrunning game. You have a gun, a grappling hook, and the ability to slow down time. This is a pure platformer. You enter levels with the goal of getting through as fast as you can.

I never got great at it, but the few times I really got going fast and flew through a level felt awesome. It's so satisfying finally doing things right after many failures and you will fail a lot.

There's really not much more to it. Neat visuals with satisfying and simple mechanics. If that sounds fun to you then check it out.

Marble It Up! Ultra

Platformers really are just the perfect mechanic to make fun mindless games with. Marble It Up! Ultra is another simple 3D platformer that's just purely focused on being fun.

As always it's not that complicated either. You're a marble and you try to reach the end of each stage with a time limit. There's items to stop time, make you jump higher, and go faster. Just all about building up speed and there's tons of ways to skip past parts of levels. Like the two games before, this one is perfect for speedrunning.

It's fun, go buy it.

RPG's:

Roadwarden

I was going to make a big post about why I preferred this to BG3, but scrapped it. BG3 is fun, but the story just bores me from the get go. Where BG3 failed for me Roadwarden succeeded. All story and all fantastic.

This is a text based RPG. Very simplistic visuals which show just enough to let your imagination handle most of the work.

You play a roadwarden who has the lovely job to travel the dangerous roads and help the townsfolk all while working on your greater goals. You pick between 3 starting classes and those do change how you approach things quite a bit. You have a time limit and that will force you to prioritize things over others. You can't do everything in a single playthrough. Your decisions matter and you aren't going to figure everything out.

You have to manage your health, money, hunger, and cleanliness. You will never have enough money for everything and that helps create more interesting choices. You have to manage what you do in a day. You meet a lot of people and forge allies or enemies and it's all told with stellar writing.

If you want a well written fantasy interactive story then you must play this game.

RPG's With Intense High-Octane Turn Based Combat:

Epic Battle Fantasy 5

A long time ago in times forgotten there existed these ancient relics called Flash games. Maybe one day I'll talk about old flash games I was into, but for now I'm only talking about the latest instalment in one of them. Epic Battle Fantasy is a series of games made by Matt Roszak. They started as little flash games, but have since turned into bigger games that are on Steam. 5 is the latest one and also the best so I'm recommending this one.

I've gone through this game multiple times. This game fucking rules. The game is easy to control, satisfying, and has my favorite turn based combat system period. No seriously, this is my favorite turn based combat system. I could go on what I like about it so much, but I'll spare you all most of the details. I'll say it gets rid of mana entirely and put all your abilities on cooldowns which changes based on what you're using. This just fixes balancing and helps you from spamming heals and all that. I love this system. It's easy to control, intuitive to understand, full of options, and can have a chaotic randomness I enjoy.

In this game you explore the overworld, solve puzzles, and fight enemies. The story is not at all serious or anything like that. It may not be a Flash game anymore, but it still has the older internet spirit of not taking things to seriously and being a little juvenile. There's also a lot of post game challenges that still are impossible for me to really do well or at all.

You can change the difficulty anytime and another thing I love is the entire game can be controlled with just a mouse. You can use a keyboard to, but a mouse covers everything which I think is neat.

This is such a wonderful combat system and the game I've beaten most on this list. If you want legitimately challenging turn based RPG combat and don't care about story or characters to get that then this game is a must play.

Shadows Over Loathing

Want a lovecraftian mystery RPG injected with a dose of comedy where everybody is a stick figure? Yes? How very specific, but luckily there's a game just for you.

Shadows Over Loathing is a turn based RPG where you search for your missing uncle in a area full of strange locations and characters. I never did play their other game West of Loathing, and I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It was a lot of fun, creative, difficult at times, and had a world I really wanted to explore.

It has a lighthearted comedic tone throughout and the silly art and stick figure characters help with that. The actual turn based combat is fun to. Nothing to complicated but could be challenging to which is needed to help this style of combat really shine.

There's really not much more to it. If this sounds like something you'd enjoy then please check it out.

RPG's Fused With A Light Novel:

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

AA games still exist! I finally get to talk about Ys. I've played 3 Ys games and I'm going to talk about my favorite one because of the fun gameplay. This is a very unknown franchise that has existed since the 80's and even now the 10th instalment is set to release later this year.

As for why I'm recommending Ys 8, it's because it has some of the most fun gameplay. The combat is fast paced, encourages good timing, and full of that anime over the top stylish action. You control up to 3 characters and can easily switch between them. Each character plays differently and has their own special moves and everything just feels so satisfying.

You play as generic light novel anime man, Adol. Tagging along is generic tsundere light novel anime girl and other light novel anime characters. Like edgy boy with a gun, loli raised in the wild, and blue haired girl. You crash land on a island and have to survive and find survivors. Much like LOST the story goes off the rails and of course in classic JRPG fashion you need to stop the end of the world somehow. Unlike LOST characters are generic and the usual anime fair.

Despite the lackluster story this game still fucking rules because it's so goddamn fun to play. It also solved crafting forever by making it so you can convert common items into rarer ones making anything you find useful potentially. Seriously it's such a nice feature and all crafting systems without it are lesser.

If you want some fun action combat and don't mind anime bullshit then really, check out the entire franchise. Any of them will do, but this is the one I'd recommend the most.

RPG's Fused With A Light Novel and A WW2 Textbook:

Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4

Picture this. WW2, but with anime and magical girls. Japan just never stops with these incredible ideas.

I adore these 2 games. I haven't played 2 or 3 as those are PSP games and I don't hear great things. However I can confirm 1 and 4 are fucking fantastic.

These games are tactical RPG's where you command troops one by one in missions. Most are usually about capturing a enemy base, but there's a lot of variety beyond that in both of them. You lay out your troops at the start plus your commander who's in the tank. You get a set level of CP per turn and each CP is used to control a unit. The actual game is probably piss easy for experienced tactical game players, but I'm not that at all. I found it legitimately difficult, both games.

What sets it apart is the game turns into a sort of third person shooter when controlling the units. You can freely move up to your AP and get one action to do. If it was just top down the whole time I'd find that not that interesting, but actually moving around and taking cover unit by unit is very engaging. There's 5 classes in the first game and a 6th added in the fourth game. Each class can be upgraded as well along with weapons, equipment, and the tanks.

The stories in both are nothing special truthfully. It's anime WW2 with silly dumb anime characters. I don't mind that and had a lot of fun, but if you can't stand something like Persona then these games will infuriate you. To me stupid anime characters in games can be a lot of fun, like Raz in 4, the dumbest but somehow most entertaining character for me. Expect some silly anime cliches and tone changes and the usual fair for these kinds of games. Even if the story is a big nothing for you, I still think both games are worth it for the gameplay.

Another aspect that I really love is all your units have personality traits that can trigger as you control them. What caught me off guard was that they're both positive and negative ones. There's ones like a woman having man hater and fancies woman as traits, aka the lesbian. There's straight up a guy with misogynist as a trait. Some are lonely, frail, daredevils, have crushes or people they hate, even one with the masochist trait. All these good and bad traits translate into potential buffs or debuffs that can happen in the game.

Sadly these side characters don't get much story in the first game. Just a unique design with some personality traits and maybe a couple in battle lines of dialogue. However, the 4th one introduced squad stories. Essentially little side stories that revolve around the non important squad mates. They were always fun to do and the missions for them are more unique because they are designed around only using those 3 characters.

I recommend both of them, but if you had to play one I'm not sure. 1 has the better story, the overall lore itself establishes in 1, and the gameplay is still fun. 4 has the better gameplay, more unique missions, and the squad stories which were a highlight for me.

Just pick which one sounds more like your thing if you only want to spend the time with one of them. Both are fun.

RPG's About the Harsh Reality of Capitalism:

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale

I adore this games concept. It takes the common NPC seen in these little RPG adventures, the shopkeeper, and puts you in their shoes. You're father has a big debt to pay off and you now have to sell items out of your house to help pay it off before the deadline.

You lay the items out and then have to haggle your way to a profit. Finding the line of when to haggle and how much is the key to success and I failed miserably. I never did beat this game, but I haven't beaten many games on this list and that won't stop me from telling you to play them. I think the concept alone is enough of a reason to check it out.

The game does have combat as well. You can hire an adventurer to go with you into a dungeon and fight enemies for treasure. I like how you hire someone from the Adventurers Guild, just another cool concept as a typical game would have you play as the character being hired instead all the time. I also like how dungeons are high risk high reward. If they die then you lose most of what you gather and essentially just wasted the day.

It's just a cool concept and a nice change of pace from how a game set in these typical fantasy settings would go. You aren't some savior of the world, but just a shopkeeper trying to pay off debt.

Spooky Games:

Yuppie Psycho

Do you want a game about a corporate building being haunted by dark forces and being a badass fighting your way through it all? That's Control. You just want Control.

Unlike Control which bored me to death after a while. Yuppie Psycho is about a haunted corporate building, but you play a new lowly worker who's been tasked with something far above his pay grade. Brian Pasternack is a new hire who's in way over his head. What should have been a normal corporate jobs turns into a witch hunt, literally.

You aren't a badass and will have to sneak your way to victory, uncovering the buildings hidden secrets along the way. For me that's part of why this works over Control as a effective story. You're kind of a fucking nobody who has to be extra careful and is reluctant to even do this. Far more relatable honestly.

The joy of this game comes from exploring this building and uncovering the secrets and horrors. Each floor is unique and this game gets creative with the corporate horror vibe. I love some of the designs of things and how it blends comedy and horror together. It also has branching paths and even limited save slots which seemed frustrating at first, but wasn't really a big deal. Not saving every chance you can really adds to the tension when sneaking around.

It's not a true horror intense experience, but as someone who is a baby with horror I found a lot of genuine tense moments. It's a real indie gem.

The Complex: Found Footage

Kane Pixels backrooms videos are honestly pretty fucking great. I'm not usually a fan of horror at all, but there's something about these videos that just work for me. Then pgWave decided to make a video game creating the experience of exploring these kinds of spaces.

This is a creepy game where you slowly move through liminal spaces and just sort of get lost in it. There's no jumpscares or anything intense happening, but as a baby with horror this game was tense to go through for me. Honestly I appreciate it's not a more traditional horror game with a monster or something. Just dropped in a space that's inherently unsettling and leaving it up to you to explore.

If you have a free night and want to get lost exploring spaces only games could deliver then play it. It's literally free.

Games Where You Gotta Go Fast:

Distance

This game fucks. I actually remember when playing the first version of this game back when it was a student project. Students at DigiPen made a game called Nitronic Rush and it was (maybe still is?) available to download for free from the schools website. That game fucks and they announced a proper full game called Distance and it was one of the rare instances I actually bought a early access game.

Distance is a car game about going fast as fuck. The levels don't put you against anyone and instead just getting to the end is the challenge in itself. You have a boost that can overheat, a jump, and even wings when needed. The levels will require you to weave in and out of oncoming danger. They have jumps where you'll need to turn the car 90 or 180 degrees to land on a new track. All while giving you a wonderful sense of speed and accomplishment when you pull things off right.

It's not a easy game either and levels will get challenging. There's a ton of levels and challenges and if you get sucked into the gameplay then there's a lot to keep you there. This game seeks to deliver the thrill of going fast in a dangerous track where everything is out to kill you, and making it to the end. There's really not much more to say. It has a specific vision and fully realizes it.

Games Where You Trust the Heart of the Cards:

Foretales:

This game is very unique and nothing quite like what I've played before. The entire game is card based. Each of the characters have their own decks that are all mixed together in your hand. You have 4 resources you can collect, gold, food, fame, and infamy. You can get item cards as well. The board has various location cards you need to move through to move the story along. What's unique about this is the cards can be used in battle or on locations.

It's hard to really go into details how this all works, but you don't have a separate hand or anything for when combat begins.

Some cards have uses in locations and battles and others don't, but there all mixed together which adds to you planning ahead and making the best choice. You can use a eavesdrop card near a guard post to get a juicy secret which can be used for blackmail later. You can forage for food and obviously a forest will give you more then a mine shaft. There's a lot of really cool little interactions and creativity put into this systems that's just to complicated to type out and explain.

One thing I can get into is the best feature of combat. The fact that you can get through it without fighting or with less fighting then needed. Those 4 resources can be used in locations for story or optional reasons, but they can also be used in combat pacify enemies. Bandits can be bribed with gold or food for example. Fame and infamy can be used as well in certain circumstances. They are a constantly growing resource that always have uses. I'm sure it's possible to do a full pacifist run, though I imagine it would be difficult.

The game also has multiple paths for the story to go and lots of optional stuff. Multiple characters to use down the line but only 3 party members so there's more choice as well. Also everyone's an anthropomorphic animal because why not.

I just like how it's a card based game that's not just a battle between opponents or a roguelike or how cards are typically used in video games. If nothing else this game should be played for it's game design alone. If you want a really unique interactive story experience entirely dictated by cards then this is about the only game I know of like it.

One Step From Eden

I'm very bad at this game. So bad I still have never beaten it once. It's really fun all the same though.

It's a deckbuilding roguelike set on a grid. As the formula goes you fight your way through, choosing your path, collecting cards, and seeing if you can win. In my case that's a no.

The game is set on a grid where you have to manage what spells you currently have, dodging enemies, and somehow making sense of the chaos. You can unlock other characters that have their own unique mechanics to help freshen things up. Also the game just throws you in the deep end and lets you learn through playing. No tutorial or anything, just have at it.

If you're itching for a roguelike that's very fucking challenging then enjoy. 

Inscryption

This is another game I expect many others to know about, but if not then honestly just play it.

It's a rougelike card game set in a wonderfully crafted creepy setting. You're alone in some mysterious persons shack forced to play a really well designed card game. Of course if it was just that I'd not be recommending it.

The mechanics are well thought out and slowly learning the mechanics feels nice. You will fail, a lot, as is the case for roguelikes, but keep at it. The game is filled with secrets and puzzles and mysteries that you'll just have to figure out for yourself.

Much like with Outer Wilds way back at the top, I don't want to say much more. If you have somehow not played this or don't know anything about it then you should.

Tainted Grail: Conquest

This is still the only proper deck-building roguelike in the same vein as Slay the Spire. While I haven't played much of that and honestly couldn't get into it, this game I did.

It was described to me as Slay the Spire meets Dark Souls by some poor soul who's brain is forever lost in soulslike hell. In reality it's just a cool deck building game where you fight creepy monsters and slowly build up the village to make each run easier. There's characters to find and NPC quest you can make little progressions on each run. It's just enough story and context to give this game a sense or purpose and progression outside collecting cards.

What added more replayability to me beyond the quest was having 9 classes to work with. In truth it's really 3 broad classes with 3 variations on those broader class types. You have the fighter, archer, and summoner as the broad classes. They use similar cards, but their strategies vary with each subclass. A summoner is more about making their summons powerful, bloodmages use their own life to summon minions that get stronger and die on their own, and necromancers sacrifice their minions to turn into a Lich. The fighter and archer subclasses are as varied and it's a good way to use similar cards across different playstyles.

I had a lot of fun with this one. It's a fun deck building game. 

Thinking Games:

Manifold Garden:

I love the space this game takes place in. This is the shit only games can truly deliver on. The world is basically always looping. Each level repeats in all directions when your in open space. If you fall anywhere, you'll be ok. You can just fall endlessly even, it's very mesmerising and freeing once you get used to the fact that you can just jump off anywhere, and even needed to solve the level sometimes.

