rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (you'll never see it coming)
Riona ([personal profile] rionaleonhart) wrote2024-10-06 01:57 pm

You Will Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Orgies.

I've played a few hours of the demo for Metaphor: ReFantazio, which is basically mediaeval fantasy Persona, and unfortunately I love it. Looks like it might be time to sink a hundred hours into another Atlus game.

When the protagonist's dialogue options turned out to be voiced, I was so shocked that I paused and had to take a moment to recover. It's not what I expect from something so clearly rooted in the Persona series!

Hilariously, the background music is diegetic; your fairy companion is magically making music play in your head. Incredible. I also inexplicably find the battle music extremely funny; it's something about the singing!

This game immediately got its claws into me by introducing a mouthy, overconfident young man with a guilt complex and a desperate need to do what's right. 'Kind of a little shit' and 'fundamentally good-hearted' is a very hard combination for me to resist. And then he was nice to our protagonist when everyone else looked at us with suspicion! I immediately loved him and wanted to be his friend.

(To be honest, I've already checked whether I can romance Strohl. The answer: no, because this game has no romance system. I'm going to pretend I'm romancing him.)

At one point an army captain asked me about my skills, and the game presented me with a list of options. 'I can take a lot of punishment,' I replied. The captain's response was 'Really now? I'd not have guessed... Sounds like an invitation to me.'

I felt the game had looked straight at me and said, 'You intentionally made the protagonist say the horniest of the options, didn't you?' and, to be honest, it was right.


The rest of this entry will be a dream roundup!


Dreamt the YouTuber Sarah Z wanted me to brainstorm discussion points for her next video essay; she gave me a marker and pointed me towards a whiteboard to get started. The topic of the video was annoyances in general, so I was supposed to list annoyances in different areas, e.g. videogames. This struck me as too broad a subject for a video essay, but I decided against saying so.


Dreamt [personal profile] runicmagitek had drawn sexually explicit fanart for assorted Final Fantasy and Danganronpa pairings. The piece I remember was Kaede/Shuichi from Danganronpa V3, with Kaede on top. Not my pairing, but I could appreciate the artistry; the pieces were all beautifully drawn and coloured!


Dreamt I was out and about. I realised I needed the loo, so I walked into the nearest house and went to the master bedroom to use the ensuite, passing the house's residents on the way: a woman in maybe her sixties and a couple of young children.

It occurred to me only once I was in the bedroom that wandering into a stranger's house to use the toilet was an extremely weird thing to do. I quickly left the room and apologised to the woman. She was surprisingly understanding. She called me by my mother's name at first, causing me to realise she knew my mother and had spotted the family resemblance, so maybe it's just the sort of thing she expected of my mother.

After we'd talked, I went to actually use the loo, but I was delayed by the woman's son: a man in his twenties with long brown hair. He asked me what I had done to diversify cotton production lately. Embarrassed, I admitted I hadn't been giving much thought to the fabrics I bought. He made a disgusted, dismissive noise.


Dreamt there was a guy in the house I was staying in: a housemate's boyfriend, maybe? Someone I was acquainted with and didn't dislike but wasn't that close to, not a personal friend. He'd been in a bad mood recently, which made the atmosphere a bit uncomfortable. But then we got into a conversation about music, which it turned out was a topic he was really interested in; he had a lot of trivia to share. I remember at one point we discussed a song about doing laundry by a rapper called Dry Cent.

Eventually, I had to end the conversation because I was planning to visit my parents and needed to set off. The guy thanked me, quietly but sincerely, and I realised the conversation had really cheered him up. He seemed a little embarrassed, presumably aware that he'd been grumpy lately and that it had probably made him harder to live with.


Dreamt I had to go to the moon for a few days for work. The landing was a bit rocky, but the spacecraft was still operational, fortunately. It was a pretty bleak place to be: the black of the sky, the grey of the dust at my feet, the complete absence of life.

A couple of weeks after I'd returned to Earth, it suddenly really hit me, and I freaked out at my brother about it while we were standing in a queue together. 'Joseph! I went to the moon! I went to the fucking moon! I crashed the spacecraft, and I still made it back! What the fuck?'

