bitten-twicee

[bitten-twicee]

disco elysium is kafkas metamorphosis for the modern age. no one is scared of becoming a bug anymore. the true nightmare? waking up one day and finding out your a cop

[bitten-twicee]

this website is so funny because every couple years we repeat the discourse of "which marginalised group is it morally okay for us to shit on?" and somehow nobody ever learns from it. we just look back and go, "hey, remember that time when everyone was joking about how ace people should all be put in meat grinders? that was so messed up. we should not have done that. anyway, here's my topical joke about how polyamorous people should all be put in meat grinders."

[bitten-twicee]

okay listen up people I am TIRED of seeing people redesign flutter shy as an earth pony and pinkie as a pegasus when their reasoning for doing so is “oh they don’t make sense as a pegasus/earth pony” like that isn’t the entire point? They are subverting the expectations of their species. Fluttershy doesn’t fly as much as Pegasi normally does. Pinkie pie isn’t grounded like other earth ponies are. Isn’t that the entire point of their characters? It’s what makes them more interesting: a Pegasus finding interest in the earth and land animals and an earth pony finding interest in all things chaos and moving, never knowing how to slow down. If you make the choice of swapping what kind of pony they are it’s your choice and I respect that but I do wish people would recognize this more often than not.

[bitten-twicee]

mutuals do this

[bitten-twicee]

being desperately fat and out of shape is really hot actually

[bitten-twicee]

[caught red-handed trying to undo your rhinoplasty in your sleep] hey whats up?

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[bitten-twicee]

cumming in your underwear for no reason is gonna be huge in 2025 you can quote me on that #trends

[bitten-twicee]

Love having multiple dietary restrictions due to my chronic illnesses including a massive wheat intolerance and watching people on twitter assure everyone that "you won't starve if animal products and meat become prohibitively expensive or completely unavailable" like just say you don't give a shit about disabled people and go.

[bitten-twicee]

that's right ... ugly people... get pussy all the time...!

[bitten-twicee]

90s movies: Psychopharmacology is as good as a lobotomy. If you take pills to treat your mental illness it will literally murder your imaginary friends and you will become a boring, lotus-eating conformist drone.

Me after taking my meds: drives the scenic route home to see if there are any geese on the pond and does a little dance in line at the grocery store and comes home to throw everything​ in my fridge into a stew pot because I can finally taste food again while singing songs at my birds in which I replace all the instances of "she" with "Cheese" and doing a Dolly Parton impression on the phone to my sister

[bitten-twicee]

So this was a pre-planned (and likely paid for by the Kremlin) show: to invite Zelenskyy, scold him like a kindergartener in front of the press, present him with an unreasonable "deal" - an ultimatum - knowing full well he will refuse it (as anyone in this position would). And then tell the world: "Look, our mighty Orange King could've ended this horrible war in a day, but this poorly-dressed, warmongering, ungrateful twat just doesn't want peace! It's not our fault, we did what we could!"

The show is so cheap, so transparent, yet still effective for so many brainless people.

[bitten-twicee]

this is ur intermittent reminder that thoughtcrimes aren't real and sin doesn't exist even if you call it by a different name! There's no invisible watcher keeping track of your Moral Indiscretions and no cosmic consequence for increasing the amount of Immoral Thought engaged with or enjoyed in private. Harm is done when someone gets hurt, and anything less is none of your business ♡

[bitten-twicee]

I got too excited while playing chess and told my opponent that I was going to slit his throat and slaughter him like a hog. something to work on for next time

[bitten-twicee]

Sometimes I think about how in order to be a writer today you cannot have internet privacy. I was reading an article in which a journalist recalls collaborating with Mary Oliver, who was notoriously private. Oliver refused to communicate with them through fax or email and said (through her publisher) that she would hand them written notes at an event she was doing in New York City. It struck me that Mary Oliver in 2024 would have almost no chance of becoming a successful poet. Writers today have to have a social media presence to have a built in audience so publishers can be assured that they will get sales and to bear the brunt of social media marketing. They have to be available and put themselves on the internet in every way possible.

More and more I read interviews from artists across many mediums talk about how if you cannot market on Tik Tok your chances of success diminish. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be an online influencer and I am surely not saying that the author-influencer is a new phenomenon, but it should not be a pre-requisite for being a successful writer. I love that writers like Mary Oliver, Elena Ferrante, and Donna Tart exist, and it is not talked enough about how they could not begin a career in 2024 and achieve the same amount of success unless they were well connected or extremely lucky. It makes me sad that this is the state of publishing.

[bitten-twicee]

The different schools of recent twine-adjacent interactive fiction

This is not a taxonomy; most games (especially those entered into IFComp and the like) will have multiple inspirations from multiple schools. This is an attempt to trace some of the broad tendencies in recent twine games.

The Post-Porpentine School: Porpentine's games were characterized by a fantastical surrealism and a philosophical or literary quality, while being about very personal or intimate topics. Many have elements of horror, oppression, and/or sexuality, and complex but ambiguous worldbuilding. Settings tend toward the dystopian, and many involve the protagonists reaching out for freedom in some way. Story branching is not a priority here but it may be present, and choice mechanics are often used more for aesthetics than for story branching. They tend to be at least moderately long, 30 minutes and up. This is probably the smallest school.

