Category: Junior Literary

this is a big divert from my last post so think of it as a very emotion driven game review. I’ve been ranting about this for MONTHS and I need to get it out formally.

Forsaken!!! Used to be one of my favorite games before it all went wrong. This place is full of nerds and geeks (I mean this affectionately I’m a nerd too) there’s at least a 50% chance you’ve heard of the game, but on the case you haven’t let me summarize. Forsaken is a Roblox asym “horror” (not really) game that reached its peak around 2025 in both popularity and gameplay only for that to get ruined, but we’ll get into that soon. The game worked in a similar fashion to Dead by Daylight, 1 killer and a team of 3-10 survivors, the objective of the killer being to eliminate all survivors and the objective of the survivors being to survive. Each round lasted approximately 5 minutes, the timer gaining more time when a survivor was eliminated, so the time could go longer than 5 minutes. Generators are placed in various places around the many maps, quick puzzles and once completed reduce the timer. Both survivors and killers each have their own unique kits (some more than others but we’ll get into that later) as well as cosmetic skins. The three categories of survivors are survivalists, sentinels, and supports; survivalists, as the name implies, survive on their own and are generally self sufficient, sentinels disable the killer and protect other survivors, and supports, once again as the name suggest, support other survivors, either with healing or damage protection.

With that rundown you should have a general idea of the game, and now I need to tell you how the game got RUINED!!!! I started playing around February (January? Idk I have a weak memory) of 2025, when it was getting extremely popular, which at the time was a good thing. It had an.. excentric.. fanbase to say the least(which we wont get into), but the game was getting a lot of support, and the developer team was working pretty well!!! There were small issues of devs focusing on cosmetic aspects rather than gameplay, but this didn’t cause too much of an issue.

To understand how it went downhill, you need to understand the core characters in it. The game was in a way an ode to past Roblox culture, being one of the founding fathers of the term “retro slop”, but ignoring that it did a good job at depicting older aspects of the game. If you didn’t grow up on the game you wouldn’t exactly understand the significance of the characters, but I’ll try my best to get the message across. To avoid making this excuse to infodump even longer, I’ll summarize (note from editing Leo this was not a summary omg.)  the characters and their significance, starting with some of the most well known, sentinels.

John Shedletsky, one of the founding moderators of Roblox, and likely the reason the epic face gained as much popularity as it did in the late 2000s to early 2010s. His kit consisted of a sword that he could slash the killers with, stunning then for approximately 5 seconds, and 2 pieces of chicken that heal him for 40HP, most survivor have a baseline of 100HP.

Guest1337, or the last guest, the main character of a movie on YouTube “the last guest”. The movie pays tribute to the fact Roblox stopped the guest feature, a placeholder account for those who wanted to test the game before making an account for themselves. It gained a lot of popularity in the community, even earning a higher quality remake almost 10 years later. Guests kit consists of a block, a punch, and a charge. When he charges into a killer he can push them away from other survivors, blocking stops a killer from hitting another survivor, and punching stuns the killer for approximately 7 seconds as well as slowing them when the stun is over. He has a baseline HP of 115.

Chance is an original character to the game, a gambler with lore connecting to multiple different characters, though diving into lore would make this take a year to finish. Their kit is based on luck, needing to flip a coin and landing heads to unlock certain parts of their move set, when tails is landed a 15 second debuff that stacks for every time tails is landed on. Apart from the coin, they have a health randomizer when used can set his health anywhere between 50HP and 150HP, a flintlock pistol that can either stun the killer long range, not go off, or backfire and hurt you, and their final move being a hat fix which resets all stacked debuffs. During the games peak this was the most complicated kit.

Twotime is between survivalists and sentinels. They’re also an original character to the game, though their character represents Robloxes respawn symbol. they can stun the killer but its hard to and for a short time, approximately 3 seconds. Their kit consists of a spawn they place down, a crouch that makes them semi-visible, and a dagger they must stab the killer with to fill up a meter, which when filled allows them to spawn back at the spawn they placed down when killed, but their max health reduces from 120 to 80.