He considered this for a moment. 'How was it?' he asked.

'So depressing,' I replied, without hesitation.


Dreamt I was present in person at a recording of Make Some Noise, the improvised Dropout comedy skit show hosted by Sam Reich. Sam himself was not here on this occasion, for whatever reason, so the contestants were just doing their own thing.

It occurred to me that one skit, which involved devouring Skittles from a little bowl, seemed to be going on for a strangely long time, and then I realised it was because Sam wasn't present to hit the buzzer and end the skit.

'As Sam's not here, do you just have to eat all of the Skittles?' I asked.

'Do you think Sam can't fuck?' one of the contestants retorted, laughing. (Either Grant O'Brien or Ross Bryant? They look very similar.)

I puzzled over this for some time. Was Sam unable to host the show because he was off somewhere having sex? Or was the implication that Sam was incapable of having sex because it was instead his job to man the buzzer that told other people it was time to stop having sex? Was Sam Reich always stuck with the admin at the orgy?


Dreamt I was at a firework display. It was being held in weird conditions; it was lightly overcast but still very much daylight.

Everyone counted down, and the first firework went off, not very impressively on account of the fact that it was day. However, it drew my eye to something else in the sky. Some sort of large bird I had never seen before? As it descended, I saw its large beak silhouetted against the clouds and realised with excitement that it was a pelican.

I went to investigate where the pelican had landed and discovered a little train of five pelicans, almost beak to tail. Each had a baby pelican sitting on its back (old enough to be feathered), with the exception of the fifth and last, which had an entire pile of cheerful little baby pelicans riding it.

The pelicans ran around the plains in perfect single file, each with its passenger (or, in the case of the fifth, passengers), and we all stood and watched, the firework display forgotten.


A few nights ago, I dreamt there was a large, poisonous red and black frog on my bedroom wall, right next to the bed. I dreamt this so vividly that I had to turn on the light in real life to check whether it was really there. I don't usually get confused about whether my dreams are real; it was a very disconcerting experience!

For the benefit of anyone who's concerned: I have not been poisoned by a frog.
pauraque: bird flying (Default)

[personal profile] pauraque 2024-10-06 01:35 pm (UTC)(link)
unfortunately I love it

lol, relatable. I mean, not this specific game, which I haven't played. But in general, I have had many experiences of not loving a game and being like, thank God, because I don't have time to love it!

You may already know this, but although pelicans don't carry their babies on their backs, some water birds do! I've seen Western Grebes doing this, and I know other grebe and loon species do it too.
lokifan: black Converse against a black background (Default)

[personal profile] lokifan 2024-10-08 12:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I have had many experiences of not loving a game and being like, thank God, because I don't have time to love it!


Yep! The inverse of this, I think, is when I'm like 'I can't watch that TV show, I don't have time for all the fanfiction I'd need to read afterwards.'

Awww grebe babies <3

(Anonymous) 2024-10-06 02:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I think I'm going to pick up Metaphor: ReFantazio, I love my ridiculously long RPGs with plot and Persona/SMT etc.

Are you planning on playing the Silent Hill 2 Remake? I'm not as I can't handle playing it, but I've always thought it looked decent despite fan backlash and daft memes, and now popular opinion seems to be that it's pretty good in the end after all so who knows. I'm now much happier about watching some LPs as it sounds like it won't just be people being universally negative and making fun (which almost always puts me off an LP unless it's a very specific style and clearly not from actual hatred, one of the reasons it's so hard to find an FF8 LP that I'm willing to watch).
night_owl_9: (Russia - wishing for a change)

[personal profile] night_owl_9 2024-10-06 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
...and, to be honest, it was right. - Ha, love it!
halfcactus: an icon of a manga shiba inu (Default)

[personal profile] halfcactus 2024-10-06 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so sad we're not getting Metaphor on Switch. ;___; But glad that you're enjoying it! The music/sound stuff that you mentioned are SO relevant to my interests. ;___;
necrophilia: (pic#17199631)

[personal profile] necrophilia 2024-10-06 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
I haven't grabbed the Metaphor: ReFantazio demo yet but I've been hearing very good things! I'm honestly a bit tired of the cookie cutter Persona model of games but I will never get mad at Atlus milking the cash cow if it allows them to produce other properties.

