I’m sorry, I’ll switch on my old phone to get my log in details sorted out 
I miss you guys too xx
6 Likes
We’re waiting excitedly.
1 Like
huh griffith is right… i’ll start to hate her
1 Like
As much as I’d love to one day hear the vampiric alternative version of this tale, I’d argue that you don’t require the supernatural, for a good gothic thriller. You already have all the sinister characters, intrigue and scandalous webs. Though you could always stick in an ancient abode somewhere! According to Northanger Abbey’s MC, technically any pile of old stones counts as a gothic location, where’s a run down abbey or castle when you need one!? Can we visit Esther’s family’s moated castle some day? 
I re-read through everything inc. the new stuff, and need to state how enjoyable it is to read your writing once again. It’s got such natural spirit and wit to it. Some of my favourite quotes-
“Tell me, Mister ${surname}, are you attracted to dresses? Do you find having many dresses an important quality in a wife? Particularly if the dresses are ugly, ostentatious and expensive? Is that alluring? Because my father seems to think that is what a man wants. Dresses. Many many ugly dresses…”
The Earl has said little (naturally), but his cheekbones appeared regretful. A maid who passed near him claimed she suddenly remembered every mistake she had ever made.
“Her ankles were visible,” whispered one gentleman, before requiring smelling salts.
[b]Marquess Blevins Spotted Shirtless in a Lake. Again.[/b]
Marquess William Blevins, son of the formidable Duke of Norfolk, has once again scandalized Society - this time by participating in what sources described as a “competitive, shirtless dive-off” into the Serpentine. “He said it was ‘in the name of sport,’” claimed a breathless young lady, who has not blinked since.
You are wedged into the carriage like a rolled rug .
In yesterday’s edition, we reported that Lord Percival Barrowby was seen sleeping through the entirety of the Queen’s speech. We have since been informed that Lord Barrowby was, in fact, merely resting his eyes in deep patriotic reflection. We apologise for any implication to the contrary.
“This is my original composition,” you announce. “It’s called Ode to my Dead Canary.”
#“And you thought - what? I’d agree to a duel here at Brooks’s? What next? Shoot pistols over the pudding cart at Boodles ?”
Lord Chesterton: “The trouble with the modern woman is that she cannot simply faint like her ancestors. No, she must duel and then attend dinner. It is exhausting.”
“Frankly, it was all very anticlimactic. If I wanted to see two men exchange cold stares and limp handshakes, I’d attend Parliament.” - Lord Tattershaw, yawning behind his newspaper.
There’s too many to mention….
I also appreciated all little description details of the getting ready for the ball, and the debutante ball itself. All the powdery wigged historically accurate goodness! And despite the lack of nakedness, I thoroughly enjoyed the duelling scenes… I love that players get the choice to murder Levi, but I also really respect the choice that this ends the game. Not all games are Tin Star, you don’t want to spend most of your time while writing this story having to awkwardly wriggle constantly around the possibility of one of your main ROs being dead.
Only one possible suggestion / correction- this bit of code-
*if (goal = “fun”) and (gender = “female”)
You’re sure you saw her at the makeshift salon before the Queen’s ball.
*goto quinnintro*elseif (goal = “marriage”) and (gender = “female”)
You’re sure you saw her at the makeshift salon before the Queen’s ball.
*goto quinnintr o
Are these options supposed to result in the same sentences, or is one an accidental repetition?
5 Likes
Hi there! Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Good to see you again.
I might disappoint some people here, but I’ve no plans to dabble in the supernatural. That was a joke. There’s far too much going on in Season of Shadows already to throw in vampires or fairies or whatever in here (also shockingly, I don’t like vampires. Sorry to the vamp lovers.) If I do write something supernatural one day it’ll be it’s own story
The marriage and fun paths do go to the same bits for the moment, so it should be correct, but I’ll double check thank you. That should change around chapter four or so.
19 Likes
It’s a very compelling plot. 
More feedback! I’m sorry, stuff I missed first time round.
Prologue :
Mister Collin Bacon
I’m sorry, it’s spelt traditionally as Colin, esp. during this time period. The name Collin is a recent development.
chap1.txt :
*label tattle5
The Widow Returns: Lady McCawley and Her Spectral LoversLady Christiana McCawley has returned to the social sphere after the untimely death of her husband - who, sources say, left behind more debts than love letters. Once the diamond of scandal, Lady Christiana is now seen
I think this is suppose to be Alexandra?
chap2.txt
"Lady Honoria Faulkner’
You previously used the same surname Faulkner for the ex-fiancee Bellamy/Calpurnia , are they supposed to be related to Honoria? Maybe their relative would be more negative in her responses to the MC’s rumours?
