(Gasp) is roots back on track?!(Begins to squeal like a little girl)
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Update: 12/16/2020
Hello everyone! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’d thought I’d open this update with a little gif I made for school. I hope you’ve all been well during the craziness that’s been 2020. And to anyone who is new to my WIP, welcome! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!
I’m extremely happy to say, that I’ve finally made some progress with the WIP. In particular, the bus route has been finished! 
That means both big branches are mostly complete! I’ve made some adjustments as always, to some previous sections. It seems whenever I open CSIDE after doing a playthrough I always want to rewords things.
The current word count sits around 38k words without commands.
As always, I look forward to any feedback you guys have to give me big or small. And one last thing before I go! Please vote down below which path you picked/enjoyed the most! Whatever has the most votes will be what I work on next pertaining to this WIP. Each path will have one more chapter.
Chapter 2 Branch Results
- Shrine Path
- Bus Path
- I enjoyed both equally
0 voters
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Omgggg I’m so excited for this, can’t believe you saved 2020 
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Yay you are back. I know I never posted here before but I loved your WIP very much. It’s was one of the first ones I read when I found this forum
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IT’S HERE!
Delving back into Roots and its mythological world is a better Christmas gift than I can express. Reading through the demo, getting once again acquainted with your lovely writing style - so soothing but not simple. Effortless but with grace. As I read this update, I was painfully reminded of how much I’ve missed this.
How much I’ve missed Roots.
As for the update, Misao and all his interactions were exceptional. I could not stop smiling at the bickering between him and my MC, some of the dialogue options are downright gold. Pele, once again, stole the show for me. I love her. I want more of her.
I also want more of her niece, Anela, who I know will be one of the main characters. I loved her introduction and can’t wait to know her better. The same can be said for Kai - who I’m already a little bit in love with.
All in all, a solid update. Bus route all the way for me! But whichever you decide to write first, I’ll be right here. Waiting on the frontlines
11 Likes
Bus path for me, even though both myself and my mc are basically in lust love at first sight with Fox boy. Doesn’t mean my mc just trusts a suspicious guy who turns out to be a Kitsune and looks like he could have been the most succesful male model ever.
Also we meet super fun shark girl sooner on the bus route, yes?
But that animation the mc isn’t canonically female, are they? 
2 Likes
Thank you all so much for your support 
It means the world to me. I’m always so nervous whenever I update so messages like this are always a gift.
Nah, I just picked a girl for the assignment because, honestly I’m quite bad at drawing guys 
And yes! You do meet Kai and Anela this update.
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Aww…did you scrap the poor teenager helping out their family option? Cause I loved that one, saving up for college is just so generically boring when my mc doesn’t even know if he wants to go to college. I mean it’s not like he was ever popular at high school and while he does want something better than his current job it doesn’t have to be college, especially if the teenager background along with the possible pressure from the parents is gone now.
You also removed some flavour, like the mc saying Misao is way out of their league in the internal monologue if they are uncertain/unsatisfied with their own appearance. You haven’t changed that option so that the mc is actually ugly now if we choose that, right? Because I always liked the idea of my mc getting a confidence and fashion makeover later on the story when he’s more confident and hopefully has more money. 
Well at least it doesn’t mean the mc is actually ugly now if they’re unsure about their appearance.
What’s the big difference between being a highschool senior (who can already be 18 if their birthday is unfavourable compared to the school year calender) or being 19 and a highschool graduate already?
Anyway even if that difference is significant to the story why did you also remove the mc helping out their struggling parents? (which is what I liked most about that background still being in highschool was secondary to mc helping out their struggling parents/relatives/family to me) That doesn’t have to change whether the mc is 17, 18 or 19 I would think.
Except that if we’re now at least 19 the parents may nag the mc a bit more about college/tertiary education and we don’t have to deal with highschool shenanigans anymore.
None of the other backgrounds simply resonated with me as much, either we’re a go-lucky kid with bad luck, someone running away from their abusive family/parents (which is a dime a dozen background in fiction) or some dumb stranded tourist. Again compared to those I actually liked the mc trying to help out their struggling family.
I’m gonna go with running away from abuse then, as it least it provides a plausible enough explanation for why the mc is in this rotten situation at the start, even if I do feel it takes away some unique flavour from this particular character, as I have at least half a dozen other mc’s who are abuse survivors too. As, like I said it is a fairly common background, right after making the mc an actual orphan.
Hmmm…what if you let the mc choose their reaction to Misao’s phyiscal appearance, via (fake) choice that way I could choose that my mc thinks they are way out of his league without forcing it on others, while enchancing the flavour of the mc?
As with the changes right now I feel like the mc is really quite bland and less interesting than they used to be.
3 Likes
Sorry! I decided against that particular option after age gaps were brought to my attention. And ultimately I agreed with that critique and got rid of that option.
I can see the appeal of still wanting to help your family though, so I might incorporate that option back in somehow. Thank you for your feedback!
I got rid of certain flavor texts, because upon rereading them I personally felt like it was out of place in that particular scene. The removal of the line won’t change anything about how your MC perceives themselves, your choice from earlier in the wip will still be used, just later.
I hope you understand!
12 Likes
Hi deers I just got done with the update and 
it was so good. However I have a question. Now I haven’t replayed the section where we go with misao (pretty sure I spelled that wrong) but I assume it remains largely unchanged. My question is why the split in the story? If you take out the split and combine both routs with the bus being the beginning and heading to the shrine following that up it would not only make more sense work wise but would also make the story flow better seeing as from what I remember the shrine route offers far less info and intrigue than the bus. But this is just some friendly advise. Take it or leave it at your leisure 
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I remember playing through this WIP a long time ago and enjoying it, so I’m glad to see you’re still working on it!
