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vvitchchild · 8 months

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After All That I Can Do For Them Is Done (Astarion/Tav)

"Being close to someone - any kind of intimacy - was something I performed to lure people back..."

Astarion's story hit me directly in the grey-ace feelings and so I created this, an examination of Astarion's feelings regarding sex, specifically sex with his favourite travelling companion, mostly because I wanted to see it. After all, sex must be a complicated thing after 200 years.

I melded two scenes for the ending and made the hug longer, because god knows that man deserves more of a hug than the game gave him.

Also on AO3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49515361

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Intimacy was a strange creature to Astarion.

Not an unknown one, by any stretch of the imagination, but a complex one to be sure.

That which most viewed as the pinnacle of physical intimacy, the act of sex, was ironically an old bedfellow now. 200 years he had spent at its side, seducing, bedding, enticing, and all in the service of his master. Cazador. He was the anglerfish and Astarion the light that served as a pretty lure, leading unsuspecting prey towards the teeth. And when Cazador tired of new blood, then Astarion the lure became Astarion the plaything instead, for his master to toy with as he saw fit. How Astarion felt about his role or what was being done to him never much mattered and thus the concept of sex, and by extension intimacy, were thoroughly tarnished. To the vampire spawn, they were one and the same. Intimacy was nothing but a tool, a weapon in his arsenal and it was hardly his fault they all fell for it. He was good at what he did, even as he hated himself for it.

Look, see how Astarion works, how easily they fall for him, how expertly he manipulates them. He is one of my finest creations, don’t you think?

The blasted tadpole should have offered new opportunities. He was away from Cazador, out in the sunlight, the closest thing to freedom he had tasted in over two centuries of pure shit. In spite of this, however, he would still need to rest, and, more importantly, would need help removing the damn parasite in his skull. He needed a companion. After years as Cazador’s pet he knew only one way to keep another close and, well, instincts were hard to break, particularly when they had been beaten into him so very thoroughly.

The one he chose should have been easy prey. Found among the wreckage of the Nautiloid, they seemed at first to be as lost as him, carrying the same parasite in their skull. However they quickly proved themself indispensable, particularly in a fight, and determined to a fault. It would be prudent then for him to get on their good side, the side that would see him protected from his enemies, that would see him freed of the tadpole, the side that meant they would want to keep him around. So he began his plan. A simple seduction should have done it, a bait and snare, if you will, but one where he played both parts. He would now be the light and the teeth, and they the innocent, beautiful prey caught in his trap.

And by the gods, were they beautiful.

He began with some casual flirtations, an innuendo laced comment here, a pointedly lingering look there. His seeds found fertile ground and began to take root, even though his diet of whatever animals he could get his hands on was putting him at less than his best. It was this very fact that proved just how successful he had been.

They had caught him over them one night, fangs bared, all pretensions of civility momentarily forgotten as he prepared to feed out of sheer desperation. There was initial fear of course, they weren’t completely stupid, but then they just…trusted him? They lay back, baring their neck to him, allowing him to take his first taste of a thinking creatures’ blood, to drink deeply from them and only pushing him away when they absolutely needed to. Did they know what a gift they had given? While part of him was repulsed by their blind trust of something like him, another, louder part marvelled. How well his plan must have been working for them to react that way already.

This is what I made you for, my pet, and how well you have worked, how many pretty creatures you have brought me.

After that night, he intensified his efforts, now sure of his approach. He could see the effect he was having in the way their eyes always seemed to land on him, how their smile curled crooked on bitten lips whenever they talked together. Most importantly though, he could hear it in how their heartbeat sped up each time he was near, leaving them practically glowing. It didn’t take long before he was finally taking them to bed and beneath his lips and tongue and fingers, they bloomed. Praise fell easily from their kiss bruised mouth, of how good he was for them, of how perfect he felt. Hands petted his hair, caressed his face, dug nails into his back as he moved through the motions of a well practised dance. The gentleness with which they touched him, handled him, should have unnerved him. But he was drunk on his plan having worked so well. This was what he had wanted, what he had worked for, coming to fruition and it was beautiful.

They were beautiful.

And if he found himself wanting to linger, wanting to make sure no harm came to them as it had to his previous conquests, that was neither here nor there. The irony of something like him wanting to protect them from harm was not lost on him. Besides the tadpole and the Illithids that had put it there, was he not the creature doing the most damage to them? Biting them, taking their blood, manipulating them? And yet they still carefully asked about the scars on his back, the poem carved into his flesh by his master, the story bringing out a rage in him that he quickly swallowed, coating it in distanced charm so he could hurry them away.

Stay still, Astarion, or do you want me to begin again? Poetry takes artistry and artistry takes time. You want to be good for me, don’t you? Then stay still.

They sought him out again after that, seeming eager for more of what he could give them, and it was so very easy to follow instinctual, learnt behaviour. Sex was what he was good at, after all, what he was good for. Besides, it was far from a hardship to take them to bed, to press inside them and watch as they took their pleasure from him before he followed them over the edge. He couldn’t exactly complain. Though, if he was honest with himself, his favourite part of the whole affair wasn’t the sex itself but the closeness, the warmth of their skin on his own, their fingers interlocked like an anchor, their scent lingering on his clothes. And as time went on, that became what he looked forward to. The chance to be close to someone who seemingly wanted nothing in return. They gave so freely of themselves, of their body, their blood, their time, their trust. Objectively, it was a stupid thing for them to do and by all accounts it should have disgusted him. Instead it sat warm in his chest, feeling for all the world like Karlach’s infernal engine. Sometimes he feared the glow might show through his skin and make the way he felt obvious to any who might look.

Gods below, that concept terrified him. Developing feelings had never been part of his plan because it had never happened before. Was it simply that his conquests were never his long enough for that, always whisked away by Cazador before he could get attached? Or was it that this one was different, that they treated him with a kindness that felt so undeserved, that they had said they would protect him and had gone on to prove it? Sometimes they came to him in the evening to simply sit with him and talk, leaning against his side and lightly tracing their fingertips over the veins on his hand. At a loss of what they wanted from him, he would slide a finger under their chin, pressing lingering kisses to their lips, their jaw, their neck, pull them closer, slide a hand up their thigh. Anything to try and get them to stick to the script, to let him take them to bed, and while sometimes it worked, often they would gently but firmly remove his hands or his lips from wherever they had found themselves and tell him they just wanted to spend time with him. Like that was a normal thing and he should know what to do with that.

What was he supposed to do when they didn’t want sex?

Who was he supposed to be?

Of course he had his sparkling wit, that was a given, but the idea of someone wanting him just for his company, no sex involved, seemed so very foreign as to be impossible. Had they not seen the truth of him? Were they purposefully ignoring it for the sake of familiarity? People like him, creatures like him, did not get kindness and certainly not for free. It made him wonder what it could have been like, what they could have been had he remained just an elf in Baldur’s Gate. A person, not a monster, no greater crimes to his name than taking a few bribes, no literal blood on his hands, no parasites in their skulls. But much like his face, it was something now far beyond his grasp. Another thing stolen from him by Cazador he supposed. Gods, for all his talk of freedom, had anything truly changed? Was he not still doing what he had been made for, what he had done so many times before? Putting on a performance of intimacy that was nothing more than a means to an end.

Oh how precious! He actually believes you care. You’ve truly excelled yourself, pet. Now away, they are not for you. Besides, there are more for you to bring to me.

It came to a head as the party made their way into the Underdark. He was already on edge as the sky disappeared and they began the journey down. It was too reminiscent of the catacombs of Cazador’s castle, the cool, damp darkness felt so oppressive as to almost physically choke him and weigh him down. It had made him irritable, his temper short, but he had done his best to keep it under control round his…companion? Lover? He no longer knew how to refer to them, but he knew exploding in anger would certainly ruin things between them, surely then they would see the mistake they had made in trusting him. They would find information here, he just needed to get through this and it would be okay. He would be okay.

And then they’d found the alchemist. Araj Oblodra. A drow whose blood was so corrupted he could smell it before they were even near her. She had asked him to bite her, he had rather firmly turned her down, and then she had turned to his companion, talking about him as though he were their property, begging them to force him. And they had backed him, reaffirming the ‘no’ he had given her in the first place, being so nice that it set his pointed teeth on edge. The moment they were away from the alchemist, he snapped at them, growling like some infernal beast that he didn’t need their pity nor their help, that he was a perfectly capable vampire spawn, thank you very much. His tone was harsh, his words bitten out, far too much anger laced into them. The moment his companion’s face crumpled, though he could tell they tried to hide it, self-loathing bloomed, spreading like a blood stain and leaving him cold as all the rage he had felt earlier was directed at its true target. Himself.

They barely spoke for the rest of the day, leaving him realising just how much he longed for the sound of their voice, how it was like music to his ears that easily kept away his darker thoughts. Without it, they all but consumed him, leaving him adrift.

Now now, pet, don’t scowl, you’re ruining a perfectly beautiful thing. And you want to be my beautiful thing, don’t you? No? Then I will have to change your mind, won’t I?

He needed to fix this, immediately. Get them back into bed, so he could show them how indispensable he was, how good he could be if only they would keep him around. He couldn’t risk losing them, not now. The thought alone made his dead heart ache in his chest, the idea of being without them truly and utterly agonising. No one had ever cared for him the way they did, spared a kind word for him before them. They saw him as a person, an individual with his own thoughts and wants, not a mindless tool to be used for their own ends, not the awful monster he so often felt he was. He wanted so desperately to cling to them with both hands, not wanting to imagine them leaving him behind, finding comfort in the embrace of one of the others.

Perhaps if they knew the truth? They had been understanding thus far had they not? If he could just explain, prostrate himself before them that they might forgive him, that they might understand. He owed them the truth, after all they had done for him. He only prayed to any deity that might finally look favourably on him that they would not cast him out.

“Do you have a moment? I think we need to talk.”

They’d made camp that evening, or what he could only assume was evening, and he’d made his way over to them once the others were occupied with their own business. The last he needed was an audience for what could easily be his undoing. His words came out carefully, tone jovial enough to not warrant suspicion. Clearly his performance skills were beginning to flag as they immediately asked if he was alright. Of course they did, so concerned with his well-being when he could see the bruises that blossomed under their skin, the dark circles around their eyes. How selfish could he possibly be?

“Oh yes, I’m fine. I just…feel awful…” He took a moment in an attempt to steady himself, like a deep breath before a dive, and then it all came out like vomit. How he had used his body for two hundred years, what he had been for Cazador, how he could have just relied on old habits and bitten that vile drow woman,the truth of his plan regarding his seduction of them so they would stay with him, and then how that had rather spectacularly fallen apart when he realised he had developed feelings for them. All the while, they stood there, silent as they listened, letting him get everything out like the damned saint they were.

