We’re back with another Indieventure Postcard! We really enjoyed writing the last one, so we’re going to continue.
Enjoy!
The Play for Peace – Games for Palestine Charity Bundle on itch is rad af
I just wanted to quickly highlight the The Play for Peace bundle on itch.io as it’s pretty awesome. Get loads of games and support an important cause, like what’s not to love? For $8, you can nab 382 games, and I’ll list off a bunch that caught my eye real quick: VVVVVV, Queer Man Peering Into A Rock Pool.jpg, Coffee Talk, Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To, and loads more.
Rachel
Agreed! – Rebecca
If you have the spare cash, there’s no better way to support a great cause – Liam
Girl, he’s not your husbando, he’s a Byronic hero archetype
I’ve surely mentioned before that my undergraduate dissertation was on the topic of the Byronic hero archetype in the novels of the Brontë sisters? If not, here’s the recap: Charlotte loved the idea of taming a bad boy, while Emily wanted the bad boy to remain unrepentant and untamed (and also ultimately dead, but in like, a sexy “ghostly lovers united for all eternity” kind of way). Anne, meanwhile, thought that any guy who preferred to get messy drunk instead of dealing with adult life head-on was gross and annoying, and wasn’t shy about saying so. She was, if you will, the minority report on the subject within the family.
I was reminded of the concept recently while playing Tears of Themis because – in what was maybe not my proudest moment as an otome fan – I went from “they’re all okay but none of these characters hugely appeal to me” to “extremely attracted to Artem all of a sudden”, in large part because one of his side stories sees him go a bit Mr Rochester over our girl Rosa after a classic misunderstanding at a party. It was a rare instance for me where, despite the fact that if someone acted like that in real life it’d be a huge red flag, the excuse provided in the context of a romantic fantasy was carried out just well enough that I was prepared to be lenient. My inner Anne, for once, let her sisters have the floor.
This has caused me to recalibrate my opinions on my go-to archetype in otome games a touch, because ToT does, in fact, possess a sterling example of my usual favourite husbando material in the form of gentlemanly psychiatrist Vyn. He’s still a close runner-up in my books, but — aside from the fact that the gacha seems determined to keep us apart like a strict and disapproving parent (seriously, I pulled one of his story cards in my first month of playing daily, compared to four or five apiece for all the others) — he’s just a bit too… put together, I think. I don’t like messy, exactly, but capable of being messier than me at least on occasion is somehow reassuring when aiming to form an equal partnership, even in fiction.
So while I definitely do like a gentle-yet-shy doctor who’s easily the most stable romantic prospect on the roster, I’m starting to think that the main thing I actually look for when deciding on my first-choice otome husbando is to find the robot most enthusiastic to learn to love despite having no idea where to start. Is that a Byronic characteristic? Maybe not, based on the classical model, but I can see where it might be… Byron-adjacent. More Austenian than Brontëan but still in the ballpark. And maybe, as a stubborn contrarian at heart, I was moved to kick back against the foregone conclusion that came from having identified my “type” and defy some expectations. Now, ironically, that is a little bit Byronic of me.
PS: The real-life Lord Byron literally had an affair with his half-sister, which by hilarious coincidence is another immensely popular trope in otome, the appeal of which I can’t quite find it within myself to understand… but that’s a conversation for a whole other postcard.
Rebecca
Oh, christ. He’s only gone and bought a fucking iPad.
Every six months or so, I have a Big Clear Out. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. The impulse to downsize suddenly consumes me, and before I know it, I’m throwing a bunch of tat I was given at EGX 2014 into a big bin bag.
Last weekend, I woke up with the familiar hunger I know only a Big Clear Out can satiate. However, just as I was about to hoy my now neglected PlayStation 4 Pro out of a window into passing traffic, I remembered eBay existed. Money? For my tat? What a concept! By the time the weekend was over, I had a pocket full of change and (presumably) a bunch of deranged middle-class video game fans were satisfied with their freshly purchased overpriced bric-a-brac. A win-win, really.
With the spare cash burning a hole in my pocket, I popped into town to make one of those rare Big Purchases that get tagged as #self-care on Instagram. I’ve been chewing on the idea of buying an iPad for a few years now, so I figured now was a good time to finally pull the trigger.
Readers? I love my new iPad. I’ve always assumed tablets were just big phones, and well, yes, that’s exactly what they are. But, weirdly, thanks to my ongoing project to reduce my time online, I’ve actually found that the iPad is better the less you want to do with it.
An iPad, it turns out, is at its best when it’s being used as a purely creative tool. Whether drawing in Procreate, making notes in GoodNotes, or even writing in something as basic as Google Docs, an iPad allows you to create digitally without distraction. Now that I’ve removed the background radiation of TikTok, X, and Instagram from my life completely, there’s no compulsion to doomscroll. And unlike with my laptop, which I use for work, there’s never a Teams notification or a new email ready to steal my attention the second I open the lid.
Suddenly, for the first time in years, I have a piece of tech that feels quiet and purposeful. I spent hours the other day doodling in Procreate without a care in the world, listening to music and generally having a lovely time.
And that pencil! We all laughed at the Apple Pencil when the company first revealed it a decade ago, but after using one, I’m completely convinced. It just works, which is something I’ve always appreciated about Apple products (stop giggling at the back).
I’m fortunate to be in a position where I can purchase something like this, I’m aware. But wow. I’m obsessed. Please enjoy the Butterfly at the top of this entry, which I drew in Procreate the other evening. I’m embarrassed to say I’m quite proud of it.
Liam
Why Shakespeare would have made an amazing reality TV showrunner
My never-ending thirst for drama has led me to check out a lot of Shakespeare’s plays, being as old Bill is known for writing some of the genre’s greatest hits and all that. I’m not that familiar with most of them (minus the Kurosawa films, which are fucking incredible), so I wasn’t even sure I’d like them. But! I found a crusty YouTube upload of Ian McKellen in King Lear, and omg my expectations have been totally smashed and I’m LOVING it.
It’s basically my new reality TV fix. The family drama is on the same level as Real Housewives (New Jersey, in particular), all the characters are nasty and backstabbing each other, and the OUTFITS! The GLAM! The DRAMA! Even the soliloquies are like the confessionals you see in reality TV, with the character spilling their true thoughts and feelings to the audience. Like, it rules?? I’m loving it.
Rachel
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