#.... ?

[ningtual]

goodnight everyone ... life is so hard sometimes

[wamtorical]

The train journey to Windenburg for Elmer is silent. Neither Claudia nor the children dare speak to him, and all Claudia feels she can provide for her husband is the occasional worrying glance. At the very least, the children are more focused on the train journey and only Jemima is slightly wary of her father's state but too excited about experiencing the new and fascinating vehicle to care a whole lot.

Once they arrive at their destination, Claudia feels a sparkle of familiarity and warmth upon arriving at her old home; Elmer feels far from it. He just hopes his father isn't home.

Knocking on the door, a familiar face greets Elmer with delight. Denise Weatherspoon, who at the time when Elmer was living there was a maid in practice, had now blossomed into a mature young woman. Whilst she eagerly accepts his request to see Ethel - bowing for reasons Elmer cannot fathom but thinks has something to do with Henry - her brows furrow and she soon returns to a more professional stance, leading him through the manor as he reminisces on the times when he could memorise the layout of his old home from the back of his hand.

Jemima, Amos and Leroy wait outside of Ethel's bedroom, oblivious to the situation at hand. Still, Elmer prefers it that way - there was only room for 2 fussers. At the sight of his mother alive, Elmer exhales the breath he didn't realized he'd been holding. More than anything, however, Elmer feels guilt.

He immediately begins to choke out incomprehensible hiccups of apologies, heartbroken upon the sight. "Mummy, I'm so sorry, oh god, I'm so -"

"Oh, stop it bubby. You're here now." Ethel responds. Her voice is frail, much like herself.

"How are you?" Claudia asks.

"I've certainly seen better days, but I'm staying strong. Isn't that right Denise?"

"Yes, ma'am. Absolutely."

Hours that feel akin to minutes pass by and eventually Elmer asks his mother about the letter and why it arrived so late; she has no idea. Nevertheless, it brings Elmer relief that he's cleared it all up with Ethel so she doesn't think he was deliberately ignoring her.

"Ah, since you're here, I got ah, well, I have no use for it anymore - Denise, be a dear and get the painting would you?"

As soon as she hears the order, Denise rushes out of the room to retrieve Ethel's desired item. The two seem close and Elmer can only hope her need to be a loving motherly figure is fulfilled around the company of someone his age.

Though her dainty arms struggle to carry the weight, Denise soon places a painted portrait of a young Ethel Pence on the floor and admires the craftmanship, ogling it intensely despite the fact she sees it almost every day. Towards the bottom of the portrait is signed John C. in black ink and then right next to it, 1865. Elmer can do nothing but cry. He often forgets his mother was once a young girl like his wife, and the thought of how she turned out in juxtaposition to all of her ambitions and dreams she possessed back then brings an even more solemn mood to the table.

Bittersweet sadness envelops the room until a click of the door breaks it and dread starts building up inside Elmer.

📜 part 2 / previous / first

[hopeymchope]

Kazutaka Kodaka's "DEATH COME TRUE" starts with your character — a small young man in a hoodie named "Makoto" — waking up in confusion, initially unclear on where he is or how he got there.

So. You know. Kind of a familiar start.

For the uninitiated: Kodaka is the guy who created/wrote Danganronpa.

Yeah. Now you're getting it. These opening moments feel like an olive branch to everybody who played and embraced the first DR title.

Also, if you're a Danganronpa fan? Briefly skim through this trailer for DEATH COME TRUE featuring illustrations of each DCT character as drawn by DR character artist Rui Komatsuzaki in his signature style. SO COOL.

Makoto winds up having amnesia, which is clearly a beloved trope for Kodaka. And if I'm being honest, the whole "protagonist who wakes up with some level of amnesia, leaving them to suss out where they are and why" is a beloved trope for me as well. As I've learned what kinds of stories and media leave me most satisfied and/or engaged over the years, I've come to accept that I am, frankly, a sucker for that well-worn setup.