The Wrexfords’ ancient, embittered Persian cat, Lady Mephista, narrows her eyes
Is this supposed to be the Haine’s Persian cat instead? Or did I misunderstand something?
Wrexford blue
Never heard of this colour. 
Is it supposed to be linked to a certain family?
…
Also here is another suggestion.
Because I kept calling my MC Beatrice and forgetting about the aunt, I coded you a name checker that filters out the names of your loved ones, ROs and bad guys. Feel free not to use it. If feel like using it, it can hopefully fit into the name choice section of your prologue. Feel free to edit or re-write it, as I wrote clunky token answers for each option. It’s been ages since I actually coded something myself so I really hope it doesn’t crash your game if you do chose to use it.
*label name_choice
And what is your name, my ${lord)?
*fake_choice
#Emma.
*set name "Emma"
*goto surname_choice
#Isobel
*set name "Isobel"
*goto surname_choice
#Sebastian
*set name "Sebastian"
*goto surname_choice
#Eli
*set name "Eli"
*goto surname_choice
#None of these.
What's your name?
*input_text name
*goto name_check
*label name_check
*if (name = "Cat")
Oh wait, that is your sister's nickname.
*goto name_choice
*elseif (name = "Catherine")
Wait, no, that is your sister's Christian name.
*goto name_choice
*elseif (name = "Harriet")
Sorry, that's the name of your little sister.
*goto name_choice
*elseif (name = "Virtue")
I am sorry, that is the name of your middle sister.
*goto name_choice
*elseif (name = "Hester")
But isn't that the name of your oldest sister?
*goto name_choice
*elseif (name = "Griffith")
Oh wait, that is the name as your best friend.
*goto name_choice
*elseif (name = "Ginevra")
I thought that was your best friend's name?
*goto name_choice
*elseif (name = "Beatrice")
No wait, that is your aunt's name.
*goto name_choice
*elseif (name = "Edmund")
Wait, that's the name of your uncle.
*goto name_choice
*elseif (name = "Poppy")
No wait, that's the name of your future lady's maid. It'd be so awkward if you had the same name as a servant!
*goto name_choice
*elseif (name = "Eleanor")
No wait, that's the name of your best friend's sister.
*goto name_choice
*elseif ((((((((name = "Esther") or (name = "William")) or (name = "Levi")) or (name = "Lancelot")) or (name = "Christian")) or (name = "Iris")) or (name = "Alexandra")) or (name = "Quinn"))
What a co-incidence! That name belongs to someone who could possibly, one day, be very dear to you.
*goto name_choice
*else
"${name}". Is that correct?
*fake_choice
#Yes.
*goto surname_choice
#No. Let me correct you...
*goto name_choice
*label surname_choice
Your father numbers himself amongst the vaunted aristocracy. What's your family noble surname?
*fake_choice
#Wrexford
*set surname "Wrexford"
*goto hair_choices
#Acton
*set surname "Acton"
*goto hair_choices
#Whitfield
*set surname "Whitfield"
*goto hair_choices
#None of these.
What's your family name?
*input_text surname
*goto surname_check
*label surname_check
*if (((surname = "Faulkner") or (surname = "Sharpe")) or (surname = "Redgrave"))
Oh dear, that family name belongs to someone who may mean to thwart you and your loved ones in the future, take care!
*goto surname_choice
*elseif (surname = "Haines")
No, that's noble surname of your best friend's family.
*goto surname_choice
*elseif ((surname = "Metcalfe") or (surname = "Lascelle"))
Wait, doesn't that name belong to your aunt and uncle's gentile family?
*goto surname_choice
*elseif (surname = "Haskett")
I am awfully sorry, that is already the surname of your future lady's maid. Same surname as a commoner, perish the thought!
*goto surname_choice
*elseif (surname = "Quince")
I am terribly sorry, that is already the surname of your future valet. Same surname as a commoner, perish the thought!
*goto surname_choice
*elseif (((((((surname = "Blevins") or (surname = "Daughtry")) or (surname = "North")) or (surname = "Linden")) or (surname = "Bancroft")) or (name = "McCawley")) or (surname = "Mansfield"))
What a co-incidence! That very surname belongs to someone who you might grow to care for in the very near future.
*goto name_choice
*else
"${surname}", is that correct?
*fake_choice
#Yes.