The other fun mechanic the puzzles primarily revolve around is the ability to walk on any surface and change gravity as you do it. Essentially you turn the wall into the new floor and is the main mechanic for puzzles in enclosed spaces. This game uses blocks of various colors and the simple task of putting them in the right slot is made complicated by having to altar gravity and matching them up. There's other mechanics introduced of course, but you'll need to discover those yourself.

The game can be beaten in a day give or take your skill at puzzles. I appreciate that it doesn't overstay it's welcome and uses it's mechanics in interesting ways. Also this reminds me I still need to play Antichamber someday.

If you like exploring spaces only games can deliver on or puzzles then this is the game for you.

FEZ

FEZ! This is such a fun interesting little game. It's probably well known given who the creator is, but if you haven't checked this out before, then you should.

The trailer makes it appear to be more a platformer then a puzzle game and that's half right. Similar to another game on this list, FEZ goes much deeper then a mere platformer. It has some esoteric puzzles. As I understand (could be wrong) one puzzle still hasn't been solved legitimately, but had to be brute forced and even now the community has no concrete answers on how you were supposed to get the solution.

The good news is the harder puzzles aren't technically required to just finish the game. You could still enjoy this as a fun platformer. The way the world works is you see the game world on a 2D plane. Like any other 2D platformer. However, the world itself is in 3D and you can switch the perspective to change where platforms and other things are. It's really fun moving about this world and in a sense each level is it's own puzzle to figure out how to get through it with these mechanics.

I highly recommend this game.

Thinking Games for DJ's

FRACT OSC

This is another game I would be shocked if anyone knew about. No one talks about this game ever and I don't even remember how I found out about it wayyyy back in college. This is also the oldest game on here I've played. I haven't touched this is years, but know I enjoyed it a lot.

What i remember is it's filled with music based puzzles. I also remember being very fucking confused and having to look shit up, but the real joy is just the vibe. Everything makes sound and the whole game revolves around music. I slowly explored as much as I could and just took it all in. It's a fun space to be in and I'm a sucker for being dropped in a unusual place only games can delivery on.

If you don't know shit about music production like me you might have a hard time or maybe I was just a fucking idiot and needed help. Either way I still recommend this to everyone.

Vibing with the Beat Games:

Sayonara Wild Hearts

This is basically a interactive album. It's a rhythm game that's not to difficult, which is good as this is more about the flow and vibe. There's not much more to say about it. It will take an hour and every bit is lovely. It's a visual and auditory feast that has some clever ideas packed in. I think everyone should experience it.

Soundodger+

This game won't be on the Steam store for much longer sadly. Warner Bros being shitty and taking cool shit down. I haven't played any other of the Adult Swim games that are being taken down, but I encourage you to find the list and get anything interesting while you still can.

The game itself is a fun little bullet hell rhythm game. The song plays and you are a circle in the middle of larger circle. Obstacles are thrown out into the middle timed to the music and you simply have to dodged them. I don't remember it being to hard, but I know there are community levels and I just have to assume those are going to be tough.

It's a cool game to vibe to and it's going to be gone soon. Don't miss your chance to get it.

Artsy Games That I Don't Know Where Else To Put Them:

The Beginner's Guide

This a narrative experience about the relationship between the narrator and the game dev who's games are being played. That may not sound like the most interesting premise, but trust me it's very engaging. This game has a unsettling feeling underneath it all and it's really hard to go into more without just spoiling things.

The actual game is you going through a series of small little games made by a Dev named Coda as the narrator Davey speaks to you about various things relating to the game and Coda himself. It's explores a character who's frankly caught up in a unhealthy obsession with someone else and quite the journey.

It will only take a hour and half to get through and I think it's worth a playthrough if you like narratives only video games can deliver on.

The Static Speaks My Name   

This is the shortest game on this list. It's also the most depressing. If you struggle with dark thoughts and depression and really need something happy to distract you, then do not play this little free game.

It's a sad and unsettling little experience that has a lot of room for interpretation. I'm a fan of little strange pieces of art like this and if this sounds interesting to you then it's free. Check it out.

Minimalist City Builder Games:

ISLANDERS

This such a cute game. It's a simple city builder where the goal is to keep building things correctly and move on to another island. You start on a randomly generated island and are given a set of buildings and a number to reach. Buildings will get bonuses based on whats near them and as you unlock more buildings the number to reach gets higher.

That's really it. It's easy to understand and a nice little relaxing game about building a cool island town. Pretty cheap and pretty fun.

Multi Genre:

The Hex

This is multi genre because it quite literally has many different gameplay modes packed in it. A bunch of old video game characters stay at a Tavern where a murder may take place. It's a murder mystery! Also so much more.

In truth it's a narrative video game about exploring these characters past lives and revealing a larger narrative underneath it all. This was made by Daniel Mullens who's latest game I recommended earlier. Much like Inscryption, this game slowly draws you into it's setting and drop feeds you it's secrets slowly.

The Hex was pleasantly surprising as I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. It's worth playing.

That's it. That's the list. Over 50 more games to add to your Steam library which means over 50 more games you'll get to, eventually.

#video games #Steam #indie games #Steam Sale #Gaming

[aishutoon]

Ok, I have an idea for an au where after fighting omori and telling his friends the truth, Sunny starts seeing creatures that are similar to Something, only he can see them following other people. They don’t seem to notice so Sunny chooses to ignore it, even when he can see the monsters growing and shrinking sometimes. 

During a visit to faraway, Sunny sees these kinds of monsters trailing his friends, but doesn’t say anything about it in fear of sounding crazy, even though the one following Kel looks particularly big. During the visit, Kel seems like his normal, cheerful self, but Sunny noted that he seemed unusually quiet and tired. When asked, Kel chalked that up to how much he was practicing for the upcoming basketball game, and he invites the whole gang to watch.

At the basketball game, everything seems normal, except that the monster is even bigger, and Kel looks even more tired than before. Still, he plays the game really well, helping his team score a lot of points. Near the end of the first quarter, Kel is getting ready to take a shot, when all of a sudden Sunny sees the monster grab him…

And Kel collapses.

Everyone freaks out, and Kel is rushed to the nurse’s office, with the rest of the gang following. The nurse says that Kel has a fever, and Sunny sees that the Something following Kel is the biggest it’s ever been. While Kel’s resting, Sunny falls asleep in one of the chairs, and somehow wakes up in whitespace. The door to the neighbor’s room is gone, but there’s an orange door with black cracks in its place.

Basically, in this au Sunny helps his friends fight off their own personal demons in their dreams before they can hurt them any further, while also trying to figure out why these monsters are attacking people in a more physical manner all of a sudden (and why he can see them in the first place)

The idea for the fight with Kel’s demon is that it’s a giant shadow creature that’s shining like a solar eclipse. Its hands are covering Kel’s mouth and have the image of a giant grin on them, and when provoked, it attacks with a bunch of spikes, like those on a cactus. All the while, Kel is yelling to sunny that he’s fine, even after everything that happened, and every time he says that, the monster heals itself.

#kel omori #omori au #omori kel #omori #omori sunny #omori game #omori basil #omori omori #omori aubrey #hero omori #Kel omori #sunny omori #basil omori #mari omori

[coolpanda41]

SIDE ORDER THOUGHTS

I beat Side Order last night after 3-5 runs and after sleeping on it here are my thoughts (spoilers ahead)

The first ten floors (inital tower) is insane. Not only does it serve as a good tutorial but the dialog and tension is such a good hook

When I got to the first boss, I didn't look to closely and just thought "oh we're fighting Octavio again as the first boss? He's here? OK cool" it was infact NOT Octavio lol. I even took a screen shot before the boss fight and looking at it, yeah definitely not Octavio lol

Honestly so glad the Marina wasn't the main villain, and I'm glad she tags along in the elevator

Speaking of Marina, her and Pearl are so in love here. Like I shipped them before but now with their dialog, the dev diary, even Marina's computer screen being Pearl, they're so canon

Shipping aside, honestly think that the dialog is one of the strongest aspects of this mode as we learn more about the memverse and the character dynamics

I also love Acht, no need to further explain, they're just so cool

Person who's only rouge like experience is hades: man, this is just like hades! (This is a joke, I only said that on vending machine levels)

The levels themselves are fun, all be a bit repetitive at times. It is a rouge like but there 4 different level types (minus bosses) and limited floor design, then again, I've only played 3-5 runs and half of that was with Agent 4's pallet

A little disappointed that agent 4 didn't show up in the flesh but I'm a firm believer that Parallel Canon is supposed to be clones of them because of the matching hair styles with your own and with the completed pallet of 4, Order mentioned that Marina wanted 4 to be security for the memverse so I'm taking those crumbs

Also kinda disappointed that we didn't get more Off the Hook and Dedf1sh songs but the ones we got were good. I like how ebb and flow is kinda like Off the Hook's equivalent of Calimari Inkantation lol

Continuing with music, I like the music but felt like I didn't get to appreciate as much because I was so focused on the level (this is a me thing but still)

Order is a cool villian, bit generic but still cool, I like how his boss fight was foreshadowed as a locker item (it's an in universe Switch game, I forget what's it's called)

In the last phase of Order's boss fight, I got splatted a few times and luckily there wasn't life count so it just gave the option to continue or give up and every time I hit continue I thought "omori did not succumb, agent 8 did not succumb" lol

The credits were beautiful

This is probably the first splatoon story that I'll aim for 100% because there is still a lot to know and learn

Inkopolis Square as a reward was predicted but welcomed, it's really cool to see what has been built up since Splat2

ISO PADRE IS HERE, HE'S FREE, MY MAN IS FREEEEE!!!!!!!!!

A little disappointed that the grate the originally lead to Splat2's story mode is just covered a manhole cover unlike in the plaza but that's just a nickpick on my end

Shout out to that one octoling beside the claw machine saying they miss squid beats, we all do

Honestly still shocked at how fast I beat Side Order lol

Overall, I enjoyed Side Order. Personally, it was a bit underwhelming but I'm satisfied. Like I said, I'll probably be trying for 100% cause the dev diarys, pallets and collectables but for what's it's worth, it's good

#splatoon #splatoon 3 #side order #side order spoilers

[gardensnakie]

Who's better at poetry, Stranger or Sunny?

I automatically assume that Sunny would lean more onto the drawing side of art rather than writing, let alone poetry. I think it depends on how people see the character because based on Canon occurrences, Sunny takes a lot of inspiration from the outside world, like from comic books and movies when he dreams. He creates new adventures and scenarios that would lead most to assume that he would be a good writer if he practiced. In addition to his more darker thoughts, and his sad poem skill, it seems possible he'd be good at it. But the thing is, Sunny has trouble identifying how he feels, that includes speaking and even writing those feelings down. If he were to attempt to journal anything for those 4 years that he was stuck in the house, that would ruin the world he created for himself where mari didn't die. With how much he was repressing his feelings, trying to organize them into words would be a long shot. That's why Sunny turns to drawing, in can be incoherent as he wants without directly including the thing he wants to ignore. (And sunnys drawings are cool, I'm a sucker for violent, surrealism art) Even after the truth, I think sunnys poetry would be good and cool to read (I'm not sure, I'm no critic but I'd like to think sunnys poetry would be very vivid, sometimes incoherent) His poetry would be for his eyes only, I don't think he'd actively try to get better at it but use it as a way to be less stressed.

With rare access to pen and paper, Stranger has a lot to say but speaks in a cryptic way as a way to hold back. Of maybe it's because Omori/Sunny refuses to hear anything of the truth that Stranger is simply cursed to never say it out loud. Or maybe Stranger doesn't want to frighten them away and chooses his words carefully in order to keep him from retreating further into repression. I like to think about the second possibility. Stranger is capable of altering his words in a vague, but concise way to lead, question, or warn The Dreamer. He also has access to the Lost Library and practically most of the horrors residing in Blackspace. Every idea is different down there, it changes constantly, the abstract rooms and delusions is a gold mine for inspiration. Horrible inspiration, actually. (Kinda reminds me how most artists are troubled in some way, "thank you for the trauma, I need it for my art" kinda way)

Stranger had been down there longer since Sunny avoided blackspace as much as he could. Who knows? During that time, Stranger must've talked to himself a lot. He may speak strangely, not really using the words 'I feel' because spiraling is far too easy in a quiet place like that. He can't really draw. With personified fears and ideas from The Dreamer in all those rooms, Stranger doesn't want to draw them again as a mean to express his own feelings. How can you express the hell in your head when there is hell all around you? So melodramatic. At least Sunny sat in denial, surrounded by color. Stranger reminds me of someone doodle silly things, at least draw something where he hoped to be instead of living in darkness. Though, it'd probably make him more sad, so he'd abandon it somewhere. If he could, Stranger would write a lot. His thoughts could be like a little rule book to keep himself sane. Anger, guilt, shame, vile thoughts, disgusting actions, Stranger would make sure certain mistakes don't happen twice. He'd remember his purpose, helping Sunny remember. Certainly making him feel less worthless. If all this writing was possible, Stranger would be the one with tons of poems.

Ramble. Ramble. Ramble. Jeez, that was a lot of crap. Sorry if you were expecting a yes or no with a few sentences of reasoning, I wanted to reinforce a lot. It gave me a few ideas in the process, but all of it is pretty loose and theorizable (i didnt read check this, so sorry if certain sentences of explanation are a little awkward). But yeah, whaddya think?

#omori stranger #omori #snakie goes insane

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

Aubrey (OMORI) Propaganda Post

First Multi-Paragraph Submission:

hear me out. shes no criminal but please.

also full of spoilers obviously general death trigger warning also

she was a pure, good kid, but when her friends all went to cope with Mari's (one of their friends) death in different ways, she felt like they were trying to abandon her, and she grew bitter because she felt that she was the only one who was actually hurt by Mari passing away.

the way Aubrey coped was not exactly the best way, as she followed through with her and Mari's promise of dyeing their hair matching colours, purple for Mari, pink for Aubrey. not only this, but Aubrey took Mari's clothes and wore them as her own, since they reminded her of Mari.

Aubrey tried to get her friends back together, but it was impossible. Kel was trying to move on and distract himself with sports and other people, Hero tried to ignore it and go to college, Sunny was nowhere to be seen, and Basil was merely a shell of who he once was. this led to her finding a new group of friends, known as The Hooligans, who are a gang (although their biggest crime is shoplifting small things such as sweets) of five other teens. Aubrey also begins to carry around a wooden bat with nails in it for intimidation when she joins The Hooligans.

one day, Aubrey went to Basil's house to study with him. when Basil went to the bathroom for an unknown reason (probably to calm himself down as shown in-game) Aubrey had noticed that he still had their old photo album, so Aubrey decided to look inside for old time's sake. what she found, however, shocked her. Basil had used markers to cover up and ruin every photo of Mari he could find in his photo album. Aubrey was understandably furious, and so she confronted Basil when he came back into the room. Basil simply stared at her, and she eventually left his house, seething with rage and album in hand. she tries her best to fix and clean the photos, eventually succeeding.

presumably not too soon after that, Aubrey and The Hooligans started bullying Basil, calling him a freak and possibly even physically hurting him. The Hooligans had no idea why they were doing this, but they weren't going to go against their leader.

depending on what ending of the "Sunny Route/True Route" you got, it shows that if Basil successfully kills himself, Aubrey feels terrible, claiming that it was all her fault due to her bullying.

so please, consider. vote Aubrey.

