[M] May Your Memory Be a Blessing ●

[risefromtheashes]

In the Armenian Orthodox church, it's said that a person's soul wanders the earth for 40 days after they die.
This story is in memory of our father, who passed away 39 days ago.

Spoiler : Content Warnings (Spoilers) :

Non-descript mentions of child abuse. Aside mention of animal cruelty. General coverage of grief and extreme distress.

Click to play. Estimated play time: 30-45 minutes.

Spoiler : Credits (Spoilers) :

Written by risefromtheashes.
Playtested by DJJ6800.

SPRITES
Vache Davtyan is Dion Andoli by SuperAj3.
Anahita Davtyan is Emily Severn by gotMLK7.
Younger Lucy Yedidia (“Benjamin”) is Velvet Valentine by mercurialSK.
Older Lucy Yedidia is Dahlia Hawthorne (full-body sprites by Sligneris).
Aaron Yedidia is Leon Terra by FenrirDarkWolf.
Sheri Suzuki is Candice Arme (custom canon sprites by FenrirDarkWolf).
Principal Clement is Inspector Jonathan Lebrun by Tear.
Bonus poses for Vache, Anahita, and younger Lucy by risefromtheashes.

OTHER ART
Rain graphic by mrquicksilver and TheDoctor.
Animated car background from “Nineteen 19” by Shō Kitagawa (OVA produced by Madhouse).
All other backgrounds from anime background packs provided by Tap.

MUSIC
“Ben” is “Iris (music box ver.)” from Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.
“Heart Grows Fonder” is “My Mind” from Final Fantasy VIII.
“Questions and Answers” is “Cavern of Remembrance” from Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix.
“Old, Comforting Times” is “See You Tomorrow” from OMORI.
“Despair” is “Nowhere to Run” from Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator.
“Reconciliation” is “Crossroads” from OMORI.

SOUNDS
Rain ambience sounds produced by Llewellyn, provided by “Sleep and Relaxation Music” on YouTube.
Car ambience sounds provided by Pixabay.
Other sound effects from Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.

We recommend using TimeAxis's AAO functionality scripts for a better playing experience.
Specific recommendations: Better Layout (Pixelated, Expand Evidence Descriptions, 2x Screen Size, Night Mode); Nametag Font; Keyboard Controls

[CodingAnt]

Played this on a whim in about half an hour. It's a cute, heartwarming little short story, and I liked it a lot! The presentation especially was on-point. I would recommend this to anyone with a few minutes to spare who's a fan of feeling emotions.

[DJJ6800]

I really like MYMBaB. You should check it out too.

Hehe, my case has a better acronym than yours, Astrik. Gotcha there at least

[DeathByAutoscroll]

Played this, and leaving feedback at request.

This is an emotionally charged and developed story both from the outset of it's opening, all the way through to the conclusion. These emotions are conducted to play a synthony on the heartstrings by the excellent writing, accompanied by the phenominal presentation. Immediately the setting is well established, and characters well defined through their thoughts, facial expressions, and awkward smalltalk (/positive) to help them cope with the situation they're going through before the writing takes over and soon what was known about what is going on gets flipped and twisted like an hourglass turned carnival ride as the sounds of the player's heartstrings becomes a chorus of ever changing emotions. It is also super gay and girlbossy.

Other notes: The presentation is cleverly done; with the differentiation between what is being shown in the past and what is being said in the future, the sprites being extremely well cast (that final callback joke sent me), and the clean graphical edits for some graphics. Overall: A masterfully crafted experience of positive note that unfortunately missed out on potentially performing extremely well for the Year of Luigi competition.

[Samallama]

This was a cute little story that I had fun playing through. Also, the ending may have made me cry... maybe a little :pleading_face:

[risefromtheashes]

(Sunny, they/any)

Played this on a whim in about half an hour. It's a cute, heartwarming little short story, and I liked it a lot! The presentation especially was on-point. I would recommend this to anyone with a few minutes to spare who's a fan of feeling emotions.

smiles gently I'm glad you enjoyed

I really like MYMBaB. You should check it out too.

Hehe, my case has a better acronym than yours, Astrik. Gotcha there at least

smiles, my acronym has "BAB" in it because everyone is baby. Take that!
Glad you enjoyed.

