#va11-hall-a

[namedr]

[wealthyfishmonger]

sumn I did recently that I never posted. played va11halla for the first time around two weeks ago (?) and I've been obsessed with a couple of the character designs. so I present to you, Jilliam Stingraymond.

[mauledmochi]

I’ve had this game for a few years, but never sat down to play it and I don’t know what I was waiting for honestly. VA11-HALL-A is such a fun cozy game and I’m really enjoying the characters and story!

[burstfoot]

Considering Lowlight's previous history with GFL, I would be so excited if Sukeban gave another run at gacha collabs and decided to do another VA11-HALL-A one with Arknights... I mean, Stella's design is straight out of Terra already!

Would be a great excuse to go back to Lungmen again like we did with with the Xiao Hei event... & the storytelling device of being centered around a bar in one of Terra's cities could be so fun!

[whoaffle]

(VA11-Hall-A spoilers)

I actually really like how in VA11-Hall-A the developers decided to make Jill both still in love with Lenore and at the same time pretty much obviously having a crush on Dana... And that is NOT a plot point, or even mentioned or questioned at any moment!

I mean, it’s so human and normal... And yet it’s something that out hetero-normative (and monogamic) society hardly ever acknowledges without at least a little bit of shaming or moral judgement!

Jill has lost Lenore, and by that I mean that even BEFORE she finds out about Lenore’s death, she has already lost her. It’s been three years she hasn’t seen her and she can’t bring herself to apologize and make amends to get back with her. And then, as the story progresses she finds that Lenore is now dead. So yeah, Lenore is officially not a part of her life anymore and she will never get back with her. But she STILL states more than once that she still has feeling for her, and even after finding out about her death, we can still see how much Jill loved her, and how much it still hurts her, and how much she’s still in love with her even though she’s gone.

BUT it’s also heavily implied that she likes Dana. And that’s so awesome in my opinion! I mean, she has a crush on Dana, Alma mentions how she takes several pics of Dana every day, and also how her attitude changes when she’s with Dana, how she brightens up and all... Sei (If I remember right) also notices how she “breaks her persona” when talking about how much she admires Dana... She has a pic of Dana on her wall (even though it was a joke gift from Dana herself) and her phone wallpaper is a pic of herself and Dana.

And honestly, I think the way Alma is written regarding these relationships is so good. Alma is basically the one character who (in part due to being a hacker but in part due to being close to Jill and also to being really smart) knows about both women and Jill’s feeling for them. And Alma doesn’t judge her! Alma knows about Lenore, about how Jill still loves her and how she regrets not having talked to her before she passed... And Alma knows and keeps talking to Jill constantly about how she has an obvious crush on Dana, even though she denies it. But she’s fine with it! She’s never like “hey you have to pick one” or “hey move on from Lenore already, focus on Dana since I know you like her”... But most of all, there’s no “Oh, sorry I thought you liked Dana but since you have feelings for Lenore, then that means you obviously don’t because you couldn’t like both.”

Because she CAN like both! And that’s what’s so cool about it! It’s the acknowledgement that a person CAN have these feelings for more than one person. And that’s not only great for all the polyamory acceptance and all, but in my opinion it’s also good for creating healthier closed monogamic relationships too. Honestly I think it’s so important that people understand that “having feelings” is not the same as cheating and that crushes and attraction in general are NORMAL and not something that a person is doing to purposefully harm another or because they are BAD or UNFAITHFUL, like... Wow, guys, it’s FEELINGS. It’s not just... “I picked a person and now I’ll never have feelings for another person”. That would be impossible!

And yeah I know that Jill is NOT actively representing any sort of polyamory or open relationship because she’s no longer with Lenore and not (yet?) with Dana, but I think it’s a great deal that she isn’t JUDGED (either by other characters or by the authors) for having these feelings. She’s not forced to make a choice (though yeah, the choice is made for her, since Lenore is gone), her feelings are not shamed (far from that in fact), no one is visibly confused or offended by her feelings, no one acts like the fact she has those feelings is a problem... And yeah, it’s very subtle, sure, but that’s also great in my opinion. It’s just... no one makes a huge deal out of it.

We have a main character who has a crush on her boss while still being in love with her ex, and that’s just normal. That’s no big deal. That’s just every-day life. That’s not cheating. That’s not a moral flaw. That’s not the POINT. I like that! I really like that. I think it’s very human and very normal and very healthy (despite all the unhealthy feelings and actions and reactions Jill has about Lenore, of course). But I think it’s healthy that we have a character with feelings like that and it’s no big deal.

(I overall really like how the characters are written in this game, and how human they are, this is a really good slice-of-life narrative, the fact that they have a catchy and interesting plot with a climax and conflict resolution without having any sort of “problem solved”, the fact that life just goes on.... the fact that the bar is gonna close and that’s how it goes. The fact that you DON’T find out what’s up with Gil. The fact some characters show up one or twice and just leave and whatever, that’s how it is. The fact that there is no “and they got together in the end” plot, neither for Alma nor for Jill nor for Sei and Stella (who may or may not be a couple)... Even Gil and Deal who get girlfriends in the end, it’s really no big deal, it’s not a plot-point. A lot of things just happen and that’s it and at the same time it’s really interesting. I like it.)

[kawaii-justice]

When you desperate for merch you make your own.

(If people want I’ll upload the image I made as a download so people can make their own posters.)

[weeabro-art]

Time to mix lives and change drinks!

[skajador]

i like that VA11-HALL-A has an achievement for making the jukebox all 1 song, but consider:

a Salt and Pepper Diner achievement for making the jukebox all 1 song except for track 7

now also consider, that Dana Zane would probably find the concept of doing this unreasonably funny. Dana Zane did this on Day 1 of VA11-HALL-A and that’s why they have no customers.