…Incidentally, the werewolf’s home life includes some of my feelings about growing up in an insular immigrant neighborhood (Polish, for the record), the goblin is a genius who really likes himself and is confused about why people dislike his intelligence, the demon is the kind of unapologetically sexual person who is subject to s***-shaming, and the wendigo feels alone in the world with her mental trauma and her slight body issues.
They’re not all me, but they all have some of my issues. Sorry, characters.
I apologize if I seemed as if I were trying to push a connection between the two, and at any assumptions I may have made up to this point about the state of the Wendigo in your story, I was only attempting to show the Irony of Caballero’s comment about you relating Mental Disorders with the Wendigo, when it was the inspiration for a Disorder,or at least it’s name. However I am quite interested to hear that the Frenzy was caused by the admittedly horrible act of eating your own mother.
While I’ve gathered Wendigos are rare and you are possibly the last, are we, either as a Wendigo or as Wendy’s suitably terrified Friend/Significant other, going to get to learn more about other, less traumatized Wendigos of the past or anything about the species at all? I’m guessing there aren’t many Classes in high school about the history of Wendigoism (is it an Ism? seems like it should be an Ism) or their biology.
On that note does the school say anything about the whole underfed at all times thing? or are they just cool with it?
Yeah, no offense taken (and Caballero’s point was a good one too.) Some wendigo will be in better shape than others, depending on how they adapt to the circumstances of their transformation (which were very traumatic in Wendy’s case.) The point being, she doesn’t have issues because she’s a monster, she’s a monster who also has issues.
I might give you some background on wendigo during the game (I imagine Wendy would be interested in finding out more about herself via the legends of her species.) The news for her is, unfortunately, grim. Most wendigo who are not cured before eating human flesh end up having to be euthanized at their request, or executed after they become mass murderers. If Wendy can make a go of it as a “human”, she’ll be setting a new example for future wendigo teens.
Aim for humanity. Even if you miss, you may not eat as many people.
EDIT - I always seem to miss one. The school has visited her home and have seen that she has a good relationship with her foster parents, the pantry is full of food, and it is not locked. They have been reassured that she is not anorexic either (she has earnestly told them how she wishes she could put on weight.) They are therefore sympathetic about her being an extreme endomorph with a hyperactive metabolism.
Also, thank you everyone, as I answer all of these questions it is reminding me what I still need to write in and explain! A lot of this stuff only exists in my head or my notes right now.
My plan, to be able to hopefully get an update out this weekend, is to do a bare-bones school day and fill in more writing, detail, and options later. That will let me get to their (almost-finished) home life scenes without breaking continuity.
To give you an idea of length - the events of this game take place in about a week, not counting the epilogue or backstories. That might go up if the first couple of days seem too rushed (in which case I might mostly skip some days if it’s the only way to balance weekday/weekend events.)
Wait so this is all happening in one in world week? and from what I have gleamed from your previous comments (and how most stories have a conflict) that something is going to happen, something at least from their perspective relatively major? Those poor poor children. I get the feeling I’m going to enjoy this.
I updated a newer version of the character creation scene just now. I believe I have fixed all of the bugs previously pointed out; there is also a little new content, which might have broken something new.
Note to play-testers: If you are offended by profanity, I do not advise choosing rebellious dialogue options. Please let me know if you think the swearing I have included is over the top (or too tame, I guess.)
No, Sir. You cannot challenge a premise starting with cushioned statements such as “Well as far as I know…” and “been a looong time since I read up so, yeah”. You either know what you are talking about or you do not. What is this about wendigos getting along with wolves and sharing hunt? I have never read about man-eating wolves getting along with wendigos. Can you provide a source? That caught my attention and I am interested in reading about that.
If they do not have to eat, then why do they feel a never-ending hunger in the first place? Please, explain. And, again, you cannot challenge my clearly made up with a “fact” with a possibly legitimate “fact” that can be ignored when convenient (“for literary purposes this should be ignored”).
This is my favorite part of your post:
Classic copy & paste from wikipedia. Well done, Sir! This really brought a smile to my face. And thank you for mentioning the Wendigo Psychosys, I did not know about it.
When I said:
What I was trying to say was that someone might interpret her comment as categorizing people with mental disorders as monster. I should have been more clear about that. I apologize.
I am sorry you went through that… I cannot even begin to imagine what that must be like. You have my sympathies. At the very least, I hope working on this project has some kind of cathartic effect. (Cathartic in the “cleansing”-kind-of-way and not the “other”-kind-of-way. ) If you do not mind me asking, is this why you were somewhat worried about how Wendy was going to be received as a character? Given my previous comment, the cathartic one, if you decide not to answer I completely understand.
Because that is what they are. They are individuals who have eaten the flesh of other humans and becoming a wendigo was the after effect of them being possessed by spirits. At that point all laws of nature are no longer necessary arguments into what a wendigo can or cannot do. They are inherently unnatural (at least as long as you consider possession unnatural) and it is a part of what they are. They hunger because they exist, and arguably as punishment for their crimes against nature. My inclusion of this though was mostly as a side as I found it interesting and thought you might as well.While I am sure that some stories include such things I can’t find all of the texts I based my information on. for that I apologise
Edit: Also Most legends have them grow in size after they eat, so that their hunger cannot be sated, and it is very common for people to want to do something, sometimes desperately so, even if it is not required for survival. Like a bug bite but a thousand times worse, and instead of scratching it’s eating people. Doesn’t stop the itch, But you know it should.
