Return to Zemia (WIP - updated 25 March)

I am glad you are still live

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Merry Christmas Eve! I’ve updated the demo. There isn’t much new content, but it has been edited, and I wanted to post something before Christmas.

Changes made

Hope you like the new scene with Samir, those of you who get it! I’ve also decided to share his mood board, so I hope you like it :christmas_tree::tada::snowman_with_snow:

Samir

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Hmmm…
Debriefing with Samir is definitely much nicer than the old one with Kaya, at least he doesn’t give us family sob stories and seems to take us somewhat seriously. But then I’m biased cause it’s Sammy. Also a nice reward for not trying to defect to the rebels I guess, though with the new and improved Hasan and Lia being actually helpful my mc’s desire to go with guys sticking a gun in his face has lessened considerably.

Now onto the fashion/clothing scene. I know you need to call the outfits something, but how does the mc know what’s fashionable on Zemia? The most logical answer for somebody who has been sociable with the crew would be from watching Yusra’s collection of movies and TV shows. So unless Kaya is going to give us a detailed briefing on Zemian fashion first, maybe you could reference those materials from aboard the spaceship? It would add just a tad more verisimilitude to the scene.

Also when Kaya unexpectedly gives in if you choose another outfit now, there is at least one other answer the male mc could give, since Sammy kindly told us about our brothers and that is for her to bring us whatever those guys used to wear around the palace. I know this would be a tiny difference between the male and female playthroughs (though female mc’s might try to request the outfit from one of the character’s on Yusra’s TV shows, I suppose) but then at present female mc’s get two more romances.
In general this is a tiny area where you did not solidly connect chapter 2 with the edited chapter 1, since the mc can now at least watch a lot of Zemian TV in chapter 1. Assuming those shows were fairly contemporary it should be enough to give them a basic impression of what Semian/Seyvian fashion is, roughly, like.

One last thing that might be nice would be slightly expanding the breakfast scene in order for mc’s who want to do so, like mine, to try and use Kaya as a guinea pig to see how useful their burgeoning Seyvian language vocabulary has gotten. Obviously this choice would be limited to those who got the abducting crew to give them language lessons, but it would be a nice touch, as well as seeing Kaya’s reaction to the fact that we can speak at least some Seyvian of course.

The only bug I encountered is this one:

Before either of you can say anything else, you hear a knock at the door. Kaya goes to answer it.

Kaya shuts the door behind your visitor, “you’re already making friends!” she says to you, smiling.

As you can see the scene where Hasan or Lia would check up on the mc does not play and Kaya just opens and closes the door for the mc’s invisible friend at the moment.
When it comes to Hasan and Lia checking up on the mc, particularly one who did not try to defect at the ambush having them make a good natured quip about the mc’s (lack of) new outfit would be a nice touch, plus it would give us the opinion of someone besides Kaya who seems inclined to say we’d look nice in (or out of) practically anything.

Overall the edits were an improvement and seem to be proceeding nicely.

Sammy has pretty eyes! If a little bloodshot. He should ease up on either the coffee, the stress and late nights, or both!

This Xavier Serrano pic is how I imagine Sammy:

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Sweraring

This not nude
This birthday suit

:fox_face:

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Would have been a more appropriate mc quote had we been dumped on an even more primitive planet then Earth. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: Otherwise the mc is not really at the “me Tarzan level” either, fortunately. :sweat:
“Lack of” obviously refers to the mc still choosing to wear the jumpsuit of course. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
But maybe my mc might indeed try that other one with Sammy sometime, probably best done on his actual birthday too :sweat_smile: (assuming he can ever get over the fact that ordinarily a guy like Sammy would have been way out of his league and that therefore Sammy might not like him so much as his new and unwanted “title”, even if that title is in name only. :worried: ). In general he’s not gonna pass up a chance at nice, fancy clothes tho, because so far that is the most significant advantage this whole thing is offering him over being a remarkably fit elementary school teacher. The chance to wear nice things without young demons demolishing it.
I’m still thinking this might be my mc’s “default” outfit now:


Basically just a very nice semi-formal jacket and pants, combined with a t-shirt and comfortable, if fancy, loafers. Hope it falls in the Zemian “fashionable” category and if fitted properly then it should be comfy too.
Only things not pictured my mc would probably wear with it are his necklace/amulet, his customary earrings and maybe some nice leather gloves if he has to go outside in it.

