The Glitch in Normality Story

Growing up, we were two introverted kids, lost in a lonely reality despite having some pretty good people around us. We were weird, awkward and desperate for friendships, but we just didn’t know how to fit in – that, or we were bullied out of the friendships we did start. For a time, we found our peace outside of conventional reality – in video games, anime, RP, fanfiction and books.

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These 2D friends (and relationships) became a break from the profound sadness of being outcasts, and numbed the loneliness for a little while.

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We know how important a little break from reality while you find your people and yourself is – and how important it will always be. When people say that a story, character or game saved their life, we get it.

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These fantasy worlds gave us so much – companionship, stability, and power to be the destiny-defying people we wished we could be.

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In our 30s, we were lucky enough found each other,  as well as a small circle of great friends we’d met along the way – but we’re still weird little world builders, card gamers and console kids-at-heart (and so are our friends). We still role-play, binge watch, read fanfiction and uwu to just about everything.

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Glitch in Normality is a place where we can still write, game and read for us – but now, we do it for you, too.

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We want to give you a thousand worlds to explore and find your peace in, just how the industry did for us.

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It’s not as simple as that, though.

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The industries we loved have changed over the years, and not always for the better. For us, they rarely feel the same way that they did when we were young.

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Unfinished games get released all of the time – with us paying for the basics via DLC, and independent publishing is drowning in badly edited write-to-market shills and AI written books with AI covers. Ideological agendas get forced down our throats, often at the expense of a solid storyline, and we’re being inundated with Mary-Sue characters with nothing to improve who we can’t relate to.

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Corporate greed and the push for a quick release have always been a factor – people can’t work for free, after all – but the greed and laziness is getting out of control.

You know there’s something seriously wrong when astounding developers like Tekken’s Harada says, “when we were young [...] we led with our passion” and Kobayashi – the absolute icon behind the original Resident Evil 4, admitted “nowadays, just being fun isn’t enough to sell.”

 

It’s heart-breaking.

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The gaming and writing industries – and many others – are not what they were.

AI written books. Unsubtle agenda pushes. Pay-to-wins. Impossible deadlines. Paid reviews. Unfinished releases. Skins without skills. Pumped out and unpolished products. It’s not great.

 

Where is the soul? Where is the passion? Where is the respect, for creatives and fans? Where are those carefully crafted worlds we lived and breathed for?

 

We’re not okay with cash outweighing care, and there are a lot of talented developers, designers, writers, artists, editors and creators who are fighting back against this – both in the indies, and with big names. Like us, they’re creating content with passion, dedication and often limited budgets.

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These people have not forgotten why we all love our respective industries – and we certainly haven’t forgotten the spark and soul we loved so much about the final (finished) product.

So, it’s not great – but the best and most worthwhile quests, always have darkness before the light.

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There’s hope for rebuilding – and expanding – those sanctuaries.

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Those worlds that helped us fight against reality in our youth are something we’ll be eternally grateful for – now we’re trying to create spaces full of samurai swords, cherry blossom and strange creatures, of our own. It isn’t just nostalgia, it’s a standard that only true creatives who love their projects can give. It’s the soul of creation – and it’s what readers and players deserve.

We build worlds, and maybe we’re not experts (we’re definitely not perfect), but we aim to give a little piece of us in every product – heart, sweat and soul. In these worlds, we hope to give you a break from what hurts you, and to inspire you to change your destiny for real – like we did.

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To everyone who feels lost, left out or lonely, we want you to have a happy space outside of your current reality.

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We’re willing and ready to fight against reality, and resurrect the feeling of unadulterated, soulful fantasy.

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Rox Starling Odinroke & Daz Kurosaki