wouldn’t be surprised of the possibility of dyren possibly being the secret ro?? he’s the only other one we/our mc sees get smacked by callums magic directly while he’s being juiced by the talisman (which i’m preeetty sure we don’t even know what area his magic was based in anyways?? correct me if i’m wrong lol) so we don’t know the effects it could’ve had on him! or if they were similar in anyway to the mc’s
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I think this is the part I have the most trouble reconciling in my head. Romanticizing abuse or toxic behavior is something I have difficulty understanding, even in fiction.
I hope that doesn’t sound judgmental; I’m not trying to shame people or anything. It’s just a headspace that I can’t easily get into, as a writer or as a reader.
Dyren is definitely the secret RO. You can trust me on that.
If you mean the school of magic, Callum’s specialty is Animation (soul magic) and Valerie has put forth highly plausible conjecture that Animation magic is, in fact, what was used to separate the MC’s spirit from their body.
That’s an interesting theory.
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I went ahead and did the poll, but in looking at the options (I had not looked yet), I am really disheartened to see that I have only two options… At least one of them, Kira, probably would be my choice either way, but that is still really somewhat frustrating. Mind, I’m not expecting or asking you to change anything, just expressing opinion.
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To be honest, if there weren’t people who enjoy the idea of dating the ‘evil characters’ then some of the ROs over on Will’s wip wouldn’t be as popular as they are. I don’t find it all that surprising that people would want to try pursuing that as a legitimate thing they want, and you know achievement hunters will go after it if there’s a trophy tied to doing so. Truthfully, I’m a little torn on dating achievements tied specific characters… Especially in stories where they aren’t simply ‘player-sexual’ because that tends to make chasing them at all (even your preferred main) rather shallow, imo. You could say that ‘player-sexual’ characters in general are shallow, but romance achievements gained dating specific characters kinda puts me off. Dunno about anyone else’s thoughts on this matter. Also, unless “Litch Callum” is a thing, I highly doubt he’s actually around still. 
Anyway, to each their own. You can easily learn who I voted for. 
And here we have it: proof you’re actually a hyper-intelligent talking jellyfish.
…I’ll leave now.
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@CorvusWitchcraft – I want to commend you on running a very organized and directed “beta”. I would bet dollars to donuts you have had some sort of development or publishing experience.
Since the conversation and discussion is evolving faster than I can participate in it without disruption, I will save my feedback and thoughts until a bit later in your process and I plan on PMing them to you.
I just wanted to let you know that you have many experienced lurkers in your corner and we are enjoying your game demo so far.
Keep up the good work.
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I understand the frustration—I am definitely aware that gender- and sexuality-locked romances are not the most popular, and for understandable reasons. Nobody likes to have their choices restricted, particularly when it comes to such matters. However, I feel that defining a character’s gender and orientation is an important process to me for reasons that are difficult to articulate—and the unfortunate side effect of this is that some players will not always get what they want, romance-wise. This is the bottom line.
However, if you’ll indulge my long-winded ramblings on the matter, I’d like to give some insight on why this is the case, if I can.
Summary
I believe that this issue is ultimately an extension of my somewhat unusual design philosophy, which places priority on deeply defining the world and characters before I think too hard about what the player experience will be like. My games are always stories, before they are games. The result is that some MCs will fit into the world in different ways than others, and yes, one of the ways this manifests is that some ROs will be unavailable to certain MCs.
Many CS games, in my estimation, are intrinsically built with the player in mind; freedom and accessibility are the priorities, ensuring that anybody can play any kind of character they want and not miss out on any content, except that which is defined by their in-game choices and player-defined personality. ROs are often “player-sexual”, sometimes gender-flippable, and the plot often directly facilitates the MC’s growing relationship with the cast. It’s very clear that these games are fundamentally made for the player. And there is absolutely something to be said for this! I respect people that are able to think in this space.
