#winter rambles

[winterpower98]

DISCORD IS DOING SOMETHING REALLY STUPID AND I NEED YOU TO LOOK AT THIS ARTICLE

Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month

Age verification for all.

If this pissed you off as much as it did me, here's what to do: Call and/or email them and tell them how mad you are about this

[thequeenofthewinter]

You know what the most wonderful thing about this Hellsite is?

That for the most part this website is a celebration of writing and art, poetry and painting. That you can make or do anything you want about pretty much anything you want, and there is someone out there on the other side of the screen who will cheer you on. That I can make friends in England or Ohio, Canada or the Philippines, who share the same interests and that continuously inspire and challenge me. That there is such diversity and richness in the people who are here that choose to share the unending splendor inside of themselves.

Every single one of you is beautiful. You contain worlds inside you, and I almost can’t believe that I, too, get to be a part of it.

[winterwhisperz-blog]

My thoughts on the TS preview:

hiiii okay so !! Since the ts preview has come out on Patreon I thought I’d give my thoughts :] please be aware of spoilers below and also, these are just my opinions, so take them with a grain of salt.

———

Let’s start with my main concerns so we can end on a positive note!!

1: the pacing.

Now, I’ll start with the thing most talked about: the quickness when it comes to the romances. Each character, even ones like Vere or Mhin, jumpstart the progress of the relationship faster than I had expected, which gave me a liiiittle whiplash.

But here’s the thing, I’ve played a loooot of romance games. My first one was Arcana! Where we can have a relationship break-up before you’re even officially together.

I kinda understand that the quickness of relationship progression was just apart of the romance game formula. Which makes sense especially when you’re in a visual novel format and not like— a game similar to bg3 or the interactive novels that can spread out through the span of multiple books.

So it was a lot easier for me to brush that off, especially considering that the full game has been said to be only around like ? 5 chapters ?

Now other visual novels, even confined to shorter time, can still take a slower approach. (Example being: Obscura. Ohhh don’t even get me started on that masterpiece—)

But I understand that’s not the approach every visual novel will, and has to take. Which means that I won’t be taking this criticism into the full game, and instead will keep my eyes on how they choose to continue the romance.

My bigger concern (which is probably not that serious) is that all of this will be over wayyy too quickly, without giving us any time to breathe.

Arcana, despite the quickness of the romance, still allowed the story itself to breathe and let you have fun. I hope that will be the same with Touchstarved. Especially since there won’t be any longer scenes locked behind a paywall.

2: the MC

To be completely honest with you, I’ve never liked the TS mc hshshshshs— when I first played I was like “I would NOT say that” and they have annoyed me more than once. But again, I’ve played a lot of romance games, I’m so used to just going “well this character would actually say this instead.” I’ve put my not-stick thin pale girl ocs into MYSTIC MESSENGER AND OTHERS OKAY THIS ISNT MY FIRST RODEO

But I can understand that this can still take people out of the story, and any criticisms of Mc is valid. I just don’t personally mind too much. (Not everyone can be a Vesper okay 😞)

For me, it will all depend on how the mc is written throughout the entire game. If they have development, if they have more agency, if they will be able to prove why THEY are the mc.

(Like how arcana MC was able to grow more confident, use their powers to defeat the devil. How Last Legacy MC was able to progress into a moreeee leadership type role)

One thing I’m actually worried about, and have seen become more prominent— is that the writing itself has been shaved down to what feels like, sometimes, the bare bones.

If you’ve had the previous backer updates, you’ve seen the writing process. And a lot of it!! Isn’t even re-wording to better the flow, but just simply cutting it done until it goes beyond just being concise, but restricted. Bare.

This is a visual novel, which means the descriptions should be allowed more space. I want to see the character of this writing to shine! I hate when personality and character and depth is sacrificed for the sake of what is excused to be *conciseness*

If you’re a writer, you’re familiar with the three C’s and know that being Concise is one of them. But it’s not to sand down creative expression until a colorful paragraph is one, shiny sentence, it’s there to smooth over messy wording, to trim!! To trim lengthy paragraphs that go on longer than they need to.

