Evie's recent activity
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
Evie Link ParentI just read all three of these novels a couple weeks ago as well -- kind of as research, since I'm writing my own fantasy cosmic horror mystery right now. Very few of the stylistic choices in the...I just read all three of these novels a couple weeks ago as well -- kind of as research, since I'm writing my own fantasy cosmic horror mystery right now. Very few of the stylistic choices in the series were really to my taste at all, so it's a huge testament to Robert Jackson Bennett's skill that I still found the series super enjoyable and page-turning. They're very well constructed novels with good worldbuilding and imagery; that said, only the second novel even approaches being what I would call a "fair" mystery which is increasingly important to me I suppose.
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Comment on Announcing the eighth annual Tildes' Make Something Month (Timasomo)! in ~tildes
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Evie Link ParentI rolled credits on Resonant yesterday and for me (and the people I've been playing it with fwiw) generally agree that it's much better than the first one. Combat is actually a high point for me...I rolled credits on Resonant yesterday and for me (and the people I've been playing it with fwiw) generally agree that it's much better than the first one. Combat is actually a high point for me because while yes, most of the bosses suck (in terms of gameplay; they all have excellent direction), it's a really fun, dynamic and strategic system in group fights, which is the majority of the game's content. And Dylan being an actual character (unlike Jesse who was, frankly, paper thin) gave the story a lot more weight at least for me. That said, though, I felt the open world was really uneven in quality and exploring often felt tedious and draining. The game also has like ten excellent set pieces so it never felt like a chore to play the story at least. I mean, Alan Wake 2 is my single favorite game and this isn't to that level at all but it's still great and, I think, Remedy's best gameplay by a lot.
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Comment on Online visual art communities without AI? in ~creative
Evie Link ParentGlad to see dadaism making a comeback in the big 26Glad to see dadaism making a comeback in the big 26
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Evie LinkOver the past month or so, I played and finished the infamous, and infamously dense, Japanese visual novel Umineko: When Seagulls Cry. It's too early to call, but this might be one of my favourite...Over the past month or so, I played and finished the infamous, and infamously dense, Japanese visual novel Umineko: When Seagulls Cry. It's too early to call, but this might be one of my favourite stories I've ever experienced; it is also very very difficult to recommend.
Part of that is the Outer Wilds effect. I read Umineko with no spoilers, knowing nothing about its premise except that it was a very long, very interesting mystery story, and that its themes were somewhat similar to Wake Up Dead Man, the third Knives Out movie (this is the recommendation that finally got me to pick it up). This description occludes enough of the game's premise to be essentially wrong, but I wouldn't have had it any other way: a huge part of the joy of the game is not only the twists and turns of its central mystery, but the way its premise explodes and unravels over its monstrous runtime, until by the end, the story is barely recognizable. Thus to talk about Umineko's themes, its story, and its ideas is, to some extent, to deprive a future reader of the joy of experiencing all the wild twists and turns for themselves. I will talk a little bit about those things below, but before then, allow me to give the best, most spoiler-free recommendation of this story that I can.
Umineko is a visual novel that is absolutely full of tropey otaku bullshit. Our main perspective character, multiple times in the very first chapter, attempts to grope his teenage cousin and their family maid; this is played for a joke both times; that's some of the least of the gross stuff that happens in this novel. It's also terribly paced, and the prose and dialogue are often embarrassingly clunky. However it also features some of the best character writing I've ever seen: depictions of trauma, abuse, neurodivergence, and gendered violence that were so realistic, so grounded, and so well handled, that I spent cumulatively several hours of this story crying so hard it made my chest hurt. If the pacing is awful, every scene is nonetheless absolutely essential; more than any story I've read, author Ryukushi07 seemed to read my mind as I theorized about the game's many puzzles and questions, so that the protagonists and I were incredibly in sync, and he often came to realizations, or came up with theories, at nearly the exact moment I did. Finally the game's exploration of its fascinating themes — themes which it would be a spoiler to even list out — is so comprehensive and complete that I doubt I will be able to get anything new out of the many, many works of art that attempt to tread similar ground going forward. If you can stomach the weebery (which does, ultimately, all have a point), and if you're used to reading stories with very little player interaction (like, you know, books) and if you're a fan of the mystery genre, Umineko is, in my opinion, an absolute must-read. Even if it takes you 100+ hours. I would just recommend looking up mods for the game, so that you can use better sprites and get the QoL features that aren't available in the Steam version.