*goto hair_choices
#No. Actually, it is...
*goto surname_choice
*label hair_choices
3 Likes
Ah thank you! That’s so helpful. I appreciate it very much.
I do really love my fantasy and supernatural stuff, but I was only joking about it for this story. This story has enough wit and intrigue to keep things fun and interesting. So no biggie if there are no actual vampires. Werewolves are better, anyway and Earl von Kessler seems to have paranormal covered all on his own. 
5 Likes
Thanks for understanding. Sorry if my teasing seemed serious <3
I love fantasy, the idea of Season of Shadows started out as a noble ‘Season’ in a fantasy world. But then I watched Bridgerton and it occurred to me that there were no current Regency IF’s. (I know there’s Autumn Winds now too but at the time there was nothing.) So it became a Regency story.
If I write another book it will probably be a fantasy one
9 Likes
When we type in names, do you plan to include a catch if it is shared with our siblings? I named my MC Catherine and then had to restart when I saw that her younger sister was also named Catherine.
1 Like
Funny you say that, @judy just wrote code for me a few posts up to do that So I’ll add that soon, along with finally editing.
1 Like
More coding suggestions. Sorry, I’m off work due to surgery and so have time to kill. Ignore my perfectionism, especially as it might not work for your story as you only know what will.
For Prologue, the accomplishments choice is slightly unbalanced (very minor imbalance). For some hobbies, there are extra stat bonuses for Athletics, Intellect, Beauty, etc, but for others there are not. This means some players will be at a disadvantage just from what they select.
You could, for example, add -
*set elegance +10 for Music and Dancing
*set charm+10 for Painting and Embroidery
Something like that would rebalance things.
3 Likes
My top two love interests thus far are William and Christian. Athough Esther deserves all the happiness in the world. I hope we can befriend ROs that we aren’t romantically interested in–all of the girls are fantastic!
Although it would be hilarious to see Levi squirm if it turns out that his vengeful crusade against us was completely unfounded. Bullying him is also fun, especially since he started it.
That being said, I’m surprised my MC refusing a dance after being challenged to a duel (as a lady! at the Queen’s Ball!), is more scandalous than Levi challenging a lady to duel (and being brutally shut down) at the Queen’s Ball.
5 Likes
I just want to drop some praise here - I am a huge Regency romance novel fan (mainly Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer) and I love the light touch and humour of this story, along with the more serious moments and themes. The story has a feeling of Austen, Heyer, plus a dash of the Scarlet Pimpernel (Linden specifically made me think of this) and P. G. Wodehouse.
Thoroughly enjoyed my first playthrough and I’ll try to do another so I can share better feedback, but the bones of this are really fun.
6 Likes
Wow, thank you, that’s high praise. I’m so happy. Hope you enjoy your second replay!
@judy thank you. My stats are still a bit of a mess. One thing I know for sure right now is that things are heavily weighed in favour of athlete-MC’s. But charming MC’s will shine in this coming chapter. Basically I’m making the stats up as I go, which is probably very annoying, sorry lol. But I will reweigh all the stats once I have a firmer idea of where they are needed and what their limits are.
Sorry to hear about the surgery! Are you doing okay?
@Snowflower Levi definitely committed the more egregious social faux pas but the ambassador/ambassador’s daughter made a much bigger fuss about being offended. With Prussian relations on the line the silly dance refusal becomes a mountain out of a molehill Hope that makes sense.
4 Likes
To be fair to Tin Star, there are plenty of ways to end that particular game. Some of them are even at the hands of your ROs!
Although with the names, I think that sharing first names with people not in the immediate family is okay. It’s not as bad as the Tudor era, but there are plenty of repeated names. that and I like Elinor as a name for my MC, even though it’s similar to Eleanor Haines
It exists, and it makes us practically perfect in every way. It’s like the grandmother’s tonic in Autumn Winds. It’s cheat mode/story mode.
6 Likes
There was a choice where we could be perfect or I’m I just imagining things? If that is true, what does that mean? Like are we just physically perfect or does that also go with stats?
Okay, thank you for the clarification.
If you go back to the prologue, will you add pugs as a pet choice? In the regency era, they weren’t as flat-faced, and were therefore healthier. Still very cute though, and very popular back then.
2 Likes
Fiancee revenge path there is an option at the beginning that establishes a physical relationship between the MC and the ex fiancée. It would be fun if she had end up with child and the bastard who she left with has to care for a child who looks like the Earl’s rival (the Mc)
5 Likes