007n7 is a well know old hacker that possessed another identity, c00lkid, who also a killer in the game. 007n7 is a survivalist that can create clones of himself, turning transparent to confuse the killer, as well the ability to teleport across the map, needing 45 seconds without being harmed to complete the teleportation.

Noob, a common ragdoll that was usually used in Roblox games as a placeholder for a real player, becoming his own character in itself. His move set contained the ability to turn invisible, a temporary speed boost, and a temporary immunity at the cost of losing a significant amount of speed.

For the support category the earliest added was Elliot, the mascot of “Work at a Pizza Place”, arguably one of the most well known games on the site. Supports have 80 HP, unlike the others, he has the ability to heal teammates, gaining the ability to use a speed boost once someone’s successfully healed.

Builderman, the mascot of Roblox itself as well as representative of David Bazuki the CEO of Roblox (we HATE David Bazuki on this blog Builderman is his own character separate from him). He could build both turrets and healing stations, turrets slowing and damaging killers and healing stations, as the name implies, heals others.

Dusekkar, representing the moderator Matt Dusek, is also a support. Also considered the most poorly balanced character and the worst to play, but that’s neither here nor there. He’s based on a wizard, his kit protecting others from damage as well as being able to zap killers to slow them down and zapping survivors to boost speed.

Last and not least lies Taph, an original character to the game based around subspace mines, something used across multiple Roblox games in the past. He uses them to disorient killers sight, as well as slowing killers with trip wires.

These are the survivors you need to be aware of for me to explain how this game got RUINED. The killers don’t need as much of an introduction but you do at least need to know who they are soo.. LIGHTING ROUND

C00lkid, as I explained earlier, is the second identity to 007n7 the hacker. 1x1x1x1 is a killer that became the subject to rumors of being a hacker, and They’re treated so in game, but in reality it was an alt account of the moderator Shedletsky. Slasher, formerly known as Jason, was a character featured in an old area 51 Roblox game that was notorious across the community. John Doe was rumored to be a dangerous hacker and spawned many rumors, though he never had any real impact. Lastly and the most recent killer (as far as I need to explain rn), Noli, was an old myth just like john doe, he had little impact but was very known.

Now that I’ve gotten all that out the way, remember how I said the game was an ode the older Roblox community? You can see how almost every character can be tied to something in the past other than 1 that being chance. Since it is its own stand alone game and there have been plenty of games that use mods and myths as their own characters (i.e. Blocktales, save Robloxia, ect) They do have their own personalized lore or backstories to them that’s unique to forsaken, but going into that would make this unbearably long since I’m already at 1.4k words so I wont touch on it to much but I will slightly cover it.

 Anyways, every character has something to do with the past, and it did a great job at portraying that. The game wasn’t mind numbingly easy and required skill, but the learning curve wasn’t impossible. Yes, there were try hards that made playing unbearable but that was occasional, and every game was like that. The moves were relatively simple, as I already explained most had 2-3 straight forward moves per kit. I will say the game did already have problems with developers but that’s to be expected with every Roblox game.

Then, comes October. A new killer and survivor had been teased for a while and was set to be released on Halloween with a fall event and several updates. Good news right? WRONG. The developer team had been falling apart since Noli was added in June, especially the balancing team. The part of the game that made the game FAIR. But no one anticipated for it to be that bad, it was the beginning of the end.

Halloween comes around, and the new characters are released, WHAT IS THIS!!!! Veeronica and Guest666 (I will refer to as vee sixer because that’s easier) are a big step in a.. different.. direction. First off they’re already straying from the simpler designs of every other killer and survivor, at least for base designs (I’m not counting skins those aren’t apart of this) and secondly WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE.

