This is an important reminder I forgot to mention in my own post. That not only it’s impossible for a writer to cater to all readers but also that’s it’s not a failing on their part to choose not to. One basic but solid writing advice to go by can be summed up as: write what you wanna read. This isn’t a rule many go by only as far as traditional fiction is concerned but interactive one as well. Branching does not imply the writer will necesseraly offer choices in all the aspects a reader is interested in and that’s okay. Sera, for example, clearly loves romantic characters, hence why the MC is always a romantic, even if some other personality traits can be changed. Likewise, in a parallel universe in which I’m a writer, some readers might be dissatisfied with the lack of sarcastic options (very popular for hosted games MCs) but I don’t like sarcasm and no amount of demands would get me to write it. Especially those accompanied by unkind speculations about a person who we aren’t at all familiar with in any meaningful way, which is also why I’d like to take this opportunity to ask if it’s possible to open a thread solely dedicated to discussing the content of the books. That’s, after all, what I’m here for, rather than the dissection of the psychological profile of the woman called Mishka Jenkins (till she decides to write an interactive autobiography anyway. There clearly is a huge audience for that. Ah maybe I do like sarcasm after all 
)
Sorry, I might not have explained myself clearly. What I mean is, the electricity is either:
- a result of the entity escaping the prison, resulting in a mega big storm as the magical energies of the prison dissipate
OR
- the actual powers of the entity, who looked around after escaping the prison, said “fuck all of this and your goldfish too” and literally stormed out.
Note that the trees are vertically bisected, implying that they were struck by lightning from above, so I don’t think that the MC is the origin of any lightning whatsoever.
EDIT:
If you’re not doing so already, I recommend you check out The Bureau WIP:
Also, a thread I participate in is now in slow mode and it HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME. I feel very proud of myself. 
You can’t blame people for having hope. Plus, not everyone’s been here for years and years, some of us trusted glowing reviews and bought all 3 available books (some of us are idiots, yes, I know). And the worst part isn’t that the games aren’t good, it’s that they aren’t bad. They’re so close to being great and they would’ve been great if the author took to the reviews some years ago, but no. They’re just not good enough and that frustrates me to no end.
By the way, I personally also feel lied to in the sense that it was advertised as a detective romance, with the MC being, you know, a literal police detective and the main plot of B1 being a series of strange gruesome murders. And even the most deductive knowledge-based of detectives just freaking stumbles upon the killer. And the Unit Bravo knew the perp from day one. Are you kidding me?! And it’s all downhill from here. Thank god the MC isn’t a “detective” anymore, four books too late if you ask me.
The world feels bare bones and arbitrary. A lot of flavours of supernatural that act like a cosmetic 90% of the time. It feels surreal, as if every part of worldbuilding only exists as long as it’s relevant and the moment I close my eyes it disappears. That’s what peeves me personally.
As for why everyone are so up in arms about ludonarrative dissonance between building a character and reading how this character acts and thinks independent of their own stats, I think the mistake was to let us choose at all. The author seemingly aims for an established character with limited personalization and choices, like, say, Geralt of Rivia or Marshall and Whiskey-four from ITFO and, well, Whiskey-four. Which is, you know, fair, despite the fact that said established character is, apparently, a schoolgirl at prom. By giving as options to react in vastly different ways at the start Mishka created a “blank slate” character common in RPGs that the player is supposed to see themselves in. And that’s the problem. The author doesn’t want and doesn’t care for our MCs, she writes about hers.
You’ve spoken about us wanting dnd levels of experience from IF. Well, this is what I think sitting with the DM that doesn’t care for anyones fun or anything else but telling their own story looks like. And in these cases these DMs are too told to go write a freaking book.
Hi folks –
This is a friendly reminder to keep the focus of this thread on the actual Wayhaven game series and not to discuss Patreon, Kofi or other outside platforms.
This thread still falls under the purview of the author and is run according to her wishes, so please keep that in mind when making a post in this thread.
Thank you.
I’ve said my piece on what I think about the general vibes in here so I’ll move on from that - and I will say that this thread popping up the past few days did remind me of the series right in time for the public demo release so I played it. And I was morbidly excited to see a death right away. Reminded me a lot of 2018 COG/HG era and B1’s opening. I feel like we have a good season of IF coming up soon. 
I literally didn’t even check that…that’s what I get for doing 4 speed runs I guess 
Edit: idk what happened in the thread whilst I was gone but hope it’s all cool now lol
I actually thought that was a cool plot twist. At first, I was annoyed at having to start the game with a flashback, but I saw why when we met Ostin. So that was pretty cool. Especially with the MC not knowing who he was.
I do want amnesia for the MC. 
Wow, there was a plot twist! I just went “yay, the second person we murdered”.
You just want the opportunity to turn to the ROs and go “I don’t know you. You are you again?”
My guess has always been that the option to go official with M will first pop up in B4.
That would be great! Just imagine the possibilities.
