Merry Crisis (WIP) - Updated: 7 Jan '25 [300k words]

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Good then you know I would like an art museum date with Shay as an excuse to have more dressed up, but sexy dressed-up instead of dressed up to impress old people (the outfit my mc wore to dinner and the guest performance) date. I figure that way my mc didn’t pack on of his performance leather pants for nothing. :wink:

Also one suggestion for the lead singer mc story path, maybe change responding to work emails to engaging with fans and maybe some business contacts/other artists on social media instead.
The current work emails line has a very professor/CEO vibe to it.

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IT’S AN ARTIST’S RENDITION, ALLIE! LIBERTIES WERE TAKEN! :stuck_out_tongue:

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I have to say it was a two horse race for me between Nat and Shay until the latest chapter with Qiu. I absolutely absolutely love the reversal of them admitting they would fight for you after you (have the chance to) do the same in high school. That scene had so much passion! It’s also made the poll that much harder to fill in now.

I’ve enjoyed this WIP just as much as College Tennis. I have to say I find this WIP very refreshing because it’s not often that I find WIPs here that focus really heavily on one’s past relationships. Exploring those dynamics has been so much fun. It also feels so much more tangible because whoever the MC leans toward will affect not just their relationship with them but also their immediate future in terms of where they will be staying. The physical distance of either SG or NY gives a real sense of finality in what the MC will choose for themselves.

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thats like so hot ngl. both for the mc and qiu (i also realized i kept spelling their name wrong lmao)

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More of a “there could be something going on between the two of them” sort of vibe. Like I started panicking that there was going to be incoming angst and drama where I may be wrecking my bff’s hopes and dreams by trying to pick back up things with Qui. More drama. I am scared. I didn’t see it coming from all the talks, but…what if. Would Allie do this to me? Would Allie sneak in more drama to catch me unawares and now I have to choose between rekindling romance or breaking my friend’s heart. would you do this to me. Yes. Yes I think you would. :heart:
I wouldn’t ship it. But….that level of drama. It might kill me. Actually that would probably make it easier to dodge Qui for me. I couldn’t do that to a friend. :broken_heart: I’d cry on the inside and wish them well.
You know what. Do it. Then I can abandon all hopes of being the golden child and keep hooking up with Shay.

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Ok first off, I agree I would enjoy writing this too. And your distinction between sexy dressed-up and dressed-up for old people made me snort.

True I guess, look at ya, holding me to task for creating (too many) job choices ;p but yeah I did think about it actually, and thought it was probably more problematic for a soccer player MC. Figured there were probably still admin shit that a singer/band member MC might need to reply to. But yeah, it was the easiest thing I could think of for MC to do that was “work”-related :skull: I’ll see what I can do.

Ahh another one bites the dust :rofl:

My next goal is to re-insert Nat back into the running with the following update. Watch out, folks.

Hehe, I know! The mirrored positions makes my literary heart proud too.

I know, right?? With the amount of angst possible when writing exes/past r’ships, I found it interesting that not more IFs delve into it haha. I guess the new “falling in love” feeling is the usual go-to.

Exactly! I’m wondering how many permutations I can write regarding MCs who want to be with xx RO but the countries they want to be in dont line up. :thinking: wish me luck.

@yb_minhee yasss, it IS hot, isnt it :smiley:

Ahhhh gotcha. I would absolutely do that to you, you’re not wrong. But this time I didnt intend to/wasn’t part of the plan :wink: you can sleep easy haha.

Yup, we wouldnt want to make anything easy, now would we :smirk:

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While that is true the mc is only in Singapore for a few days so, unlike with a professor tied to an academic institution and a start up CEO (who basically always has to be there for the company) with the lead singer and soccer player mc their admin shit can probably wait, but fans are always important and of course these days even brands and record producers are likely to reach out to budding talent through social media first. So even an offer for a gig, collaboration or even a contract could come just as easily over social media for them. :thinking:
It’s kinda the downside of being an indie artist the need to do your own marketing, fortunately my mc is way better at it than I would be. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

If anything marketing and social media are far more important parts of the job for an indie artist compared to a soccer player who at least has a contract with a club and is thus more like a regular employee in that regard.

The distinction needs to be made, plus lead singer mc has the benefit that sexy dressed up is very similar to outfits they’d wear to a major performance (at least for mine it is). :wink:
Of course in your game my mc has actually done a guest performance in the dressed up for old people outfit that is probably gonna need some dry-cleaning back in NY. :grin:

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For me not so much Joony/Qiu as Joony and our little brother (forgetting the name because I’m a terrible brother.)

Secret girlfriend he says. Joony is a friend now he says. Hmmm I says :thinking:

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You actually learn the name of the girlfriend, though.

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The aunts reaction to telling her you’re in a same sex relationship is first time I have ever laughed out loud playing one of these games

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Must have missed that scene. Like my ship better anyway.

