Update Three Hundred and Nine: 26 May 2019
Oblivious Garden - Carmina Burana
146 hours playtime, ~8 hrs actual, 38 of 38 achievements
4.5/10
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
God, what a weird one! I was initially drawn in by its premise—sure, I’ll teach princesses trapped in a gilded cage how to fence!—and charmed by its prose—it was languid and flowery and hazy and indistinct in a way that suited the atmosphere and enhanced it—but unfortunately this shit has so much atmosphere it basically just becomes fog.
There’s no distinct through line in this visual novel. You’re here to teach princesses to fence for something called a Miracle Play, right? That’s the whole reason why you’re here, they bring it up constantly. And then, in most of the routes… it doesn’t fucking matter. Routes go off the rails, half of them have to do with like reincarnated spirits and past lives or alt lives out of nowhere, things just kind of start happening, gods are involved… okay, listing them out like this makes it seem way more interesting than it is. Everything is so vague that this is one of those VNs that, I know, a week from now I won’t be able to recall anything specific from it, except that everyone is weird and one-dimensional, and the protag is a huge blockhead.
Whoo! I’m glad to be free! This review is similarly short and vague for a short and vague game, bc I want to be free of it and I’m a little emotionally hungover because…
I got engaged! I proposed to Madison with this necklace last night during our D&D campaign. I’ve been planning it for a month now, and this past week I met with the DM and other players a couple of times to work out exactly how it should go down. I’m really, REALLY bad at lying, so keeping this under wraps for so long was really starting to wear on me to the point of losing sleep. Luckily, everyone came in clutch, I didn’t fuck it up, and succeeded in my goal of making Madison cry really hard. In the game, our character’s proposal was part of a ruse to escape a noble party they had crashed with a necklace they were tasked to steal, but in out of game it was 100% real, babey. Luv u, Madison!
Next up: Some of my earliest internet memories are of stumbling across Zeiva’s work, so I’m looking forward to this one!
See you soon!
Congrats on the engagement. It’s always a step in the right direction for the rest of your life. IMO.
Right? I think so. It feels weird saying it, like it’s not really sunk in yet, but we’ve been together for so long and grew through so much, like, I just think it’s time.
She’s been going out of her way to say ‘fiance’ as often as she can!
Thank you, robilar <33
Absolutely. Honestly, if you’ve been in a relationship for a while, then marriage really affirms what you’ve already got going on, but it’s also important because: A) the actual commitment to each other ; B) the social benefits (or maybe more properly stated as societal benefits: healthcare, taxes, and so on) ; C) It let’s both of you know that you can really move forward with your life plans together with no real doubts that you’ll be doing so together.
Oh yeah, certainly! I completely understand why people aren’t thrilled with marriage as an institution, but, especially as a gay couple, those kinds of legal protections are vital and important for us.
OMFG, congratulations! And to think I almost didn’t read this update because it was another Japanese VN. :p And a gaming proposal no less! Well, it’s a wonderful thing to find love, and more wonderful still to commit one’s lives to that love.
So, any early thoughts about a wedding? Big? Small? Just a courthouse? No wedding?
TRENT. Ha! Why do you think I included a picture of the necklace?
Thank you, thank you, I’m in hearty agreement! We’ve been through enough shit where we’re not going anywhere, so we might as well make it official.
We’re doing a courthouse thing in the next couple of months for really unfun adult reasons—I’ll get on her health insurance—but we’re waiting to do a full ceremony for a while so we have time to plan it and a little bit of money to make it nice. It’d probably be no more than, idk, 40 or 50 people?
Well, I didn’t realize the significance of the necklace, but the boldfaced, “I got engaged” sure got my attention. Good, get that adult stuff out of the way…so you have fun planning a wedding!
Oh, and I read some of the other comments below, and I just have to say that you have a cool Mom and an awesome DM! :D
I dutifully reported this to mom, and she’s THRILLED that ‘people off the internet’ think she’s cool.
Yeah, we’re waiting until we have a stretch of like ‘nothing much is happening’ time to get planning off the ground. It’s such a big thing, too @_@
Wow, that’s great news! Sounds like a phenomenally awesome proposal, too! Wish you all the best :):)
Thank you, Vito!! I was So fucking nervous I would mess it up—this is like the third proposal plan I had, where I cocked the first two up. She only realized what was happening about two seconds before I actually pulled out the box, which is exactly what I wanted.