Like running away with the villain ro, leaving A in the dust.
Ooh, it could be cute. Amnesiac MC falling for their LI all over again. Cheesy, but could be cute. Also reinforces the whole soulmate talk that I apparently didn’t catch from previous books (in my eyes MC just decided to hung themselves on a hunky bloodsucking tree for no good reason other than “hot”, but ok)
A rant, just for me
But god do I hate the soulmates trope with a burning passion! It’s never an addition to an existing dynamic, it is the whole dynamic. Can’t write a believable romance for shit? Throw a soulmate tag on there! These two characters don’t have anything in common and realistically would never go for each other? Make them lovey-dovey and/or raving obsessed fools with one simple word - soulmates! It’s not OOC if they’re ment to be! It’s the absolute lack of autonomy in choosing partners for me. And don’t get me started on all this soul-identifying marks and smells and words and colours and any other bullshit…
Ao3 forever ruined the “soulmates” word for me.
This is my guess too. They’re already kind of in an unofficial relationship already, and the mc can have had the love moment in the last book so I’m pretty sure that moment is coming for M in this one and it’ll just be the talk. Pretty excited about that route as M is one of my faves
You know me too well, dammit.
I just think it would be fun to torment M and A, for a change. Payback’s a bitch.
Well, she did say years ago that it’d be end of b4 or sometime in b5, so it’s possible. Honestly, I loved b3!M from chapter 14 until the end. I mean, really loved it. I do think the intro scene in b4 was lacking (don’t tell me that M and MC were happy to see each other after being away from each other–show me), but I did love what we had.
Truth be told I’m just extremely bitter over being told that, had the MC told M they loved them in b3!14, M would’ve known and that is why it wasn’t allowed. That is just telling me flat out that it’s being dragged out for another book, at the minimum, for no other reason than to torture M-mancers further and drag shit out longer. And that’s just… crappy, to be blunt.
About the only way to salvage that for me–and to make waiting worth it–would be if M is the one to initiate the talk, to say they love the MC, and to want the kinda-relationship to be official. I don’t mean a marriage proposal or a stupid promise ring–having M tell the MC, “I don’t want anyone but you, and I wouldn’t be with anyone but you” is enough. But M has to say it, not this horseshit garbage with the MC “figuring it out” and deciding M loves them and they’re actually in a relationship while M says nothing. M needs to actually say it on their own.
And that’s not going to happen.
That’d be glorious. But it won’t be an option.
I actually love it, if it’s done well. Yes, it’s cheesy. Yes, in a way it’s a cheap shortcut, but that little tiny part of me that’s a romantic loves it. There’s something about that “connection you can’t deny” thing that gets me. It’s not about fate, or destiny, as far as I’m concerned. It’s about that feeling that you’re… home… when you’re with that other person. That little “click” that happens when you know you found your fit. That certainty that “this is where I belong”. Those are the things I love about the soulmate trope. And it can be done in different ways (trying to resist but not being able to do so, going with the flow, love at first sight, even refusing the connection and walking away, etc.), which gives it a different feel.
Unfortunately, it’s not done well thus far in TWC. With two of the LIs, it’s been almost completely one-sided, with the MC feeling overwhelmed by their feelings and the other two either ignoring it or thinking they have indigestion. That’s not soulmates, even if someone wants to slap that label on it. There has to be an equal draw from both (or all) parties. There has to be similar (in intensity) irresistible attraction. It can’t be one side having seizures at the very thought of their soulmate while the “soulmate” just shrugs it off and keeps going.
I don’t know. I’ve just never seen the soulmate trope as some kind of curse or a trap. It’s more like a gift the (imaginary) universe is giving you, where you can choose to take it or not. You may find happiness elsewhere, but it will never be what you could’ve had with your soulmate.
I’m going to go barf now. That was too sappy for me to say. 
NotSoEvilChani hahaha 
Same. As far as I’m concerned they’re already in a relationship in every way that counts, that’s why I’m content to let things move at their own pace. I don’t expect any major changes to their dynamic once they get official but still, I’m sure the talk will make for a romantic moment so I’m looking forward to that.
I feel the exact same - though honestly, I play and enjoy all of the routes so that probably adds to that patience. But some of my favorite B3 romance tidbits were super small off screen flavor text moments haha. And a majority of those favorites were M’s. It’s really the little stuff that gets me with that route.
Example; the tiny scene after the three-way kidnapping incident if MC is being debriefed because they failed the skill check - there’s a moment where the dryad boy is being snarky to the MC and romanced!M tells him to watch his tone. It’s one of those small things that I still remember vividly from B3 even a year later.
Can you give a good example of “soul mate” trope done right? I’ve only ever played wayhaven and soul stone wars which have a soul mate trope. Soul stone wars seems more inline with what you said.
Is it just me or is the ava cleavage a bit jarring inside the meeting in the demo? Off putting
Thank you. Just…thank you. I hate the argument of “we decide everything our character does”. No you don’t.