If the author wants to follow up on that Tumblr tidbit, maybe in the dressing scene with Kaya we could establish if our mc’s have piercings/earrings?

Aww…but we were together for so long on the spaceship. Sad thing is they are the closest thing the mc might have to “normal” Seyvian friends. My mc would feel those two chose a rather odd moment to get coy around him again, when they were just bonding relatively well, all things considered. :confused:

I hope something like I posted, including the leather trousers, is normal enough for rich young Seyvian men then. :worried: :sweat_smile:

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Referencing the magazine/materials is a good suggestion, and I’ll consider adding it. As far as fashionable/traditional etc, it’s really supposed to be what seems fashionable/traditional to the MC. Kaya has brought clothes that are considered “normal” in Seyvia, so it’s up to the MC to compose an outfit that they think goes together. There won’t be any mention of the brothers’ fashion choice in this scene, however.

Something like this may pop up a bit later, but I want this scene to feel rather brisk since the council meeting is about to take place

Thanks for pointing that out, I’ll go back and figure out what went wrong

This is actually something that happened in the old demo with one of the characters, so I’ll probably be adding it back, but not for Hasan and Lia. Even if they have opinions on your outfit (and they probably do), they won’t voice them because they feel that it’s not their place

Nice interpretation! I wish I could reveal my face claim for comparison haha

It’d def be interesting to see the Emperor’s reaction…

I’ll keep it in mind, but I was actually thinking if I do add (still haven’t decided yet, since it likely won’t come up again), it might be more appropriate to address it during the photoshoot. Chapter 2 is still sliding around a bit, so we’ll have to wait and see

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think love the figure in black he or she has the Zero from code geass feeling

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Just played the demo again.

Although I’m a little saddened the different backgrounds, like soldier, are gone, I do like how our daily life on Earth was expanded and we can have an opinion on being a teacher.

One thing I thought of while on the ship – compared to when we talk to the other characters, choosing not to talk to anyone doesn’t have much to read or any choices to choose. Even if we get different or less information, perhaps we could have the MC walk around the ship and learn about some of the technology or culture on their own?

I think even with all the changes so far, I still like Arvin the best, especially since he seems the most straightforward about what’s going on and my MC isn’t in the mood to be all chummy with everyone just yet.

Looking forward to the rest of chapter two. :relaxed:

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Now that it’s past midnight I can reveal my Christmas surprise! I’ve decided to include the arranged marriage plot as requested. The new RO is called Vivien/Viviana/Vyvian. They are gender selectable and player-sexual. Merry Christmas :santa:t2::snowman_with_snow::christmas_tree::gift::tada:

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merry Christmas :grinning:

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A new RO is nice for the player, much less so for my poor mc. As for my mc the whole arranged marriage deal makes it clear his sperm-donor intends for him to never have any kind of freedom, power or even agency in his own life by turning him into the puppet and sex-toy of some alien toff. :unamused:
Now my mc wants to really know if his brothers were also forcibly engaged, or if that’s just for him. :angry:

When are they going to drop that bombshell on the mc in-game, the first council meeting or a later chapter?

Hopefully we can still marry Sammy instead. Though marriage for my mc is mostly hypothetical as there is no way he’d be remotely ready for it within a year of having to adapt to an actual alien culture.

That said, depending on his personality male Viv could give Sammy some competition particularly if he turns out to be a fairly nice guy who doesn’t just want to use the mc as a sex-toy so he can become emperor himself. Wonder if a belligerent sexual tension type of relationship with him is going to be possible?

Also always curious, since my mc is male how would an arranged marriage with an equally male Viv even work to the advantage of his sperm donor? Is Zemian bio-science advanced enough to have overcome the problem of creating offspring from the sperm/dna of two guys (cause we haven’t quite figured that one out yet). If it is I hope there are artificial wombs, because my mc is not going to have an uterus implanted to go through the figure ruining abomination of male preganancy. :worried:

Don’t get me wrong though, as a gay player/gamer I’m happy that Zemia/Seyvia is at least progressive or pro gay enough to be able to engage princes to other princes.

