I Love That Anders’ Clinic Delivers Babies And Treats STDs. Thank You For Calling Planned Parenthood

Normal guy voice . I need to watch him lose consciousness in a vulnerable position

Hummm.... Stabby redraw , again.

i'm rly normal ;; pinky promise

asking the important questions here.......

i started writing a varric/solas modern au (still unsure if it's going into a shippy direction or more platonic, but they are definitely something) but as I am about 4k words in, I realized that I am just doing DA2 fanfic now.

Featuring bangers such as

“Didn’t think you’d take it up the ass,” Fenris says. “No judgment, but I didn’t think you would.” “Charming,” Varric murmurs and snatches the man’s tankard from him to take a long sip. He’s earned that after that comment. “Who’s to say he takes it up the ass,” Isabella says. “I do,” Fenris says. “Do I get a say in this?” Varric asks. “No,” Isabella tells him. “So, details. Was he hot?”

which milena quoted five times on our train ride, I think i'm onto something

(in even better news, their next chapter of the punching blackwall fic is also going amazingly, I got solas being a cutie (read: people pleaser) for the next chapter, life is good)

More pencil sketches... With Friederick and the other PC of the DnD campaign @revoleotion 's Elxian, whom the Captain of the "Good Fortune" fished out of the ocean and placed into Friedericks care. I think their "coworkers bonded together by the horrors" dynamic is really fun, they come from very different backgrounds.

[ID 1: a pencil sketch of Friederick and Elxian, two DnD Characters. Friederick is a gnome and trying to tie a bowtie, unsuccessfully. Elxian, a half-elf is watching him and commenting "you're a sailor how are you so bad at tying a knot". /End ID]

[ID 2: a pencil sketch of the same characters but this time Friederick is watching Elxian try to make a knot out of a rope, also unsuccessfully. /End ID]

yes there are the horrors but at least im aro

this year, the first day of aromantic spectrum awareness week lines up with the anniversary of jurgen leitner's death. here's a pride flag to celebrate

Relationships in Scarlet Hollow

Have you ever wondered why every playthrough of Scarlet Hollow feels so different? It isn't *just* from branching off of major decisions. A lot of characters make use of a hidden 10-variable relationship system that maps to their perception of the protagonist.

These variables influence a *lot* of dialogue, as well as the sprites and emotional range of these characters in a given scene, and tracking this much information lets us take a very nuanced approach to PC/NPC relationships.

It's also why SH will probably never get voice acting.

So instead of just looking at someone likes or dislikes you, we can look at "trust" as its own value separate from surface-level likeability

ex: You and your cousin can be at each other's throats and still trust each other with your lives, or you can be cordial and share nothing with each other on an emotional level.

This system also dovetails into other parts of our narrative design, often unlocking different paths or scenes based on who someone is to you.

Your relationship with your cousin, for instance, has the possibility to unlock an entirely separate outcome in episode 3.

We go out of our way to not show off this system, even though it's a big part of our secret sauce, mostly because the whole point of it is to make our story and characters feel more alive and dynamic.

Having a meter to see that x statement gives you y openness points with Tabitha would ruin that immersion and gameify things to the detriment of the narrative.

When you're making decisions and choosing what to say in Scarlet Hollow, it shouldn't *feel* like a game, at least not in the sense of it being something you're playing on a meta-level. You should pick what feels right for you, and the game should respond accordingly.

Hiding the system has other benefits as well, including being able to *change how it functions* as time goes on without calling attention to those changes.

Values move A LOT (almost every dialogue choice) in episodes 1-3 as you make a first impression on characters, but by late episode 3/early episode 4, most of the characters in Scarlet Hollow have decided who they think you are, and it starts to take big, character defining moments to move that needle.

Just like in real life!

Anyways if this stuff interests you and you want a longer read on it, please take a look at this devlog!

Medium

Creating a dynamic relationship system in Scarlet Hollow

In our first run at figuring out the relationship system for Scarlet Hollow (play Episode 1 for free on Steam), we tried a kind of Dragon…

Or if you haven't played the game, try episode 1 for free!

I present to you a drama, comedy, horror. This story killed me three times.