🌈 Dear Diary, We Created a Plot Hole! (A Slice-of-Life Fantasy Adventure set in the Philippines) ~ [UPDATED Aug 31 | 608,000 words]

[Franzinyte]

v2.1.3.52 Hotfix

There was a small update I released the other day, so these bugs should be fixed now:

• Fixed bug in the stats screen where changing your pronouns doesn’t change the ‘sibling’ variable.
• Fixed bug in Chapter 3 when your twin is asking about your pronouns.

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Chapter 4 Sneak Peek

I posted this on the blog last year, but if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a sneak peek about Rosie’s backstory near the end of Chapter 4! This scene will be important to completing The Leap Day Lady sidequest!

Summary

Roselyna’s already wrapped around her daddy, like he’s going to go away any second. She looks up at her mommy with her usual pout, her red baby blanket still swaddled around her hand.

“It was an early Thursday Mass,” Tita Josephine begins. “I don’t remember what it was about, pero, there was this man carrying a baby who entered during the Gospel.”

“There weren’t very many people,” Tito Mariano says. “But he chose to sit beside us.”

“What did he look like?” Roselyna asks, her pout suddenly gone. “Did he look like me?”

“We… don’t remember much. He was short, and he wore baggy pants and a brown coat.”

“And I think he had longish hair.”

“So, like my dad?” Wayne blurts out.

“Oh it definitely wasn’t your dad!” Tita Josephine chuckles. “He looked friendly, so I asked him what the cute baby’s name was. He said… what did he say nga again?”

“He asked if we could guess your name like it was a riddle. Something about ‘the first’. So I answered, ‘Primrose?’”

“I guessed Eve, and then Evelyn. He said we only had three guesses, but the man never said your name. He just smiled.”

“Daddy?” Roselyna looks up at her father and burrows deeper into his side. “Is that how I got my name?”

“That’s what we wanted to name our daughter,” Tito Mariano says, brushing Roselyna’s hair with his fingers. “So we combined it and became yours.”

“When it was time for the Communion, he asked if we could watch over you for a bit. Of course we were happy to, but he…” Roselyna’s parents look at each other.

“He didn’t come back,” Roselyna says, unburrowing herself. It wasn’t a question.

“We waited all day for him to return, Roselyna. He never did.”

Having the Fairytale/Mythology/Supernatural Lover Traits may help you unlock additional clues!

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Trinkets and Secrets Guide

Oh, and in case you missed it, I finally decided to create a guide on how to discover and collect all the trinkets and secrets here!

Feel free to ask any questions if you have any, I’m curious to know what you think of all the new secrets!

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@AdmiralLynx89 Alright, I sent you a message! And oh, I haven’t noticed, but that’s good to know!

Anyway, your comments are really insightful and genuinely cheered me up, so thank you very much for that!

[Abe]

@Franzinyte

Trinkets and Secrets Guide

As much as my completionist urges yells at me for this, i committed to the bit much to my frustration.

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I haven't played the public demo yet but i'm really excited to compare and contrast both Paddy's interactions with my six kids (therefore would take a while).

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i'm also curious, what did everyone name for their pet/stuffed toys?

here's mine

Remy and Ryan Valdez

• pet: Sylvia, female aspin
• stuffed toys: Ceres (bear) and Mars (dog)

Agnes and Richard Madrigal

• pet: Anding, male aspin
• stuffed toys: Cerise (bunny) and Gawain (dragon)

Stephen and Luis Lupit

• pet: Lucing, female puspin
• stuffed toys: Adeline (cat) and Jeanne (seal)

Oh! and since it’s Rosie’s birthday, what did your twins try to get her? i admit that i’m inconsistent on that one.

[Franzinyte]

PLEASE READ

Hi everyone.

The Chapter 3 update is the biggest in terms of wordcount, and frankly, it’s also the most disappointing and depressing update ever.

I’ve included a whole bunch of secrets (complete with a guide), new character art, hidden links and references to IAC… all in an effort to get a crumb of interaction or discussion going.

It’s been a week now, and besides a few survey responses and bug reports, I’ve received virtually ZERO comments here in the forum thread (or asks in Tumblr) about what happened in Chapter 3 itself.