Veeronica is a completely original character with NOTHING to do with ANYTHING related to the past or ANY OTHER CHARACTERS FOR THAT MATTER. At least with chance they gave them some lore to connect to other hackers, VEE IS JUST THERE. Sixer was an old myth so I cant dock him points for that, but his design is SO overcomplicated and stuck out from everyone else like a sore thumb, not even to mention their kits. Vee gets like 5 moves. WHY. Sixer was overpowered on release, you could TELL the balancing team was nonexistent. But whatever, it (very slowly) gets resolved.

Then comes November with Nosferatu, the next killer released. He has the same issue as vee, WHO IS THIS GUY. He, just like the others, was stupidly overpowered and outpaced the other survivors who were stuck with their kits from early in the games development.  

As I said earlier cosmetics were focused on more than the ACTUAL GAME. It was slowly becoming more modernized which I feel betrays the core ideals of what the game was BUILT on, and no I don’t think that games can’t switch things up, I don’t like when it changes WHAT ITS LITERALLY BASED AROUND. I stopped playing around this time, partially because it was going down hill and partially just due to changes in my life that inhibited my free time.

This is just a personal gripe but as someone who LOVED Dusekkar, I hated how neglected he was since he was unpopular, Taph as well. Not even just cosmetically, but with balancing and general gameplay updates, I know they had favorites COUGHSHEDLETSKYCOUGH ahem anyway.

Since the core player base started to dissipate, the game was mainly filled with try hards and people with an embarrassing amount of playtime that took the game way to seriously. It was horrible and I hated trying to play you guys don’t understand how I mourn the game at its peak. It was trash no matter what but it was MY trash in MY dumpster.

Anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk about why I need to touch more grass and why I care too much about nonissues. Honestly this was just an excuse to infodump about an old hyperfixation, I think I might center more of my future blogs around that. Get ready for an infodump about overwatch at some point. Bye bye love you guys! Have an amazing day or night and remember never get attached to any Roblox game it will downhill within 8 months take it from me the guy that had a fixation on Roblox hackers/mods/myths for over a year.

I am a huge fan of horror. It doesn’t matter if it’s psychological, serial killers, supernatural, folktale, etc. I love horror with a burning passion. I have only one complaint though — it’s all so repetitive.

Before I even geek out, I want to define “the perfect horror” in my own definition. Horror is supposed to frighten, disturb, or scare an audience — it has many subdivisions and that’s okay. If it’s psychological horror, I want to see the main character spiral and lose their mind while I’m being scared too. If it’s apocalyptic, I want to see an invasive species take over while I cower in fear too. If I’m not slightly disturbed or scared — I don’t think it did a well enough job. But that’s my opinion as a veteran in this genre.

I’ve watched horror movies and read books since I was in elementary. Recently I’ve found that the jump scares or suspenseful scenes don’t scare me as much as they did years or even months ago. I can predict cliche lines, cues, and even deaths. Some movies or books are a poor excuse for gore while others shouldn’t even be classified as horror to begin with. Even with some of the most popular subgenres of horror — analog horror and Minecraft horror.

Analog horror did me dirty to say the least. I watched Mandela Catalogue right before it blew up. It had me second guessing my own faith for a few months before I became fully grounded in it. Satan himself — deceiving humanity to be their savior while wearing the skin of Gabriel was a bold start. It was so similar to the actual story of the birth of Christ that it messed with my head. To be fair, I watched this when I was way too young — eleven years old to be exact. So of course it damaged me mentally, but I feel like it can still be classified as the perfect horror.

The Walten Files reminded me of the fear “Five Nights at Freddy’s” gave me when I was even younger. Obelisk, Vita Carnis, Greylock, The Return of the Pumpkin Rabbit,  and even The Oldest View, had me shook to my core. There’s so many other series that have had a lasting impact on me. There are also some that didn’t give me the scare I was looking for, but I’m not here to bash or discredit someone’s work. I just want to talk about the perfect horror.

To anybody who loves Minecraft as much as me, we all know horror isn’t new in this game. Especially with a silly Herobrine sighting in every video uploaded in the early 2010s. The “newer” version of Minecraft horror is the player being stalked by a humanoid creature. It stalks, it howls, and then it hits you once or twice in a chase and you’re dead. It was unique and utterly terrifying at first — but so repetitive.

