You Know What? Fuck You. *unjekylls Your Hyde*

So I purposefully skipped yesterday because i wanted Sun and Moon to go together. I wanted to do something where they could stack and look like they were eclipsing each other but i don’t know if I pulled it off really well. At least the independent versions of the two turned out okay….This is a concept i may revisit at some point later but otherwise I’m satisfied for now.

2 types of friendship

based on this post

*me, owning a strange boutique housegoods/book store selling a variety of mystic, occult objects but no one realizes I live there, this is literally my living room*

A lil’ random bird person I doodled for fun during class. They’re no one in particular.

A ranger and her (bronze dragon) drake!

how do y’all just

“write lore”

sounds fake but okay

*climbs into your askbox like an old friend* I just wanted to come and say I vibe so hard with your feelings about Outer Wilds! Unfortunately for stupid reasons of physical impediment I'm unable to play games with a controller and it is, as it turns out, pretty impossible to play on mouse and keyboard, so i had to experience it through other people's playthroughs which was a huge shame. but nevertheless, I absolutely agree with "rewrote my brain"!!

Interestingly enough, I had the exact opposite experience with the control schemes -- I played the game using keyboard & mouse pretty comfortably, and absolutely would have suffered with controller. In the early game the controls do take some getting used to (particularly the delayed jump and zero-gravity maneuvering) and I was using a pretty awful button mapping setup earlier on, but with the exception of [THAT SECTION] that controller can arguably-slightly-cheese I preferred the ease of looking around and aiming my scout that kb&m provided. Though I'll admit I'm biased in that regard, as I've gone to pretty comical lengths to avoid having to use a controller for anything (looking at you, Sonic Adventure 2) and thus never really learned how to hold/use them.

That aside, even though you didn't get to play the game on your own, I'm glad you were able to enjoy other folks' playthroughs -- there are some seriously awesome ones out there. Since it's impossible to replay Outer Wilds for obvious reasons I always try to push people towards experiencing it on their own first, but in a situation where you can't I'm glad you still got to see it through one way or another.

As for the actual point of the ask hahaha, yeah, gosh, this game just fundamentally dug into me in a way others haven't. I legitimately went through the five stages of grief over the game's ending.

The game is also just great at putting you in the shoes of the Hatchling. With the exception of like, continuing a save after getting the kazoo meme ending which technically "doesn't happen," you explore the world and learn everything entirely in-character, which made it all hit much harder for me. It didn't feel like I was observing a story, it felt like I was the one making it and uncovering the mystery and having all of this happen to me. That and the fact that I had some personal things going on in my life around when I played Outer Wilds that aligned with the game's themes, leading to it kinda taking me out on a very personal level.

Outer Wilds also just seemed perfectly engineered to suck me in, haha. It's got computer simulations! Black holes! Quantum mechanics! I was the kinda kid who lived for space documentaries so getting to fly around and explore everything was amazing. Going through environmental puzzles, reading adorable exchanges with the nomai, getting to see the most incredible sights (the door falling away at the [SPOILER] and having to make a leap of faith to get across the gap was amazing), and putting it all together in a wild red-string conspiracy board...I completed the entire game over the course of like, 2-3 days as I recall? Just entirely immersed for that time.

It's inspired me so much in my stories and how I think about mysteries. It's the best time-loop game out there, and the presentation of the sandbox mystery is just unparalleled in any other game. Hence why everyone who's played it is left looking up Youtube playthroughs and chasing that high again -- personally I think going into the original Subnautica game blind touches some of the same feelings, but you're never really gonna get the Outer Wilds Experience again.

The mechanics are great, the mystery is presented wonderfully; I fell in love with the environments and the characters and the dialogue. The themes were tied into the story very naturally and hit me right in my core. Obviously I can't really replay it, but I do sometimes boot it up just to reread some sections or go hang out on Giant's Deep for the ambiance; it's comforting and nostalgic in a weird sort of way.