Examples: Porpentine's games (obviously), Solarium, We Are the Firewall, SPY INTRIGUE, Summit, DEVOTIONALIA, Heretic's Hope, Accelerate, BLK MTN, Consciousness Hologram/Universal Hologram, Computerfriend, QueenLash

The Post-Videogames School: The "Videogames" here refers to the book Videogames for Humans, edited by Merritt Kopas, and the games in this school share many characteristics with the games in that book. Alternatively, this could be called the Zinesters school or post-Anthropy school, after the book Rise of the Videogame Zinesters by Anna Anthropy. They tend to be short, less than 15-30 minutes, and tend to drill down on one particular moment or feeling or experience, without the burden of a heavily developed plot or setting. They tend to have hypertext-style choices. Aesthetics might be emphasized or ignored. Many are about mental illness or gender or sexuality, some anecdote from the author's own experiences, a political or social point, or just a quick joke. Many were made by students or for short game jams.

Examples: Most games from the book Videogames for Humans (with the notable exception of Horse Master), Detritus, The Writer Will Do Something, Gender Dysphoria, Time Passed, End of Life Care, Winter in June, Perseids, You Are Jeff Bezos, My Gender Is a Fish, fix it, Let's Talk Alex

The Choice of Games School: Based on the Choice of Games house style, these games use delayed branching as the primary narrative structure. They have character building based on a bevy of stats, heavy character customization including names and pronouns, and many romance options of many genders. Most stories tend to be "genre" as opposed to "literary". Most games are long, more than 2 hours, and have multiple branches and endings. There is little to no concern for aesthetics.

Examples: almost every Choice of Game and most Hosted Games. Fine Felines

The Tumblr School: this school originated in the choicescript diaspora, as many creators were dissatisfied with the terms Choice of Games/Hosted Games imposed on choicescript. Like CoG, they tend to have extensive character customization and romance options, use only end-of-text cyoa-style choices as opposed to hypertext, and are usually "genre" stories. Many are influenced by visual novels and otome games. They can be somewhat more experimental with the branching structure than CoG. Aesthetics are heavily emphasized, and often include character art. These games tend to be very long, and most are still in the development process, with a culture of periodic updates. Most will probably never be "finished".

Examples: Wayfarer, Stay? (partially, also adventure-puzzle), Superstition, A Tale of Crowns, Trigaea, everything on this itch.io page, most things submitted to the interact-if game jam, A Paradox Between Worlds (somewhat)

The Adventure-Puzzle School: These games are all about the systematic mechanics. Many of these games aim at implementing text adventure/parser-like mechanics in Twine, with object-based puzzles and directional movement. Some have more abstract mechanics, or RPG-inspired mechanics, or other types of simulations. They are usually on the lengthier side, but may be short with heavy branching. Aesthetics are not a priority.

Examples: Anything by Agnieszka Trzaska, Open Sorcery, 16 Ways to Kill a Vampire, Erstwhile, Seedship (might be its own sub-school), Beneath Fenwick, Orbital Decay, Voyageur, we, the remainder (also horror)

The Flash Horror School: Alternatively, the post-Nintendo school (for The Uncle Who Works At Nintendo). Like the post-Videogames school, these games tend to be short, focusing on one moment to the exclusion of an extended plot or setting. However, these games aim more directly at the emotions of horror and are less literal/anecdotal. Many have some nods to adventure-like mechanics, with locations and movement and such, but many do not. Aesthetics are highly emphasized.

Examples: the uncle who works for nintendo, my father's long long legs, Bogeyman, a man outside (plus many other games by litrouke), Contrition, Florence, The Waiting Room, Taste of Fingers

(the below are less "schools" exactly, more like broad trends or genres. These do not have a clear lineage like the previous ones.)

The Extended Character Study School: This was a hard school to pin down for me; I had originally called it the Brendan Patrick Hennessy school. They tend to be dialogue-heavy, and choice mechanics are generally used in service of characterization. Unlike the post-Porpentine school, these games tend to have more grounded settings and situations, although supernatural elements are often present. Coming-of-age is a common theme. They usually have strongly defined protagonists without character customization (or revolve around another character), and may or may not have story branching. They are usually at least moderately long.

Examples: Hana Feels, Venus Meets Venus, Birdland/Known Unknowns, Cactus Blue Motel, Will Not Let Me Go, The Master of the Land, Lore Distance Relationship, Pageant/New Year's Eve 2019, You Are SpamZapper 3.1, The Best Man

The Gamebook-CYOA School: This is sort of a catch-all group. Many developers are driven by nostalgia for paper gamebooks or CYOA stories, seeking to emulate those elements in a digital medium. Thus, they often have a similar philosophy as Choice of Games but without the detailed character customization, romance, or extensive stats. They are usually "genre" stories with some branching, and can be any length.

Examples: Cape, Ürs, Doppeljobs, The Golden Heist, Mermaids of Ganymede, The Last Doctor, some Hosted Games

The Literary School: These are games that aspire to be literature, or are more influenced by (static) literature or film/TV than they are by video games or other interactive fiction. They have a wider variety of themes than the post-Porpentine school, and are longer and have more developed stories than the post-Videogames school. They are often linear or close enough to linear, but may have branching of some sort.

Examples: Harmonia, At King Arthur's Christmas Feast, BLK MTN,

The Narrative Sandbox School: These games try to give the player lots of things to do, often via a systematic mechanic such as location-based exploration and movement, but sometimes just via a ton of written content. Unlike the Adventure-Puzzle school, these tend to not have puzzles as such, focusing more on exploration, although they might have multiple possible goals that are more or less difficult to achieve.

Examples: Tavern Crawler, Animalia, The Master of the Land, New Year's Eve 2019

The NSFW School: To be honest, I do not have much experience with this, but I know it's kinda big, perhaps bigger than any of the other schools in terms of output.

Examples: look at the most popular interactive fiction games on itch.io with show nsfw turned on.

Other, smaller schools: lifeline-likes, lost phone-likes, dark room-likes, multiplayer games...

[bitten-twicee]

At this point in think that D&D has more ardent support than lutheranism. And it's adherents are somehow even more annoying.