I'm obviously a sucker for Kodaka as well — his writing has produced BIG FAVES of mine and has yet to disappoint me. I adore and admire his GDC presentation on creating memorable characters, considering it rather inspirational. Though I sadly haven't experienced everything he's done (anybody wanna translate "School of Ragnarok" into English?), I'm obviously In The Tank for this "game."

HOWEVER... ! At the risk of outing myself as a Bad Fan®, I only finally played (er... watched?) DEATH COME TRUE just last night. In goddamn April 2023, almost three friggin' years after its initial release. See... I was aware that this is basically just an interactive movie where you make binary choices on occasion, and I was ALSO aware that it's short enough to be completed in one playthrough. And so, in spite of the writing pedigree behind it, I wound up holding out for a pretty major sale before picking it up. I saw such a sale like one or two weeks ago, so here I (finally) am!

Makoto wakes up in a hotel suite where he IMMEDIATELY sees a news broadcast that identifies him as a wanted serial killer, much to his understandable horror. He then finds a woman laying in the suite's bathtub that's either dead, asleep, or unconscious. While he's still getting his bearings, there's a knock at the suite's door, and you're thrown into making your first of many choices.

I rather doubt it's considered standard practice for the evening news in Japan to put jokey newscasters wearing loud suits in front of pastels to announce warnings about at-large serial killers. But hey, what do I know?

As I'd previously heard and read, you only "control" your character insofar as you select one of two binary choices at various points in a "Choose Your Own Adventure"-type way. This remains true until you're in the home stretch of the story, which is when they finally start bringing in some choices with more than two options... but those choices have less impact than the usual binary ones, so that expansion of the concept comes out as a wash.

This is a mystery story with murder as a major component, as is Kodaka's primary wheelhouse. The main story only takes about 2.5-3 hours to reach whatever is your ultimate ending (and there are really only two legitimate endings that aren't bad endings/deaths). Along the way, Kodaka fans will recognize a number of themes and concepts he's used over the years, but I won't spoil what they are. Some of them are reused in a straightforward fashion, while others are tweaked or mildly subverted from what you might've seen in his various Dangan tales. And if you're unfamiliar with Danganronpa? Then it's surprising and it's a little weird that you're reading this, but it's gonna make the story of this game much more surprising and twisty for you.

One thing you won't see coming: His swag.

That's not to say that a seasoned Kodaka fan like myself wasn't adequately surprised and engaged at plenty of points, though! I was worried that the "live-action choose-your-path movie" format would leave me less invested than visual-novel-style mystery game with more direct control, but in actual practice, I was UTTERLY absorbed. That's right: To the surprise of precisely no one, I strongly liked DEATH COME TRUE. And given that Kodaka was both the writer AND the director of this "movie," I was really pleasantly surprised by his skill behind the camera. (Though I don't talk about it very much on this Tumblr, I've long been a movie/filmmaking fan, so let me put on that hat for a minute.) There are some dramatic camera moves and angles that served to heighten my adrenaline/tension during key moments. And although I can't say for sure how much he 'directed' his actors, the cast is goddamn excellent. EXCELLENT. I found myself rewinding to watch their eyes and subtle movements in various scenes. The performances sucked me into the narrative just as much as the story. I'm a filthy American dork who doesn't consume much Japanese live-action media, so I was only aware of two of the actors in here from their relatively minor roles in American movies. Furthermore, I didn't know the lead actor, Kanata Hongō, from anything at all! But based on his performance here, I want to look up more of his work.

Chihiro Yamamoto is the only actor here who seems to think she's playing a Danganronpa character — for both better AND worse.

Did I feel ANY disappointments during my experience? One obvious one is the brevity of the experience: I would've been happy to spend twice as long with these characters in this world. But for something like $6-$12, it's satisfying enough. My only other two disappointments were: A) The ultimate "culprit" behind everything was too easy to peg. As soon as that character first comes on-screen, they struck me as the obvious culprit behind everything, so it's unfortunate that they wound up being that predictable. And B) There's one character/actor who is just deeply underutilized/unexplored. They provide a bizarre, fascinating presence that barely has any role in the proceedings, and by the time the ending reveals of the story roll around, I can't help but wonder how they fit into this story at all?

