User:RinandTonic/sandbox

.flow
.flow (stylized as dotflow) is a Japanese horror/exploration video game by designer lolrust in RPGmaker 2000 released and is a fangame based off similar pixelated exploration title Yume Nikki.

.flow, while heavily inspired off of Yume Nikki, has a notably different style. It places more emphasis on gore and body horror themes and has frequently recurring characters such as a small girl in an orange diving helmet. However, like its predecessor, .flow has a very disconnected storytelling method and much of the game is left up to interpretations from the fans.

Gameplay
The game stars Sabitsuki (さびつき)  a girl with messy white hair who appears to be isolated in her room for reasons unknown. Using a large machine in her room, she's able to enter another abstract reality and collect "effects" by interacting with objects in the environment. These effects can then be wielded to bypass obstacles and access new areas. There are 24 Effects total and they all must be collected to complete the game. Along her path, Sabitsuki can encounter disfigured girls in school uniforms (dubbed by fans as "Kaibutsu"), who can teleport her to trapped locations, forcing her to exit the machine.

Once all 24 Effects are collected, a second character can be accessed by using the machine again whilst already in flow. This second character is named "Rust" (錆) and looks similar to Sabitsuki, but sports paler skin and has several marked gameplay differences. Firstly, all Kaibutsu turn into floating red demons with open mouths which, instead of teleporting Rust to a new location, damage her in a rush of static and vanish. If Rust is damaged enough, she will eventually burst into gore and wake up from flow--noticeably, if damaged to within one hit before death, Rust's injuries reveal that she herself is a red demon as well, sporting the open mouth and horns the enemies do.

The game has 3 endings, the first ending can be achieved without unlocking Rust at all and simply exiting the room as Sabitsuki. She will walk towards the banister on the balcony of her apartment building and the screen will fade to black and the credits roll. This is likely a reference to Yume Nikki, which ends with the protagonist committing suicide by jumping off of her balcony. The second ending involves unlocking Rust and exiting the room. Sabistuki will approach the balcony and from behind, a maid wearing a gas mask (also seen in the flow world in a maid cafe area) will approach her. The ending screen will then show the maid carrying Sabitsuki away, after which the credits will roll. The third ending is the most complex, and likely the intended ending is the only one to have a credits sequence and music playing. As Rust, the player must collect 3 empty text boxes boxes by accessing hard-to-reach areas and witnessing events only Rust herself can access. After doing so, an elevator will appear in the room, and Rust must take it down, accessing a fleshy world full of red demons and eventually beating to death a demonic rendition of Sabitsuki sitting in a throne made of meat before exiting the room. In this ending, the gas masked maid will approach Sabitsuki, but this time, Sabitsuki will smile and laugh similarly to a Kaibutsu before running towards the maid. The maid pulls out a chainsaw and the screen will cut to black before it shows Sabitsuki lying in a pool of blood, her legs amputated. The maid will then pick her up and carry her away and she is seen on an ending screen sitting in a pool of blood. The credits will then roll with a healthy Sabitsuki walking past every other character encountered through the game while listening to music.

Interpretation
Due to the ambiguity of the story, many fans have taken it upon themselves to analyze the various recurring themes within the game. One of these is the symbolism of hospitals and medical equipment, which seem to be consistent throughout many worlds in flow. This, along with the flesh-laden imagery and body horror, leads many players and critics to believe that Sabitsuki has a medical condition of some kind. This is supported by one of the hospital locations sporting many bleeding, diseased children, including a young version of Sabitsuki herself, whose condition worsens as a hidden "Erosion Counter" goes up until she finally appears dead. Rust seems to be this condition in its advanced stages due to the fact that she shows the same signs of decay and laughs similarly to the Kaibutsu who have similar symptoms Sabitsuki and Rust do, such as white hair, aggressive tendencies, and uncontrollable bleeding.

One feature of this illness and a recurring leimotif within the work itself is the symbolism of "rust". The disease could involve excessive bleeding or necrosis, since dried blood has a similar appearance to metallic rust and open wounds seem to be a common symptom.

Do .flow, edit witch's house, do Ellen's diary, do edna st vincent millay, CRJ