Advanced bioscience and an artificial womb. We’ll probably get there eventually too. The artificial wombs are already in development and we already theoretically know how to make babies from the genetic material of two women. With some more advances we’ll probably figure out how to do it for two guys too and the wealthier parts of Zemia are probably there already.

This makes the situation both better and worse. Better in the sense that our sperm donor isn’t just inflicting this on the mc due to their own failure to make sure the mc was properly prepared to rule and worse in the sense that there aren’t many people who’d like their brother’s sloppy seconds. Or being considered the inferior alternative. I guess we’ll see in-game how male Viv actually feels about being “engaged” to a male mc.

What makes being engaged to an alien prince as a guy more weird than being engaged to a princess? (except for the fact that for my gay male mc there’s a tiny chance it can all work out with a prince, whereas with a stuck up alien princess that chance is exactly zero). My mc might be able to make peace with the idea of marrying and having a husband, but he really, really doesn’t care for the idea of a wife.
You can still choose for them to be female, as they are gender-flipping and player-sexual. So long as they do not flip to the gender opposite to the player, I’m cool with it. Though for Ro balance I might have liked a male preferring ro, as female characters already get two more options if they’re bi and one more for straight and lesbian women.

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It would be kindafun if this ro was supposed to marry our dear brothers aswell. But this would not work if mc is female :thinking: i mean. How can they bre- have children if they are the same sex?
:thinking:
Just to leave no doubt we are just replacement.
In case it wasnt clear.

:fox_face:

Actually forget it
Just realized something that makes the idea feel quite weird. Dont know how to explain properly so… :face_with_monocle: scrwit

Also
Question
@sviyagin
The new ro
They are the heir of the other country?
This
spoiler?

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Merry Christmas to you too!

Neither!

Marriage is not a planned part of the game regardless of the chosen RO, but as I’ve said before there are many ways to get out of V’s plot.

Biology aside, the advantage the marriage presents to the Emperor is that he’s locking in an important alliance. The Emperor is not concerned about legacies or what you do with the throne after he dies. He is a very practical man. He wants what he wants now, and after he’s gone he doesn’t care.

V was never supposed to marry either brother. As for children, allow yourselves to imagine whatever you’d like (aside from magic). Artificial wombs are fine, surrogates are fine, adopting a child is fine, having no children is fine. I doubt the game will explore any of that.

They are indeed from another country! They are also a princex or corresponding rank.

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Probably too spoilery but is Viv a willing participant in this scheme (who hopes to be the de-facto emperor in the future) or is he getting forced by his parents/family/superiors too?
As for a smutty ask could you do one where a male Viv/Vyv catches a male mc using a picture of him as an aid to pleasure themselves? Vyv may be a jerk but I assume he’s a sexy jerk at least.

Doesn’t he want to remarry and make some more kids just so the mc doesn’t stay his legal successor?

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You’ll have to wait and see!

Request this again after V has entered the scene–I want to save any description of them until that fateful moment.

Why would he though? He doesn’t care what happens to the empire or all of Zemia after he’s gone. He’s not the kind of king who is trying to build something that survives the test of time, and he doesn’t really care about the people inside of his empire either. He wants to stay in power, and that’s where you come in. He figures your presence will stabilize his rule, and you’ll be willing to do what he wants (he assumes) because you’ll get a throne out of it when he dies. That’s what he would do in your situation, so it must be how you would react too.

Getting married again is a whole big political mess that he doesn’t want to get into. Arranging a marriage for his child is less risky, from his point of view, because the succession won’t take place for many years, so there isn’t the same urgency that might be felt if the emperor made it known he wanted to remarry.

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Makes me wonder, did he even care for our mother and brothers?
In any case makes me think he didn’t deserve the two sons he did have (no, my mc will never consider himself his “son”) and the fact they actually turned out to be nice and good people a minor miracle.

Whereas, from their description on your Tumblr I assume the mc’s late brothers actually did?

