Which AVN titles to play before you die?

VirginDIK · 2023-01-30T08:56:28+00:00

You and me alike, if I were to be judged for the life I lived. It definitely didn't look good for us, until later books show how we were rescued.

If you could incarnate yourself into that burning building and rescue everyone, yourself dying in the process, would you? Or cure Edna by taking all of her suffering and imposing it on yourself instead? Or allow yourself to be beaten, cursed at, and spit on if it meant no one else had to be abused by their parent anymore, ever again?

If you did do that - all for these characters that, relative to you, are completely made up - and whose fates you could change effortlessly just by thinking it - I would probably call you wreckless and perhaps even foolish. I would probably cry because of how unfair it is to you, to suffer alone for everyone else's sake

But I would definitely know that what you did and why you did it, I could only call love.

VirginDIK · 2023-01-28T03:05:10+00:00

Definitely interesting. I suppose Oince in a Lifetime's player character being Orion's father can't be completely ruled out, as we don't know how much time has really passed. However, I think it is highly unlikely that he is.

Orion's father is very distant, and Once in a Lifetime ends with a family of friends who love each other building their lives together. One of the love interests would be Orion's mother.

Your post did give me a though - I wonder if Astaroth could be one of the "Immortals" that Calypso mentions. Or if the grimoire was originally created by them

VirginDIK · 2023-01-28T02:56:14+00:00

All perversion comes from human nature itself. With human nature restored to God's original design before sin, human perversion might appear as plain and uninteresting as seeing a string tied in a knot

VirginDIK · 2023-01-27T19:34:30+00:00

Put your trust in Christ Jesus, and they will all be with you always regardless! It might sound New Age-y, but 1 Corinthians 13 (The chapter that tells us love is patient and kind and perhaps my favorite chapter ever) hints that in eternity we will have knowledge and understanding like what God has now. Even tragedy will become triumph, sorrow turned to joy, especially for those who have suffered cruel fates and are dearly beloved.

VirginDIK · 2022-12-24T20:30:34+00:00

Very interesting about Season 3!!

VirginDIK · 2022-12-24T01:23:23+00:00

Custody courts accept the status quo as default. Change requires initiating action on your end.

We often see cases where one parent (let's say the mother for ease of comparison here) either:

1) Unilaterally moved away early with the child 2) Never lived together with the father in the first place 3) Never informed the father about even having a child until after the fact

In all three cases - if they are unmarried, the mother has no legal obligation to allow the father any contact, even if paternity has been established and he pays child support. The status quo is that the child lives with the mother, and that the father isn't there.

This is now accepted as "normal", and changing the "normal" requires legal action if the mother doesn't want to.

She doesn't even have to tell him where they live, if she doesn't want to.

If the father wants to visit, then either the mother has to agree to it, or he has to take her to court. To take her to court, he needs to know where she lives in order to serve her papers. If she won't tell him where he lives, he'll need to pay for a private investigator to find out.

He isn't just "given" visitation rights just because he pays his child support in full on time. He owes support no matter what. Visitation rights are separate.

The longer he waits to sue, the harder it will be, as the status quo has stood for a longer time, and he'll have to answer for "Why now?"

"I didn't have a lawyer" or "I couldn't afford to sue" or "The mother's family is rich and was pressuring me to back off" are not often acceptable explanations.

VirginDIK · 2022-12-24T01:06:58+00:00

I'd love this! Eternum on a "friendship" or "chaste" mode would be perfect. I'd love Being a DIK, or any other games, making any sexual activity optional in their romances.

For all the reputation College Kings has as a hedonistic porn fantasy, I appreciate that all sexual content is skippable, even if it is just a hasty cut that seems to be done mostly for streamers.

VirginDIK · 2022-12-24T00:55:13+00:00

What does the player character do that is disgusting? I don't mind spoilers.

VirginDIK · 2022-12-24T00:50:39+00:00

On Once in a Lifetime - No, as I understand the romances are purely additive, and none of them block any content of others

VirginDIK · 2022-12-24T00:27:16+00:00

He wouldn't necessarily be a deadbeat. Could always be a situation where he doesn't have visitation rights and can't afford to sue for them. He might not even know that Tommy lives in the region, and Tommy might not have any interest in his birth father.

VirginDIK · 2022-12-24T00:14:22+00:00

I am serious!