Umineko Spoilers
In all honesty, this thing is still sinking in, and I don't really have a good handle on my thoughts on it yet. Might not, until I do a second read-through, or maybe watch someone else play it. Some scattered thoughts, though:
I was absolutely shocked that the writer had the balls to, in a visual novel released in the 2000s, make the main female character, who has multiple romantic relationships with other cast members, a trans woman, and to only reveal this fact 7/8ths of the way into the novel, and to make her experience with her gender, her identity, and even her reproductive trauma, so essential the story. But Sayo isn't alone among the female cast in being an extraordinarily well-written character with tons of hidden depth: in fact all the women are portrayed with similar care, are all both terribly broken and totally sympathetic. While it does have some problems on that front (some of which probably stem from the game's refusal to moralize at any point) Umineko might be the most feminist story I've ever read; certainly it's the most feminist story I've read to be written by a man. The relationships between Ange and Eva, and between Rosa and Maria, reminded me of my own childhood, and my own relationships with my family, in the best and worst ways. This level of depth is achieved by replaying the murder mystery over and over, of course, and focusing on different characters each time; it wouldn't be possible in a traditional mystery film or novel — still, that every character (except a couple of the men: Krauss, Ghoda, George) is so well developed, and so essential both narratively and thematically, is an astonishing feat.
I really loved all the metaficitional elements of the story, and the way that, much like the base fiction layer, these elements challenged the player to decide whether they were really magical or were simply metaphors for some more grounded, authorial truth. The seemingly half-dozen layers of narrative frames reminded me of House of Leaves — in terms of how difficult it was at certain points to keep track of everything — but really their function is more Brechtian; almost explicitly so, as there are multiple scenes in a theatre, and a witch of theatregoing, who invite other characters to observe the events of the story and consider not just what's happening but what it represents.
I didn't really like any of the magical battles until chs. 6 and 7; those later chapters I felt were paced much better, and the magical battles were easier to interpret as extensions of the world's rules, whereas the fights in the first half of the story tended to really drag and often were much harder to parse. Now that I know the logic of how the battles work, I wonder whether my opinion on this would change on reread.
I also didn't like the bits in chapter 5 where the game's writer Ryukushi essentially turned to camera and said, "hey! here are the rules of this world! here's how to interpret certain scenes! trust me, I do have a plan, this isn't random bullshit, it's all solvable." I was already operating under the assumption that it was, Ryukushi, and I trusted you and your storytelling, so when you told me "you have to love and trust the author and not stop thinking or else the story won't mean anything," it just felt condescending and desperate, especially since chapter 5 was in my experience, the worst chapter in the game, and it used the rules in an inconsistent and confusing way (to be fair there was a justification for it, but the novel almost filtered me here. No amount of "well but it was supposed to be a confusing and jarring experience" will suddenly make me switch over to enjoying it, especially when the pacing is how it is).
In general there's a lot, including the solutions to many of the game's locked room mysteries, that's left ambiguous. I like this from a thematic perspective, but not from a plot perspective; I'd have liked to have the solutions for at least eps. 1-4 laid out in a more clear way, though I understand why Ryukushi chose not to (for what its worth, I respect this decision a lot less considering he flip-flopped and explained everything in the manga adaptation). Still, it's weird how a lot of the really fantastic character and thematic work here is subtextual, but then dialogues scenes will have their subtext aggressively over-explained, as with the comical scene in chapter 1 where it's repeated several times in narration that "THEREFORE, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, [X CHARACTER] NEEDED A LOT OF MONEY, RIGHT NOW" after that information had already been conveyed through some very elegant and engaging dialogue. In some respects this story definitely needs to trust the reader more; I understand that it was originally released serially, and so a lot of the scenes of being obvious were probably built as explicit responses to the Japanese 2channers trying to "solve" the game as it came out.