Sorry that this response isn't anywhere near coherent. I'm very, very tired right now, and I love Outer Wilds a lot and won't pass up a chance to ramble about how great it is. It's a very special game to my heart and dug into me in a way other games often can't do. It's not for everyone, but if it is for you it's REALLY for you. Clearly I like it and clearly you like it. So thanks for climbing into my askbox and setting me off, haha.

“Kitty’s favourite treat!”

(Source)

Another Terraria doodle. In this AU, Dryad and Guide aren’t exactly great friends, but they have known of each other for a long time and she’s very much aware of “the situation.” Despite her (fairly warranted) chewing out, she does respect him for the most part, though she sometimes questions his actions.

Amen

Mais c'est aussi en français !

I enjoyed doing Birth to My Creation and went ahead and translated Amen into French as well! I was more busy/distracted while doing this one and didn’t put as much effort into matching the syllables, mostly just translating something that vaguely worked (so it’s harder to sing along to), so don’t take this as a legitimate French version haha. But I had fun with it. Proper comments on the lyric/word choices at the bottom, and French lyrics and an English translation of those just under the cut!

French Lyrics:

PROFESSOR #1: Frankenstein, nous trouvons vos idées choquantes, dangereuses, et un affront à tout ce qui est moral et décent

PROFESSOR #2: C'est de l'insanité ! Seul un fou ou un hérétique oserait jouer avec la vie et la mort comme vous le proposez

PROFESSOR #3: Votre obsession avec les charlatans discrédités et leur science douteuse est une pure folie

PROFESSOR #4: L'université ne tolérera pas vos expériences bizarres et non autorisées

PROFESSOR #5: C'est de la folie totale !

ALL: C'est... SOTTISE... FOLIE... INSANITÉ !

PROFESSOR #1: Les morts n'ont rien à vous dire

CONDEMNED MAN: Je maudis le jour où je suis né Dans un monde noir de haine

Cette vie, je la quitterai En sachant que le ciel offrira La paix et non la peine

Je nierai pas que je suis un homme Et en tant que tel, j'ai du pécher Un Adam, j'ai mangé la pomme Mais mon sang innocent, vos mains, il va tacher

EXECUTIONER: Pour vos crimes contre le peuple-

MOB: Vous ne méritez que de mourir

EXECUTIONER: Le magistrat d'Ingolstadt vous condamne-

MOB: Votre âme, on peut pas la convertir

EXECUTIONER: Être pendu jusqu'à ce que mort s'ensuive-

MOB: Le diable va vous punir

EXECUTIONER: Le seizième jour de septembre, dix-sept cent et…

MOB: Vous ne méritez que de mourir

CONDEMNED MAN: Qui est mal ? Qui est bon ?

MOB: Votre âme, on peut pas la convertir

CONDEMNED MAN: Et qui répond ?

MOB: Le diable va vous punir

CONDEMNED MAN: Qui ose jouer à Dieu ?

MOB: Un homme n'oserait- Un homme n'oserait- Un homme n'oserait pas jouer à Dieu…

VICTOR: Une autre âme... une autre lumière... Une autre flamme s'est éteinte Un moment ici, après, parti Et un cœur bat, puis il finit La mort est si succincte

Un ancien mystère : qu'est-ce que la vie ? Qu'est-ce qu'il faut croire ? Une question de philosophie ? Ou peut-être de biologie ? Je suis le seul à savoir...

J'ai trouvé ce qui était impossible Cela va laisser tout le monde pantois Créer une vie, c'est faire l'impossible Et tout le monde... m'entendra !

MOB: Nous suivrons Dieu !

VICTOR: J'entends sa voix... le gantelet…

CONDEMNED MAN: Qui est mal ? Qui est bon ?

VICTOR: ...Crie les demandes du sort

MOB: Il mourra !

CONDEMNED MAN: Et qui répond ?

VICTOR: Le destin de l'humanité…

MOB: Finissez-en maintenant !

VICTOR: Cet esprit répond...

CONDEMNED MAN: Qui ose jouer à Dieu ?