It is not, however, the kind of author I believe I am capable of being, nor—truth be told—the kind I particularly want to. I like Interactive Fiction for its ability to involve the audience in the development of the plot, but I do not believe that player input is the end-all-be-all, nor that the world need always revolve around the MC in this way. It’s often nice when it does, but I think it can sometimes be interesting when it does not.
As an author, I believe that I operate at my best when I allow my world to exist independently from the player, until the moment of contact. To me, my characters have all lived fully-formed, complete lives, with their own unique experiences, before ever meeting the MC—and those who survive the events of the game will go on to live the rest of their lives too, once the whole thing is over. I don’t think my characters would be nearly as compelling as I (and hopefully others!) find them were this not the case.
For me, a big part of this process is going deep into a character’s psyche, figuring out their preferences, their opinions, their fears, their desires, everything that makes them who they are. And among those things are gender and sexuality. Truthfully, I couldn’t give you an objective, concrete reason for why I make the particular decisions I do any more than any real person could explain their own gender or sexuality. It’s just the way things shake out as part of this broader process.
Kira, for instance, was written from her conception as a lesbian—and not for any significant story reason. She didn’t have some life-altering coming-out story or a homophobic family that factors into her backstory, or any of the other narrative justifications you might see in this sort of situation. There are some characters for whom this is the case, but not this one. I could make her (and probably every other RO) pansexual, easily, without changing anything about the plot or her involvement in it, and I imagine I would attract a wider audience if I did. (Making them all gender-flippable would be harder, but probably possible.)
But the way the character exists, lives, and breathes in my mind…allowing her to fall in love with anyone but a woman would just feel fundamentally wrong to me. Allowing her to be anything but a woman would feel fundamentally wrong to me. And, truth be told, I get protective over my own characters when it comes to stuff like this—I don’t want to have to change who they are in my head, even if it means potentially alienating some of my fanbase. Because at the end of the day, this story isn’t just for my players, it’s for me too, and I don’t want to lose that. Is that good, bad? I don’t know.
It’s just the way it is for me.
I don’t know if that helps at all, and I understand if people walk away from this explanation still feeling frustrated or dissatisfied, but it’s how I feel about the matter and I do not see it changing anytime soon. I am genuinely sorry for those who are put out by this! For what it’s worth, I tried very hard to cover as wide a range as I could within my limited framework, and this is a philosophy I do try to stick by, if I can.
I am actually not sure why you spoiler-tagged this, but I guess I’ll obscure my response as well? (It ended up super long anyway so I probably would’ve done that either way.)
My thoughts
I am…also torn on this. On the one hand, I do think—for those who like achievements in general, at least—that there’s a real sense of validation when the game acknowledges the culmination of your journey with a given character. And I think that in most cases, character-specific romance achievements are intended to personalize this feeling of validation—you didn’t romance any of those other characters, you romanced this one, the one that’s right for you. That’s pretty cool.
But, yes, I definitely see what you’re saying about achievement hunting and the implications thereof. When you make character-specific achievements, there is also—intentionally or not—an implicit expectation, a challenge even, to go collect them all, as you might with a skill-based game that challenges you to perform special feats. It’s very ironic—for a certain (significant!) portion of the audience, character-specific achievements will often have the opposite effect of that which you’re trying to achieve.
And then there’s a matter of secret ROs! Do you reward the player for finding a hidden, out-of-the-way path? Or is it still bad form to dress a romance (fictional or not) as an “achievement”? It feels so right, and yet also so wrong, and unfortunately, there’s no really good way around it.
On the other hand—is it even the developer’s responsibility to think about that sort of thing? Or is it a player’s responsibility to choose their own level of engagement, and whether or not they are willing to pursue other characters just for the sake of doing so? I don’t know the answer, and I suspect I’ll be waffling on this right up to the point that romances actually become a thing in this game.
And of course, there’s the most important matter to consider: I have some really good wordplay saved up for my potential romance achievements! Am I willing to sacrifice that??
…I’ve maybe given this a little too much thought.
