[WiP] Not Your Mother's Shire (c11: The Once and Future Kink)

Wow this is hard to break down, especially given the rarity of me having a sober viewpoint to offer! Overall it seems to be pretty good evolution of character, learning more and becoming less of a dumbass. I do however, get a sense that you might be a little more hesitant with dumb jokes in the later chapters, and I’d guess that it’s because you might take it a bit more seriously due to how popular it has become.

I think my favorite moment I’ve experienced so far is being catapulted across the bamboo forest with the power of YOLO.

In the end I hope to see a lot more writing in this genre from you in the future, NYMS gives me serious “Early works of the greats” vibes!
And while I absolutely agree video has the benefit of physical comedy I think you’ve done a great job of capturing the essence of it into text, in ways that physical comedy itself would probably end up falling short tbh. You do a fantastic job of dispelling my disbelief from the get go, and I immediately get drawn into a sense of “what the absolute possible frick could happen next?!” (Also if Netflix bought the rights from you, I would 100% get my own subscription just to watch)

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Wow, this might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thanks. I think I’ve always wanted to write in an active “learn this” kind of way. Like, I’ve gone to expensive and “prestigious” programs, but I’ve always been too coward to give it an honest go. It hurt BAD when CoG rejected my idea, especially after making it so far one month into the process. Probably, because NYMS is weird and malformed. I almost didn’t do it at all. So, thanks. Actually.

I’ll try to keep the possible “hesitancy” in mind going forward about being silly. So glad you liked the Yolo catapult. @Petrichor

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Speaking of the powers of YOLO, did you get any inspiration there from the Infinite Improbability Drive from Hitchhikers?

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Nope! Not consciously, anyway. But Dougie does hold a special place in my heart. I’ve been playing the re-release of Mass Effect, the Legendary Edition, and it has me wanting to make a space game, though. I’m enjoying the fantasy setting, for now. Guess I’ll see if I need a change of pace at the end. Probably, I’ll do a poll. I wonder if some of my content doesn’t bend toward sci-fi lite, anyhow. I know CoG isn’t interested in sci-fi titles, but I wonder if they’re open to the nuance of space opera and space western? It seems like a hazy line. The recent “ghostbusters” release (Luminous Underground?) seems like light SF, kind of an urban sci-fi toward the more popular urban horror (VtM) and super prevalent urban fantasy. SF is not the best route to go if you want to build a large readership, but I think my stuff is proving to be pretty niche, anyhow.

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I’m planning on getting ME Legendary on my next payday! Haven’t played through Mass effect 1 in like 10 years because of the UI, so I’m excited!

I’m already looking forward to a scifi space opera from you!

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Update:
-I’m very close to finished with the gender-swap edit for romantic options in the existing material.
-I’ve finished coding Chapter 0, which will allow you to

  1. Set achievements to visible or hidden
  2. Set in-game art to visible or hidden
  3. Set RO gender to default, all male, all female, or to manually select for each character among male, female, and randomize.

-I’ve made chapters 7a, 7b, and 7c playable in any order.
-I’ve coded the groundwork for 8a and 8b to be played in any order.
-Have to say, I’ve developed a deep respect for anyone who has completed a work with separate male-female descriptions and gender-swap variables for all pronouns. I knew it slowed me down, writing forward. Retro-fitting, it took me maybe 5hrs for 15k words average, depending on pronoun density. It’s deceptively involved.

Delivery should be on schedule. I’ve diverted some time to running the Chain of Kindness: Book Giveaway. Check it out if you haven’t. At current, donations outnumber requests 34 to 21. Cheers, all.

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I’ve uploaded the patch to Dashingdon. For changelog, see above. Hope you enjoy.

I’m interested in screenshots of gender slips: nouns, pronouns, descriptions–Rudi (male Trudy) still wears nail polish on purpose.

The path forward:
-8a Temple of Dune (Desert, Octo/Octa, Fogbeard)
-8b Game of Throats (Swamp, Zale, Megdura)
-patch to make 8a-8b interchangeable
-9 Enter the Fhtagn: from here you will have a full party. Decisions will push you toward a faction alignment with consequences. And you can enter into an official romantic relationship with some characters.
-Things will progress quickly from there. You will revisit each duchy to find things developed. In each you will choose a side and fight. In each, you can spend a vacation day with ROs.
-At the end, based on your duchy and RO decisions, you will receive your ending.

By word count, we’re halfway there. Thanks for riding along.

