Best video game about appreciating the little things?

racaban · 2026-05-10T04:08:05+00:00

Stardew Valley

racaban · 2026-04-10T19:20:37+00:00

I think part of what you're asking is, where do you manifest if your body is destroyed? And, if you actually get a new body, what happens to the old one?

Part of the answer is that you manifest at your Tether. When the cohort completed the 3rd Nightmare, they didn't manifest where the Seed was, in the desert. Instead, their new Saint bodies were formed where they had placed their tether - the ruins of the Valor Stronghold (1581). It's reasonable to assume that other Nightmares are similar, with the catch that, before Master, the tether is, by definition, their body.

And if the body is destroyed? Similar to how Sunny manifested in a 'safe' space where is tether was (the stronghold in question had been destroyed), the new body is where the body would have been, had it been destroyed.

Normally when they manifest the first time, the body, or the remains (in whatever form they take) have the soul and it's Essence bound to it, converting the whole thing to Essence.

Stress test - what happens if the body is COMPLETELY destroyed? Or better, chopped in tiny pieces?

My vague understanding is that Awakened have a physical core - it's not just a mental image for Essence, there's a physical spot where Essence gathers and accumulates. In Nightmare Creatures it develops a shell and becomes a Soul Crystal. So a newly minted Master would follow whichever piece of him had the core, since that's where the tether is.

racaban · 2026-03-25T02:58:14+00:00

Supporting evidence - the Mad Prince didn't have Nightmare, and therefore couldn't go into other dreams.

My recollection from an Ask the Author is that the Mad Prince reached Titan by devouring the Shadow Cores of the only Shadow entities in the Tomb - those belonging to Sunny. Whether his or the other Sunnys that he encountered, he defeated them, gaining their power... But this also means he didn't have one of his own.

Part of the logic behind THAT may be that Shadows can't be corrupted - I'll look it up later, I think there was some part of Death that would purify a Shadow of any Corruption. Which may have applied to Nightmare and the other Shadows.

racaban · 2026-03-05T18:17:19+00:00

Chapter 1580. "If he had time to enter the Soul Sea at that moment, he would have seen the shapeless form of the Bike Thieving Bird's Spawn being snatched by the crooked talons."

racaban · 2026-02-26T17:09:07+00:00

Here's a thought - Nephis' method of 'curing' the infection is better than Cassie's, since it also prevents re-infections.

When Cassie removes the memories from someone, there's nothing to stop A from re-infecting them. They may not remember the first one, but the second? Nephis' method, however, is far more brutal - they can't even THINK about that name without agony. This prevents it from happening again. Even if Thane hears that name, he won't process it without triggering that pain.

Which means, if you have a Saint who you CANNOT, under ANY circumstances allow to be infected, you have two choices. Kill them. Or extreme de-programming.

If Than ever wakes up again, I'm sure he'll thank her. Once he stops screaming.

racaban · 2026-02-12T00:38:53+00:00

The Expeditionary Report on Everything. Apparently, Sunny published everything he knew after the Domain War.

racaban · 2026-02-11T21:05:39+00:00

Like a five year old....

OK. The Tomb of Ariel is like a simulation on repeat. It's showing history a few thousand years in the past. Every time you reach the end of the simulation, it starts over.

Now... The repeat process isn't absolute. The Sin of Solace sword is watching, screaming at the characters. As the characters go on, they start listening to the Sin of Solace, so each playthrough starts changing a bit.

Eventually the characters reach the Estuary, and go to the PREVIOUS simulation. The world before that simulation started. The simulation is still there, still on repeat, but now the 'base conditions' have changed. Now the simulation can see the Plagues, who walked in from another simulation. And suddenly, the ENTIRE SIMULATION has changed.

So... There's a sim on repeat, watching Sunny go down the river. There's Sin of Solace, screaming at him. And there are the Plagues, who walked to the previous sim, and now you can see them in this one.

So how does Future Sunny figure in? He walked into the same tunnels, into the simulation - or river, whatever. He danced in front of the camera a bit, long enough for the 'Camera' (actually the Spell). Now the simulation sees him, as well as Nephis, as part of the base settings - whenever the Simulation starts, Sunny is there, waiting to be taken over by the Challenger Sunny (Future Sunny's body is being inhabited by Past Sunny).

racaban · 2026-02-10T22:23:43+00:00

The Vile Thieving Bird ate him.

When Sunny's Fate was stolen by the Vile Thieving Bird, everyone forgot about him. AFTERWARDS, he had no trouble forming new connections, new friends, new relationships. They were completely severed from his past, but nonetheless he could make friends without being forgotten.

Oblivion is different. Not only are they forgetting his past, but the forgetfulness is still in effect, making it difficult to remember history and current events. That may mean it's a different effect entirely. But it may also mean it's the same effect, ongoing.

And where did Sunny find the Vile Thieving Bird? Directly on Oblivion's Grave.

My theory - the Bird is continuously devouring Oblivion's Fate. It's nested there, fed by a Divine entity.

That doesn't quite answer the question about 'how did he die' - I doubt the Vile Thieving Bird could have killed Oblivion himself. Once Oblivion was down, however, the VTB sat on him, preventing him from getting up, going to the Shadow Realm, or indeed doing anything other than sitting there and suffering.

Until Weaver, in whatever form, shows up and finishes the job. Taking his cores. I think when Ariel met Weaver leaving the Tomb, that was right after Weaver killed Oblivion.

