renegadefolkhero

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Not much to report this week. At the moment I’m doing my best to look at the news only in small increments, and only according to a schedule I set for myself. To help keep myself sane, I’m thinking of picking up Final Fantasy XVI, maybe?

ETA: Because I was paying attention to other world events yesterday, I missed the big Pokémon announcement, which is that there's an upcoming new game called Winds and Waves whose fire-type starter pokémon is a Pomeranian named Pombon, and oh!!!!!!!! I am so in love ❤️

dorchadas

Have you heard the good news about French Final Fantasy X?

In late 2024 a trailer dropped for a game called Clair Obscur. We see a twisted Eiffel Tower, broken, with fragments still hanging impossibly in the air. We learn about the Paintess, who paints a new number on the Monolith every year and everyone older than that, turns into dust and flowers and blows away on the wind. I first saw the release date trailer back in January, and I watched it multiple times until the phrase "The Paintress Must Fall" would randomly play through my head. I bought it at full price, a week after release, something I never do with games anymore.

And then I didn't start playing until November because I was playing Vintage Story back in April. Oops.

When the game rewards happened and Clair Obscur swept them, I posted a meme with a screenshot from the game. "Game Awards? More like Festival de l'Expedition." That's around when I picked it up again after a couple weeks of playing Noita and getting mostly nowhere. And now, having beaten the game (but not all of the postgame, I'll admit), I can say that Clair Obscur--despite a couple major flaws--absolutely deserves all of the awards that it got and is one of the finest games I've played in years, so when you read the rant that occurs below just remember that it comes out of love and out of a wish that the game was even better than it was.

Also, there will be a ton of plot spoilers here. I'm going to put a warning down below before the part where I really get into it, but if you haven't watched the trailers and want to play the game totally blind, maybe come back and read this later.

Good thing it's not Expedition 67.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: impressed
Current Music: Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 - Une vie à t'aimer

anneapocalypse

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV
Rating: Mature
Archive Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Urianger Augurelt/Moenbryda Wilfsunnwyn, Urianger Augurelt & Moenbryda Wilfsunnwyn, Ardbert & Urianger Augurelt, Unrealized Ardbert/Urianger Augurelt, Pre-Urianger Augurelt/Warrior of Light
Characters: Urianger Augurelt, Moenbryda Wilfsunnwyn, Ardbert Hylfyst, Elidibus, Unukalhai, Tataru Taru, Minfilia Warde, Warrior of Light, Dewlala Dewla, Y'shtola Rhul, Yugiri Mistwalker, Thancred Waters, J'Rhoomale, Blanhaerz, Lamimi, Naillebert, Haneko Burneko
Additional Tags: Grief/Mourning, Angst, Religion, Isolation, Loneliness, Patch 3.4: Soul Surrender Spoilers (Final Fantasy XIV), Elezen Warrior of Light, Female Warrior of Light, Canon-Typical Violence, Guilt, Emotional Repression, Child Neglect, Childhood Memories, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Series: With Lilies and With Laurel
Length: 49,083 / 92,000
Chapter: 8/15

Summary:

Heartbroken after the loss of his dearest companion, Urianger labors to save two worlds in which he has never felt more alone.

Notes:

I've only just realized that the section breaks in recent chapters have not been showing up in Dreamwidth's html editor as they do in AO3's 😱 so I am working on going back and fixing that. (I'm not sure how far back that has been a problem.) I've been dealing with a lot of stress irl and I'm embarrassed not to have noticed there was a formatting issue! Apologies for any decreased readability. I'll try to keep a better eye out in the future.

If you're new here, please start with Chapter 1!

Final Fantasy XIV is owned by Square Enix. This is a non-commercial work of fanfiction.

( Read on AO3 )

( ...or below! )

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

vriddy

First K-9 fic I posted since the tags got wrangled :D Ooooh the delicious luxury of having the ship name auto-complete... 🫦 especially when it's long af XD

I guess I'm celebrating by creating even more character/ship tags haha. Hello hello, Eden cast! Welcome to AO3 ;)

To win your hand | K-9 | Ren/Oboro/Fujimaru/Kagari + one-sided Sasakura/Fujimaru | 2.2k words | rated T

Summary: Jin can sew himself back together, but he can't regrow a missing hand like some kind of lizard. Now, he has a choice: either get used to it, or go search for his missing limb. Easier said than done.

Read it on Dreamwidth or on AO3.

rynling

Step by Little Step
https://summerorigins.itch.io/step-by-little-step

Step by Little Step is a short visual novel made in Renpy that takes about three or four minutes to play. The game reimagines the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, with you playing as Orpheus and Eurydice being your recently deceased elderly cat.