Overall, Umineko is one of those experiences that has instantly rendered all of my WIP drafts worthless, because of the huge impact it's had on the way I think about writing in genereal and some of the themes I aim to explore in specific. Plus, the music, is, like, some of the best I've ever heard in a game. God. I'm still kind of in a recovery period, writing this now having finished the VN over a day ago, just not really capable of thinking about much of anything, reading or playing much of anything. What an experience. I suspect that this past month of my life will, from here on out, be "the Umineko month."
As a palette cleanser, I chased with the indie game Unpacking, which is a classic cozy game about emptying boxes and organizing your room as you move from your childhood home, to your college dorm, to your first apartment and so on. It's a pleasant, short experience, without any real challenge, which is just what I need right about now. I think what I'd heard about the game in the past is that it's about breaking up with your shitty boyfriend, which frankly kinda scared me off of it, but actually it's more about growing up, and it turns out to be more of a queer game in the end, which was a pleasant surprise. And, to be honest, this kind of cleaning and organizing stuff is very relaxing to me in real life. I kind of like these games that invent fictional chores for you to do because I don't always have enough chores in my real life — especially since for the past couple weeks most of the ladies I live with have been away on various trips.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly - Final Thread for Season 3 in ~games
Evie Link ParentThanks for looking around and for the nice words! I really enjoyed my tour earlier this week too :)Thanks for looking around and for the nice words! I really enjoyed my tour earlier this week too :)
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Comment on What are we in a golden age of? in ~talk
Evie Link ParentI had the same opinion as you, and my interaction with WH40K is still quite limited, but having played Rogue Trader earlier this year, it did in fact change my thoughts about the setting. I think...I had the same opinion as you, and my interaction with WH40K is still quite limited, but having played Rogue Trader earlier this year, it did in fact change my thoughts about the setting. I think the thing you don't get from just hearing the annoying powerscaling-ass community from the outside is just how absurd, campy, and dare I say queer the 40K universe is. Often it functions as a sendup of bureaucracy, religion and militarism that is genuinely delightful because of how comically, unbelievably dark it is. The bleakness of the setting is actually so great that it loops back around to being silly and almost weightless -- at least in Rogue Trader anyway; I can't say whether all 40K media is so self-aware.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Evie Link ParentI've been wanting to try out FoM now that it's in 1.0, since I hear that the character writing is genuinely great, but I've never played Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon or any of those types of...I've been wanting to try out FoM now that it's in 1.0, since I hear that the character writing is genuinely great, but I've never played Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon or any of those types of games. Would Mistria be approachable for someone new to the genre, do you think? I only ever hear long-time farming sim fans talking about it
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Comment on Control Resonant has gone gold. Physical release date for the game has been moved to October 15th. in ~games
Evie Link ParentThe last two Remedy games can be described as having "good enough" combat (in Control's case, phenomenal in gamefeel but lacking in depth) to carry you through an otherworldly experience that...The last two Remedy games can be described as having "good enough" combat (in Control's case, phenomenal in gamefeel but lacking in depth) to carry you through an otherworldly experience that emphasizes writing, atmosphere, art direction and an utterly unique multimedia presentational style, over gameplay. FWIW though I played Control twice on M+K and though I rebound a couple inputs for comfort I found it very easy. Third person shooters are usually comfortable on both types of input.
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Comment on Is it time to include pronouns? in ~tildes
Evie LinkI don't feel like I would use a pronoun feature (I mean, my username is gendered enough already, no?) and clearly a lot of people in this thread feel the same, but I think there are people here...I don't feel like I would use a pronoun feature (I mean, my username is gendered enough already, no?) and clearly a lot of people in this thread feel the same, but I think there are people here who would and for that reason I agree it would be a good feature to implement. Having the option there if they want it would cost other users nothing. It's also faintly annoying that on so much of the internet, Tildes included, the default assumption is that everyone is a man, and such a feature might help with that.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Evie Link ParentI've been really great actually! Ah yeah that makes sense with the spoilers. I mean, I basically already knew those things too well before the chapter happened just from the subtext, but there's a...I've been really great actually!
