#a new life.

[iloveabunchofgames]

#JakeReviewsItch

a new life.

by angela he

Genre: Visual Novel, Interactive Fiction

Pitch: College students August and May meet and fall in love. Or they don't. The choices are yours in a moving, beautifully illustrated piece of short interactive fiction.

My expectations: It got pretty drawrings.

No, for real, this looks very personal and well made. I'm looking forward to playing it.

Review:

a new life. is the best kind of visual novel, filled with tiny choices that can drastically change the narrative’s outcome. Other decisions really are minor, but even those lead to branches with unique dialogue.

This isn’t a game about methodically mapping out every node on the story’s flow chart. As far as I can tell, there are many bad endings and only one good ending. The path toward that goal isn’t always obvious, but make a mistake, circle back to a previous chapter, and you’ll wonder how you ever missed the clues.

I can’t say much more without getting into spoilers. This is a terrific romantic visual novel. I’d recommend playing the game cold, with a caveat: The story goes to dark places.

If you have any sensitivities, read on for a content warning.

The romance part is easy. August and May fall for each other right away. If you only focus on the emotions, though, you might miss that a COVID-like pandemic is spreading. Throwing a lavish wedding is romantic, and it’s a quick path to death. Routine annual check-ups detect cancer while it’s still treatable. This isn’t a game about having fun and kissing girls. It’s a game with a message, and it hits hard.

+ A beautiful, affecting story of love and loss that doesn't go the way you'd expect. Powerful, important message. + Compact. Dense with little choices and unique dialogue. My first run took less than ten minutes. I reached the good ending in 30-40 minutes total. Plenty more if you want to see everything. + Gorgeous illustrations. + They explicitly identify the music as "lo-fi beats to study or relax to." It's perfectly pleasant, and it sets exactly the right tone.

– The writing is just a little cutesy and twee for my taste. I'm really close to giving this a 5/5 rating, but while the story worked for me, the writing kept me from fully connecting with the characters.

🧡🧡🧡🧡🤍

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[icarus-suraki]

So Fox News ran a story about how they think libraries are turning into drug-infested sex dens and I am shocked, shocked that I was never offered any drugs during my 15+ years working in libraries.

#librarian life #oh fox news #you're so fucking stupid

[selfhealingmoments]

#mental health #self reflection #be yourself #self improvement #self help #new life #letting go #inspirational quotes #new beginnings #positivity #therapy #self therapy #survival #emotional support #life lessons

[laughingcatwrites]

As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.

For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.

But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.

Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.

#I'm so proud and happy for my coworker and I've been trying to figure out how to let him know how amazing I think he is #what gets me the most is that he's keeping this super down low to avoid giving any hints to his kid #he has a lot of queer friends so he already is known as an ally but there's always a chance it will be different if it's family #and he took that chance and crumpled it up into a ball and slam dunked it into the garbage for three points #and decided that even if his kid wants to hide it from him for the rest of his life he will still do what he can to make their life better #pflag #parents doing their best #parenting win #good news #allyship

[gideonisms]

I LOVE being alive so I can be mediocre at SO many different hobbies

#this isn't sarcasm at all i love to try different tasks i get mediocre at a new thing every year #i love to learn about other people's hobbies!! #i am having a great time #there are so many things to do who can blame me for getting distracted from life tasks that are boring when there are all these fun ones

[herigo]

#neil gaiman #life quotes #quotations #quotes #literature #words #quoteoftheday #pointer #photograph #photography #reading #booklr #books #currently reading #bookworm #books and reading #new books #notes #astro notes #studyblr #study #productivity #motivational #motivation #get motivated #life lessons #mindset #inspirational

[reasonsforhope]

Sometimes you just have one of those moments where the progress we've made as a culture get thrown into stark relief. You look at something and go "Holy shit, that would never have happened when I was a kid."

Today, I had one of those moments when I realized that the teenage boys I'm working with are just. genuinely, openly enthusiastic about going to Build-a-Bear for their outing.

These are sixteen and seventeen year old boys! They just had a whole conversation about what to name their "cute", mostly new squishmallows! They're genuinely excited that they're going to Build-a-Bear this weekend and asking other kids to pick up specific accessories for them!!

Holy shit, that never would've happened when I was 16. None of the boys would have dared to be visibly interested - and neither would most of the girls! There would have been a million gay jokes and "Haha, you're a girl" jokes and "What are you, a baby?" jokes. Teenagers weren't even supposed to care about anything back then!

Less than 15 years later, and I'm watching three 17 year old boys treat all that as not even worthy of comment.

So let's call that a reason for hope. Even when the kids aren't alright, in some ways apparently they are alright. Go Gen Z, honestly. It's so lovely to watch you guys just openly doing and saying stuff that, when I was a teen, would've been a social death sentence.

#obligatory disclaimer that this really really obviously is not universal #I do live in a major progressive city #there's definitely a level of a liberal bubble effect here #but it's still really powerful to see it #because even in a major liberal enclave there were so many limits on the gender roles and homophobia etc. etc. fronts #and also the limits of the oppressive weight of obligatory teen apathy lol #seriously go gen z. so glad you guys decided cringe is dead. I love you for that so much #and I love it for you #not news #life #hope #homophobia #sexism #teens #teenagers #progress #gen z #btw if it wasn't clear I'm a #millennial #plush toy #plushie #squishmallows #build a bear #stuffed animal #like the idea of almost any teenager much less teenage boys #saying IN FRONT OF THEIR PEERS #that they are excited about their STUFFED ANIMALS #when I was a teenager #????? #cannot imagine that ever happening.

