some sherlock inspired detective mia sketches that i made before for the DGS meiji theme zine
but I couldn't really nail it so went with miko Mia instead in the end so here are just the sketches 😔
"Mia kind of sucked actually" yeah geez she only grew up in a resentful death cult, got parentified at age 12, fled the only home she's ever known to avoid being pitted against that same sibling she had to raise, graduated law school alone, overcame trauma and depression to start a successful law firm alone in her mid-20's, and spent whatever free time she had researching emotionally painful cold cases and planning to take down a corrupt CEO. even if therapists existed in the trilogy (real therapy, not Athena's bs), when would Mia have had the time? she covered an incredible amount of ground just breaking free of Kurain and adapting to the world outside the village - again, without anyone she could entirely trust to catch her if she fell. but still, she changed and grew as a person in just the 3-year span we knew her. she got much better at managing her anxious and aggressive tendencies. she was more openly supportive toward Phoenix than any adult was to her. and she was literally TRYING to open up more to Phoenix and Maya on the night she died, by introducing those two halves of her life to each other despite the risks! if Mia Fey "sucked", then how high a standard should women be held to, hmm?
I know the joke is that Ghost Trick fans can't tell you why to play it, just that you should, but here's some spoiler-free reasons to play it:
It's an incredible puzzle game. The puzzles are basically Rube-Goldberg machines, where you manipulate objects in a series to effect change in the overall situation. Do you like complex mechanisms and the concept of the butterfly effect? Play this.
The basic gameplay: you are a ghost. You have the ability to posses and manipulate objects, and move from object to object. Someone bas died. You can go to four minutes before their death to change their fate using your Rube Goldberg powers. Also! The puzzles do a great job of ramping you up in difficulty and teaching you the gameplay, but wow do they get HARD in late game. You can replay any puzzle, and also rewind time as you wish. You can't lock yourself out of things by doing it wrong, since you can redo.
The story is SO GOOD. There's a reason why everyone tells you as little as possible -- it's a compelling mystery that sucks you in. The basic idea: you are dead. You need to figure out who you are and who killed you. This spins out into a tale of political intrigue.
It's by Shu Takumi, the creator of Ace Attorney. It has very similar vibes, in that it's absolutely bonkers characters and situations but also WILL make you cry once it's all revealed. Great mix of serious and humorous tones. Seriously, someone dies when a giant roast chicken statue falls on them and the root cause is because of [serious political events]
The aesthetics. Great music, great character design, have you SEEN what the game looks like? Really good use of color and stylization. Character animations are often hilarious.
Missile is there. You WILL love bestest boy. Don't google him. Just trust.
dandelions are magic. literally tiny suns in the grass that turn into the moon and then the stars when you blow on them. fucking insane.
so what i’ve collected over the past few years is:
A useful article from King Arthur Flour (my beloved) on baking while disabled.
you have to remember, if you're truly writing niche fiction, unusual fiction (and I don't mean writing popular tropes with a twist, or writing within well-selling genres but "a bit different") but truly odd, speculative and experimental fiction, unless you're insanely and extremely lucky, your reader-base is always going to be smaller and harder to find and establish than generic, run-of-the-mill material, because the readers are scarce/uncommon as well 💕
*reading my own writing* wow this really does cater to all my specific needs