#yay progress

[chairoses]

girl yapping about her day 🤝 guy combing her hair while listening

[malkon-dova]

EOTE + Outer wilds PROGRESS

Outer Wilds- Echoes of the eye DLC liveblog |Spoilers ahead! | Please no hints + tips if commenting!!! I have a friend who's already helping me where I need it :)

addendum: sorry for not updating this in a bit! i've been so ridiculously busy- i havent been able to play eote whatsoever bc i was graduating and settling back home!! i now have a bfa in graphic design with a minor in fine art and art history teehee :) Either way, bc im unemployed- i have more time to play and update this blog, hooray!

okay heres the actual live blog part

I FINALLY.

MADE.

PROGRESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oH MY GOOOODDDD I'M SO HAPPY I WAS ABLE TO PROGRESS THROUGH THIS GAME-- since last i left off, i got my fair share of spooks from the strangers in Endless Canyon, and that really shook me and my up.

ngl, i was so so close to calling it quits bc of the spooks, even in finally deciding to turn on reduced scares- i didn't feel good at all playing and navigating the stealth sections :( which sucks!! I love the game! i love the puzzles! i love figuring things out and exploring- its what made me fall in love with base game! but the spooks? i get absolutely nothing out of it, no thrills, no satisfaction in success, just- misery :(

and then my friend Aeter told me that there are alternative routes for each area, ones that a relatively non stealth.

oh my god. i cannot describe the joy i felt in learning this

so after i being given some hints (verbatim below) i decided to re-explore the canyon without the lights off and rediscovered the route to the canyon docks. A-ha!

You need to get to the other side to go down to the ground floor of the mansion. How do you get to the other side? Why do you need to open the bridge, anyways?

so- the answer here is pretty clear: for me to go this alternative route and not have to make the bridge- i have to 1. have the lift brought down at the docks 2. turn the lights off 3. boat from a different tower

slightly convoluted but ill do anything to avoid dealing with those fuckers yknow

i revisited starlit cove and shrouded woodlands again as well as to better plan out my route- since i had to switch towers and i only had so much time. i chose starlit as my boating tower as reaching the docks was the easiest and the canyon was directly after it- plus i would be afforded more time within the tower since it only fully breaks at the end of the loop when the music plays. this ends up being the smart choice considering what i discover within this pathway

anyways! i launch the plan!!! speedrun time :) clearing endless- dropping the lift and turning the lights off before quickly throwing myself into the water. i then run to starlit, make the dock and travel to endless- dash into the building, run past the stranger into the lift [i was warned about them before hand] and..

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO???????????? OOHHHHHHH YMMMMYY GODDDDDDDDDD YESSSSSSSSSS OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BANGING MY FISTS ON THE TABLE!!!!!!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!! ARCHIVE!!!!!! ARCHIVE!!!!!! INFO!!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! <333333

and hey !!! look at that!!! a tablet :D perhaps a code for the vault!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :DDD

AND YAY! LORE!!!!

so its all a projection! i knew that this realm wasn't real or anything since if i get my fire blown out or i get my spine snapped by a stranger (yes i got that achievement) - i wake up all fine, but i didn't know the exact mechanics behind it. woaw!! :)

so the strangers made a projection of their home moon and strapped themselves in the towers for eternal sleep? but also they use it to imprison someone/something?? considering the locks. i mean. this is adding onto a previous assumption but considering they have this secret area to preserve the slides and some info- this only feeds the idea that the towers all ultimately serve to conceal, suppress, yet protect the most important knowledge they have (in the prison).

but its a matter of what they're hiding. the most i can assume is that its related to the eye of the universe and learning the truth of its nature. maybe they concealed someone so that they could eventually play a role in passing the strangers' knowledge and being to the new universe through playing part in its rebirth? shrug

anyways, there's another slide to look at!

and it's an error report ! huh, so- these artifacts tether us to the simulation huh, and if we step outside of the range, things break? okay well, ought to test that out:

:O

DEBUG MODE!!!!!!!!!

THERE'S A DEBUG MODE HAHAHHAHAHAH

I can't believe i couldve found this out at any time, ive put down my artifact so many times, ive just never gotten far enough out of range, oh my god!! oh my god!!!!!!!!! OHH!!!!!!