Has the ability to swap RO gender changed your favorite RO?
  • Yes.
  • No.

0 voters

Considering only interactions, not art or appearance (if possible) who is your favorite RO?
  • Llorick/Llivette.
  • Trudy/Rudi.
  • Saz.
  • Octo/Octa.
  • Vera/Vero.
  • Zale.

0 voters

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I love this story, it never fails to make me cackle no matter how many times I play through it. You’re a great comedic author, and I love the plot.

Though I will admit that I just want to ditch the mission and live in a hut made out of leaves and mud with Saz.

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*Sees Octa female version character art

[AUDIBLY GULPS]
:flushed::flushed::flushed:

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This is a charming little adventure.

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I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you so much! I haven’t named Saz’s husband/wife (changes with gender now). If you have a few ideas, you can feel free to PM me. The name (Saz Lejamb) has kind of a whole New Orleans thing going on. “Saz” came from “sazerac.” I can’t remember where “Lejamb” came from. Maybe from hearing a French musician say “Let’s jam.” :thinking:

Ha, ha! I’m glad. I was feeling like a bit of a failure across the spectrum with the RO art. It’s tricky to release after everyone has already formed an image in their mind. Based on your comment, I think you’ll be VERY pleased with this upcoming chapter. :heart_eyes:

Thank you for saying so! It’s certainly good to hear. I’m always repulsed by people who find themselves charming, so I think I overcompensate and move through the world assuming I and my writing are not. Hope you find something in the story that keeps you coming back. Cheers! :sunglasses:

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This was probably asked before so I will apologize beforehand but I wanted to ask is/will Yester be a RO?

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Hmm, I’m not super decided. Originally, I’d planned for an author work-load of six ROs. However, so many people seem to like him/her that I’m reconsidering. It would require me to restructure some plot elements.

The six current ROs will form the PCs “party” in RPG terms. That is, they will travel with the PC for the rest of the game as an NPC entourage. Phill is somewhat sided with the PC, for now, but isn’t in the party. Yester would fall into that category, so I’m not sure it would make them as compelling of an RO. Right now, there’s faction balance: 2 Dragonfall, 2 Dragonsworn, and 2 Unaligned. Also, it might strain the story to squeeze yet another person into Duchy side quests and vacation days. Really, the best thing would be to finish the story as I have it planned and then do Yester RO as an add on. Only I don’t know how to do that, and I’m not really into that model. I’d rather just write a sequel.

Sorry if that’s a long way of saying nothing–just letting you in on my thought process. You have any thoughts? Maybe I should throw up a poll? (If I wouldn’t be terrified of the results.) @Frieza

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Thanks for answering! Yeah, I guess it would be a strain to try and add him/her as a RO now. If you have a clear path regarding the story then it would be best to finish it the way you envisioned it. As for the poll, it would be interesting to see the results at the very least haha since I think Yester is a very appealing and likable character for people.

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I’ve posted a poll below. For anyone who wants to answer: is there something about Yester as a romantic option that you feel isn’t provided by other ROs? Or, what is Yester’s unique value proposition as an RO?

Do you think Yester could be a compelling romantic option if not included as a main-party member?
  • Super yes–damn you for asking!
  • Yeppers–I like him/her that much.
  • Nah, it wouldn’t be right to do half a job of it.
  • Don’t do it!

0 voters

Would you like to see Yester as an RO even if it meant the game would take longer to finish?
  • Unrealistic: include him/her but finish on schedule, you bastard.
  • Trusting: don’t include him/her but also don’t disappoint me.
  • Patient: include him/her–he/she’s worth the wait.
  • Other: I don’t feel strongly about this issue–you do you.

0 voters

Would you rather see Yester featured as a party member in a sequel: “Still Not Your Mother’s Shire”?
  • Yes!
  • Nope.
  • Do that, but also give me what I want. Thanks, bye.
  • Other: still don’t care.

0 voters

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Love this story so much! My cheeks hurt from laughing the whole time. Keep up the good work :grin:

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I personally really like Yester, but especially at this point where you can see the finish line, I totally get wanting to wait till the sequel (but I do want Yester as an RO eventually! please)

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Yester as RO?Sign me up,please :pleading_face:

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finally :joy:

It would be interesting to have him/her as a side-RO/character, then bringing him/her on board in a sequel

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I just really love Yester;
Like she has always been there for us and I am always looking forward to our interactions. Her reactions is just too adorable, and I really really hope she becomes an RO.

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