The game is about coming to terms with grief and learning to let go, and it’s just the right length to get its message across without being unnecessarily sentimental. If it had been longer, I probably would have cried at the end, so I’m happy the creator devoted such careful attention to the craft of discussing a potentially sensitive subject. It’s a very sweet and well-considered little game.

It occurred to me that this story could never work with a dog, though. If you happen to be in the company of a dog, there is zero doubt that the dog is going to be next to you at all times; and, in any case, the problem would be that the dog is going to run ahead and look behind at you at least once every five seconds. But that’s a moot point, because dogs don’t go to hell lmao.

lassarina

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

vriddy

Community Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.

Over the last week...

Posted and commented on

bnha_fans.

Commented on

common_nature.

Posted on

getyourwordsout.

Current Mood: sleepy

catness

A challenge by Dreamersdare.

Challenge 4:

Make a Top Ten list for your favourite relationships in media and tell everyone what you love about them. This covers all kinds of relationships - romantic, sexual, platonic, professional, rivals, acrimonious, family, found family, something else not mentioned here. So, bring out your friends, lovers or enemies, whether canon or fanon. If it involves two or more people interacting in some way, it counts, so go wild!

Here is a link with more details, and to post the link to your answers.

I went with relationships between video game characters. Not romantic, but friends, coworkers, family, reluctant allies, chaotic duos. Not necessarily the best of the best (who has time for analysing and sorting all the games you ever played?), but each of these dynamics stuck in my head and it warms my heart in some way. The games are loosely sorted by most recently played.

1. Pokémon GO: Arlo and Candela
Okay, I lied. I totally perceive this as romantic, even though canon only mentions they went from friends and colleagues to enemies, and it's probably one-sided. But Arlo definitely cannot get Candela out of his head. There is tension, the unresolved rivalry, the bittersweet memories. I even wrote a poem about it for my Pokémon GO bingo challenge, based on Arlo's message to Candela.

2. Nine Noir Lives: PI Cuddles and his assistant Tabby
They routinely insult, mock, and prank each other. But when things get dangerous, they don't hesitate for a moment, but jump straight into trouble to save one another. Beneath all the snark, there's unwavering loyalty. I'm always into "we bicker constantly but I would die for you" dynamic.

3. OneShot: Niko and the Player
This one goes beyond characters. It's between the protagonist and YOU, the player. The game is heavily meta and breaks the fourth wall in a way that makes the connection feel intimate and personal. You're not just guiding Niko, but are responsible for her, and she's aware of you, relies on you and believes in you.

4. Randal’s Monday: Randal and Matt
Randal is rude, obnoxious, and openly kleptomaniac (like most adventure game protagonists, except he doesn’t even hide it ;) But behind the sarcasm and selfishness, he genuinely cares about his only friend. Watching him struggle through increasingly absurd and difficult challenges just to fix his mess and save Matt reveals the feelings of true friendship.

5. Rusty Lake: The Past Within: Albert and Rose
Albert is not a good person by any stretch. That's what makes this relationship so striking. His daughter Rose dedicates herself to bringing him back to life through elaborate and deeply unsettling rituals. And he trusts her with this impossibly sensitive task. It's disturbing and emotionally complicated.

6. Chicken Police: PIs Sonny and Marty
Two cynical former friends and partners with unresolved history. There's tension, sarcasm, and old resentment simmering under the surface. But when the case gets dangerous, they reconnect, and once again they're working in sync. The bickering never stops, yet the trust is still there.

7. Lair of the Clockwork God: Ben and Dan
A friendship built into the game mechanics. Ben is a point&click adventure character, while Dan is an action platformer character. They literally operate under different genres, yet they have to cooperate constantly to progress. I'd never believe it could work, but it works brilliantly. Watching them cooperate and compensate for each other's weaknesses feels both clever and wholesome.

8. LIMBO: The unnamed Boy and his sister
We don't actually see their relationship, but it's implied through purpose. The boy silently endures a terrifying, hostile world and countless gruesome deaths to reach his sister. He is incredibly determined, and his almost mystical journey is a message of love and devotion.

9. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons: the two brothers
They are inseparable. The player controls both of them, and they physically cannot stray far apart. Their bond is embedded in the game controls. Without spoilers, the ending is one of the most emotionally powerful and brilliant uses of game design I've ever experienced.

10. Portal: Chell and GLaDOS
They begin as enemies. GLaDOS taunts, manipulates, and repeatedly tries to kill Chell. (Not for personal reasons, but following her programming.) But over time, their dynamic evolves. There’s sarcasm, grudging respect, shared survival, and eventually, not exactly friendship but partnership and trust.

