Been a fan of your fics for YEARS. I was just telling my friend how despite how much I read fics I never actually love them, with some of your fics (especially TMA) as the exception. Felt the need to reread some of them and saw you reblogged some ISAT fanart. So. Any thoughts on ISAT you'd like to share?
Hope you have a wonderful day!! So happy I found your fics again!!
I avoided answering this for a while because I was trying to think of a way to cohesively and coherently vocalize my thoughts on In Stars and Time. I have given up because I don't want to hold everybody here all day and I have accepted that my thoughts are just pterodactyl screeching.
I love it so much. I have so much to say on it. It drove me bonkers for like a week straight. I have AUs. It's absolute Megbait. They're just a little Snufkin and they're having the worst experience of anybody's life. Ludonarratives my fucking beloved.
I am going to talk about the prologue.
The prologue is such a fascinating experience. You crack open the game and immediately begin checking off all of the little genre boxes: mage, warrior, researcher, you're the rogue...some little kid who's there for some reason...alright, you know the score. You're in yet another indie Earthbound RPG, these are your generic characters, let's get the ball rolling.
Except then you realize that these characters are people. You feel instantly how you've entered the game at its last dungeon, at the end of the adventure. They have their own in-jokes, histories, backgrounds, adventures. They get along well and they're obviously close, but not in a twee or unrealistic way. They have so much chemistry and spirit and life. I fell in love with them so quickly.
But Sif doesn't. Sif kind of hates them, because they will not stop saying the same damn thing. They walk the same paths, do the same things, make the same jokes, expect Sif to say the same lines. They keep referencing a Sif we do not see, with jokes we never see him make and heroic personality he never shows - they reference a Sif who is dead - and Sif can't handle that, so he kills them too.
They become only an exercise in tedious frustration. Sif button mashes through their dialogue, Sif mindlessly clicks the same dialogue options, Sif skips through the tutorial, Sif blows through the puzzles. Sif turns their world into a video game. Sif is playing a generic RPG. Sif forgets their names. They are no longer people with in-jokes, histories, backgrounds, adventures. They're the mage, the warrior, the researcher, and...some random kid.
I did not understand the Kid's presence at first. I had no idea what they contributed to the game. They didn't do anything. As a party member in a video game, they're a bit useless. Why is the Kid there?
Because Sif's life isn't a video game. Because the kid isn't 'the kid'. They're Bonnie. Bonnie, who the party loves. Why is Bonnie there? Because they love them. There is no room for Bonnie in the boring RPG that Sif is playing. And then you realize that Sif is wrong, and that they've lost something extremely important, and that they'll never escape without it.
Watching the prologue before watching ISAT gave ISAT the most unique air of dread and horror, because you crack open ISAT and you see the person Sif used to be. You realize that Sif used to be a person. Sif used to be the person who made jokes, who gave real smiles, who interacted with the world as if they are a part of it. And you know you are sitting down to watch Sif lose everything that made them a person, to lose everything that made them a member of this world, and turn them into a character in a video game who doesn't understand the point of Bonnie at all.
At the climax of the game, when the others realize that something is deeply wrong and that Sif physically cannot tell them, they realize that there is nothing they can do. So Bonnie declares snacktime. And for the first time they have snacktime.
What is snacktime? Classic JRPGs don't have snacktime. There's literally no point to a snacktime - not in a video game, and not in Sif's terrible life. It's not fixing this, because nothing can fix this. But Bonnie gives Sif a cookie and Sif eats it.
It's meaningless. It's a cutscene. It didn't save Sif and it didn't change a thing. It will make no difference in the end.
But it did make the difference. It made all of the difference in the world. Bonnie is a character who you really don't understand the point of before you realize that Bonnie was the entire point.
ISAT is about comfort media. Why do we play the same video games over and over again? Why do we avoid watching the finale of our favorite shows? What is truly comforting: a story with no conflict, or a story where you always know what is about to happen? Do you want to live in a scary, uncontrollable world, or do you want to play Stardew Valley? Do you want a person or a character?
When I beat Earthbound for the first time (and if you don't know, the prologue/ISAT battle system is just Mother) and watched the ending cutscene where the characters part ways and say goodbye...I felt a little bit sad. I wanted them to be together forever. But that's something only characters could ever be.
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People are saying that Noah went through and felt the same things Will did, and that's why his scenes hit different now. I've seen posts saying that he wasn't acting in some scenes and that he really felt the same emotions as Will, or that he was able to give such a raw performance because he felt the same way as Will. I've seen things about how Noah must have felt awful because his character was the target of homophobes, so he felt like they were attacking him, too.
I think people are taking this too far.
Could Noah have felt Will's emotions on a deeper level than we all knew? Sure. But we don't actually know that. At the end of the day, Noah is an actor. He's an actor, reading from a script, playing a fictional character, and he knows that the story is fiction. He also knows that the homophobes in the show are wrong and end up being punished/ shown in a bad light on purpose. Noah is an actor doing a job, and he knows not to internalize the scripts and the words of homobobic characters. He's played multiple roles. Will wasn't his first role. He knows how this works. He knows the homophobia is wrong and incorrect, especially since they make that clear in the show. I doubt he grew up feeling as awful as Will did just because of the words in the scripts (in scenes he wasn't even there for). Please give him more credit than that.
Noah's scenes hit different because now we 100% know that Noah was really able to put himself into Will's mindset. We now know that Noah was really able to imagine himself going through what Will was going through while filming, and he could relate to being closeted and scared to come out as well.
That's all we know.