Second Multi-Paragraph Submission:

in the beginning of the reality section of the game, she is actively bullying her and the main characters ex best friend, basil (he deserved it). gets mad if you pull a knife on her when she fights you even though she carries around a baseball bat with nails in it (the dull side is exposed). fights you in a church later that day and admits to stealing basils prizes possession (he deserved it) and the next day she gets so mad at him she pushes him into a lake (he can’t swim, and she didn’t mean to, but i’m biased, so he, again, deserved it). she’s really just angry because she felt abandoned in her grief and felt she was the only one who cared about the death in their friend group (she says this to the guy who’s sister literally died which she was wrong for) so she was taking her feelings out on basil (he was mostly responsible for said death but she doesn’t know that <3) they end up making up but i still feel she was right for bullying basil for 4 years. for bonus points, during a nightmare the main character is having, she beats basil over the head with a baseball bat and it one shots him.

her actions are mostly ambiguous by how her actions are influenced by her anger, because if she wasn’t bullying basil, it’d be fucked up, but she just didn’t want to feel abandoned by him so she rejected him first. she’s a girlboss because she bullied basil and she’s a real sweetheart at her core, which is seen through other actions (like how she meticulously cleans damaged polaroids, even one’s with the people she felt abandoned by in)

#propaganda #aubrey omori #omori aubrey

[pokemon-in-omori]

Pokémon in: Omori

How Hero caught Audino

Author's note

I decided that on every characters birthday. I'm gonna write about them getting one of their Pokémon. So, here is How Hero got Audino (and also Arachnophobia)

Story

Hero Lozano was in the woods behind Faraway town. He didn't really eat to be there at night in the winter with only a Smoliv, but his little brother got lost. Kel was only 7 and only had a Spinda. The woods were dangerous! After all, many Pokémon lived here, like Scolipede, Sawsbuck, Unfezant, and more!

Hero had been searching for a while. Suddenly, he heard a noise.

"HA! Whose there?" Hero said. He was a bit scared. He cautiously approaches the noise. It's an injured Audino! It looks like a trainer beat it up. The Audino backed away in fear, or tried to, it couldn't stand.

"Audino! No!" It said in fear. Hero gets closer.

"It's ok. I won't hurt you." Hero said. Audino closes its eyes, expecting to be hurt, but to its surprise, Hero starts to tend to its wounds. Audino looks confused.

"You won't survive like this. I can't let you die." Hero said, taking out a potion. Hero thinks. He needs to find Kel but…Kel has Spinda, he'll be alright…

Hero stayed with Audino until it felt better. Audino hugged Hero, before he left. Hero leaves to find Kel.

Night falls. Hero gets nervous. Suddenly, he sees Kel running toward him, Spinda in tow! Before Hero can react, Kel grabs his arm and runs.

"Kel! What's going?" Hero asked.

"No time to talk! We gotta go!" He said, visibly frightened. A web of electricity just barely missed the two boys. Hero looked to see a Galvantula chasing them! Hero took off running.

"Smoliv! Use Razor Leaf!" Hero commanded. Razor Sharp leaves surrounded Smoliv, before being sent to the Galvantula at high speeds. It did no damage.

"You made it mad, you made it mad!" Kel yelled. The Galvantula used String Shot, binding Kel's legs.

"Hero!" He cried. Hero stopped to free Kel, but was caught up in the web.

"Someone! Help!" Hero cried.

Further into the forest, the Audino Hero helped heard his voice. He was in trouble. Audino ran. This boy, this child saved its life! It needed to return the favor. It ran for several minutes.

Eventually, it saw Hero, wrapped in a Galvantula's web. Another kid and two Pokémon were there too. Both looked scared. Audino tried to touch the web, but received a shock! It needed a new plan. It was wandered a bit, a found a sleeping Scolipede. Perfect. Then Audino heard noise.

"Get AWAY! L-LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"HERO! NOOOOOOOO!"

Audino rushed over.

Hero looked up at the Galvantula getting closer to him. He knew enough about the Pokémon here to know that Galvantula was probably going to eat him. The boy cried out as it got closer and closer. Just before it could Bite down, a loud, ear piercing voice was heard.

"AUDINO!!!!!!!"

Audino used Hyper Voice. The Galvantula ignored it. Audino used it again. Galvantula was getting iritated. Hero was crying. He was so very scared. He truly thought he was going to die! Galvantula leaves Hero and faces Audino. Audino uses Hyper Voice and runs off. Galvantula follows, angered. It shoots out Electroweb after Electroweb. Audino dodges every hit. It runs and runs until it reaches its destination. The Scolipede. It stands infront of it. The Galvantula uses Electroweb. Audino dodges and the attack hits Scolipede. Scolipede wakes up and uses Poison Sting on Galvantula. Galvantula fights back with Bug Bite!

Audino runs off the boys in the confusion.

"Audino? Is that you?" Hero asks, his voice very shaky. Audino nods. It uses Hyper Voice. Kel and Hero yell out because their ears hurt.

"Hero? Why is it doing that?!" Kel yelled. Hero notices that the web strings are thinning.

"It's breaking the web!" He says. The strings break. Audino catches Hero and Kel.

"Audino? Audino!" It says as it hugs Hero.

"Gee, that Audino really likes you!" Kel says, looking around nervously. Audino leads the boys away.

Audino listens and hears people. People looking for Hero and Kel. It leads the tired boys to them, leading them out of the forest.

Hero and Kel see their parents.

"Mom! Dad!"

The boys run and hug their parents.

"Are you two alright? You look hurt." Their mom said.

"W-well-"

"I'm sorry! I ran into the woods to explore, then a Galvantula saw me and I ran into Hero and the Galvantula almost ate Hero and this Audino saved us I'm sorry!" Kel said, crying. His parents were shocked. Suddenly, Hero and Kel were Tackle hugged by 4 kids.

"Hero! You're ok!" Mari said.

"Though…running into the woods to find Kel is very brave~"

Hero blushed at Mari's words.

"Kel! You idiot! You could have died! And apparently Hero did almost die!" Aubrey yelled, though she was happy they were safe. Sunny just cried.

"I didn't know if you two were going to come back!" Basil cried. As this was happening, Audino watched. Hero had good friends, a good family. It didn't have that. Plus, it cared about Hero, and Hero cared about it. It snuck up and grabbed a Pokéball from Hero's bag.

"Audino!" It said. The kids looked at Audino.

"Audino? Why are you holding a Pokéball?" Hero asked. Audino smiled. The 10 year old realized.

"You wanna be my Pokémon?"

Audino nodded and pushed the button on the Pokéball. Caught.

Hero picked up the Pokéball and sent Audino out. Hero's parents approached Audino and hugged it.

"Thank you. For saving our boys."

Audino smiled.

#Pokémon in: Omori #Eway writes #omori #omori au #pokemon au #pokemon #Hero's birthday

[impet0n]

getting in the halloween spirit with some child on child violence

#omori #omori fanart #omori spoilers #sunny omori #take a shot every time i say omori #blood tw #knife tw #my art

[golvio]

I saw a review of Mundaun, which I’m very much enjoying, that said the game’s quality was somehow lessened by the player character not having big, obvious reactions. It’s not true, at least not to me, and I think I’ve figured out why.

If a first-person horror game protagonist or a third-person protagonist in an “atmospheric” horror game has big, obvious reactions to stuff, it takes me out of the game. In psychological or hallucinatory horror where the atmosphere and tension relies on visual imagery, having the main character wave their disembodied hands in startled terror in front of them or flapping their yap distracts me from what is otherwise a beautifully staged scene. Omori wouldn’t have been as impactful as it was if the main character “reacted” to stuff all the time. If the reaction goes too far in the other direction, then you risk giving a Henry Townsend delivery, which takes me out of it just as much. Someone flatly intoning “What the hell” like someone just cut in front of them in the grocery line turns a scene from tense to ridiculous in seconds.

I will make exceptions for scenes that are shot taking the player character’s choreography into account, or for characters who already feel like distinct personalities. Heather Mason is one of my favorite characters of all time, after all. But the thing is, her strong, telling reactions are incorporated into the game in ways that aren’t distracting during the playable sequences. We only get the big hammy startle reactions during cutscenes or in situations where she’d understandably be yelling at the top of her lungs.

Mundaun is also pretty clearly based on a very specific film genre of folk horror. Most of these films are pretty “artsy,” with lots of wide, panning shots of idyllic nature scenes. Things tend to be pretty slow-paced and quiet at the beginning. The main character doesn’t constantly go, “AUGH! OH MY GOD! EEK! WHAT THE HELL!!! ABLEIOBLOBLOOOOBLUH,” and wave their arms around in startled terror every time something scary happens.

I like that the protagonist of Mundaun is a bit understated. It fits the surreal, isolated world full of bizarre people he’s wound up in. He feels like a true native of his grandfather’s weird little alpine village, like he’s seen weird supernatural bullshit and rituals happen before, but never quite like on those final nights he stays in town after his grandpa’s death. Everything we need to know about how he feels is either told to us by his thoughts or in his journal, which is way more interesting than the boring to-do lists that journals normally become in horror games.

I’m guessing part of the reason why the reviewer said the protagonist “didn’t feel motivated” was because he wasn’t really paying attention? His grandfather was his only family left in the world, who raised him after he was suddenly orphaned. The old man died under suspicious circumstances, and while visiting the scene of the crime, the main character gets cursed by an “Old Man” who may or may not be the devil himself. Devil or not, he’s also the prime suspect for the possible murder, and his presence sets off a cascade of surreal bullshit within the town that manifests in spectacularly visually creative ways. I’m assuming the horrible hand curse is not going to magically go away if the guy just hops on the bus and goes home like the reviewer thought he should do, so finding a way to break the curse is another good reason to stay beyond making sure his grandpa’s soul is at rest.

It’s just...frustrating when people say something isn’t good because they don’t make the connections that you do, or they don’t click with how the main character thinks. I know reviews in general aren’t as objective as they market themselves to be, and a lot of it comes down to the reviewer’s personal tastes, but come on, dude.

#long post #mundaun #mundaun spoilers #caps warning

[mudwingprince]

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT THINK ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT RADI0 OR ISOL, THEY'RE BOTH AMAZING PEOPLE THAT I LOVE VERY MUCH (/p) AND I WOULD NEVER THINK ANYTHING THAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN

I WROTE IT FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE STORY WHICH IS (almost) ENTIRELY FICTION

anyways, onto the story (and triggers)

Tw: Blood, death, symptoms of depression and PTSD, suicidal thoughts

I blinked. I blinked again. I tried to move, it hurt.

Right, I thought to myself. Immortality, how could I forget about that?! I pushed myself up into a sitting position. It was dark, which was weird. It was a white room with no windows or lights. Was it night? I looked around and spotted Isol, curled up. I watched the steady rise and fall of their furry sides. They were facing away from me. I guess it was night. I pushed myself off of the ground, careful not to make a sound as to wake Isol. Nausea and vertigo hit me like a boulder and I was tempted to let out a groan, but I protested against myself.

No, I can’t wake them… what happened… that was horrifying… I can't let it happen again.

I slowly crept towards the door that Radi0 (hopefully) escaped through, every step sending agony through my legs and spine. As I slowly turned the doorknob, making sure to keep an eye on Isol, Isol’s ear flicked up and they slowly raised their head. I froze. M-Maybe they wouldn’t notice me…? Their head turned towards the spot where I was lying and, when they found only a puddle of blood and paw prints, they whipped their head towards the door.

Shit.

I threw the door open and slammed it shut behind me just as Isol leaped towards me. Radi0 had been curled up on the door and, with the sudden movement, he jumped. He leaped to his feet, balling his hands in fists up against his chest as if to throw a punch. His eyes were wide and blood red and there were tear stains on his cheeks. I pushed myself up against the door as Isol clawed, scratched and slammed on the door, screaming.

“M-Mind helping here?” I grunted to Radi0, putting all of my weight on the door and thrashing my tail. I’m so tired. He jumped into action and leaned on the door beside me.

“You’re… alive?” He asked, well, muttered seemed better. It was kind of hard to think of good grammar considering the circumstances.

“Y-yeah? And?” I replied sharply. The amount of blood that was dripping off of me was… concerning… to say the least. I wanted to fall asleep and pretend like Isol, our friend, wasn’t a real threat right now… I coughed and was almost flung away from the door due to all of the banging. I regained my balance and leaned against the door again. I felt so… shitty… That… made sense though, I just died after all.

“Are… you okay?” Radi0 muttered with a sniff. I glanced at him and licked the tangy blood off of my teeth with my sharp, forked tongue.

“I just died, of course I’m not,” I snapped. “Imagine having to feel this shitty every time you accidentally choke on a grape,” I raised my voice so Isol could hear me. “OR WHENEVER YOUR FRIEND KILLS YOU OVER A FUCKING VIDEO GAME!!”

Could I even call them a friend anymore? I thought, friends don’t kill each other… that’s… that’s not a normal thing… right?

“We’re running,” I whispered to Radi0 after another minute of holding the door shut. “On the count of three, we both go, okay?” He nodded. That was all I needed.

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

As soon as the last word came out of my mouth we ran in the opposite direction of the door. After ten minutes of running, I was quickly falling behind Radi0, everything was getting harder to make out. Radi0 slowed to a stop.

“W-what… are you… doing?” I muttered in between gasps. My voice sounded gravelly and rough. I hated this.

“They’re… not following… us… anymore…” Radi0 replied, panting. “Are… you okay?” He asked again. Why did he keep asking me this?

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine,” I replied, wiping the blood away from my lip. I gave him a weak smile. “Are you?”

“... I’m… I’m worried about you, Mud,” He said. I was silent for a second. Why would someone worry about me? Did I really mean that much to someone?

“Why?” I asked, although it sounded more like a statement.

“‘Why’? Are you serious Mud?” He said, shocked. “Y-you’re bleeding, and you look like you’re gonna pass out, AND YOU SAID YOU JUST DIED?!” I glanced away from him. All of that was true. I was bleeding a lot. And I did feel like I was about to collapse. And I did just die.

“I just…” I replied. “G-gotta sleep it off… That always helps…” Radi0 wrapped his arm around my torso and I leaned on him.

“Maybe we should get you somewhere warmer…” Radi0 said, pointing up at the cloudy sky. The sky… The sky! We weren’t in that other place anymore, I could feel soft grass beneath my paws again! How long had it been since I was outside anyway? “Hey, over there looks pretty sheltered?” Radi0 pulled me out of my thoughts. I nodded, not even looking at where he was pointing. We trekked along until we got to a fallen tree. It’s uprooted roots hung over the ground like a tent. We sat down under the tree and I curled up.

“I’m… going to get firewood…” Radi0 said. He paused. “If you need anything, call for me, okay?”

“Trust me, I won’t need anything,” I replied sarcastically. I closed my eyes and let sleep take hold of me for the night.

Radi0 rubbed at his eyes as he walked through the dense forest, occasionally stopping to pick up large twigs and sticks.

He’s going to be fine, Radi0 told himself repeatedly. They managed to survive Isol’s attack, he’ll be able to survive by themself. Suddenly, a disturbing thought entered his mind, I won’t be able to survive by myself. I’m weak. Pathetic. I let him do that. They told me to run. I deserve to die… Radi0 picked up another stick, barely able to hold the amount that he had. That would be enough, right? He didn’t even know how to make a fire, how was he going to keep both of them warm? He started his walk back to the fallen tree. His thoughts still screaming at him.