Current Mood: contemplative

rynling

Good Boy
https://longneckturtle.itch.io/good-boy

Good Boy is an adaptation of a super creepy urban legend that takes about three or four minutes to play. You take on the role of a young man preparing to turn in for the night, and you can explore and interact with everything in his one-room apartment. For good measure, you can pet the dog playing with a tennis ball on his bed as many times as you like before going to sleep.

In the middle of the night, the man wakes up to a strange scratching at the door that doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Rest assured that nothing bad happens to the dog, but the man might not be so lucky. I’m familiar with the story this game is based on, but the ending still managed to get me. Very nicely done.

rynling

Cassette Boy
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2334330/CASSETTE_BOY/

Cassette Boy is an isometric Zeldalike adventure game with Game Boy style retro graphics. It’s like a combination between Tunic (in its isometric Zelda-ness) and Fez, in that you can freely switch the perspective at 90-degree angles.

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The conceit of solving spatial puzzles by making objects “disappear” through perspective shifts is a neat idea, I guess, but I ended up returning this game for a refund.

chuckro

Sit upon the throne of the Varennes Empire and control several generations of rulers in a valiant battle against the Seven Heroes. This is the Android port/remaster of the SNES original which was one of the lost unlocalized games in that era, and the only one I haven’t played. (I played the fan-translation of RS3 and the PS2 port/remake of RS1.) I got it for $3 in a Play Store sale six years ago and decided it was finally time to get it off my backlog.

( Read more... )

Overall: It was fun to try this out and I got my original $3 worth, but it’s not great. I suspect that if you like the SaGa systems, the added plot to the full-3D remake version (“Revenge of the Seven”) will make this an overall fun experience for you, but I’m not going to bother with that.

dorchadas

This time it's a Mediterranean restaurant called Oasis Fresh, where I got a vegetarian platter. Basmati rice with dolmas on top, side salad, hummus, and pita. Simple and very good. The rice was much better than that place I got the boiled unflavored rice from (Assyrian...something) with no hummus. I added it to the "good" restaurant list and I'll remember it for the future, though I'm just bringing my lunch tomorrow.

Visited Laila in the hospital yesterday.

sashagee told me before I got there that Laila was energetic and chatty earlier in the day, but by the time I got there she was listless and half-asleep. I waited around for an hour but she never got any more energy, but this morning right when I was finishing my breakfast, I got a FaceTime and Laila excitedly showed me Ariel and told me about the wires coming out of her head, so she had more energy at least earlier today. We'll see if she has more energy when I go see her after work today--I saw some pictures that Poppa and Nana took when they visited and she was more subdued then. We'll see.

I've been slowly reading a book that's much more interesting than my slow pace would indicate, called The Son and Heir. The book starts with the author finding an SS uniform hat in their attic and then expands to the story of his family--Dutch in Latvia and owners of a business empire, the clashes between his father and his grandfather over heritage (his grandfather was very proud of being Dutch and his father wanted nothing to do with the Netherlands), the way his father ran away to enlist in the German army to fight the Russians... I'm halfway through the book and the author is three years old, but his father has already divorced his mother, been put on trial for being an SS members and gotten off after only ten months in jail, avoided being sent to South America, and married another (already-married) woman. The book is only half-over. Now that the setup is all over I wonder when we're going to get the author's reaction to all of this?

Computer is still working. It's been over a month now without a single crash and the only thing I changed is plugging some things into the USB ports. Maybe it really was a faulty USB connector. Well, it saved me $2000, so I won't complain. Of course, now

sashagee is asking for a gaming laptop so she can play Stardew Valley with mods, and Clair Obscur with the "disgustingly easy" parry mod. I've been looking around but I have no idea what a "mid-range" gaming laptop should look like so it's slow going. I'll gladly take any suggestions if anyone has any.

Current Mood: pensive
Current Music: Eastward - Silent Mist

rynling

It snowed on Sunday night all through Monday morning, so I got a nice snow day. I took the dogs to a nearby dog park that someone made out of an abandoned lot (bless), and I think they enjoyed themselves. My camera isn't great, but I managed to get a fun photo of the Pomeranian.

