One Thousand Blooms — (ON HIATUS)

Well, yeah…all the character’s names are derivated from plants/flowers…or did you mean something specific (sorry that I don’t want to read the whole wikipedia page just to find out what exactly you are meaning, I don’t really have the concentration for that. Sorry >.<).

But wouldn’t she by now be a nightshade? I mean, sure maybe Datura is mean spirited enough to taunt her with her old family name (because he knows how important the social position and meaning of a name is for her), but for me he didn’t really seemed like it? I could be mistaken, but it’s not the only world specific word we see (I think), so Kardia indeed could have a specific meaning besides being a name.

Btw it may be good to prevent people from choosing names that are already taken by NPCs. That can lead to some confusion…

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You’re probably right. The way it sounds within the text makes it sound like a nickname of sorts. Or it could be something completely different for all we know. But for now I’m assuming it’s a nickname.

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The update was pretty small but it really hammered in the point that there’s a lot of character customisation going on, and you’re doing REALLY well. I’m suuuper excited to see how the rest of the game pans out :slight_smile:

I did find a typo (I think I also saw another one, but I’m not sure): “She screams in dander loud enough to wake everyone in the manor” → I think “dander” is supposed to be “anger”?

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It made me so angry!

Hi this message is to the author I found a typo in the reading, in the sentence that says it looks like they have runt out of things to throw and started with the furnishings, it should be either runed out or ran out of things to throw. Those who are good with grammar you might be able to help me out on this one. But I also found that before you updated it ⠞⠙⠲

@bianca_065 …yessss, you’re right; sorry, it looks like my brain decided to mess with me :joy: My bad, I’ll correct it. Thank you for the mistake and your kind words! :blush:

@Mxm124 mother dearest’s full name is Aquilegia Tavica Crowfoot :hibiscus:

@Sammysam yep, Kardia in Greek means “heart”, but it’s not a nickname. But you’re right, Datura’s the kind of person that likes to give pet names to those he’s fond of (Sweet Pea in the case of his child, and back when he was in love with Aquilegia he called her “winter rose”). Yeah, he used to be a sap. :rose:

Since that Datura is not the holder of the Nightshade title (it’s his sister), Aquilegia is still a Crowfoot.

@Mxm124, @Sammysam, when Datura says “Kardia” he doesn’t mean Aquilegia; it’s an expression, like “gosh!”, but I will make it clearer next time :relieved: Also, for those who are curious and want to know a bit more of game lore, Kardia is the name of a deity: there are 3 main religions in-game, plus a form of “agnosticism” and “atheism”:

  • Followers of The Maker: this is the main and most common religion; most members of The Society are part of this one (traditionalists). Their teachings are the ones you are most familiar with; the body is priceless, you have to take the utmost care of it, scars are shameful, people are not equal (divided between Thorns, Green and Purple Circles), etc. Aquilegia is a follower of The Maker, of couse.
  • Children of Kardia: Datura converted into this one a few years later after being “disinherited” for marrying Aquilegia. It’s a bit of an unpopular faith because it preaches very much the opposite of The Maker, making family one of it’s basic pillars, followed by kindness and hard-work. They see the body as an instrument to do good rather than an object of reverence, and that every human is equal in the eyes of Kardia.
  • The Path of Gorgos: this one is a bit rare because not many decide to convert from the first one (The Maker) and only those pursuing a military career do. The people that do, it’s usually after their first few years of training or when they finish it. Gorgos teaches that the body is a weapon meant to be used, and that somebody’s worth is measured by their actions, not their lineage; that pain is meant to be overcomed, along many other things. The MC’s uncle, Adonis Crowfoot, “believes” in Gorgos.
  • The Seekers of Knowledge: it’s not really a no-religion, but this world doesn’t have the word “Agnosticism”, so I had to call them something. They are usually formed by schoolars, doctors and such, because they don’t believe in religion, but progress. Of course, not all schoolars and doctors are seekers, they don’t necessarily need to; they can believe in any of the previous deities if they want to.
  • The Faithless: they don’t call themselves “Faithless”, but other’s do as a sign of contempt since “not having faith” is not acceptable in The Society (wonderful, I know). This category is for atheists.