I failed to stop them. I’m a horrible friend. He wouldn’t want me back there. Why does he even consider me a friend? Do they even consider me a friend at this point? I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t… I’m a horrible person. I should’ve let Isol kill me. It would be better that way…

He was so wrapped up in his overwhelmingly disturbing thoughts, he hadn’t realized that he had made it back to the tree. Mud had fallen asleep. His wounds were still open. Radi0 should probably help them clean that up. He placed the sticks and twigs down in the dirt near Mud, arranging them in a cone. He grabbed one of the smaller sticks and started rolling it between his hands, like he had seen in the shows. After five minutes of rolling, Radi0 was starting to get frustrated. It still wasn’t working. He didn’t have the energy or motivation to do it anymore, but he knew he had to, they would both get cold in the incoming rain without it. He continued. After fifteen minutes, there was a spark, and then another, and then another, until the entire cone of wood was lit up in flames. By now, the storm had already hit. Radi0 turned away from the fire and faced out from the cover of the roots. He stared off into the distance and dove into his thoughts once again.

Does he even care about me? If they do… why? I didn’t do anything to protect them, I just ran away, like the coward that I am. I was ready to let them die. I was ready to run. But I want to protect him! That’s what good friends would do! They protect each other!

Another voice. This one chilled him to the bone.

You’re lying. You’re lying to yourself and everyone you love. You’re a fucking fraud. A liar. A fake. Stop putting on a brave face and show them your true colors. You’re a coward. To think you’ve gotten away with this for so long. You-

The voice was cut off by Mud. He was shuffling in his sleep, beads of sweat decorating their forehead. Radi0 noticed that their injuries had healed immensely, even when he had completely forgotten (add that to the list of what he needs to scold himself on later). Suddenly, they shot upright, trying to catch their breath.

“Are you okay?” Radi0 asked, frantically looking around to see if they were okay physically.

“Nightmare,” Mud rasped, hugging themself. “It’s nothing serious.” Radi0 glanced at him, then pulled his knees up to his chest, mirroring Mud.

“It’s all going to be okay…” Mud muttered. “I hope you know that. We’ll find a way to make peace with Isol, while getting them to play Omori at the same time.” They let out a weak laugh. Radi0 chuckled with them and smiled out into the forest. It’s going to be okay.

#i'm terrified to post this #my mind is just going off at me like #'you shouldnt be writing at this' #and 'why are you posting this' #and 'why would you write that you dont think that way about them you think that way about yourself' #and 'stop projecting on real people' #and just... im scared #im so scared #as soon as i post this im going to take a step back and really not interact for like #idk 15 - 30 minutes #i just need to calm down and know that no one will think that i think this way #and that this is just fiction #it may have real people in it #but the story #the plot #THE FACT THAT IM A FUCKING IMMORTAL MUD HUMAN CAT HYBRID THING #is all fake #i love all of you and i would never want you to feel this way and i dont think this way about you/p #and if you do feel this way and you need to talk about it #and you dont feel safe with anyone else #you can dm me #i wont tell anyone i promise #at the beginning with the disclaimer #i said almost because i still want isol to play omori xd #thats the only truth (other than my self loathing) thats in this

[pokemoneverlastingorchard]

Update

Character:

I changed Kai’s bio and birthplace. I was actually struggling a lot with his character until I started playing OMORI and one silly nameless NPC gave me an idea, that in turn spread into more ideas. For this idea I had to make him be born in a different region. I decided that Sinnoh would be the best region for this.

I got his dialogue finished (for this build at least) and I got most of his schedule done. I’ll be doing the events... Sometime after I get the game compressed and uploaded.

Code:

-I fixed the gift giving method for everybody. Before you’d have to go through a list and it was a mess. Now your bag will open and you can choose from that. I deleted everything that used the old method and replaced it with the new one.

-This isn’t new but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it. The world seemed pretty empty aside from four maps so I’d have random NPCs everywhere like in any Pokemon game, but I wouldn’t know what to make them say so as a placeholder I’d make them say bad fan subs. I already replaced at least one when I figured I should have somebody actually say something (I think it’s for an item?) but there’s most likely are still going to be NPCs that’ll say things like “People die when they are killed.”

Aesthetics:

New shinies- A while ago I would change some of the shiny Pokemon to make them look more obvious to the original because I like being able to tell the difference. (Imagine finally getting a shiny and that shiny is a Leafeon, for example.)  I’d just up the saturation for them while waiting on the game to upload. (I upload the game frequently as a back up just in case something where to happen.)

However, every three months I’d get a birth control shot that will make me high and pretty useless for about a day and a half. During this time I can’t really do... Anything. But recoloring is easy since there’s a trick to it with Paint, so I’d do a lot of recoloring during this time. (For a future pack.)

The recolors would be alternative colors in media that aren’t shinies. (Like pink Butterfree, original shinies or Pokemon nicknames from the Stadium games.) So for some of the dumb shinies I’ll be replacing them with one of the recolors if there is one. (Pink Butterfree is one of them because it’s classic. Girafarig has also been replaced as a combination of what it originally was and what it currently is.)

Because I do this every three months for every build of the game there could be a new shiny. It depends on how long it takes me to finish the recolors vs how long it takes me to finish the first build though.

Why did the explanation of “I replaced shinies” get so long?

New sex differences- Whenever I want to listen to something and I’m not high I work on more complicated sprites. Gen 4 had a lot of sex differences that were cut. I like to imagine it’s because they realized that they’d have to do these differences for just about every game after gen 4. (That’s probably not the reason why.)

Since I don’t have to worry about making new sprites for every Pokemon every time I make a game, I decided to add in those sex differences... Once I’m done with them. (There’s a lot more than I originally thought.)

Also I’ll be selling these differences in a pack for somewhere between $2-$5 because I like money, especially when I earn it for something I made. I’ll probably also do Gen 5 backs at some point. (I don’t personally intend on switching to Gen 5 styled battles since that can be hard on some people’s computers.)

Furniture- I made sprites of some furniture. Here’s a ribbon case

There’s more but this is the only thing I’m going to show for reasons.

#pokemon eo update #pokemon everlasting orchard #pokemon fan game

[countryshitposts]

The Wasted Years, The Wasted Youth

- Japan could not remember what was and what is present. All he knows is that these are fragments.

Trigger Warnings: violence, gore, murder, child abuse

hey so ya’ll can have this 8k one-shot now

-460 “Are we there yet, haha?”, a young boy asks, as he follows his mother through the terrains of the palace, bouncing up and down, while his mother puts her smooth dark hair back in place, as she hums to herself a song she sings to Japan every night to get him to sleep; it was simply entrancing and melodious to the young child as he tugs on her clothing once again to get her attention.

She simply smiles at him, her kindly eyes full of natural fire, as she bends down to pick up her son, who giggles underneath her grasp. “We’re almost there, watashi no musuko.”

His mother kisses his forehead, and he giggles a little, looking at his mother with cheerful grey eyes, feeling his mother’s warmth envelop him. Japan sees bright light up ahead, and he coos at his mother, asking if they are almost there, to which she nods with full certainty, as she bends down and lets him go- now he misses his mother’s warmth, and he tugs at her clothes to signal he wants to be carried by her, but she laughs.

“You have two feet, shin’aina”, she replies playfully, and Japan huffs petulantly. She kisses his cheek, as she takes his hand, warmth once again enveloping the both of them, and her son smiles as they make their way to the gardens.

He could see that there are two boys in the gardens, talking to each other, looking virtually the same in any other way, but the taller of the two looking experienced, his dark hair cropped short and smooth, his crimson red eyes brimming with ambition, toying with the weapon on his hilt. The shorter of the two had dark hair and purple eyes, and he was talking to the taller boy with a worried tone.

Japan could feel his mother’s grip tightening around him, sweat covering her palm, and he looks up- she was biting her lip, eyeing the two boys with a wary look on her face.

As mother and son approach the pair however, they cease talking, the gardens now once again full of peaceful quiet, as they both turn to them, eyes on Japan. The first boy’s red eyes bore into Japan’s mind, his blood running cold as his heart stops in horrid fear, his lungs pushing him to breath harder, hating the fact that his red eyes were the shade of blood; his eyes were now brimming with a mixture of ambition and hatred. The other glares at Koku as if he had done wrong, but his ice-cold glare could never match up to the blood-shot eyes of his brother.

“Teikoku, Tokyo, where is your mother?”, Japan’s mother asks, lips curling, “or was she too… unwell to visit the palace?”

Teikoku’s glare now targets Kyoto, his teeth gritting as his eyes spit fire. “We decide to visit this place to see our own father.”

Kyoto sighs a little, “He is busy today.”

Teikoku raises a brow, “He is busy with what? Spending time with his concubines?”

Kyoto bites her lip; meanwhile, Japan was in awe of how glorious these men look, but their eyes are filled with hate as they stare at him, as if he was the cause of all their grievances, even if he was a youth oblivious to the matters they concern themselves with, wishing to forever keep his innocence and peace, wanting his entire life to be nothing more than butterflies and flowers.

Kyoto’s gaze hardens, “Go back to your mother, or your tutors. You have no place in the sun.”

Teikoku scoffs, a smirk playing on his lips as his gaze turns back to Japan, “You are just afraid we will taint your son. Oh well, goodbye, baishunpu.”

As they leave mother and son, the elder one turning back to give Japan one last murderous glare, they bring with them the peculiar and strange feeling that he had felt from the start. He tugs on his mother’s sleeve, gaining her attention.

“Who are they, mama?”

“No need to think about them, my taiyō, their wickedness has no place in your heart.” She puts a finger to his chest and he giggles.

+1

Japan dreams of he and his mother, in a field of flowers, the number of butterflies swarming and fighting for the pollen of the plants, but in the end it disturbs the peace he and his mother had made for themselves, as colourful wings flutter left and right, up and down, making him a little dizzy, his entire body wishing to swat these damned insects away, no longer is he fond of how beautiful the patterns on their wings are, and he swats them away, away from him and at his mother, who was strangely not disturbed by them.

Then as he takes a look back at his mother, who was so awfully serene in the midst of a butterfly apocalypse, he drops everything in his arms in horror.

She was a corpse, sitting on the grass that is now attached to her dead skin, the warm smile always on her face dead, her eyes closed as if she was sleeping, her hair falling down in clumps as her hands are now already shredded to the bone.

He screams in horror as the butterflies direct their attention towards her body, now devouring the only kindred soul he had.

Japan immediately wakes, his heart beating in rhythm with his breaths, entire body shaking as he panics; he is enveloped in darkness, beads of sweat dripping down from his face and into wherever they dropped into, his grey eyes finding a source of light that would calm him from his nightmare, still seeing the corpse of his mother in his eyelids.

He questions why he was not in his comfortable bedroom, his head pounding and his heartbeat accelerating, his throat sore as if he had screamed a thousand screams in his own mouth, his long dark hair wet, perhaps from his sweat. The only thing he could feel was the hardness of this damned bed, gnawing at him with their texture of hate, wishing for him to suffer the same fate as them, stuck in the darkness, as evil looms inside this room, no company whatsoever.

Then he smells the blood on his clothes, fresh and sweet, and his fingers mangled, feeling his fingernails scrape stone.

And then he remembers everything.

-2

Japan cosies himself more into his mother’s lap, as she silently fixes his hair, strangely distracted as if her son is not the only thing in her mind, as if her mind has jumbled up too much of her reality and she is now about to pay the price for her salvation. She was not even humming any types of song, as if she had never sang in front of her child in the first place and that she had lost her voice all from worry of the unknown.

“Why do you look so scared, haha?”, he asks Kyoto, who perks up from the rather odd interruption, finally noticing there is youthful life in her room.

Kyoto smiles down at her child, her smile comparable to the cherry blossoms at bloom, but more majestic and entrancing, her lips the soft petals that flow in the wind, as he watches them with his mother in amazement.

“I’m not scared, I’m simply worried, my dear”, she replies with a small sigh, tickling the child underneath her arms as he babbles and giggles out loud. “Worried that your father’s reign will come to an end, and leave you as his heir.”

Japan blinks up at Kyoto, grey eyes full of confusion. “But mama, why don’t you want me to be heir? It is my birthright after all.”

She only gives him a sad smile, “You will be too young to rule if your father’s reign would end so abruptly. I cannot help you and only your father’s ministers will help you. Especially those two young men…”

Japan nods; he does not understand his mother’s constant worry for him, as he wants to be emperor of the country now and forever, but he knows his mother was simply worried for him. She goes back to minding her own business, disregarding the fact that her son exists, so he decides to comfort his mother, wishing to bring her out of her wit’s end.

“Haha?”, he gains his mother’s attention once again, as she looks back at him with questions in her eyes, but it did not succeed in taking her spirit away.

“Yes, aisare shi-sha?”, she asks, her voice covered with sweetness.

“Watashi no tame ni utaemasu ka”, he asks from her mother, who smiles and kisses his forehead, obeying her son.

“Mochiron, watashi no musuko”, she replies, as she clears her throat, handling Japan tightly as if he was a newborn baby, opening her mouth to unleash the most beautiful voice he has heard a thousand times in life.

Her voice was brilliant; as if she was performing in all those theatres he had seen for himself, none talking of her marvellous talent except for him and only him, as she starts to sing a song he has heard one thousand and one times, getting tired of the lullaby but never getting tired of the singer.

“Nennen korori yo, Okorori yo. Bōya wa yoi ko da, Nenne shina.

Bōya no omori wa, Doko e itta? Ano yama koete, Sato e itta.

Sato no miyage ni, Nani morotta? Denden taiko ni, Shō no fue.”

Japan, never really one for staying late, yawns as he hears his mother’s voice, always there to make him feel better, always there to comfort him in his times of need, as if her voice was his path finder in life, and without it he will suffocate at the hands of evil, its claws digging into his neck. His mother must have sensed his exhaustion, as she softly chuckles and kisses him on the forehead.

“Yukkuri o yasumi, little one.”

(Japan only realised now that this was the last time he gets to hear her sing.)

+100

Everything has become routine for him; him scratching on the walls, desperately in search of an exit before giving up as he gasps in pain, one of his nails clipped off by the impenetrable stone walls, lounging on his make-shift bed, staring boredly into the darkness, wishing for something worthwhile to happen, wishing to entertain himself rather than sleeping since the only thing he sees is his mother who is dead-

He takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself, softly humming a song his mother used to sing to him when he was but an innocent, naive small boy (he still was; though he could not say life was kind to him now), who has unfortunately been taught that life has its uphills and downhills, that life would spit acid on your face and call it a day in the hardest way possible.

He tries counting the days with his own fingers scraping into the mouldy and dirty stone walls, his only friend the darkness.

His ears then hear the sound of metal clinking, knowing the guards are once again back with his food, knowing this is his one chance in escaping this inferno he had created all by himself.

“Well well well, if it isn’t my dearest brother.” Japan’s ears perk up, knowing that disgusting voice all too well, the voice full of too much pleasure and madness, as if he was possessed by a demon that still controls every action and reaction of his. He finds himself face to face with those crimson red eyes swirling with madness and ambition, as if he never fulfilled his dreams despite the fact he had taken his father’s throne.

And Japan’s right to it as well.

His younger brother did not have the heart to reply, his days being accompanied by darkness not treating him well, the small foods and morsels he had scraped by cannot sustain his hunger, nor do the bowls of water could sustain his parched self. So all he could do is stare up at Teikoku with his dead grey eyes, knowing that his brother’s eyes still instill fear inside him, continuing to gnaw in his insides until he drops dead from fright.

After gaining the courage and energy to do so, softly, he asks, “What are you doing here?”