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Which is exactly the catch it still says that in the game world of my super gay mc. Which rules out any of his exes. Little bro dating an ex of my mc would also make their poor mom have two gay sons. :rofl: :rainbow_flag:

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I believe I’ve commented before? But man, I love the charms for all the ROs. The story is so realistic at times that it can be affronting :skull: . It’s beautiful, I am hoping for more updates, though I am deeply amused at the idea that Qiu held on 8-10 years just for a chance at redeeming things with you.

I am really interested to see what the future holds though for Natmancers, especially with the problem being about moving to Singapore or staying in New York. I wonder if there really is a solution there, if you really want to stay home and Nat really doesn’t want to move there for one reason or another.

Also I completely agree with @Stuffies12 , the real focus on past relationships instead of forming entirely new ones (for the most part) feels fitting thematically, and also allows for the story to feel much more grounded. This WIP definitely has some of the best character writing in my mind.

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I’ve found an inconsistencey when playing as a gay mc and what his parent know.

I chose the option that my MCs parents know that he dated a person called Nat but my MC did not tell them any specifics about Nats gender and remains closeted - however it seems that that hasnt been tracked as the parents seem to know my MC is openly queer (the mum’s reaction when going biking with Shay after staying the night acts like she new already). And later on in the section with phone call with Nat in the park he mentioned that the MCs parents hate him and threw me off that Nat had actually been home with my MC and met his parents.

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I chalked that one up to the fact that his family, or at least mom, must have suspected for years, probably ever since Qiu but settled for comfortable plausible deniability instead until going at it so openly and brazenly with Shay forces them to confront it for real and means the mc comes out of the closet through actions, instead of words. Which is something I really like.

This seems like something that ought to not happen. I didn’t personally see it as my mc hasn’t called Nat.

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What the hell, Qiu? Life isn’t a Rosamunde Pilcher’s book, you can’t just picked up where you left ten years ago! But i still want to see where Qiu and MC relationship would lead.

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I believe I worded it in the survey as, “‘Give me one more day to get you back?’ You’ve had years to fight for our relationship, time’s up as far as I’m concerned.”

Originally, I was going to type, “I don’t have one more day to be patient with you,” but then I realized that my MC wasn’t exactly waiting for her in the first place.

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Ooh! Strange! Could I check if your Shay is same gender or not? I double-checked the code and it kinda looks alright for both same-gender Shay and non same-gender Shay (with Nat being same gender), so I’m not sure what’s wrong! Specifics below.

Passages

If Shay is same gender

You should get this if you told your family about Nat:

You’d think she’dve gotten used to the idea that her child was queer by now, considering how much she knows about your relationship with Nat. Just willful desire to disregard evidence even when it’s sitting right in front of her, you suppose.

And this if you did not:

To be fair, this was completely uncharted waters for her—since you’d never told your mom enough about your love life to really give her any chance at suspecting that you might be queer.

If Shay is not the same gender:

You should get this if you told family about Nat:

Your mother doesn’t sound as horrified as you’d expected. Maybe she’s glad you’re no longer dating Nat. How ironic, considering she would otherwise hate the idea of you having anything to do with Shay. Unlike Nat, ${S_he}'s the ‘right’ gender.

And this if not:

Your mother sounds absolutely horrified with the idea of you having anything to do with Shay, her sworn nemesis. You snort, thinking she might actually be less disapproving if she’d even known who else you’d dated previously. At least ${S_he}'s the right gender this time.

Fixed! Thank you :slight_smile:

Ahh omg. You guys have the wildest theories :joy: Love it. I mean, I did go re-read the passage where Joony visits MC and, you’re right. They are suspiciously close. But no… I was hoping to give off more of a bro dynamic lol.

And @JBento yes exactly HAHHA.

OMG such high praise, thank you!!

~Your aunt listens to you, enraptured. But when you're finally done, she shakes her head and says, "so, you're one of those [i]gays[/i]?"~~

@Phenrex Awww yay!! Thank you, glad you’re enjoying the game so far.

HAHHA yeah, gosh. Some people are just obsessed. :roll_eyes: :rofl:

I think the difficulty is Shay > Nat > Qiu, when it comes to geographical problems, because I do feel Shay is more mobile than Nat, and Nat’s more mobile than Qiu. But Qiu did wait literally 8-10 years for MC so… maybe that bumps them up the totem pole a little.

Yeah, the focus on three types:

  • Qiu, distant ex (which reminds MC of their adolescence and of Singapore)
  • Nat, recent ex (which represents NY and the life MC has built there) and
  • Shay, new stranger (which represents the possibility of new life/returning to Singapore and finding something there for MC)

is definitely an intentional thematic choice, meant to parallel MC’s conflicted feelings towards moving on/revisiting their past, staying in NY or moving back to SG.

:blush: :blush:

Fair, hahaha. The emotionally stable response. I believe it’s possible for MC to say something very similar to that in-game though :slight_smile:

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I think so, yeah. I don’t remember if I saw that option or not when I was playing the demo, I might’ve skipped it for another response.

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And what about mc’s really close “friendship” with same gender Qiu then? Mom doesn’t seem like an idiot just like she preferred plausible deniability over pressing the issue with teenage mc. Also with male mc there would have been two years they would have been back in Singapore due to silly national service.

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