If you ever do decide to bring it back, I just want to say that in several cultures, it’s not that uncommon for children to financially support their parents and even live together well into adulthood. I don’t think it’s too implausible for an adult MC to still want to send money to help their parents, especially if they’re struggling. Maybe instead of still being in high school, they could be working more than one job or working overtime, idk. Either way the uncomfortable age gap component isn’t needed to justify it, imo.
Also, when choosing the MC’s sexuality, choosing the “asexual” option seems to imply that MC also doesn’t experience romantic attraction, since all romantic choices become unavailable if you choose it. But the term asexuality refers to lack of sexual attraction, ie not feeling any sort of physical desire for someone else. It doesn’t actually say anything about your romantic orientation; you can be asexual and still be romantically attracted to people and want to be with them, just without any sexual stuff. The term for someone who doesn’t experience romantic attraction is “aromantic”. Someone who experiences neither sexual nor romantic attraction would be “asexual aromantic”, or “aroace” for short, which would be a more appropriate term if that’s what you’re going for. Sorry if you were already aware of the distinction, it’s just that the narrative seemed to be using the two terms interchangeably.
I really enjoyed the new update though, and the mythology nerd inside me is really happy that you included the distinction between Pele being a kupua and not actually a god in the way we usually think of them, that’s something not a lot of people know or care about. Also I am looking forward to seeing what will happen to MCs who skipped the purification ritual in the next update 
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Yup, I had a bunch of friends have to drop out early from highschool to help their parents or go straight to work after school and get little sleep in order to help their parents.
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Hey, so if you’re a woman, the flirt lines for Anela only seem to show up unless you choose the option to be bisexual. They don’t show if you choose to be a lesbian.
I’m assuming that’s not intentional because it’s a bit of a weird distinction to make, but I’m not sure if that means Anela isn’t supposed to be interested in women and the flirt options aren’t meant to show up at all for women, or if she is and they’re just not showing up for lesbians.
Anywho, I’m glad to see this wip back alive and loved the update.
2 Likes
Both Paths are completely separate from each other! If you pick to go onto the bus, you will not go to the shrine and visa versa. I wanted to do this because I think it’s fun to see how such a simple choice can change the story so drastically. It also gives you all a reason to replay and pick something different!
About the asexual representation in the game, I’m actually demisexual myself so I’m aware of the differences between aro and ace. Adding a further option of who you are romantically atrracted to when picking ace is actually on my to-do list of things I would like to add to the WIP. The reason why some flirt options aren’t available for asexual MCs is because in my opinion all of them are more along the lines of “this person is hot” in a physical sense. I always intended for ace MCs to have an option some point a little further along in the game where they can come to the realization that they do infact find themselves romantically attracted to the ROs after building a relationship with them. Right now in the story, you’re still getting to know all the characters so I feel like there needs to be more time before that point. But I can see your point absolutely and will add that extra option for ace MCs sooner rather than later 
I’m also so happy to hear that you enjoyed the update! Hawaiian mythology is so interesting and I’m super happy to help introduce more people to it through my WIP. Also that branch where you skip the purification ritual 
I’m so happy you found it!
I was a little worried cause nobody has asked me questions about it!!! Definitely looking forward to exploring that branch more in the future.
That is definitely a bug! Anela should definitely be able to be flirted with if your MC is a lesbian. I knew it was too good to be true that I was bug-free when I uploaded 
Thank you so much for pointing it out to me! And thank you so much for reading! I’m glad that you enjoyed the update 
Just letting you guys know, that the bugs should be fixed and the extra option for asexual MC’s have been added!
Also friendly reminder to those who haven’t, please remember to vote for the path you’d like to see me work on next. I’m probably going to close the poll sometime tomorrow. Looks like, unless something drastically changes, I’ll be working on the shrine route next
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Really cool and interesting so far!
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Huh, that is interesting. Honestly, I had assumed that they would loop around to each other or something. Like, what I mean is, I thought that if we took the bus route it would eventually lead us to going to meet Inari, but at a much later time than if we chose to go to the shrine directly, and vice versa for if we choose to go to the shrine directly (eventually meeting Pele and her niece and nephew, I mean).
So, back in high school, I mostly focused on the ever popular Greek Mythology 
, and after high school I just haven’t had the self-motivation to continue researching on other Mythologies 
. Honestly, I have no idea what a kupua is, would you mind explaining to me what it is?
Well now I’m curious. I’m gonna check out that option… not right now. Because it’s 3:37am where I’m at now and I need to go to sleep for work
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Soooo cool!!!I’ve learned alot!!! Cant wait for it to be finished~
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I’m not the best at explaining, but from my knowledge the main difference between a kupua and a god in the traditional sense is that kupua are a lot more like humans. They’re basically people, but immortal and with a set of powers that correlate to their specific domain. So they’re actually kind of similar to the Greek gods in that sense. They’re not omnipotent or omniscient and usually have a very specific and limited set of powers. I’m not as familiar with the many of the more esoteric aspects of Hawaiian myth, so feel free to elaborate or correct me if I’m wrong about any of this, @peaches
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Your explanation was spot on! They aren’t gods per say but they definitely aren’t human either.
Also! If you haven’t already noticed, I have closed the Chapter 2 Branching Poll. Looks like Shrine route has won both here and on the poll I had running on my tumblr. So after making some edits to what I have for the bus route, that’ll probably be what I’ll be working on next for Roots!
I hope all of you had a good Holiday 
Here’s some awesome fanart I got recently done by @Crimsis and some art I commissioned from @lonedeewolf
Anela by Lone:
Kai and Misao by Lone:
Misao by Crimsis:
Also another Misao by @LemonInk
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Sorry, but would this not make more sense for someone who is demi-romantic, rather than strictly asexual or demi-sexual? Given the distinction between different kinds of attraction?
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