The sly grin on Teikoku’s face grows wider. “To see if you are still alive; I am quite surprised you managed a hundred days living and rotting in this cell.”

Japan does not speak, too exhausted from his question a while ago, his head hung low, eyes on the stone floors, which are being lit by the light from the ajar metal door.

“Well, since I see you are still - disappointedly - alive, I will leave you now.” Without giving his younger brother a second glance, he stalks out of the cell, and closes the door, once again leaving Japan being embraced by the darkness.

-453

Japan once again encounters the strange brothers that he had seen in the palace gardens a few days ago, talking to each other as if they were in the privacy of their house.

“Father has grown weak, Tokyo”, says Teikoku, his posture straight, his eyes pinning down on his younger brother, who was trying not to be afraid of him. “It is time for a new administration to rise and topple the old one to the ground. The shogunate must fall.”

“You mustn't say such dastardly things in public!”, Tokyo berates his brother, his voice soft with fright and the fear people were listening to their conversation. “We will be deemed as traitors!”

Teikoku scoffs, and Japan could tell this man has confidence and pride mixing to one, which will be his downfall in the near future. “Let them hear us; after all, what evidence do they have against us when they face Father’s court? None. None at all.”

“Even if the shogunate does fall, we will not be the one to inherit it.” Tokyo’s face sours with recall. “It will be that little kaibutsu taking what is rightfully ours.”

Teikoku laughs, wicked and evil, “He would not stand a chance against us. We have expertise on combat and swords and knowledge, while he cannot read most words.”

The two brothers laugh at the elder’s joke, all the while making Japan lose confidence in himself, as if the words of these two bullies could change the duality of time, as if they can actually and directly change the way things run in this country, nothing more and nothing less. He takes a small deep sigh, his entire cheery and jovial mood crushed by fear and paranoia, the brothers’ treats feeling real, their determination to get to their dreams so frightening to his childish brain, still clinging onto the hope that he shall succeed his father, the greatest of all shoguns.

(He meets with his mother, who was worried sick of where he had wandered off to, and his mood lightens as he snuggles warmly with his mother.)

+1,023

He paces around his cell, head hung low to the floors he could never see in the darkness, his grey eyes seeing and noting nothing but shades of black, black, black. As if he was underground, in a location that will never be known to men. He paces back and forth, back and forth with no end, as if his entire life has now been reduced to atoms with the absence of light, his feet mindlessly brushing on stone after stone, his head not lost in thoughts nor memory, but lost in nothing.

There was nothing in his mind, no thoughts that can save himself from the slowly growing insanity inside of him, waiting to pounce and cackle as it does; no memories come up, and if some do come up they are tainted by the human mind’s need of imagining everything was still fine, nothing was wrong, that he was not trapped in this cell for god knows how long.

Truth be told, the man pacing his cell did not even remember his name, or why he was here, and what did he do to belong in such a solemn place, no hope of escaping and no hope of seeing light come across this tight-locked cell.

Just like his mind, his world had gone dark, not knowing where he was, not knowing if he still had a will to live.

Then he stops pacing, his grey eyes blinking with light that he had never had after being put here in this jail from so long ago, his mind finally turning on his gears, suddenly yet briefly. He considers it for a moment, before his eyes turn up dead, as if a flashlight had turned off.

He goes back to pacing maddeningly in his cell.

-234

“Haha!”, Japan exclaims as he runs towards his mother’s throne, throwing himself upon her with such force, almost knocking her off balance.

His mother laughs, comforting him, “My, you have gotten big. Tell me, have you been eating lots?”

Japan smiles as he nods enthusiastically, “Yes mama! The foods the cooks made were delicious!”

She kisses her son’s cheek, eliciting a giggle from him. “I am so proud, Japan! Make sure you eat lots to grow faster!”

“Or you will grow fat”, grumbles his father, who was staring at his wife and heir with the most critical grey eyes, his glare striking fear inside of his son. “And you will be immobilized from wars and battles that you must participate in for glory.”

His wife scowls back at him, cradling her son like a small child. “Do not kill our joy, Tokugawa.”

He scoffs, leaning back on his throne, “My only son with my dear wife is a weakling.”

Japan feels a pang of hurt in his chest, as his eyes widen, brimming with tears, while his mother’s eyes flare with anger. She softly lets Japan go from her arms, as her son goes back to staring at his father, wanting to know he has hurt him in the worst possible way, but his eyes are now pinned on his wife, who stands defiantly from her throne, glaring at the shogun.

“He is not a weakling!”, her mother flares, “he is a child who has not been educated yet! If we are talking about weaklings here, it is you!”

Tokugawa abruptly stands up, his shadow looming on both Kyoto and her cowering son, gritting his teeth, his fists clenched, his grey eyes erupting with anger and hatred for his wife, but instead of striking her right then and there, he grabs her wrist, much to her shock and surprise, as he leads her away from the throne room, leaving a worried Japan.

“Haha!”, he exclaims, and his mother turns around to give him a small but grief-stricken smile.

“Shinpaishinaide, watashi no ko”, she replies with a comforting voice, drowning out his fear, “Watashi wa tsuyoidesu.” She vanishes with her husband, never to be seen that afternoon.

(She returns in the evening with a bruised eye, unable to walk as if her legs were unstable. Japan worriedly asks her if she was all right, and she smiles, replying that she is fine.)

+2,304

How does age work?

Does the body increase in age as if it was moving forwards through time, a vessel for experimentation, as they carry a living conscience inside of them as a journey through time?

He had been stuck in this cell for… apparently he lost count, but that hardly even matters anymore, since he cannot move properly in this damned cramped cell, legs wishing to stretch in the widest of rooms, arms wishing to reach up the highest ceilings, wanting nothing but a cell full of more room, as if the cells are purposefully closing in on him, as he can smell its mouldy stone walls and musty old floors.

Every time he wakes up from a dreamless, thoughtless, and memoryless sleep, he is greeted with the fact that he is now going to spend his entire life in a cell that cannot sustain his needs, being greeted with nothing but darkness as his way of life, the remaining air in his cell making him suffocate.

Or; the lack of it.

It was like he forgot everything someone had taught him about the world, as if he stopped existing and was merely a space in this cramped cell, no escape and no way to tell if he lives or not, his heart in pieces, his mind blank, his memories never surfacing, as if they had grown too tired of his grievances and up and left him.

Quiet reigns supreme in his cell with no room, unable to give him air, water or food he desires, as he goes back to sitting on what used to be his make-shift bed, knowing he could never fit in it.

-321

Japan was minding his own business in the gardens, resolving to wait for his mother who was busy handling important matters, cooing at the butterflies that continuously feast on the flower’s nectar, their wings still enchanting their watcher, who stares at them, fascinated, with how beautiful and elegant they are.

The feast of the butterfly has been interrupted by a shrill scream echoing across the garden, making Japan flinch and the butterflies flutter away in unison.

The source of the scream was a woman who looks close to the age of his mother, hair wild and unkept, purple eyes swirling with madness as she runs towards the palace, the guards chasing after her, trying to restrain her.

She was looking around wildly, screaming to herself as she disappears into the palace, the guards still not being able to restrain her.

Japan stares at the spot where he had last seen her, a frightened and confused feeling inside of him, as if that woman was the root of all his nightmares coming to life, wanting to devour him the way the looming darkness in his dreams gobble him up.

Then he hears the voice of two familiar brothers bickering. Japan turns his eyes on the two who enter the palace, Tokyo looking at Teikoku with something akin to fear and worry, while Teikoku had an unreadable expression on his face, his emotions somewhat absent.

“You should not have scared Mother like that”, Tokyo says, his eyes searching the entire gardens. “Now she will be the laughingstock of the court… again.”

Teikoku rolls his eyes, “As she should be- she goes talking about how I am a demon but in reality she fits the description.”

Tokyo gives him a look, “Be polite! You are talking about our Mother!”

“Does not seem like one”, Teikoku mutters, his eyes catching Japan frolicking in the gardens, and he smirks evilly, “Mother Dearest is not a mother.”

As the two brothers disappear into the palace to search for their mother, Japan felt even more frightened of the elder.

+2,546

His body is empty; no brain, no soul, no voice heard, as if no one has remembered he existed, to the point even he himself starts to consider that he was no more, and that he is just a vessel, a vessel to a life that had once existed, but he’s not sure if he was alive.

So he stands in this suffocating and dark cell, depriving him of the light and air he needs to survive, but that is alright; he’s not alive anymore, he’s dead, his name smeared off of history and the fact that Teikoku took all the glory and fame he deserved.

That is the only name that stuck inside his empty mind.

Teikoku.

He cannot remember who or what he is, if he was friend or enemy or rival, but every time he thinks of his name, he feels pain, anger, anguish and desolation, as if he was the harbinger of every remaining conflicting feelings inside of his empty and dark abyss he calls his mind.

Ah yes, a name to remember, all over the years.

-55

Japan runs around the palace, searching every nook and cranny for his mother, even asking the servants if they had seen her. They point to his mother’s private quarters, and his eyes light up, like a pirate finding its treasure. “Haha! I finally found y-”, he stops short as he sees his mother and a mysterious woman having tea in the middle of the room.

“Musuko!”, says his haha, standing up, fixing her attire as she excuses herself from the pretty lady, as she makes her way to cradle her child in her arms. “Do not intervene in people’s conversations again!”

Japan gives his mother an apologetic look, “I’m sorry, mama.” His eyes shot towards the pretty lady, who was pouring tea over her tea cup. “And who is she, mama?”

“Japan!”, his mother scolds once again, “do not-”

The lady chuckles, “It’s fine, Kyoto- no need to get agitated.” She flashes a smile towards the small boy, “my name’s the United States of America, or America for short.”

There was something in that woman, whether it be the way she looks so pretty to the point it compels him to stay with the two girls who go back to their - slightly heated - conversation, the teapot between them steaming as Kyoto once again pours tea into her cup. As they were talking to each other (which was tuned out by him), Japan was busily - or just enchanted - staring at the pretty lady with a pleasant smile on her face. Her golden hair was tied into a braid, which in turn was tied into a small bun. Her skin was dotted by freckles; they look like the stars in the night sky now blessed into her skin, and her green eyes were just like the gardens; he can get lost in them any single day.

There was something in that lady that made his heartbeat increase even faster, as if he had ran a complete route from the gardens towards the town square, as if there were butterflies in his stomach that wished to escape and flutter over the entire room, lighting up the entire room.

And when she glances at him, a thunderstorm meeting a rich forest, she smiles, as if they will meet again, someday.

(They meet again in their next life, in a not-so pleasant way.)

+28,342

He hears the metal door in his cell open, for the first time in what felt like a millenium of waiting. Waiting for something that was never there, and if it was there, it simply vanished because worthless fucks decided to forget they have left something lying upside down, all worn out from years of torment and torture.

He doesn’t bother turning around, but the open door finally gives him a glimpse of his small and cramped cell, always covered in the darkness, and he sees a stone wall in front of him, feeling someone in front of him, hesitating to move and confront the man in the darkness.

“Hello, Japan”, the newcomer softly says, his voice familiar but nothing comes across the prisoner’s mind, lost in the darkness. But he can feel anger rising in him, the same reaction whenever he thinks of Teikoku’s name in his mind, but weaker and lackluster. “Anata wa seichō shimashita.”

The chained man lifts his head, but still not facing him, his eyes up the ceiling now, full of obsolete stone. He tries to find something, anything, a voice or word to respond to this newcomer that finally made him see light again.

“That’s my name?”, he finally asks, softly and surely, his voice too quiet to even be heard in this closed cell. “‘Japan?’”

The newcomer hesitates a little, “Hai, that is your name, since birth.” His voice softens even more, to something more fatherly and regretful. “Oh Japan, I’m sorry we did that to you.”

He immediately whirls to face him, surprising the man in front of him a little as he staggers back, meeting the prisoner’s messy hair and blood-shot grey eyes wanting nothing but to murder, his lips pressed to a thin line, his body thin and gaunt, skin pale from the lack of sunlight that they supposedly need to survive. The prisoner tries long and hard to recall this pathetic man’s name, the way his lips would curl in disgust in his first few years inside that damned cell, rotting.

“Bastard”, he hisses, letting out a shaky breath. “What are you doing here? To come laugh at me? To taunt me? To make fun of me? Spill!” His body was shaking, finally showing emotion after all these years of showing nothing but emptiness.

The man shifts uncomfortably, his eyes never leaving Japan. “I’m not here to taunt taunt nor insult you. I’m here to visit you.”

Japan’s growing anger is about to reach new heights, as he whirls around to see the last face he saw before he is locked up in this cell like a bird. He changed a lot from the years that he could not count with his fingers, with his short-cropped hair and violet eyes now withholding regret, his glasses glinting in the dim lights.

“Why now?”, he asks, softly, feeling tired and weary after shouting at the man who turned his life upside down, left and right, stopping him from an eternity of happiness. “Why did you do this to me? Did I do something wrong that made you imprison me in the darkness?”

He slowly raises his eyes, his body still shaking with such intensity that would put even the earthquakes he had witnessed to shame. “Sometimes I’d think long and hard about what happens to people who put children in jail.”

A few seconds later, he is now alone again in his cell, the darkness welcoming him back with open arms, and instead of screaming and crying and wanting to see the real sun, he welcomes Her with open arms.

-69

It was a stormy day, meaning he would not be able to play in the gardens today, as he stares sadly at the downpour, longingly waiting for it to go away. He is no stranger to the rain, but sometimes his mood dampens with the weather, as if it controls his emotions and feelings to the winds, as the dark grey clouds shower the entire world with drops of liquid in various shapes and sizes.

He inches away from the window as he sees a streak of lightning from a distance, shivering a little from the cold gusts of wind that keeps blowing in his direction, as if he was just a simple obstacle to be knocked off. Lightning streaks were a sign a rumble of thunder is coming, slowly but surely, and it does; like a demon trying to say he is here and he should marvel in his presence.

Japan shrieks as another flash of lightning, this time nearer to his place, sends him tumbling down from his bed, and into the floors.

He starts to cry from the sheer harshness of his fall, as if this was the most painful thing life had done to him, the pain like a hundred men falling down on him. From the midst of his crying, he hears the sliding door open and a soft gasp before two arms start cradling him softly, feeling someone’s hair touch his skin, comforting him, calming the boy down, telling him it is all right.

“Oh, Japan”, his mother coos, voice soft and rich with caring and love, something he had loved in her from the very beginning. “Subete ga seijōdearu.”

+20,129

He grapples at his overgrown hair as if it was his enemy, tearing strands of his hair down in small clumps, falling to the ground like rain he never saw again after he was locked in this now tight and suffocating cell, as he screams. His scream was not from the fact the cell is slowly killing him with its lack of air nor the voices in his mind replacing the serene nothingness, but simply at the fact that he wants to hear himself, he wants to hear the walls echo his own voice, but all he could hear was his bones cracking to the sounds of his scream as his hands try pulling more of his hair out.

He closes his eyes in on the walls, locking him in limbo, forever and ever.

As if his fingers were claws, as if they were sharp and can tears this wall, down, his madness still building up from all these years of inglorious rage and desperation to get out of this damned cell, he turns on to the walls that had took him in as a friend and a foe, his screams becoming more and more agitated as time goes on and on and on.

