For Patreon subscribers at £6+, I’ve put up Chapters 1 and 2 this evening!
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The Earth Has Teeth Progress Report: March #1
This fortnight I sort-of finished drafting Chapter 3, and outlined and coded Chapter 4. Playing through is now roughly as long as playing the whole of Noblesse Oblige.
About that sort-of-finished drafting Chapter 3: I had to cut 7000 words of writing today which I don’t feel brilliant about. I’ll move a lot of it to a couple of chapters later… but still, it’s easy to get stuck on numbers going up and seeing that as the most valuable metric of progress, and I need to write something to replace it. I’ve made a start on that and it’s already feeling more natural, so I think my instincts are right for this.
Hopefully I’ll be feeling more cheerful about how things are progressing next time I do one of these. Looking at the numbers themselves, I have done a lot - it’s just hard to focus on that when a lot has needed to be removed, and I’d always prefer to be driving forward.
(Which it still is, I know, just in a different way.)
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I do have a favour to ask - if you’ve enjoyed any of my games, and especially if you’ve played them on Steam, please leave a rating or review!
Honor Bound didn’t pick up as many Steam reviews during its early release as some of my other games, and people posted a few transphobic ones that obviously take up space; now that it’s hard to see Android reviews from other regions, Steam reviews are a major way in which players decide whether to pick up a ChoiceScript release.
So if you have a minute and would like to show Honor Bound in particular some more affection on Steam or on whatever platform you bought it on - it’ll be a huge help, and the more sales I make, the more likely it is that I can keep making these games.
Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a lovely weekend!
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Here’s a rundown of one of the befriendable/romanceable/backstabbable major characters, Nikita Leu!
Full name: Nikita Leu
Age: 25
Gender: selectable between cis man (he/him), cis woman (she/her), and transfem (they/them)
Background: Nikita is a courier like you, fetching and carrying items, messages, and sometimes people from settlement to settlement. They’re a survivalist, having a great deal of experience handling life on the plains even in emergencies, and are fiercely independent. Nikita doesn’t talk much about themself or their past: hard to tell whether that’s because they have a withdrawn personality (which they do) or because there’s something they don’t want to say.
Personality: watchful, quiet, terse, toughened
Appearance: mid-height and rangy, but holds themself tensely so they often look a little hunched. They have olive skin and wide green eyes.
Style: Male Nikita shaves his head and has a scruffy beard; a non-male Nikita wears their hair longer, with a ponytail. Nikita’s clothes are practical and durable. They wear thick linen shirts, woolen trousers, sturdy boots, and a charcoal-coloured woolen coat with fleece lining. In colder weather they wear a cloak, but mostly they use it as a blanket.
At their best: generous, prepared, attentive
At their worst: brusque, withdrawn, despairing
You’ll like Nikita if you like… a withdrawn, melancholy person who’s nevertheless very competent in a pinch, who will give their all to those in need while being intensely ruthless in certain situations, who takes a while to warm up but will be an attack dog if necessary
You’ll like romancing Nikita if you like… teasing someone and flustering them or slowly building a serious connection, opening up vulnerabilities, trauma-bonding, hot-and-cold emotional rollercoasters
A song from Nikita’s playlist: Break Me Gently by Doves
Face cast ideas: (bear in mind that this isn’t the be-all-and-end-all - feel free to imagine as you like) Luke Pasqualino, Benedetta Porcaroli, Paola Buratto
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Damn, now I’m torn between Armell and Nitika for who I’m going to romance. Guess I’ll have to wait until I encounter them both in game to decide. Either way I look forward to unravelling Nitika’s past - this type of character always has more going on than meets the eye, right?
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Hee, it’s true that there’s a bunch of stuff going on with Nikita! I’m really glad you like the sound of them and Armell 
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It’s clear just from these intros that you have a very strong grasp of character - I was always intrigued by your previous works for that reason but was put off since they’re not in a genre I enjoy. So I’m thrilled to see a story of yours that I actually want to sink my teeth into!
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@Haflaen I greatly appreciate that, and hope that you have fun with this one once it’s up! (just under 2 weeks now!)
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Here’s a rundown of one of the befriendable/romanceable/major characters, Commander Roschin!
Full name: Serhii/Sara/Saba Roschin
Age: 39
Gender: selectable between cis man (he/him), cis woman (she/her), and transmasc (they/them)
Background: Roschin has lived in Rizhala all their life, apprenticing to the town guard in the footsteps of their now-older parents. Working their way up the ranks, they gained the attention of Warden Chura and impressed them enough to become one of the commanders of the guard. Nowadays they travel a lot, helping with local problems and recruiting people to join them in Rizhala.