I’m not gonna lie. I’m very much tempted to keep future updates limited access. Because why share it publicly when I get ZERO engagement anyway? If every sneak peek, new idea or even a whole NEW UPDATE I have is met with silence, I might as well keep it private.

If you all want the next update to stay public, please, please ask me questions or talk about anything here in the thread. About the update, the plot, the characters (including spoilers about IAC), your favorite scenes, your twins, anything really. Go ahead and tell me how stupid or dumb my story and characters are.

I don’t want any praises or compliments, I want to talk about my story. That’s how DDWCaPH! came to be today. Without me talking to other people, this story might have been long forgotten at the bottom of my documents folder.

I’m not overreacting here. The same thing happened when I first updated Chapter 2 as well. I expected this to happen. Doesn’t make it hurt any less.

Tell me, am I asking for a lot here? Because seeing all these other games here that I also adore get comments even without an update, and me getting none when I worked hard for it even while I was sick multiple times, I don’t feel like I exist.

So much for writing a slice-of-life story.

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@Abe Thank you. For being supportive in general, and for being a reliable beta tester. Thank you so much for everything.

[KP_Paul]

Dear Franzinyte, I’m so sorry you feel that way. I get what you’re saying, and seeing how much love and effort you put into this story, some feedback is really the least you deserve. I have been following your game in silence ever since the first demo, keeping my thoughts to myself the entire time.

I came for the premise, then stayed for your witty writing style, the insane amount of customization and all the fun little images I didn’t even know could be included. Though I have to admit the plot is keeping me less and less engaged with each new chapter.

I’m really looking forward to finally seeing the story worlds, but by now it feels like it’s taking forever to get to them. Yes, I know this is first and foremost a slice-of-life story (and I’m not all that into slice-of-life stories in the first place, so please take my opinion with a grain of salt), but to me it has started to drag a bit. I only played through Chapter 3 once, so I guess I missed a whole bunch a stuff, but I felt it didn’t add all that much to the story. It was nice to meet our aunt and uncle, but apart from that nothing was particularly memorable to me. In particular the part where the MC is getting ready (or supposed to get ready) probably has some cool scenes hidden in its depths, but if the reader - like me - somehow manages to miss out on them, it feels a bit pointless.

[Franzinyte]

@KP_Paul Hello, and thank you. That is a fair criticism and I’m happy you pointed it out.

I think part of the reason it feels like it’s taking forever to get to the plot, is because it’s been months since the last update… and not much really happened in it. You might not feel the same way if all the chapters were released at once.

It might also be because I restructured the book into several volumes. Chapter 3 was originally going to be much longer, so I split it into three shorter chapters (actually four since Chapter 5 is split into two branches). If the current Chapter 3 is ~85k words long, imagine how much bigger it would be if I hadn’t split it.

I honestly didn’t expect Chapter 3’s word count to be this big since I know it’s a short chapter, but as you pointed out, the bedroom scene has a lot of choices and variation within them. So yes, if you don’t particularly care for the MC’s home life (which is a big part of the slice-of-life and some of the story’s themes), it might seem like a boring chapter. Which is why I tried to put as much variation within it.

Chapter 4 will have more plot and subplot-related stuff. There’s the Story Exchange (where you get a sneak peek of what everyone’s story worlds will look like), and then there’s all the sidequest information you can get (B and Lily’s sidequest, plus a new sidequest from Wayne). The sidequests may not seem all that important in the grand scheme of things, but I promise that they have larger implications on the plot as a whole. (For example, B’s questline won’t actually get completed until Volume 4!)

Finally, this is partly why I wrote In Auctorem Credimus in the first place. If you (or anyone else reading this) is getting a little impatient with getting to the fantasy/adventure part of the story, and do not mind spoilers at all, I would suggest checking out In Auctorem Credimus if you haven’t already. (Please take note that it is unpolished and I want to update it again in the future with new choices, as well as additional scenes and information.)

Again, thank you for the comment. I really appreciate it! (I also welcome discussion about IAC here as well, but please keep them in spoiler tags.)