He starts to create his masterpiece, fingers scraping on the hard walls that torment him every single day, the scraping of his fingers on the olden concrete singing a high-pitched and off-tune music, chanting for disarray. He howls in pain as he feels one of his fingernails break and drop to the floors, hearing its clink, but his work is not done, knowing that he is far from done, knowing he still have not left his mark, as he keeps on scraping and vandalising this damned walls for sheer entertainment, because if no one can do it he had to do this to himself; he does not care if he will break or dislocate any of his fingers, or some of his fingernails break from the intensity of his vandalism, nor does he care if his hands are mangled or bleeding.

A few hours (minutes? days? seconds?) he stops, feeling the numbing of his own pain, panting and trying to breath through, his grey eyes trying to make sure he remembered those words, remember the way they were structured, remember everything. Even from the darkness of the cell, he knew what he spelt out,

“Watashi wa sonzai shimasu.”

-192939488

Is this the past?

Is this the present?

He can’t remember anymore.

He can only remember what’s After now.

+21,456

He pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out an annoyed sigh as the metal doors open once again, revealing Tokyo, with a bandage on his left hand. Honestly, his visits are making Japan miss the darkness and the close walls tormenting him slowly but surely. He did not want the man who partnered with Teikoku to visit him, over and over again, every week, every month, every year. Let him be at peace.

“What do you want now?”, he asks curtly, glaring up at Tokyo, who was awkwardly biting his lip.

“How much do you remember about your mother?”

Japan stiffens, his thought process stopping, his grey eyes widening, as he turns to stare at Tokyo in anger and fury. He stands, his body shaking with pure rage; before Tokyo could look back, he had cornered his half-brother inside of his own cell, knowing the two of them both won’t have any room to breathe. He grits his teeth as he digs his fingernails into Tokyo’s recent injury, and he screams out loud in pain.

Japan huffs out a laugh as he punctured injured skin, making Tokyo wish for death with his own voice. “Your pain today isn’t measurable compared to mine.”

All of a sudden, he lets his older brother go, as Japan stalks back to the furthest corners of his cell, back turned from his brother, who was swearing and crying like the bastard he was, as he fumbles around to fix his bandage, an injury topped by another injury, both made by Japan himself.

He lets out a bitter laugh while Tokyo continues whining, before he starts to cry. “I wish I had saved her, you know. The only light in my life destroyed by you.”

+28,299

Grey eyes stare into Tokyo’s brown ones, unable to conceal his bitterness and anger for both the brothers. “You both know that I’m the rightful heir.”

He does not respond, knowing he cannot explain himself to a lonely and bitter man, deprived of beautiful youth, and can only nod shakily, his eyes full of fear. Then he feels hands on his neck, slowly suffocating him, making him gasp as the fingers tighten their grip around his windpipe.

“Say it”, Japan hisses out in the softest voice he can muster, and with surprising strength he lifts Tokyo up until his head hits the ceiling, the man writhing in the cuckold. “Say that I’m the real heir and that Teikoku is the fake.”

His captive lets out a choked response, trying to answer.

“Say it”, Japan says with more force in his voice now, the intent to murder hidden. “SAY THAT I’M THE REAL HEIR!”

“You are”, Tokyo finally chokes out, “you are you are you are.”

+28,323

Tokyo looks back over his shoulder to find Japan still standing, in the centre, his eyes on the shadow casted by the sunlight above him. He raises a brow and tilts his head, “Japan, come on, we’re running late! I’m running late!”

His younger half-brother ignores him, his eyes still on the shadow, his grey eyes brimming with fascination- the shadow mimics his movements, as if it was a darker version of him, attached to his feet. His skin feels like it was being caressed by generous and warm hands, the sun that is said to be burning him like he was in hell a friend, giving him the warmth he never received in the cell, the open space giving him enough air to breathe.

“Japan!”, he hears his brother call out to him, and he slowly walks towards Tokyo, watching his legs move in the sunlight, the corners of his lips moving upward, trying to form a smile.

After all these years, longing and wanting to see the damned light, he can finally gaze at the sun again; he can finally be free to walk; free from the darkness. Free from his life as a vessel of the unknown. Free from being non-existent, because he finally exists.

Finally.

+28,360

Tokyo was out for the day, meaning that Japan has the apartment all by himself. He stares at the dozen books scattered on the table, the abandoned coffee cup by the window sill, and the general lack of someone looming all over him, he decides the best way to keep him entertained is to read a few books Tokyo had left hanging around. He picks one up from the pile that was enough to fascinate him, as he sits down on a chair, his fingers studying the texture of the paper, as he flips from page after page, skimming from paragraph to paragraph.

A few hours after, he finishes the book, and now he feels bored, so he goes to Tokyo’s room, promising to himself that he will leave soon after. He knows he is invading his brother’s privacy, but he too had been invading his cell for the past few years, so might as well do it to him as payback. He opens the lights in Tokyo’s room, to find the entire place - frustratingly - messy. He groans to himself as he takes a step in, cautiously avoiding stepping on the things cluttered around the floor.

Japan stares at Tokyo’s wardrobe, before opening it and taking out a uniform that was old and dusty, knowing that he doesn’t use this anymore. Entertained at the fact he can mock Tokyo once he finally gets home, Japan starts to put the uniform on him, a childish spirit rekindled inside of him, as he slowly but surely buttons his shirt on, looking for a mirror that can let him see his entire body.

(He had only looked in a mirror now, as he sees appearances a waste of time- well, fairly because he is hidden from everyone else.)

He finds a full-length mirror near Tokyo’s study, and he rushes to it to see how he looks- and then stops abruptly, finally getting a taste of his reflection for what felt like a long time. Despite the fact he has been tearing at his hair in mad fits for what felt like forever, his dark hair was a mess, strands reaching far and wide. His grey eyes were shining with emptiness, and his frame thin but tall, skin as pale as the ice that covers the country in winter.

He recalls the times when his mother would say that he had his father’s most beautiful eyes, and how she would make him feel important by saying that; it worked, for a long, long time. And today, he realises that he would have wanted his mother’s beautiful brown eyes; they were the ones that had guided him into the world where everything was cherry blossoms falling down in his face until the tree trunks came to topple him down.

Gingerly, he touches his reflection, his body once again shaking, his mind racing with thoughts about how this was wrong, how his mother should have been alive and him dead, ceasing to exist in this world, but instead it was in reverse. His lip was quivering, as he tries remembering what his mother looked like… her red lips smiling down at him with love and warmth… her brown eyes mature but caring… her arms like a nest to nurture him with… her voice the most melodious thing he has ever heard… her dark hair smooth and silky soft.

None of which he had gotten from his mother, as he looks in the mirror.

“Haha”, he whispers, as he drops to his knees, no longer able to support himself once again, as he now unleashes a stream of tears, dripping down his face. “I’m… sorry.”

“You shouldn’t be.” A voice snaps him out of his breakdown, as he looks up in the mirror to find his mother, smiling at him, as if she were alive.

“Mama?”, he asks softly, his voice merely a whisper in this room. “B-but you’re dead!”

She chuckles a little, as she drapes her arms around Japan; he should not be feeling anything, but he felt warmth embrace him once again. “I may be dead in the real world, but I will always live in your mind.”

Japan shakes his head, still sniffling and sobbing. “You must be disappointed in me, mama.”

She shakes her head, putting her lips to his forehead, “I am not disappointed, my son. I will forever be proud of you. I will be by your side as you finally finish your quest for glory.”

Japan blinks, confused. “‘Quest for glory?’”

There was something in her dark brown eyes now; vengeance and revenge. “Kill the one who decided to rewrite our fates like this. And then, you will have peace, now and forever.”

“But Mother… killing is wrong…!”

“But Teikoku killed me, and he has killed thousands of innocent lives too. Do you think murdering the bastard will have an equal effect on what he did to the entire world? No.”

Japan’s mind goes back and forth, in circles and then forming more and more shapes, as he tries to formulate a response against this ghost (hallucination? curse?). Murder is wrong, his mind supplies, but his heart tells him it is time for Teikoku to get what he deserved, to make him beg for death and he giving it to the suffering man with no conscience whatsoever.

He smiles, turning to grin at his mother.

“Perhaps I let that old bastard live long enough.”

+28,365

Two brothers are caught in a dance, a dance that decides one another’s fate, as they kick and punch and shoot with all of their might and strength, giving each other sensitive vocabulary as they chase and catch. The grey-eyed brother tackles his elder brother, making him cough up blood as Teikoku kicks at Japan’s ribcage, and he howls in pain, as Teikoku uses it as a distraction and kicks Japan off of him. He topples over, as now Teikoku has the upper hand, looking down at him with anger and madness.

It scared him a long time ago, but now it doesn’t- not anymore.

“You think I will spare you once again after you did this to me?!”, he bellows, “I showed you leniency once upon a dream! A chance to rot in the cells, but you decide to waste it after assaulting me.”

Japan spits on his face, and he uses that as an advantage as he kicks at Teikoku’s legs and shoots a bullet, which lodges on Teikoku’s shoulder. He gasps in pain as blood drips over his mouth once again, but before he could move Japan kicks him on the skull, the floors breaking his fall in a hard manner. Teikoku screams, both in pain and in anger, but now Japan has a firm grip on Teikoku’s injured shoulder, pulling it as hard as he can until he can hear joints cracking.

“You… meiwaku”, Teikoku hisses and he gasps, Japan stepping on his ribcage as if it were a toy, his step becoming harder, harder, harder. “You will die an inglorious death.”

Japan cackles, a sneer on his face, as his grey eyes shine throughout the light, exchanging his gun for a dagger. “I’d find pleasure ripping out your heart.” Teikoku pants, his hands discreetly reaching for a pole, closer and closer, as Japan busies himself with his knife.

“So, sayonara, Teikoku.” Japan lunges for Teikoku, eyes wide, full of undefinable insanity.

Teikoku meets his eyes, as he finally reaches the pole and plunges it deep into Japan’s heart just as he lunges. His brother halts, time standing still, but before he processes what had just happened, his grey eyes become blank with death. He breathes hard, as blood drips from Japan’s mouth and into Teikoku’s clothes, his brother staring at Teikoku, before his eyes go listless, dropping the dagger to the ground, as it makes a little noise.

There was silence in the halls for a moment, Teikoku looking everywhere other than the corpse of his older brother, as his eye colour slowly went back to its crimson red, while Teikoku’s red eyes were being replaced by grey, as if the blood had been drained from his body.

Japan crawls away from Teikoku’s corpse, as his body swiftly slides down the pole, the silver graces of the weapon tinged with blood and all things holy.

When the day has come where he have died.

Only to come alive.

0It happened so fast; the guards coming into his and his mother’s home, disturbing the peace that his mother have created in their own terrain, mother and son minding their own business when all of a sudden, as if his years of life are cut short by someone shooting their gun his way, Teikoku’s guards raid their home, holding him and his mother captive, who were both so busy living, breathing, being alive.

“Haha!”, the young boy says, as two guards hoists his mother up, who in turn was too weak to stand, too weak to do anything except look at Japan with her deep brown eyes, wanting him to go, run away as fast as he can. But he knows that he should never leave the source of his happiness behind. Before he could move, however, two more guards hold him back, him and his mother a safe distance from each other, tormenting them. He struggles against his captors, his grey eyes threatening to wage war. “Let me and my mother go!”

“You struggling against my guards is quite… hilarious.” A cold, calm, and frigid voice settles among the people in the room, as Japan hears the steps of the man who has orchestrated this ambush, this sabotage.

Teikoku comes in all his glory, wearing a clean and tidy uniform, his dark hair smooth and cropped, but his eyes still full of madness and ambition, laughing silently at his younger half-brother and his mother, a big smirk on his face. He is here to laugh at them for his entertainment; here to earn pleasure from their pain as he sits on his throne of gold, superior to all, controlling each and everyone of the people’s lives.

Japan meets his eyes, pleading and scared out of his wit, wanting nothing more to escape. “Please, Teikoku… let me and my mother go.”

Teikoku’s smirk grows wider, not really a smirk anymore but a sadistic smile creeping upon his face, his eyes staring down at Japan, huge with fascination and amusement. “But you and your mother stand in the way of the glory of my empire”, he smiles once again, a glint of intent now visible, “I have to take you traitors down.”

He shouts an order to the guards, who immediately obey as they drop his mother down to the floors; she gasps in pain, and Japan writhes underneath the men’s grasp, wanting to be with his mother, wanting Teikoku to leave the both of them alone. Teikoku approaches Kyoto step by step, as the latter was recovering from the assault, before he swiftly tilts her chin up, her deep brown eyes which were full of hope, now replaced with fear.

Teikoku smiles as he points his gun at her, and Japan screams, his mother shooting him one last look-

Everything goes red.

-

Watashi no musuko- my son

Shinai’na- dear

Baishunpu- whore

Taiyō- sun

Aisare shi-sha- beloved

Watashi no tame ni utaemasu ka- can you sing for me Mochiron watashi no musuko- of course, my son

Yukkuri o yasumi- sleep tight

Kaibutsu- monster

Shinpaishinaide, watashi no ko- don’t worry, my child

Watashi wa tsuyoidesu- i am strong Musuko- son

Anata wa seichō shimashita- you’ve grown

Subete ga seijōdearu- everything is alright/fine

Watashi wa sonzai shimasu- I exist

The lullaby that Kyoto sung was Edo Komoriuta or Edo Lullaby

#writing #mine #countryhumans #countryhumans japan #countryhumans japan empire #cityhumans kyoto #countryhumans tokugawa shogunate #cityhumans tokyo

[go-fuck-a-dead-protagonist]

I posted 31,711 times in 2021

47 posts created (0%)

31664 posts reblogged (100%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 673.7 posts.

I added 122 tags in 2021

#my writing - 23 posts

#save - 14 posts

#ranboo - 13 posts

#blackrock chronicles - 11 posts

#fisheyes - 11 posts

#beeduo - 11 posts

#rythian - 11 posts

#sonboo au - 10 posts

#tubbo - 9 posts

#my art - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 69 characters

#ty to everyone who comments in the tags awawawawaaaaa i owe u my life

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Mcytblr pls help. I need to find a very specific ranboo animation. Basically ranboo had run away from home and everyone else on the SMP was looking for him. It's raining and he's in a cave by a creek. Tubbo calls his cellphone. The audio used for the call is a female voice, who expresses uncertainty that the recipient still uses this number, but says it was the last one left to call.

Pls help me out!!!

26 notes • Posted 2021-07-10 07:52:06 GMT

#4

/RP /MCYT NOT ABOUT THE REAL PEOPLE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Thinking of writing a series of one shots about my au where ranboo is rythian and Zoey's son

Will contain beeduo probably as well as technodad and emeraldduo content plus gratuitous alliumduo because my heart

Also romantic zoethian (again. /RP I do not condone IRL shipping)

If you'd be interested in reading it, reblog and put scenarios you'd want to see in the fic in the tags or w/e

28 notes • Posted 2021-08-22 20:47:48 GMT

#3

My first fic is on AO3!! I really love Ecolo and Satan as a ship, and this is my way of spreading that around. 

Likes < Reblogs, every share is appreciated!

39 notes • Posted 2021-02-02 14:44:38 GMT

#2

Hello omori community I have the brainrot

42 notes • Posted 2021-02-10 13:55:49 GMT

#1

i made a short 9 question uquiz

129 notes • Posted 2021-05-05 23:20:32 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[sharktalkswrestling]

Looking at NWA-TNA PPV #4 (10 July 2002)

Who cares about the embarrassment of riches which is the current wrestling landscape when we could be talking about early TNA? I just watched NWA-TNA PPV #4 from 10 July 2002 and I’m gonna spew some words about it here. We have some title matches and a lot of new faces so let’s get into it.