You are apparently the only one who feels this way! Everyone else seems to have simply assumed you’ll be meeting Callum again…
…
That’s an interesting theory.
Thank you for the kind words and support, but…I’m afraid you would lose that bet! It may not be apparent, but this is the first writing project I’ve ever shared publicly, and probably the most real exposure I’ve gotten on…well, anything of import, honestly. If it seems organized, I suppose it’s because I have a lot of experience with disorganized projects that never go anywhere (my own, as well as others’), and I’m trying very hard to avoid the pitfalls that I’ve seen and experienced in the past!
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I really like this WIP but I don’t understand why everyone loves Callum so much, I’m scared and confused .
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Some people are drawn to villainous characters. Loki, Kylo Ren, it happens. Not usually my thing unless I really like the character and they haven’t done anything REALLY messed up. My guy just wants to know WHY Callum did what he did, and I’m really interested in what’s up with that gem.
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Villainous characters aren’t really my thing unless but usually I like to know the reasons why, like for one why did Callum betray you, which I hope is answered as the story goes on and if it develops into a future conflicts but Idk I doubt Callum will come back and if he does it’ll be as a spirit or some spectral being.
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Well, that’s because it’s an absolutely terrible idea! Thanks pop culture! I think it’s a mostly subconscious thing I developed from passive cultural inputs growing up.
I read a really great comment somewhere on tumblr recently, that was talking about how so often things that we find arousing are things that scare the shit out of us IRL, which is interesting and I think applicable here.
And you don’t sound judgemental to me, so no worries. 
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Hey, are people interested in a Discord server? I have been told that this is something that some people sometimes do. If I do this, I anticipate using it as an outlet to talk about things that are less relevant to the development of Spellbound (e.g. our favorite colors), or things that are relevant to Spellbound but aren’t necessarily constructive in nature (e.g. Valerie’s favorite color). Ideally, the topics that are both relevant and constructive would be saved for the forums themselves, as per usual.
If that’s something you have an opinion on, go ahead and vote here:
- Yes, I am a crazy person who enjoys listening to your inane ramblings
- No, you already talk too much and I don’t want to encourage you
- Maybe later, once you’ve proven that you’re not some grifter trying to steal our identities or something
0 voters
Edit: I’ll keep the poll open for a bit just in case there’s a major wave of dissent coming, but so far it looks like the majority are interested. Since participation on Discord is not mandatory for following the WIP (not yet, at least…), I presume the “maybe later” camp will find it acceptable if a Discord exists, and they don’t have to be part of it until they decide they want to, if ever.
So, unless a surprise surge of nays crops up, expect to see a link pop up within a day or two.
In other news, progress on Chapter I-3 has been adequate but not impressive. The good news is that I haven’t burned out yet, which is impressive for me. I do not know when the next update will be, but hopefully sometime in the foreseeable future. If I make a Discord server, I’ll be updating the people on there more often, probably!
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I don’t see the appeal about Callum either 
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Enemies to lovers was always my favourite trope; the dynamic from opposite sides slowly from hating, being conflicted from each other slowly learning more for the other and the feelings get more complicated. It has the most delicious slow burn and the feeling of fulfillment once they get together is so satisfactory.
People want explore dynamics and situations that in rl is not possible to happen. That’s why we use fiction to explore our inner desires and sexuality.
And no, just because two people fight to opposite sides doesn’t make it “abusive”.
Unfortunately we have rare examples of good canon enemies to lover couples.
On the other hand, japanese culture is full of this trope and done well and I’m thankful for that.
I don’t understand why people are weirded out over the villain. As far as I know, people are thirsting over Harley Quinn and no one questions it. Or is it because Callum is a male “villain”?
In the end, I prefer complex, intriguing ROs with secrets than Mr Nice guys. They have so much more to give to me as a player/reader.
So anyways, I really hope OP will not abandon Callum’s character, and develop him further. 
