we all have lives to live, it happens. these vns are passion projects made by small teams or sometimes just a single person, and i respect the courage it takes to do any of this at all, whatever the pace of development. i am unable to financially support this project, but im cheering you on!
abignothing
Recent community posts
i, like so many others, have constantly screamed 'just tell him already!' at my computer screen, but i also remember being 17 & 18 and having similar all-consuming amounts of risk-aversion behaviour. i appreciate how the art direction and writing portrays most of the characters as actual teenagers, much like butterfly soup, and not as popular media stereotypes of teenagers.
i think it would provide a little more clarity to state the era that this narrative takes place in on this itch page, the furtive year of 2003, since it is otherwise very easy to assume that it is taking place right now (twenty some-odd years later). the story itself makes the time-period clear with its references to the technology of the time (dial-up, cd games, broadband, monthly cell-phone minutes), but it might save some confusion for readers to also know the setting's year in the novel's description here. thanks and im looking forward to the next updates!
here? it looks like ive gotten all the way up to the most recent update, #8. somehow i thought something had changed between its release date and now, but i now remember that it was during this current build when i realized i need to back away from directly engaging with the text. since the next update may not come for a while yet, its up to you whether you would like to (or remember to) post brief summaries of future updates, but im not worried either way :)
my favorite part was how there were several floating objects in the spaceship even while the narration clearly indicates that there is some sort of gravity system in place (running, slamming on floors, slamming into walls, liquids flowing down rather than outwards, etc). the hypothermia bit was also great
while acknowledging the absolute explosion of fvns coming into creation over the last few years, to the point that im not sure if a single person could read or even be aware of all of them anymore, im very surprised by the paucity of public interaction for this project. there is a whole-ass team composing this professional production, and yet only 139 ratings? ive seen much lower-quality developments with thousands of ratings and reviews, where the hell is everyone? in the immortal words of bonnie tyler, 'where have all the good men gone?' i just downloaded this and plan on reading it soon for the first time, but this looks so promising that im baffled by its status as something underground
damn, i havent been this betrayed since cooper and lance in rtf. overall, i'd say this seems very compelling, well-designed (and not just visually), and well-executed to me. the bones of this project are just as strong as the production value, and it is clearly not over-reliant on the strength of its visuals to attempt to distract readers from poor writing or story design, which is an unfortunately-common strategy among some developers. typos are also at a respectable minimum, which is another refreshing element. the serialized nature of vn updates as a writing medium obviously leaves many questions in the plot unanswered as the story continues to develop, but this project offers a salient opportunity for getting the inside view of the construction of a mystery story, while still withholding critical parts of itself from the reader's view. the temporary scaffolding structures are all there, but even so, the central mysteries of the story have still been kept concealed and won't be easily coaxed out. very good job. i will be paying closer attention to the update schedule of this project now that it's on my radar
i love everything, and i especially appreciate the decision to work in some easter-egg lines upon restarting the vn after having completed a route. on a structural level, it might seem superfluous, but on a creative-writing and literary-analysis level, it does mean a lot. among other creative decisions, it shows how much care is invested in the reader's experience, above and beyond what is strictly necessary for the plot. it's the final kiss of the story's leitmotif, that extra 'something' that brings it all to a poetic finish, and is even more impactful because that ability is unique to the structure of vns. traditional written media can use different techniques to achieve similar effects, but the fact that some of the actual lines change depending on previously-logged data is an ingenious use of this format. bellissimo!
in the future, if you click on the 'more information' tab right above the download button and look at the tags, you'll be able to see (as the name suggests) more info about the game. major aspects such as genre, setting, and inclusion of lgbtq characters/story aspects will most often be listed there, and never again will you need to worry about guessing such details on your own.
however, not all of the games featuring the 'lgbtq' tag will feature a majority/entirety of queer characters or story-lines: sometimes it may just be one or two side characters in a game who bring minor but notable representation of the community. but, more often than not, games with tags related to lgbtq topics will be heavily (if not exclusively) populated by non-heterosexual or non-cisgender characters, and the creators will consequently base their plot in queer experiences
cute! i love how much depth there is for how short the actual storyline is, and i would call this a prime example of accomplishing a whole lot with only very little to work from. great job, you two!
i especially appreciate the treatment of roy's abusive behaviour: he is neither romanticized/given a redemptive angle ('he's really a good person deep down') nor caricatured ('muahaha, he is so evil') in the narration, but instead provides a realistic view into some of the traits and dangers most common in emotional manipulation. most times, the traits aren't as overt as fiction depicts them, and they really can tend to be as subtle and hot-and-cold as they are here. while holden's choices offer the reader the option to follow after him if they so choose, no narrative aspect strives to paint an embellished image of him, and this is what i am appreciative of. may inexperienced readers draw lessons from this story, so that they don't have to learn the bitter lessons that an actual emotionally-manipulative partner will teach instead.
keeping the anthrocon presentation off of youtube is a wise choice. while it has the potential to attract a very wholesome audience, it can also find itself with a very hostile community in the comments section—and even if the comments are turned off, there are still ways for malicious individuals to cause harm if they so choose. looking forward to the drive link then!
i feel cheated that i just learned about this vn this evening. its a good problem to have that there are so many to choose from, but that also means the algorithm can get stuck in a bubble of only presenting the most popular ones, and then it requires some serious digging to find the gems buried beneath the surface. anyway, it was worth the effort to find this one!