I’ve been obsessed with these horror genres since middle school. So many videos and so many years. Even though I still love a good scare from these subgenres, I’m tired of it.

I’m tired of the horror mods that look identical and do similar methods from the mods before them. I’m tired of some analog horror series not having any real depth to them. Just a quick cash grab or a cheap way to scare people. Why can’t I watch something completely different? In recent videos, the most unique horror mod to come about was the “Long Horse” mod by Lookout2DD.

The fact that the horse didn’t attack when the player was nearby was already odd, but when it was revealed that the horse is far more superior than the player had me stunned. I saw that the horse had removed the “Save and quit to title” button from the player, it was haunting — not to mention that it could literally see and chase him in spectator mode. And the way it was modeled is what really got me. I don’t know if it’s the eyes, face or the gory sight of its elongated neck, but I hate looking at that thing. The horse lived up to its name of being long necked. Personally, I feel like that Minecraft horror video was perfect.

Again, I’m not here to spew hate to the videos or series that didn’t scare me, I’m just ranting about an issue (that really isn’t an issue, but still an issue) that I have. Thank you to the people who took the time to actually read this!!<333

I’ve decided that I’ll share a bit of my interest while I decide on what topic I’d write about in-depth.  ദ്ദി( •̀ ᴗ –  ) ✧

Series?

There’s multiple, but my current favorite is Demon Slayer. It’s a popular manga series, there’s also an anime adaptation of it, that I only like because Douma is from there.

I can rant and rave all I want about Douma, but that’s for another post. 

Music Artists?

I’ll list my top five since I have too many favorites for my own good.

• Deftones
• Mortician
• Foxtails + IHS
• Mitski
• Alex G

My favorite album from Deftones is their Around the Fur one. It’s the second album they’ve ever released; it debuted in 1997. I love how much aggression there is within this album compared to their later ones. ‘Mascara’ and ‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)’ is my top two from this album, but ‘Headup’ and ‘Rickets’ are honorable mentions. Deftones has MANY other wonderful songs such as Hole in the Earth (Saturday Night Wrist album), Passenger (from their white pony album), and Beauty School (Diamond Eyes album). I’d say to check all their songs out. Your ears will thank you later.

I have many artists within the metal genre that I adore ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ (Deftones being the main one). Mortician would be one I won’t ever grow tired of. I’ve actually tried scouting out their ‘Hacked up for barbeque’ album on cd to add in my ever-growing collection. Fun fact, Mortician only has two people within the project. My favorite album from them is Hacked up for Barbeque, but Chainsaw Dismemberment is good also. ‘Rabid’, from their Chainsaw Dismemberment album, is their most popular song. It’s for good reason because the audio clip in the beginning sets you up for the song and then the guitar is just chef’s kiss. I’d like to throw in other band recommendations with this section. Burzum, Yanderechainsawregurgitationfactory, Suicide Silence, I will always remember, Korn, Party Cannon, glistening, and Decalius. A lot of these bands are from different sub-genres of metal. Nu-metal, Black metal, Death Metal, and Grindcore.

I stinking love Screamo so much (๑´>᎑<)~* The band that got me into the genre was IHS. ‘San Francisco’ from their Circle Thinking album might be the best screamo song out there, and I will never grow tired of hearing that song. All of their songs are goated though I understand if others won’t share the same sentiment (´∇｀”）Foxtails is another screamo band I absolutely adore! ‘Every window in Alcatraz has a view of San Francisco’ is a great track made by them. I would definitely recommend ‘Cucaracho’, ‘I experienced ego death on an nde thread’, and ‘vacant lottery’ by them also. Before this section ends, notice how I said the best songs from both bands have San Francisco in the title ╮ (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭

Mitski had me in a chokehold back in 2021. I’ve stopped listening to her for a little while, but I’ve started to pick up on her music again 〜⁠(⁠꒪⁠꒳⁠꒪⁠)⁠〜 Cop car by far is my personal favorite. “I am cruel, I am gentle, I can make you laugh” “I don’t think about the past, It’s always there anyway” (Both lyrics are from Cop Car) like ouh my goodness I love love love this song. I also enjoy the live version of ‘Drunk Walk Home’ along with ‘Abbey’ and ‘Shame’ ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)

Boy oh boy Alex G (╥ ᴗ ╥) Love almost all of his songs. ‘Candy’, ‘Hope’, ‘Gnaw’, ‘Brick’, and ‘Things to do’ are some of his released songs I enjoyed. ‘I’m not like the other girls’, ‘I wait for you’, ‘Not Anywhere’, ‘east coast’, ‘and ‘track 7’ are unreleased songs that I could blast in my ears until I burst my eardrums ヾ(˵☆□☆˵)و  I JUST LOVE HIS SONGS SO MUCH. I can try to dissect every single one of his songs or even write something based on them. 

Hobby?

Currently, I like writing as a pass time. After entering the literary class, I feel that I’ve slowly grown passionate with writing. I also draw, commission artists, listen to music, and collect items (CDS and figurines). I have some writings planned out, but I haven’t gotten around to starting them yet.

Movie?

I actually don’t watch movies. Not a whole lot anyways. I like KNY: Infinity castle, cough cause of Douma, and that’s all I can think of. There are others I enjoy, but they’re not as rememberable as Infinity Castle (੭ ;´ ⌂ `;)੭♡

Game?

It’s a tie in-between Alice: Madness Returns or Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. Both have incredible narratives. DR2 is a visual novel, but it has also detective aspects along with being a VN. In all honesty, I say DR2 is the best out of the Danganronpa series. The cast is funny, the plot is good, it’s just good in everything while the other games lack something. On the other hand, Alice: Madness Returns isn’t a visual novel. It’s a more action story game. This rendition of Alice in Wonderland is amazing. The ‘Alice is actually insane’ route in retellings is overused and boring, but this game makes it interesting. I can also talk about A:MR in another post.

I hope this served as a little peak into what I like. What post would you like to see from me next? The topics I’ve had on my mind were Norwegian Black Metal, Douma, or Alice: Madness Returns. I haven’t made my mind up yet, so I was wanting to see what you thought ₍₍⚞(˃ ꒳ ˂)⚟⁾⁾

Hey y’all! Ok so, if you read my prose piece then hopefully you’ll like this blog, and if you didn’t read my prose piece then maybe you’ll want to after this? I don’t know. 

For those who didn’t read it, here is some background: There is this girl named Autumn who we find out in the beginning was missing, before breaking news informs everyone that Autumn is dead. Or is she? Detective Riche House is the lead officer on the case who also happens to be our main character, Elijah, his uncle. Now, Eljah has some sort of connection with Autumn, and when he hears that she is dead, he begins to spiral. However, that doesn’t last long before his attention is dragged first to the kitchen then to the front door. On the other side of his door is a hind, which I’ll explain later, and a box holding information about Autumn and his uncle who is planning to kill her. Or is he? 

Ok, so yeah. That is the beginning of the story and a snippet of my prose piece. I do plan on expanding on it because I went over word count and I wasn’t trying to get in trouble, so if you wanna read more of it, I might post it in the future for feedback but idk. Don’t hold me to it. 

BUT

I do want to give y’all a little background on the hind characters, and the inspo for them because they are key figures in Elijah’s story. 

First off, let me explain what a hind even is. Hind has many definitions; however, as a noun it refers to the traditionally used term in Britain and other parts of Europe to specifically talk about an adult female red deer. I know the general term that we all know which is doe, but doe isn’t intimidating enough for the story and it refers to all female deer. Another reason I chose hind was because of an important figure in the story, the Red Stag which if you couldn’t guess is the traditional name that refers to a male red deer. 

