@Sel_Lee Hi! I’ve fixed the code to ensure that non-binary MCs born female / male should get to see the “same-gender” text for female and male Shay & Qiu respectively now, and non-binary MCs regardless of the gender they were born will be able to see Shay’s anti-establishment rant(s).
Mom referring to Qiu as a daughter with M!Qiu should be fixed too, but that one’s a bit more finnicky than it should be?? I don’t know why it keeps popping up for people, but do let me know if you still see it.
And this is so awesome! Welcome and hello from reddit, and I’m so glad you can relate to the game!! It’s always so fun to see similarities here and there.
I know right! There’s a famous Tolstoy quote that I always recall: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Though I think it’s true for families that are… not exactly unhappy, but… you know. With their own issues, struggles, redeeming qualities the good shit and the bad. It’s definitely fun to read about how different families are happy / unhappy in their own way.
Foolishly enough, I didn’t want to read this if because summer barely ended and I’m not really in the mood for anything Christmas related, but given how engaging CT:OS is caved in. Needless to say, this story is fantastic. The author has a writing style that I love, I get sucked right into the story and all the sweet moments with the ros warm my heart.
Hahahaha! Totally understandable. Honestly I feel like Merry crisis started out in my brain as a short holiday romcom…
And turned into something a bit more about family and belonging and trying to come to terms with one’s past/the one(s) that got away (or move on). In its current form I feel like Christmas makes up about… 3% of the actual plot and I’m probably losing a lot of potential readers with the terrible synopsis hahhaah but oh well.
@Cassia_Killian This means so much to me. Much love from me to you! <3
While my Merry Crisis mc is not a jock, he does work out because he’s a dancer too as for whether the twain have ever met in my case, headcanon Sam’s sister may be one of my Merry Crisis mc’s fans, so if she, Sam and tennis mc ever went to a music festival in Boston or visited New York they likely would have seen my mc perform there, Sam’s sis may even have an autograph but if my Merry Crisis mc recalls the event at all the one he would remember would be Sam’s sister not a couple of young teenage boys as Merry crisis mc at 28 is exactly a decade older than tennis mc.
On the reverse side, Shay is a bit sportier than my Merry Crisis mc, so if he were to move with my mc to America in the end I could see Shay become a fan of US college tennis in general and Tennis mc in particular. Which also means my Merry Crisis mc would watch it with Shay on occasion.
I put off reading this for entirely too long and I’m so glad I finally got around to it in my backlog. Every route (especially Qiu’s from a queer perspective oh my god) messed me up in the most beautiful of ways. Ahhh. I love CTOS already and now I’ll have Merry Crisis brain worms for months. Thank you so much for your amazing stories.
@VelvetDivine hahaha. Mood. Tis the season of sinply allowing failed relationships to remain failed and strangers to remain strangers.
Or simply tell them the truth, which is what they asked for, eh?
Ahh I love this!! Sam’s sister might even possibly have started being a fan of merry crisis MC early on, when they were still performing atreally small venues and pubs etc. and hence might actually know Merry crisis MC on a slightly more personal level.
Anddd this is so wholesome!!
@JasA21 welcome to the forums! :)) here’s a link that should work but give me a shout if it doesnt!
Hehe. So glad you enjoyed the IF! I’m always so thrilled when I get fans of both!
Speaking of mc’s music career, I wonder if the Singapore armed forces would have used a male singer and dancer mc for something like this?:
Thanks.
Should mc and Shay have a big breakthrough together mc and possibly Sam too could still become fans too. Not that it would necessarily prevent them both from having solo careers too, of course.
Otherwise, as a solo artist maybe my mc’s and Sam and sis will all meet up at some sporting event tennis mc is competing where my Merry Crisis mc is chosen to sing the national anthem, if he successfully manages to become a US citizen?
Certainly possible, New England is a natural backyard for NY based artists so it is certainly possible for Sam’s sis to have met my Merry Crisis mc when he was still doing mostly cover songs at bars and private parties to make ends meet (including quite possibly at the country club where mc and Sam played their summer Tennis matches).
So I guess she is yet another person to view the bootleg video of mc’s very silly cover performance of a very silly christmas song with Shay and his band, eh?
Holy s***, the story of MC and Qiu is so similar to what happened to me. I studied extremely hard so that i can be in the same uni with her abroad and she purposefully answering wrong question at the exam so she has no choice but to go for local uni with me. We got separated for more than 4 years, and somehow we got together again when i came back (to australia), currently engaged now. its still surreal when i think about it
Or perhaps in the case of my mc it is the hot neighbour boy who should stay vigilant lest he finds himself whisked off to 'Murica.
Still think Qiu and Joony are a better match than my main mc and Qiu ever were, still it is nice to be friends with him again and he’ll always be my mc’s first love with a lot of teenage melodrama.
At the end of the day, as an artist, my mc needs the kind of freedom of expression that is still not available in Singapore.
Hey guys it’s that time of the year again so I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas (and happy new year too). Hope ya’ll doing great and enjoying the festivities!
@idonotlikeusernames Ooh yes I’m pretty sure MC could be one of those SAF band things, if they were keen!
Hehe I guess they could always ‘guest star’/feature in each other’s songs and music videos and do joint shows And love the idea of Shay, Sam, Sam’s sister, CT:OS MC and Merry Crisis MC all coalescing at the same event!
HAHA. Oh dear yeah, swept off their feet and blown all the way to kansas (I mean… NY) indeed. Also, re: Qiu and Joony being a better match, I could see it! Joony’s happy-go-lucky, chill personality would go very well with Qiu’s serious intensity.
HAHAHA hilarious! That video’s certainly making its rounds. Could totally imagine it being MC’s claim to fame on tiktok or something xD
@Literally_Me Oh my goodness what a wonderful thing that your username is so apt for this post hahaha. Congrats you two!!! Sometimes people do find their way back together, ey? <3
That’s such an amazing story though, I’m so glad there was a happy ending!! Who did the pursuing when you came back to Australia / how did you guys pick things up again? Just curious cause it’s so cute!! You absolutely are under zero obligation to answer!!
@Barbarazinha Merry Christmas to you too, and happy holidays!! Here’s to an awesome end of the year!
Great story. This is I think my first time seeing a WIP with Singapore as setting, which is great. It does hit too close to home at times :')
Gushing(?) about details
When the “fluency of mandarin” choice appeared I cackled really, really loudly. It’s too real.
About male MC being part of the SAF band: I did a little searching online (because I know very little about NS in general). Only PES C - E1 recruits are in considered (ie. not fit for combat but not too unfit. E9 is the lowest score. PES is a measurement of medical health. Having diagnosed mental health conditions like anxiety can also reduce the PES score.)
You really have a gift, Burninglights, and it’s just so clear that it’s a gift you’ve honed with effort. Your stories, and this one in particular, create such a vibrant sense of place; they feel personal, which reads as an invitation: feel involved. I really hope you find the time, whether it’s a year from now or a decade from now, to finish this story. Because I accepted the invitation; I do feel involved. I really want to see these characters get their happy endings.
Not that it would necessarily prevent them both from having solo careers too, of course.
