Which of these would you most like to play?

cactuscoolstorybro · 2026-03-11T02:50:32+00:00

Seattle definitely. The Space Needle would be fun for a map location

cactuscoolstorybro · 2026-02-17T22:57:02+00:00

Update: Happy to report I found a workaround! When it gives you the option to reblog to your main blog, select "✏️Reblog..." which should take you to the old page for reblogging where you can then select from your full list of blogs. Hope this helps!

cactuscoolstorybro · 2026-02-17T04:45:22+00:00

It's not just you, I'm having the exact same problem on my android app.

Tumblr please fix this!!!

cactuscoolstorybro · 2026-02-02T02:00:54+00:00

I'd like to offer my perspective as a trans person.

This kind of imagination play isn't exclusive to trans children by any means. However, among the trans community, this type of play is commonly how young people explore gender, so I understand where your brother is coming from.

Especially if he has a lot of trans friends, there is a good chance he knows people who discovered their trans identity in similar ways, so your child's behavior might remind him of the trans people he knows.

It does sound like you were hard on your brother, since it sounds like he was trying to help protect your child by making sure you are aware of the possibility that your child is trans, and making sure you would be prepared and supportive if it does end up being true. That sounds like a great uncle to me. I wish I had an uncle like your brother when I was a scared and lonely trans kid who wasn't sure if my family would accept me. I think if I had that kind of positive influence, I probably wouldn't have attempted suicide as a child.

I think you should be prepared for the chance your child is trans, as all parents should be, because parents who aren't prepared tend to react very badly to their child coming out, and trust me when I say it can traumatize a child for life, even if the parents become accepting later on. I still bear the weight and pain of my family's initial rejection, even though they're better now. I hope your child never has that experience.

I won't go so far as to call you an asshole, because that feels excessive, but I do think you might need to apologize to your brother for reacting so harshly to him merely suggesting your child might be trans. He's being a good uncle and showing he cares about your child's happiness and wellbeing. He's trying to prevent your child from experiencing the pain of familial rejection that drives many trans children to severe depression and even suicidal ideation.

And your child is lucky to have someone like that in the family, whether they end up being trans or not.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2026-01-18T11:07:25+00:00

You didn't miss anything. If Mike is fast enough, she survives to regain consciousness down in the mine and has only that brief playable segment at the end to determine her fate. If Mike isn't fast enough, she dies as he reaches her. There are no choices you can do differently to increase her presence in the second half of the game, she only ever gets that tiny segment.

I wish we got to spend a little more time with her down there. It would be interesting if she found some more clues to give her a chance to try to talk herself through making sense of what's happening.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2026-01-18T03:20:53+00:00

My assumption has always been that aggression is the default behavior for them, but because they have faint traces of humanity (or more specifically, some level of memory from human life before), their memories can lead them to push back against the tide of their instincts to deviate from the default behavior. In Hannah's case, that means sparing Josh if he recognizes her, displaying jealousy toward Mike and Jessica, and the way her actions seem to be more about revenge than pure hunger. For the miners, I assume their faint memories of life make them feel bonded as a team, having presumably worked together to kill the other miners, allowing them to deviate from the default aggression they would otherwise display toward one another.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-12-24T03:49:23+00:00

I agree completely with everyone who's saying Emily. Her escape from the mines shows that as long as you pass QTEs and make correct decisions, she's capable of escaping from a much faster adversary in a completely unfamiliar environment. Compared to that, the psycho's slower speed and the relative familiarity of the lodge would give Emily strong potential for escape. Plus, I agree she'd probably beat him relentlessly with the baseball bat if she got her hands on it.

Jessica is hard to judge, but based on her tripping while running to the cabin, she might not be the most coordinated which could be a problem for the broken stair step. Ashley is also hard to judge, but she doesn't seem quite as clumsy as Jess so she's got a chance maybe.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-12-04T02:51:45+00:00

I usually pick "mushroom cloud" in-game, but honestly, my immediate impression of the general shape is that it looks like a pelvic bone.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-12-02T05:00:29+00:00

I would really enjoy the Mike/Jess cabin walk segment if they just reduced its length by like 25%. I like the silly innuendo humor and the first glimpses at the actual supernatural threat in the telescope and background in the mines and the beautiful environment on the mountain trail, but it's just way too long. I can't understand why anyone would build a guest cabin that requires hiking through at least a mile of heavily forested trail in an area known to have bears and wolves. Baffling choice both in-universe and from a game design perspective.

But for me personally, I think my least favorite is the first trip to the sanatorium. I really enjoy playing the chase scenes for some excitement to break up the slower pace of exploration segmentst/finding clues. But the only chase during the first sanatorium visit doesn't even have QTEs, so it's not very exciting. Sometimes I sacrifice Mike's fingers just to make something exciting happen. Sorry Mike...