VICTOR: ...Avec ces mains

MOB: Le jugement est ici!

CONDEMNED MAN: Oh mon créateur, écoute-moi Libérez-moi de ce cauchemar

Et si aucun homme ne me pleure Je suis à vous Amen

EXECUTIONER: Qui s'occupera le corps ? Je répète: qui réclame ce corps ?

VICTOR: Moi !

English Translation:

PROFESSOR #1: Frankenstein, we find your ideas shocking, dangerous, and an affront to all that is moral and decent

PROFESSOR #2: This is insanity! Only a madman or a heretic would dare to play with life and death as you propose

PROFESSOR #3: Your obsession with discredited charlatans and their dubious science is sheer madness

PROFESSOR #4: The university will not tolerate your bizarre and unauthorized experiments

PROFESSOR #5: It’s total madness!

ALL: It is foolishness...madness...insanity!

PROFESSOR #1: The dead have nothing to say to you

CONDEMNED MAN: I curse the day that I was born In a dark world of hatred

This life, I will leave it Knowing that heaven will offer Peace and not sorrow

I will not deny that I am a man And as such, I have sinned... An Adam, I ate the apple But my innocent blood, your hands it will stain

EXECUTIONER: For your crimes against the people-

MOB: You only deserve to die

EXECUTIONER: The magistrate of Ingolstadt condemns you-

MOB: Your soul, we can't save it

EXECUTIONER: To be hanged by the neck until dead-

MOB: The devil will punish you

EXECUTIONER: The sixteenth day of September, seventeen hundred and...

MOB: You only deserve to die

CONDEMNED MAN: Who is bad? Who is good?

MOB: Your soul, we can’t save it

CONDEMNED MAN: And who answers?

MOB: The devil will punish you

CONDEMNED MAN: Who dares to play God?

MOB: A man wouldn’t dare- A man wouldn’t dare- A man wouldn’t dare to play God…

VICTOR: Another soul... another light... Another flame has been extinguished One moment here, the next, gone And a heart beats, then it finishes Death is so succinct

An ancient mystery: what is life? What is to be believed? A question of philosophy? Or perhaps of biology? I am the only one to know...

I found that which was impossible It’s going to leave everybody stunned To create a life is to do the impossible And everyone will hear me!

MOB: We will follow God!

VICTOR: I hear its voice... the gauntlet...

CONDEMNED MAN: Who is bad? Who is good?

VICTOR: ...Crying the demands of fate

MOB: He will die!

CONDEMNED MAN: And who answers?

VICTOR: The fate of humanity...

MOB: Finish it now!

VICTOR: This mind answers...

CONDEMNED MAN: Who dares to play god?

VICTOR: ...With these hands

MOB: Judgement is here!

CONDEMNED MAN: Oh my creator, listen to me Free me from this nightmare

And if no man mourns me I am yours Amen

EXECUTIONER: Who will take care of this body? I repeat: who claims this body?

VICTOR: Me!

Comments:

I made a bunch of unintentionally funny translation errors while writing this (and there are probably some more I haven’t caught) including writing “to fish” instead of “to sin” and referring to human remains as trash instead of a corpse.

When writing for some reason I thought that the “who dares to act as god” lines were supposed to rhyme with “what’s wrong, what’s right, does man decide” and ended up with something along the lines of “Qui est le Dieu des moribonds?” (who is the god of the dying?) to refer to Victor. Fun!

I did at least get to slip in more “Victor is god” fun through “Who answers?” “This mind answers.” Also, another biblical reference with Adam and the apple; that wasn’t originally intended, but it fit the rhyme I had going so I kept it. I also specifically chose “playing god” to sort of emphasize that Victor is never really a god, he only imagines himself to be; he’s instead still young and believes himself greater than he is.

I’m also aware that the formality/flowery-language level jumps all over the place here. At times I dropped “ne,” other times I kept it, the tense changes depending on the rhyme I needed, and so on. So, once again: don’t take this as a genuine translation lmao