Now these characters aren’t actually animals. They are key figures in the religious cult that the story is centered around. The Red Stag is like the head honcho of the cult; who can talk to the “god” while the hinds (we only met one but there are 2) are the second in command under the Red Stag. Oh and the deer heads are like their mask if you couldn’t tell, which was actually inspired by the game studio called Rusty Lake. 

If you don’t know them, they’re a studio that produces escape room games called Cube Escapes. They’re really fun and most are free, so I would definitely check them out if you haven’t. I love them, and I love how all the games are connected. Sooooo, go check them out. Trust me it’s worth it.  

But anyway one of their characters, Mr. Deer inspired the deer head look; along with Hannibal, the 2013 series starring Mads Mikkelsen. Because in the show, Will Graham is continuously being haunted by this giant black stag and I really liked the idea so that’s why I chose to pick a stag in specific. I highly recommend this show!!!

Also if you haven’t connected the dots, I love the idea of masks. I love how they are a curse disguised as a blessing. I love the mysteries they contain and how they hide from the world. I also hate them because even though everyone has a mask they use, the mask begins to take. The longer you hide behind a mask the more you forget the person you truly want to be, and you’re shaped to be the person society thinks is acceptable. You know, we usually call people who use a mask fake or two faced, but lets be honest who hasn’t hid behind a mask? You may do it willingly or you might not. But honestly no human has ever lived life without acting like someone they’re not because society won’t let you. (If I’m wrong please correct me)

Wow sorry I drifted. And I don’t wanna make this too long so to sum up: hinds are female red deer. They are important to the cult run by the Red Stag (a male red deer). The hind was the creature pounding on Elijah’s door and gave him that present. But why would a religious cult want to warn Elijah about his uncle and Autumn? Strange. Makes you think doesn’t it?  

Dream a dream within a dream, for smudges of uncertainty serve no purpose here.

The lines of the ceiling are etched into my eyes. I see the swallowtail caught in its grainy image, stuck forever or free to stay. I can’t decide which. Perhaps there is no difference.

Dust drips from my hands. It is purple.

A stain in my way. A splotch in theirs.

Maybe we should fly.

I delve into my thoughts so much sometimes that I get lost in them. I can take one small thought and turn it over and over until I don’t remember what it looked like when I first picked it up. I follow it down one worn path, then another, until I eventually end up in a new thought field (or cavern). Sometimes it is overwhelming. Sometimes it is peaceful. Sometimes exciting. Sometimes I don’t want to deal with any of it.

But occasionally, I find something worthwhile. There are no maps, but there are patterns. Things repeat. Old thoughts return wearing new clothes. Questions I thought I had outgrown wait patiently (or impatiently) in corners I haven’t looked at, or deliberately ignored, for years. I usually find a new way of understanding myself. I understand someone else a little better (or think I do). I stumble across ideas that change the ways I see some things I thought I already understood.  I realize that a feeling I couldn’t explain has been muffled for a long time, trying to tell me something all along.

Sometimes I wonder if thinking this much is useful. It’s frustrating. There are thoughts that clarify and thoughts that only create more thoughts. There are questions that lead somewhere and questions that simply carve a crevice inside of me and make themselves comfortable.

I wander on. I don’t think getting lost is always a bad thing. We tend to think of being lost as something that needs to be fixed. You are supposed to know where you are going. You are supposed to have a destination, a plan, an answer. There is something almost embarrassing about saying, “I don’t know.”

I do think there is value in not knowing.

We are taught to treat uncertainty like an error. A filthy smudge that needs to be wiped away. A wrong answer. Something unfinished. But perhaps uncertainty is just another part of the landscape. Maybe the blurry edges are what allow us to keep moving, keep floating by, dreaming, running, achieving.

The swallowtail doesn’t need to know whether it is trapped in the wood or choosing to remain there. It is there, and I wish to do the same.

I can think. I can question. I can get lost. I can find something and carry it with me. I can leave other things behind. I can figure my way out. 

The point isn’t to finally reach the end of my thoughts. Maybe the point is to see what I find along the way and make the most out of it.