“You’re-… you’re incredible. You deserve something real. I want us to be something real.”

There it was. Out in the open for them to take or leave. He felt positively flayed before them, his vulnerability fully exposed. What an utter fool he was. He could feel himself bracing for punishment, for the razor sharp lick of a whip, the deep carving ache of a blade.

“So the nights we spent together didn’t mean anything?”

Their words were worse than any of Cazador’s harsh weapons, spoken cautiously so their voice didn’t waver but he didn’t need the tadpole to feel the hurt coming from them in waves. Gods, he had done that to them.

“Of course they did!” He needed to reassure them, fix what he had done, anything to get that glassy look from their eyes. He would have dropped to his knees right there in camp if they’d asked. “That’s the problem or, at least, part of it.” Taking a slow breath, he took a step closer to them. They deserved an explanation, he needed them to understand that his problems, his shortcomings, were not their doing. “Being close to someone - any kind of intimacy - was something I performed to lure people back for him. Even though I know things between us are different, being with someone still feels… tainted. Still brings up those feelings of disgust and loathing. I don’t know how else to be with someone. No matter how much I’d like to.”

Please, he silently begged them, please don’t turn me away. You’ve made my dead heart beat in ways I didn’t think it could anymore. I need you to tell me I am worthy of care even if I never want to be intimate with you again, that I’m not simply a body to be used, a means to an end. Please.

“I care about you.” They met his gaze, something seemingly renewed in them as they spoke. “Very deeply.”

“Really?” He couldn’t help but steel himself for the other boot, the one that would see him punished, cast aside. After all he had told them, they couldn’t still-

They were holding him, their body so very warm against his own, their arms wrapped around his waist but not tightly enough to feel constricting. Their wonderful, familiar scent filled his senses, their musk, the smoke of the fire, the lingering earthy scent from the moss they’d fallen into earlier, and underneath all the rich smell of their blood. The first olive branch they had offered him. All instincts he knew told him to slide a hand into their hair, guide their mouth to his own, press his body close against theirs, slide a hand between their legs. But no, they were his teacher now and so he followed their lead, wrapping his arms carefully around them, wary of any battle injuries that Shadowheart had not yet seen to. Nuzzling his nose into the crook of their neck, he breathed deep, resisting the urge to kiss and bite.

He could be better, he would be better.

“Honestly, I have no idea what we’re doing,” he murmured, his words meant only for the two of them, “or what comes next. But I know that this?” He gave their waist a light squeeze for emphasis, “this is nice.”

Truth be told, he was terrified. This was so far from anything he knew and it left him feeling as though he were in freefall. Cazador had created him to be used. Consumed. And for all those long, terrible years he’d been unable to see himself as anything but what he’d been made for.

Yet here they were, their warm hand in his, seeing him with no judgement, offering him a different path, one where he could be more, where he could be better than what his master had intended. A person who could be loved, cherished, whose life was their own to do with as he wished. And didn’t he deserve that? Didn’t he deserve to be free?

There was still much work to be done, binds to break, mindflayer tadpoles to remove, vampiric masters to horribly murder, but it all felt just that bit more possible with their hand holding his.

Intimacy was a strange creature to Astarion.

Not an unknown one, to be clear, but one that he was only just beginning to learn the full extent of. One that encompassed far more than he could have ever imagined, that had previously been shrouded and held far beyond his reach.

But now? Now he had the chance to be known.

To love.

To be loved.

All of it without the expectation of sex, and what a strange feeling that was. It would take time to adjust, to be sure, two hundred years of instinct was not something one simply shook off over night. But through them he was able to see that he was worth the effort it would take, worth the time.

He had served Cazador for two wretched centuries with his blood and body and mind, his own fight deserved nothing less than the same.

#astarion #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate astarion #astarion ancunin #astarion fic #astarion x tav

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ms-scarletwings · 5 months

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Every Dredge Aberration (2023), Bonus I

The infamous, nocturnal prowler of The Marrows. A monster resembling the luring fish of the depths, now lurking shallow waves in search of mightier prey. To most, the Night Angler will prove the first real threat faced along their journey. Her appetite punishes the folly of those who do not heed the early warnings of the mayor… at least, those who do so without the proper precautions. If her imposing mass or her ferocity was not enough clue to her otherworldly nature, one cannot deny her supernatural guise. From afar, the beast casts the ominous mirage of a lone fishing ship. If sounded at with a horn, her song echoes the call to add to the illusion; however, once she has spotted her target, she charges in single-minded aggression. As the false vessel emerges from the fog, its silhouette gives way to 8 eyes cast in the glow of the dangling light. What follows is a snap of teeth and splinters, and to the fortunate, a panicked rush back to port before she can return. This is the predator which quickly becomes familiar to the fisherman from early on in the story, but there is more to her than what can be seen just above the water.

An Abyssal Outcast

Following the pattern that all of the unnatural wonders of the sea were born from the corruption of the Deep, it can be readily imagined how the same madness twisted a once simple fish into this cunning nightmare. Nonetheless, the Night Angler’s exact origins are not so easy to conclude.

The anglerfish, which she shares the most of her looks with, would be nothing short of out of place in that bay. Typically, they are lethargic hunters, they call the eternal blackness of the ocean’s midnight zone their territory, and they are seldom spotted in range of the Marrows, even though they are frequently spotted in the Stellar Basin. While it is certainly possible that… “other forces” deterred the Night Angler away from the depths, one also cannot dismiss the possibility that the monster had actually belonged where it prowls all along. Native black groupers are harvested plentifully along the shallow coastlines of Little and Greater Marrow. They too only emerge under the cover of night, and grouper fish can be highly aggressive when protecting their home and in pursuing their prey. They are even known to produce “booming” vocalizations of their own as a threat display.

Either candidate could be a most likely answer to the Night Angler’s true identity, still ultimately left to others’ speculation.

Siren of the Night

Whatever the creature’s past, the present finds a menace to all nocturnal seafarers in the Night Angler. After the brine is obscured by the mysterious fog of this sea, she patrols her territory for interlopers, occasionally sounding off the distorted blare of a fishing ship. If called to with one’s onboard horn, the night angler will actually respond in turn as she begins her pursuit- similar to a twisted game of Marco-Polo. For her size, she moves with a frightening speed and does not give up a chase easily. The standard fishing boat, with no additional improvements, and rotten luck, stands no chance of surviving multiple engagements with her on the open waters. Indeed, this false ship may very well be the cause behind the previous Marrow fisherman’s disappearance.

Additionally, her mimicry ability seems to be tied with the fog itself. Whether the great fish can actually command its power or simply benefits from the miasma’s effect on humans, her true form is revealed by the light.

While she shuns the radiance of civilization, she is drawn to shiplights. It is no wonder she prefers the dark when it makes light itself such a powerful tool to hunt by.

Tactics

For all her eerie tricks and reputation, the Night Angler is thankfully well-countered with a little foresight and caution. She mainly exists to feast on the callow who would fall for the ship-in-the- distance ruse, and this disguise actually puts her at a disadvantage against the more wary. Her light juts out against the darkness at a great distance, and her patrol route is actually easily avoidable. She tends to keep to the south end of the Marrows undisturbed, and will only give pursuit if she detects a boat by sight or sound. Obviously, use of the foghorn during the night in this area is to be avoided unless one, for whatever reason, wants to draw the creature’s attention. Keeping the lights off can drastically reduce her detection range, at the trade off for the fisherman’s own peace of mind. The Night Angler rises from the depths at around 8:30pm each night, and retreats back between the times of 3:30am and 4am. In a chase, she can be outmaneuvered by a powerful enough engine set up, and will not follow a ship into the safety of the dock lights. Failing all else, the words of banishment can send the Night Angler into retreat, at least for time enough to find refuge.

*Note- Oftentimes, when nerves are running thin on the open waters, or around other regions, some may have spotted what appears to be the night angler’s illusion, to great concern. If one is not in range of her territory, rest can be assured. This vessel is also a lie told by the fog, but it is a harmless one that will dissipate on approach. Curiously, it will mimic a foghorn sequence blown to it as well, but it serves no further purpose than a mildly spooky encounter. You will never find The Night Angler far beyond the range of Blackstone Isle. After all, the other 5 areas already have their own monsters.

#dredge game #dredge #the night angler #dredge night angler #dredge theory #dredge headcanon #dredge enemies #scarlet talks about things

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isaac-roc · 7 months

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(Keep in mind that I am not done with the dlc yet, these are just my thoughts as someone who knows what I need to do, but not the exact reasons why.)

When you think about it... your quest in eote - at least at first - is hilarious, makes no sense, and as frustrating as they are, those birds are 100% justified in kicking you out. (as far as I know, until I find out that they're dangerous, but so far they seem to be minding their business)

You waltz in this hidden ship that does not want to be found. You poke your way around uninvited, you spy on other people's secrets for no other purpose than your own curiosity, you disrespect a bunch of corpses by roasting marshmallows on what looks like a funeral pyre (what is wrong with you?), and if that wasn't enough, you even invade the sanctity of their dreams. And that's just you fucking around for fun, because then you start to pick up some real secrets, and you figure out that there's something very important locked away in a vault. These aliens took great measures to lock it up and put it away. And what do you do? You just decide to open the vault. Why?? Why would you do that? You have no idea what's inside, for all you know it's a piece of the interloper, a dangerous pathogen, a talking anglerfish, a bramble seed; basically, you have no reason (at least I haven't, so far) to assume that what's inside that thing is harmless. And the Stranger, and its inhabitants, don't seem to pose any threat to you or your solar system (again, as far as I know. if I'm wrong don't tell me please!).

Maybe I just haven't found the one reel or mural that reveals that the Stranger is super dangerous and only opening that vault will save everyone (as 'saved' as one can be in this game), but that's just how I've progressed, and I think that most people have probably progressed similarly.

Long story short, you want to open that vault as soon as you see it. And you will stop at nothing to do it. For NO VALID REASON. The aliens whose house you're breaking in do not want this thing out and you don't even care why, you're just like 'oh, a challenge!' and you do whatever you want, despite the warnings. Imagine if the interloper had a big DON'T DEAD OPEN INSIDE warning sign carved on its surface and Poke, Pye and Clary had pulled out some dynamite to open it up. Fucking hilarious.

#*breaking into a stranger's house* is this my new playground?#outer wilds #outer wilds spoilers #eote #eote spoilers #echoes of the eye spoilers

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sakiyaki-sashimi · 7 months

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Get to know you questions!! Tag whoever you like :D

Writing my answers in orange!