Played this, and leaving feedback at request.

This is an emotionally charged and developed story both from the outset of it's opening, all the way through to the conclusion. These emotions are conducted to play a synthony on the heartstrings by the excellent writing, accompanied by the phenominal presentation. Immediately the setting is well established, and characters well defined through their thoughts, facial expressions, and awkward smalltalk (/positive) to help them cope with the situation they're going through before the writing takes over and soon what was known about what is going on gets flipped and twisted like an hourglass turned carnival ride as the sounds of the player's heartstrings becomes a chorus of ever changing emotions. It is also super gay and girlbossy.

Other notes: The presentation is cleverly done; with the differentiation between what is being shown in the past and what is being said in the future, the sprites being extremely well cast (that final callback joke sent me), and the clean graphical edits for some graphics. Overall: A masterfully crafted experience of positive note that unfortunately missed out on potentially performing extremely well for the Year of Luigi competition.

This is genuinely some of the most positive feedback I've ever had to anything I've written. Jesus Christ. All of the things I was proudest about -- presentation, custom graphics, use of facial expressions, characters being distinct -- and you singled every single one of them out. Thank you so much.
Also, girlboss!

This was a cute little story that I had fun playing through. Also, the ending may have made me cry... maybe a little :pleading_face:

Thanks for crying :smil: /j
No but thank you, I'm glad you played.

[XavierWright]

A lovely case. Well written, powerful message, and it really does a good job of tugging at your heartstrings.

I really can't explain it better than that.

[ikuzonos]

This was a really heartwarming and overall uplifting story.

Spoiler : :

Seeing Lucy growing into her own skin, happy, really made it for me. I wasn't sure how her story would turn out, and I'm really grateful that it was like this. I had a pit of dread in my stomach for a while, but it slowly disappeared. This was a really realistic portrayal of abusive families -- especially the detail about Aaron siding with his parents. It hurts, but I've seen it happen. The umbrella line at the end made me cry. This is a very touching story and I'm thankful that you shared it with us.

Wonderful characters, fantastic presentation. Really loved this. Give it a shot when you have spare time!

[Parcark]

oughghhghgghgh. My Billions

Spoiler : weeps :

You've really outdone yourself with this one, Mindcastle. Super well done -- I echo the sentiment that what you did with Lucy and, well, *everyone* was absolutely amazing. Everyone's voice and personalities are so distinctive and you made good use of the sprites. The backgrounds and music and sound effects too!! This might sound silly but it was very Immersive™. Seeing you use Dahlia for Lucy and everyone talking about her without knowing she was right there made me laugh a bit and I'm glad you pointed out the umbrella thing, by the way. It was super sweet.
Kick their asses, Mama!!!!

Overall, really well-polished, heart-wrenching, beautiful. If you're in the mood to combust, this is a great case to play to do so. Can't recommend enough!

[icannothinkofaname]

I shared some of my thoughts on discord but I'll also put them here.

Major spoilers just so you know. Don't read this unless you've played through the story.

Spoiler : :

The entire time I was playing I was dreading some horrible twist where it turns out Lucy got murdered. So when the ending came and we meet her in the park alive and well and having transitioned was a huge relief.

I really liked all the characters, but I do think Lucy is the central figure. This story is about her for the most part, and I like that the focus is on her (and Vache, Anahita, and Aaron.) The story doesn't ever overtly show the abuse happening. It just shows the after effects, and the characters reactions to it. And I think that's a good decision for this kinda story. We don't need to learn anything about Lucy and Aaron's parents. They really don't deserve that focus. The story is about them healing and coming into their own after everything that's happened. So the implications of what has happened is enough. In the same vein, while I would love to know more about Sheri as a private detective turning against their own clients to protect their kid, it really isn't the focal point.

I can tell this was a personal story, and I think it accomplishes everything that it set out to do. The responses everyone has are incredibly realistic, (Lucy's trauma, Aaron's denial of the abuse, Vache and Anahita trying to do what they can to help). And despite the game being about heavy subjects, it's actually a really hopeful game in the end.

Also. Gender.

[GuardianDreamer]

Points.

It was a nice story. Thanks for make.