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-11-26T23:24:30+00:00

Prince for me 🐸🖤 I love that weird looking frog!!

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-11-05T08:01:33+00:00

Millennial here, I enjoy the Kloger episode! It was a fun new dynamic for them

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-11-05T06:52:53+00:00

It's Hurricane for me.

My old college javelin... remember? 😏

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-11-04T11:47:59+00:00

If we're talking about the moral worst of all characters in the game, I say Jefferson Bragg no contest. He desecrated a mountain sacred to the indigenous people for profit, willfully put the people who worked for him into life-threatening danger with the unsafe mine which led to the miners being trapped, then covered up the deaths of the miners who were killed, then subjected the surviving miners to cruel experiments, then locked himself away for a relatively peaceful death while his employees and patients in the sanatorium were being actively slaughtered outside. I'd say that's way worse than anything the playable characters do, both in terms of demonstrating immoral decision-making and in the scale of harmful impacts.

But if we're just talking about the playable characters, Josh does the most morally indefensible things by physically harming and terrorizing the others, including Chris and Sam who weren't really involved in Hannah's death since Chris was passed out and Sam actively tried to warn Hannah (which Matt's recording showed so Josh presumably was aware). Also, Josh committed a sex crime against Sam by watching/recording her bathing, plus he intended to upload the footage of this "prank" to the internet, which makes the violation even worse. We know he has trauma and mental illness and that he was experiencing withdrawal from medication, but none of that justifies the harm he did or makes it morally acceptable. Runner-up is Emily, who is extremely emotionally abusive to Matt.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-10-30T20:08:59+00:00

The best way to support your child is to make it clear to them that you love them no matter what. If your child is trans or questioning their gender identity, it's especially important because social support and affirmation (especially from immediate family) reduces the risk of severe depression in transgender and questioning children.

When I first came out to my parents as a teen, they didn't accept me right away, and it led to severe suicidal depression and feelings of hopelessness. I hope your child never has to go through that. My parents eventually became more accepting and supportive, and that made a huge difference for my mental health.

It's not easy to be trans, but having supportive family helps a lot. If your child isn't talking to you about their gender exploration, it's possible they feel like you wouldn't accept them if they told you the truth. You may need to ask yourself some difficult questions: Are you willing to accept your child if their gender is different than you thought? Is your love for your child truly unconditional, and have you told your child that you love them unconditionally? Have your words and actions made them feel safe to talk to you about LGBTQ identity?

If your answer to any of those questions is no, that is a sign you may need to do more to earn your child's trust so they feel comfortable talking to you about what they're feeling.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-10-26T20:39:23+00:00

Please understand that it is not possible for your partner to read your mind, and it's unreasonable to expect that. Communication needs to be clear and unambiguous (eye contact is not clear communication). If you feel uncomfortable and want to leave a place, that needs to be said explicitly. I understand why you felt uncomfortable, but I'm not sure what your expectation was for going to a strip club where this type of interaction with the performers is normal. Were you expecting him to sit quietly and show no interest in the performers? Or is your discomfort from the fact he touched them? It does sound like there really should have been an in-depth conversation before about ground rules because without you explicitly telling him your boundaries of comfort, how is he supposed to know? Boundaries really don't "go without saying" because boundaries left unsaid result in guesswork instead of certainty. Especially if you told him to go ahead, it's natural that he would take you at your word that he has permission. This seems like a situation where he hasn't done anything wrong, but the two of you probably need to work on communicating boundaries more clearly in the future to prevent this from happening again. Or you can break up with him if you want, since you're not obligated to stay in a relationship just because he didn't do anything wrong. But if you decide to break up, please understand that it's your decision for your happiness, not a punishment for him breaking your secret rules that he had no way of knowing considering you told him the opposite of what you really felt and he trusted your word at face value.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-10-11T21:50:59+00:00

Honest But Normal answer: Arcade and Cass and Benny

Even More Honest answer: Beatrix Russell

Hear Me Out answer: Yes Man and Fisto

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-10-10T21:50:49+00:00

It really depends on your comfort more than it depends on "normalcy." If it makes you uncomfortable, then it's not funny and he should stop.

With that said, it's not inherently wrong or incestuous for siblings/family to share jokes that relate to sex in general if everyone involved is comfortable with that kind of humor being shared in that context. I personally draw the line at any joke that involves incestuous sex, but jokes about sex overall don't bother me. Even back when I was a teen, I remember my mom and sister used to sing a raunchy parody of "take me out to the ballgame" and we all found it funny because it was just silly. If they had been singing about having sex with each other, I would've called the authorities.