AND THERE ARE INVISIBLE PATHWAYS!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD !!!!!!! A WHOLE NEW GIMMICK!!!!!!!!! HAHAHHAHAHAH

also boooo >:( code got scrapped into oblivion >:((( fuck you

anyways, in finding this gimmick and the hidden archive, ive completed endless canyon!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYY

shrouded woodlands is next! debug mode + reduced spooks makes things so much easier- i feel so happy in being able to play this game without my heart feeling like its going to explode!!!!!

i also did scout out shrouded woodlands a bit before wrapping up the session in debug mode, watched a bunch of strangers file into the ground and into the building where all the music seems to be coming from, proceeded to get stared down by 5 of them before my spine got promptly snapped. youch!

luckily when the strangers look like 2 pixels, things are a lot less scary :))!!! im bound to go into that building again later on, gonna see if i can get in before the strangers do so i can explore more :D!

but going off of the info slide for shrouded, i do know i need to follow a "precession of lights", cross a bridge, and walk through a fire in order to get the info for the tower. hopefully a code or two? who knows.

and lastly: heres the ship log! so happy to have made progress!

so uh!! stay tuned for next time :) hoping to get this game done soon haha

[babymorte]

finally ate more than just a cup noodle

[socialanxietypersonified]

My second attempt at baking. I'm pretty satisfied with this one. The cook book said its called Spanish cake, but who knows really?

[mugmegan]

translated the entire troy saga so things look promising now. I guess I just needed to get used to the editing software I was using. I can probably complete this little project of mine in a few months if things keep going this way

[meg-noel-art]

This was a twitter thing for the end of 2022- but I wanted to toss it up here too!

[pujjel]

epic redraw 2023 vs 2020

[thatsamoodrightthere]

KinnPorsche episode 7 bathroom scene

All week I've been planning on writing out a full episode analysis but the last few days have been unexpectedly rough mentally, so I'm just going to analyse the bathroom scene and see if any of it makes sense because my brain is a dumpster fire right now and this could all be rubbish. Yet again this is a beast of a post, I almost dread to think what a full episode analyse would look like. This show being what it is I'd say apply all trigger warnings just in case.

Vegas is once again being a creepy shit, while trying to come across as really nice and helpful. He's all for taking advantage of Porsche while he's intoxicated, which seems to be a theme I've got to say, now I've never read the novel and don't intend to but what is it with Vegas? Is he not capable of getting a willing partner so he's resorted to drugging people or preying on drunk people? I am really not liking that this prize parasite is supposedly the one for Pete but that's a tangent for another post I reckon.

So he's making a show of being helpful to Porsche, getting him out of his wet shirt and sort of half heartedly drying his chest off and kind of out of nowhere he kisses Porsche. Whose facial expression mimicked my words watching the episode, what the actual fuck. Porsche is drunk so he's not hiding any of his facial reactions at all, it's instantaneous discomfort and he's visibly confused because again for him this has come out of absolutely nowhere.

As well as the visual cues the viewers get of Porsches face, his body immediately responds, and not how Vegas wants it to. Porsche curls sideways and away from Vegas and his arm comes up between their necks and shoves outwards trying to gain enough distance to get a decent foothold. Vegas is pushing Porsche practically on top of that counter, it's a disadvantage but Porsche also brings one of his legs up between them as another barrier to Vegas. Literally everything about Porsche's body is screaming 'I do not want this' and while he's not yet at the point of fighting to get Vegas off of him, he's trying to show that the advance is unwanted. Normal people would read that reaction and back off while apologising profusely for the misunderstanding but we have already established that Vegas is a vile bastard and he keeps pushing that unwanted advance with complete abandon.

Thanks to Pete keeping Kinn updated on Vegas being overly friendly with Porsche, Kinn is already on his way while this whole bathroom scene starts. It's been a pretty tough transition for Kinn this episode, he's recovering from being shot, has had no choice but to lend Porsche out to the minor family, had a tense conversation with his father and he knows Vegas is making a play for Porsche so he's already angry before he gets to the bathroom. He storms in like a threatening storm, with the absolute boss energy to match it. He rips Vegas off of Porsche like his weight is nothing and throws him across the room courtesy of one hell of a deserved punch. Kinn's got his gun out and pointed at Vegas in seconds and I'm not gonna lie I really want someone, anyone I'm not picky, to shoot Vegas in the dick so I was a bit disappointed that didn't happen but you know I live in hope.

Kinn's voice from the second he entered that bathroom was probably the 'strongest' we've heard in this episode, you can audibly hear his rage and he's using that power in his voice to absolutely dominate everyone in that room and it visually works. Even Vegas, the creepy shit, isn't unaffected. Kinn is aware that Vegas wants everything that Kinn has, including his power and position so everything that Vegas has done is a subtle power play or has an element of it. Vegas responds to Kinn's command in that bathroom with as much disdain and helpless disrespect as he possibly could while having a loaded gun pointed at him, he slaps the gun away and consequently the hand with that all important ring on it (I absolutely wanted to call it the ring of power just because it makes me laugh), it's a not so subtle sign that he will listen for now but he's not afraid of Kinn and won't cower before his authority.