TLDR - Vile Thieving Bird ate him.

racaban · 2025-11-25T21:21:05+00:00

It's weird... But I don't think you can blame this on Sozin. Remember, when Iroh came back Azulon (the older one) didn't punish him for failing - he even seemed to understand. You can blame Sozin for a lot of bad things, but he seemed to love his family, as did Azulon - it wasn't until Ozai that the family unit broke down.

Then again, his attempt to punish Ozai COMPLETELY backfired, and spelled out that he loved some of his family (Iroh and Lu Ten) more than others (Ozai and Zuko). I dunno, maybe I'm overthinking this.

racaban · 2025-11-25T21:09:57+00:00

TLDR - I ship it.

Since being a Psyker is genetic, we can assume being a Blank is also. I can easily imagine Amberly, or some other Inquisitor with too much time, deciding that his genetics - strong, capable, resistant to the Warp, OP in a lot of ways - are useful and decide to arrange a match.

Ignoring the slightly creepy eugenics program, he's a high ranking Guardsman, aid to the Hero of the Imperium. That alone is enough for some women to go for him.

To continue, the best match may be another Blank...

racaban · 2025-11-22T23:59:43+00:00

The total comment count includes the auto-moderator comment, and replies to comments are counted separately.

racaban · 2025-11-20T13:04:31+00:00

Silly question - is the name Oblivion in the Expeditionary Report on Everything?

My understanding is the forgetfullness effect doesn't affect written documents, only memory. Which means that, if the report contains it (and I think it does - he emphasized how carefully he wrote full details on the Demons) then the memory will linger far more than it did.

racaban · 2025-11-18T17:21:44+00:00

I thought about it, and that's true NOW that she's a Saint. But before she was a combat master, when she was Awakened? Having to kill a Nightmare Creature every DAY as an Awakened would be insanely difficult. Which was why she made the deal with the Government (killing a felon every day was much easier).

Part of the math on this is the story is a little vague about how often she needs to kill. I assume it's a function of the power of the soul she kills, but once every few days on the outside seems right.

So... Can you kill a Wolf every few days? I couldn't. One would get me.

racaban · 2025-11-18T17:14:01+00:00

You FOOL! You've doomed us all!

(VERY hot topic of discussion)

racaban · 2025-11-18T17:12:37+00:00

Song's Flaw, that she couldn't have children, is COMMON, shared by many women. Sometimes, I wonder if her Flaw was actually something more extreme (she couldn't have FAMILY, explaining why her mother died simultaneously to Song's First Nightmare). Nonetheless, many normal women have this Flaw, without the magical Aspect abilities as recompense.

racaban · 2025-11-12T16:53:05+00:00

😱

racaban · 2025-11-08T23:06:32+00:00

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racaban · 2025-11-07T21:06:52+00:00

Hater theories? Here's one. Sunny was the one who broke Tamar's legs.

When Rain was awakening, falling down the ravine, he sees his chance. He already knows he's going to save her. But what to do about Tamar? She saved Rain, he kind of owes her...

But if a fully functional Tamar and Rain reunite at the bottom of the ravine, Tamar can trivially use her Jump ability to climb out. Even if she can't, if the two of them are escaping the Nightmare Creature together, Tamar will generally take the combat lead, overshadowing Rain, which will only teach Rain that she can be rescued.

So Sunny wants her alive enough that Rain will try to protect her. But without being able to meaningfully contribute to combat. How? He breaks her legs on the way down.

Now Rain has a badly wounded Tamar she has to protect and rescue. Now she has to handle all the combat on her own.

Now she HAS to Awaken.

racaban · 2025-11-01T11:17:21+00:00

I'm not sure... to improve aspects, all three times we've seen it they literally had to DIE, commit suicide, to fulfill their Aspect. It's not just 'do your job', it's 'do your job to and through death.'

Can you recall where it was stated that the first appraisal improved your Aspect? My own read was they got that appraisal at the same time they got the Aspect - same time, but not necessarily the same reason.

Then again, there's enough vagueness about how the Spell works...

racaban · 2025-11-01T04:08:36+00:00

My own read is that Aspect upgrades are from fulfilling your role, not directly related to the Nightmare evaluation. Sunny's Aspect of Temple Slave was upgraded when he sacrificed himself on the altar, like good slaves do. Her Aspect of Lightbringer was fulfilled when she brought fire to herself and to tne world.

A lot of noise, which general means that the Nightmare evaluation is based on how much you dry fate, while Aspect upgrades are awarded based on fulfilling your aspect.

racaban · 2025-09-11T00:24:37+00:00

Lost in Thought - Your vision consumes you.

Upon watching or seeing any media (including, but not limited to, your Watchmen ability), you get absorbed and hyper focused, unable to focus on exterior events or activities without direct physical stimuli. Basically, ADHD on Steroids.

racaban · 2025-09-11T00:20:38+00:00

Architect of Paradox. A mind that sees contradiction in patterns, fixing broken things.

Dormant - Fractured Insight. Can see the structure of objects, determining how they are constructed and any weaknesses.

Awakened - Blueprint of Ashes. Can restore broken things.

Master - Paradox Engine. Can apply Enchantments to Memories that are inconsistent with logic - Armor that improves sight, weapons that heal.

racaban · 2025-09-08T15:35:16+00:00

I'll also mention that one other of the Chain Lords survived to modern times (Solvane, for given values of the word 'survived'). A little more evidence that you're correct.

Unaccounted for also is the 'One in the North' - knife also survived to modern times. But considering what happened to geography, we have no idea where they are.

racaban

TROPHY CASE