A Paradox Between Worlds: IFComp Edition

I think that seeing... 'people don't have character arcs' hit REALLY hard for me specifically. Because... yeah. People in real life don't have to hit a list of criteria to be 'redeemed'. Life just happens. We just do stuff and learn from it and sometimes it isn't linear and it isn't satisfying and it's awful. And that's... life. So yeah. I liked that line. Thank you.

It's interesting how I knew exactly what all these pieces are, huh. It's not too subtle. But it hits, kinda. I wanted to be able to tell Luna that I was trans too, at the end.

i really liked this :-) as someone who grew up on the internet around fandom spaces (i've been on tumblr for 10+ yrs... lol) this felt really nostalgic. the very distinct pre-dashcon kind of posts here really took me back, hahaha.

i've never been directly involved in this kind of thing but again, i've been around long enough to have seen it happen a lot of times. it feels particularly poignant with recent events...

i feel like even beyond the fandom/tumblr aspect this is something a lot of people can relate to - just in general getting older and learning new things about the world & yourself and then revisiting old media you remember fondly only for it not to be the same, or even painful.

i read some of your postmortem and i did seem to miss a few pieces of the story - probably because i didn't reblog enough, or follow karla's lead about stella. i did get the luna ending though !! your reflections on your work was really interesting to read. the "this isn't your story" in particular really resonated with me.

i think my favorite part was actually the fanfic sections. choosing to keep writing or to stop, grappling with it and coming to end that may not be satisfying... it felt relatable & authentic. i also liked how you used the CS themes to differentiate the sections - i've actually never seen someone do that with CS, though that may just be due to the kind of CS games i've been reading.

a lot of the times when i read something that revolves around tumblr/"fandom culture" i don't enjoy it. i don't know, i think it just makes me embarrassed, hahaha. i think since i was //there// when it all happened, it makes me more critical when people try to recreate it, especially when it's clear they weren't //there//, if that makes sense. and in some work it feels very dated, referencing tumblr.

obviously the latter isn't really applicable here, since that's what the game revolves around. but i really did enjoy it. it felt authentic (how many times can i use that word lol) and the characters reminded me exactly of the people i used to know in the internet space, and still see every now and again. and it's refreshing to see fandom explored like this, from a marginalized perspective, and how it can be both an escape & safe haven as well as a space that actively harms the most vulnerable people - it's something i feel like is excluded a lot in fandom-focused media. it was all very bittersweet.

thanks for making this and sharing :-)

I really enjoyed this. I wasn't into Tumblr in this era, but I've watched enough of a YouTuber to have an idea, and I think you nailed the feeling. At the very least I can instantly tell it feels like the internet in that era. I see myself massively in Karla, in like every action. It, it made the story more real. All of the little things did that. Everyone had a distinct realistic voice and it had the bad uncomfortable stuff, it just sells it so well. I don't know what more to add. I read the postmortem, so I know you're kinda conflicted with how it turned out, but I think it did what was intended better than anything else could.

Oh, and you may find it interesting, I was pretty conflicted when trying to come up with a blog name. I just couldn't think of anything. But, then a line from a song I like popped into my head, since I use it as the "about" for my discord account, "And the wind I know it's cold", so I went with that and really liked it. Felt very Tumblr. Then I ended up turning out to be a Keeper of Wind who likes Luna, the Auger of Ice. So clearly it was fated. Also I now use it for my actual Tumblr, to fit the aesthetic of the site more than my previous one :)

Hey! Just wanted to pop in and say I enjoyed the game. The 'layer' aspect of it is really cool, though, as a purely personal preference, I favoured the blogger perspective. I also thought it was all hyperreal!--the script was well-written and eerily believable, and all the characters seem interesting (I've only gotten Luna's end so far). Thanks for making this game, dev. 'Pageant' was a gem, so I'm glad to see you making even more cool stuff. Rock on :)

Maybe it's just because I haven't finished yet, but I think I'm unclear on some things, and it's making me not sure how I want to progress. Am I myself, Gali, or both? Am I some kind of magical superhuman who just pretends to be a normal teen? Do people actually have magic in this world? Is Gali my alternate identity, my actual identity, or someone else entirely? Are these events actually occurring, or is someone just writing it? Am *I* the writer?