Don't take those gripes as anything major, though. DEATH COME TRUE is never gonna have a super strong place in my heart, but I spent those few hours entranced and will fondly remember them. ALSO: You unlock achievements and videos by experiencing as many deaths as possible, so there's actually a benefit to screwing things up! The videos include behind-the-scenes "Making Of" footage as well as the full-length takes of the newscasters who are heard in the background of the opening scene. It's the latter that's especially fun, because the performers clearly knew that they were recording material that would be muffled/obscured, and they have a good time getting weird with it.

It's hard for me to look over my death medal collection without imagining they're accompanied by death metal, because homophones amuse me.

Look: Kodaka has always been clear that this was a very quick project that was rapidly thrown together and executed before he settled in and focused on writing the scenario for Master Detective Archives: Rain Code. It's his baby, but it's also a side gig. With that in mind, the shortness of the experience is more understandable. It also means that you shouldn't expect it to have the depth of his other narratives/games. It's a Kodaka snack, not a meal. But this still a snack with a ton of nutritional value and flavor packed into its small size and minimalist packaging. Take a night to experience it. As long you don't pay full retail, I doubt you'll regret it.

[donttellhim]

⍙⊑??? ⍙⊑⍜ ⌇⋏⟟⏁☊⊑⟒⎅!!! ⊑⟒ ⌰⎍☊☍⟟⌰⊬ ⟊⎍⌇⏁ ⏃⌇⌇⎍⋔⟒⌇ ⟟⋔ ⌇⏁⟟⌰⌰ ⎅⍜⟟⋏☌ ⌇⏁⏃⏁⎍⌇ ⎍⌿⎅⏃⏁⟒⌇ ⏚⎍⏁!!! ⊑⟒ ⎅⍜⟒⌇⋏⏁ ☍⋏⍜⍙ ⏃⏚⍜⎍⏁ ⏁⊑⟒ ⏚⌰⍜☌, ⍀⟒⋔⟒⋔⏚⟒⍀??

[cyanidecornaceae]

ooc dont look at me ive never ooc posted here b4 i dont think

do lusmod blog??

yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :p

no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :p

Voting ended onFeb 19, 2024

[entoman-created-by-the-tallgreys]

think, I’m an Asshole Well ...

[ Not Fantasy Writing, dragon’s Come from Draco ]  

Keep In Mind you .. that’s right YOU ! Can become a dragon too or Anything in the Universe. if Yah Want. ... that is After Death. Gotta Suffer a death, no Matter what ya do, Death Need to Happen Before you can get Re-Newed 

Imagine if ya Was a dragon, and you Just Ate Haft a Town of People the Following Week the people see a Dot in the sky and then BOOM !!! a Giant Steaming pile of Molten dragon Sewage just hit the Ground like a Artillery Strike and Made all the other dragon’s in the area a Pointer to, where Not only food is But a Powerful female is in the Area ! 

and the Power is So Great is Like Dropping 10 Fully Grown Blue Hump Back Whale’s on the people Below you .... 

[ and the Shit it Mixed with female Estrogen  and Essence ... ] - ( i’m talking Pheromone’s ) - ( as in you Just Left your Mark ) 

so in Short .... you Conquer when your Not even Paying Attention .... 

Your So, High and Mighty even your Shit Kill’s every One and the Gas that Come’s off of it let alone the shit it self, Will kill the rest of the town Aka a Toxic Bomb ! 

and if you Can do Many, over n over You Can Call it a Carpet Bombing ! 

as you go back to your Lair you get to see that Odd Vision and feeling Going on Below you was right, yu just Shat on a Town Below you. and get them with Toxic Bombing. everything you senses and felt was 100% Correct ... and it’s a bit Funny. 

