@Mxm124 @Frogs @No_This_Is_Patrick that’s my way of differentiating the two paths of building a romance w Fang Yun - as previously mentioned there will be at least 2 different kinds of romance for each RO (non-inclusive of confession scenes, which will have low-r/s variations etc too). It makes more sense for a flustered Fang Yun to have a raised relationships, while the RO stat is used to track a snarky MC route - which is meant to be hidden and ambiguous bc i personally at least usually play a game through once b4 looking at code/spoilers. So both can be ways of romancing Fang Yun, although w a high r/s stat you get the benefits of her faction’s support while w a high RO stat you can only do so if you officially enter into a committed relationship w the RO. however I’m considering the latter being impossible for Fang Yun, bc she’s rly by character a professional career woman who keeps her personal and public lives separate. But you can certainly use a romance w Chen Kun for example to harness the support of the magical community.
Ahhh the new update made me squeal in delight! I love how my princess was all flustered and making a fool of herself while talking to fang yun! Was so adorable!
I was wondering what this line meant:
“Well, you’ll find a line of other someones who disagree with you there, Long Hui.”
@sljzz yes lol, in fact that’s probably because I’ve been trying to convince y’all that she’s a much sought-after bachelorette (a description she’d assuredly hate, lol.) see, that’s what everyone in-game expects - Fang Yun’s professional/public image is v ice-queeny, so most of her suitors (especially the older ones, which make up a vast majority bc that’s usually who she interacts w in court) assume she’d prefer formal courting. So she’s… p much used to compartmentalizing that kind of attitude as work-related and not towards her personal merit/self (and it mostly is) and as mentioned, she appreciates MC’s ability to hold a decent subtle conversation but doesn’t raise her actual relationship stat (she just treats you as one among numerous other colleagues). While there have been some suitors who go for the flustered/lovey Dovey approach, if they’re too old Fang Yun is annoyed by their 为老不尊kinda behavior; if they’re too young Fang Yun considers them immature and likely too low-ranking for her to associate with. So MC is a lucky exception bc their rank ofc makes them a prime candidate for association and so their flustered approach actually makes Fang Yun feel flattered after she’s allowed herself some exposure to it.
As for her political ambitions, as mentioned in this update she is this generation’s current rep for the established Fang family in court. This is a huge responsibility that she nevertheless is happy to bear - so id say she’s ambitious, but the thought of usurping the throne herself has never and probably will never cross her mind.
The court is compromised of a vast majority of traditionalists bc that’s the Emperor’s own stance and how he cultivated his court for decades. Here and there ofc there are some truly exceptional self-made officials. However, the aforementioned change in politics has caused frissions and re-alliances within court, some in support of foreigners (in court for the sake of balance of power, not so much social integration overall) and others vehemently against even that. Bc these are rather new, the current 3 factions are not split along those lines, although there are some pushing for the faction heading families to make a clear stance. 2/3 factions each support MC and the Crown Prince, while Fang Yun’s is more neutral. Certainly the traditionalist stance and the ages-old political families has facilitated nepotism and corruption, which is one of the reasons for the rise of the uh Uprising. This will be explored later from their perspective. As for expansionism/diplomacy etc, as hinted before that won’t be the focus of the game, but tidbits may be referenced throughout it and expansionism may be a possible ending.
Haha, Long Qing is a suspicious little shit (in all senses of the word lol) but can you rly blame him?
Now that you mention it the option is p vague. I’ll change it next update. Spying is the norm in the royal palace, but Long Qing is very sensitive to this kinda thing bc circumstances have made him suspicious af lol… And bc we’re going to be leaving the palace for a while I wanted to emphasize the worse case scenarios of scheming in the palace, hence the rather grim no-trails-left thing.
Nonetheless, killing people for this is beyond what my MC can stomach. I would still like the option to change or take back my order, and I am willing to accept penalties in relationships/stats for that.
Realistically, if LQ finds out we’re spying on him, what will he do?
@Shin_Lee no, Qin Lan is not related to you (although she is from your grandmother’s family, but very very distantly? Bc this is a traditionalist, exclusive court, most everyone is somehow related by the many marriage alliances etc). She can be considered an “RO”, bc u can try to romance her and end up w a platonic soulmates ending, but she’s aromantic. For details I think there’s a post about this somewhere back. I won’t be implementing a save system for some time yet, bc 1. I think the game is still p short and easy for now and 2. W my coding skills there’s gonna be a 8182929 amt of bugs and I’d rather clean the ones alr there first.
@Red I’m glad that you like it so far! I haven’t used Tumblr in years, and so far idt the game is popular enough to require a specific add for it yet? If y’all have any questions about it tho u can just ask here!
@resuri08 @Kirlett oh noes I’m so embarrassed now haha at my Failed Flirty dialogue TBH… I think I over edited it to cough negate spoilers and it resulted in even more strangeness oops. I’ll find some way to lead up to the tense moment instead. Any advice?
@gvyn D: I think it’s bc the Cold stat is supposed to be a combination of cold/self-involved etc, but I can see why a character like you’ve described would choose those options with a different mindset. I’m… not quite sure how to fix this but I’ll keep this in mind moving forward. For the Trials, I made it two skill tests bc I wanted to lead players to raise two stats early in the game so that they won’t reach a deadlock later on and have to restart all over again, but if you choose to max only one you can just fail the Trials, bc that doesn’t immediately lead to a bad ending! As for competitive but supportive of Long Qing… He’s not going to take a competitive MC well regardless and he’d probably end up highly suspicious of your apparent support. The “bye bro I’m gg off to fight cya in a decade lol” option is cool tho - I’ll think about implementing it lol. Multiple characters’ reactions to that would be gold lol.
@AmericanShakespeare thanks for the bug catch, and the theorizing lol!
I think getting excited for the celebrations shouldn’t really raise your cold stat. It will be natural you’d get excited now that you’re finally old enough to do what you want and can go out of the palace. If anything the other choice is more self-centered (the one where you want to climb the ladder and get power).
Also about stats, is it viable to try getting 3 high stats or it’s better to go for 2?
How do you guys even get Long Wing in the carriage with you? 
Every time I ask he tells me no in such a shady yet polite way that I cry a little on the inside…
Could you post what is your relationship percentage with Long Qing? Mine was 57%
57%! What kind of sorcery!? I have yet to get anything higher than the initial 30%
That might be the problem. XD It is possible to get to 57% though. =D
I think it will only worked if you are direct. XD My MC is subtle. I suppose there’s no relationship bonus for a subtle answer. =(
I had 65%, by the way if you want to get him to come just fill the gaps with him in your first meeting. This will increase your relationship from 30 to something like 58
Thanks for updating. I was waiting! A bit short, but fun read.
About the trials, did you ever fix it or are you supposed to fail? Will you ever add a save button? This kind of story definitely would be good with one! Also, when you update or do polls, would you please put it on your 1st post so that everyone can see and I don’t have to look for it? If possible, can you also add all the updates on the 1st page? Again, entirely up to you.
I think putting a poll in the first post would make it uneditable. The author could link the post for the poll though.
Also the trial is passable as long as you have two stats above 50. Just make sure to choose the trial that complement your strength.
I must have chose some wrong options then, only one of my stat exceeded 50.
All you need to do to pass the trial is to choose a different option when trying to defend Chen Khun than the option when the tiger attacked you, for example if you chose to fight then later don’t choose to show your archery to the captain. You only need your stats to be higher than 30 to pass the trials.
There’s not actually “wrong” option per se. You just need to raise two major stat. =)
Yeah. I just tried it, I thought you had to follow the stat you picked on the first option.