Don’t worry, I’m careful enough of not letting the MC pick a name that is already taken by a NPC :wink: The only time it could happen is with a male MC called Leander (but in this case the cousin is female and named Baladre) and vice versa :slight_smile:

@Szaal the mother’s surname is Crowfoot. You know, some time ago someone posted the same link regarding the MC’s dad’s name :smile:

@stuck_in_bed well, right now the demo is 10000+ words, but I guess that with all of the branching it has, it looks kinda short (but there’s a lot of replay value!) :relieved: But that’s exactly what I wanted to do; after all, I want the main character to really be yours, and controling their reactions/thoughts is very important. I’m glad that you liked it :blush: I’ll check the typo right now, thanks :wink:

@Thunder-Man thanks for the bug :slight_smile:

@adamthecowdog if you ever want to catch my attention, write @ followed by my user name; it will get my attention 100% of the times. Thanks for the typo, I’ll look into it :smile:

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Oh, I just got shortly confused at the Doctor (Pria Ivy), because I indeed called my MC Ivy…:sweat_smile: I mean not the same name really, but damn for a five year old it sure is great to meet a doctor with at least partly the same name as them :sweat_smile:

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I absolutely adore the writing in this WiP, and the characters!

I love the characters and setting you’ve set up and I can’t wait to find out what it is that Aquilegia did and I have this horrible, sinking feeling that something terrible is going to happen to Datura. You’ve set up such a happy, nice father-child relationship that I just know something is going to go awry and we’re gonna be left with Aquilegia.

Then again, maybe I’m just paranoid. But probably not?

Also I love fictional societies, and I love seeing what people come up with for them and how they create them, and you’ve definitely caught my interest with this one.

So I have a quick question on the scars tidbit- just how shameful are they? Would someone with scars be completely abandoned by society, disowned from the family, left for dead, that kind of thing? Or is it less severe? Does it change depending on the scar? (Ex. someone fell off a horse and now there’s a scar on their head that’s essentially invisible because it’s hidden under their hair vs. someone fell off a horse and now there’s a giant scar from a gash down their leg which is much more visible and much larger.)

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Here take a pillow and a blanket. Just in case of course.

Can’t shame what they are not aware of…

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Oh, good, I mean, I’ll probably need this anyway, to hide from Aquilegia.

True, perhaps that’s too small an example. But if it’s, say on the inside of their thumb, still very small and practically unnoticeable, but there.

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Ah (most) women (and about 50% of guys), so lucky in that regard. :sweat_smile:

Yep, and that will of course be bad for our poor mc’s development in more ways than one.

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Good to know. Now it be makes since in hindsight. Thanks for more info on the lore of the game.

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Well at the time I didn’t know what your username was but now I do. lol @Lycrois

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Oh! I see :open_mouth: Well, to be honest, I was going to name the doctor Pria Hedera (or Heder; one of the downsides of not being a native speaker is that I have no idea if some things sound terrible or not), but I ended up with Ivy. Mmm… I could change her surname to Heder(a), or add a comment or two if your MC is named Ivy :grin:

@RenaB thank you :hugging:

Haha, some people suspect that something will happen to Datura too, so you aren’t overly paranoid :joy: Those who already played the CSComp from last year (warning: HUGE spoiler) know that Datura has already outlived the original demo, since I killed him off when the MC was like 3-4 years old, and in this one they are 5, almost 6. I really like father-child relationships that are strong, loving and stable, yet most stories only give that kind of connection with the mother (while the father is either nowhere to be found/generally absent/a total jerk), so I felt it was a must :slight_smile: Now, I have to find the balance between a good father and indulgent dad, but I’m just really excited to see how it works out :blush: I also want to make the relationship dynamic; so while Datura will always love his kid, depending on how they turn out (selfish, sweet, amoral, serious, etc.) he will react differently in certain situations.

Scars are a big stigma, but just like @Sammysam says, they can’t shame what they are not aware of. Using your example, if the scars was in their head and covered by their hair, that wouldn’t cause much uproar since not even the person themselves would see it. If it’s a leg scar and it can be covered, it’s pretty much the same, but! There’s a problem; they would feel self-conscious. Most of the people in The Society have such notions so ingrained that they feel extremely self-aware of their scars, even if the general public doesn’t know; they do, and that’s enough for them to feel shame and distress. Plus, some people (think of the stuck-ups higher ups) don’t want a partner with scars; if they discovered their spouse had, they could even demand and annulment, and it would be valid!

This is something I wrote about the MC’s mother and her troubles with her belly scar, from a C-section:

If it’s barely visible, the better for them; yet some may even feel compelled to wear gloves in public to cover them up. Usually, the rule is “if you know you have a scar, don’t let anyone else see it.”

@Mxm124 feel free to ask whatever you want; it also helps me keep everything in order :relieved:

@adamthecowdog I know, that’s why I told you :wink:

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Yes… Yes… Perfect…

Give him and most MCs a more established relationship before silencing him.

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Huh all this discussion about scars I’m starting to think that one surgery you mentioned earlier might be that sort of trade off. But just a theory. Can I just say how much I appreciate getting to be a daddy’s girl in a choice game! As stated in every game to date you can only seem to either be close to a sister, or mother, but never with a male member of your family or your father. It’s good to see a father that cares and is very involved but could edge into the almost destructively indulging side.

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So! There’s something I want to share with you guys and see what you think (please be nice with me).

I mentioned before that I want to make the process of trans and nb MCs to feel as organic as possible since in-game there’s not much knowledge of what’s outside of the cisgender binary form (so the MC has to discover their gender identity taking baby steps; there’s not nearly as many information/knowledge as we have with Internet). Also, there are plenty of other sides I want to deal with.

In this world the medicine is rather undeveloped (to put it nicely) in comparison to other fields; I have mentioned that surgeries are simple and minimal (and rarely done), and people rely a lot in remedies and pills from natural plants (because they don’t have anything else). Also, there’s no magic in this world, so we won’t get help from there.

I have developed a form of hormone transition with the limited means I have in this setting and very basic, limited surgery. What does it mean?

Hormone therapy is relatively simple, with estrogen/testosterone blockers and enhancers. There are no bottom surgeries for anyone; sex reassignment surgery was successful towards mid to late 1900s, and as I said, here they are far behind any kind of surgical medical procedure, so it’s not an option :confused:

Oophorectomy was done in the early 1800s and mid 1800s, and mastectomy as early as 548 AD, so I’ll add them. I believe they are very different in nature, since these two are surgical removal procedures, whereas sex reassignment surgery requieres reconstruction, something the doctors of this world didn’t even think about.

Now, on the other hand, the whole process is not only about the medical side of transition, but I also want to deal with family and Society, too. Mind you, I’m not going to make trans/nb characters only about that, but the relationships you make and how they react are important too. I don’t really consider this one a spoiler, but Datura, the MC’s father, will always support his child. But as someone raised from a very binary and cisgender society, there are things he just doesn’t understand. He will help and support you, and maybe he makes mistakes, because he’s just human; the MC will also have to support and help him, because in order to reach full understanding, every side has to make an effort. Does that mean that the MC will have to conform/bow down? NO. But communication is key; Datura, nor anyone else, can’t read minds, so your MC has to help them in order for them (Datura and the others) understand them (the MC).

I think I’m going to step on some toes with this one, but this is something I want to tackle if the player decides to go through it (of course, if your character is trans/nb and they don’t want to go through hormone therapy or surgery, they don’t have to!), because this story is about a character growing up, the relationships they make and their decisions. I feel like I can’t write about their growth and leave something as important as this in the dark.

What do you think? :slight_smile:

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I think you should trust your instincts - if you feel you are able to handle it as a writer, I think you should at least attempt it.

The worst thing that will happen is you decide against it later and remove this aspect from the story. The best thing that could happen is you write the type of story you want to and do it well.

I’m pretty sure it will be the latter scenario - so go for it.

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I like it. But as I told you before PREPARE TO BE TOXIC ATTACKED BY EVERYONE. like I was.

You have the advantage of knowing about the theme. And don’t forget is your story hear the feedback but at the end is your story.

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Love this :heart_eyes:

I found a bug

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