WEEKLY UPDATE - The writer's barely-disguised issues (Patreon)

A very tired hello to you all!

Myu here, Seb is still in the throes of internship, and I am going through things.

So, because I feel mentally floaty and sad, I thought I'd interrupt the lore drops with... DIFFERENT LORE!

Today, let's talk metaphors and what our cross-stitch RPG might have to say about real life.Spoilers ahead.

I am sorry for dropping some heavy stuff on you, but I am not doing well.It happens, especially as life keeps throwing rocks at me.

(Now, don't worry, I am doing what I can to get better. Therapy, seeing friends irl or virtually, making sure I eat and drink enough... Whatever is needed.)

And through all that, there is still a game to be made.

And it's pretty ironic to work on this game in particular, because the very first iteration of its concept was a 2-3 sentences fast-typed paragraph about the game being about..... Mental health!

Social commentary? In my video game??? Shocking! Next you'll tell me unregulated hypercapitalism is bad or something.

Like any medium, video games can be a good vector for self expression.

I am jaded and don't believe a video game can really change the world -- if that was a thing, we'd have a different society since the release of games like Disco Elysium -- but I do believe in the need to express oneself through whatever medium seems appropriate.

And in the case of Rode Draad, the message is all about mental health and the woes of finding out what the heck is wrong with you.

(unless we lose sight of it, it could happen, sometimes you lose and dilute your message too much as you focus on making the game a cool game)

"But Myu", you may ask, "how is a medieval fantasy cross-stitched RPG supposed to tell you something about mental health?"

Through the power of metaphors, of course.

The whole game is a metaphor.

Think on it: you are a little character of an old tapestry that is unraveling slowly. An outside world to that tapestry looks at you and tries to intervene. And it all culminates in the confrontation of whether you accept that intervention as help or try to continue doing things your way.

THIS SOUNDS A LOT LIKE GETTING THERAPY TO ME.

The metaphor is all about the process of getting mental health help, getting diagnosed and accepting that diagnosis (or not).

It is about he ups and downs of:

First, realising something is wrong with you, you may have felt it brewing before but now it is impossible to deny.

Second, exploring what is wrong with you, attempt to function and explore your limits.

Third, reckoning with something being wrong with you, you're not who you were or thought you were, whether you want it or not. You should probably do something about it. You will have to adapt anyway.

Fourth, accepting whatever is wrong with you... and what needs to be done. And most importantly: accepting help.

Now, such a structur seems to line awfully well with the Kishôtenketsu 4-act-structure we mentioned in an earlier post, does it not?

Yeah, that's on purpose, we're trying to be smart here.

Rode Draad's story will follow the same steps!

You are a Hero in Tapijt, and the world is going through things. You'll have to play through:

First, realising something is wrong with this world, where strange new creatures have surfaced.

Second, exploring what is wrong with this world, how these creature are related to a bigger issue: the embroidery is unraveling in places.

Third, reckoning with what is wrong with this world. What is behind your cross-stitched world (literally, we're going to the other side of it after all)? The world is suddenly staggeringly different as you discover the existence of the Buiten.

Fourth, accepting whatever is wrong with this world. Tapijt is a tapestry hung in the Buiten, and the Buiten might be trying to repair it actually. Are their methods okay with you? Will you accept their help or try to fix Tapijt your own way?

...

I love metaphors. Subtle ones.

And, to make this even more realistic in terms of stuff I may or may not have been or still be going through, while this is all happening you will still have to be a Tapijt Hero. You have missions, a group to keep together, a world to protect and explore.

Just like I still have to make a game despite being in a bad place, and take my classes and manage my life regardless of my mental health journey.

As we all do.

Metaphors.

There is more depth to this whole thing and how it unveils through the game, it also goes along with the self-questioning of the heroism of Heroes in Tapijt, it factors the discovering of all the various issues of the three regions, the Buiten's attempts at repairs and everything...

But it's a bad day, and I need to go back to take care of my ever-screaming brain.

I'll just wish you all a good week, in your mind as much as in your material conditions.

See you soon.