Just to make you aware, Dashingdon hosting will be closing soon so I would recommend moving this to cogdemos or uploading a compiled html file:
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Hey guys!
Phew it’s been a long time since I updated you on Press Play. I do apologize, I had a lot of stuff going on. For one, work and academia are constant stressors in my life, but there’s been some really wonderful stuff, too (mostly in the form of one exceedingly wonderful person, but that’s personal, excuse the pun XD). As for Press Play, the next chapter is still in the works. I’ve been more active on tumblr, but in total, it’s at 40k words now. This is a huge chapter, so it’ll still take a while until it’s finished, but I’m very happy with how it’s going. I’m quite sure you’ll enjoy the options on offer, when it’s time.
In other news, I’ve heard about Dashingdon. Truly the end of an era. I loathe change, but it is what it is. I’ve ported Press Play to cogdemos:
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Party with Lincoln and the rest of the band, this is going to be good.
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Yeah, you would think, right?
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“You would think” uh oh 
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Why, good Sir or Madam, I’ve no idea why you would be concerned. 
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Come on! First real chance to really make some moves on Linc, my mc is going to take it! 
I bet Link has a really cool, sexy costume.
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Yeah Lincoln would never disappoint costume-wise. And a lot can happen at the party, even with Lin, but only with a certain set of circumstances. I haven’t finished the party section entirely because it’s lengthy and branchy as all get out, and I need to conserve mental energy by chipping away at lighter parts of the chapter occasionally. But even in the current version, there’s some stuff going on with Lin you’d probably approve of hehe
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The first comment makes me worried, but the last one makes me happy, and now I don’t know what to expect
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That is the intended state I want my readers in 70% of the time
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Just read this again after awhile and it’s even better than I remember!!!
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Chapter 3 now sits at ~53.700 words!! I’ve made great progress these last two days, mainly by cutting back on non-essentials like sleep.
Word goal is still ~80k-90k for this chapter, so there’s still quite a ways to go, and I have to take a little break soon since I need to focus on work and important real life academic achievements. But I’m enjoying the progress and I’m very proud of where this chapter is headed <3 thanks for being here
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I can’t wait, this is one of my faves 
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I have to say, this IF hit close to home in a lot of ways (not in the stay in a psychiatric hospital bit thankfully). I’m in the spectrum so I relate a lot to the main character although I’m honestly surprised that for such an autism coded character the interview simply talks about social phobia. I have to admit, I was almost expecting to get autism mentioned in the hospital or something.
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Actually, during the hospital you can choose for the MC to be autistic, during the first conversation with the doctor, it’s just that it’s not overt, so when the MC has autism, it remains undiagnosed
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I believe I got that part myself (pretty easy since as I said before you’ve coded in super accurate autistic options) though I kinda wish it was more explicitly said, but I’m saying all of this as a good thing because my MC in this IF is one of the most relatable characters I’ve ever played as
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Given the time period though, it would not have been explicitly said. Autism was still a “hidden” condition until fairly recently, just like many much less stigmatised ones like dyslexia and dyscalculia (which are my problems.) I grew up with a severely austistic child down the street, it wasn’t until fairly recently (in terms of acceptability) that we knew more than just “Geoff’s brother has got to wear a helmet.”
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@Imytholian First off, thanks. As I am autistic myself, and was only diagnosed in my adult life, I wanted the autistic MC to be undiagnosed for the longest time because knowing you’re autistic is, in my opinion, kind of a priviledge, and I personally didn’t have that priviledge as a kid. For the better part of my life, I was wondering and wondering and wondering. I’m yapping about this because all of the MC’s mental struggles that can be experienced in Press Play are something that I, too, have made experiences with to some extent. I write the MC in a way that allows me to talk about the things I understand best, and this ties into that. So for now, even though the MC can definitely be autistic, it’s not explicit. Whether that changes later on, well. You’ll find out.
@AnneWest I agree! That’s another big part of it. The MC is entered into the psych ward nearly twenty years ago, and back then, diagnostic criteria as well as societal views of it were much more narrow. I also grew up having heard the term being used as an insult signifying stupidity/ineptitude. And I’m technically younger than MC! So people gaining more of an understanding and respect for the condition is definitely a recent development. Hell, most parts of the population still haven’t. Given all that, I think it’s fairly likely that MC’s autism would not have been diagnosed/discovered in the psych ward, especially since their “chosen” predominant condition — depression or social anxiety — must have absolutely dwarfed it by comparison of the symptoms. In clinics that are aimed towards emergency treatment, these deeper running, less obvious issues often fall very short, understandably.
Thank you for reading this very long-winded explanation 
and for reading Press Play
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Public service announcement: I’ve started coding Chapter 3. Will take a bit but it’s coming
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I just wanted to say that this wip made me remember I had an account here that I hadn’t logged into for a while! I’m glad that this was one of the wips I decided to try out now that I’m back to my interactive games addiction.
It’s fantastic and I adore the plot, I’m a tad worried about Leland though, I hope nothing bad happens to him. I’m incredibly excited for what’s next!
This is delicious! Take care!!
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