[theblackfemininesociety]

ALL 2024.

CLAIMING IT NOW.

IT IS YOURS.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Don’t miss out the game-changing content that we post on Instagram! Follow us now: TheBlackFeminineSociety

#2024 vision board #black women in luxury #classy black women #black women in femininity #black luxury #feminine energy #women of god #the black family unit #boss babe #black women in leisure #the soft life #happy new year

[gobcorend]

"There's a Palestine that dwells inside all of us, a Palestine that needs to be rescued: a free Palestine where all people regardless of color, religion, or race coexist; a Palestine where the meaning of the word "occupation" is only restricted to what the dictionary says rather than those plenty of meanings and connotations of death, destruction, pain, suffering, deprivation, isolation and restrictions that Israel has injected the word with"

-- Refaat Alareer, from Gaza Writes Back

#palestine #free gaza #free palestine #freepalastine🇵🇸 #we stand with palestine #ceasefire #gaza strip #israel #gaza #usa news #usa #twitter #quotes #phrases #quotes of the day #life quotes #refaat alareer #us politics

[muffinlance]

We've been working with toddler on using his words instead of screaming when something happens that he doesn't like

Which has lead to:

Toddler, upon accidentally dropping a toy: ANGER ANGER ANGER!

#you're doing it son you're using your words #new life strategy: stare the thing that upsets you dead in the eye #and chant #ANGER #if it's half as freeing as kiddo makes it look you'll soon feel amazing

[sebdoeswords]

#16th november new tumblr holiday perhaps? #suite life of zack and cody #suite life on deck #zack and cody #cole sprouse #dylan sprouse

[catmask]

with that said there are characters that a fat maybe not canonically but they are spiritually. to me. they may not be drawn that way but i know whats true. ive seen it like a sort of prophet

#serizawa. send post #he did NOT live his life as a shut in for almost a whole decade to be drawn SKINNY! not by me at least #also like so many characters over the age of 30. no more fit moms and dads GIVE them that divorce body fat NOW! #*strikes you down with the force of god* #but honestly alternative for serizawa that ive always liked is that he gains weight when he starts working for reigen #because he can now go out and eat new foods :D he has actually gained an appetite because he's moving around more #and isnt just eating like instant ramen or whatever his mom brings him #see how easy it is you can just believe it with your heart. you just have to find the ways to make true waht u know #scratchpost #txt

[selfhealingmoments]

#mental health #self reflection #be yourself #self help #letting go #inspirational quotes #new beginnings #new life #self improvement #positivity #inner peace #saying no will give me peace #peace

[thatskindarough]

They’re going to the movies

#good omens #art #illustration #my art #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #good omens fanart #my new favorite thing is drawing Crowley looking at aziraphale admiring something like 🥰🥰 #they’re seeing life of Brian for the first time after the lockdown is over #aziraphale is so excited dhgsgshsj

[chloesimaginationthings]

Friendship never dies in FNAF..

#myart #chloesimagination #comic #fnaf cassidy #evan afton #fnaf crying child #fredbear #fnaf gregory #fnaf cassie #fnaf #fnaf 4 #security breach #fnaf ruin #fnaf fanart #five nights at freddy's #here’s your weekly angst guys 🩵 (more bittersweet) #I genuinely believe Cassie and Gregory are symbolic to Cassidy and cc #but anytime I think about that connection it makes me sob #not only destined to be friends in every new life #but they have a doomed friendship at that #I JUST want these guys to be happy and live normal lives 😭 #begging and hoping Gregory and Cassie can have that happy ending..

[ghostbsuter]

He'd been flying above Metropolis.

Like a good ghost! Doing nothing but relax! Enjoying the weather, really.

It was so cool, Superman came up to him, they talked even! Superman was very, very, uncomfortable when Danny mentioned he was kinda dead.

It was really awesome.

Yeah, the keypoint being was.

Now? Now he is in Superman's arms, very much alive after being hit by a stray beam from Lex Luthors newest invention, quite literally hit from the sky when he didn't expect it and out of f reflex turned back human.

"I'm... alive?" He jokes weakly, smiling awkwardly at Superman's stare.

Danny considered this awkward.

Clark was processing the fact Lex Luthor somehow managed to bring back someone from death, his hands now full of said miracle and—

Shit, does the kid even have family left? What's he going to tell Lois!?

#dcxdp #dpxdc #dp x dc crossover #writing prompt #fic prompt #dc x dp prompt #dc x dp #dp x dc #dp x dc prompt #Superman is so flabbergasted #superman has no idea whats going on #superman is just tired man #danny has no idea whats going on #theyre both so shocked #superman is wondering if he just became a father #danny is figuring out how to get out of thia situation #clark: i know this is scary! but now you have a new chance at life! would you like to stay with me and my wife? :') #danny: fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck