Nova City WIP (Remake) (Minor Demo Update 6/16/2021)

The Premise:

The retirement of your mentor and the resurgence of a masked figure from your forgotten past lead you on a path to uncovering what happened during the time you lost.

Hello! Two years ago I attempted this project but failed to reach a completing point. Which, my bad. But I looked at my old idea, spruced it up, and revamped it.

Currently, it’s a lot of words but since most of that is code I will wait on an estimate until I can figure out how to accurately measure the amount of words. Chapter 1 is complete and I plan on updating as often as I can, though I expect some updates will be less noteworthy than others.

When it comes to feedback I’m looking for: Tone inconsistencies, misspellings, weird grammar (or if things are written confusingly), coding mistakes, etc.

A lot of what I’ve done so far is putting down the essentials so I can expand later. There’s a lot of refining I intend to do, and I appreciate any help I can get on that front!

Check the demo here!: https://dashingdon.com/go/8411

Changelog

5/6/2021: Finished Chapter 1, edited some minor tone issues/grammatical errors.

5/18/2021: First bit of Chapter 2, Power Selection scenes finished.
5/19/2021: Edited minor tone issues, formatted change in Chapters for clarity purposes
5/20/2021: Edited prologue to be only the flashback, so switching between doesn’t confuse as much. Also edited a pronoun error and some grammar mistakes.

6/16/2021: Breakfast with Mom completed, Cafe optional scene almost completed.

Content Warnings (applying both to things included and not included in the demo yet)

Minor Body Horror, Mild Violence, Blood, Death, Implied Torture, and some Suggestive Themes. Also cursing. We’re fucking swearing in this one lads.

Romance Options: Civilians (Incomplete)

Name: Xinyi Locke
Aged: 27
Gender: Female (Trans)
Pronouns: She/her
Appearance: She is slightly taller than average, with an average build. Her hair is medium-light brown and kept in a short bob parted down the middle. Her eyes are dark brown and she has a few freckles along her cheeks and chin. She wears a smart navy blazer with the sleeves slightly rolled up, a pair of light blue jeans that stop at her ankles, a pair of sensible heels, and a white blouse.
Powers: Power Immunity
Occupation: Reporter
Personality: Xinyi is a socially savvy woman who will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth. Anyone who has been on the receiving end of her scrutiny will tell you though, you do not want to be a mystery she wants to solve.

Name: Jamie Mora
**Aged: 24
Gender: Genderqueer
Pronouns: They/them
Appearance: They’re very under average height. Their skin is medium-dark brown and their hair is dark brown and coily, falling in tight curls just before their shoulders. They wear lots of turtleneck sweaters tucked into mom jeans and a pair of cat-eye glasses.
Powers: N/A
Occupation: Cameraperson
Personality: Jamie is an (unintentionally) awkward extrovert. They’re well-meaning, considerate, and a realist. When it comes to uncovering the truth, though, they are just as committed as their coworker.

Romance Options: Heroic (Mild Spoilers) (Complete)

Name: Mars Ferox
Alias: The New Shadowstalker (Formerly Drain Man)
Aged: 25
Gender: Male (Trans)
Pronouns: He/him
Appearance: He has olive skin, the stereotypical superman curl a blasphemous interpretation of Shadowstalker’s original outfit. Whereas the original intended to hide the form, his is near skin tight. The color scheme is still dark, though he has added accent colors to it, kept the cape, and added a half-mask to replace the original mask.
Powers: Exhaustion. Literally, he makes people tired.
Occupation: Hero
Personality: To the outside world, Mars Ferox is the height of the classic superhero. He’s charming, polite, and rolls with the punches. To you, because of the grudge he seems to harbor against you, he’s one of the most childish people you’ve ever encountered.

Name: Chantae Love
Alias: Nightingale
Aged: 25
Gender: Female (Cis)
Pronouns: She/Her
Appearance: She has chest-length box braids and a slight build. Her skin is dark and her eyes are dark brown. She has few piercings on her ears and on her nose. Her hero costume is an elaborate black suit with bits of red armor atop it. Heavy sound-increasing gauntlets rest on her forearms in a cylindrical shape. Her mask is a simple white domino mask.
Powers: Control of soundwaves, including blocking all sound and incapacitating enemies with waves of debilitating sound.
Civilian Occupation: Librarian
Personality: Chantae Love is quick-witted, creative, and a team player to her core. As the leader of The Nova Team, she has to be. Her patience may be enduring, but she’s not above holding a grudge should someone wrong her or her friends.

Name: Kohaku Satou
Alias: Achilles
Aged: 26
Gender: Female (Cis)
Pronouns: She/her
Appearance: Kohaku is a slightly taller than average woman with a stockier build and light tan skin. Her hair is warm black and slicked back, just falling to the midpoint of her neck. Her eyes are dark brown and she has a few tattoos. Her hero costume is a pair of black cargo pants, with a pair of shaded motorcycle goggles, and a dark red mask covering the bottom half of her face. She wears a red sports tank and a black leather jacket.
Powers: Enhanced Strength and Healing Factor.
Civilian Occupation: Indie Circuit Wrestler.
Personality: Kohaku is Chantae’s second in command but fairly different to her. She’s quicker to start throwing punches in times of conflict but is more easy-going when it comes to teamwork aspects. She grounds the rest of the team, and in general, keeps a cool composure.

Name: Howard Figueroa
Alias: Cerebrum
Aged: 27
Gender: Male (Cis)
Pronouns: He/Him
Appearance: Howard is a man of slightly above average height with a huskier build and chin-length brown hair that falls in waves. His eyes are green. He has a short and neat beard and mustache. His skin is tan and speckled with dark moles. Howard’s superhero ‘costume’ is essentially just whatever he was wearing previous to the call topped with a grey sweatshirt, with wears a plain white mask with eye holes.
Powers: Technomancy.
Civilian Occupation: Historian
Personality: Outside of when he’s his alias, Howard is cordial and sociable. When he is Cerebrum, though, he’s as avoidant as it gets. Team-work is not his strong suit (and neither is field-work). However, with Chantae’s help and his innate desire to use his abilities for good, he copes with public life as best he can.

Name: Trent Hale
Alias: Haste
Aged: 24
Gender: Male (Cis)
Pronouns: He/him
Appearance: He is slightly shorter than average, with a slight but athletic frame. His hair is dirty blonde and styled in a fade haircut. His eyes are blue and his face is freckled. His hero costume is a yellow biker suit with black accents, and his mask is a black domino mask. He has super durable heelies as an optional part of his look.
Powers: Enhanced Speed and Reflexes.
Civilian Occupation: Freelancer/Part-timer
Personality: Trent is energetic, sociable, and a fan of being in the public eye. He’s a little immature in comparison to the other members of the team due to his desire to be seen. His tendency to overshare makes him a bit of a PR nightmare. But he’s trying his best!

Your Mom!

Name: Rishima Joshi
Alias: Shadowstalker (Formerly)
Aged: 56
Gender: Female (Trans)
Pronouns: She/her
Appearance: Her skin is medium brown. She has long salt-and-pepper hair kept in a short, loose braid. Her face is graced with laugh lines and her dark eyes shine with humor. She’s on the shorter side, measuring 5’3”, but with a stockier build. Her hero costume is black bodysuit with bits of matte black body armor layered atop it. Her mask is a plain black mask with no discernable eye holes, and she wears a purposefully drapey cape that conceals her form.
Powers: Rishima is capable of bending light, granting her the uncanny ability to drench a place in complete darkness or total brightness (though her name shows she chooses the latter more often than not).
Civilian Occupation: Cafe owner
Personality: Despite what her taste in aesthetics might imply, Rishima is a purveyor of goofy mom jokes and a very open person. And, ultimately, she loves you more than anything else.

Things to Note/Planned Features
  • All of the Romance Options are Bi or Pan, but there are some that do have Preferences or more Experiences with certain genders than others. Everyone is romanceable by any gender, but you may end up getting different conversations depending on who you romance and their experiences.
  • I intend for your relationship with your adoptive goth mom to be part of the story and come into play over the course of it. If at any time I do not include enough of your cool goth mom, consider that a mistake on my part.
  • This is always subject to change, but I intend for there to be options to be Good, Neutral, and Villainous over the course of the story. And for that to change how your character is perceived.
186 Likes

I enjoy the teaser. Fascinating concept. Be interesting to see where you take it from here.

2 Likes

Alright, I’m in.

It seems really interesting and I’m waiting for more.

4 Likes

Yep, I’m already sold.

Although short, it’s really good! I’ll be expecting more “rivalry” with Mars. I like having to mess with the guy, but not downright make his life hell. (unless that’s an option :eyes:)

3 Likes

There will be more making fun of Mars antics, because what’s the fun in rivalry if there isn’t tomfoolery? But good to think about how serious the conflict could get there, depending on approach. Lots of possibilities there!

1 Like

I’ll keep an eye on this!

Aw, hey, I remember this. Nice to see you’re taking another shot at it. I remember liking the vibe of the original, and I definitely like what you have so far here. Looking forward to more!

1 Like

Question are all the ROs trans?

8 Likes

I was sold before I read it, then I got cleaned out by how impressive this is from the demo alone, it’s got real potential to become something special. I’ll be watching your progress just like everyone else, and just like them I’ll be cheering for you every step of the way.

1 Like

already interested, that was a nice little preview. cant wait for more!

1 Like

I’ll check this out

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There are more romance options, who should be revealed pretty soon once I’ve got a bit more progress. Some of which are Cis, some of which are trans and/or non-binary.

1 Like

It’s great!
Question -

If we’re just meeting her how can the MC think that there’s no point in lying to her ? Maybe the MC has a trusting attitude but the yellow marked " sensing no ill intent " proves antagonistic to the MC’s trusting nature if there is something like that. It’s a small thing sorry for nitpicking! Just curious. :thinking:

Keep up the good work :beers:

1 Like

This seems really interesting, looking forward to more of this! I love the fact that all the characters who have been introduced at this point are trans. :trans_flag::trans_flag:

This WIP caught my eye because my name is Nova, and it’s awesome that in Nova city there are trans superheroes! Thank you. It’s a dream come true for a lil enby like me.

5 Likes

The features seem interesting!
I’ll wait for all of the ROs to be introduced in the original post though, before I decide to play or not. I play waaay too many games and I use ROs as a way to decide if I’m interested enough in a game, usually.
Since the only male introduced so far didn’t spark that “THIS IS IT!” interest in me, I’ll be back later! Bookmarking in the meantime :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

3 Likes

This is a great catch, actually! The first phrase isn’t what I intended connotation-wise, since it doesn’t exactly fully explain what the MC is feeling. Which is larger distrust, naturally.

1 Like

Trans enby here, I definitely wanted to have characters w/ varying gender identities and characters that are explicitly stated to be trans as romance options and important characters. As opposed to saying a character’s gender and letting the reader interpret if they’re cis or trans of course.

3 Likes

Looks promising! I wonder though what kind of abilities we have… :thinking:

2 Likes

Lots of mysteries already! The humor is totally on point too, especially with the coffee talk! :heart_eyes:

I would love to see what happens next!

2 Likes

I am glade that you decided to pick this one up again. I have always liked the concept of the story. Going to enjoy how this one unfolds as the story continues.

1 Like