Congratulations and incidentally happy holidays. Hope all goes well with the thesis!
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Classic moment.
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Oh good one, I’ve seen that before and I love it sm. Lip syncing was like super common that time around too
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Happy New Year to everyone following this game!
I hope you all have a good start into 2026. I can proudly say that after a solid month of not only stress but also writer’s block, I’ve spent part of this day working on Press Play. I’m currently at a very emotionally taxing point in the story, i.e. Love Dagger’s party where the band performs. It’s pretty heavy and not the easiest to write for me, but it’s like a knot unraveling in a sense. I just hope I’m handling it well. Anyhow, that particular segment is almost over now, and I’ll sure be glad when I’ve finished it.
I have some goals for this story for 2026. Namely, I want to double the word count for Press Play. I don’t know yet to how many chapters that will bump up the story, and to what percentage it will be completed by then. That would be too difficult to decide, so I think word count is a good and achievable goalpost.
Unfortunately, I still don’t know what to do about the Patreon. To be honest, I’ve really enjoyed my time without it. It was rather taxing to write all of the side stories, and it might have contributed to my writer’s block. I don’t think I can reopen it again just yet. If I decide against it entirely, I’ll simply set everything to public and hope that those who supported me aren’t too disappointed. Either way, I was extremely grateful for the extra money. I just think my writing would suffer if I kept that up.
Furthermore, I have been thinking of sharing one of my side projects with you guys. I write more than you probably expect. I have like four to five different things I’m working on, some of that is even linear fiction. Of course, the majority of my time has been spent on Press Play, as shown by the word count haha. However, there is a secondary IF project that is now sitting at a stunning 55k words.
It’s something I write on when I need relief from the heavy, realistic and more grounded themes of Press Play. It’s fantastical and whimsical, and mostly just escapism for me. However, I’ve started coding it cause I want to make it playable for an IF writer friend of mine whom I blabbed about it to and who is now very excited for it. So a part of me is thinking, if I’m showing her, maybe it’s worth showing a few more people? However, I’m afraid of “ruining” it for me by making it public. Like, it would become work instead of escapism. Especially since I am very sure it wouldn’t be nearly as popular as Press Play and then people who don’t get that I need this will go “why aren’t you working on Press Play more? Why are you wasting time on this crap?” So yeah.
All this to say, I’m up to a lot of stuff. I hope I can finish the rest of chapter 4 soon and get it to you maybe in two months or so, if all goes well. I don’t wanna give lofty promises, hence this vague prediction.
Keep well and let’s all hope for a good 2026!
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Wow, I can’t wait to see what happens there. And my MC is a fan so he’ll be excited about LD.
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I dont know about others, but for me personally I can say that while side stories are nice I prefer it when the author doesnt have to worry about all that, and can put all their inspiration into the main part. Because like you said, writer block can happen from it, or potential burn out.
As for your other work that you mentioned, having read Press Play quite a few times I can say confidently that I’m sure you’re current fans will like it; especially with how well you write. So, I wouldn’t worry about that, but it seems like its a way that helps you relax, so keeping it private like ya said isn’t a bad choice either.
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You make a really good point about the Patreon, and I’m really thankful for the support. It’s something I’ve really been struggling with, but I guess it’s just, you know, me trying sth, it not working out and that’s okay, too.
Ahh you’re very sweet to say that my other game would be well-liked, but it’s just that it’s gender locked female and pertains to a very specific irl legendary figure, so it’s not for everyone. Even knowing that, I might end up comparing the games and… yeah. It’d demotivate me, which is sad cuz it’s really been that outlet for me. It’s whimsical and fantastical and allowed for a lot of escapism whereas Press Play is my catharsis. Not that my super secret personal IF is all sunshine and rainbows. There’s a pretty traumatic medical thing just at the start. But I need to torture characters in my whimsical stories too, otherwise it doesn’t feel personal to me lol
Anyway, yeah you’re right. I’ll keep it to myself (and my super excitable friend haha). But maybe someday when it’s done, I’ll just push it out and it’ll appear on the page out of nowhere like I just randomly laid an egg
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RIP Gävlebocken, falling over is a worse fate than burning.
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It was tired, it needed to take a nap.
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It was one of those roof-destroying winter storms and that thing is practically a giant sail.
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No no I disagree, I say it was tired.
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I mean, those can exist simultaneously.
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Haha yeah. I’m just playing anyway. But I love Gävlebocken 
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I’ve started coding, but not all of the update is done. Currently it’s at a little over 30k words, when it’s done I suppose it might be around 40k-45k. I believe we’re on schedule for y’all to receive this in late February. It’s probably the update I’m so far least excited for
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No worries take what time ya need and even if its your least look forward to one i know for myself at least im looking forward to seeing what comes next for our characters. 
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That’s very sweet of you. I’m mainly worried for two reasons a) it deals with a lot of revelations about Zima’s backstory, and I know they have some haters who might not enjoy learning about them and b) as I mentioned before, there’s some very heavy and gross stuff mentioned in this. It’s probably not as hard to read as I think it is, because it never is, I’m just biased because I’m the writer and the topics always stir me more than the readers (that’s my theory at least). It was like that when I wrote MC’s hospital time and the conversation with Remy where they talk about the way they cut themself. But it ended up not being poorly received like I feared. So I just hope I talk about things in an adequate way
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even if i hate zimas behavier and dislike zima, i would not hate it to learn more about zima maybe it will change my feeling about them and if not its ok atleast i learned more about zima and give me all the dark stuff i love such stuff (maybe i need a doctor after saying that haha)
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True but then again we go in knowing heavy subjects exist and will be encountered in the story your writing for us. Yeah I know what you mean when it comes to your being the one writing them its kinda like that for running a DnD game for me exspecially if its a dark or evil campaign its about the headspace you half to put yourself in before ever the players experiance it.
So while not exactly the same I understand it and your concerns considering it and its the fact that your self aware of how things can go awry that I have faith in your ability to do the subjects justice.
Afterall you’ve done a phenomenal job thus far and I have no doubt in your ability and hey if I think something is off I will say so as im sure others will as well. Part of the reason it exist as a wip so we the player base can give our input and hopefully help you in your journey to a completed story.
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Haters? That’s strange. I mean, they may not be the most likeable character. I’m not the biggest fan of them either, but I can’t say there’s anything about them or that they’ve done anything that deserves hate 
They’re actually seem an interesting and complex character, so I like to learn more about their story.
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I like Zima, personally. I also know they’re not in that place yet–with where we’re at in the flashback of the narrative–for any attempts at a more healthy, and positive relationship to form easily. There may even be more vitriol from their end of things because they don’t have the headspace to be anywhere close to calm about what’s upcoming. That’s fair, in my opinion.
My MC is prepared either way for professional neutrality, or tentatively happy growth, if it’s still possible. He wants to work with Paul seriously for as long as that’s on the table, but will understand if that’s not in the cards for them.
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