Since my last FurAffinity update I've been squirreling myself away (no, not a squirrel TF, sorry to disappoint), letting myself get lost in worldbuilding and writing characters and settings for Assimilation and the greater narrative beyond. It's an ambitious project, much like RainGlow is, and I'm excited to start sharing more in-depth information about it with you all. I have a full novel outline for Assimilation, but it's quite loose because as I write the question of 'what if X happened' keeps popping up, so I go down more rabbit holes (again, not a rabbit TF, sorry). But, I am happy that this is in the works now. It's happening, just... well, writing is a process. A fun one. A glorious one. One I am dedicating myself wholly to.

But then things like Digimon Story: Time Stranger pop up.

Scheiße.

Ohhhhhh my gosh, let me tell you. This is the first-ever Digimon game I've ever played. I hadn't quite considered myself a fan before this game. I like it well enough, I used to watch one of the anime back in the day, and of course I have been writing Vectorium - a fanfiction-esque cross between Digimon and Cyberpunk 2077 (shout-out to nfjrrjf for this ongoing commission). And, of course, my husband is a fan. But it was never a major part of my life or interest beyond finding certain characters enjoyable. Guilmon, Flamedramon, Renamon... that was about the extent of my interest before Time Stranger.

I watched as my husband and a friend played the demo, and felt that spark of interest. There was just something about it that tickled what I once enjoyed through Pokémon and found a new love for in Palworld. The storyline from the demo was captivating, and I was curious about how time travel would play a role in the overall story. I mean, time travel is perhaps one of the most difficult concepts to write, because if you don't thread the needle correctly your audience is going to overthink the paradoxes and be lifted from the story you're trying to tell.

So, curiosity got the better of me.

The game was released in full, my husband got the ultimate edition, and I took on the role of an ADAMAS agent. By the end of what was the released demo my team was Monodramon, Veemon, and Dracomon. And then, the story continued. I was hooked. It was like a book I couldn't put down. I went from just trying it out to a full-on 48hr binge through the entire game.

Don't worry, I took naps lol

The story was exceptional. I don't want to spoil it as it's still only a few weeks out, but there are some clear themes one can surmise from the title alone. What I admire so much about it is that the story didn't shy away from adult situations that other games like Pokémon would sugarcoat or avoid. It dealt with dark emotions, betrayal, even self-harm. It handled these themes in such a way that showed how they are a real part of life, but didn't bang your head against them. It showed regret, and the desire to change the course of the future. I kept imagining that quote from Quantum Leap: "to put right what once went wrong." As I mentioned earlier about threading the needle, they did it very well. I wasn't pulled out of the story by paradox-thinking, I was drawn into it because of it.

I felt the storytelling was really clever in some elements that came off as annoying at first, but as I played through the game and all my questions were answered ... oh, it was very well-done. It was one of those 'tell, don't show' things that turned out to actually be a 'show, don't tell,' and it just floored me when I realized it.

The twists! The reveals! Ahhhhhhh I loved it.

The gameplay was very fun as well. I mean, it was quite similar to what one would normally expect from this time of monster-collecting game, but there was just a certain finesse to this game that made it a little extra special. Maybe it was the gun LOL ... but I think personally, it was because there were interesting layers to weaknesses that felt pretty intuitive for a first-time Digimon player like myself. The basic Virus/Vaccine/Data following a rock/paper/scissors style was easy to remember. And the elements were pretty intuitive as well. Shoot, I got by most of it just because fire is overpowered... seems like everything was weak to it lol... but it was also coincidence that my team for the greater part of the game was Flamedramon, Renamon, and Guilmon. Slapped some fire magic on Renamon, and my whole team was blowing everything up. Later on I stumbled across Cerberusmon and Silphymon, and just fell in love lol

The boss fights were fun! I didn't feel caught up in dumb gimmicks, but finding enjoyable solutions to them. Some of them were tank and spank style, many had charge attacks that you had to overcome or prepare for, storyline items to overcome certain bosses ... and the final boss was just brilliantly handled. It was a final fight with mechanics that really felt earned from all of the events of the story.

Were there issues? Of course.