See ... Dragon Hood ! 

that your So high and Mighty that Just Shitting on a Town Below you is More then enough to Kill them all ! 

and Kill the Crop’s ! ... and the Cow’s .... and it can destroy a Wind Mill ...and Crash right threw the King’s Stone Castle ! and threw Every floor if you Drop itHigh Enough !  

... 

I’m Talking About 1 Part Only becuz .... Look at thsi Minor thing and the fucking Raw Power of it, Let Alone there Paranormal Understanding and there Science, there Magic’s thay Know and the fact of a dragon Bite ... Imagine if a dragon got Pissed off at you and tried to Bite you with Maximum Bite force ..... YOUR FUCKED ! Your Metal Shield is a Potato Chip ... if Even that 

Nope ! .... u Lose !!!! 

HARD !!!!! 😈 

[entoman-created-by-the-tallgreys]

Nothing, Ever Change’s ...

i really Doubt all of this fuckin Chaos the Gray’s Show Me ... thay Showed me the Pandemic but it Kill’s less mother fucker’s then a 🦟 thay Kill 1 Million people a Year. 

thay gray’s told me of th Pandemic and bla bla bla all of thsi chaos and doom n gloom and fiery shit and nuke’s going off and Giant Space rock’s raining on the earth and i’m like ... 🙄 What ever ... 

i Really Wished more data on the alien agenda and  Alien Hybrid Got Leaked .... out Live’s are shit. we didn’t want to be here and where Slave’s of a system, we didn’t Agree Too ... 

i Don’t Want any Money from the Gov, just to get the Data out. and even in a secret way ... So the world can see there fucking Agenda. 

All This, Pain ... all this Suffering all of this torment .... and the Damnation Never end’s 

Idk, wtf to do .... drug’s Can’t Hep me, Everything Human’s do is toxic to Me. 

i Wish, there where Hard drug, that would Kill me the Moment i Got Near the fucking thing’s ... but Human’s Have a M u c h Stronger System when we do. alot of the shit that will kill me n my Kin Has Little to No effect on them. 

i’ve tried drinking my Body Suffer a Hard time on it every Cell in my Body was dying and it was very toxic to me, even 5% Alcohol  

i Just Some one to Put me out of My Miserably .... but the Gray’s would Bring me Back ... 

👻+🛸=👶🏻  

i Can’t Understand this world .... 

and if you Show any Wound you are Called Crying .... ... you kno n the fuk’n pas people World Whoop Each other Ass for Rubbing Mutha Fuck’n Salt in the Wound ... 

Any Way, Back to the Point .... 

i Just Don’t Kno What to do ... don’t kno where to go, and Unlike Many i Can’t Survive in a human Populated area ... 

i Hard Enough just being around you Guy’s ... 

your So fucking alien in all of your Way’s ... it is Like a Christian being in hell .... or a Pagan .... as if thay just woke up or Where sent there by Bad Magic and there stuck there forever ... 

Maybe not the Christian ... but ya did noting wrong to Get there .... you just Ended up there and was Given a Bunch of bullshit od=f Dark Stuff was Going to Happen bla bla bla fuk’n Chaos and Shit .... ya Wait Year after year Wondering if it’s Going to Happen in the Long run you need to put up with all of the Human Asshole’s ... Wait’n for A or this fucking Glory Day and thay don’t come .... 

You Let the world Kno for it was ya Job but you gave them Maaaaabye more then the Gray’s Want’d ya to Give. 

ya still Waiting for this .... or These’s “event’s” and You’er Not Sure if there Going’a fock’n Happen already or Not ... 

i Kno all About to Not Be Impatient but FUK !!! 

to Haft to Wait your entire fucking life is insane ... and to in the end for it to be all In Vain .... i s so fucking Horrible i Wonder if the God dam fucking Universe is Just Going to Collapse ... the Level of Awful, the Level of beyond Hell Horror .... Would even Blow the Mind of a deity Apart ! 

[futaguccis-blog]

someone be kenji’s partner

pros:

tall