Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@HallowMoonshadow The trip was alright. Got to see a number of places in California for the first time, including San Francisco, which was fun.

I'm really hoping my PS4's hard drive stays functional, since I still have P.T. on it. Also, I have some games I want to play, and I'm not in the market for a next-gen console.

I'm... doing better, recently. There was a family tragedy in December, one that has had me out of sorts for months. It was the hardest thing we ever endured as a family. But, you know, you eventually just have to work through whatever pain you're in, because the world keeps turning regardless.

@nessisonett Good to hear you’re doing better and I hope offline life is going okay for you (and your mum!).

Welcome back to @AgentCooper too and I fully anticipate an upcoming name change now you’re back

And replying to @HallowMoonshadow from last week, I was joking with the comment about my baby. And I can’t imagine having 20 year old “kids” 😳 At the moment the thought of having one that sleeps through the night seems a distant enough thing!

@AgentCooper @nessisonett woah! Welcome back!

I hope you both return to the PX game club as well! I think your still on the tag list Ness but I took you off Coop because you deleted your account. Let me know if you want to be re-added!

Had a busy day yesterday so just now getting around to Push Square forum updates. And what a great day, indeed! Wonderful to see @AgentCooper @nessisonett back in the fold. As was said, you definitely make the forums a better place. 🍻

Quick question for Coop, I’ve had Kentucky Route Zero on my watchlist for a long time and it’s on sale now. My backlog is quite a monstrosity so I’m not sure I’ll take a dive but perhaps I could be convinced. What was it about the game that really made it a highlight for you? It sounds like a very artistic and unusual game (which I can really get behind) but it seems difficult to describe. Just wondering your deeper (spoiler-free) thoughts on it. 😄

And just wanted to extend some words of encouragement @Ralizah after hearing (or rather, reading) how tough it’s been lately for you all. Although it sounds like you’ve found your internal reserves to endure and adjust, please accept my heartfelt (albeit virtual and belated) support nonetheless to you and yours.

I always think of this whenever I see @ralphdibny talking about posting on PX and NL

@Thrillho

Seriously though, I don't think I come out on top of anything 😂

@RogerRoger @Th3solution Thanks. I've avoided talking about it much on here, as, frankly, I know that it sucks being some internet person when some other internet person you like is clearly suffering.

When it comes to personal tragedy, you can either linger on it, cobble together some sort of personal defense mechanism to deal with (much easier for genuinely religious people, which I'm not), or just accept, as fully as you can, the indifference of the universe, and the impermanence of all things within it. I chose the third approach.

@Ralizah I hope you are well. I get that feeling too, like why talk about my problems because worse things are happening to nicer people. But to be honest, I think a lot of people on these forums understand that concept and are up for listening to (reading) all manner of problems, whether they are quaint, life shattering or somewhere in between.

Took me a while to kind of like break that pre(mis?)conception about talking about myself so publicly, even if I'm more or less anonymous on here. Even then, I go through bouts of candidness before withdrawing again, normally only coming back once it all gets too much to handle alone.

Well you're not alone. You have a built in support network here if you choose to use it, whether it's to share properly or just to shoot the sh** about random stuff to take your mind off things.

Be well Ral!

@ralphdibny I appreciate the genuine concern (as opposed to, you know, "thoughts and prayers").

The truth is I have an adequate support network IRL, so I'm definitely not just bottling up all of my emotions.

To remove the air of mystery from all this: last December, after a protracted and painful fight for survival in the hospital, my mother died. Or, rather, the day after Christmas, we had to make the decision to take her off life support. What put her in the situation in the first place was a freak accident that occurred during a totally normal procedure she's had done dozens of times before.

Anyway, I'll extend the offer back: if you ever need to talk about things, for any reason, you'll always find a sympathetic ear with me, and likely with many of the people here.

@Ralizah Looks like you’ve had a lot on your plate too. In my case, I’ve come to the conclusion that this place is about as good as it gets in terms of an escape from what’s going on elsewhere, whether that’s grief or similar. Seeing that this place always holds together is a good reminder that life does go on.

@nessisonett Life does go on. The longer we live, the more we suffer. That's true of even the most privileged people in the world. So you have to find spaces you enjoy to even out the balance.

@nessisonett Happy to hear you're doing better now and feel good enough to return to the site!

Cheers all, been a rough few months but this place is great as always.

@Ralizah this feels like a massive understatement but damn that sucks. Really sorry to hear it.

I'm glad you got a good enough support network in real life too and youre not bottling things up.

I lost my grandad in January. I was actually going to write about it here after it happened because it was so intense and being there when someone died isn't something I had experienced before. But I waited it out because I actually thought it might be innapropriate to write here because it could be a bit triggering. It's weird ya know, I literally had no idea what to expect because it's such a taboo subject that nobody talks about. But it ended up being one of the most profound experiences of my life.

This is Math worksheet I made for my extra curricular Math Club last semester.
Feel free to print and answer the given question.
If you cannot answer these questions, you need to go back to grade 3.

Welcome back yet again to the returning people. Hopefully the time away has helped. A little self reflection is always good to become a better person and stop the antagonising comments meant to bait reactions and feign hurt, and realise not everyone who buys 'the wizard game' is a foe

@nessisonett Glad to see you are back. This place will surely be better for it.

@Ralizah So sorry to hear of your recent loss. Doubt anything i can say will make things better, it may be a cliche, but allowing the time to grieve is really essential. As is having a good support around you, which sounds like you are sorted in respect.

Without trying to come across like I'm quoting something from a Fast and Furious movies, this place can a have proper family vibe to it. Helps that there are quite a few of us that have stuck around for a few years.

After sitting here for about half an hour now, I'm not sure what to say, other than that the genuine feeling of community is absolutely what keeps me coming back to Push Square, and I appreciate all of the heartfelt responses. And am so, so sorry for other people here who have had to struggle with the pain of losing a close loved one. It's never easy to talk about, and I appreciate the disclosure.

@AgentCooper The more time goes on, the fewer working digital copies of P.T. are out there in the wild. I'm going to hang onto my PS4 and replay the game annually for as long as possible.

Crazy to think how easily a freely accessible demo became an ultra-rare resource.

@Kidfried I'm generally pretty private, but it felt unfair to keep cryptically alluding to some undefined bad event. Although I agree people need to know and maintain their boundaries. There are things I'd never tell other people, and that's true of everyone.

If nothing else, I'm less inclined to worry about the possibilities awaiting the people I care about now. Because all of the neurotic hand-wringing I did, all of my planning and mental calculations didn't do a thing to protect the people I love. The universe is not in our control.

We all understand that intellectually, but it's a different thing to grok it.

@Ralizah It’s always hard to know what to say, particularly online, in these situations but I’m sorry to hear what you’ve been going through.

When my sister died a few years ago (before I joined this place) I found it kind of cathartic to write some things out on another forum I use, and have used for a long time, and actually found it more useful talking through it with people I didn’t know “IRL” at times.

But we’re all different and one of the hardest parts of grief is realising everyone will react differently and that can be really difficult and even sometimes quite frustrating at times.

There will always be a hole there but I found it’s about remembering the good times and sometimes it’s silly things that still catch me out. It sounds kind of weird but playing Sonic Origins was quite an emotional thing for me as we played the those games together loads as kids.

So yeah, don’t feel bad about posting or not posting about things and I hope your family are all doing okay.

And sorry to hear about your bereavement too @ralphdibny I hope you’re doing alright too.