1) top 5 or top 10 favorite animals (depending on how many animals you like)

Hermit Crabs, Pigeons, Otters, Anglerfish, Shrimp, Cats, Manned Wolves, Salamander, Sheep, Axolotls :D

2) top 3 Minecraft mobs

Mooshroom, chicken, and parrot!!!

3) favorite vocaloid song or My Singing Monsters island theme and why! (If you don’t like/know Vocaloid/MSM, just name a song or genre you like and why :D)

Fav Vocaloid song is Brain Explosion girl recently, and fav MSM theme HAS to be cold island. Or maybe earth???? Hm

4) favorite and least favorite textures, no why needed :333

Fav is squishy soft things, least favorite is ice in a freezer

5) not your favorite color, but your favorite color palette (bonus points if you have a pic of the specific palette or a photo/artwork of the pallet you like!!)

Purple, Green, Orange, Pink, and Black! Total Halloween vibes!!

6) fav book you had to read for school (fiction or non fiction work lol, and if you don’t like/have any then just name a book or fanfic you like!)

Of Mice and Men was surprisingly amazing! Thought I’d hate it tbh

7) how do you think of the months of the year in your head? Left to right, top to bottom, in specific numbered rows and columns? Tell me :D

I think of it like this:

January, February, March, April

May, June, July, August

September, October, November, December

8) assigned harry potter/ilvermorny house or Percy Jackson cabin or Warrior cats clan something like that lol (if you don’t have anything like that, star sign works too!)

I’ll do em all lol: Slytherin/Hufflepuff, Pukwudgie, Dionysus’s, RiverClan, I’m an Aries sun/gemini rising/pisces moon :D

9) MBTI???? Love those things :33 (If you haven’t taken the test yet or u just don’t wanna cuz it’s too long, are you a solider poet or king?)

I’m an ENFP-T! I thought I’d get king but I got poet lol

10) something “cringe” you actually rly like, no shame here :D

Gacha Life/Club, the styles just so cutesy! Ohhh also K-Pop, I’m a TOTAL stay :33 and DSMP, it’s just rly cool to me

11) characters from shows/movies/games you kin/stan/just adore!! NOT ACCEPTING IRL PPL PLZ AND THANK U :D (unless it’s urself, we like self love in these parts)

For me I currently kin Dazai, Edward Elric, c!TommyInnit, and I completely STAN any Project Sekai character. I mean any of them.

12) 5 people you’d wanna be at a party with and why! (Can be alive or dead, real or fake, celebrities or randos, humans or otherwise :D)

My grandpa to see him again, Roy mustang to see if he’s a bastard irl, Hachi/Kenshi Yonezu just to see how he’s doing, Kanye West to just ask him why, and BeastChild (the YouTuber) just cause I really like his stuff and would wanna meet him!

13) favorite hobby/fandom specific term and its meaning :333

I’m a writer (well, aspiring anyway, I’m not rly that good) and I love the idea of the sexy lamp. Basically if you’re writing a female character that could be replaced with a sexy lampshade and nothing about the story changes then you’re writing a BAD FEMALE CHARACTER XD

Cause it’s spooky season il leave it at 13 ;)

Happy answering!!!

No pressure tags :3 @touratoura @theancientwonder @kneecoal-mooma @citrushomie @skytheamazing @mitski-slope @a-trench-coat-of-confused-worms @dicklesswonder-blog @vicaridoo

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greetings-inferiors · 4 months

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I finished outer wilds and by god what a fantastic game

But the thing about it is how do you finish a game like outer wilds?

Spoilers obviously

I liked the ending. It was great! It made me feel things! All the travellers playing their instruments and solanum joining in made me tear up.

But no ending could possibly live up to how phenomenal the game is.

And I love that!

Outer wilds has a very strong theme of “the end is coming, there’s nothing you can do, but it’s okay. And everything will be okay.” And the ending does that with showing the next universe.

But what the game and ending also do spectacularly well is show that it’s the journey that matters. Playing through the game, seeing the pillar of sand rise up from ash twin, flying through the cyclones in giant’s deep, witnessing brittle hollow collapse into itself, and venturing into the depths of dark bramble, all while learning the story of the nomai and figuring out how all the puzzles WORK, it’s an unparalleled feeling.

I figured out how to warp to the ash twin project myself. I remembered that to warp you have to be looking up within 5 degrees of the centre of a celestial body, and I also remembered that the hour glass twins counted as one celestial body, so where else would the warp on ash twin go? It must go to the centre. But then how would you be looking up as the pillar of sand goes overhead? Well because there’s a 5 degree window, you can stand under shelter then rush to the warp point before the pillar has time to lift you up. I worked it out on my own and it was the most thrilling feeling. I then took the warp core all the way to dark bramble, snuck past the anglerfish, went to the eye of the universe, and beat the game. And it was great. But at no point did I feel as good as when I solved the puzzle of getting to the warp core. Or as good as any other puzzle I solved, or moment when I realised the genius of the mechanics of a particular world. But that’s okay. The universe ended, and me reaching the eye of the universe changed nothing. But the whole reason I got there was to just see it. To experience it, because someone has to. The ending wasn’t anything special in comparison to the rest of the game because it wasn’t special. The universe ended and was born again, just as it had before and just as it will at some point later, inevitably. But I had experienced it, along with the whole journey leading up to it, and that’s what made it special. The game ending when it happened is just an arbitrary point. Just like life, it itself wasn’t special, it was the fact that someone was there to experience it and to enjoy it that was special. Someday i’m going to die and I won’t come back. There isn’t a time loop or save point for me to return to. And maybe it’ll be so quick that I don’t even notice i’m gone. One second i’m fully conscious and the next I don’t exist anymore. But that’s okay. That’s good actually. I experienced it, and it was way more mundane than watching the eye of the universe blink into the next one, but it was just as unique, just as special, and just as worth experiencing.

Outer wilds is a truly phenomenal experience, and I can’t wait to experience the dlc.

#my tumblr glitched and I had to type this whole thing without a keyboard btw #if you even care #(I’m on mobile btw)#outer wilds #text post #randyposting #long post

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rondoel · 1 year

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Actually some more thoughts about base game while we’re at it, my personal favourite moment

Literally, shotout to the bestest most climatic and atmosphere heavy sequence which for me was going into Dark Bramble after getting escape pods’ frequency, with intention of finding Feldspar/source of the harmonica I then still wasn’t sure the meaning of or what would I even find there.

The switching between spooky unsettling escape pod signal and the familiar homely harmonica was just so climatic - I remember my heart literally hammering in my chest because I had no idea what I would find there but I knew it’s gonna be something important.

Back then I still thought Bramble would be the piece connecting everything, that the plot and the eventual resolution of the story would be all tied to it, so it also intensified all my feelings when going there.

So then finding the escape pod, learning about the signal disruption properties of Dark Bramble and finally realizing how do I actually ‘get inside’ its seed which I’ve spent so much time in previous loops just scouting in, trying to find the solution of seemingly an impossible task.

And then actually approaching the anglerfish skeleton I’ve seen so much before on my scout - not understanding yet what I’m looking at and what meaning does it hold - and then just seeing the familiar smoke of the campfire - all while tracking the signal of harmonica, confirming that this is what I’m approaching.

And then the moment I get to finally identify it as Feldspar and actually talk to them, all the tension leaving me with that feeling of accomplishment of solving one mystery that accompanied me for so long in my travels.

Nothing will beat that whole sequence for me. It was so climatic, combining all the feelings I had towards space and universe in this game.

Just that combination of immersing yourself deeper and deeper into the unknown - no intention of going back - following that mysterious yet familiar sound that was calling to you since the beginning.

#outer wilds #spoilers #me trying to describe my feelings

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c0d33 · 4 months

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My thoughts on SOMA

Last night, I finished my first ever playthrough of SOMA, and I just needed to put down my thoughts somewhere in a coherent manner

I got this game because of a recommendation from a friend, and I'm very glad I did! This was the first ever horror game I played through in full, and it's honestly gonna be hard to top this I think.

Warning for story spoilers! Don't read if you have interest in playing this game (Which I do recommend)

Story

To start off, the story. I found the story to be super interesting! Between everything that happened at Pathos-II and the story of Simon, it really drew me in. I find the thought of unknowingly being a copy of someone's own brain to be honestly terrifying, and I really felt bad for Simon throughout the game.

Although the story surrounding Pathos-II was a bit murky for me (Probably my own fault, I tend to not be great at picking up minute story details in games), researching it further was a lot of fun! I wish the WAU was more of a character than a sort of background villain, but I still love its inclusion and everything surrounding it was executed very well.

The ending was honestly really sad for me, with both versions of Simon having their own bad ending in one way or another. One is stuck all alone at the bottom of the ocean,

Environment

I absolutely loved the environment. The whole place feels very alien even without structure gel leaking out of every crevice, and really makes me feel like I'm a fish out of water. Everything felt very unique for basically being a bunch of similarly constructed underwater bases, and each section has its own thing going for it! The heavy machinery of Upsilon, the office spaces of Theta, the laboratories of Omicron, everything felt like its own unique space.

I especially liked the underwater sections, which provided a surprising amount of variety for what are essentially the same place. Highlights for me were the MS Curie, the hike to Phi with the Leviathan, and the anglerfish part of heading to Tau.

Gameplay

I really liked the gameplay! Of course the parts where you're facing off against the monsters are great (Special mention to the lower levels of Theta against Akers, which had the tensest moment of my playthrough for me where I barely managed to lock down the security room after Akers opened the door), but I think even the exploration segments where nothing is hunting you were really good. There were some really fun puzzles to solve, and although I needed help with a handful of them, I enjoyed all of them!

I really enjoyed all of the monsters having their own unique counterplay around them, which really helped each section feel unique. Some of the best moments of my playthrough came from me slowly figuring out each monster's pattern and weaknesses, which may have led to me being very slow in some parts, but it was very fun!

Final Thoughts

Overall, SOMA is a fantastic game! I really appreciate it not being full of jumpscares like most other horror games, and instead choosing to base its horror around the atmosphere and the knowledge that you're being hunted by something. The story was great and ended up being way more philosophical than I was ready for (/pos).

Highly recommended!

#soma #soma spoilers #for my first horror game it was really fun! maybe i'll try more in the future

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comeonblub · 1 year

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i do this thing where i write notes about my knowledge of a new media before starting it, my experience during it, and then my perspective after (if i finish)

separately, ive also been losing my mind about Outer Wilds for well over a week now. ive decided i want to share it

(if you notice that it's been years since ive posted on here no you didn't)

also if you haven't played the game, i recommended you do not read this and instead go download Outer Wilds

spoilers below

NOTES: Outer Wilds / before playing

- has that one song with annoying whistling that i always skip when it shows up on Spotify

- that one person i follow on Tumblr absolutely loves it it's like their favourite game

- seems like it might be emotional or something?

