These were originally posted on Tumblr, hence the casual grammar—I decided to crosspost them here because I want to get more use out of this site, and because I like them. They supplement the Season 4 Essay well, and amend some of the things I would approach differently if I wrote it now....
Now, at this point you might have picked up on the fact that I really like Lifesteal. Aside from 3rd Life, it’s probably my favorite Minecraft roleplay I’ve ever seen. For good reason, considering that at the heart of it, Lifesteal Season 4 is a narrative about the very same thing this series is about; the fourth wall. The barrier between game and self, the constructed nature of that barrier, and its inevitable points of failure...
Minecraft has 26 paintings. They’re a unique part of the game’s character, one of those things like C418 (and now Lena Raine)’s music, or Julian Gough’s End Poem, that add personal touches over what is essentially a sandbox; the kind of game designed from square one as a blank slate, an empty world meant to be filled...