I found it really interesting that, had a fight broken out, it was equal man power with the exception of Porsche. So we have an enraged Kinn with two of his best bodyguards, god love those poor sods and the situations they end up in, and we have Vegas and two of his bodyguards. The positions they were in was quite awkward but also telling, Vegas didn't really have an opportunity of killing Kinn and escaping that room and likewise Kinn couldn't have shot Vegas without being at least injured by one of the bodyguards at his back.

Just going to take a minute to enjoy the absolute boss energy of Kinn to stand there with his back to two armed men who were not loyal to him and probably wouldn't have minded shooting him while his back was turned. There has been a lot of speculation on Kinn and his trust issues, including whether or not he trusts his bodyguards to keep him safe but we see here that he does, at least he trusts Pete and Pol enough to turn his back on armed possible assailants. Anyway back to my main thought process of all those armed people and if they started shooting each other. Even if Vegas had attempted to shoot Kinn, his bodyguards might be occupied with Kinn's but we can't forget about Porsche. Unarmed, half naked and intoxicated he might be but he is still a formidable opponent and Vegas knows that because Porsche fought him off, however brief it was, when Porsche was drugged and vulnerable and in that bathroom he's had time to start sobering up. Taking on that much risk, with that many guns in such a small vicinity would literally have been suicide for Vegas and you can see he comes to that conclusion just before he slaps Kinn's gun away, he's a creep and while I question his intelligence at times he is obviously risk aware and acts accordingly to save his own skin and he leaves.

Kinn, still in a rage, orders all bodyguards to leave. They've not even fully left before Kinn is crowding Porsche back into that counter and the mirror, noticeably Kinn is still angry and that's not helped by the fact that Porsche looks amused.

Kinn shouts in Porsche's face, because that's worked out so well for him before and it's not helped that what he shouts is automatic blame upon Porsche. "What the heck were you doing?" The background music here also changed to a more ominous sound, which matched the mood onscreen perfectly. Porsche reacts about as well as you'd expect after being unfairly blamed for the unwanted advancements of a parasite, sorry I mean man, and his stance is beginning to radiate defiance.

There was a lot of visual cues and body language with the bathroom scene and I can't adequately describe just how powerful and moving it made it. Take for instance Porsche, Kinn has just shouted at him and instead of shouting back he focuses on looking, really looking at Kinn's face. His eyes are flitting all over it because he's trying to get a read on Kinn and we see the confusion Porsche feels when he can't. The reason he can't is because this isn't the Kinn from the forest who became an open book to Porsche, or even the Kinn from earlier in the episode where he was making Porsche promise to return to him. No, this Kinn is the one who has been warned off, again, by papa Korn but Porsche doesn't know that. To Porsche, Kinn has shut him out for no reason beyond the situation they are now in and that gets Porsche's defiance and own irritation to the forefront and then Kinn repeats his question and slaps Porsche.

Once again proving that he is not willing to take Kinn's crap, Porsche with force shoves Kinn off of him. Also interesting to note that Porsche hit Kinn's left shoulder/chest area close to the bullet wound with zero hesitation or concern, it's absolutely savage and I approve. Porsche immediately snaps at Kinn that he's done nothing to warrant... Well any of it really because he's done nothing wrong and he's right to snap that Kinn never trusts him. Kinn helps his cause here by nodding along to the fact that he doesn't trust Porsche, give the man a gold star for sabotaging himself - he deserves it no contest.

Every word and action now is clearly coated in irritation from the both of them, you can practically feel the weight behind every charged word and they are about to get brutal. Porsche lands the first blow by telling Kinn to shoot him just like he shot his ex, the absolute stillness on Kinn's face for a second before it's wiped away by unadulterated violence is hair raising. That look on his face, while academically interesting, is visceral and alarming and yet Porsche doesn't even flinch. Throughout this scene we've seen Porsche's strength in himself, what he'll accept, what he won't and that not much living actually seems to scare him which has been commented on before. Kinn pushes Porsche even further into the counter and he's all tightly controlled rage but did anyone else notice where his hand landed on that counter? His thumb curls around his gun - a subtle sign of the violence in the air and the threat of who Kinn is and what he's willing to do.

What Kinn says next is vile, absolutely vile and honestly I was screaming profanities at him in my head so I had to watch it a few times to get over that initial reaction and analyse the scene. You can see by his expression that his words are a calculated move, they are designed to hurt Porsche to the full extent and Kinn knows Porsche. He knows that to hurt him he has to diminish his worth and value, not to himself because Porsche is too self assured for that, no he has to diminish his role in Kinn's life and that's just instant maximum damage. It's the hurt bomb to end all hurt bombs and Kinn knows that, that's why he says it and not because he believes it. Boy better not believe it or a bullets gonna get lodged somewhere painful. I genuinely think that a talent of Kinn's is to suss out weaknesses, whether in a person's character or as something that can be used against someone, he can find it and store it away until he has need of that knowledge and he can use it as a weapon and I don't think anyone in his life is safe from that, not his family and evidently not Porsche.