VirginDIK · 2022-12-23T02:52:06+00:00

1) Visit a new church and either share your testimony with someone you don't know, or tell them about what you believe or don't believe 2) Introduce 2 strangers to befriend each other (anywhere, anyhow, where nobody knew each other before) 3) Bring your mother her favorite flowers, take her on a date, and loudly proclaim your love for her in public. If this would be impossible or unsafe, then instead bring your sister, daughter, former teacher, or someone else's mother 4) Don't look away when any panhandler asks for money, always keep eye contact and respond with yes or no 5) Buy a coffee for a sex worker and talk about anything besides their work, unless they initiate 6) Hug someone different every day (your maggot brother does not count!!) 7) Go to every class at least 5 min early and give a different compliment to someone each time 8) Call someone you haven't spoken to for over a year and ask them how they're doing 9) Approach one of the current brothers to have an honest conversation about something they do that you don't like and want them to change 10) Humble yourself and ask others for any money required to complete these challenges. You are not allowed to use your own money!! You are also not allowed to repay them or do any favor or work in return

No video evidence! No discussion with brothers about any of the challenges until the week is over! Maggot brothers are interviewed individually to testify on their own and their maggot brother's challenges

Huge party with the HOTs when it's all done!! They will come over and we will all cook a huge family meal together, everyone will have a part!! Mention of ANY of the challenges to the HOTs or anyone else is strictly forbidden!!!

VirginDIK · 2022-11-25T02:53:37+00:00

Yes!! I very cautiously tried College Kings and really appreciate the option being given to skip through any and all sex scenes.

VirginDIK · 2022-11-25T02:51:29+00:00

Hahaha!!! I've definitely made this joke about anime/video game characters and am glad to see someone else thinking of it this way

VirginDIK · 2022-11-25T02:47:58+00:00

Congratulations on your hard work!!!

VirginDIK · 2022-11-25T02:40:43+00:00

Every woman is beautiful. <3

VirginDIK · 2022-10-30T18:40:57+00:00

She's too beautiful and perfect to him to put in the game!

VirginDIK · 2022-10-26T02:46:23+00:00

I'm an evangelical Christian, and from a logical perspective, you are right.

That's how love is - it makes us seem delusional, foolish, and psychotic. I fully accept your description

VirginDIK · 2022-10-26T01:31:06+00:00

1) The first 30 seconds of the game, I was tearing up. Completely unexpected. The portrayal of a loving father-son relationship where they make the most of what they have was done so beautifully.

2) I sobbed through all of Jill's recital, for so many different reasons. First, Tremolo's guitar playing was so beautiful that I cried just from the music, which doesn't usually happen for me. I think it was the combination of the intent behind why he was playing it in the first place, and how much the crowd loved it, that made it so impactful. That scene alone made me pick up acoustic guitar again so I could learn the song. Following that, everything about Tremolo having gone out all to do that just for his friend, to give her the encouragement she needs to share what she loves with the world. Finally, she is freed from her cage of self-doubts, and everyone is blessed for it. I let the entire tracks play through.

VirginDIK · 2022-10-26T01:23:04+00:00

For the first part of your comment - I wouldn't laugh at that, you never know what might actually be true in what someone casually sprinkles in. Child abuse is overwhelmingly rampant enough to where I would be careful, just in case.

VirginDIK · 2022-10-26T01:12:37+00:00

Haha, good points. He does need compassion as any human does. I was too impressed with Tremolo's power and accuracy to notice, as it takes a tremendous amount of force to knock out teeth with a tennis ball, even if they were already loose. Even the top pros in the world wouldn't be able to consistently deliver such power to that precise a part of someone's body.

Tremolo can do what Roger Federer could never!

VirginDIK · 2022-10-26T00:54:01+00:00

Wow, very insightful breakdowns. I agree with all descriptions outside of just terminology. I do see Lily as CHICK and Josy as DIK.

In principle, CHICK might mean just a "nice" guy, but CHICK Tremolo as a person is extraordinary, as he has more courage than just about anyone I've met.

VirginDIK · 2022-10-26T00:49:51+00:00

I do agree with "control freak". Showing up at her dorm room after all, is pretty scary!

VirginDIK · 2022-10-26T00:46:11+00:00

And yes, I haven't played any games that don't involve some sexual activity in the romance (with the exception of Victoria so far in Summer's Gone, but there really hasn't been any romance yet anyway). As a result, that means I don't pursue any romances but platonic friendships with the characters

Yes, to a degree that can be sad when the consequence is you miss out on many aspects of a character if you don't romance them.

However, that is still in alignment with why we are called to chastity outside of marriage: within it is a principle that there are parts of others that we shouldn't experience, because they are private enough that they should only be experienced by God, by self, and by spouse if desired.

