Hey all, just dropping in to let people know about the short IF game showcase that has opened on itch. I made a thread for it, but basically if anyone has a <30min playtime game released/releasing this year they’d like to enter it’s worthwhile just to get some more eyes on it as shorter games often suffer from less attention and this comp is there to attract people who like them! Although it’s technically a comp with some categories games can win, my feeling of it last year was it was pretty low pressure and that’s not the main purpose of this event. The games do get voted on and ranked, but I wouldn’t let that put you off. (Coming from someone who entered 2 games, one of which was a really odd poetry thing I just felt like experiementing with and it placed 58 out of 70 lol. Just go for it.)
Some of the Halloween jam entries would definitely qualify, so if anyone has issues with porting them to itch if you want to enter just let me know. (It’s pretty simple but there’s a couple of quirks that can catch first time CSG uploaders out.)
Let’s say character A had a falling-out with character B. Would it be creepy for B keeping to do things (gear and stuff) for A and then holding on to it (and hoarding it somewhere) because they know A wants nothing to do with them?
First, is the fallout fixable, and second, what do you want the scene to say about Character B? Are they bothered about how the relationship ended? Are they one step away from stalking Character A (if they aren’t there already)? Are they trying to unsettle Character A on purpose?
And by
do you mean necessary daily stuff such as weapons, armor, medication (if this is the same story), or sentimental items that belong to A but that B was once trusted to be around?
It would probably be fixable, but both are convinced the other one hates them.
The idea is that B knows they were in the wrong and regret it, but don’t want to bother A, because A doesn’t want to see them. They’re not stalking A, or stealing their stuff; they’re making new stuff for A because they miss them. A doesn’t know anything about this.
It’s work equipment (think superhero gear) plus some birthday presents and things like that - they used to work together, and B was the tech person, so they keep being the tech person although they’re not working together anymore and nobody’s actually using the tech.
As a reader, if I found out character B was making/buying/finding objects for character A, but was too afraid to bother character A about it, I would find character B incredibly adorable! It’s such a sweet thing to do, though it could turn a bit pathetic if it carries on for a really long time
Honestly same. Although I’d definitely be screaming at the book for them to person-up and hand it over already! (but I’m the kind who yells at horror movie protagonists to not turn down that cooridor, so…)
This is a whole ass mood, Lili. Just saying.
Hi Sailing! Nice to see you again!
Dude, my husband knows all about my Opinions on Language in fanfic and novels. XD
Yknow, I’d love to see the syllabus for that class to see if I wanna audit it. XD
This is my favorite brand of fuel.
SAME bro. Oh my god. Imagining writing the kind of game/novels I’m writing right now without the internet to research? Ugh. No thank you.
I’m picturing a regency era harry potter story here, and I’m not mad about it.
Plus it’s december, so it’s more likely for those who grew up in a christian household to associate gift giving with christmas this time of year.
My sweet husband got me an early christmas gift: A course on how to create a farming game in Unity engine… As you are sure to understand, this has consumed my every waking thought. BUT! I have not put Phoenix Rising aside! In fact, I plan to work on it some today, since my thoughtful boss gave me the day off to recover from a migraine I recovered from yesterday. XD Not gonna argue with a free day off tho.
A would probably be the MC in this scenario, or in any event the MC would have control over how it goes, so there’s that. (I’m currently in the phase of dumping things together and seeing what sticks, so I don’t have a proper plan.)
B may or may not be a supervillain, just saying. Which would probably mean the falling-out was a result of A deciding they don’t want to be a supervillain anymore (and consequently, B deciding they care about A more than they care about being a villain).
Anyway.
In the same vein, I’m for some bizarre reason trying to design a VN interface.
Like as in drawing up the User Interfrace? Or as in trying to remake Renpy? Either way, it’s a bit off topic, innit? XD
GOOD NEWS! I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED THE PROSE UPDATE PORTION OF THE UPDATE. now I just have to update the footnotes system, debug and then upload it as a new demo! TAT I’m so close.
I totally agree with this . . . I feel kind of bad for character B in this scenario, I think; being that it sounds like character A is the MC that asks the question if this is an IF work or something else? If its IF it presents a nice oportunity for character growth and definition to see how they handle it. If not, interpretation and tone would depend on what sort of MC this and the narritive and genre, I’d think.
Not too far off, though not much school life going on despite lots of life learning. I have considered doing some sort of ladies prep school set in the same universe as a spin off game in the future, and that would be so HP.
Congrads on the progress on your work, sounds like its close now. Also that sounds like the best christmas book ever.
Trying to port a book of mine to Ren’py. So it’s… technically… tangentially related to writing?
It’ll probably be IF, but I’m not sure if the actual thing makes it in on-screen or if the MC’ll just stumble into the hoard after B is dead and pulls a deus ex stockpile.
I think you should buy even more books. Even more than that. And go to your local public library, get a card, and max it out. Accidently on purpose join 4 book clubs. My idea of decorating is to have enough bookshelves for all my books, all of which I will definitely read. My 2k TBR is a reason to stay alive because I have to finish all the books. If you hear news of my death and the cause is not crushed by books, I’m not dead: I faked my death in order to have more time to read. These plans have never backfired on me and almost broken my toe (a bookshelf broke).