On that note, I’m really attempting to come up with some interesting, concrete concepts instead of just writing vague stuff ninety percent of the time, but that’s yet another thing I’m trying to work out with my brain. Wish me luck and I hope you have a stupendous rest of your week!

Now, as I’m sure that you are aware, the words video games and art in the same sentence will most likely start some sort of fight between a group of people. And no, I’m not talking about those losers who couldn’t be bothered to create a decent world so they have AI make all of it. That’s just stupid. But we’ll get to the use of AI in gaming in a bit. Before that, let me ask all you people who say video games aren’t art. Isn’t story writing art? Isn’t music art? I mean I think so, it’s been around since cave men could think properly. Is the creation of characters and vast new worlds not art? If you said yes to all of this, then why isn’t combining all of them together to create one thing not art. Anyway, back to design. When it comes to making a game, nowadays, there are lots of different perspectives you can create. Sidescroll 2d (used in games like super mario), first person, third person follow, third person top down (effectively playing like a board game) and so many others. Games also will often switch between different perspectives to better tell the story. But I hear you ask. “ What does perspective change in a game?” well much like a painter’s perspective changes who their art will appear to another, the same is said for video games. For 2d games, much of the art will be hidden in the back but still contribute to the relevance of the world. One of my favorite games is Hollow Knight, both the first and the second one. In both of these games the written back story is not readily apparent, but is rather told through environmental storytelling and character design as seen in the images below.

Notice how the art tells a story of either what transpired before you got to this land, or how a character will act towards you. Environmental story telling is a really good way to show what happened without it needing to be told. It also allows the players to formulate their own idea of what happened. But where this is a game that relies on its background, limiting what can be seen in the corners behind the characters, other games do it with both scale and the use of 3d elements. In ARC Raider, a game about a robotic apocalypse, you can come across gigantic husks of bots that are from raiders before you.

Every time I load into a match and I see one of these monsters just laying there, I wonder how on earth they were able to take such a beast down. But not all game art is used as a set piece with deeper meaning. 

 

In hollow knight, the art is all around you. Its brush shocked textures of tiles beneath your feet. In the characters you interact with, and even in the abilities you use, all stay within that style of art. Some games though are only art. Take Slay the Princess for example, a visual novel game where every decision you make will change the outcome of the end. You play as… Well, you play as yourself. By your side are a multitude of voices spurred by your subconscious, each one having their own approach to how to deal with the princess. The princess herself also changes depending on which decision you make, whether it be her tone toward the player or her entire design and personality

The game follows a mainly monochrome theme, with most frames being in different shades of black and white, with the use of red for blood or roses as seen in the one image. Most of the style appears to be pencil drawn. The game also moves dynamically, shifting small frames back and forth to give areas where the game might be slow, the feeling that time is still passing. Bear in mind that this game focuses heavily on body horror, a trope that many other horror games follow. Many images depict gory scenes such as decapitation, dismemberment, convulsions, and others that I dare not say. However despite all the fears, all the blood shed, all the fighting, this is in fact a love story. I think. Look it says it is in the beginning so it must be true.

 

Finally one of the best uses of art in a game is when it is in an ironic manner. The game cult of the lamb perfectly captures this ironic nature of art. In the game you play as a lamb who has to control a cult in order to earn devotion from a chained god waiting to be set free by prophecy.

But for how evil you are and for how much demonic rituals and sacrifices you do, you and your followers are nothing but cute little animals. The irony of having a cult that is populated by fuzzy little animals is very funny to me. It really just shows that art can be anything. If you have an idea and you execute on it then it can be a great piece of art. Especially with this which has two ideas that wouldn’t seem to fit together. For the rest of the art style of the game, most of the characters, that are not you or your cult members, follow a design that is like they worship another being than your god. The enemies and bosses are amalgamations of animals and plants. Giant frogs covered in pustules followed up by giant spiders that drop from the sky to attack you are only some of the horrors you will come across on your crusade. And that’s just the normal enemies. The bosses consist of amalgamations with rows upon rows of jagged teeth. All of this while being nothing but a small little lamb

 

Ok, now I’m aware that was a lot. And for some people I’m aware that visual art is not your forte. I’m also aware that every single word I’m saying can, and probably is, complete and utter nonsense. But hey, it’s just my opinion, it’s just how I feel. Now we get into the middle of this sandwich. The thing that makes a game have purpose. The story and themes.