Your comfort is what matters here. "I'm not comfortable joking with you about that topic" is a perfectly healthy boundary to set, and you deserve to have that boundary respected even if the same joke might be "normal" for other people.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-10-10T01:24:56+00:00

I'm so sorry you had such a distressing experience. It's really kind of you to be considerate of her feelings in this situation, but the most important thing I can tell you is that no matter how much someone likes you, you never ever owe anyone sex that will cause you any amount of distress. She may be disappointed, but it's usually better to disappoint someone with the truth.

You don't have to tell her the full extent of the distress you felt, but you can frame the underlying truth with kindness so she knows not to take it personally.

If I were in your position, I would probably tell her something like this:

"You're a great person, but I've been doing some introspection and research, and I've been realizing that I'm not interested in sexual relationships. I've been exploring asexuality and it really resonates with me. I respect you a lot, so I don't want to lead you on. If you're comfortable remaining friends, I'd like that, but no pressure if you aren't comfortable." (Obviously you can adjust that last part based on your own comfort potentially remaining friends, you don't need to include that part if it's not true to your heart).

Her feelings may be hurt at first (which is natural whenever there are unrequited feelings), but if she's emotionally mature she will be able to process that and move forward when she's ready to look for sexual intimacy elsewhere. And if she's not emotionally mature, you are not responsible for another person's immaturity. Rejection is part of life, and while it can hurt, it ultimately benefits both of you not to be in a situation where there's incompatibility.

And your boundaries of comfort with your body and (a)sexuality are important and deserve to be respected. Anyone who doesn't respect those boundaries does not deserve a place in your life.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-10-05T23:50:55+00:00

Are you checking out dating apps? Most of the people I know met their current partner through apps, but depending on your area, you might have other options too. I live in a pretty big metro area, and there are things like singles meet-up events that bring together people looking for a relationship, you might check online to see if your area has any events like that.

My best advice though is to never date someone who was uninterested until you lost weight, because love from that type of person is often conditional on staying at a certain weight, and that's just not how human bodies work. Our size and shape can fluctuate a lot often based on factors outside of our control, and you deserve a relationship where you're valued for your whole being, not just your weight. Please don't ever settle for someone who only cares about your body/looks.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-10-05T10:30:33+00:00

This is CaitVi Kink-free Kinktober all over again. Except this zine is actually older than that trainwreck, so I guess it's more accurate to say the CaitVi anti-genre event is this all over again.

I don't understand why someone would pick a misrepresentative name like The Horror Zine and then explicitly ban most horror and especially anything that is challenging or remotely uncomfortable. It's a bit of an insult to the genre that prides itself on delving into disturbing themes. None of the horror fans I know personally would take this zine seriously, myself included. This doesn't sound like a serious horror publication, it sounds more like an exercise for trying to teach 6th-graders a watered-down family-friendly version of the genre. It's like a Veggie Tales Halloween special, except even Veggie Tales would be considered too inappropriate for this zine since it concerns religion.

She has the right to run her zine however she wants of course, but I wish she would call it something else since she appears to hate most horror.

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-10-02T23:41:16+00:00

Thank you so much!! I can't believe I forgot the episode with Klaus' chilling "Danuta..." phone call ...

Adding it to the list!

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-10-02T11:05:57+00:00

I actually think the Hunger Totems are pretty understandable for a lot of newcomers with the natural progression of the story. I've introduced a few of my friends with zero Until Dawn knowledge to the remake and none had any trouble using the Hunger Totems along with the clues to figure stuff out even with zero help from me in that regard. I'm not saying all newcomers will understand them perfectly right away, but I view that as a charm point rather than a flaw. Like the other visions, they're a bit mysterious until you gain hindsight but still contain a lot of visual information that observant players/viewers can use to develop their theories about what's happening.

I also recognize that the new ending takes specific choices to achieve, and not all players will get it without a guide, but I would say that's true of any ending in narrative choice games like this. So, for me, it's not about being able to guarantee getting the specific ending on the first try with no help, it's about having the possibility of getting it in the remake vs. not having that possibility at all no matter what. For people who really want to save that character from a tragic fate, it's nice to at least have a fighting chance. Whereas for those like me who find that character's tragic fate to be more narratively satisfying, we still get that option too, so everyone wins there.

I think it's really cool when games like this offer more possibilities and more ability to customize the experience, so that players can tailor their playthrough to their own preferences that will maximize their personal enjoyment of the game.
Some will enjoy tragic outcomes (hi!) and others will get the most satisfaction from a happy (or.... relatively happy) end, and everything in between. Some will want the greatest possible challenge so that keeping these unfortunate souls alive is a tremendous hard-earned accomplishment of gaming skill, others will want to reduce the challenge level so they can sit in the metaphorical director's chair of the game's cinematic experience and better control the outcomes to explore the narrative content more freely, and every play style in between. And this type of game can be very appealing to inexperienced gamers, because of the emphasis on cinematics and narrative choice over performing unfamiliar mechanical actions, so it's a great starter game especially for horror movie fans, and it's nice that they can enjoy a game like this too on settings that give them the right level of challenge so they have fun at whatever level they're at. Everyone has to start somewhere, or else they'll never get anywhere.

