“The In-Between”: Romantic Drama set in Italy [SFW VERSION] | UPD. OCTOBER 25th

In short

The In-Between is a dramatic and romantic interactive novel set in the heart of Naples, Italy.


Plot

You’re an introverted college student, studying modern languages at a famous university based in Naples. You live a seemingly ordinary life with your parent and younger sibling… and no one knows the truth about your past side business—a dark, illegal one.
You thought you had finally escaped that world, but when your younger sibling falls seriously ill, your only hope is your wealthy ex-lover: an attractive as well as toxic person, a mobster, charming and dangerous in equal parts.

Throughout the story you’ll encounter college friends, family dilemmas, jealousy, and heated confrontations. More than the lectures, you’ll focus between the gap hours in between. You’ll experience the thrill of concerts and the passion of steamy scenes; and you’ll live in Naples with its foods, its streets, its ways of living… and its ways of loving.

Please note: this story is intended to have strong content. Within the game you can choose whether or not to read such scenes and descriptions.
Nonetheless, this version of the story is completely censored (you cannot opt-in the full reading).
To read the “full” version you have to check the thread in the Adult Content section of the forum.

Mechanics

  • Male, female, gay, bi, or straight: flirt with students. Flirt with mobsters. Flirt with good people, flirt with bad people, flirt with people who flirt with other people. Or don’t—don’t flirt with anyone and just focus on the most important thing: your family!
  • Choose a different nationality for your character, and a specific level of Italian for you, to best enjoy the story.
  • A novel more than a game: have fun pushing the characters in one direction or another, without ever stressing yourself or getting too much out of the story.
  • S̶t̶e̶a̶m̶y̶ s̶c̶e̶n̶e̶s̶ a̶r̶e̶ i̶n̶d̶e̶e̶d̶ s̶t̶e̶a̶m̶y̶ (̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ t̶h̶e̶ o̶p̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ o̶f̶ s̶k̶i̶p̶p̶i̶n̶g̶ t̶h̶e̶ m̶o̶r̶e̶ e̶x̶p̶l̶i̶c̶i̶t̶ d̶e̶s̶c̶r̶i̶p̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶, h̶o̶w̶e̶v̶e̶r̶.)̶
  • Don’t forget all the rest of the characters: the closed eye icon will provide the point of view and the experiences of the people around you!
  • An embarrassing amount of references to the mid-2010 Italian indie pop scene, college hipsters, the youth scene in Naples, and all the things that will make you feel like a Neapolitan freshman (ten years too late.)

Notes

  • The original novel currently consists of 18 chapters (about 40,000 words) and is about one-third of the complete story.
  • This interactive story currently consists of 10 chapters (about 28,000 words, excluding code).
  • Until I catch up with the novel, the updates will be quite stable and fast as I only need the time to translate and convert the text.
  • Still, this is my side project—the bulk of my writing time is taken up by After Dark. Don’t worry: I won’t neglect either of them.
  • Did you know that my patrons get every update 2 weeks earlier, in addition to other benefits? Your support would be greatly appreciated!

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Try the demo here: The In-Between (toned-down/SFW version)

(You can also discuss it in this Discord server or follow my Tumblr blog.)

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[DashingDon tags: PC can be male, PC can be female, romance, romanceable gay NPC, romanceable bisexual NPC, romanceable heterosexual NPC, crime, real life, serious, young adult]

42 Likes

Glad to see something so different pop up here, good luck with your efforts!

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Thank you! :hibiscus:

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This is pretty interesting read! Though the smPlugin hasn’t been included (If you don’t know how to add it in, you can click on it on “Edit details” in dashingdon ^-^)

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Thanks Kathy! Yeah, I know how to include it (usually, at least?)—it’s present in my other works, but this time I don’t know why, it just doesn’t recognize the command. I type *create savings true, *if (savings), sm_init [name] | [num], and… nothing happens. It just prints me the command! :sneezing_face:

Right now I’m really too busy IRL to work on it, so for this update, I just removed it from the code. As soon as I have a free moment I’ll try to fix it, though!

1 Like

So far I like the story’s concept. A mysterious MC that everyone else seems to think is just a normal person is always a fun idea. Sadly I didn’t get very far into the demo since one of the buttons was an error and the save files were also errors. Either way, I’m looking forward to finding out more about our character and the rest of the cast! :slight_smile:

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Oh no—do you remember what the button said or what it was about?

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Ok, so I found it and took a picture for you. I hope it helps. :slight_smile:

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Thank you! I’ll fix it asap :slight_smile:

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Ok, got the issue—now it should work as intended :slight_smile:

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Finally, I fixed the bug with the saving system. You now have four save slots. Enjoy :slight_smile:

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(Tagging here those who had pointed this out or specifically requested it in this thread: @Silly_Cat_69 @FroggyTime_567 )

6 Likes

I just read the current demo and I already love it!! I’m looking forward for the future updates and and the finished/completed game :cat::cat:

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Thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying it :smile:

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This story is sooo good! I’m sold.
What illegal deeds the MC doing though :eyes:
I’m so excited for the rest of the story to unfold!
Thank you for the IF, author.
Also enjoyed A Long Weekend very much!

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:face_holding_back_tears: Thank you so much for the kind words, I’m really glad you appreciate it!

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The game has been updated!

You can now read and play Chapter 5.

Have fun! :grin:

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:bell: JUST UPDATED :bell:

You can now read Chapter 6!

Have fun :grin:

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:mega: The In-Between has been updated with two new chapters! Enjoy :grin:

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:bell: JUST UPDATED :bell:

Chapter 9 is online!

Enjoy :heart:

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Now online: Chapter 10

Along with the new chapter (+3.2k words), there are a couple of new things:

  • I’ve added a character list accessible from the Stats menu. Characters will appear as they become relevant, so if someone hasn’t shown up yet, just wait until they’re mentioned!
  • There are also a couple of new variables that, if the game doesn’t read them correctly, could cause some issues down the line. To be safe, it’s best to start a fresh playthrough.

Feel free to comment the game here, on the Discord server, or on Tumblr!

Enjoy :smiling_face:

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