Parallel Pain

That'd be pretty cool. But I'm quite the home person so it's unlikely. Chapter 10 Story 1 http://youtu.be/ILk5SF0BISY Story 2 http://youtu.be/5rdZFf88YWs Story 3 http://youtu.be/oy0a6x8A7YY

Yep. Another denizen of the only place in Canada that's not frozen.

Agreed ;^;

Chapter 9 Continued Story 4 Story 5

Chapter 9 Story 1 Story 2 Story 3

Chapter 8 Continued: Story 3 http://youtu.be/xXCxt06yBx8 Story 4 http://youtu.be/wS5YytZh7Sc

Chapter 8 Story 1 http://youtu.be/XATg6xs0f_s Story 2 http://youtu.be/tf8XWsviv5g

Brevity is the soul of wit

I do know Japanese, but am probably less well read than most people who frequent fuwa actually. Thanks for the suggestion.

It unsurprisingly depend on the work There was a time I almost committed suicide, and for a long time after, the warmth from VN was the drug keeping me from trying again. At the time what I loved about VN was simple love stories and the kind, unselfish characters helping each other get better, even if it reinforced how hollow my life was in comparison. I made that sounds really simple and unimportant, but considering it kept me alive, it was very important. While this was there before as well, now that I am better focus more on other aspects. I have branched away from utsuge/drama VN to other genres, even if I have to go through dlsite doujin and otoge to do so. Some of it are enjoyment without too much depth. And while everyone else have focused on really powerful impacts, I feel it is just as important to have doses of "average". Not "average quality" so much as "average life". And just casual enjoyment is also very important, or VN would become a trap for our thoughts and feelings instead of a mountain we come out stronger after climbing it. And by climbing it I'm of course talking about the actually deep and moving VN. Interestingly I've lately begun to feel that VN that moves me to tears and make me feel really relatable are actually not that rare (hence my user name). There are certainly more of them than I have time to read. So lately (and it might change again, who knows) I really like VNs that go one step further from appealing to my humanity to instead challenge it. VNs that force me to ask "what's better for this world", "how should I be living my own life", or even "what does it mean to be human?".

I was in the shower after finishing Steins;Gate 12 And I thought about the phenomenon of writing characters by archetypes. You've all seen it. Whether in design, personality, or back story, it's all there. Certainly this is not a phenomenon limited to VN. It's in all genres of fiction, even if the archetype is different. The supporting comic relief. The good samaritan. The empty. The confident. The shy. The rebel. The smart guy. The dumb guy. The charismatic leader. The tsundere, kuudere, tomboy, yamato nadeshiko, bookworm, cutsie-moe Big breasts, loli, ojou, longhair, shorthair, twintail, cutsie-moe, cat, dog Abusive family, child mistakes, promises, lost stuff, bully, owe the protagonist one Now personally, I don't like how they are used. It feels very unrealistic and unrelatable. Don't get me wrong, I understand that all type of people exist in the world. And there are probably a heck of a lot of people who know not only people with such archetype traits but are as if they're carbon copy of a fictional character. And there's nothing wrong with that, or the archetypes themselves inherently. I actually feel I have a far higher tolerance for characters. I've read a lot of people go "I don't like this or that character". But for me, as long as s/he's not a selfish narcissist asshole, I'll accept whatever quirk s/he has. What make me feel it's unrealistic/unrelatable are: #1 People usually make friends with like-minded people, whether interest or personality or backstory. So to me an tomboy sports captain, shy bookworm, charismatic ojou, neighborhood tsundere etc, would all hang out in the same group when they share no interest or personality or backstory seems...odd. I'm not saying they can't be close friends, but they're really more likely to have their own separate group with like-minded people instead. But this point is very minor if it was only by itself. #2 The archetype is too exaggerated. I'm fine with them if they are "within reason". Take tsundere for example, and I actually like tsunderes. If this happen when they're really flustered then fine. If every other interaction has a tsundere response then, that breaks my suspension of disbelief. And this really, really increase the problem of #1, so much so that #1 is not really the problem, #2 is. This is especially a problem for supporting characters, whose archetype are too played up to become distracting yet do not get enough time to develop into a well-rounded character. #3 The characters become more identifiable and identified by their archetype and less by their, well, character. People have many different traits, complicated motivations, and act differently depend on the situation. People have different sides. So there's two parts to this problem: a. focusing too much on the more identifiable but shallow archetype traits (oh look, #2 again) and b. not writing enough different traits when putting together the character. When this happens, it makes it really easy to get the feeling that "I've seen all this before". It also make me feel like say "the MC argued with old-conservative commander" instead of "the MC argued with Commander Denniston", or "the old mentor type died" instead of "Obiwan died", or "I'm romancing the doggy girl" instead of "I'm romancing Mikamo". I am sure going to care a lot less about an archetype than I do an individual. I've often read people complaining this or that work has "plain characters" and point that as a weakness. But to me, I much prefer this weakness to carbon archetype cutouts. "Plain characters" are people who have a bit of personality, but let the situation decide what's appropriate to do, just like most people do every day at more restrictive settings. "Plain characters" might be boring and interchangable sure, but they are both acting realistically (and therefore relatably). Archetypes to me act unrealistic (when the situation calls for it), unrelatable, and only distract me from the main character spotlight and plot. It's easy for me to chalk this up to lazy writing. But is it really lazy writing? I do not know. Archetypes are a useful writing tool for sure, and their traits themselves are most definitely realistic, even if the way they're played is not. But I have to say these archetypes are at least just as lazy writing than plain characters. Plain character are carbon copies of the average Joe, while archetypes are carbon copies of X different types of fictional Joes. You're still copying common knowledge. And yet, if you throw enough traits together (skillfully enough), an archetype becomes a character. Which is why I have hesitated for a long time from moving from NekoNekoSoft VNs (who's common route, if there's one, is incredibly short), and I have always preferred single-route VNs and I often like gaiden games better than the VN they came out of. tl;dr I feel that writers are using archetype copies too much and too exaggeratedly. If they're not going to be given proper time and focus for development, being toned down and plain, or just be given one or two identifying traits, is better than being exaggerated archetypes. What do you think about the use of Archetypes in VN (or fiction in general)

Finishing up Chapter 7 with another 19 minutes. Story 6 Story 7

Continuing on: Chapter 7 Story 4: http://youtu.be/P2iZiu-DyhI Story 5: http://youtu.be/O_UYhnjmB9A Sorry less than 20 minutes this time.

I'm assuming the two lines are what came before

Haven't seen this movie. I know the 2nd one was incredibly forgettable, and I heard the first one was boring. Also just want to mention that Tolkien, while not being some tactical genius, certainly wasn't idiotic. No one charged to their deaths at the black gates or five armies. In the books that is.

Watching the anime right now? This is localize right? I might just go for the Japanese.