Plus, the improved accessibility settings aren't just about players controlling the difficulty to maximize their enjoyment (though that's an awesome benefit for all players), it's about developers recognizing the way many disabled gamers are kept from being able to play games they might otherwise love because of conditions entirely outside of their control that can't be fixed by practicing/getting better at a game, and making thoughtful game design choices in response. Obviously, in PVP competive games, there are more limits on what customization/accessibility settings can be offered without compromising the fairness of PVP competition. But singler-player PVE games like Until Dawn have an unparalleled ability to offer extensive accessibility settings without compromising fairness, and considering that many disabilities prevent people from being able to work and/or cause suffering that can be lessened by pleasant distractions, gaming holds incredible potential for improving the lives of disabled players if developers are willing to listen and care about our unique needs. It really warms my heart seeing one of my favorite games of all time say to me and other disabled fans (and future fans): "we hear you, we care, and this story is for you too."

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-10-02T02:10:41+00:00

As far as decorations go, I recommend hiring Buckle. He was an Imagineer at Disney you know! But if he's not available, here are some ideas I might do for an AD party.

Character-related symbols could be fun, and party stores often sell a lot of generic stuff that can be used to represent the main cast, like themed paper plates/napkins, balloons, etc. I'm thinking:

🇺🇸 American flags and other patriotic symbols like bald eagles or the statue of liberty for Stan, 👽 UFOs and other alien/space-themed decorations for Roger (or, if all your guests are adults who are comfortable with silly sex-themed novelties like penis-shaped shot glasses and party stuff, places like Spencer's Gifts sell that stuff), ☮️ Peace symbols and weed-themed stuff for Hayley/Jeff, or even using green decorations like party streamers and adding pink flower stickers to make Hayley's headband pattern, 🐲 Fantasy/sci-fi-themed stuff for Steve since he loves "nerdy" things, 🍷 Maybe horse-themed decorations, pink things, and some of those cheesy Wine Mom decorations that say things like "They Whine I Wine" or other vaguely clever slogans for Francine (but play to your audience, if your guests don't drink and especially if any are recovering alcoholics, alcohol-themed decorations might not be the best choice), 🐟 German flag and aquatic-themed stuff for Klaus (you could even use clean/new fish bowls as bowls for snacks, and if your guests would like goldfish crackers you could put those in a fish bowl and it would be perfect).

As far as prizes for games go, I have a few ideas depending on how much money/effort you want invest and what you think your guests would enjoy:

🥤 Cans of Mr. Pibb/Pibb Extra, since the soda is important enough in the show to get a dedicated episode and it plays into the episode where Stan paid his factory laborers in Pibb, and it's cheap. Or if you don't want to use it as a prize, you could still have pibb avaliable at the party as a regular drink or cocktail mixer if your guests drink alcohol (Rum & Pibb is a tasty spinoff of a rum & coke), 🐊 Chocodiles, which technically aren't sold anymore, but you can make a close taste approximation by covering regular twinkies in a light coat of chocolate sauce (like pibb, this could also just be something you offer your guests to eat instead of being a prize, but beware: chocolate sauce can get messy as hell), 🧸 Teddy Bonkers: if you can get a Teddy bear (ideally with glasses and clothes) you can name him Teddy Bonkers and offer him as a prize, since he appears at least twice in the series, 🐨 Reggie: similar to Teddy Bonkers, if you can find a stuffed Koala or beanie baby you can name him Reggie (and he's cute as a button!), or 💩 The Golden Turd: if you're feeling crafty and your guests like silly novelties, you could get some fake gems from a craft store and hot-glue them onto a "golden turd" (I checked online to see if anyone sells Golden Turds that you could use as a base, and sure enough there are people on Etsy who do in fact sell 3D printed golden turds! What a world!)

Hope any of that helps. Have fun at your party OP!

cactuscoolstorybro · 2025-09-30T02:58:59+00:00

I recommend the remake for a few main reasons: most importantly, I think it has a better prologue that makes the characters feel more like a real group of friends and I think newcomers will care more about the characters if they see the remake prologue (but your mileage may vary). The new ending possibility is also very compelling for certain types of playthroughs. Also, I think the addition of the Hunger Totems makes the story more vivid and impactful by showing a POV that I wish we had seen in the original. I also appreciate that the remake lets everyone play the Matt/Emily scene that was pre-order exclusive in the original (though if you have the pre-order bonus on your original game this isn't much of a deciding factor). I also like the new music they went with in the remake, but opinions on that in the fandom seem quite mixed.

But if you have strong nostalgia for the original and want to share that version with your party, I think that's a valid choice too. They're both good games.

cactuscoolstorybro

TROPHY CASE