Links to previous reviews here: #1, #2, #3.

Quality: 2/5. The opening tag title match was good and the main event X-Division six-way was great. K-Krush insulting Nascar some more and having a match with driver Hermie Sadler was a bit of fun. Everything else was either bad or just...there. In case you’re curious, Ed Ferrara continues to make the show worse at every conceivable moment.

Significance: 3/5. This was probably the least important show so far, which makes sense. There were two title matches but they weren’t well built up and didn’t have any chance of a change. There were a number of debuts but the only one to make a real impression was Christopher Daniels. Styles’ next challenger was determined. Still more significant than a lot of episodes of weekly wrestling TV, though.

My thoughts [Spoilers]:

AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn are just so entertaining. Obviously. They carry two of James Mitchell’s New Church nerds to a fun tag title match. Lynn was upset at the end, as AJ tagged himself in to get the win. Lynn is the champion pulling double duty tonight, as he’s in the main event six-way to determine a number one contender for his partner’s X-Division Championship. It doesn’t make much sense for the Disciples to get the first title shot, honestly. Maybe the Flying Elvises, since they beat the now champions and Low Ki back in the very first TNA match. But, hey, it was fun.

Brian Christopher cut a promo about how his father Jerry Lawler wasn’t the reason he got into the business. He did it on his own. Then, it turns into an attack about how Jerry wasn’t there for him as a kid and tells him to go to hell. But then he says he isn’t Brian Christopher anymore but Brian Lawler. It was an okay promo, but it just feels like an attempt to further connect Brian to his more famous dad, especially now that they’re basing themselves in Nashville, TN. It was followed by a match with Norman Smiley that wasn’t much.

K-Krush (R-Truth) riles up the Nashville crowd, saying that Trashville can’t recognize good talent, and says that once he’s done with Sadler, he’ll kick the asses of all the Nascar fans in attendance. He had them eating out of the palm of his hand. The match was kind of ridiculous but I liked it. Hermie Sadler was not bad for his first match, and the crowd was really invested. They did a kind of dumb angle at the end, where Krush pinned Sadler with the ropes for leverage and after the match the referee reversed the decision in favor of Sadler. Funny enough, Cagematch lists it as a win for Krush still.

It blows my mind to see the Briscoe brothers as scrawny young guys with sane levels of facial hair wrestling in singlets. Hell, they might’ve had all their teeth. The Hot Shots were also there. It could’ve been a decent match, but a minute or two in, Mitchell’s Disciples stormed the ring for a DQ and Malice destroyed everyone. They did a real goofy explosion sound effect when he chokeslammed one of the Briscoes. Mitchell gets on the mic demanding Shamrock’s blood, which is pretty rich considering Malice has lost clean to Ken twice in a row. Then Shamrock and his challenger Takao Omori both run out to clean house of the Disciple geeks.

They do a sleazy angle where a woman named Jasmin St. Clair comes out and asks the crowd if they want some “real TNA”. She calls Jeremy Borash  her “little sex toy” and sits him down in a chair in the ring before doing something vaguely resembling a lap dance. She goes so far as to take off her undergarments from under her dress before an NWA authority type guy storms the ring to cover her up and drag her away. It was not entertaining. West and Ferrara are frothing at the bit the whole time, obviously. The only redeeming part of the whole segment was West saying “for the first time in my life I want to be Jeremy Borash”.

I haven’t mentioned the Dupps team yet, because they suck and I hate them. They lost in a nothing match to the Flying Elvises. This match was so insignificant that Mortimer Plumtree came to commentary to discuss the whodunnit of the America’s Most Wanted attack.

Jerry Lynn and AJ Styles have a backstage brawl, ending in Lynn hitting his Cradle Pildriver on his fellow champion, calling him a glory hound.

Next up is Ken Shamrock defending the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship - for the second time in as many weeks - against future Triple Crown Champion Takao Omori. Mike Tenay says that he cannot emphasize enough how big this match is in Japan. While the belt means something in Japan (it was even held by Shinya Hashimoto about eight months before this event), I don’t think a lot of Japanese people are paying the 9.99 to get this show. And I hope they didn’t, because it ends after only a few minutes with Jarrett killing everyone with a chair in a temper tantrum. 59-year-old Harley Race even took a chairshot to the noggin.

James Mitchell cuts a cute little promo in the back asking Goldilock to tell Jarrett he wants to speak to him. The gimmick is goofy, but the guy has charisma. Then Goldilock finds the vice president of the NWA hogtied just like Jim Miller last week, with “F U” written on his stomach. I guess this is a thing. 

Our main event is a six-way elimination match to determine the #1 contender for the X-Division Championship. We see the TNA debuts for Elix Skipper, Kid Romeo, Tony Mamaluke, and Christopher Daniels (sporting quite the goatee). Also in the match are Low Ki and Jerry Lynn in his second match. This match is great, especially when it comes down to Christopher Daniels and Low Ki. The latter picked up the #1 contender distinction with a fisherman buster, just before the Elvises stormed the ring and beat down the tired final two, apparently upset that they’ve been looked over in the division. Jerry Lynn was actually counted out first and is therefore the #6 contender. I do wonder how that’s gonna play out with Lynn having attacked Styles while they’re both tag champs.

There was one more brawl to end the show. Jarrett came out to demand a title shot again, before insulting some Tennessee Titans who were in the front row. They jumped the barrier to fight him and at the same time, the Disciples came out to do the same. It cut to black as Jarrett attempted to fend them off with a chair.

Well, that surely was an episode! A whole lot of brawls and even a couple good matches. I recommend watching the opening and main event, at least. Now that we’re past the first few shows, we’ll probably get a better picture of what an average show is. Hopefully, the new X-Division guys and the Flying Elvises making their statement means that we’re gonna see a lot of good matchups in the division. We’ll see in future posts! See ya!

#nwa #tna #impact wrestling #wrestling #aj styles

[63824peace]

Friday, 18th of november 2005

I made my way from home to the train station about a month ago, and I came across a crow's carcass. People had just begun talking about the Bird Flu then.

Birds are cowardly creatures, and they also have premonitory powers. If you ever see birds flying away from some place, consider the sight a tip that something will happen there.

I sometimes see a variety of animals on my way to the office... a frog made 2D by some vehicle, or a mantis with a crushed abdomen, or a rat hit by a car. I never see crows though. Birds are also sensitive animals, so they rarely allow anyone to find their carcasses.

If you see a bird's carcass, then you can bet it's a pretty bad situation.

I observed the body, but I couldn't see any external injuries. Had it died of some disease? I wondered if it had suffered a new type of virus. I felt scared.

I had encountered the carcass in a shoulder-breadth alley that I take as a shortcut to the station. Because of the thin space, I couldn't just step around it. I could only hold my breath and walk over it.

I worried about it later that day, so I took the same alley on my way home. Someone had removed the carcass.

What had that been all about? I've thought about it off and on for the whole month.

"All right--we need to take your temperature before you get your shot."

The nurse's voice snapped me back into the present moment.

"Please record your temperature on this pre-exam questionnaire."

The nurse indicated a blank space on the form with her pen. She roughly handed me a clinical thermometer and the questionnaire. "I'll call you when you're done," she said before disappearing into the hallway.

I put the thermometer under my armpit, and the glass chilled my skin. I felt somewhat reflective.

I looked at the sofa in front of me and noticed the woman sitting there. She looked like an office lady. Both of us wore idle expressions and pressed our arms against our bodies.

She must have noticed me too. She looked across the hallway that separated us, and our eyes met while we both hunched over to take our temperatures.

For some reason I felt awkward and uncomfortable.

We heard an electronic noise. "Pi! Pi! Pi!"

She looked at her thermometer, then recorded her temperature on the questionnaire. The nurse reappeared noiselessly, as though she had been watching everything.

"OK, please come this way."

The woman rose and allowed the nurse to lead her. I continued to take my temperature alone.

I stood in a curved hallway situated on the sixth floor of the Roppongi Hills Clinic. I wasn't sick, though; I had come for my flu inoculation.

You wouldn't have expected more than a few people there. Vaccinations cost about 5000 yen because insurance doesn't cover them, and I was there pretty early in the morning. Nonetheless, people crowded inside the clinic. I don't recall that it was nearly so crowded this time last year.

The current flu vaccine isn't a live sample -- they inject the virus dead into our bodies. While we have no guarantee that the vaccine will work, most illnesses are psychosomatic. The person's spirit decides his health.

Still, we don't lose anything by getting vaccinated. I decided to do this two years ago, back during the SARS hysteria. I've gotten vaccinated every year since.

"Pi! Pi! Pi!"

My armpit thermometer signaled its conclusion. I slowly removed and looked at it. The digital reading flashed 36.2ｰ Celsius.

Huh... that's a little high for me. I had a slight fever. I usually carry a temperature around the lower ranges of 35ｰ C, and sometimes it gets as low as 35ｰ C on the mark. Whenever my temperature exceeds 36ｰ C, I know that I'm a bit feverish. When it gets to 38ｰ C, then I become dizzy and can't stand. The Department of Internal Medicine takes my temperature before every consultation appointment, and I'm bound for a troublesome consultation when my temperature exceeds 36ｰ C.

The doctor will start to talk about symptoms and ask, "Do you have a fever?"

I'll usually say, "I have a slight fever. I'd like some antibiotics."

The doctor will usually respond, "From a strictly medical point of view, you don't have a fever unless you're over 37ｰ C."

I recorded my temperature on the questionnaire, and the nurse led me into the consultation room. She left and then returned the form after a doctor had checked it.

"It looks like there's no problem. The doctor has authorized the vaccination. Sign here please."

I signed the paper before I even had the chance to tell her about my slight fever.

"All right. Time for your shot." She injected the needle into my upper left arm. She proceeded methodically, as though she were following a manual. "No strenuous physical exertion today, no alcohol. You can bathe, but don't irritate your arm."

I considered mentioning the crow in the alley from a month ago, but I decided not to bother her since she's a nurse. Today I can neither swim nor have a drink... that saddens me.

The vaccine began to circulate throughout my body. An antibody will develop inside me within two weeks, according to my immune system's antigen-antibody reaction. Human bodies are built pretty tough. I heard that the antibody should last up to three or four months.

I suddenly recalled the final scene in War of the Worlds, when the aliens died from a cold virus. I guess that living with viruses isn't all bad.

OOOO Training and the release events for both MGA2 and Subsistence will keep us busy right through December. I have to get development into full swing on MGS4 and the new PSP project, as well as draw up next year's management plans. I've got to give some lectures outside the company, and there's also studying and training... I don't have time to lie bed-ridden with a cold. I also don't want to bring any outside germs home to my family.

I ate Sanshoku-don for lunch today at the restaurant Sakana Sushi(Ko-Sushi). I didn't have to wait in line today.

I passed by the smokers' booth on my way back from lunch. They have recently installed it along Roppongi Street. It's a smoking box put there for smokers, and its sides are all made of glass.

A sign atop the box read, "Smoker's Style." They removed the smoking section on the passage between the buildings over there, so perhaps they put in the box to makeup for it. I never see anyone smoking inside though... at least not during the day.

Is it supposed to look like a kind of futuristic attraction booth? I can also see it as a kind of street performer's stage. Do smokers feel awkward when they're seen from outside? I suppose that no one cares what he looks like after a few evening drinks, but they should have at least made the outside reflective.

I didn't see many people at the Cold Stone Creamery, so I stopped by with Kenichiro. I chose the most popular flavor, Strawberry Shortcake Serenade. I ordered mine in a cup today. The cone that I had last time gave the whole thing too much substance.

I've been there three times now. In order, I've had Our Strawberry Blonde, Berry Berry Berry Good, and Strawberry Shortcake Serenade. Each tasted delicious. They all share the same base flavor, so they all tasted pretty similar. I'll try something with chocolate next time.

I pulled up a seat at the front of the shop while I ate. The wind blew too coldly to sit outside.

I thought for a bit and realized that I hadn't heard Cold Stone's specialty clerk chorus since my first time there.

"What happened to the song?"

Kenichiro heard my plaint while he filled his mouth. He had lived in Hawaii until last year, so he's the Cold Stone Creamery specialist.

"When we leave tips in Hawaii, they show their gratitude by singing."

I see... but we don't often leave tips in Japan. I suppose they won't sing here then. The song should have been a service for the opening day alone.

I had almost thought my last on it, and then I heard the clerks' chorus ringing from within the shop. I leaned over to look inside, and I saw the clerks all singing their song.

"Now they sing. What do we need to do to make them sing?"

I hadn't seen what had prompted their song, but I suspected that it involved the contribution box sitting beside the cash register. Do they sing if we drop contributions into it? That's probably the case, though a contribution differs from a tip. Was it a tipping box, perhaps? I'll try that next time.

We made our final adjustments to the OtaClock this afternoon. It is complete at last.

We pronounce the OtaClock's name "OtaKurokku" -- but that doesn't mean it's a rock band (Rokku)! The name refers to Otacon's desktop clock that he invented for use on his personal computer. It's the same clock that had a cameo on Otacon's monitor during the TGS trailer for MGS4.

I'm sure that our well-versed MGS fans will recognize the icon. It's the same one that appeared during MGS2's Tanker Chapter, when Snake sent Otacon the digital photographs.

Omori revised the original Otacon sprite made by Nakkan, who was our pixel artist back then. Omori really exhibits Ota-damashii!

Our staff loves the OtaClock. The program features functions for time, alarm, calendar, and size adjustment.

All KojiPro staff members received it at the end of TGS. They've checked and debugged it until now by actually using it on their computers. It took a long time to finish because they gave a lot of feedback. They suggested ideas for improvement, along with other observations that came to them while they used it.

Soon we'll deliver the OtaClock to our audience. You'll always have Otacon around with this.

Look forward to it!

I had eagerly anticipated homecooking at the end of the week, so I called my wife to learn what she planned to cook. She told me the menu -- shellfish! She said that dinner would consist mostly of seafood!

"I can't eat that!"

So I ate Baikourou-men alone at the restaurant Yokaro. On my way there, I saw Murashu and Ryusako standing in line at the Cold Stone Creamery. I wonder what they ordered. The place was much more crowded than it had been at lunch.

I returned to the office and entered the glass room. I wrote and signed little notes to give as presents along with MGA2.

I'll present about fifty copies of MGA2 as gifts. I wrote about my latest news and well-being, and I also communicated my immense gratitude to so many people... those related directly with the game, and others in the gaming, film, and publishing industries.

I'll be pretty tired of these when Subsistence comes out. I'll have several hundreds to write then. Nonetheless, I enjoy these moments most of all. I want as many people as possible to enjoy our games.

I continued writing the notes with that thought in mind.

I relish my time to thank people when we complete a game, even though it only happens once every two or three years. Thankfully I don't need to tell them how good they've done developing the game -- the game itself will reveal that much.

Here's the extent of their debriefing: "I have created this game. Please enjoy playing it. Hideo Kojima."

I heard the AC!D team's applause in the evening. They had received the news that development had been completed. KojiPro celebrates these times simply, with champagne. We toast to our children's future in the studio, and afterwards everyone shares a few more drinks outside the office.

We'll hold our official celebration party later. We can share today's joy only with our colleagues. It may sound harsh, but we can't properly share these feelings with our families or lovers.

As I thought about this, I happened to look at the poster in my booth. My eyes settled on an illustrated crow -- one of MGA2's motif signatures. Then I remembered the alley crow and my vaccination.