- uhhhh space aliens? i think??

NOTES: Outer Wilds / start playing

- omg the controls SUCk

- oh IM the alien

- lag lag lag and very not keyboard friendly (yes im playing with a keyboard no i don't have a controller)

- ...

- okay keybind + graphics adjustments, and ive made it ever so slightly better

- i do not want to talk to you

- I DO NoT know what i am supposed to be doing what what what

- maybe i shouldve talked to people

- uhhhhh did I do that?

- the world explodes and dies. why. bc of me?

- UHHh

- oh hey the game references the fact i died lol

- okay Doing this again i guess and won't repeat the thing that killed me i think

- don't fucking TouCH that thing it explodes worlds

- okay okay im getting good info i think def don't want to die this time unless i can save

- do i save at that one statue? let's try

- WAIT FUCK FUCK The World's exploding again WHY

- BUHHHH

- "you're lucky im in a timeloop because otherwise I'd be super dead" – LMAO OKAY I MAY BE WON OVER

- okay so the explosions are independent of me. im going back to that thing and fucking around w/ it

- ...

- 15 Hours Into Game

- brittle hollow and i are besties now

- the lore is intricate ain't it. at times i feel like i understand everything. at others im completely lost. if there's a strategy here i don't know it. im just compelled to explore

- the Southern Observatory kinda went off tho with that visual and music combo

- the Fucking Moon

- i got stuck in anglerfish overlook w/ rising sand and just had to wait to die by being scrunched on the ceiling. absolutely worst way to go was awful and i hated it

- 22 min......

- reading explanations that completely recontexutalizes things i'd took for granted or previously ignored is a trip and a half

- my worldview gets shattered every other loop, millions dead but don't worry death means nothing

- like "the sun station",.. oh. "22 min interval"... OH

- i don't know what else to do here

- giants deep whomst ive ignored

- THERES ANOTHER PERSON WHO STUCK IN THIS TIMELOOP WITH ME?

- !!!

- gabbro my beloved

- hhhngg these puzzles.. am i missing something. should i know it now. will i learn it later. the stupid watery core and electricity...

- ...

- 25 Hours Into Game

- i know this galaxy

- i know it intimately

- but there are some places that are just so stupidly challenging to get to. i get there once. i never want to have to do it again. (giants deep core– once. sun station– once. coleus' lakebed quantum cave– twice. centre of the interloper– twice. the vessel– once. high energy lab– twice.)

- ...

- quantum moon whoag

- uh hm what

- YOURE ALIVE

- solanum i love u

- "think of you as a friend" PLS CAN I HUG

- ...

- 30+ HOURS INTO GAME

- i figured out the ash twin core

- i chickened out of taking the thing to do other things instead. achievement hunting.

- it's simply much too scary. no fallback. what happens if no core, no loop

- oh

- .. oh

- fucking hell i didn't realize how much id become dependent on the safety net of a timeloop. of like, functional immortality

- the fear of the unknown. of something new. of actual death

- ...

- well then

- FINISHING MAIN GAME

- i took the core. i left the ash twin project.

- music immediately begins kicking up into something new and emotional and anticipatory

- I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS MORE TO DO

- i panic and warp back to ask twin project. return the core to the machine

- what a wuss. but i feel better

- think think think think

- where Have I Seen that before. the core

- okay i have an idea of what to do but. fear

- I PRACTICE. Practice! i do 3+ runs to test getting past those Fucking FISH

- AND THEN DO IT FOR REAL

- screaming and crying

- BUT I SUCCEED

- whhhjhb whoaggh

- eye...

- HhhHhh quantummmm

- what

- a guy

- what

- ... euuuu cry mine friendsss

- ayy the fucking hell im emotional

- goddamn. What A Game. that music. holy shit

- ...

NOTES: Outer Wilds / post playing

- even as i did the ending there was still a small part of me that thought... i can save them

- ... (there will be a way to save them)

- there wasn't of course. and it hurt. but... not in a completely bad way

- it's like. the small flickering hope i felt at the end of all things, it still meant something. it still got me TO the end

- i know it was just a game but. it makes me think

- ...

- BONUS Saga of me accomplishing achievements: the fact that i later was able to break reality and also talk to myself in game was fun and cool and sexy

- i WILL be playing DLC but i need to recover

#outer wilds #outer wilds spoilers #long post #live reaction (kind of partially)#back from the dead bc i needed to empty my brain #i actually have played echoes of the eye too bu this point #maybe will share those notes too if ppl like

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teleportationmagic · 2 years

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So much about Outer Wilds is just... so tricky. So punishing. Which makes Brittle Hallow so surprising to me because it’s... not?

Like, if you heard a description of it, it would sound like the riskiest planet by far. It has a black hole in the centre. It has a black hole! I remember the first time I looked down and saw it my heart jumped out of my chest because it was one of the first times you just look at something that actually can warp spacetime like that, aside from your little scout, but that’s a blip compared to this. It warps your hud, even, markers distorted when you see it through that spot of gravity.

I knew nothing about the Black Holes here, even if I might learn, eventually, but on the first few trips to Brittle Hallow, you are going to trip and find yourself falling towards the black blot on the planet. Like, Rieback ain’t a coward for being cautious, he’s just not being stupid.

I fell into the sun on my first try.

I remember orbiting it frantically my first go around, trying to catch myself on the blue beam that distorts into nothing before running out of fuel. The void yawned open underneath me. It coughed me up on the other side of the sun. I suffocated to death 22km away from my ship.

The second time I fell in, I didn’t even try to fight it. When I blinked back into reality, I drifted through space for a little bit, completely unmoored.

Then I spotted the ruined remains of a spaceship and drifted closer and closer. My fuel still ran out, halfway, so I drifted there carefully with the oxygen left in my suit. I remember the breath of relief when sweet air flushed into my tank.

I didn’t understand how the system worked, wouldn’t for a long time. I did know I needed to align it. With what, I was uncertain - I wouldn’t go back to the Black Hole, would I? Where else, though? The sun station, maybe, considering how the twirling scope spent so long until a giant red ball?

I was surprising when I warped into nothing. On the surface of Brittle Hallow, back again. The words in the white hole station made sense the moment my feet hit the ground. The station had been, maybe, a labour of love, a safeguard, for all that one would float through space, unmoored, the Nomai needed to ensure they would be caught. They’d save me, again and again and again.

It’s kind, is what it is, when you can fall into the sun so easily. It’s so overwhelmingly kind in a world with the crushing force of the Hourglass Twins and the bright teeth of the Anglerfish and the simple death of undercalculating just how much speed you have before your ship cracks open like an egg on the surface of your own moon. The game is made out of do overs, but most of them are for you, uniquely, because you were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. This one wasn’t. This one was for everyone unlucky enough to trip, but lucky enough to know that there were arms waiting, ready and open, for them.

#outer wilds spoilers #outer wilds #I do not know why this game keeps pushing me into prose. there's just something about it #anyways Brittle Hallow is the best planet. No competition.

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yaysof11037 · 3 years

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Hi everyone! I know I said I’d write something more lighthearted after my short Mastermind Leon fic, AND IM GOING TO! But… I did promise @mini-mecha-cowboy a Mastermind Fishimaru fic (get it cuz he’s part fish :D). So, imma do this one first! Hope you guys enjoy!

Before you read;

This is NOT canon to my Killing Game fic nor is it canon to my Non Despair AU. This is its own little thing!

There’s not really a whole lot of character dialogue in this story, since everyone’s part fish and they kinda have the minds of fish, so not a whole lot of speaking.

This is my first time writing a short story like this with no dialogue, so constructive criticism is welcome!

Trigger Warning: This story may contain mentions of hunting, murder, cannibalism, blood and gore, and death. If any of these trigger you or make you feel uncomfortable then I advise you not to read.

If you see *** that means a flashback/timeskip happens.

If you see ^^^ that means a perspective change happens.

Well, that’s all I’ve got! Hope you all enjoy!

The King Swordfish’s Meal

Deep in the dark, endless abyss. The part of the sea where no fish dared to swim to. Even the toughest of fish steered clear from it.

Deep in the abyss of woes, pain, and death. There lay piles upon piles of skeletal corpses. Skeletons belonging to fish big and small. Skeletons of baby fish to adult fish. Fish that once wandered into the abyss out of curiosity, only to never return to the light.

Deep in the abyss. Amongst the corpses, there sat a throne made of bones. Upon the throne, there sat a self proclaimed king, tightly gripping his sword. His piercing blood red eyes staring at the sea life beyond him.

Watching.

Waiting.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru sat alone on his throne, in a rather grumpy mood. He hadn’t eaten a full meal for two weeks. Two long weeks of hunting measly jellyfish that were already on the brink of death and snacking on pathetic, wilted seaweed. He used to enjoy those when he was a baby fish. Now, he’s fully grown. To him, jellyfish tasted completely bland, with just a hint of a salty flavor. And seaweed felt like spikes on his tongue if he so much just nibbled on it. But hey, it was food. Baby fish food, but food nonetheless.

Taka was craving something more… flavorful. Something more tender, juicy, and filling.

He craved for the sweet, succulent taste of flesh.

**************

The first time he tasted flesh was when he was fending off an anglerfish, taunting him with his tempting light. He fought him in vengeance for his father, for the anglerfish murdered him in cold blood while he was away looking for any scraps of jellyfish that may have been left behind by other fish.

He was only 14 at the time. Yet, he managed to stab the much bigger anglerfish to death before he could lay a finger on him. And as the anglerfish lay, bleeding out and taking his final breath in Taka’s arms, Taka became hungry.

He only ate a little bit of the shoulder and tail, for anglerfish meat was too dry and bitter for Taka’s taste. He was still so hungry. But there was no jellyfish or seaweed around. Only the body of the anglerfish and… his father…

Taka remembered crying as he selfishly devoured each chunk of flesh he ripped off his own dead father. He wasn’t sure how much time he spent eating, but it was probably a while, for by the time he snapped back into reality, his father was nothing more than a skeleton beneath him.

That was one of the last times Taka had a heart.

But it wasn’t going to be the last time he craved for flesh. So, he slowly became a hunter in the shadows, waiting for his prey to fall for his traps. Waiting to see them struggle under his blade, his claws, his tail, and his fangs. Waiting to taste their blood, skin, and guts in his mouth.

**************

Of course, as time went on, Taka grew numb to the pleas and cries of his prey as he would stab them with his sword, scratch them with his claws, strangle them with his tail, and rip them apart with his sharp fangs. They no longer looked like fellow fish to him. They looked like food. Bountiful, delicious food.

So it was no wonder he was grumpy when no fish would show up for two whole weeks.

