Lots of Lore & Liminal Games
Hey! It’s Candye. This is your newsletter where I talk about cozy-dark themes in paranormal mystery, sci-fi, tabletop games, and recommendations.
Hey!
In this letter:
On writing and absorbing all the lore
Vegas trip
Smelling games?
I hope you’ve been well the past month. My husband and I finally took our first vacation since 2019, and it was a much-needed break. Vegas is crazy, though. Have you ever been? I don’t think I’ve even been anywhere with that many people out at once.
Lorekeeping
I’ve been working on lore lately instead of “writing.” Some would say lorebuilding is writing as long as it doesn’t go too far, becoming a distraction.
Lore isn’t something I used to do. I would just write, and lore would appear. But I’ve found a new program that is amazing and has made lore easy for me. I know I sound like an ad, but it’s true. #notspon. It’s called Obsidian, if you’re interested. It’s completely free unless you want to pay for syncing to another device.
I’ve been into writing short stories and pieces of lore from my cozy-dark sci-fi adventure series. I’ll give you a little lore snippet from one of the five planets in the planetary cluster, Celestara.
Caldera of Reflections
Believed to be a living entity. Some have claimed to see Navira, the Constellation of the Pilot and their Guardian’s face, appear in the pool. The caldera shows reflections of past events. Some believe that’s why the Keepers don't want Celestrians travelling there and finding the truth.
The caldera is worshiped by the Sun Worshippers, and is known for its healing properties.
I’ve got something coming soon that you may be interested in if you like reading lore similar to letters and scraps you’d find across an open-world RPG. So stay tuned for that.
I am so into lore. I will watch those lore videos for Fallout or Elder Scrolls forever. I’ve even watched lore videos for games I haven’t played just because I love the depth of lore and knowing where things came from.
Cozy-Dark Recommendations
Curse of Eelgrass Bog
I am absolutely in love with this book. Haven’t finished it yet, but it’s crazy. I’m really falling for that secret-society-at-the-bog trope, also found in Deep is the Fen, which I have also not yet finished. I am immersing in spring right now with stuff like this. I hope to find more, so let me know if you have any personal recs.
Doesn’t even have to be books. I’m open to games, movies, graphics, whatever. A story is a story to me.
Beacon Pines
If you haven’t played or seen Beacon Pines yet, I highly recommend it. It’s not really a game, more like an interactive visual novel. You can walk around and choose a charm, but usually there’s only one to choose from. I found that a bit disappointing, and a couple of points at the end had me feeling ever so slightly jipped. But not enough to ruin the whole game.
It was an amazing story, even if you just want to watch someone else play on YouTube. I actually really miss the vibes and have thought about running through it again.
Mutazione
Mutazione was on sale recently, and that game has done something no other has done for me before. I swear I can smell this game. It’s so liminal. Without trying, I felt like I was smelling these places, and others, I felt like I’d been there before and knew exactly what it was like.
I have no idea how this game is so liminal, but I’ve been trying my darndest to figure it out. I would love to achieve something like this. To make a story, whether game or book, even more palpable.
If you’ve played this game, let me know if you’ve had the same experience or if you know any other games that have done this for you. And if you have any clues as to why it feels liminal, I’d love to hear them.
THANK YOU
Thanks as always for being here! I hope you have a great month!
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Hi! I’m Candye. I write Paranormal Mystery and Sci-Fi with dark, cozy vibes and light-hearted adventures. I aim to invite awe into daily life and provide a place where you feel seen and heard.
When I'm not writing, I'm either reading my Kindle in the sunlight, playing cozy games, watching movies and cartoons, or drinking herbal tea with extra honey.