Progress Report: 1/11/24

A tumblr post on someone's desktop site by ashstfu reading: 'what the fuck is rizz. tell me i'm the knife you twist inside yourself.

GUYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYSSSSSSSSSSS. I HAD A REVELATION.

I've got to go somewhere in a few minutes but my laptop was just sitting there, still on from when I had thought I had time, so here we are typing as fast as humanly possible. Anyway the revelation was about how Enya interacts with the world. I had been trying to flesh her character out but I got stuck at the first question--what does she want? Because Enya doesn't want. Core pieces of her character rely on the fact that she doesn't want, that she doesn't allow herself to. Any time I sat down and was like okay, I need to consciously know more about Enya, because I can't write her without knowing her intimately, and then I returned to this big folder of printed-out posts of writing tips that I've had in my bookshelf for a few years, things that have shaped my writing in ways I cannot describe, and I realized I had been doing something wrong all this time since I had first created the first draft of this story in visual novel form, because I'd entirely forgotten: The Flame was supposed to be a character.

And that's not in, like... the sense that the Flame was already a character, because it was physical and had dialogue and, like, all in all, existed, right? But I'd forgotten something--when I had been coming up with the major beats of the plot I'd had several songs in mind, but the first one, really, and the most important one, was one that characterized the Flame. Didn't just give it a name and an eye and be done with it. It was a sentient, breathing thing. I'd forgotten that in all this writing and rewriting and drawing and coding, and then I remembered it, and it just opened the door to who Enya was, because she's not anything without It. She's a half, not a whole! Everything about her has been [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED]!!!!

So--yes. Writing is going well. I can't share anything because it continues to be a frighteningly small amount lmao, but I am so proud of the pieces of story that are here now, after this revelation.

I also figured out how to make separate script files! And went through its own little trials and tribulations about it but, you know. It's okay. MANY GUI things and illustrations and sprites and functions to figure out, along with Thamarai's, but recently I'm less worried about it. I know where I'm going, so I'll get there eventually.

:)