so after Alta shouted at Ren, four pluffins came up and were making sounds at me

(also setting aside everything else, I feel like it says something that a secret clearing full of flowing water doesn't seem enough like a sacred spring to Ren)

honestly I loved the pluffins for being there for Alta

I'm sure there is more chat to be had with Ren, but yeah

I love the pluffins. And they having Alta’s back is fantastic

after boro told me how mushrooms work I. I definitely spent several hours duplicating, moving, and changing the color of trees

tbh the fact that we didn't carry seeds forward was a relief because that means I don't need to worry about using up all the seeds I get

right? it's so soothing

skyheron: I have created an art wall

That’s fantastic

If you put a photo or painting in the tea you give Zenith, they are infinitely touched by your sacrificing something personally meaningful

(I put in a photo of boro)

Hey high five I did too!

Note: you cannot put a pluffin into the tea machine

Omg I never even thought to.

Zenith asked for something valuable! I would not have done it had the game given me the actual option

Hahaha

First thing I did was go get a picture I took of Boro

Oh, I just took a new one

omg the stop sign in the fairy ring

I HAVE TAKEN A PHOTO OF THE STOP SIGN IN THE FAIRY RING IN EACH ITERATION

/cough

songofkeys: I thought of it once and I am not stopping now

Okay also can I say I appreciate that you get the achievements for, as far as I can tell, just playing the game?

It does not tell you how to get them

they just show up

devs like auto-denying your request for a list of tasks to complete

ngl Boro is...such a good

I know that Alta does not seem curious about him at all but I am DESPERATELY curious

Though also I just appreciate that Boro does not judge Alta. Or if he does at all, it never shows.

It's...she clearly has reasons for being who she is, but she also runs away from any hint of responsibility for her worse actions

And...I feel like that character trait is difficult to sit with in a game because it is a painfully normal way to be self-protective.

Shifting blame to anyone but yourself

Also also I can HEAR the "do you count things" conversation in some part of my soul.

The combination of...wanting a solid reason for feeling a certain way, when accepting that sometimes you just don't fucking know is something you need to do, being a teenager when EVERYTHING is too big and confusing, alta's having very clear control issues even at that stage in her life, and then. Shame. Don't let people know you're like this.

Being a person is hard and messy and complicated and what Alta has been resisting so hard isn't just change in herself (and self-reflection), it's dealing with change in others. And not just change in others, dealing with her perceptions being incorrect, with someone being more than the person she first met.

and well

I think the reason people are going to love or hate Alta is that same reason people hate Dolores Umbridge more than Voldemort

she's done really shitty things and refuses to take accountability, she is self-centered, she has a hot temper and doesn't necessarily think things through and these flaws are incredibly real and familiar

Of course, she also worries when she sees someone else suffering. She's concerned when she sees a child on their own and plays along (to some extent) with their make believe. If it weren't taken to an extreme, her dedication to hard work would be admirable. She can, depending on the player, display a lot of (grudging) patience.

And she's genuinely distressed when she realizes she has hurt people

Her way of dealing with that distress is not good and prevents her from actually becoming a person who DOESN'T hurt people but she does care

(I am going to sit here and wait for the discourse on What if Alta Was a Dude)

I also noticed from what she was saying in the teas she drank. That her mom did some damage by imposing that being hurt and all can’t be shared. She definitely is a messy person but I’ve been chatting with others as I notice how she came to be that way

Yeah, her being told to repress and hide her flaws fed into this need to be perfect and in control.

Repressing all her feelings probably also led to more outbursts rather than less.

Also, all Master Winters had to go on was Alta's account of herself; while I think that she would still have said she couldn't train Alta anyway, she might have approached it differently.

That's not a criticism of Master Winters, just an observation.

Yeah I agree

There is also how hands off her both her parents were. She was left to come up to her own conclusions it seems like

The pluffins:

Sherry, Cherry, Berry, Merry, Ferry, Kerry, and Wendell.

Hahaha

I love their coloring

It's puffpod and...one of the last two fruits you get, I forget which

Yeah I think I know which one. I made them a rainbow of colors

I've been doing that but I was like eh this time around

Very fair! They look like a little music band

I am now 27 hours into Wanderstop and I feel like I am playing it correctly for me.

Definitely. It took me three days and I took a lot of time

I love the gardening