That said, October is being very cruel. I have a Silent Hill 2 preorder waiting for me! I just finished Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom! When will I emerge from this video game chasm.
necrophilia: (pic#17241766)

[personal profile] necrophilia 2024-10-06 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
For you, I will absolutely make it its own entry. ♥
walgesang: a drawing of a humpback whale with wings (Default)

[personal profile] walgesang 2024-10-06 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
ooh, I'm a sucker for medieval settings and despite most of what I know about the Persona is via my kid play (they're a huge Persona fan), I'm tempted to give the demo a try!

The Game Changer dream also made me grin because I've been watching so much Dropout lately that I'm pretty sure I've had a dream about Sam Reich as well. Could it be because he was THERE THE WHOLE TIME. :D
apiphile: (fuck your ideals)

[personal profile] apiphile 2024-10-06 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
This struck me as too broad a subject for a video essay, but I decided against saying so.

Would "overly broad subject areas" have counted as an annoyance?

so maybe it's just the sort of thing she expected of my mother.

I would have questions about that

He asked me what I had done to diversify cotton production lately. Embarrassed, I admitted I hadn't been giving much thought to the fabrics I bought. He made a disgusted, dismissive noise.

That is an incredibly specific middle-class anxiety dream I think.

I remember at one point we discussed a song about doing laundry by a rapper called Dry Cent.

God I hope that one exists

Dreamt I had to go to the moon for a few days for work.

As you do! I think the moon would be a depressing place to spend more than an hour or two.

Was Sam Reich always stuck with the admin at the orgy?

... this needs to be a fanfic.

I went to investigate where the pelican had landed and discovered a little train of five pelicans, almost beak to tail. Each had a baby pelican sitting on its back (old enough to be feathered), with the exception of the fifth and last, which had an entire pile of cheerful little baby pelicans riding it.

How wonderful!

apiphile: (henry scott tuke)

[personal profile] apiphile 2024-10-07 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
I believe that anyone who's met my parents just assumes that they might do anything.

They are quite adventurous people!

I'd be so unhappy if I got sent to the moon for work.

I'd take it personally
muscle_wizard: (Isabeau // SMTIV)

[personal profile] muscle_wizard 2024-10-07 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
Metaphor: ReFantazio is the game I tried hard not to be interested in because I also don't have time to sink into a 100hr+ playthrough right now lmaooooo but alas it is on my Christmas list. I am, as always, a brand loyal Atlus bitch.

The dialogue choices being voiced is so fun!!! What a refreshing change <3_<3
marginaliana: Buddy the dog carries Bobo the toy (Default)

[personal profile] marginaliana 2024-10-07 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
a song about doing laundry by a rapper called Dry Cent - this seems deeply plausible as a real rap song.

Sam Reich is definitely stuck with the admin at orgies. He's got to click the screen from 'noise of a hippo orgasming' to 'noise of a giraffe orgasming' to keep the momentum going.

Did you ever get to pee in that dream about needing to pee? I have dreams like that often and I never do have success in the dream.
lassarina: (Argilla: In Shadow)

[personal profile] lassarina 2024-10-15 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
I am also surprisingly invested in Metaphor, lol. I picked magic because that's often the right answer in an Atlus game, and Strohl is a direct attack on me personally. I think the person I suspect is the fourth party member is ALSO going to be an egregious attack on me personally. We'll see!
lassarina: (Default)

[personal profile] lassarina 2024-10-28 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
By "fourth member" I meant Hulkenberg, since at the time I posted this my party was MC, Strohl, and Grius.

guess what

she's a direct attack on me personally

how dare they!
horselizard: Comic strip image of James Acaster saying "I'm quirky." (Default)

[personal profile] horselizard 2024-10-17 10:00 am (UTC)(link)
i wish my dreams were as regularly vivid and absurd as yours XD (also, i appreciated the reference in the title :D)
Edited 2024-10-17 10:00 (UTC)