Personality: outgoing, loyal, jovial, resilient
Appearance: mid-height, striking, and muscular, with smile-lines around their eyes and mouth. Loose and limber. Deep brown skin, curly black hair, and brown eyes.
Style: Male and female Roschin wear their hair long; transmasc Roschin wears it shorter and cropped. Transmasc and male Roschin have heavy beards. Their clothing is practical and attractive, with good quality linen shirts dyed with strong bright colours, a padded leather jerkin studded with metal reinforcement, and reinforced waxed-canvas trousers. Their cloak is lined with fur, and its clasp is embossed with the Rizhala town guard insignia.
At their best: warm, inspiring, courageous
At their worst: needling, careless, stubborn
You’ll like Roschin if you like… someone who’ll look out for you, who doesn’t take themself seriously while taking their job and missions very seriously, who’s settled in their role in life (for the moment), who’s a good leader
You’ll like romancing Roschin if you like… someone flirtatious, who will have your back and provide protection, who will boss you around if you’re into it, who may become staunchly loyal to you, with whom you can move fast if you want, who will always make it clear how they feel about you
A song from Roschin’s playlist: Make Me Feel by Janelle Monae (fun fact, there are two songs that literally lay out what Roschin’s about, but they’re so exact that I think they’d constitute spoilers… so here’s a sexy one instead!)
Face cast ideas: (bear in mind that this isn’t the be-all-and-end-all - feel free to imagine as you like) Uli Latufeku, Simone Kessell, Alex Tarrant
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Sometimes you’re in the middle of a low-energy week and coming back to writing feels like pulling teeth… and then at the end of the workday you realise you’re halfway through your chapter and it’s maybe not been as much of a disaster day as it felt at the time. I’m more than halfway done on this section! And I’ll be posting more about the fortnight’s progress tomorrow.
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The Earth Has Teeth Progress Report: March #2
This has not been a very forward-moving fortnight thanks to a number of things which culminated in a seized-up shoulder today - so I will be brief as I can’t be at the computer too long. Sadly yesterday’s excellent progress didn’t carry forward to today.
I sorted out the revisions for Chapter 1, 2, and 3 that I mentioned from last fortnight, and I’m now halfway through writing Chapter 4.
I was keen to share how good Wanderstop and the Pathologic 3 demo are and how much I’ve fallen in love with both of them, but alas, my shoulder’s not allowing it at the moment. I hope you have a good weekend - and that if you’re dealing with illness or pain that it eases!
I’m going to try to rest up over the next couple of days and hopefully will be back in action on Monday.
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I find this particular turn of phrase very funny given the title of the game.
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Teeth! Teeth everywhere!
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The earth has teeth … and you’re the dentist.
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That’ll be the tagline for the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie!
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Here’s a rundown of one of the befriendable/romanceable/backstabbable major characters, Val Chernenko!
I think ingame they’ll be known with their full name - Valeria/Valerio but I’ll refer to them with the nickname for ease outside of the game. I’ll see how it feels once I’m writing them!
Full name: Valerio/Valeria Chernenko
Age: 26
Gender: selectable between trans man (he/him), trans woman (she/her), and nonbinary transfem (they/them)
Background: Val lived in Rizhala with their elderly grandmother who was a cunning witch. Under her tutelage they learned magic but little discretion; after their grandmother died in their early twenties, they became increasingly reckless, selling illegal remedies and charms within the town’s bounds. After one too many run-ins with Rizhala law, they thought it prudent to leave, and now live a transient life.
Personality: cynical, artful, shrewd, adventurous
Appearance: short and slender, with pale skin, straight black hair, and bright brown eyes.
Style: Val wears their hair long, usually partially tied back. Male Val has a moustache and beard. Val usually wears thick linen trousers, brightly-coloured shirts, and a deep orange-coloured leather coat, some of it embossed with decorative floral patterns. This coat is clearly expensive and well-kept, containing lots of pockets, and is reversible. Their cloak clasp is decorated with glass gems and they have a number of hairpieces, rings, and necklaces.
At their best: bright, self-reliant, smooth
At their worst: bitter, reckless, self-indulgent
You’ll like Val if you like… someone fun-loving, who will see through those who try to mess you around, who might learn to trust in time, who enjoys the finer things in life, who can persuade others to your side
You’ll like romancing Val if you like… someone who’ll flatter you, who will be a partner in crime (or who could perhaps be persuaded to a less criminal way of life), who will give you space when you need it, who will be canny about what you need
A song from Val’s playlist: Big Exit by PJ Harvey
Face cast ideas: (bear in mind that this isn’t the be-all-and-end-all - feel free to imagine as you like) Ayanga, Gana Bayarsaikhan, Wang Likun