We don't know anything else. We don't know his experience. It's entirely possible that Noah went through the same feelings and emotions as Will did, that the words from homophobic characters did affect him personally, but until we get a confirmation that that's true (which might never happen, and that's perfectly fine), I think we need to stop assuming we know his experiences while growing up closeted.
So to say, "Noah wasn't acting here," is just wrong because he was acting in every scene. Just because he is able to relate to Will more than we thought doesn't mean he wasn't acting. Until we get confirmation that he wasn't acting (like how he said he wasn't acting in the shoot-out scene and that he was genuinely terrified), let's not assume anything.
Here's what we know: Noah is gay. He was scared to come out. He came out to his family and friends. They said they knew already. They support him. He can relate to Will as far as being gay and scared and his family already knowing.
Until he shares more or clarifies further, that's all we know so far. Let's not assume things he never confirmed about his private life. We're not owed information about his experiences growing up, and we don't have the right to paint a picture about his experiences when we don't know the truth yet.
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~Broken Dreams~
CW| Death, Swearing, Angst
I'm so sorry girlies
Osamu Dazai was fascinated with death. The idea of dying was ironically what kept him going, so why.. Why did it hurt so bad now?
The plan had been going smoothly like usual, with Double Black being sent on yet another mission to eliminate an enemy of the Port Mafia. It was just some gang, what could go wrong?
Everything. Absolutely everything.
"Whew! You didn't even have to break a sweat, Slug!"
Dazai taunted, a large grin on his face as he eyed the redhead. The redhead in question, Chuuya, was not so amused.
"Fuck off Mackerel."
There was a certain shine to Dazai's eyes when he was with Chuuya, something that had only appeared after the two had met.
Chuuya wiped a bit of blood splatter off his face before turning to walk away.
"Let's just report back to the boss-"
Before either boy could react, a flash of light shot past them.
A bullet.
The two turned around to see not only a new enemy in front of them, but all of the gang members that were previously dead had come back to life. Though, they didn't quite look alive. Something about them was unsettling and lifeless. Maybe it was the crooked way they stood or the fact that they retained the injuries that they had before.
The figure in the middle of it all, the new enemy, had this mysterious aura around them. The only real feature they could make out was the figure's height, the rest covered with a dark hooded cloak and silk gloves.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Chuuya exclaimed in annoyance, dreading not the upcoming battle, but the idea of having to deal with Dazai for longer than planned.
The figure said nothing, simply standing there.
A moment passed before the figure suddenly raised their hand to point at the two boys. This signal was clearly the 'go' command for the zombie-like gang members.
"Shit..."
Chuuya and Dazai exchanged a glance, nodding. It was their silent agreement on a plan.
Chuuya sighed in annoyance as he slowly discarded the gloves on his hands, taking a few steps towards the encroaching enemy. Almost as if a switch was flipped, red sparks began crackling around Chuuya.
Corruption.
The power reserved for last resort situations was finally coming out.
Dazai looked on with a grin, having no worries about the outcome of this battle. Any enemy was an easy kill for Chuuya's corruption and Dazai's ability was always there to bring him back to normal.
The battle went a bit longer than anticipated due to the ability of the mysterious figure, but it was still lightwork for Chuuya and Arahabaki.
Soon enough, the sight of blood and death returned to the alleyway they stood in. Dazai waltzed with a spring in his step over to the ferocious Chuuya, humming a tune as he gripped his shoulder.
Like usual, Chuuya fell into Dazai's chest out of exhaustion, leaving the two on the ground comfortably. Dazai chuckled, jostling Chuuya a bit as he flipped the boy around, presumably to look at his 'stupid' face.
"Jeez, normally you last longer before collapsing~"
Dazai teased, his clear innuendo falling on deaf ears as he wiped some residual blood splatter off of Chuuya's face.
Except.. Something was off.
Chuuya was normally more restless in his sleep, and Dazai could've sworn he'd wiped that blood off his lip already..
"Chibi?"
He called curiously, jostling him again.
The realization hit Dazai like a tidal wave, his eyes widening. More blood had poured from Chuuya's mouth as he was moved.
Dazai was shaking, an emotion he seldomly felt creeping up on him.
Panic.
His fingers darted to Chuuya's pulse, only confirming his fears.
Dazai didn't make it in time.
"C-Chibi..?"
The soft question echoed through the alley, emphasizing Dazai's uncharacteristic stutter.
"Chibi, wake up damnit!"
Dazai demanded, shaking Chuuya in desperation.
"Chuuya!"
...
"C-Chuuya.."
Then it came, the familiar feeling of wetness on his cheeks that he knew all too well.
It started of slow and quiet, small sniffles turning into choked sobs as Dazai repeated Chuuya's name to no avail. Soon enough, Dazai stopped shaking Chuuya and instead held him close to his chest.
Dazai Osamu was fascinated with death, reveling in the sight of it, so why did it cause such a painfully empty feeling in his chest? He didn't even like Chuuya.. Why was this so painful?
Dazai held Chuuya's head to his chest, burying his face into that pretty red hair. Chuuya's scent wafted up into his nose. It was a smell Dazai had grown to love, even finding it comforting. What was once comforting was now even more painful.
The sparkle in Dazai's eyes had faded, replaced by empty nothingness. Dazai felt empty, completely numb aside from the searing pain in his chest.
In place of a boy with ambition and a sick reason for living was now an empty husk. There was so much happiness he'd unknowingly linked with Chuuya, all taken away in an instant.
It was his fault.
That thought stung the most, that if he'd been just a little quicker, Chuuya would still be alive.
With a broken voice, he muttered into Chuuya's hair,
"Chuuya please.. Don't leave me..."
The broken cry of broken dreams..
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