AAAAA
High praise indeedly O: I was planning on making it longer but then I realized the scene was actually done in less than 200 words :))
But I’ll probs do a longer thing in the future :)) maybe something domestic and floof
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High praised that is definitely deserved!
Oooh, well, I look forward to it if you do decide to do anything else, then! 
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So it’s been just about a week (6 days, according to the li’l day counter by my last progress report) and I want to get back to the weekly progress reports 'cause my writing fell behind when I feel behind on those so they tend to help me.
I can actually say a specific thing I’ve been working on, too! So yay! No vague word count that doesn’t really say much about what’s actually going on behind the scenes this week!
As is such, I’ve mostly been working on the endings of the update. More specifically, the many variations you’ll get to meet a certain character who kinda sorta definitely is the introduction to a very large part of the main plot so that’s gonna be fun. (11 meeting variations down… many, many more to go. But they don’t take very long at all, since for the most part they’re similar, the difference is really just how said person reacts to what the MC just did. So it’s getting to those actual conversations that takes a while, haha.)
After that I’m going to focus on finally finishing Yolanda Waltz’s private interview because I’ve been putting it off for way too long a time just due to the size of that file.
Also, fun fact, since NaNoWriMo is now a month away I started debating whether or not I was going to work on Model Citizens Unmasked or a linear novel I’ve been working on in my free time as well (I can never work on just one book, my mind just doesn’t sit still long enough for that), when I got the most recent email from NaNoWriMo and…
Guess I know which one I’m working on now.)
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Highkey curious on who this person is O: (is it the ex? PLEASE LET IT BE THE EX)
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Haha, no, sorry, it’s not the Ex. (Still have a couple more non-optional flashbacks to get through to fully define what the MCs relationship with their Ex was.)
The person themself that you meet isn’t necessarily important for this story… But the group which they’re associated with definitely is.
They serve as somewhat of an… introduction… into the kinda people you’re gonna be dealing with as we go along.
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Tin foil hat speculation: has Jacob encountered this group before?
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I would definitely say that when Jacob was a cop he encountered at least one of them. Probably more.
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Just had a random thought driving home today. Any good Villian/Hero has a cover job. You can’t just be a hero/Villian usually, got to throw off suspicion and buy groceries. Though I realized we only know a few’s job.
So I just started theories. Like Raf, I can see being either an Elementry school teacher or maybe a librarian. It seems to fit his personality.
Lucy seems like she would fit in well in a police force or personal trainer.
V: Oddly enough I can see them doing something either lowkey to be totally unassuming like a bartender, or going the complete opposite end of that spectrum and be a party planner.
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Fun fact I talked a li’l about Raf and Lucy’s day jobs on post 1042!
Though Lucy’s does double as her cover I didn’t really talk a lot about how Raf’s cover aspect work.
Mambo kinda takes care of that for everyone who works under him. He runs a real company so anyone who works as a part of his whole operation is filed as an employee of an actual company as well.
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I’ve never commented on this thread before, but I have been following it for a bit and I had a question which might be a little out of place, so I’ll apologize in advance. Is Icarus sun no longer your primary project :~)?
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No apologies necessary! It’s perfectly fine to ask!
I suppose that is correct, Icarus Sun is technically no longer my primary project. The truth is simply that I realized that I didn’t have the skill to write the story I wanted to write in the way I wanted to do it. And that some bits of the story needed a bit more smoothing over.
So I decided to put my focus on Model Citizens Unmasked, to use this as my experimental guinea pig and in doing so, practice and gain the skills and experience necessary to later go back to Icarus Sun and really make it what I wanted it to become. So, as of right now, I am no longer really working on the actual text of it, but I do go back in and work over the parts in the planning that stood out to me as a little rough, and it is always in the back of my mind with the hope that by the time I finish Model Citizens Unmasked I really will be able to write what I wanted to with Icarus Sun.
Oh, hey, on an entirely unrelated note but not actually entirely unrelated since it kinda has to do with the fact that this is my guinea pig for coding ideas but other than that has no other tie in to my previous statement- I had an idea:
So obviously there are the relationship bars to show how well the MC and the character in each bar are getting along, but I also want to make a very clear distinction between an MC pursuing someone for a romance and the MC pursuing someone for a friendship. 'Cause you don’t have to romance someone to unlock their personal story path in this game, you just have to befriend them.
But I was thinking about the previous conversation that I can’t remember when it took place but I’m a solid 90% sure it did take place here somewhere about how some characters are more likely to pursue the MC and some are more likely to have to be pursued first before they get the hint that hey, y’know, maybe a relationship could work here.
And I was also thinking about how some of these characters might act differently if they were harboring feelings for an MC pre-relationship (ex. maybe those who are more likely to flirt with someone they like might work in more flirtatious banter, or those who are less likely to pursue might act even more shy or maybe show signs of trying to figure out if ‘hey, is this person flirting with me or am I imagining it right now?’ kinda thought.)
And not based on the MCs direct flirtation (there’s already a variable for that) but more on whether or not the MC does things that would attract that NPC towards them. And adding in a smaller number variable that will tally up times the MC does things that the NPC finds a sort of attractive quality and maybe then slip in some of those little things I mentioned above as signs that perhaps the NPC is falling for the MC.
Is this too complicated? I have no idea.
I’m gonna try it anyway!
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Dang, that is super ambitious from what little I have been experimenting with choice-script, but if you can keep up with the math it will be something really, really cool and really original.
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That’s gonna be the tricky part, eh? I’ll just keep it to a +1 each time the MC takes an action around the NPC that they approve of. Then when it passes a certain point they’ll show minor signs, and after a second point signs that are a bit more obvious. And maybe this effects the scene in which the romance is officially triggered and the MC is locked onto that person’s romantic path.
But it might be some fun li’l things to add in here and there. And it also opens up so many new gateways for drama that I absolutely adore it.
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HOWEVER, the approval system does sound good, it l can make romance more natural and a little bit challenging, adding more replayability to discover more paths! Also, a reporter relays on relationships and connections to get into the story so it does fit pretty well :3
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I can already see how this is going to play out with the Ex.
Ricky too (but he’s definitely more belligerent about it)
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Do you want a towel, friend?
Also, yeah! I figure it might add a bit more flavor and interest and just generally… well, liveliness to the players interaction with the characters.
You mean… heartbreakingly wonderfully?
If Ricky was already gonna be experiencing denial…
Hoo, boy, he’s just wading in it now.
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So looking forward to his non-female romance path, so much angst when we’re gonna turn his whole perfectly straight and ordered little world upside down.
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I was trying to think of a “straight and narrow path” pun but it wasn’t working out. I know it’s in there somewhere but I can’t find it, sadly.
On a fun Ricky fact, though, I implemented the new attraction variable for everyone up to what’s written and he’s screwing with my note taking since, due to his… inherent dislike of the MC he has to start with essentially a negative number in order to make it work.
Long story short Ricky continues to be nothing but trouble.
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“Enemies” to lovers trope here we come :))
I can’t wait for the scene when he realizes he’s in love with them. Bonus if MC is in danger when this happens
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By the way there’s a bug in extra notes
Line 733 non existent variable ‘dpd_chalrie’
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