Technically that was from the top of a google search
This comment comes mostly from this
Ojibwe storyteller Basil Johnston explains that Windigos “came into being in winter and
stopped villagers and beset wanderers. Ever hungry, they craved human flesh, which is the only
substance that could sustain them. The irony is that having eaten human flesh, the Weendigoes
grew in size, so their hunger and craving remained in proportion to their size; thus they were
eternally starving” (The Manitous 247)
This is not the site I personally used as I can’t find it at the moment, though I shall endeavor to find and if I do I shall give you a link to that as well. However this is a very good look at the legends.
This one is less good, however it a much easier read than the first.
The cryptozoology wiki. Again mostly a short easier read then the first, but not as good.
Contains very little itself but has links to books on the subject.
and I apologize for any misconceptions on my part, and my comment on it was mostly on the fact that I found it humorous and had hoped you would to, given the circumstances.
That is one of the things that may be inaccurate, though that would be the fault of the site I read it on as I distinctly recall it stated things along these lines. While I still can’t seem to find the site I read it on I’m sure it is on other and as mentioned I will stay on the search. However if in the meanwhile you wish to look for yourself to see if you can find anything along those lines, I would recommend Sites either dedicated to Canadian lore or Crypt-zoology, which is where I found it. Again I apologize for not bringing a direct Link but it has been years since I studied Canadian lore, as my personal interests changed. However they were not entirely Malevolent creatures as explained in this statement
"However, the assumption that the Windigo is
exclusively malevolent is challenged by assertions that “though Weendigo was fearsome and
visited punishment upon those committing excesses, he nevertheless conferred rewards upon the
moderate. He was excess who encouraged moderation” (Johnston, Ojibwe Heritage 167). "
from the first link. So it would not be uncalled for, as wolves tend to be mostly based on a needs based system(as far as I know at least, I am no expert on wolves.)
Also with all studies of this lore you have to understand that there will be Differences between nearly every single story, and something that is accurate in one may be entirely inaccurate in another. A perfect example would be how in some stories the Wendigo is a Gigantic creature made of Ice, While in others it is merely a man with unending hunger. Which was a part of my reasoning for cushioning my statements as you had put it, along side my Rust when it comes to the subject.And besides we what else would I cushion my statements with? We wouldn’t want them to get uncomfortable.
I’m not through character creation yet, but I would like to say: This is awesome.
I love your writing style, you got a few genuine laughs out of me. The screechy, excited kind that borders on childish giggling, which is always a good thing, I assure you. (“She has such incrediblye ideas that I want to lick her brain” had me reading out loud while making ridiculous expressions and hand gestures, which I only do when I’m very enthusiastic and amused.)
The succubus/incubus origin especially. Because I’m still a twelve-year-old at heart and anything even remotely dirty makes me laugh.
In other words, I can’t wait for more. This is gonna be good, I can tell.
@anyhelpbob You and @CaballeroDeAndromeda both made good points about the wendigo and their behavior. Bob, your lore is mostly spot-on - there are indeed a lot of variations to the Wendigo myth, since it was common to most Algonquian tribes (there were a lot of them.) I haven’t heard of the wolf thing either, but otherwise I came across all of those variations in my research. (A lot of my research about these creatures is pre-existing - I have always loved myths, legends and fairy tales.)
The wendigo contains a little part of me, and has some of my issues… but that is true of all of my characters. None of them are me. Thanks for the concern, but I have a fantastic life these days. It’s been a long time since I lost a week, for which I am both happy and grateful. I was more afraid of Wendy not being appreciated because not many people have heard of a Wendigo before this. It’s not like a werewolf or a vampire, that has so much built-in Hollywood lore to relate to.
@blackrising, @GloriaRose and everyone else - thanks for the excitement! I am working hard to get out a demo of (at least most of) the first day by late Sunday.
You’ve mentioned before that the both the MC and the other npc monsters will know that each other are monsters. But will they know what kind or just that they are monsters? I mean the wendigo and goblin aren’t the most commonly known monsters and they aren’t in their “monster-form” so you can’t really compare them to monster-legends. To me it would be more plausible if the MC and the others were “I know that person is a monster” than “yup, that person is a goblin”.
There is a monster student gossip chain, which is how you know who most of the other monsters are and the basics of what they are. There is a lot else you won’t know for sure unless you get to know them.
I will have to consider making the wendigo more mysterious though, since they are the only one in town and don’t have a family known to be their kind (the goblin, demon, and werewolf all live with others of their species, and the vampire did until their mother’s death.)
1st-3rd period is written and coded well enough to test, plus I’m finished with most of the first day of home life after school. All major characters have been introduced (except the harpy, if I don’t have time to add her in.)
I am planning to skip lunch period and study hall for now (both of which are very open-ended and will have a ton of options.) If I need to, I can also leave out the three electives that take place in seventh period. That leaves me with two more subjects and a bit of home life to finish up, so I’m almost positive I can get the new demo out by late tonight. I’m aiming for midnight (PST) but I’m usually later with things than I think, so check back tomorrow sometime after dawn if it hasn’t showed up yet.
If only I’d dodged the flu this week, I’d have the first day done for sure. Curse the frailty of my mortal flesh.
And thank you for mentioning the Wendigo Psychosys, I did not know about it.
I was more afraid of Wendy not being appreciated because not many people have heard of a Wendigo before this. It’s not like a werewolf or a vampire, that has so much built-in Hollywood lore to relate to.