Ah yeah that makes sense with the spoilers. I mean, I basically already knew those things too well before the chapter happened just from the subtext, but there's a difference between inferring it and being told. One thing that all of us knew when chapter 10 came out, but that a lot of new players don't get spoiled on,
is the whole twist with Nautika. Because, of course, we all saw her evolved design when she was being marketed or when she was on-banner, and there's even a joke about that in the story. But newer players might never have had cause to see Nautika by chapter 10 because she's a limitedAnother victim of chapter 9 :') it is, by some margin, my favorite chapter in the game and in fact one of my favorite stories in any game but I do recognize that it's pretty opaque and among the community it's definitely the most divisive main story chapter. A good deal of its impact relies on your familiarity with the historical and philosophical context surrounding it, let me put it that way.
And yeah, the real doomed yuri in this game is losing your 50/50 so that the lesbians can't both be on your account </3 Always glad to hear your thoughts!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Evie (edited )Link ParentHi Carrow! How you been? So Reverse 1999's English-speaking community also was really jonesing for more Druvis around the release of chapter 10 a year ago. I had this same discussion at the time...Hi Carrow! How you been?
So Reverse 1999's English-speaking community also was really jonesing for more Druvis around the release of chapter 10 a year ago. I had this same discussion at the time actually...
The main reason not to stick Druvis in the story is that she's a powerful, distinct character who already concluded her arc in Chapter 4. As you've no doubt noticed the main story is highly episodic. Every chapter you have to introduce an almost entirely new cast: their world, their ideas, their personalities, their positions on the chapter's main conflict. Having too many recurring characters there might create narrative inefficiencies -- if Druvis were in chapter 9, for instance, she would either be reduced to a reactive background character, or else the writers would need to give her a perspective on prison, surveillance, fate, the mental healthcare system, Latin American literature. And what does Druvis know about these things? To say nothing of chapters which don't involve the main cast at all!
In contrast, Vertin and Sonetto are unobtrusive characters who travel quite well. Having been raised in the Foundation they both have broad educations; they're both repressed or reserved enough that their perspectives don't overtake the narrative; their arcs are ongoing, but are general enough to fold into a wide variety of stories (Sonetto's increasing conflict between her love and her duty; Vertin's childhood trauma and need for a mother).
This is probably why we see so much of TK14 (the cute Chinese ship name for the Vertin/Sonetto pairing) in the main story and so comparatively little of Regulus, Sotheby, or Druvis: the latter have already had complete character arcs in one chapter or another, and are harder to integrate into a variety of stories. Druvis maybe has it especially rough because her arcane abilities are super strong when Reverse usually wants its protagonists to be largely powerless most of the time.
If I can ask, what part of chapter 10 got spoiled for you? I remember really not liking that chapter or chapter 11 on release actually but they've both really grown on me with distance, I think Paradise Regained does its horror and mystery stuff extremely well for a visual novel, and the prose and the character work in 11 is fantastic as well.
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Comment on Tildos, let's be unserious for a while; show us your dankest memes and god-tier shitposts! in ~talk
Evie LinkJust the ones on my phone at the moment https://files.catbox.moe/8taakv.jpg https://files.catbox.moe/0r038s.jpg https://files.catbox.moe/4scc14.jpgJust the ones on my phone at the moment
https://files.catbox.moe/8taakv.jpg
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Comment on Women should be able to open things in ~life.women
Evie Link ParentWhen I transed my gender I was shocked by how quickly I lost the ability to open containers. I knew the medicine makes trans women lose a lot of muscle but I didn't expect it to really affect my...When I transed my gender I was shocked by how quickly I lost the ability to open containers. I knew the medicine makes trans women lose a lot of muscle but I didn't expect it to really affect my daily life like that. Had to learn all the alternative methods for jars, and in general add exercise to my routine so that I wouldn't lose my ability to, like, carry a jug of milk for a few blocks.
