Oh, I really enjoyed this. The writing is pretty great especially with the magic explanations. And I think the idea of trying not to memorize magic patterns is very intriguing. I’m excited to see how the being from another dimension gets stuck in the mc’s head and if it has something to do with the alien we saw in Dr.Cohen’s room?
Typos/Comments
Chapter 1
When meeting Manish for the first time during the first year social, if you pick “I was recruited” then the logical choice, the reply is
Manish . “Thanks”
With the space between Manish and the point I’m thinking a word is missing?
After breaking in Dr. Cohen’s room, if you go with Manish and confess your feelings when you’re about to kiss,
“You bring your head to hers. Manish isn’t sure at first what to do with his lips”
But in this play through he was male.
Also, once you’ve established your qualifications in ch.1 do you not have anymore chances to change them?
Chapter 3
In ch. 1, once the accident happens, you think about how your emails and calls to Manish went unanswered. But when you meet Manish downtown and choose the “you vanished, Manish. Without a word” option, you agree that you didn’t try calling him.
Regarding the research in one of my playthrough my budget was 15k I think so I went all in on Gabriel’s idea. But in another my budget was 10k so I chose half-half.
But yeah, this was really interesting. The “You keep my boyfriend’s name out of your mouth.” when you’re arguing with Darcy and he brings up Manish was amazing.
God, I love this WIP so much. One of my favourites in a long while.
It drove me to stress-induced stomach cramps twice though lol. I mean that in a good way though, like, that happened because I got super invested in it. Can’t wait to find out more eventually, maybe.
Darcy, you gonna catch these hands-
I really enjoyed this! Strangely, I don’t hate Darcy, because I understood the motivations but… like… really? Whatever the case, I’m looking forward to the update! Is it possible to get a save function, though? It’s a fair bit to go through if you want to have more or less the same playthrough up into the update. Fantastic work so far, I like your writing style!
If you don’t know how to use the DD save function, you just type in *sm_init nameofgame | number of slots at the end of all the creation commands in the startup.
For example, you could use
*create DEBUG_jump_scene 2
*create DEBUG_jump_label "ellison_interrupts_you"
*comment savestatsetup skill_labwork skill_library_research skill_rhetoric skill_reasoning skill_political_insight trait_outgoing trait_pathos trait_self trait_driven sec_research sec_teaching sec_service sec_gabriel_progress sec_darcy_standing sec_town_gown_relationship sec_lodgers_control rel_darcy rel_kayla rel_manish rel_taylor rel_hayley rel_lodger
*sm_init patternmagic | 5
*comment --INTRO--
*if (choice_randomtest) or (DEBUG_force_genders)
*comment Force everyone to be enby so I catch where I didn't use pronoun variables
*gosub_scene startup set_nonbinary "darcy"
if that makes sense (with whatever name or numbers you might want).
I love how you portrayed Darcy, he’s character is kinda wholesome, he gets on the MC and the readers nerves at the same time, Manish is the opposite of Darcy, quite reserve and all … Its still needs alot of work when it comes to the … Uh stats thing but the story is great already~ imma wait for this wip
I aten’t dead! I’ve got chapter 4 now posted, and turned on game saves. Chapter 4 brings us a spooky theater! A chance to learn how beer is made! Commiseration about teaching! Arguments about where to hold a symposium! And most importantly, a lesson on the dangers of pattern magic. Because the real danger of magic is the friends we killed along the way.
I want to recommend having “last updated X/X/XX” in the title of the thread, didn’t even know this was past chapter 2 and just so happen to check if this story was progressing
canonically/in-game?
Good work
I can’t wait to read more, this is one of the best WIP’s here 