[ElliWoelfin]

I fucking hate that this keeps happening, and I wish I had the faintest idea how to help for it. I feel so guilty for it too since I tend lurk first and foremost, even if this time I’m still working through the story and haven’t hit the new stuff yet so I can’t discuss any of it. But I’ve noticed a ton of smaller changes you’ve done in the already there parts, like the occasional added reference to my character being trans for example, and I see how much work goes into it.
And for pacing that the other person brought up, I personally have enjoyed it. The pacing of updates is obviously slow, no getting around that (and in any case it’s completely valid given the absolutely massive customizing and in turn coding that needs to go into everything), but the story itself I think is fine given (as you’ve changed the description to point out) it’s largely slice-of-life, which kinda tends towards being slower by its very nature, and the bulk of the content is the interactions and small scenarios. It’s not a genre I’m super familiar with but as far as I can tell the story well within the expectations of it for that.

[MattisHell333]

I agree with you @ElliWoelfin.

I don’t really know how to give feedback either as I mostly tend to keep quiet But I DO WANT YOU TO KNOW @Franzinyte that I find your story and characters adorable (even if you kind of don’t want any compliments or praise right now, so sorry about that ).

If I had to pick a favorite scene right now it has to be when the MC meets B and how they reacts to them (B).

[ElliWoelfin]

The whole encounter with B is really good, so diverse in the ways you can handle it. I don’t think I’ll get over the fact that B is basically just my character. It was so jarring to see that they’re (as a girl at least) also pale with long blonde hair with a purple shoulder bag, all like my character. I think they’re the character I’ll end up close with, but like I feel like it’s awkward at that point when they’re basically a second twin for me.

Edit to add, just found a hidden code in the game as I was going through, and after figuring it out I’m worried where the story’ll go. Sounds super ominous, especially given the context of where it was. Could very well just be me reading too much into it, though.

[dawn]

I don’t replay so there are only a few secrets and paths I discovered but I keep thinking if there’s a variation with the talk with Paddy about their gender if MC or the twin is trans… My dumb self was “let’s not metagame” and did the option that says you can’t decide for Paddy and then felt bad because the player does choose lol I’m guessing Paddy’s arc will involve exploring their gender? Hopefully there’s time to play cupid for Paddy too since the twin ain’t interested yet lol
Another thing that’s rent-free in my head is the stuffed toys, I bet they come alive in the story world…

[ElliWoelfin]

At least in my playthrough, I didn’t see anything in that conversation that was different because I was trans. Maybe Franzinyte’ll add something with that later? Hope so, at least. She did mention on Tumblr that she hadn’t added an option for B in the conversation about crushes with Paddy because she wasn’t in the right headspace, but plans to later, so this could be a similar thing.
I felt sooooo bad that my IRL normal of “I can’t decide for you” seemed to go badly, like it made Paddy kinda push it back down and bury it ;-;

@dawn

Another thing that’s rent-free in my head is the stuffed toys, I bet they come alive in the story world…

She’s confirmed that over on Tumblr (maybe even on this thread, I don’t remember). I’m very much looking forward to it

[Franzinyte]

@ElliWoelfin and @MattisHell333 Thank you.

I just want to clarify, I’m not necessarily looking for feedback, just random discussions about your twins, speculations, suggestions, thoughts about the characters or secrets, or anything to keep the thread active would be enough for me. People can’t really find the game or feel encouraged to post if the thread is buried under the more active ones. I’m not gonna lie that the inactivity here is what’s driving me off the forum.

And if you can find the opportunity to recommend the game to someone (whether on this forum or not), I would really appreciate it. It feels horrible trying to do that myself when I don’t really feel welcome here anymore.

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@ElliWoelfin

I don’t think I’ll get over the fact that B is basically just my character.

I actually do keep track whether your MC looks just like the other characters, but I haven’t really found a way to incorporate that naturally (especially because there’s character art now), so there’s just remnants of that in the code.

@ElliWoelfin

Edit to add, just found a hidden code in the game as I was going through, and after figuring it out I’m worried where the story’ll go. Sounds super ominous, especially given the context of where it was. Could very well just be me reading too much into it, though.