He could just leave his throne and swim up to the surface. He could just eat as much as he wanted to up there. But he would be noticed. And he would probably be killed if the law caught him. Not that he couldn’t take them on of course. But it was a risk he didn’t feel like taking at the moment.

He had a feeling the fish above him started to figure out that other fish had disappeared within the abyss and warned their family and friends about it. He supposed that made sense.

Doesn’t make it any less annoying though.

The trap he had set up weeks ago remained untouched as his cravings began screaming into his head. God, sometimes he just wished he was a normal fish with normal cravings for jellyfish, seaweed, and sponges. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about being publicly seen and being caught. That way, he wouldn’t be stubbornly starving himself just to wait for one fish to swim into his trap.

He was about to give into his hunger and search for jellyfish, only to hear laughter just slightly above his den. Curious, he looked up to see two sailfish playing a game of catch together. One looked to be a youngling, just past the age to be considered a baby fish. A male with shoulder length brown hair and dark grayish blue eyes. The much older sailfish looked to be female, with her brown hair done in a ponytail and bright blue eyes.

He decided to stay on his throne and examine the two fish above him. By the sounds of their childlike laughter, they both still held on to their starry eyed innocence and naivety of the world around them.

Such a pitiful thing to hold on to.

Those poor, unfortunate souls had no idea of the danger just below them.

Their little game seemed to be going on for quite some time. Just as Taka was about to fall asleep, he was alerted by something landing on his patch of sand just a few feet away from his throne. Upon closer examination, it appeared to be a spherical stone, almost in the shape of a ball.

A ball to play catch with.

Now was his time to shine.

He remained hidden in the shadows of his den as he waited for one of the sailfish to retrieve the ball. It wasn’t long before the younger sailfish quickly swam down.

Right into the trap.

The trap was made up of mostly seaweed, but it wasn’t just any ordinary seaweed. This seaweed as red as blood could only be found in the deepest depths of the ocean, and should be handled with care. If a fish should collect it, they would have to wear gloves made of blue seaweed, for red seaweed is very sticky. It could not only stick, but rip at the bare skin should it be tugged on too tightly.

Only Taka knew this fact, which put him at an advantage above all the other fish.

And now, here this young fish was. Blindly swimming through the net of red seaweed.

It didn’t take long for Taka to notice the fish thrashing about in his net and slowly swam up to the caught youngling. The youngling looked up in wonder as the mysterious swordfish cut down the net with one slice. He was still caught in the net, however, and continued trying to swim out of it once it reached the bottom. Taka immediately slipped on his blue seaweed gloves and swam down to retrieve the young fish.

He was tempted to kill him right then and there. The sooner he’s dead, the sooner he could finally have a decent meal. But that wasn’t what Taka was all about…

One of his favorite hunting tactics was to give his prey a false sense of hope. Convince them he was trustworthy. Then attack when they least expect it. He was surprised at how many fish had fallen for this specific tactic already.

Other fish were always so gullible.

The young fish was now panicking, for he felt the seaweed dig into his skin. Taka took notice of this and gave him a reassuring smile, letting him know he was going to free him from the net. The little glimmer of hope in the young fish’s eyes was all Taka needed to know that he had this youngling’s full trust.

Ignorance is bliss, after all.

Within a few seconds, he had cut the youngling free and made sure to carefully remove any excess seaweed that was still stuck to him. The youngling then gave him a tight hug as a way of saying thank you. Taka smiled and patted his head before pointing him to where his ball was. The young sailfish happily swam to it, ready to grab the ball and swim back up to his sister so they could continue their game.

He’s never met anyone so willing to help him before! Wait until he tells his sister about the nice swordfish—

…

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Aoi Asahina was sitting near a pile of sea stones, patiently waiting for her little brother, Yuta to return with their stone ball. She would’ve retrieved it herself, but Yuta kept going on about how he was a big fish now and that he didn’t need anyone to retrieve things for him. Wanting to make him feel better, she let him go to retrieve it himself, unaware that the ball had already landed in the abyss. Yuta was normally a fast swimmer, so it should take a few seconds to get the ball.

So… what was taking him so long?

At first, Hina gave him the benefit of the doubt. They had been playing catch for a while, so naturally any fish would be a little exhausted and swim much slower than usual. So, that wasn’t unusual…

What was unusual, however, was the strong scent of blood that suddenly emerged in her senses. On top of that, she could see a cloudy stream of blood rising up from where Yuta had gone.

Like anyone worried for their younger sibling, she assumed the worst and quickly swam down towards the blood. Panic filled her mind as she got closer and closer to the bottom, hoping her brother would be okay.

But as she got to the bottom, her worst fears were confirmed.

There was a body. A bleeding dead body that belonged to a young sailfish.

Her brother.

With a giant stab wound in his neck.

But that wasn’t the worst part…

Towering over the bloodied corpse was a swordfish, his bloodied sword simply laying next to him. Creating new and fresh gashes over the back of his shoulders.

By mercilessly tearing away chunks of his flesh with his own fangs.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

It didn’t take Taka too long to realize someone other than the dead youngling was present with him. For he could sense someone quickly swimming up to him.

These pitiful fish always mindlessly charge into battle.

Without flinching, he quickly drew his sword and blocked the perpetrator’s attack with a sword of her own. He could see the tears of sorrow and rage in the older sailfish’s eyes. He found it quite noble, yet very stupid of her to challenge him in revenge for her brother’s death. But he loved a good fight. He hadn’t been in one for a long time.

Seeing her swordsmanship skills would be an absolute treat.

And so, with a small smirk creeping onto his face, he motioned for her to get closer to him and land her best shot. And like a moth to a flame, she gripped her sword tightly and charged at him, preparing to slice him with all her might.

Oh, this would DEFINITELY be a lot of fun.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Just above the abyss in a sea cave, there lay Sakura Ogami, a muscular great white shark. She was simply taking a nap after a long day of training with her sensei. Normally, she was a heavy sleeper, so once she was out, there was no waking her up for a long time.

This time, however, the scent of blood and the faint sound of metal clanging filled her senses. She didn’t know why these two particular things woke her up, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. With a yawn and a stretch, she swam out of her cave and followed the cloudy stream of blood that led down to the abyss.

She just barely had time to react, for she was nearly hit with a sword as soon as she reached the bottom.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Taka was having an absolute BLAST with this girl. She was proving to be quite a challenge for him, which made him all the more willing to indulge in her rage and grief, taking every moment she stops to catch her breath to torment her. She was filled with such a lovely, burning adrenaline and determination to cut the swordfish down in the name of her fallen brother.

Adrenaline tastes much better than fear.

The sailfish did manage to land a few slashes on Taka, but he was much stronger than her. He made her bleed twice as much as he did.

And oh, did her blood look delicious.

She looked to be exhausted now, for she wasn’t swinging as hard as she was before. She put in a valiant effort against him. Unfortunately for her, it wouldn’t be enough. And so, as Taka looked into her eyes with a smug grin, he aimed his blade at her chest and prepared to deliver the final blow. But just before he could…

He wasn’t exactly sure what had happened, but he was now suddenly lifted up from the sand and being held up by his arms. The sudden action caused him to drop his sword as he looked up at this new perpetrator.

An actual shark… Now THIS was going to be fun.

The shark scowled and kept her grip tightly around his arms as the sailfish charged up to Taka, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to his stomach.

But Taka was prepared. He always prepares for situations like this.

The shark had underestimated his strength, for he was able to break free from her grip with ease. The sailfish didn’t have enough time to react to the sudden movement, for she had accidentally sliced the shark’s right arm by the time Taka zipped out of the way.

She’s dropped her sword. She’s now focused on tending to the shark’s wound.

Perfect.

Both of the swords were in his grasp now. He took a glance above him and licked his greedy, gluttonous lips. Like a torpedo shooting through the air, he zoomed up just behind the distracted sailfish, both swords ready to strike…

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sakura watched as her girlfriend was panicking at the sight of the fresh wound on her arm. She tried to calm her down, but Hina wasn’t having any of it. Before Sakura could protest, Hina was already patching up the wound with soothing purple seaweed.

Time seemed to slow down as Hina was mending her arm. For a moment, she had forgotten all about the swordfish that was attacking her earlier.

Sakura considered herself lucky to have someone like Hina. She didn’t deserve someone so kind. So loyal. So willing to drop everything just to help her.

And her eyes. Sparkling with determination and care. Oh, she could just get lost in them fore—

…

Reality.

Reality crashed back into Sakura’s life as she was met with an enormously thick cloud of blood overwhelming her sight and senses. Fighting the urge to vomit, she quickly swam away from the cloud and get a few breaths of refreshing salt water. As she was finally catching her breath, she had come to the horrible conclusion as to where the giant cloud of blood was coming from.

Right at the bottom of the sand lay a dead sailfish.

With her torso separated from her tail and her guts and intestines seeping out of her body.

Her sparkling eyes fading and becoming dull.

Sakura realized… that her best friend…

Her only friend…

Her lover…

Was no more…

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Taka stared down at the delectable looking meal in front of him. Now, he had two sailfish to satisfy his twisted cravings.

But… there was still some unfinished business to take care of…

That look… that look of horror and grief in that shark’s icy blue eyes.

It was beautiful.

The shark slowly shifted her gaze from the body of her dead lover and up to Taka. He could see the little tears of flavor pouring down to her cheeks. And so, with a sly smirk and a motion for her to come closer, the shark was completely filled with rage as she charged at him with bared teeth and claws.

**************

How long has it been since he was in a real fight? A fight with a fish much bigger than him? A fight where winning wouldn’t be so easy?

This shark had as much, if not, more strength than that damned anglerfish he fought all those years ago. But Taka didn’t care how strong she was. He wasn’t scared of bigger fish anymore.

SHE’S the one who should be afraid.

Both fish were catching their breaths now. Both bled from many places where there were scratches, bite marks, and scars. In the midst of their small break, Taka was trying to figure out what his next attack should be. He certainly couldn’t just charge up to her, the fight would take longer. And his stomach was never patient with him to begin with. As he was looking down at his sword, he noticed a piece of coral sticking out of the boulder he was leaning against.

And he had an idea…

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sakura… wasn’t entirely sure what had happened. The fish before her suddenly just… flopped to the ground. Did he pass out? Was he dead?

Those two questions rang through her mind as she slowly approached the (probably) unconscious swordfish.

He certainly looked dead…

But, just in case…

She had picked up Hina’s sword that the swordfish was using against her.

One piercing through his spine.

That’s all it would take to make sure he stayed dead.

She lifted the sword above her head, ready to deliver the final blow. But just before she could…

^^^^^^^^^^^^

One swing. One swing of the coral in his hand to her head, and she became dizzy and stunned. He had finally weakened her.