Well the fact that he doesn’t want to exile us again, after the current crisis has abated is somewhat of a relief I guess. Not that my mc would particularly want a throne he isn’t remotely educated or otherwise qualified to hold, though he’ll try his best to remedy that. What he doesn’t want to become is the Zemian equivalent of Vyv’s Emirati wife however where everything he is would be in name only. Guess it would be in my mc’s best interest if the current government continues for a couple more decades until he’s figured out how to actually do what he wants to, without over-reliance on “advisers”.

Yeah, no not really. My mc might end up cooperating with him de-facto or he might not. But he’d never do if for his “father”, if he wanted that he should have tried harder to keep our eldest brother alive, who seems to have had a seemingly unearned devotion towards him. My mc might do it for himself, for the people of Seyvia/Zemia, heck even for Sammy or his other new Zemian friends. But never for his sperm donor.

Okay, I’ll remember to save naughty male Vyv asks until after the chapter 4 beta. Now to think of another one for Sammy. :thinking:

Yeah, they would have been good brothers too, according to the Tumblr. Still given their position of immense privilege and who their father is I’d say it’s still a minor miracle they turned out that way and not like two would-be Joffrey Baratheons.
Though my mc will, at least initially, have a decidedly low opinion of them, like he does with his whole alien family on account of the whole exile and kidnapping thing.

From the Tumblr,
Oh you will anon! They have lots of thoughts. So many thoughts. And they’re going to tell you all of those thoughts.

Given that my mc is already predisposed to dislike the guy immensively (even if Viv is super hot) I’d be cautious if I were Viv. Just because my mc doesn’t have the education or resources of a “proper” prince doesn’t mean he’s at all inclined to be Viv’s meek little toy. :angry:

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A good question indeed.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Yefim and Yegor were good people and beloved in Seyvia

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Yeah, they would have been good brothers too, according to the Tumblr. Still given their position of immense privilege and who their father is I’d say it’s still a minor miracle they turned out that way and not like two would-be Joffrey Baratheons.
Though my mc will, at least initially, have a decidedly low opinion of them, like he does with his whole alien family on account of the whole exile and kidnapping thing.

From the Tumblr,
Oh you will anon! They have lots of thoughts. So many thoughts. And they’re going to tell you all of those thoughts.

Given that my mc is already predisposed to dislike the guy immensively (even if Viv is super hot) I’d be cautious if I were Viv. Just because my mc doesn’t have the education or resources of a “proper” prince doesn’t mean he’s at all inclined to be Viv’s meek little toy. :angry:

S - Samir is attracted to confidence. He likes a person who knows what they like and who they are.

Ooh, boy, on Earth my mc more or less used to be this. Now however…the alien revelation is kinda hard hitting so I guess my poor mc has to reevaluate who he thought he was and figure out who or what he wants to be or more realistically what he can be all over again.
As for confidence, having to depend on a chip he doesn’t exactly trust for anything beyond kindergarten level interactions at the moment is not exactly a great confidence booster, nor is lacking the education, resources understanding and skills of his supposed new role. Some or maybe even most of it can be overcome in time (though the education is always going to be touchy subject as the mc will probably never have the opportunity to pursue Zemian higher education and “honorary” doctorates don’t count. In fact they would go straight into the rubbish bin with my mc). In any case it’s not going to be a quick process and therefore any “confidence” my mc might display in the short run, such as bluffing the rebels on the train is all an act and far from genuine. :worried:

* V - V likes respect. It may seem really basic, but knowing that the MC respects their choices and opinions means a lot to them.

Interesting, more interesting than I thought actually. If Viv is prepared to respect the mc in return that could actually be a solid foundation for a relationship. If on the other hand they don’t respect the mc then I guess they really have nothing to talk about.
Apparently Viv also likes to talk to the mc, assuming that is reciprocal too we might just have two ingredients of a great relationship, lacking only trust to make the respect, communication and trust trifecta that are, imho, needed for great friendships (though of course it still doesn’t guarantee romance).

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I really love what you have so far it is awesome and intriguing I love the characters and I wish you well and I will definitely be watching this

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@Checkmate Thank you so much for the kind comment! The system won’t let me quote your post for some reason :confused:

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