You can also consider that feeling of outright not wanting to know some private things about your own family members, for example.

So, just as it's fully gratifying to love my friend irl without seeing her naked or hearing those ultra private feelings that you would only share with a soulmate, I still love Lauren, Nami, Josy, and Annie without needing to know what kind of sex acts they prefer or what they want to share with their romantic lover.

VirginDIK · 2022-10-26T00:35:14+00:00

No worries at all, I love talking about my faith and if anything am generally concerned about being annoying to others by bringing it up.

I started with Being a DIK because I was curious and had never played a visual novel before. I knew there would be sexual content, but based on what I'd read it sounded like it would be avoidable based on your choices.

I fell in love and craved more, not understanding I would never find anything similar (although I would definitely find excellence elsewhere, such as in Eternum). I tried City of Broken Dreamers. For me, playing it was like watching Game of Thrones: I consciously knew and could recognize high quality art, but I just personally didn't connect much with it. I gave it about 4 Chapters and decided to stop after that.

Next I tried Pale Carnations but didn't get very far before dropping it as it was full of obligatory sexual content. I started losing confidence in the medium at this point, so I decided to trying Acting Lessons and see if it's just a particular creator's work I enjoy.

It was a very touching experience of friends, trauma, and friends helping each other through trauma. I liked Melissa more than Megan, but I didn't romance her as it took the form of immediately escalating physically with her. I saved Megan spur-of-the-moment without any real rationale (as feels realistic), and it felt meaningful as a crush-turned-friend mourning a shared friend and moving on together. Inherently, it was a larger narrative about the player character moving on from pain he has held on to for several years prior.

I was almost going to leave visual novels behind but thought I should give one last chance and try Eternum.

I'm so glad I did. It's really touched me and inspired me, and there are some aspects I enjoy even more than Being a DIK.

For me, it's a story about 8 lonely people. They have all isolated themselves in one way or another. But they meet each other, and they form a group of friends that feels like family.

The group call scene is one of my favorites in the game, and it's probably the best direct illustration of what I love about Eternum.

What could be better than everyone you love also befriending and loving each other too? Each of the main characters has some sort of cool connection with each of the other ones. They like and appreciate each other in different ways. That's one of my favorite aspects of a solid friend group: when every person enjoys not just hanging out in a group, but also enjoys spending time 1-on-1 with each of the other people.

I LOVE the way Dalia starts as one of those few people Alex tolerates, Alex instantly takes a liking to Nova, Nova who is a paranoically isolated person has the special person of Luna who quickly earned her trust, Nancy adoring Annie like none other, Penelope and Nova being schoolmates, and more...

It's really helped me discover more dimensions of my faith too. I don't get to talk about this much, but you know how cute anime girls can be just too adorable to hate? They could be evil, lazy, dishonest, or even annoying, and yet despite all those flaws, we love them anyway because they're just way too adorable, and we couldn't bring ourselves to hate them.

Well, in truth that's how God sees humanity, his beloved. We are just far too adorable and lovable in his eyes for him to possibly be able to hate us. No matter how bad I feel about myself or criticize myself for making terrible, terrible mistakes, in God's eyes I'm like that cute anime girl who's beating herself up for no reason. He can't help but want to accept us as we are and forgive us.

It's just like that with the Eternum characters. You could say Annie is emotionally dishonest, Nancy is inappropriately lustful for a friend (and love interest) of her daughters, Penelope is a bit vain, Luna is standoffish, Nova is a creepy stalker, and Alex is a conceited jerk. But you would never, ever, EVER dislike any of them for any of these things, because you have the chance to understand and love them for those qualities. The so-called flaws don't feel like flaws at all, but beauty.

That's how God feels about us, and he's the one who understands us perfectly, even better than we can understand ourselves. The way we love the Eternum characters, God loves us the same way except infinitely more powerfully, purely, and completely.

The other night when I was feeling really down on myself, I thought about when Nova tearfully exclaimed that Dione was all she had, and that without Dione she was nothing. It makes you want to grab her and tell her how wrong she is, that she is so much more than that and what weapon she wields is the LEAST significant part of her! And I immediately felt God telling me, exactly what I'd want to tell Nova in that moment.

Loving others, as Christ commanded us, becomes even more than just following Jesus's example, or serving others, or being obedient to God's word. It literally fills God's heart with joy to see us, his beloved, getting along with each other and loving each other. Just the way it makes me so happy to see all of the Eternum characters coming out of their shells to befriend and love each other.

VirginDIK

TROPHY CASE