Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 1d

No worries!

I’ve had plenty of those moments.

I don’t do voicemails, but novel length text messages *chefs kiss*

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 1d

Designer: “We cut your emotional scene for gameplay flow.”

Me: “Okay cool, I’ll just… make the combat emotional then.”

Designer: “…wait—”

Me: already adding trauma to the boss fight 😌🎮

#WritingLife #GameDev

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 1d

That’s okay! I’m actually an author. This was a goofy post to vent my current frustration with writers block.

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 2d

Me: writes emotional cutscene

Game design: “Cool, but can the player do a backflip during it?”

Me: “…yeah okay, that actually makes it better.” 😭🎮

#WritingLife #GameDev

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 3d

“Once upon a time—”

No. Too soft.

“It was a dark and stormy night—”

No. Too cliché.

*stares at blinking cursor for 45 minutes*

“Okay but what if it explodes in the first sentence?” 💥

#WritingLife #GameDev

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 4d

Me: “I’m taking the weekend off to rest.”

Also me, at 2 a.m.: opens new doc titled ‘Totally Not A New Project’

Balance 😌✨

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 8d

Me cutting dialogue:

“Do you want to go to the store with me later today?”
→ “Store later?”

Efficiency unlocked.

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 8d

Me writing villains: dark, terrifying, layered with nuance.

Me writing protagonists: baby. Small. Soft. Needs 47 hugs.

Balance.

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 10d

Me writing a choice:

• Option A: be kind
• Option B: be a little snarky
• Option C: commit arson 🔥

Players: immediately clicks arson

Me: …yep, should’ve seen that coming.

#GameDev #WritingLife

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 11d

Me writing: trauma, despair, heartbreak, the world is ending…

Also me, five minutes later: “Surprise beach episode!” 🏖️✨

Balance is important, okay.

#WritingLife #GameDev

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 12d

The most memorable games aren’t remembered just for their mechanics, they’re remembered for the worlds we want to revisit, long after the credits roll.

That’s why I build worlds not just to be explored, but to be experienced.

#NarrativeDesign #GameWriting #Worldbuilding #GameDev

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 15d

Designer: “Can you cut this scene by 40%?”

Me: “Sure.” cuts exactly 2 words

Collaboration is about compromise. 🥲

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 19d

Made bread last night. Came out looking like a duck. 🦆

Still delicious tho.

Same vibes as writing: not every draft looks perfect, but you learn from all of them.

#GameDev #WritingLife

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 25d

Studios forget: control ≠ loyalty.

Players don’t stay because of fear—they stay because of trust, accessibility, and preservation. Lose that, and even the strongest franchises fall.

#StopKillingGames #PlayerFirst

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 27d

Themes like trauma, grief, and injustice can heal & resonate when handled with care. But too often they’re used as shock value, thrown in without thought, or piled on until they lose impact.

Do the research. Handle with care. Depth matters. Authenticity matters.

#GameWriting

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 28d

The best memories in games aren’t always boss fights.

Sometimes it’s:
✨ Cooking a meal in a safehouse
✨ Talking by a campfire
✨ Wandering a village with no timer ticking down

#GameWriting #StorytellingMatters #GamingCulture

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 29d

If every job is “innovative,” none of them are. Drop the buzzwords, tell me what your culture actually is.

#GameDev #WorkCulture

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · 29d

Some of us weren’t meant to follow the path. We were born to light it.

In the shadows of the industry, you'll find us worldbuilders without pedigree, narrative designers without AAA tags, storytellers without titles.

Light doesn't seek permission to shine; it simply does.

#OriginalIP #GameDev

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · Sep 8

Any other artist running into the problem with some sites labeling their work as AI when it isn’t?

I’ve been running into this problem recently. I’m not sure why. A lot of my art is a just sketches, or colored over sketches.

#what #itsnotai

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · Sep 8

More and more creators across gaming, writing, and animation are choosing independence over traditional structures.

Independence offers invaluable benefits that the system often lacks:
- Creative control
- Freedom from gatekeeping
- The opportunity to tell authentic stories

#IndieDev

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · Sep 7

Phasmophobia.

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · Sep 6

First heartbreak as a dev: torched my own code. 🔥

Fantasy Fall “worked”… until I found the orphaned scraps, dead links, and storylines wandering off cliffs.

So I burned it down. Rewrites aren’t failures—they’re fire. Ritual fire.

#IndieDev #GameDev #FantasyFall

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · Sep 5

“Little did I know…” = writer-speak for
• I didn’t know how to reveal this naturally.
• My character suddenly knows less than they should.
• I’m about to yank you out of the story.

It’s not clever. It’s a crutch. We can do better.

#TropeTalk #StorytellingMatters

Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · Sep 4

What makes me say yes to a studio?

⚡ Creative freedom, with guardrails. Chaos is powerful when it’s aimed at the player.
⚡ Collaboration without ego. Feedback should sharpen, not wound.
⚡ Vision beyond the hype cycle. Trends fade, worlds endure.

#GameDev #StudioCulture #NarrativeDesign

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Emily Rose @emilyrose9.bsky.social · Sep 2

Playing Final Fantasy XVI reminded me: em-dashes in captions aren’t flaws, they’re storytelling tools.

They show hesitation, urgency, interruptions—making dialogue feel human.

Writers used them long before AI.
The question isn’t “AI or not?” It’s: does your dialogue feel alive?

#GameWriting

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