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dorchadas

Sidestepping the whole debate about what to call it[1], we went to the Lunar New Year parade and celebration on Argyle Street yesterday:

2026-02-21 - Argyle Lunar New Year Parade

We left later than I wanted to--we didn't get out of the house until 11:45 a.m. and didn't get down to Argyle until 12:15 p.m. We put in our name at Immm Rice, but when it was only twenty-five minutes or so to the parade we decided that even if we did get in we wouldn't be able to eat in time, so we tried stopping in at a bakery for some buns. The first one we went to had a cash-only sign that had been hidden by the long line, so we had to duck our and search the rest of the street.

sashagee spotted one on the way back run by an old Vietnamese man and got a couple buns for Laila and herself, and they ate them while we settled onto the side of the street to wait.

I wasn't expecting too many people to show up since it was -5°C with a biting wind, but the streets were still lined when the parade stepped off at 1:05 p.m. Laila had been complaining and wanting to go home for quite a while, but once the parade started all that fell away. She watched the lion dancers and the dragon puppets, watched the floats going on, and was very excited when one of the parade-walkers gave her a lollipop! She didn't complain once as we stood out in the cold, but we left a couple floats early so we could get into a restaurant. And a good thing too--we walked in, were immediately seated, and within ten minutes or so there was a giant line waiting for a seat. We ate--with a brief detour while Laila and I walked around outside because she was getting rowdy--and by the time we were done basically all the festivities had ended, so we just went home.

Next weekend is the parade in Chinatown, but we won't be able to go.

[1]: A few years ago there was a push to call it Lunar New Year instead of Chinese New Year, since more cultures than just China celebrate it. Of course now the problem is that e.g. the Islamic and Jewish calendars also have lunar new years since both calendars begin months on the new moon, so "Lunar New Year" is ambiguous.

Current Mood: cold
Current Music: Genshin Impact - Lantern Rite (2021)

rynling

(1) What’s the scariest moment you’ve experienced in a game?
(2) What’s your favorite urban legend about a secret area in a game?
(3) Do you play any collectible card games?

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vriddy

candyheartsex has revealed authors!! Another delightful round. Because the minimum requirements are so small (300 words for fic) and there are usually several hundreds participants, I decide to go mega self-indulgent and ask only for my rare polyships, in tiny (K-9) and larger (Wind Breaker) fandoms. And therefore I was SUPER DELIGHTED to get, guess what?? A gift for one of my beloved rare polyships :D :D :D :D 💖💖💖 *happy sigh* A delight, truly.

pile of five by

yesthisisnarumi | Wind Breaker | Sakura/Nirei/Suou/Kiryuu/Tsugeura | ~700 words | rated T

Summary: Akihiko wakes up in the middle of their bed and tries his best to find a way out.

Read it on AO3

Meanwhile I wrote two things :D :D One for a beloved BNHA polyship, and the other for K-9... I was so glad to have an outlet for some of my feelings over the fact that OBORO CANONICALLY GETS A COLLAR lol. This is probably the FIRST EVER K-9 fanwork in an exchange, too? >:D Mwahahaha

hardly an abduction | Boku no Hero Academia | Miruko/Dabi/Hawks | ~800 words | rated T
Summary: Dabi is injured. Miruko and Hawks take a risk to help, hiding in an abandoned shelter in the mountains.
Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

tailor-made | K-9 | Ren/Oboro/Fujimaru/Kagari | ~400 words | rated M
Summary: Oboro pretends not to make a big deal out of it when Hidaka hands him a collar.
But it is.
Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

Current Mood: happy

denise posting in

dw_advocacy

Now recruiting: DW users who would be interested in the possibility of helping us out in one of these legal challenges, now or future!

If you would be open to the idea of potentially filing something with a court talking about the ways that the restrictions that Dreamwidth would have to impose to comply with a specific state's law (commonly, obligations like age verification via document scan or biometric verification, treating users as though they're underage until/unless they age-verify, etc) would have a chilling effect on your online activity and speech, and especially if you're a parent who would also be willing to explain to a court all the ways in which a specific state's law would interfere with or burden your parenting decisions: we're looking to assemble a list of people we can contact in the future if necessary.

If this sounds like you, please leave a comment with what state you currently live in. (Also, commenting is not a commitment, just you saying that you would be okay with us reaching out to you and seeing whether you were available/able to help.) I'm currently most interested in hearing from people from South Carolina, but the ubiquity of these laws being proposed means any state could be the next. All comments are screened so nobody but us can see them.

(Obligatory risk considerations: you would have to file under your wallet/government name, and there's a chance of having to associate your wallet name with your DW username to at least the court and to the state, if not publicly. If this could be a problem for you, don't risk it! But if you're willing and able, us being able to show the court a sworn statement from one of our users about the effects the mandated changes would have on you could be very helpful.)

EDIT: Also I forgot to explicitly specify, this is for US folks! We do not unfortunately have the ability to get involved with anything outside the US.

rynling

( Read more... )

The theme of this week was executive function disorder. I tried every trick in my ADHD arsenal to overcome it, but alas. The only thing that will fix me is the end of this horrible winter.

anneapocalypse

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV
Rating: Mature
Archive Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Haurchefant Greystone/Warrior of Light, Alphinaud Leveilleur & Warrior of Light, Unrequited Minfilia Warde/Warrior of Light, Unrequited Aymeric de Borel/Warrior of Light, Pre-Urianger Augurelt/Warrior of Light, Alisaie Leveilleur & Warrior of Light, Warrior of Light & Thancred Waters, Y'shtola Rhul & Warrior of Light, Midgardsormr & Warrior of Light, Hydaelyn & Warrior of Light, Urianger Augurelt & Warrior of Light, Minfilia Warde & Warrior of Light, Ardbert & Warrior of Light
Characters: Warrior of Light, Haurchefant Greystone, Alphinaud Leveilleur, Urianger Augurelt, Y'shtola Rhul, Thancred Waters, Emmanellain de Fortemps, Artoirel de Fortemps, Edmont de Fortemps, Alisaie Leveilleur, Minfilia Warde, Midgardsormr (Final Fantasy XIV), Tataru Taru, Ardbert (Final Fantasy XIV), Warriors of Darkness (Final Fantasy XIV), Scions of the Seventh Dawn, Unukalhai (Final Fantasy XIV)
Additional Tags: Grief/Mourning, Survivor Guilt, Elezen Warrior of Light, Female Warrior of Light, Healer Warrior of Ligh, Angst, Suicidal Thoughts, Religious Angst, Depression, Patch 3.0: Heavensward Spoilers (Final Fantasy XIV), Patch 3.4: Soul Surrender Spoilers (Final Fantasy XIV), Canon-Typical Violence
Series: With Lilies and With Laurel
Length: 33,875 / 82,000
Chapter: 8/15

Summary:

A heartbroken Warrior of Light struggles to come to terms with loss, and the world she has been left to save.

Notes:

If you're new here, please start with Chapter 1!

Final Fantasy XIV is owned by Square Enix. This is a non-commercial work of fanfiction.

( Read on AO3 )

( ...or below! )

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

vriddy

I remembered an old fic snippet from yonks ago, a terrible BNHA fic called Plucking that I apparently already mentioned over 2 years ago hah. This used to be a stress relief fic in which Hawks endures a no good very bad time anytime I was having a rough time. In 2023 I was apparently staging a rescue for him since I felt better, but looking at the end it looks like that might have been an hallucination, whoops. I wrote "Post anon?" in the notes because I guess it is extremely heavy on whump and angst but heh.

Anyway, it didn't seem like it had been migrated when I moved to Scrivener so I went back hunting into my 4tw files. And wow I found some other stuff that also missed the migration. Mostly written 2022-2023 if I believe my tracking spreadsheet haha. See, when I started writing I had a directory per fandom which made sense in theory, except that then I wrote like 200 fics for BNHA including several multi-chapters, and 2-10 fics for other fandoms. Things got better organised in 2024, apparently (or more like I gave up and created a new directory called BNHA (2024)), and I was good at migrating existing WIPs into BNHA (2025) when the year changed but some stuff got lost in the pre-2024 reshuffle. Several seem like 60-90% finished :0

I checked other fandoms too and found maybe one or two mostly developed concepts for Mairimashita Iruma-kun which I haven't written for since 2021 and it's making me a bit nostalgic... I think I never ended up writing up a post about it, but this was a fandom I tried the "Save The Cat" outlining method for and it utterly broke my brain and the story. Beat sheets don't work well with how I think, it seems. BUT this also reminds me I should have handwritten notes for that full outline and I wonder if I could try to revive that story, too... Like it was a fake dating OT3 and I don't know how I tried to make fake dating work for 3 people!! Maybe I can salvage the heart of it and do something with it? I haven't watched the canon in years either, apparently I stopped watching the anime in the middle of season 2... but that also kinda makes me want to catch up!! Especially since the official Mafia AU also made me nostalgic for the original characters recently. Although I seem to have paused my manga reading for that as well. I think it might be common for me to kind of drift off with "episodic"-style series, but hey maybe that means it shouldn't be too hard to pick back up either.

Anyway I find myself with more ongoing WIPs than I expected!! I think it'd be cool to slap an ending on the ones that have a good chunk written already. There's a couple that are so nearly there for BNHA that I had to check if I didn't somehow post them without remembering, despite the unfinished sentences and couple of bits with brackets lol. [ first kiss description here ].