Feeling less than happy with Kinn myself, I cheered when Porsche slapped him and our boy wasn't holding back (as he shouldn't). In a move that wasnt intended as one Porsche snapped back with the most devastating of possible comebacks, 'I shouldn't have loved a crappy guy like you.' immediately he tries to walk away, not because of what he said but for the absolute hurt he is feeling. His expression was just breathtakingly devastated and so deeply hurt and the impression I got from his confession was that it was matter of fact. His word choice was quite telling 'loved' not 'love' I don't think that was accidental at all but a sign he was already compartmentalizing it, he was already turning his hurt inwards and walling it off whether to protect himself and/or begin processing his hurt. Yes he loves Kinn but he's not going to put up with his appalling behaviour nor is he willing to be walked all over just because he feels love for Kinn. Porsche values himself even if others don't, that sort of behaviour from Kinn is devaluation at best and Porsche knows his own boundaries and he sticks by them. Porsche is fully prepared to walk away and hes not afraid to show Kinn that, it's like he's saying 'yes I love you but I can walk away and one day I'll stop loving you'.

Kinn grabs Porsche before he can leave and in a move all too reminiscent of his creepy cousin, he crowds Porsche against the wall. Again. Porsche's body language and the position he ends up in, is also like with Vegas when he was uncomfortable and wanted out. He's turned away from Kinn and he's even hugging his arms to his chest. Part of it is also defiance, sure Kinn's got him pinned but that doesn't mean he has to look at him. You see Kinn's expression as he realises that too, his face just crumples in on itself -hes fucked up and he knows it. He can probably remember what it was like before to lose Porsche's trust and his willingness to share his happiness with those around him, to be shut out by Porsche is to lose all the joy and light he brings to those around him. Yet again Kinn is faced with a Porsche that is hurt because of him and that destroys whatever leftover anger/jealousy Kinn has. Now he has to try and find a way of reaching Porsche who has closed himself off and who won't even look at him and who doesn't want to be there in that room with Kinn anymore.

I noted that Porsche was still breathing really heavily, he's emotionally in pain and very possibly still angry, you can hear his breathing right up until Kinn issues his very sincere and soft apology. As soon as he does, Porsche's breathing levels off and becomes calmer and quieter. The music for that apology scene and the defeated/devastated look on Kinn's face was just absolutely masterful, there aren't words for that ability to grab at the audience and really make them feel every bit of emotion possible.

Kinn nuzzling at Porsche shouldn't have been sweet but by god it was, it was just the sweetest thing. Porsche though seemed somewhat unaffected, his eyes were open but he didn't really seem very present - maybe he was thinking it all through because he came back to himself when Kinn nuzzled his ear. That got a reaction, he immediately closed his eyes and his body relaxed and he turned around to face Kinn. He looked so sad here and slightly resigned, like he's just realised this is probably going to be an ongoing thing with them in the future, I wanted to give him blankets and ice cream and maybe pat him on the head a bit.

Kinn was scanning Porsche's face like he's never seen him before because he wants and needs confirmation that Porsche meant what he said, all while Porsche is looking at him unimpressed like 'yeah I love you, so what'.

I'm going to be honest I was a little unsure about the sex scene at first. When Kinn was kissing Porsche's body, Porsche didn't really seem all that on board with the idea. He was passive, allowing the touch but not engaging until Kinn kissed him, he returned the kiss and got some control back by grabbing Kinn's neck pushing him back and scanning his face. Again trying to read Kinn and this time Kinn is an open book. I just want to celebrate the little nod Kinn gave, with their past sexual encounters I think it was super important for that little check in of consent, from both of them. If for no other reason, than consent being imperative, than once again Kinn is stone cold sober while Porsche is... Well not. He's sobering up but he's still still under the influence. I really liked that once consent was given, Porsche went from gripping Kinn's neck to cupping his face with both hands and drawing him in for a soft, unhurried kiss.

I'm not going to comment on the sex scene itself, for reasons that aren't at all to with awkwardness at analysing it.

My final take on that ending is that the hug they shared reminded me so much of the goodbye hug in episode 6, tight, all encompassing, a little bit desperate and like they never want to let go of each other. Porsche's face, which we see clearly while Kinn's is hidden, quite clearly shows some turmoil. That whole situation escalated so quickly and I'm interpretating his look at the end as 'you are a fucked up human being, imma keep you,' because we know from the glimpse of episode 8 that they look very happy with each other. Hopefully we get a bit of a breather angst wise but with the supposed dead ex turning up I'm not going to hope for too much.