If you're reading this post, there's a fairly high chance that you're familiar with David Lynch (1946–2025), the artistic singularity who created Twin Peaks and a great many other cult cinema classics. You may also know that he passed away a couple of days ago. In light of this, it felt appropriate to leave this small memorial here, my own quiet farewell. This fanfiction story-game is set in a world that Lynch created, but there's more to it than that; making his presence felt in this game was one of the first goals that I articulated to myself at the project's inception. To that end, this game includes a number of things that were intended as nods to him, some subtle and some...not. Sometimes, I still find myself wondering how successful my efforts were—I didn't know him half as well as some of his most devout fans did, after all. Deep down, though? I don't think it matters. What's truly important to me in this moment is the memories I carry of  Lynch and his work. When I reflect back on this project, the moments that had something to do with him are among the first to come to my mind. That's success enough for me.

David Lynch will always be an inextricable part of this game's world, but the most powerful memories of him that I'll carry forward trace back to his work, not my own. I'll remember watching Eraserhead in some nearly deserted college building's dark upper-floor classroom on a cold Friday afternoon. I'll remember watching The Straight Story in my dorm room with the window open and the morning sun pouring in.  I'll remember my first experience with Twin Peaks, how "Laura Palmer's Theme" by Angelo Badalamenti ebbed in and out of my awareness as I sat enraptured by the atmospheric tragedy of Laura Palmer's funeral and her grieving father's inability to let go. I'll remember how my jaw dropped when I saw Lynch as John Ford at the end of Spielberg's The Fabelmans. I'd like to imagine that these special memories will be with me all my life, but I do know that there might come a day when I'll have forgotten them. I won't worry about it too much, though—not when I can always trust my log to remember in my stead. Humans are meant to be happy, so I'll simply face each new day as it comes and see what the future brings.

Enjoy your adventures in the forest.

-Cass

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Footnote: An in-game memorial to Lynch may be added to this game at some point down the road, but it would only be after careful consideration. If I do it, I intend to do it right...or at least in a way that I think Lynch would approve of. I'd eventually like to do some general upgrading of the game's dialogue, too, especially that pertaining to Lynch. Again, we'll just have to wait and see what the future brings.

Thank you for this world, David Lynch. Rest in peace.