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Comment on Help selecting a mechanical keyboard in ~comp
Evie LinkFor a couple years now one of the most popular "enthusiast" mechanical keyboards has been the Wobkey Rainy75 (or one of a few similar 75% Chinese aluminum keyboard that came at similar price...For a couple years now one of the most popular "enthusiast" mechanical keyboards has been the Wobkey Rainy75 (or one of a few similar 75% Chinese aluminum keyboard that came at similar price points at that time like the Womier sk75 that I have). It fits your needs, it's highly customizable and upgradable if you want to go that route; it's got a ton of very premium features for the price; you can buy it on Amazon for like $150 or less.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Evie Link ParentI think that was kinda the gist of my thoughts, right? The game really worked on me, I was fucking terrified, but I thought its characters were weak and its themes were not particularly novel or...I think that was kinda the gist of my thoughts, right? The game really worked on me, I was fucking terrified, but I thought its characters were weak and its themes were not particularly novel or psychologically affecting? I gotta tell you Pickles unlike say Dead Space which I wrote up negatively but with distance am ultimately quite positive on, Soma has only smeared into an indistinct mass in my memory. I genuinely categorize it as a narrative and experience that was only so beloved because it was "good, for a video game, at that time." And, hey, I honestly think Cyberpunk's handling of the teletransportation paradox is arguably worse for how it largely fails to address it at all, but if you're not as thalassaphobic as I am I can definitely see how the horror and psychological elements in there would be scarier to you. I myself have a few non-horror games (Returnal and Control and The Forgotten City) that have scared me more than any horror game ever could!
PS sorry for necroing to anyone reading this
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Evie (edited )Link ParentI have hundreds and hundreds of hours in Remnant, I've unlocked everything, even the hardcore campaign rewards; I've maxed every weapon, it's probably my favorite Soulslike. Actually if you're...I have hundreds and hundreds of hours in Remnant, I've unlocked everything, even the hardcore campaign rewards; I've maxed every weapon, it's probably my favorite Soulslike.
Actually if you're talking about what I think you are that "stand in the spot for five minutes" class unlock (the Invoker, right? The skill focused one?) is one of my favorite things in the game and an anecdote I use to explain why I love it! That map was DLC, and when I watched a livestream where they found the class on day 1 it was then insanely rewarding to spend the next week joining random co-op games and showing clueless newer players where to stand and say "just wait... I promise!" There was one DLC hunt with a puzzle and a secret weapon behind it that I recall taking literal weeks to find a general solution for in the Discord (I got it earlier through brute force).
Because the game's secrets are so obscure, it really incentivized joining the community to get information and then actually play co-op, which is what the game was designed for! But because the rooms you get (and therefore the loot in them) is random each campaign, you still have to come up with your own builds instead of following community guides 1-to-1. I had more fun making and testing builds in Remnant than in any other game and then rocking up to the boss in someone's nightmare co-op campaign with some bullshit that no one's ever used before in my loadout and having it somehow kinda work was just a delightful experience.
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Comment on What are you looking forward to? in ~talk
Evie LinkIn September my favorite novelist China Mieville is releasing The Rouse, his first novel in years and years; around the same time my favorite game developer Remedy is releasing their new game...In September my favorite novelist China Mieville is releasing The Rouse, his first novel in years and years; around the same time my favorite game developer Remedy is releasing their new game Control: Resonant; around the same time the ladies I live with will be going on a vacation, so I get a break from my cleaning duties and will be able to really immerse myself. Oh, and I have s'mores brownies that I came up with about to come out of the oven, that's gonna be great
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Comment on Neuromancer | Teaser trailer in ~movies
Evie Link ParentI think the Apple TV audience does tend to like this kind of thing so I wouldn't worry too much about it succeeding. They've done lots of these conceptual, short-run genrefic shows and it seems to...I think the Apple TV audience does tend to like this kind of thing so I wouldn't worry too much about it succeeding. They've done lots of these conceptual, short-run genrefic shows and it seems to be working out.
I read China Mieville's new novel The Rouse. It's an extraordinary book; extraordinarily large, dense, and difficult. It's a real genre-bender, dancing between social realism, horror, supernatural mystery, military memoir, spy thriller; its subversions of the novel's form, its use of poetry, undifferentiated dialogue, and a kind of breaking, failing language do extraordinary things for mood and tone and theme. As an exploration of late 20th century British culture and colonialism it's nuanced and toothy; as a character study it's layered and deeply affecting. It's certainly the most singular novel I've read since, say, House of Leaves; also the most difficult, since at least The Man Without Qualities. Really really excellent, then, but probably not for every reader. It's only been a week since I read it and I'm already salivating to start again.