As the shark dropped the sword in her hands, he quickly pinned her down to the sand to prevent her from escaping so easily. He pondered about what his next move should be, for he wanted this hunting experience to be memorable. He wanted it to be special, for he had never had shark meat before.

So… he couldn’t just simply end her life with his sword. That would be too quick. No… he had a much better idea…

As the shark was struggling to come back to her senses, Taka pressed most of his weight down on her stomach and lifted the coral up over his head. Then, without giving the shark a fair warning…

…

Oh, that sound.

That BEAUTIFUL sound.

The loud, thunderous, and powerful roar of agony that emerged from the shark’s throat was music to Taka’s ears. He could play that sound on loop as he continued to ram the coral into her heart.

And oh, her tears.

He had never seen a shark cry so much before.

It was an absolutely satisfying sight for him.

He was amazed at the shark’s strength to stay alive after he had just created a massive hole through her chest, exposing her rapidly beating heart.

It looked so delicious.

The shark continued to struggle as Taka now had a firm grip on her heart and began to tug on it rather tightly. He could feel her tail thrashing about underneath him. He could see the light slowly flickering in her eyes as his claws sunk in for a tighter grip.

And finally, with every bit of his strength, he triumphantly ripped her heart away from her bloodied body. The shark had breathed her last pitiful breath and left the cruelty of the world for good.

Taka stared down at the heart in his hands, feeling the warm blood seeping out of the arteries and soaking his skin. The delightful scent filled his senses as he licked his lips and his stomach growled at him impatiently.

Oh, the first bite was absolutely divine.

This heart wasn’t like any other heart he had eaten before. This was the most tender, sweet, and juicy heart he had ever sunk his teeth into. The feeling of the chunks and the blood filling up his mouth was so nourishing. So rewarding.

For Taka, this was truly paradise.

And so, with a job well done, he took the bodies of each fish into his den as he continued snacking on the heart like an apple.

This was going to be his biggest feast yet.

**************

Deep in the dark, endless abyss. The part of the sea where three unfortunate fish swam into. The part of the sea where the strong scent of their blood will fill the den for days.

Deep in the abyss of woes, pain, and death. There lay three new skeletons within the den. One skeleton belonging to a sailfish youngling. One belonging to an adult sailfish. And one, the biggest one of them all, belonging to the shark. All three had lived their lives far too short. They had all died way too young.

Deep in the abyss. Amongst the corpses, there sat a throne made of bones. Behind the throne, there sat a comfortable sponge bed. On top of the bed, there lay the self proclaimed king swordfish.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru.

He was peacefully sleeping through the afternoon after a long day of hunting. With his once growling stomach now full and satisfied.

Yes. Today was a very good day for Taka.

#danganronpa #kiyotaka ishimaru #yuta asahina #aoi asahina #sakura ogami #sakuraoi #mastermind fishimaru #mini mecha cowboy

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just-a-human-fae · 3 years

Text

No Touchy!

Word Count: 1361

Triggers: non consent touching

Summary: Demetria meets first year twins, Jade and Floyd. Despite being nice, her awkwardness makes a rather weird encounter with them.

Special Notes: This is set a year before the actual story we see in the game. Also, I did this on phone when I copied and pasted from my doc, so it may be wonky. I will add a “keep reading” next time I’m on computer.

—————

The second year wasn’t so bad so far. Demetria was able to handle her classes quite well, and now she was trying to help others of her dorm with how to get around NRC, showing them ways for the first few days.

Oh, how wonderful it was not to be a first year anymore. She hated how she would be anxious and worried about everything.

Despite not having to deal with the worry anymore, she still bumped into a few first years and tried to be friendly to them as she wandered during the free hour. Being in the courtyard was something she missed, maybe going there was best for the rest of her free time.

Upon arriving at the courtyard, Demetria took a deep breath in to smell the aroma of the flowers. Roses mainly took over the scent, and she was content with that, especially with them as her favorite flower and aromatic in most of her scented hygiene products.

The familiar clicking sound of her shoes against the stones comforted her as she walked out and enjoyed the small bit of sun. The day was mostly cloudy with the sun sneaking peeks every once in a while, the perfect weather for when she wanted to enjoy the outdoors.

“Say, Jade, think we could get these to grow underwater?” One voice spoke as Demetria began to settle down on a stone bench with her new class books.

“No, Floyd, that wouldn’t be possible due to this being a terrestrial plant. It needs more direct sunlight than through water where it’s weaker.” The one named Jade spoke.

Demetria didn’t pay much attention to them except for seeing what colors they wore. Soft purple and then a stronger stripe in the center on their badge, not to mention the Octavinelle symbol centered in the tied ribbon. Once she saw that, she shrunk back and went to open one of her books to see content she’d be learning that year.

“Hey, is that someone over there?” Floyd asked as he heard the bit of shuffling.

Demetria brought her head up from her book and glanced over at the two. “Uh, yeah. Hi,” she gave a smile with her greeting and waved. She wasn’t good with introductions, but she tried.

“I don’t recall seeing you at the ceremony the other day. You must be one of our upperclassmen, yes?” Jade questioned as he and Floyd walked over a bit to see Demetria in their sights.

Demetria nodded her head with an awkward smile on her face. “Yeah, I’m a second year. It’s nice to meet some new fermolk…” She was quick to catch her tongue slip-up and made a small noise before correcting herself. “Merfolk! I’m sorry about that.” She tried to be positive with her apology for her mispronunciation, but her pink face gave away how embarrassed she was.

The two were shocked for a moment before smiles of amusement came across their faces. Jade was able to suppress his laughter while Floyd let out an obnoxious laugh. The response was enough to make the girl shy away and her face get redder.

“That was quite stupid, wasn’t it?” Floyd spoke to Jade. He still couldn’t fully control his laughter over it.

“It was funny, but a mere slip up.” Jade replied. He kept an eye on Demetria, noticing how uncomfortable she was. “But it isn’t nice to laugh at someone for their mistakes, Floyd.”

Floyd calmed down, but now slight irritation came from him. He knew his brother was right, but he also wanted to enjoy what was amusing to him. “Alright then…” His eyes went from Jade to Demetria, seeing how she was trying to hide away. He wrung his lips before he thought of something else to say. “So what’s your name?”

She looked over and took a deep breath, making sure she didn’t stumble over her words. “My name is Demetria Knight.”

“Oh? Knight is your last name?” Jade inquired. When Demetria confirmed, he spoke again, “Are you from a family that are knights?”

“Not that I know of. It’s just been the name my father’s side has carried for generations.” She stopped there, but a small squeak like noise came from her mouth as she adjusted in her seating. It wasn’t something that bothered her, sometimes air just made weird noises when forced out by her positions.

It was noticed by the twins, but it wasn’t paid much mind to. They already had been informed on their first night that Diasomnia students were strange, and Demetria definitely had her own quirks from what they could see.

“How about you guys? I heard your names, Jade and Floyd. But what about you? Like what kind of Merfolk are you?” Demetria cocked her head slightly as she inquired.

“We’re merely Merfolk, nothing special,” Jade stated. He believed she meant otherwise, but didn’t want to make a statement that didn’t properly fill her question.

“Oh uh…” Demetria smiled with what looked like a frown mixed into the corners of her lips. “I meant like what kind of fish you resembled. I know some in my class who resemble certain fish species, like clownfish, anglerfish, and even a shark! Although a shark technically isn’t a fish.”

“Oh, we’re moray eels,” Floyd ended up answering this time, finding it fun being able to talk with Demetria.

“Eels?” Demetria’s eyes went wide for a moment as she processed what they said. She didn’t know specific eels, but it was cool nonetheless. “That’s cool! I haven’t met Merfolk who are eels yet!” This time a more genuine appeared on her face, finding the conversation now had a brighter tone to it.

“Have you been to the coral sea before, Miss Knight?” Jade asked.

She shook her head. “No, I haven’t really thought of it. And last I knew, I need to either buy or brew my own breathing potion to go. It will be nice to go at some point though! I hear it is very beautiful!”

It was then Jade took a glance at the closest clock in the area. “Oh, it seems the free hour is almost up. We all should get going to our next class.”

Demetria pulled out the small pocket watch she kept inside her vest and nodded her head as she stood up and gathered her items after fixing her jacket on her shoulders. “We should! It was nice getting to meet you guys! I hope you two enjoy the place!”

“We already are, aren’t we?” Floyd asked with a bit of laughter.

Demetria stopped in place where she stood and looked at Floyd. She looked down at her feet shyfully. “I didn’t know, I’m sorry…”

“You really don’t get jokes, do you? Like a Mola Mola!” Floyd’s eyes then lit up from his comment. “I’m gonna call you Mola Mola from now on, got that?”

“A… what?” Demetria only looked at him with a confused expression.

Her confusion only entertained him more, enough where he wanted to squeeze her in a hug. “You really are an entertaining Mola Mola too!”

Before Demetria knew it she was in Floyd’s arms, her feet off the ground and air was difficult to take in. He was touching her. He was TOUCHING her.

“Please let go!” Demetria shouted at Floyd. Being touched by someone who was very much a stranger, maybe an acquaintance, was not something she was comfortable with. It was in her personal space, and it was being invaded.

When Floyd didn’t release her right away, Demetria started to kick and struggle from his hold. This alone was making her anxiety spike to the roof.

“Floyd, let her go. She is clearly showing she doesn’t like your hug.” Jade said and rested a hand on Floyd’s shoulder.

“Aw… I was hoping to squeeze her a little more…” Floyd loosened his hold to where Demetria was back on the ground.

She quickly scattered from his arms and went to her books. Only once glance went to the twins before she picked them up and ran off towards her upcoming class.

Never again would she try to converse with those two.

#demetria knight #diasomnia oc #malleus oc #tw oc #twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #demetria’s story #Mola Mola #Floyd leech #Jade leech #backstory

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pants-jones · 3 years

Text

Outer Wilds is the best exploration adventure literally ever.(Story Review)

Outer Wilds is a small space exploration game that came out on May 28, 2019, developed by Mobius Digital. It’s gotten multiple awards and there isn’t a second of someone’s voice in the game. I personally found out about it thanks to Jacksepticeye, and he does this thing where he doesn’t explore things in a game enough for me to be satisfied, and it really frustrates me even though I love his content. So, like a normal person, I held that frustration deep within my soul for an entire year until I got my own ps4 and I noticed that they were selling it on the PlayStation store. I remembered very little about the game at that point and going in blind was literally the best part. Ever since I was little, every time a game came out promising endless gameplay or a large world to explore it pretty much never happened.

