For most of my Dredge playthrough I didn’t stop to question the player character. But when I got the ending, the one you get when you gather all the relics and give them to the Collector, the plot grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me into the depths of hyperfocus and would not let me go for days. This essay explores the cosmic horror themes of self and monstrosity in the indie fishing game Dredge.

BOSSGAME: The Final Boss Is My Heart is a delightful boss rush indie game with amazing queer characters. It’s complex and thoughtful—and the queer relationships aren’t doomed to tragedy, subtext, or queerbaiting. The fact that this game exists brings me joy. I love it not only because it gave me several emotions but also because it shows a lesbian couple being honest, communicating in the face of difficult moments, and being unashamedly in love with each other and flirting constantly, it’s great.

Welcome to Part 2 of my Breath of the Wild’s Zelda Narrative Thoughts series, where I flail about the ending and the structure of Zelda’s story specifically and why it impacted me so much.

Breath of the Wild’s Zelda does so much with so little. She’s integral to the plot and Link’s success, despite not having much agency at all. Sometimes a character simply trying to survive the constraints of their reality and do their best is more engaging than a stereotypical knightly hero.

Welcome to my first Narrative Thoughts! This series will explore some element of storytelling or characterization in a piece of media, often games, and what I liked or found interesting about it.