 

“You reap what you sow.” — This happens to be one of my favorite quotes to date. If you don’t believe in karma, then you may not believe in the consequences of your actions, but I do. I think all past actions come back fourfold, no matter how much later in life it is. The quote reminds me of the stereotypical plotline in movies or shows where the bully ends up needing help from the said person they bullied. Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit reap eternal life.” Now, I have not read the entire bible, nor do I go to church every Sunday, but I live by these words. My whole childhood, I wished those words on people who did me wrong, and grew angry and confused when nothing happened to them. Wait guys, I was just an angry child, not psychotic. As I got older, I realized that everything comes in time, and karma has a way of coming back to you.

 

I swear I don’t mean to sound like a Disney villain when I say that, I just love philosophy. In most stories you read, an unfortunate event will befall the antagonist that serves as a reckoning of their actions. A good example would be one of my personal favorite movies, “Mean Girls.” At the end, Regina suffered the results of spreading nasty rumors by getting hit by a bus and receiving a spinal injury, alongside losing her friends and having her popularity questioned. And see, I’ve had my own experiences with the proverb. The only instances I particularly remember that I can share publicly is when I used to have sticky fingers as a child. Later on, a lot of my own things would go missing and I never found them again. That was my karma—losing my own things since I had stolen.

 

My reasoning for sharing that is so you don’t think these words are just that—words. Words come from truths, and reaping what you sow is a truth set in stone. You can change all you want, become a better person, but what deeds you have done still lie with you. You cannot make someone’s life a living nightmare, and then get to live out your life happily forever. Repercussions, people. The point is, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or you’ll reap what you sow. Don’t make up rumors about people, or talk behind their backs, or bully someone for being different. Because, in the end, those said actions will come back to haunt you.

Hey guys! Today we are going to talk about the scientific revolution that eventually led to the Galileo trial. 

Around the 1400s the earth was believed to be in the center of the universe this was called the Geocentric Universe. This was based on the work of Aristotle and Ptolemy. This model was supported by the catholic church who were in complete control of the government.

A Polish mathematician and astronomer named Nicholaus Copernicus proposed that instead of the earth the sun was in the center of the universe. This new Heliocentric model contradicted the beliefs of the church which were the established authority at the time.

Galileo Galilei improved the telescope and turned it to the sky. He observed and documented the sky at night. He discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter. He observed sunspots and the rough surface of the moon. He documented the phases of Venus, which proved it orbited the sun.

In 1616, there had been an order to not teach heliocentrism as a proven fact but as a theory. After his findings he publicly supported heliocentrism (the belief that the sun is the center of the universe) by publishing “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” in Florence in 1632. This book contrasted the geocentric and heliocentric models, and the heliocentric model made more sense and had a simpler explanation. The catholic church (one-sided beef for real). Galileo was ordered to come to Rome even though he was very wise in age and was poor in health, but he still came and there he was accused of heresy (disagreeing with the beliefs of the church/contradicting scripture). When on trial Galileo claimed that he presented arguments for both sides(which he did). He argued that he gave arguments for heliocentrism,but didn’t actually flat out say it was a proven fact.

The courts had three theologians to examine the book. They claimed that the book strongly favored the heliocentric model. The authorities believed that he had provided arguments in its favor, despite the restrictions in 1616.

In his written defense he argued that the book had been written to indicate that the heliocentric model arguments were not conclusive (basically copping a plea). He pointed out that the book concluded with an argument from the Pope. No matter how much he pleaded his case the Roman Inquisition still saw the book as problematic. In the end he was found guilty of heresy and was put on house arrest until he died. It took the church almost three hundred years to admit he was right.