A very big perk of living together with a partner is we can easily share our fanfiction and fiction opinions. I love asking her the level of shenanigans happening in whatever she’s currently reading. Usually it’s pretty high
IDK how easy my Dazai-san syllabus is to copy because it’s very much me raiding 3 shelves in the local university’s library. University libraries are great because they have very niche things that city libraries don’t have the budget for. That being said, inter-library loan is a lifesaver. In any case:
Natalie's Dazai-san Syllabus
Notes on translators: Donald Keene was the biggest translator and advocate of Western study of 20thc. Japanese literature. Most works you find in bookstores will be translated by him. From what I’ve read, his translations themselves seem solid, but his introductions to texts are very focused on inter-academic discussion and not tailored or accessible to the layman audience. The unfortunate topic de jour in Japanese studies in Keene’s time is if Western/American postwar presence “ruined” the “pure Japanese-ness” of Japan’s culture. Keene’s answer is no. New editions haven’t updated these introductions so, uh, content warning for anti-Japanese racism and orientalism.
My fav translators so far are Geraldine Harcourt, Mark Gibeau, and Ralph M. McCarthy.
Analysis on Dazai-san and his work:
Twayne’s World Author Series - Japan: Dazai Osamu by James O’Brien (ISBN: 0805726640) - This is O’Brien’s doctoral thesis. It’s comprehensive and surprisingly accessible - my review
Modern Japanese Writers and the Nature of Literature by Makoto Ueda (ISBN: 9780804709040) - she covers many more authors than Dazai-san, so a great way to peek at others you might be interested in - my review
" Dazai’s Women: Dazai Osamu and his Female Narrators" by Jamie Walden Cox (find here) - this is a masters thesis on Dazai-san’s use of female narrators. It’s okay, with scraps of brilliance, but Cox has a weird quirk of quoting the weakest parts of other scholars’ arguments.
Whatever else you can get your grumby hands on via Google Scholar
Stuff I Need to Read:
Real Osamu Dazai: A Life in Twenty Stories translated by James O’Brien (ISBN: 4805318341) - this is the one that called me out on a Saturday afternoon
Schoolgirl translated by Donald Keene (ISBN: 9781935548089)
The Setting Sun translated by Donald Keene (ISBN: 9780811200325)
Fiction I’ve already read:
Flowers of Buffoonery translated by Sam Bett (ISBN: 9780811200325) - my review
A Late Chrysanthemum: 21 Stories from the Japanese translated by Lane Dunlop, Naoya Shiga, and Kensaku Shimaki - my review
Blue Bamboo: Japanese Tales of Fantasy translated by Ralph M. McCarthy (ISBN: 9784770026101) - my review
Ningen Shikkaku/No Longer Human/A Shameful Life translated by Donald Keene or Mark Gibeau (get whatever edition is easiest) - my review
Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima, translated by Geraldine Harcourt (ISBN: 9780241312193) - Tsushima-san is Dazai’s daughter and a brilliant novelist in her own right. Abandonment by Dazai-like figures is an ongoing theme is her work, and an interesting insight on the women Dazai left behind - my review
I can’t quite believe it and have been very on tenterhooks for the last while waiting, but Honor Bound is out today.
I’m really proud of this 595,000 word behemoth. It’s been living in my head since March 2023 (and in a very vague form since December 2022), so it’s surreal and very lovely to have it out in the wild. I really hope people have as much fun with the story and characters as I did writing them - whether they love the characters, hate them, or ruin their lives…
I’m really grateful for all the support on this thread. It’s been really lovely to share things I’ve been doing and chat about what’s been going on through the writing process - I really appreciate it.
Thanks @Niki_Christopherson@Zodac01@LiliArch. Maybe it is just the time of the year, providing unintended context. The board game I am basing this on is called Family Album: A Day at the Museum - but I understand that is too long to use as a title, so I was forced to find another approach. And in my world of museums, Exit Through the Gift Shop is a swipe at the commercialization of cultural institutions. Thanks for helping me to think about this.
I am so sorry I made you type all of that out, but thank you for helping me bulk up my reading list. XD
CONGRATULATIONS!!! throws you a party
I can’t even count how many I have on mine. TAT
I am… SO MAD right now.
So, ya’ll remember the part of the code I have to move in the game regarding genitalia and the PC’s age? Well, I oved that. BUT I FORGOT TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION, that a large potion of the Daydream Section I’d been working on involved code SPECIFICALLY regarding whether the PC wanted to birth their own children, have their partner birth them, or whether it was even POSSIBLE for them to birth them and if they chose not to how they got babies. TAT
I just realized I’m gonna have to redo ALL OF THIS CODE. lays down and cries
Oh boy do I agree. But the good news is, I’m about 1/3 of the way through the first review of the code/updating the footnotes. TAT Anyone wanna take a stab at how many variables I have for footnote words? Anyone? it’s not 68. its twice that. it’s 136. because I have to have variables to track whether that particular one has been shown before. My startup file is 1154 lines of code right now. It’s insane.
Congrats on your release! Always a momentous occasion when any IF finally reaches a release stage. May it prove successful.
As the first week of december approaches its end. I have reached my first milestone. Its not one I purposefully set, but it is a milestone nonetheless. I have officially surpassed 100k words. I always look at those numbers with the context of what IFs I tend to play and that would be rather small. But now that ive had to actually write out every word out of those 100k. It really dawned on me just how gigantic that is. A good portion of it is naturally divergences and choices. But like. Thats like writing a 600 page novel in the likes of Jane Eyre.
Really makes me appreciate the smaller IFs that manage to still give you that feeling of your choices mattering while offering a complete story in such a small package.
And by god it makes the bigger IFs look like positively herculean feats. To have a million words in a coherent story with branching paths. Thats a damned life achievement on its own irrespective of the actual financial success.
It really reinforces the old adage that the biggest obstacle to writing isnt the size or scope of the book. Its actually finishing the damned thing. And to think those scenes in films where a prospective writer typing away in a typewriter with hundreds of crumpled up pages besides them barely even reaches a fraction of the work people do.
New editions haven’t updated these introductions so, uh, content warning for anti-Japanese racism and orientalism.
)