I won't get into all of them, as many were nitpicky things, like menus and such. Overall the game has a lot of great quality of life. But for me, the most glaring thing for me ... well, it has to do with an otherwise fantastic story. I feel there was a part of the story that felt rushed and unexplained. Early on there is an associated side-quest, but it only gives the set-up for that part of the storyline. I imagine the story was planned to flesh it out a bit, but because it was late-game they might have trimmed that part down to get to the point. I wish they hadn't, because we went from two characters giving each other the silent treatment to suddenly making up in a matter of moments. External forces were to blame, but it was handled in such an anticlimactic way. I think spending a little more time on developing out this would have done this part of the story far better justice. I don't know if they had more story to flesh that out better, or if that was their intention all along, and I don't want to spoil, so I'm forcing myself to be vague, but a hint for those who might have finished the game: Cosmic.

Now, disclaimer, while I did every single side-quest prior to endgame, the very end introduces a whole slew of side-quests that I did not complete prior to diving into the final boss. This gap in the story might have been addressed there, but even without knowing if that is the case I feel it needed to happen during the story proper.

Overall, I absolutely love this game. I've got a bunch of side-quests to finish, a bunch of Digimon to collect to complete the field guide, and harder modes on New Game+ to play around with. But, for now, I'm finally letting my husband get a turn LOL ... he's been playing another save while streaming to some of our friends, but schedules aren't always aligned, so I'm watching them get through as they can.

Since finishing the game I've been getting my focus back onto my writing. I've also been a bit sick the past few days - a stomach bug, maybe? - but I'm feeling somewhat better today, and I've been up and around working on stuff. Just kind of hard thinking up the sexy while feeling like crap lol

Before the new Digimon took over my life for a few days I was working on some new imagery to take advantage of FurAffinity's little facelift for writing. I've been creating new title cards and PDF templates for my stories (shout-out to my Discord server for some feedback), and also planning on new ones for different things ... like, stories set in the CyberGenesis or RainGlow universe will have their own background, Assimilation will have its own, and so on. I have a new design for my general stories, so please look forward to it as I start revising my uploads here with that new look. I also have a couple of stories in the backlog to upload, such as Obduration (general), Double Dog Dare (RainGlow), and Ophidium (CyberGenesis), so soon I'll be getting the whole rainbow of styles up.

This is all good timing, because I'm making other images in anticipation of a new website. I got some good advice from a few friends regarding website services, so I'll be looking into them over the next few months. I know I'd mentioned WordPress previously, but Wix seems to be a better choice as they have a better NSFW policy. So long as I can blog there, host my own archive of public short stories, and a space for my catalogue of someday-published works, I'm grand.

As for Patreon, I feel I'm at a stumbling block with it. Perhaps it's because of my apprehension with it, and the attacks on NSFW content. So, I am feeling last-minute again, and have let my patrons down the past few months. Patreon is suffering the greatest for my growing pains, because I am focusing far more on Assimilation ... a novel that I likely won't be sharing at least until the new year. I find it very difficult to split my focus between numerous things, because I hyperfixate (as my 48 hour binge of Digimon can attest to). I will get better at giving Patreon the proper attention it deserves, though, as I do have excellent plans for it.

So, suffice it to say, for now, Patreon is shelved.

I want to revamp my teir rewards, and be able to deliver on my promises properly. My intentions are at least to have a short story each month set in the CyberGenesis universe (yay science lab shenanigans), exclusive for patrons, and then compiled later on into an anthology for published release. I also want to utilize it for other anthology ideas I have. Heck, I might even just switch to Subscribestar since Patreon's NSFW policies concern me more and more. The format of how I upload - redirecting people to my Discord server - has been fine, but it's hard to discuss what the latest upload is about. But I digress, there's a lot to think about regarding Patreon or if I'm going to look to Subscribestar instead, but for now I have to prioritize. I'll return to this format soon, and make a big grand announcement, but for the moment I am finishing laying all of the groundwork for Assimilation and it's sequel CyberGenesis, and then we can develop more short stories with some actual nuance.

Oh, this got very lengthy, hence why I am in bad need of a place to do my blogging lol ... someday soon, but for now FurAffinity will suffice. Thanks for reading this far.

Otherwise, I'm doing well, we're having a great time, and I'm just holed up in my own little world. My husband and I celebrated my birthday on the 26th in the usual fashion. All I ever want is a nice dinner with my husband. As my mother would put it, "somewhere I don't have to unwrap my food." Hehe ... so we had sushi at this really nice place about a half hour away, had a few drinks, and had a nice cuddle. A perfect evening if there ever was one.

Take care! Keep on shining 🌈💫