Like Disney Infinite or whatever that shitshow of a game was called. Surprisingly finite, believe it or not. Same thing with No Mans Sky, even though I’ve heard that it’s improved recently. But this game is perfect when it comes to space exploration. The solar system you reside in isn’t too big, so going from planet to planet isn’t a pain in the ass like No Mans Sky. Each planet has so much to explore, on top of everything you can see in the ice comet that flies through, or the sunstation orbiting the sun at like 40000000 miles an hour, or the literal ghost moon that disappears when you look away. Each planet is extremely unique and has their own dangers, and I could talk for literal hours about each location in the game and the story behind each. Before I actually get into this, there is this one youtuber that has a channel about this game, and he actually explains a lot of the stuff that I didn’t understand or just got wrong on my first playthrough. He’s called The Lore Explorer. You can click his name to go straight to his YouTube channel.

This is going to be on the story of Outer Wilds. Because I want to talk about the gameplay separately.

In this game, you play as a member of an alien race called the Hearthians, residing on an earthlike planet called Timber Hearth. Your race is small, but they devote their time to science and exploration of the solar system they reside in and the universe. They want to know the secrets of the universe, to understand it. They’re a peaceful people, like space hillbillies, They don’t have a specific gender, they refer to each other with they/them unless requested otherwise, You are a rookie in their space exploration program, Outer Wilds Ventures. You wake up early at your campfire, eyes looking up at the sky, the giant planet Giants Deep above you. The ancient alien space station orbiting said planet explodes, and a small purple light launches out into the night sky. (This is the best picture I could find)

You get up and meet Slate, a Hearthian that was roasting marshmallows in the campfire next to you. You exchange some dialogue, and you learn they’re the one who made your ship, and that this is gonna be your first voyage into space. They tell you that you have to go to Hornfels, one of Outer Wilds Ventures’ lead scientists, to get the launch codes. You spend some time exploring the small village that your people reside in. You meet up with your old teacher, who taught you about everything you’ll endure up in space. You do one last no-gravity test, before heading up to the Observatory at the highest point of the village. The first thing that greets you is a statue, made by a strange ancient race named the Nomai.

You move on to Hornfels, get the launch codes and walk out the same way you came in, when you freeze and the statue opens its eyes and faces you. It’s eyes light up, and it’s almost like your memories of today are being played back at you. (below is the best picture I could find.)

A Hearthian who works at the observatory watches all of this and approaches you, claiming in shock that they had no idea that the eyes could even open, neverminded that they can grow.

You move on, on to your ship. You enter and where you go first is up to you, the player.(obviously.) Personally, I decided to do what I think most people would ignore, and explore the planet we all start on, Timber Hearth. And of course, I found some stuff, but that’s for later.

Anyways, it doesn’t matter what you do, but most likely you’ll be going to Timber Hearth’s moon, the Attlerock. It’s an asteroid like moon that you’ll probably see in the sky orbiting the planet from it’s surface. There’s a Hearthian named Esker up there, and they give you their first goal: Find and meet the five founders of Outer Wilds Ventures. You’ve already got one down, since Esker is one of those five. But, ignoring all this, lets assume you made the mistake everyone makes (and I promise you it’s everyone) and you didn’t land where Esker grew trees for oxygen, and you made the dumbest decision to just, forget your space suit. Well, you’d die obviously. Air is important. You obviously suffocate. Dummy.

I genuinely can’t find a way to show you how dying looks in Outer Wilds. Or, the post death. Pretty much, every moment you just experienced gets played in reverse, up until the very moment you wake up. Then, this Nomai mask is the last thing you see, before you wake up on Timber Hearth again.

I think anyone with an IQ above sand knows that this means you’re in a time loop. It’s obviously because of the statue, and when you go to look at it, it’s eyes are still open. There’s a mystery here, and you will most likely not have any clue how to solve it.

You’ll go back into space. And you’ll choose any of the five planets in this small solar system to explore. It doesn’t matter which. You’ll learn things abut the Nomai, you might even meet one of the astronauts you were told to meet. None of this matters. Because in 22 minutes after you wake up, you hear a strange loud noise, look to the sun, and realize its collapsing in on itself and exploding. You barely have time to react before you die again and wake up in your village again. And that’s pretty much the opening of the game. If you wanna see the sun explode, click here. It’s pretty cool.

First I wanna start with the fact that this solar system is pretty small, but each planet has so much stuff you could do. I didn’t even mention all the stuff in the observatory, like the rock that moves when you don’t look at it (which is VERY important), the Nomai text that you can translate with the device Hornfels gives you, or the fucking creature that they call an anglerfish that they hold in a tank (which is also very important). I didn’t tell you about the Planet Locator on the Attlerock, or the fact that you can see the ship you use in the Alpha of the game. I want to talk about each planet and location but it would genuinely take me way too long, because the story itself is way way way too long but it’s literally amazing. This game is probably the closest thing to real life in one way; it doesn’t matter what you do. You could throw your ship into the fucking sun and it won’t matter. Inevitability is one of the biggest themes of this game.

You learn of the Nomai, an ancient race that came to your Solar system on something called The Vessel, but they got split up when they had to use escape pods because of some tragedy. You learn that they’re looking for something called The Eye Of The Universe, an entity older than the universe itself. That space station that blows up every time you wake up? That’s their Probe Launcher, that’s them trying to find that Eye. You learn how they made warp technology and how Black Holes work, you can even create a paradox and break the universe (this is very loud, I’m warning you.) This game takes environmental storytelling to a whole other level, because this race of Nomai is dead and long gone, but their underground catties and escape pods and ships and every piece of research that they have is left behind. They left a fucking Sunstation that orbits the sun at the speed of something really fast, and if you’re good enough at flying (i am not) you could land on the damn thing. Or you could teleport to it using the Nomais warp tech.

I think it’s there that you learn why the sun is dying. Your goal this whole time was to learn why the sun is dying, maybe you can reverse whatever the Nomai did. But the Nomai didn’t do this. Sure, they wanted to make the sun explode, but that was to power their time loop machine, so they could find the Eye easier. But it didn’t work. The sun station was made to blow up the sun and it didn’t work. The sun isn’t blowing up because of the Nomai, it’s dying because it’s just old. It’s old and there is no saving your people or your solar system. You then realize that its not just your solar system that’s dying, but others too. You can see it all the time.

When you’re out in space and see stars suddenly start to glow brighter than before, if you zoom in, you can see that they’re exploding. And not only that, once you find the Nomai’s Vessel (which is hard to do), you can find transmissions from modern Nomai, claiming that the entire universe is dying. There’s nothing you can even do about it.

Before I talk about the Eye itself, I need to explain what a Quantum Object is. A Quantum object is an object that exists in all possible ways until viewed by a conscious. The rock in the observatory I mentioned earlier is one of these objects, and there’s tons of items just like them

They usually look like this black shard above. The Nomai found these and studied the actual hell out of them, and they learned three things they labeled the rules of quantum objects. The first being, if you are making physical contact with one of these objects and you turn off the lights or lose your vision, you will become quantum like the object. Technically it means until you can see again, you will be everywhere and anywhere at random.

The next rule is that if you take a picture of the quantum object and look away, it will not move. I think this is self explanatory, you’re still technically observing it even if it’s just a picture. And the last rule has more to do with the Quantum Moon. The Quantum Moon is supposed to be the Eye’s moon, but since it’s a quantum object it always appears orbiting random planets in this solar system.

The Quantum Moon won’t be on any map of the solar system, and it’s by far the second most difficult location to enter and navigate. You’ll only know how after exploring multiple Nomai ruins with text on the walls teaching you the three quantum rules. If you just fly into it, You’ll simply go through the grey smoke and end up on the other side, You need to enforce the second quantum rule (this is called Quantum Imaging btw) and take a picture of it. Then you’ll be able to land on it, though what you find first may be different depending what planet it’s orbiting.

It mirrors the planet it’s orbiting, like when it orbits Timber Hearth the surface of the planet is going to have a lot of trees and grass. If it’s on Giants Deep, which is mostly an aquatic planet with lots of tornadoes and storms, it’ll have a lot of water and smaller tornadoes in the distance. Eventually, you’ll make your way to the Nomai tower on the North Pole of the moon.

From the inside of this tower, you’ll be able to travel with the quantum moon, even getting close to the Eye itself. The Nomai always say that when the moon isn’t visible in this solar system, it has to be at a sixth location, and since the Eye orbits our sun from lightyears away, it’s safe to say that the sixth location is actually the Eye of the Universe. When you enter the tower, you’re going to be turning the lights off and opening the door a lot, since the only other way to tell where you are inside the tower is a mechanism on the wall. But when you’re orbiting the Eye, you won’t be able to exit the tower, since the door will be blocked by the same material that the quantum shards are made of. If I remember correctly, you need to have the tower appear on the South pole of the moon. Then, when you get to the moon’s version of the eye, You can leave the tower and see what it’s like.

On top of that, you can actually meet the last Nomai. Her name is Solanum, and she is the only Nomai to get this close to the Eye of the universe. The same way that the moon has a sixth location it goes to, she is the secret sixth astronaut that you can meet. She doesn’t speak your language, or at all, which means the Nomai didn’t speak. They communicated using the blue swirls you can see next to her. Those are the swirls that you translate to learn everything they’ve done through out the game.

Meeting Solanum is a bitter moment, since she claims that she believes she’s been in some sort of in between death and life state for years now. She theorizes that being in such close proximity to the Eye has made her a quantum object, which is why you can find her ship and dead body on all the other locations the Quantum Moon can be at except this one. Above Solanum is a wormhole, where all the clouds are falling into. When you try to enter this wormhole, you fall back into one of the other moons locations, Solanum’s body at your feet.

Now the Eye of the Universe itself is the most difficult location to get to. It took me around three hours of trying over and over again, because we need to get to it before the 22 minutes run out and the sun explodes. You first need to waste 7 minutes getting a power core from the machine that runs the time loop, so if you die you technically die for good. Then you need to enter the 5th planet and the one I despise the most, Dark Bramble.

Dark Bramble isn’t a planet. It’s the remains of an icy planet, destroyed by the bramble. Nobody knows where the bramble came from. Nobody knows how it even exists. But it’s there, and it should be the last place you want to enter, because it’s the only place with an actual creature that want to hurt you: The Anglerfish.

The Anglerfish are giant, blind space fish that will eat anything and have super sensitive hearing. You need to fly past these things in your ship, and you never know what lights are anglerfish and which lights are just more nodes to enter deeper into this pocket dimension. In Dark Bramble, you can find one of the 3 Nomai Escape pods. The other two landed on planets outside of Bramble, but this one had a much darker fate.

This is Escape Pod 3. The Nomai in this escape Pod used audio tech to find the distress signal the Vessel was emitting, but there was a problem; they frequency was coming from two different places. The Nomai were scared and running out of oxygen, so they headed towards the closer frequency, leaving lights behind as a trail so they didn’t get lost. Unfortunately when they reach the frequency...