EDIT: I apologise about any mistakes; english is not my native language
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I also like enemies to lovers as a trope, but in this story so far, Callum has lied to you and misled you for a long time, killed a bunch of people, and then killed you! That’s pretty abusive.
There’s definitely a gendered component in that abuse by female characters (and women IRL sadly) is minimized and ignored, but I don’t think that’s applicable here. If Callum’s role was played by Charlotte, it’d still be pretty unhealthy to be into her.
But, like you say, that’s what fiction is for! I like lots of things in fiction that would make me stabby in real life.
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What complicates Callum is that it’s not just an enemies-to-lovers storyline. He was your friend/lover/brother/ally first. Then he betrayed your trust. “Abused” it, one might say.
And if he did it once, how can you be sure he won’t do it again?
You’re not wrong to like Callum, of course, that not what I’m trying to say here at all. But I think it’s important to remember that the relationship with him isn’t as simple as learning to love each other, because you’ve been there already, and it didn’t work out. In fact, it ended in catastrophe and eventually death, for both parties. Needless to say, it’s a difficult topic, with a lot of baggage.
To be clear about something that I think might have gotten muddled in the midst of Callum Chat, I do really like Callum as a character—I wouldn’t have kept writing him otherwise!—and I’m genuinely glad people have strong feelings about him, on both sides of the issue. But I also feel that as a writer, I have a responsibility to present the character in as objective a light as I can, and @furyleika is right to point out that so far, Callum has not done very much to truly earn the amount of love he has gotten.
Maybe he will, someday. One can hope.
Until then, I hope people are able to find other things to enjoy in this story, because it’s gonna be a bit before you get any kind of real answer regarding Callum, one way or the other.
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Thank you for your reply! I completely agree obviously if ever something happens in future is not going to be easy and sweet, but complicates; that’s I why it makes this dynamic interesting-the potential.
The story is very interesting by itself and I’m very intrigued to see where it’ll go!
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Has nothing to do with gender, people are thirsting over Kylo Ren and him ending in a relationship Rey in Star Wars. Dude is a mass murderer (like in the thousands at this point maybe more since he destroyed the Hosnian system), kills Han, mind rapes and tortures bother Poe and Rey. Literally the first scene we’re introduced to him he’s murdering a bunch of people in some village. But a bunch of people want him to end up together with Rey because their fingers touched and he’s semi attractive, so yeah has nothing to do with the gender.
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- I’m fervently wishing we can play as a ghost who is very nice and hell bent in helping Valerie with her living situation (and life in general, I guess?) and more than ready to finally rest in peace.
- but also be able to have a body as another mc?
“I hope you realize that this isn’t personal. If I’d had any other choice, I’d have stuck by you 'til the end. I really wish things could’ve been different, you know? But here we are. No turning back.”
Why didn’t he? Was he coerced to betray mc? Did the pendant corrupt him? Was he fully in control and right mind?
I see regret? in his words and fondness in his eyes. I’m not excusing his behavior but not everything is black and white and I want to hear what happened with him to reach this end.
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I don’t know why I’m being attacked about Kylo Ren, I didn’t even mention him in my post. But it looks like you definitely have no idea about his character and no valid facts about him anyway with the way you’re throwing over specific words and characterizations that are incorrect. This is not a Star Wars discussion thread anyway.
I would kindly request you please to not use this wording if you don’t know the actual meaning; it’s hurtful and offensive
Never tagged you or mentioned you, I was addressing someone else about villains and how the gender never mattered if they like them or not.
Except everything I just said is what happens.
He did that, can find a video of it
Did that, again can literally find a video of it
Also did that
Forcibly enters someones mind without their consent, psychological assault if it makes you feel better.
Exactly it’s not, which is why I’m confused your replying to me, I neither mentioned or tagged you. My comment was to someone else about how the gender of the villain doesn’t matter if people will like them or not, no matter how much messed up stuff they’ve done. I just used Kylo as an example because he’s the only popular male villain I could think of cause they brang up Harley Quinn.
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