It was disheartening to see this process take over the demo in the update, and it was a bummer to see it continue in the previews. I feel like the team has been limited to what they can say, what they can have the writing express.

I also fear that they have let some of the fandom tooooo sweeten the horror? Like when they said in the demo update that they ‘gave vere something to eat so he wouldn’t be so bloodthirsty’ so it would be harder for him to kill you. NOOOOOOOO !!!! That’s what shocked me !! What brought vere into my attention !! I thought it gave proper consequence, it served as a preview into what choosing vere would entail. Murder. Risk. Caution while also knowing when to choose boldness.

So I do worry that they will be holding themselves back from what they originally intended for the game. I want it to be a romance, yes, but I’m also here for the horror.

My biggest concern is that the team has been held back ever since the demo first came out. I worry that they have split from the cooperate hold and restrictions just to bring with them the lingering uncertainty that mindset planted in them.

I want to see this game be its truest self, even if it unsettles people, even if it’s not what some people want it to be. I want to see what I signed up for: monster horror and messy, bloody, often disturbing romance.

I really, truly love this game. Despite the flaws and concerns, I’ve been blown away by the art and the characters and the world this team has so lovingly crafted. Im in love with the lore, the music, the promises. The relationships between the cast, (Vere and Ais, oughhh they’re such a mess…) the backstories I can’t wait to see fleshed out.

I still trust these writers, and I’m proud of them for achieving their goals and for doing what they do to bring us this passion project.

So that’s why I hope they won’t be held back and will take their time to bring us what they truly envisioned. Because even with the flaws I’ve stated before, I still had a blast playing each chapter. I thought they were fun, intense, and exciting.

It also felt pretty ethereal at times— like with the music— hello— the scene where you’re with Vere and walk by all the statues—

So yeah :] those are my messy thoughts. You definitely don’t have to agree with anything I’ve said here—especially since a lot of it has boiled down to me having a different perspective and expectations for romance games in general. But yeah !! Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day !!

[whatsleftofdishaa]

Insaan ki g***masti toh dekho, acha bhala gufa mein bethke aag sek sakta tha par ise evolve hoke itni thand mein kaam pe jana hai.

[vesperalities]

no matter how cold outside, a tangerine always makes me feel cuddled and comfortable

[alittlebitgoofy]

listening to one of the boys…who the fuck would fit a thinking of you songfic

also waking up in vegas briathena would go CRAZY

[iphoenixrising]

That YouTube thing I did

I don't think I ever shared that time I was asked to talk on a Podcast about fanfiction writing and hanging out in a fandom. At first, I was very nervous about sharing my real name and face and stuff, but I figured if my kiddo found it eventually, she would hopefully be old enough to write in her own fandom.

(Spoiler alert: kiddo is going to be twelve at the end of this month and is writing and reading Marvel fanfiction. I'm so proud I can't stand it. Chip off the old block and all that.)

So, I went on a podcast named Trauma Bondage. We do talk a bit about writing and fandom interactions, but then the conversation devolves a bit into kinks and such so, if you don't want to know more about me than you read in fics, probably don't watch this, but you can check out the video here.

[little-blurry-stars5]

i have been thinking about this for weeks and i NEED to put i somewhere ok

sophie foster is not a well written character.

for one, she grew up with humans for over half her life, and she was a mindreader. violence makes her nauseous my ass. she grew up in the USA, the holder of the highest number of suicides and (as of now) school shootings. these def weren't as common then as they are now (shes a 2000-2012 kid fight me) but still. also, i hate this sm, why is she written as innocent? she was 12 and a high school senior who could read minds. ur telling me all those high schoolers didn't have a single dirty thought? no way should she be blushing at js the thought of sum1 liking her. she probs saw horrors unlike any others in those highschooler's minds.

shannon barely conveys that sophie was raised by humans other than her seprate world veiws and unknowingness of the elven world. where's the slang? the random movie quotes? the being shocked at random, tiny things? where's her human culture? its all missing. and its smth that grates on my nerves.