All they find is a seed. The frequency is coming from it, but they went the wrong way. They can’t fit inside it and it hasn’t grown enough for it to be a node they can pass through. So they all died there, floating motionless. You can shoot a scout through the seed, and it’ll land on the Vessel. Now you have a way to get there.

When you bring the power core, you have to pass through the Anglerfish nest, so you’re pretty much gonna be gliding through the whole thing reaaaally slowly. You can’t outrun the anglerfish, and I never tried touching their eggs so I don’t know what’ll happen if you try that.

After a lot of slow gliding, you’ll find The Vessel.

You can put the power core inside, and once you enter the coordinates that you can find from the space station orbiting Giant’s Deep, the Vessel will warp to The Eye of the Universe, with an overhead view of it.

You can take as much time as you like here. You’re way too far for any supernova to affect you. The planet you can see isn’t the eye itself, but it’s more like an orb of the same material that the quantum shards are made of. All the clouds and lights surrounding it is the Eye. I’ll leave a video of someone getting to the Eye right here. When you warp onto the planet above the Eye, you’ll start on the north pole, and start walking towards the south, where the Entrance to the Eye is. When you walk under the clouds, it’ll be dark, with lightning strikes briefly lighting up the area, with random objects appearing due to the eye being the origin of quantum objects.

(What the wormhole looks like from the outside vs. the entrance.)

I can’t really explain what happens when you fall into it, so I’m gonna leave it at that. This game is a solid 10/10 for me. It is the best exploration space game I’ve ever played, and I’d buy it at full price again just to support those who made it. Also the soundtrack and credits song are amazing. I 100000% recommend it

#outer wilds #review #gaming

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emysabath · 3 years

Text

Had a dream last night

I was a college age guy, really into video games. Came home on a break and found that most of my friends were so caught up in a new VR game, they weren’t going to make time to hang out. Came home, and both of my brothers had the game too, they were just lying there, totally absorbed. There was an extra headset, so I tried it on.

I’m instantly immersed in a near-future virtual world teeming with other players, as well as NPC’s. There doesn’t seem to be a story, it’s more a “level up by doing whatever you want” world. After a while of playing around, drag racing, and doing other irresponsible things I wouldn’t normally do, I found a secret. There was a hard-to-reach spot near the game’s shopping center where you could complete one task, and immediately become level 100. The task was pretty simple, too - just stand and stare at one spot for 40 in-game years. I took my place, and I stared. I didn’t move. I could hear things occasionally - sounds like someone practicing a trumpet from very far away, or brief snatches of conversation - but I didn’t pay attention. I was almost there, almost to level 100, when I noticed a puzzle in the corner of my eye. I glanced over, just for a second, and was expelled from the level 100 quest. The puzzle had got me, it was well known for breaking people out of the quest. Suddenly, I remembered - this was just a video game, how long had I been in here? Those sounds, my brother was practicing the trumpet, my parents were worrying about me.

I left the game, where I had been for four months in the real world. I started to recover, exercising my real body instead of just exercising for virtual levels, while my parents caught me up on what happened while I was out. Everyone had been worried, my friends had visited me, trying to get me to snap out of it. Uncomfortably, they told me there had been an... incident, when my girlfriend came to visit. She was pregnant now.

I didn’t have a girlfriend.

There was a gorgeous, high-level woman in the game that I’d had a fling with. From the things she said, I think she was one of the developers. I had to find her - I didn’t have any clues in the real world, but I could track her down in the game.

I plugged back in, and went straight for the secret quest. Nothing could distract me now, I needed to be level 100 for whatever would come next. 40 in-game years passed, and then I was ready. I found her, and followed her to a dev-only area of the game, a place with vast, dark, empty hallways. Every player here was level 100, and there weren’t many of them. I tracked her down, cornered her in an empty room. She tried to flirt with me, but I was not going to be distracted by the flirtations of my rapist.

“Where is my son?” I demanded. Her eyes flicked to the side - a young man had slipped into the room, he looked only a couple years younger than me, but I knew, and he knew.

“Father?”

This was what the whole game was for. They had found a way to create life - a sentient AI, matched with a fetus only a few months along.

I pulled him in for a tight hug. My son.

He knew all the secrets of the game world, after all he had been born inside it, and raised by the original developers. One of the developers had been “fully incorporated,” meaning she no longer had any way to go back to her physical body, and was instead the intelligence behind the vast empty darkness. When I first saw her, I recognized her - she was the darkness I had stared into for 40 in-game years. It wasn’t an Easter Egg, it was the lure of an anglerfish, ascending players to level 100 so they could go to the off-limits areas, where she would draw them in and assimilate them into her vast emptiness.

Astoundingly, she was still conscious enough to speak. While my son held me back from being lost in her darkness, I learned that the vast emptiness inside her came from a broken heart. She had loved one of the other developers, a woman in yellow. They were both going to be incorporated into the game, but the woman in yellow backed out, left the game entirely, and left the Darkness alone, trapped in the game.

Telling her story was like drawing out a poison. The Darkness became smaller after that, tamer, more human. She needed people to talk to, someone to hear her and see her, that was all. From the outside, it was like my son and I had tamed a dragon - no other dev or player, no matter their level, dared to mess with us. Still, my work wasn’t done. The physical body meant for my son would be born soon. My son had only ever lived in the virtual world, and though he had mastered it, it was clear he didn’t fully understand the concept of “reality.”

But I would be there, I would show him the way.

#long post #that was a wild dream

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kendrixtermina · 4 years

Text

Fic Writer Game

I was tagged by @glorfindel-the-golden <3.

AO3 name: Kendrix

Fandoms: among others, Silmarillion, Doctor Who, Steven Universe, Fire Emblem three houses, Neon Genesis Evangelion

Number of fics: 24 on Ao3 but there’s probably older stuff on older websites. I kind of regret deleting my early teenage products woud’ve been cute to have them for Nostalgia’s sake, like an embarassing baby picture

Fic I spent the most time on: Children of the Prophecy (english) (german) I’ve been at it since before I could have done it in English to begin with. Still want to finish it... eventually. At this rate im gonna do it as an old crone. Still I enjoyed it a lot.

Fic I spent the least time on: Of the ones currently up? This one was a 20 minute feelsvent after finishing the first part of Starcraft II

Longest fic: Children of the Prophecy again. It’s prolly fatter than two Harry Potter books by now

Shortest fic: It would be this attempt at a drabble-like thing

Most hits: Matriarch ( 9780 ), followed by the English Children of the Prophecy ( 2930 )

Most kudos: Matriarch (254), followed by Lady of Hresvelg (88)

Most comment threads: Matriarch again sigh. (255) I sort of ragequit that fandom but I still feel the obligation to finish it. Though on FF net its the english CotP. with 64

Favourite fic I’ve written: I’m fond of Antedilluvium (Doctor who) because I really enjoyed the premise, and this collection of experimental whouffle (doctor x clara) oneshots.

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: One my first plotfic attempts was an objectively lacking Inuyasha fic called “Naraku’s Angel I and II”. It’s also how I met the girl that would become my best friend through a difficult time of my life, who was also the first person I was properly in love with. (no, really! not that much happened we were early teens. Eventually we grew appart but if I met someone with that level of compatibility with my current life experience I would start saving up for wedding rings asap. ) It wasn’t so good but I think there were enough good unique fantasy ideas in there that it would be worth throwing out the derivative bits and recycling all the original stuff as a fantasy novel.

Share a bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on:

Here’s a preview of the epilogue to MFF, which is currently about 50% done:

“What would bring you to this turbid gloom with the glow of live still clinging to you? Whom would you seek here? Crown-prince Nelyafinwe? Russandol, older brother of six? My mother’s son Maitimo, whom she once counted among her proudest works?

Whichever it is, you will not find him here, here is only Dispossessed and Marred and Crimson-Stained…, Lord of Nowhere, and King of Nothing. The survivors of Doriath have given me the name of half-orc, though even the orcs themselves have begged to differ. I believe that in their speech, I have long been called ‘Hewer’ - that alone still holds true.”

“Actually, I was expecting Makalaure.”

“And I was expecting the void, and darkness everlasting!” croaked the wretched, mournful memory of a once familiar, bleary voice: “Illuvatar himself hath denied it to me!

And before you leave here, you might well think that it is rightly deserved.

You can’t speak to Makalaure. Makalaure is lost. I can’t tell you where he is. No one can.

They say the Silmaril that he bore was cast into the sea, but if that’s where he ended, they have found naught that remains of him yet. Neither of his body, nor of his innermost...

I’m sorry, sister, I can’t tell you where he is...”

One word alone rang in her mind, and stung at the tips of her lips until he was done speaking, and then, in this illusion of swirling murky blackness, did she think that she had at last understood what had befallen, and her wrath was sharp as the desperate harpoon that draws its master back down with it to the deep in the tangles of its rope:

“The Silmaril. Of course. That’s all you cared about wasn’t it?!”

Silent as the bottoms of the sea, she still somehow pelted the walls with cutting accusations, carelessly hurled, as if she had come only to display herself like the fool-fire of an anglerfish’s lure.

“He wanted to go back!” he countered, all white-hot-glaring necessity like a blinding magnesium flame, though it wasn’t his voice and it wasn’t his eyes, or his wild desperation brought on all fours, hair spilling to the ground like molten stone, an urgent star about to blow with a need for her to understand, but not in the least for his own sake, liquid diamonds begging on the ground:

“Makalaure said we should turn back. Turn ourselves in. Surrender to the might of the Valar… but I talked him out of it. If only because I no longer believed that this much was even possible… So we descended on the camp of the Valar, and slew the guards- and then...”

“And then what?” she cried, and her voice bore down like the pressure of the ocean.

“Then we knew our own wretchedness.”

He unfolded the long, sturdy fingers of his hand, like fate unfolded, or the shadows on a sundial, as as the blossom concealed within such martial petals, he showed to her a scar, as a charred fresh burn on the inside of his palm and the lower ends of his fingers.

He didn’t have a palm, or fingers, yet the scar was there, as material as the ancient walls themselves who were built here even before the Two Trees first bloomed, a monolithic, natural monument more than they seemed a feat of craft, and more so than anything else here.

His long-lost right hand was hanging over his knees, though he still favored his left out of sheer habit, all the marks, mars and irregularities that once dotted his arms, face and chest were gone without a trace alongside the flesh he was born with; Nonetheless, this one blemish had somehow remained, like some deeper evil continuously reasserting itself from within.

I hereby chose to desist from poking anyone.

#fanfic #baby tries to art #fanfic meme #fin writer game

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