#the threshold

[staringatthesunset-things]

Sometimes I’ll just be going about my day, minding my business, and I’ll just randomly remember Janeway and Tom Paris having lizard babies in “The Threshold” and I just never know where to go from there really

[thethreshold-if]

Demo update: Chapter One part 1/3 is out

I’m very happy to announce that the first part of three of chapter one is out now! You can play the updated demo on itch.io. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Features:

Meet the people that are locked with you.

Choose if you study, work, or don’t do either.

Show your true identity or create a fake one.

Learn a little more about the “game”.

Decide what trial you’ll do.

Etc.

Coming up next:

Play and try to survive.

Die.

Get to know the characters more.

I’m very sorry for the length of the update. It’s very short, but I decided to divide the chapter in three so I’m at least publishing something. I’d like to continue with this format so I can get feedback before I get too far in a chapter. At least for now, since I’m very new to this, I want to take things slowly.

I was happy with the content when I finished writing it, but when I coded it I felt it wasn’t too good. I’m specially worried about the MC being too flat. I want them to be very customizable, someone whose background and personality isn’t set in stone, so you can roleplay more freely. Of course, there are many limitations, and sometimes I feel they can come off as boring. In the future, I want to pay attention to this, and see how I can balance customization and make them an interesting character at the same time.

Anyway, I’m open for your feedback as well. The purpose of making a demo, for me at least, is to be able to hear your opinions and change whatever I must to make it better. All the updates are subject to change. So feel free to send me not only bugs and errors, but also your subjective thoughts (link to the google form).

Lastly, I want to apologize for how long it took me to update the demo, and sadly the next update will also take some time. I’m starting college literally now and that is my priority. I will continue to work on The Threshold, of course, but the time I have will be way more limited than before. I hope you can be patient with the progress.

As always, the asks are open on my Tumblr page! Thank you for reading!! :D

[protography0]

"Threshold in Operation"

Fanart/pictogram/warning sign for 'The Backrooms' by Kane Pixels (and derivative works that feature the Threshold/Async). Made in GIMP.

No quite (yet) happy with that one tbh. Which I am sure happens with art. I am not even sure why exactly. There are aspects of this I *do* like though. Overall, this was still a great exercise and another opportunity to make a new kind of danger/warning sign type graphic.

I used the backrooms-yellow again and also used the red I used in the "Pitfalls" fanart, instead of the proper yellow and red primary colors.

I am seriously considering trying to get into Blender to turn these into stickers, posters or signs and make them available for people to download and use in their (fan-)videos or (fan-)games for The Backrooms. I'd likely remove the Async-A and maybe use primary colors instead of the ones in this piece, but aside from that, it would make sense. (Plus it would be a great opportunity/incentive to finally learn the program lol.)

(original draft made on Sept 2nd 2024)

[writing-for-life]

hello hello 👋 your post about dream & desire reminded me of something i wanted to ask: why is desire's realm called the threshold? the other domains of the endless seem to have fairly straightforward titles... perhaps i am overthinking? 🤔

i don't know if you have an answer to this, or if there even is a proper answer to begin with, but i figured it might be worth a shot since you're the Sandman Scholar of tumblr 🙏

First of all: I’m blushing, thank you so much. No pressure to get the answer right then 🤣

Apart from giving you my own take on it, I had a look first if there are any interviews etc that directly go into this. And I found two references.

This is from Hy Bender’s Sandman Companion (it reads a bit odd in hindsight, just as a disclaimer):

THE THRESHOLD AND THE DREAMING

HB: Following the prologue story, we meet the androgynous Desire for the first time; and we learn Desire lives in a giant replica of its body called The Threshold.

Where did that come from?

NG: I stole the name from a story Clive Barker planned to do that included me as a character, but that he never wound up writing. The story featured a realm of pain called "The Threshold," which I thought was a nice name for a place because threshold contains hold, meaning a home or fortress. And I came up with the idea of Desire residing in its body because I decided desire lives under the skin.

The other reference is from Leslie Klinger’s Annotated Sandman:

The "Fortress of Desire" recalls Superman's "Fortress of Solitude," which itself was preceded by Superman's “secret citadel”, mentioned as early as Superman #17 (Jul-Aug 1942). The Fortress of Solitude was first mentioned in Action Comics #241 (June 1958).

That on its own is also interesting, because the Endless are all lonely—they just deal with it differently (some better than others I guess 🫤).

I always have to think of this one in this context:

That’s my girl Hope calling out Desire on their BS in exactly the same way she already called out Dream. [Again, they make me ill; I want to throttle these two numbnuts and then force them to hug it out!]

As for my own thoughts:

First of all, “threshold” makes me think of being on the verge or boundary of something. Desire, as a concept, constantly operates at that edge: Wanting, yearning, longing all have the potential to be fulfilled, but there could also be frustration/disappointment at the end. So by calling it the Threshold, it makes me think of being on the brink of attainment, and it could go either way. That only falls away when we get what we want or give up.

Also, and that’s more to the point of the Threshold as the place where D/desire lives: They can live there, but mortals can’t, because desire is striving, not staying. So it’s a place we strive to reach, but we can’t inhabit it (for lack of better term). Desire is transient. If we want something, we focus on the act of getting it, or if we finally do, experiencing the desired object or state. But once we have it, the longing disappears, and we either move on or wait until satiety is replaced by want again. And the Threshold is both a threshold and this vast empty space because it cannot be permanently inhabited, only crossed?

Then there’s obviously also the whole metaphorical thing around the Threshold being a Fortress of the Self: It’s made of flesh and blood, with Desire residing in its heart. Ultimately, all desire is rooted within the individual. The source is internal even if the focus of our desires is external. The Threshold is a monument to want, but ultimately, it’s also fairly empty because desire is transient. It strikes me as a commentary on the rather unsatisfying nature of desire: Once we have what we want, the longing stops, and it has the potential to leave a void that can only be filled by a new want. And the Threshold marks the boundary in the cycle of wanting and lack of lasting contentment maybe? It’s ultimately empty…

So if I had to put it in a nutshell, “Threshold” represents a liminal space, the boundary between wanting and potential satisfaction of that want. The constant state of being on the edge of fulfilment, but not actually fulfilled. Because it drives us, and that’s very powerful—but only as long as we don’t cross that threshold.

Not sure if I put this into words very well, but I hope it makes sense?

@vivisectrix ask answered

[lifeinpoetry]

I feel the desire to pray. I don’t know whom to address.

— Iman Mersal, from "As if the world were missing a blue window," The Threshold, tr. Robyn Creswell

[brontios-helm]

Destiny 2: Long Gone Perch

[haltandcatchfiretothemax]

[arinewman7]

The Threshold

Martin Llamedo