We didn't have any champagne in the office, so the staff ran out to get some. I couldn't drink because of my morning inoculation. I whispered into Okamura's ear: "I can't drink tonight, so I'll slip out before anyone notices."

"But they're on their way to get champagne right now."

"If I start drinking, I won't be able to stop."

"Understood."

I took my bag, slipped out of the KojiPro offices, and in the elevator hall I happened to cross paths with the staff that had left for champagne.

When I got home, I only drank one glass of chu-hai.

Kanpai! Three cheers for the young staff and our children!

I dreamed of a crow in the early morning hours.

[neoraven]

NWA TNA Episodes 4+5

All about AJ

NWA TNA Episode 4 Live from Nashville, Tennessee's Municipal Auditorium

Mike Tenay welcomes us and sells us on all the title matches and contender matches. This is the fourth show, wrapping up two down in Huntsville, and two at a big-ish arena. I swear the Asylum Years are going to make it to the TNA Asylum some time. We open with the Tag Titles.

NWA Tag Title Match AJ Styles & Jerry Lynn [C] vs The New Church (Slash + Tempest) w/ Father James Mitchell

Double champion AJ Styles leads Jerry Lynn out to that godawful Born in the USA ripoff theme. The announcers go over Tempest's history as Devin Storm/Crowbar in WCW, also put over Slash's look while Jerry Lynn works hard in the ring. AJ gets in with some crazy offense, including a smooth kip up hurricanrana from flat on his back. The champs pull off some great double team offense to come back after the goth church boys hold control for a while. AJ barely kicks out of a sick Death Valley Driver by Tempest after the New Church cheats to take control again. Jerry Lynn runs wild after the hot tag, but AJ gets a blind tag and Spiral Tap off to seal the victory after a Lynn cradle piledriver.

***1/4  This was a great old school style tag match to get the titles over, and also thankfully start us down the road to Jerry Lynn vs AJ Styles. The Disciples still looked credible despite getting beaten and having all their cheating efforts thwarted.

Girls dance in cages while Mike Tenay puts over local National Wrestling Alliance action. He recaps the Brian Christopher drama from last week and threatens us with talking to Scott Hall on the phone. He mumbles over the phone about how he's getting his revenge on everyone for last week until Brian Christopher makes his entrance. Unfortunately, he has a microphone and is going to explain his actions. He leads a slow and lumbering promo up to "Screw Jerry Lawler!" Unfortunately for me, he kept going on for several minutes after I thought he was done. This is where he changes over to Brian Lawler.

Brian Lawler vs Norman Smiley

Norman Smiley's WCW Hardcore Title credentials are put over when Brian jumps him in the corner as the bell rings. Smiley takes control with a couple dropkicks and then hits a few of his signature spots. There's an immediate cut to a big guy in a hooters shirt in the crowd doing the Big Wiggle. Lawler takes control though as the fans chant "Jerry's Kid" , and wins after 5 minutes with a hip hop drop after tossing his goggles.

*  At least it wasn't a squash, and Norman looked more than okay. He calls out Hall after the match.

Goldylocks is following Jeff Jarrett who is attacking NWA officials backstage demanding his title shot. The suit suspends Jeff Jarrett, who grabs his crotch and hollers "suspend this!" Father James Mitchell yells at the New Church behind a closed door as the camera cuts out.

K-Krush vs Hermie Sadler

No rap to the ring, but we get some generous pyro. He makes friends talking about how he'd kick every NASCAR fan's ass at ringside. Eventually, this geek Sadler enters with a full pit crew entourage, including a checkered flag on a stick, a can of gasoline, and a stop sign (Raven nor Lodi sighted yet). The fighters push each other as the bell rings. The ref calls it after an extended beatdown and squash for 5 minutes.

*  Didn't make Krush look too bad, still mildly put over Hermie's effort and didn't bury the celeb.

Omori is in the back preparing for his match until Alicia comes by to get paid.

Hot Shots vs The Briscoes

Yeah, it's that Mark and Jay Briscoe. They are 18 years old.  The promising match is cut short after 2 minutes by Malice coming down and brutalizing everyone. 1/4* The New Church arrives to glower at ringside.

The Sinister Minister terrorizes everyone and threatens the timekeeper to bring Ken Shamrock out into an obvious ambush. Omori eventually comes out to save Shamrock from the bad guys to preserve his title shot later (??).

Goldylocks is backstage with The Dupps putting over their match against the Flying Elvises. Stan cuts a really disgusting promo while Bo molests their wife-sister in the background. I want to be dead. Bo takes over the mic and continues the promo about feces. ECW's Jasmine St Clair interrupts the Dupps' entrance. She talks about the TNA in TNA and gives Jeremy Borash a lap dance worthy of PPV. The crowd and commentary is extremely gross, duh. An NWA suit comes down with a suit jacket to cover up before it crosses from PG-13 to hard R. Ed Ferrara springs out of commentary to intercept him with an honestly great spear spot, but he still recovers to stop it from getting X-rated. Unfortunately, the Dupps are going to enter now.

The Dupps vs The Flying Elvises

No Jimmy Yang tonight. The Elvii jump the Dupps to start. Mortimer Plumtree joins commentary. Estrada gets the pin after a Perfect 10 finisher after 4 minutes. * Nothing great. We cut from the match quick backstage to a crazed brawl between tag team champs AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn. Lynn spikes a piledriver on a box and throws AJ's title belt onto his body.

NWA World Heavyweight Title Match Ken Shamrock [c] vs Takao Omori

The Japanese photographers at ringside are a somewhat cool touch. They trade wild strikes and Shamrock DDT's for a quick 1-count. Harley Race (RIP) is at ringside as a random NWA official. They go through some decent back and forth striking and rest holds. Omori misses a top rope knee drop and the champ pounces on it to take control. The fans start turning on the slower, plodding match. Shamrock pops a sudden Ankle Lock submission, and "suspended" Jeff Jarrett causes a chair DQ at 7 minutes.

* Not a great world title match at all. Omori showed a little fire though. Jarrett kabongs Harley Race and hits the wrestlers another couple times while threatening ringside.

Goldylocks tries to get a word from Jerry Lynn, but Father Mitchell interrupts her looking for Jeff Jarrett. She follows muffled screaming to find an NWA suit duct taped up and beaten and spraypainted. The NWA Title match wasn't the main event apparently.

X Division 6 Man Elimination Match Low Ki vs Elix Skipper vs Kid Romeo vs Tony Mamaluke vs Christopher Daniels vs Jerry Lynn

There are a lot of great moves that I'm not going to list in a row here. Everyone seems pretty great. It's going nearly 10 minutes without eliminations as they do a really great series of dives to the outside. Jerry Lynn eliminated for leaving the ring apron / a leg injury after Tony sent him flying from the top rope. Elix eliminates Tony in the ring quickly after with a Play of the Day. Last Rites by Daniels takes out Elix after a good long competitive portion. Daniels survives Kid Romeo's best shot by putting his foot on the ropes at about 17 minutes, and Low Ki takes out the celebrating Romeo to make it a 1 on 1 as the match gets just about to the 20 minutes mark. They trade some high impact turnbuckle moves and creative cradles for near falls. They trade finishers back and forth a couple times until Daniels powers out of Low-Ki's Dragon Clutch submission. Finally, Low Ki hits a great kick and flip to turn the Last Rites into the Ki-Krusher, and he wins it after 25 minutes or so.

Amazing match. ****1/2  Everyone looked great. Another cool version of the X Division 4 man earlier.

The Flying Elvises hit the ring and beat down the remaining competitors. Siaki gets a mic and says they are the X Division, shouldn't have been left out of the match, etc. In a nice spot, the eliminated X Division contenders come out to save Daniels and Low Ki from the beatdown. Jarrett gets the mic demanding his title shot and antagonizing the Tennessee Titans Offensive Line at ringside until a huge brawl breaks out. The New Church rushes and Jarrett takes a chair to everyone as the brawl spills into the crowd and Tenay says to see you next week.

A really good opening and closing. They're already hitting their familiar rhythm of every week having at least one storyline with a great match or segment. If you don't like the NWA Title stuff, there's a great X match. If you don't like the celebrity/upper mid card feud, there's two tag matches with good action. And next week they'll cycle through them again. Also next week - we finally make it to the TNA Asylum. Already tonight, I recognized two famous fans at ringside that I would grow to know and love. Chicken Hat and Braids. More on them later.

NWA TNA 5 From the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville Tennessee.

Goldylocks approaches Ken Shamrock in downtown Nashville. He bites off her head and tells everyone to back off, calling her a bitch(!!) for no reason. A video package sells top heel Jeff Jarrett as a hero fighting against the evil and inept authority. Also, I lied and am getting slightly annoyed - this is the third straight municipal auditorium show. Was the TNA Asylum a mirage?

We have a long, dumb brawl with Scott Hall and Jarrett backstage as announcers talk about their different matches against Lawler and Malice, respectively. The brawl goes wild and NWA officials break it up and say Jarrett has forfeited his number one contenders match vs Malice. The New Church makes a great entrance as Tenay is flustered. The lights go out while the Minister gloats over Malice's automatic win, and Sabu answers the open challenge. The bell rings, apparently?

NWA Title Number One Contender Ladder? Match Malice vs Sabu

It's not clear if this is a ladder match, but Sabu quickly makes it a chairs match. Malice uses his strength to take control back, and yes, it's still a ladder match. Sabu hits some extreme offense on Malice when the New Church tries to get a ladder in the ring. Malice busts Sabu's nose open throwing him on a ladder bridge, and there's also a table set up at ringside. Lots of slow plodding from spot to spot. Malice does a nice scoop slam holding Sabu and the ladder at the same time, though. Malice with a belly to belly on a corner ladder in a move that might be a shot at Ken Shamrock's finisher? Sabu plays the hits using the chairs and ladders as props, but keeps getting thrown off the ladder. However, at long last, Sabu launches Malice off the ladder and through the table at ringside to get the surprise victory at 14 minutes.

3/4*  There was some nice hardcore work in moments, but way too much slowness in between.

The Church takes apart the bloodied Sabu as he clutches the title contract. Finally, a chokeslam from the apron through a ringside table as the fans chant TNA. Backstage, Double J is getting thrown out of the Municipal Auditorium. AJ Styles comes down with a mic and steps over Sabu's dead body with a curious glance. Jerry Lynn comes out shortly after to talk shit back. Jerry mocks AJ for his three years of wrestling experience, heh. "AJ Styles, who the hell are you?" Jerry keeps talking down to the kid, and ends it with saying that he will respect him. AJ snaps and pele's the other half of the tag champions in the back of the head, then spikes a Styles Clash and leaves.

Goldylocks is backstage in front of the "Females" locker room. Oh no. Jasmine gets jumped by Francine before the interview can begin. Announcers hype Sabu vs Shamrock for the title while the girls dance in cages.

K-Krush comes out with a mic to get something off his chest. He's a big star and shouldn't be in the ring with NASCAR drivers, runs down the WWE for releasing him. He mentions being treated like a second-class citizen, says everyone is afraid of him. Mentions blowing the top off the mountain. He's not an angry black man, he's The Truth, and The Truth will not be denied. In a wild tonal shift, Norman Smiley enters.

K-Krush vs Norman Smiley

Or is it The Truth now? Either way, Truth attacks at  the bell in the corner. Smiley hits a few of his comedy moves in a row, until Truth takes control with his series of dodges and axe kicks. Truth wins with a release/sitout front suplex after 4 minutes. *  Just a bit above a full on squash match. Smiley gets whipped, choked, and hung with Truth's belt post match. Smiley's wife comes out to save him from asphyxiation.

Goldylocks is backstage looking for Puppet the Midget Killer, who is beating off in a trash can. Yup. She walks away from that scene to find the Dupps in a den of incest and meth. Relieved that we cut to the girls dancing in cages for more local NWA shows to scroll across the bottom.

The Flying Elvises vs Elix Skipper and Chris Daniels

I'm beginning to accept that Jimmy Yang might not be coming back. For the second straight week, Siaki teases a double fist bump with a fan only to burst out laughing. A XXX preview match.  The high flying to the outside starts immediately with three or four dives before the ref settles it down into a tag match. The Elvii isolate Elix Skipper and start working him over with a few impressive moves. Siaki goes to commentary and puts over Estrada's new haircut and mentions needing to get 3 things over- "Me, Me, and Me". He gets back to the corner to tag in and work Elix over some more.  Siaki goes back to commentary and puts himself over some more while Elix comes back with a buckshot lariat in the ring. Siaki can't stop the hot tag and the good guys running wild with a flurry of offense. Eventually, Elix has Estrada dead to rights with the play of the day, but the referee is distracted by Siaki and Daniels brawling at ringside. Siaki slips behind Elix when he argues with the ref and hits the Money Clip neckbreaker to win it in 11 minutes.

**3/4   Had some good moments and stretches, and I generally enjoyed the Siaki commentary stretches, but this was a little chaotic in a bad way. The Dupps beat down Estrada afterwards when Siaki bails on him.

K-Krush threatens Goldylocks during his interview, and Scott Hall attacks him as part of his revenge quest. Teo the midget is joining the girls dancing in cages.

Midget Showcase Match Puppet the Psycho Dwarf vs Meatball

The sloppy brawling makes its way to Meatball's shopping cart filled with not weapons, but delicious Kroger groceries. Things quickly get weird. Puppet takes it after 6 minutes of watermelon shots and chair splashes. *1/2

Jasmine St Claire vs Francine

Jasmine is out to call out Francine and finish what they started in the back. They trade hair pulls and clothing tears for maybe a minute until Blue Meanie DDTs Francine. No stars.

X Division Title Match AJ Styles [c] vs Low-Ki

They trade a lot of strikes to start, going back and forth with hard hits and counters. ROH is namedropped as a hot independent show that will showcase the X Champ. Low Ki dodges an Asai moonsault to the outside, then kicks a charging AJ Styles to take control. He hooks his Dragon Clutch finisher on the apron and in the ropes for a sick spot. AJ takes control with a few moves in a row, including a great brainbuster, but he misses the Spiral Tap completely. The Ki-Krusher gets reversed into a DDT, then AJ catches Low Ki's top rope splash with the Styles Clash after 12 minutes.

***3/4   Great defense by AJ, and Low Ki still looked good and didn't lose too much momentum after his win last week.

Jerry Lynn destroys the champ with a spear on the ramp and then takes the beatdown to the ring with a ladder in tow. He hits a few moves on and against the ladder until he leaves AJ folded in a heap.

Brian Lawler vs Scott Hall

The fans boo and chant "Jerry's Kid" ahead of our main event. We get some Jerry Lawler facts in a long and boring promo. At long last, Hall's music interrupts and distracts until Brian is snuck up on. There's another good couple minutes of promo with Scott Hall sneaking behind Lawler just out of his view. Finally Hall starts throwing hands and brawling through ringside and the announce table. Lawler gets a mic to berate the crowd in between slow brawling at half speed. Hall finally runs through his signature spots in the ring. K-Krush interrupts him hitting The Edge, but he gets dumped and Hall finishes off Lawler right afterwards with it at 9 minutes.

*  Mostly a dreadful and slow "main event" style match, but it was decent to see Hall get his revenge.

K-Krush/Truth returns to get more revenge with his belt, including another choking and hanging. Hall gets another stretcher trip until Jeff Jarrett interrupts in a lazy paramedic outfit with a steel chair and starts smacking everybody. TNA was doing the angle after and during the credits before it was cool.