Nope! You’re very right to be worried. Let’s just say that the events in IAC are just the tip of the iceberg…

@dawn

I don’t replay so there are only a few secrets and paths I discovered but I keep thinking if there’s a variation with the talk with Paddy

Hey, hello there! Welcome to the thread!

Hehe, if you felt bad, that bit was indeed intended I won’t say that Paddy’s arc involves exploring that as that isn’t really the focus of the story, but who knows. Right now Paddy is more concerned about the other secret you can find if you go to their room.

@ElliWoelfin

At least in my playthrough, I didn’t see anything in that conversation

There is indeed some special dialogue with Paddy, but that only triggers if Paddy also knows about it. They can’t really comment on it if you just keep it to yourself (and your twin). It’s not very long so it’s easy to miss, but if it’s not there then that’s probably a bug.

@dawn

Another thing that’s rent-free in my head is the stuffed toys, I bet they come alive in the story world…

And yes, this is already confirmed! I already mentioned it in the old introduction post, and you do meet them if you read In Auctorem Credimus.

[ElliWoelfin]

@Franzinyte

There is indeed some special dialogue with Paddy, but that only triggers if Paddy also knows about it. They can’t really comment on it if you just keep it to yourself (and your twin). It’s not very long so it’s easy to miss, but if it’s not there then that’s probably a bug.

I don’t think it was there, but I couldn’t swear to that. I didn’t catch it if it was, though that may have been due to the choices I picked for it, like I just didn’t end up going down the right path for it to get brought up. Or I just missed it and am dumb, which is entirely possible. But my twin is fully out so that isn’t the issue.

@Franzinyte

Right now Paddy is more concerned about the other secret you can find if you go to their room.

Them being bi/pan? Or something else that I either forgot or didn’t see

[Franzinyte]

Oh wait, it actually gets acknowledged too even if you keep it secret.

Here's the lines I'm talking about if you can read the code

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@ElliWoelfin

Or something else that I either forgot or didn’t see

Nope! I’m talking about Paddy’s first secret in the guide. There’s a whole other branch that you missed. (It’s admittedly hard to discover on your own.)

Also, I’ve received reports that the link to the guide doesn’t work properly if you’re using the Tumblr mobile app, but I’ll go fix that when I finish answering the other questions I received.

[ElliWoelfin]

@Franzinyte

Nope! I’m talking about Paddy’s first secret in the guide. There’s a whole other branch that you missed. (It’s admittedly hard to discover on your own.)

I definitely wouldn’t’ve gotten that naturally since I like them and wouldn’t want to choose that (I have a hard enough time not being extremely overly nice to absolutely everyone because of the sad faces from relationship losses; makes my heart rip apart each time ;-;). Well now I’m curious what it would be. I’ll try to remember to go check that next time I play through ('cause it’s a lot to go through after just playing, since you keep it very choice heavy [which is a good thing of course, but it’s slow to run through unlike some other games with more simplistic or fewer choices])

[Franzinyte]

Like I said in the guide, there’ll be multiple opportunities to discover them later, so don’t worry if you don’t want to choose that option in your actual playthrough.

And I understand about it being choice heavy, but you can always abuse your IAC privileges and take advantage of the save system!

[AlexHaydenX]

Am I hallucinating or are you a Filipino and just wrote Filipino sentences in a story?

Sick. Ang angas mo.

[Abe]

As a Filipino, seeing that the story takes place in modern day Philippines makes me happy (and also because i kinda want a change of pace in terms of setting).

i admit that i have been imagining some parts of LCU as some parts of my own grade school and some of the streets to be like the ones like a home.

I have to say that i wish i had a Kuya/Ate Paddy who would treat me snacks when i was younger. I would have liked that

[radioactivechicken]

As a Filipino, when I first saw this story, I felt so giddy. I’ve been lurking through this forum for over a year now and I just wanted to thank you for all the hard work that you put into this story.<3

[Kelly_Seastar]

Since the update, you can name the pets. Can we choose their pronouns too or are they simply referred to as it?

[Abe]

i know that in Chapter 3 you can decide what the pet’s gender is.