That necklace looks lovely! Congratulations to you and Madison on your engagement. :)
Thank you very much, uguleley! Madison hasn’t shut up about the necklace, and we discovered yesterday that it reflects light INCREDIBLY well.
Congratulations on the engagement!
Thank you, kubi! I’m just glad it’s over and I don’t have to lie anymore, aaa
Congrats! I love how nerdy and amazing your proposal idea was. I wish you two the best!
Aww, stef, thank you! Would you believe my fuckin’ mom came up with that idea? Over the past half year, D&D has brought so much light and joy to our lives, and we’ve been so jazzed about it, that it really was the perfect choice, AND it combined what she wanted from the proposal already (being surrounded by a small group of very close friends).
I’ve been planning it for a month now, and this past week I met with the DM and other players a couple of times to work out exactly how it should go down.
Oh, thank god. I imagine poor DM would’ve been pretty crossed if you derailed the campaign like that. Congrats, fellow roleplayer.
Oh, yeah, 100%. The DM is someone we’ve been friends with since we all were 14, and I’m not about to just ham-hand in like that.
And, actually, it was HIS idea to make it be the centerpiece/climax of the session. I was fine with it just happening in a side thing early on in the session, but he crafted the whole session to build into and lead up to the proposal AS WELL AS still servicing the plot and getting us information we need/material we need/meld into character progression for everybody, not just our characters. That made it so much better and everyone had a really good time! It ended up being about 95% diagetic!
One more fun fact: Our DM titles each session at the beginning of the session, during his ‘PREVIOUSLY ON’ rapid speech segment, and he titled this one ‘A Toast to the Future.’ c:> That was a really nice cherry on the top of an already great gift for us, and Madison’s reaction at the time was ‘ :D huh, I wonder what that’s going to mean? :D ‘
AW WHAT!?! CONGRATS TO YOU AND MADISON!!
That necklace is seriously so beautiful, I loved it before reading your description…and afterwards I was smiling ear to ear even more. :D Such an incredibly cool way to propose, what a thoughtful idea! So happy for you both!! Wishing you nothing but happiness together. <3
Eeeee, Jaffa!!!! That makes me smile so much, thank you for all your good vibes and your well wishes!
I can’t take credit for the idea—that was, funnily enough, my mom’s—but I’m just glad I was able to pull it off!
<33 Thank you!!
Well it’s official, your mom is the coolest as well. Love how everyone chipped in and helped make the surprise what it was. Here’s to your next great adventure!
<3333333333333333333333333333333
An update and a surprise?!
Like many others said^ congrats to you both! :) 🎉💌And that’s a really pretty necklace!
<3333 Thank you, dreadgal! I always like to switch it up. Come for the game reviews, stay for the intermittent girlfriend (fiance?!?!?!) posting.
ああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU TWO, CAPS LOCK YELLING FOR EVERYONE
Eeeeeheheheheeeee!!! Giselle!!!!
Thank you! I love yelling!!
Aah! Congratulations!
Thank you, Spam! I’m still a little dazed about it, haha!
Damn! I missed another post! Screw time zones :/
But CONGRATULATIONS to you and Madison! You two are the MVPs, spreading love and good vibes :>
Aww, shucks! I appreciate the well-wishes, no matter what time they arrive! I appreciate the vibes in return c:>
Ah, well, in the end that is what counts! And oh my, no matter how you look at that face it’s smiling WITH A HAT :D
Congratulations ! What a beautiful necklace !
Thank you, Ylthin! I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, and so did she c:
Congrats on the engagement. I’m really happy for both of you!
I’m looking forward to seeing some wedding pics! And maybe getting some virtual cake :P
Aww, M, thank you! Unfortunately it’ll be a while before wedding pics… but of course virtual cake is on deck all year round!
I’m late, but Congratulations! <333 I hope you both have a happy life together and make the best of it! :)
Thank you, Traqie! Don’t worry about the lateness—I’ve been stupid busy lately, too, which makes me late as well! Your well-wishes are really appreciated. I hope the same for you
Congratulations!!! I wish you two all the best ^^ Such a pretty necklace too :)
Thank you! We’re not really big on rings or bracelets, and Madison loves Sailor Moon, so when I saw that necklace I was like ‘this is it’.
It even has the millennium crystal flower on it, so a little piece of me is always with her. c: