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Black History Month Author Spotlight: Kiki
Our third edition of the Black History Month Author Spotlight series, features Kiki (@scapegoated-if)!
(I’m rly happy to have gotten to know Kiki better through the feature, and the interview contains really interesting insights on gender and race-locked main characters in interactive fiction, among other things! If you haven’t yet played Scapegoated (and if you’re a fan of Infamous/music IFs, definitely give it a go!)
Author: Kiki Born and raised North London, but ethnic background Jamaican (my parents are a part of the Windrush Gen)
Games: Scapegoated (slice-of-life, music, hollywood, '70s)
Short blurb: Scapegoated is about a female musician in a band that is seguing into an acting career. She is facing a lot of blame and scandal regarding the split between her band that happened in 1968. Not only are a lot of the general public hurt and angry about it, but so is an infamous serial killer that has been terrorising the west coast...
Quotes from the interview
I’m from North London. My parents moved to London when they were children from the Caribbean and are a part of the Windrush generation. I am a black, bisexual woman growing up in the UK, a place that tends to disguise its wider prejudices as a classist issue in all cases. […] A huge part of my love for music is strongly intertwined with my relationship with my late father. He passed away in June of 2023, and he was very much so kickin’ it in the ‘70s. He was a DJ throughout his life, so the legacy of LPs that he left behind was unspeakable and very ‘70s.
Read on for the full interview!
Tell me more about yourself! What are some things new readers or long-time readers might not know about you?
I graduated from a Russell Group university with an English Literature BA (Hons). I think a part of me has always wanted to be a writer in some capacity; I know that I’ve always wanted to write a book. So, I think beginning this IF has existed for me as a gateway to see what that would be like. I thought of it as a brainteaser–the prospect of exploring different outcomes and different pathways that a character may undertake. It has been challenging, dare I say more challenging than writing an actual book, but that’s exactly what I wanted out of this process.
Can you tell me a bit about what you’re working on right now and your journey into interactive fiction? What inspired the game/story you’re currently writing?
My best friend introduced me to the world of interactive fiction one day last year. She introduced Infamous to me and asserted that I would really like it because I’m a huge music nerd. Of course I fell in love with the characters and the world, but I also fell in love with the format of IFs.
A huge part of my love for music is strongly intertwined with my relationship with my late father. He passed away in June of 2023, and he was very much so kickin’ it in the ‘70s. He was a DJ throughout his life, so the legacy of LPs that he left behind was unspeakable and very ‘70s. I am a huge music lover with such a wide-spanning eclectic taste, but the period of music post-”Dylan going electric”, post-”Elvis being on the out”, Quincy Jones (rest in king) and Beatlemania is just everything to me, so the idea for Scapegoated came into my life in a very natural way. I knew that whichever story I told, I wanted it to explore the Sunset Strip, groupies, rock ‘n roll, The Beatles, The Manson Family and Cher all at its core.
I am of the opinion that coverage of the ‘70s music scene has been run into the ground lately. There has been a resurgence of nostalgia within the public consciousness when reflecting upon this time due to Daisy Jones & The Six, which was one of my favourite shows the year it was released. So, including Hollywood and murder was my attempt at innovation.
How has your identity, heritage/background, upbringing, or personal experiences influenced your storytelling or writing process? OR How does your work feature aspects of your identity / experience?
I’m from North London. My parents moved to London when they were children from the Caribbean and are a part of the Windrush generation. I am a black, bisexual woman growing up in the UK, a place that tends to disguise its wider prejudices as a classist issue in all cases. I am writing Scapegoated as someone that has only been to the US twice for two weeks at a time. I am writing Scapegoated as someone that can only relate to two aspects of my main character. I am writing Scapegoated as someone that has experienced discrimination and has been scarred by instances of discrimination. In university, I tended to be quite outspoken; in my first year, I felt quite ostracised by my predominantly white cohort during the BLM movement, because I seemed to be the only one willing to speak out in favour of it.
When I first wrote Scapegoated, I was inboxed on Tumblr and replied to on the Choice of Games Forum with genuine curiosity about my choice to gender and race lock my protagonist. This is an excerpt of my response:
I didn’t want to have a self-insert MC because I wanted to ensure that the conversations had revolving these social issues and the murders that unfold aren’t danced around. Perspective is an extremely important factor in that, and I want to ensure that the MC is directly involved–rather than just there as things happen because it wouldn’t be interactive. [...] Initially when I planned this story, before it was titled and the only thing I knew was that I wanted to write an IF about the '70s music scene, it was neither gender or race locked [...]. But I did toy with my ideas by self-inserting (I’m a black woman) when I was attempting to figure out the logistics of gameplay. That’s when I realised that due to the time period and all of the change that was happening at the time, social issues had to be discussed.
To this day, I am extremely proud of my decision and the conviction in my decision. I asserted a level of loyalty to the story I am telling in a way that I didn’t know I was capable of; retrospectively, I think I took a kind of power in it. But I really love the story I am telling and the range of representation.
I am trying to work the line of prioritising my vision, all the while giving weight and importance to my readers’ opinions in the way that these very interesting and thorough opinions deserve. It warms my heart that even one person might care about my characters just as much as I do.
what are some of the most rewarding or challenging aspects of writing Interactive Fiction for you?
Songwriting. I’m tragic at it, but I like to think I’m self-aware enough. There are different characters with different voices and different reasonings behind their songwriting styles. I struggle to ensure that their songwriting oozes with their individual personalities.
What does your writing process look like? Any rituals or habits? Any tips, tricks, philosophies or approaches that have worked very well for you?
Story beats. However, planning and writing can exist as two entirely different realms to me. What I think the story may be, can develop into something entirely new all on its own once I begin to write. Sometimes characters that I think I know transform into someone entirely new once I start to get to know them through writing their dialogue. I’ve experienced this with several characters already. On the contrary, some characters are so secure in my mind that they can’t be anything other than who I’ve introduced them to myself as.
I really love the writing process I’ve conjured up. It hasn’t failed me yet, but it isn’t secure–writing can never be anything other than an insecure process. Writing, for me, always remains in a constant stage of planning.
Do you have favourite interactive fiction games, characters, scenes or authors that you’d like to recommend?
I have received a lot of IF recommendations due to how new I am to IFs. I truly haven’t read very many, so all I can recommend to anybody are the 3 IFs that I have read which I each loved enormously: Infamous; College Tennis: Origin Story; and Apartment 502.
If you were to say one thing to your readers, other authors, and/or the interactive fiction community: what would it be?
I only got here in December, and so far everyone has been extremely welcoming and helpful. Honestly, I have no notes. All I can do is encourage everyone to give writing a chance. It’s been so fruitful and rewarding for me, so I strongly urge everyone to give it a shot if you’re considering it. Stop thinking, just do!
Any books, music, movies etc. you’re obsessed with at the moment, or which changed your life (or perspectives on something)?
I’m currently reading I’m With The Band by Pamela Des Barres as research for my IF, which has been a great insight into the mindset of groupies on an intimate level.
As for something that changed my life, I recently watched Sing Sing (2024)--which wasn’t something I did in relation to Scapegoated, I am just an avid film-watcher–and it was such an incredible de-stigmatising eye into the prison system. An extremely important watch for Black History Month, too!
This-or-that segment: (bold = Kiki's pick)
Coffee or tea?
Early mornings or late nights?
City or countryside?
Angsty or Cozy romances? (Or enemies-to-lovers or best-friends-to-lovers?)
Steady progress or frenzied binge-writing followed by periods of calm?
Summer or Winter?
First drafts or editing?
Introvert or extrovert?
Plotter or pantser?
Characters or plot first?
Kiki’s custom “either-or” pairing: writing in silence or with music playing?
#interactive fiction#cscript game#interactive games#author features#black history month#interview feature#spotlight#poc game developers
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Its a privilege to have people you can call upon to help you when you encounter a situation that is beyond your control, and I'm never more conscious of that than when my friend Mahmoud ( @ma7moudgaza2 ) tells me about what he is dealing with in gaza right now.
Due to the siege being carried out by the zionist occupation, experts are reporting that north gaza will be suffering from severe famine in the coming days if things remain unchanged. Mahmoud's family will have to suffer through these harsh conditions during this coming winter for no fault of their own, and at the young age of 21, Mahmoud is bearing the responsibility of having to raise funds to help his family with no one to turn to for help.
Right now Mahmoud's fundraiser is dying. he still urgently needs funds to meet his family's basic needs and prepare for winter. They need blankets, warm clothes, baby formula and diapers, food and medicines- so please consider lending them a helping hand during this dire time of need 🙏 please share and donate anything you can spare to Mahmoud's fundraiser. No amount is too little and every donation can have an impact greater than you can possibly know.
[Verified]
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"Illuminated Encounter" by Johny Dufort for Re-Edition
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The kids (Duke, Damian and Dick) are yelling in the other room
#batfam#batman#jason todd#red hood#dc#dick grayson#duke thomas#damian wayne#digital art#my art#nightwing#robin#spotlight#*taps mic* hello jason Todd fans#I wanted to draw stubble but it didn’t work out
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🐍 A Tsuchinoko to see in the Year of the Snake! Wait... what's that she' senses's sensing...? 😨
#digital art#fanart#tsuchinoko#kemono friends#snake#spotlight#storage room#totally not a kirin hyoketsu#drawing
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Get over it. When you’re a Goddess, your presence is loud and you’ll be seen whether you like it or not. So why not own it? Stop shrinking and start basking in the spotlight. Don’t let being seen drain you, let it strengthen you. Envision yourself as a flower and envision the spotlight as the Sun, that is here to bring life, vitality, recognition, praise, prosperity, creativity, abundance and nourishment into your life.
#succulentsiren#writers and poets#dark feminine energy#affirmations#tips#mindset#spotlight#it girl#itgirl#blogger#girlboss#attitude#perspective#growth#self care#success#abundance#oshun#het heru#goddess#la sirena#la sirene#wealth#prosperity#lakshmi#gold#golden#attention#intention#8
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Sometimes it's easy to forget that we spend most of our time stumbling around the dark. Suddenly, a light gets turned on and there's a fair share of blame to go around.
SPOTLIGHT (2015) dir. Tom McCarthy
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Rachel McAdams in SPOTLIGHT (2015)
#spotlight#2010s#creations#dana#filmedit#rmcadamsedit#fyeahmovies#dailyflicks#tusermariah#usermandie#useravalone
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Academy Award for Best Picture:
Sometimes it's easy to forget that we spend most of our time stumbling around the dark. Suddenly, a light gets turned on and there's a fair share of blame to go around. I can't speak to what happened before I arrived, but all of you have done some very good reporting here. Reporting that I believe is going to have an immediate and considerable impact on our readers. For me, this kind of story is why we do this.
Spotlight (2015, dir. Tom McCarthy)
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To Whoever Wants To Hear
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🎵 Happy one year! 🎶🎤
#artists on tumblr#do not repost/steal#no ai/ no nft#dreamfanart#dreamwastaken#fanart#dreamblr#twwth#drep#happy one year to drep day#happy one year to twwth#dream team creatives#to whoever wants to hear#Slow down#kind of love#paranoid#spotlight#everest#invincible (like u)#until i end up dead#cc fanart#droncert#droncert era#i miss it#take me back
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Black History Month Author Spotlight: Lapin
To kickstart the Black History Month Author Spotlight series, I'd like to introduce everyone to our first IF author, Lapin (@harlequinoccult)!
(I had a ton of fun reading Lapin’s answers, and I’m sure you will too! Read on for a celebration of ‘weird,’ Lapin’s Black southern gothic / horror influences, and how a D&D game could lead to interactive fiction!
Lapin, thank you again for your candid, humorous responses, I am very honored to have gotten to know you better :D)
Author: Lapin
Black creole and cajun, artist and writer, and wannabe game developer
Games: Slaughter Squad (Horror, Slasher, Romance)
Synopsis: YOU HAVE A HUNGER A HUNGER THAT YOU’VE BEEN NEGLECTING For the most part, you’re a pretty normal mid-20-something year old who lives in a shitty apartment in the city. Well, except for one thing. Your.....”Associate” Carter “Dollface” Abernathy. Who is a murderer, and quite frankly, a sloppy one at that. And you’re the accessory to his crimes. No matter what way you’ve gotten to know the man, or how you feel about him, you’re stuck with him, and stuck with just being his little “helper” ........Or are you? Especially when you’re suddenly given a....Unique opportunity.
Games: The Valley of Luck (Fantasy, Adventure, Romance)
Synopsis: The Valley of Luck was said to be a myth. Something that grandparents would tell their grand-kids around a campfire. Even those who worshiped Lucian, The God of Luck, thought it nothing but an old wives tale. Until, one day, a man with an arm made of solid gold started telling people that he'd been there, that he'd seen the Valley. Word spread quickly, and suddenly, every continent was alight with the rumor that The Valley was real, that it could give you all the riches you could ever want, and then some. However, your quest, whether related to The Valley or not, will lead you down a much stranger path.
Quote from the interview:
My upbringing was a bit odd. I am the youngest of three, two older brothers, one being a half brother, in a black military household… Middle school Lapin was a jock. But, lo and behold, the internet started getting more popular and that kid's brain exploded from internet exposure, for better and for worse. … I feel that there is a specific and niche demographic of people like me that were raised by early 2000s to 2010s internet. And on that era of internet, were creepypastas, online horror, early ARGs….I ADORED internet horror, which was my gateway into classic horror, funnily enough. Slaughter Squad, in my eyes, is a letter to that black kid that wanted to be weird. Be weird, be messy, see a fucked up movie, get more out of life.
Read on for the full interview!
Tell me more about yourself! What are some things new readers or long-time readers might not know about you?
Both parts of my family are 100% from Louisiana, New Orleans and the deep south. My moms side have been there so long, we have two streets named after us.
Can you tell me a bit about what you’re working on right now and your journey into interactive fiction? What inspired the game/story you’re currently writing?
My main project, of course, is Slaughter Squad. I love slasher movies and horror media in general. But what I always noticed with horror/romance, at least in the visual novel scene, is that the main character is nearly always the one getting screwed over, so I thought, well, what if the bad guys actually are your peers? How would this dynamic change if they don't see you as prey? I never thought that premise would appeal so much to so many but hey, I can't complain! I adore seeing people having fun with the silly little concept I had.
Now, my secondary project, The Valley of Luck. Some may not know this, but this story is based off of a D&D campaign I DM'ed back in the day with my friends. All the ROs are NPCs that my friends had, or where going to encounter. I won't lie, I did shy away from it and changed some things when the whole debacle with Wizards of the coast (the company that "owns" D&D) Where making some...questionable decisions. But this story is my baby. My first born. This one has been in the works far longer than SLSQ and has a lot of background lore that I hope I get the opportunity to share.
I do have a few other projects bumping around, One I am particularly excited for, But that one will have to wait a little bit~
How has your identity, heritage/background, upbringing, or personal experiences influenced your storytelling or writing process? OR How does your work feature aspects of your identity / experience?
My upbringing was a bit odd. I am the youngest of three, two older brothers, one being a half brother, in a black military household. I never felt that I truly had a sense of identity until that household inevitably split up. Everyone talks about being the weird kid in middle school, but no one mentions being the "normal on the outside but wants to be the weird kid so bad its painful on the inside but can't because you were told that stuff is 'white people shit' " type of kid.
Middle school Lapin was a jock. But, lo and behold, the internet started getting more popular and that kid's brain exploded from internet exposure, for better and for worse. I was a little shitter on the internet, I can't lie about that, as much as I want to. But I feel that there is a specific and niche demographic of people like me that were raised by early 2000s to 2010s internet. And on that era of internet, were creepypastas, online horror, early ARGs....I ADORED internet horror, which was my gateway into classic horror, funnily enough. Slaughter Squad, in my eyes, is a letter to that black kid that wanted to be weird. Be weird, be messy, see a fucked up movie, get more out of life.
What does your writing process look like? Any rituals or habits? Any tips, tricks, philosophies or approaches that have worked very well for you?
Let your characters speak through you like you're being possessed by a demon.
What’s the one thing you’re really proud of that you’ve written so far? Do you have a favorite character or scene that you’ve written?
I am so serious.
is it wildly inconvenient? yes. does it help your writing a ton? also yes. Doing Roleplay with friends is a fantastic way to learn to do this. being a DM for a D&D game has basically made it so characters can simply speak from my brain at any given moment. It's also annoying because some of these people do NOT shut up. Learning how a character would react on the fly does wonders for dialogue writing and character analysis. Roleplay with your friends, or hell, strangers who are down to clown that could become friends. Be cringe. be free.
I love the opening to Slaughter Squad and if you told me to rewrite it with a gun to my head I would tell you to shoot me. I love how punchy it is and it came out exactly how I wanted it to. I don't play favorites with characters (<- lying) but my two favorites to write are the stinky little bastard cat Sterling in TVoL and.....Carter, from SLSQ. I love writing complete bastards. One being lighthearted and gets a pass for it because he's just a kitty cat and the other you want to actively beat his face in with your bare hands. It's SO funny.
If you were to say one thing to your readers, other authors, and/or the interactive fiction community: what would it be?
Write. Write it now. Doesn't have to be good doesn't have to be polish all that matters is that you WROTE IT. All the bells and whistles can come later!!!! Stop thinking about the later and think about the now!!!! Write what you love and never give two shits about if it's cringe!!! Be excellent to each other!!!
Any books, music, movies etc. you’re obsessed with at the moment, or which changed your life (or perspectives on something)?
GO LISTEN TO CHROMAKOPIA BY TYLER THE CREATOR RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!
This-or-that segment: (bold = Lapin’s pick)
Coffee or tea?
Early mornings or late nights?
City or countryside?
Angsty or Cozy romances? (Or enemies-to-lovers or best-friends-to-lovers?)
Steady progress or frenzied binge-writing followed by periods of calm?
Summer or Winter?
First drafts or editing?
Introvert or extrovert?
Plotter or pantser?
Characters or plot first?
Lapin’s custom “this-or-that” pairing: Rain or Shine
More on Black Southern Gothic:
Black southern gothic can vary a lot, but when I think of it, I think of old semi abandoned wood shotgun houses in the swamp, all white tiny baptist churches where the white paint is peeling from the heat and humidity, riding horses down a dirt paved street while people still ride by in their old busted down 1960s chevys. Old plantation houses that have been reclaimed by the swamp. The dark, humid heat of the night on a street with no streetlights. Every house you see is absolutely haunted by something and not just ghosts. Voodoo and hoodoo is different than what people will tell you it is.
Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo by Ntozake Shange, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jessamin Ward, and anything by Toni Morrison 100%.
#author features#spotlight#black history month#interactive fiction#interactive games#if: features#itch.io#slaughter squad#the valley of luck#interview feature#game dev
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Dina ( @dina179 ) a young mother of three beautiful children- oldest of whom is just seven years old and youngest being a baby who was born in a tent with very little medical facilities available. With every single day that passes, her children lose the childhood they should be spending playing with other kids their age to this genocide.
Dina has been fundraising on this site since june of this year and has only been able to reach 30% of her goal. There is still a long way to go, but her campaign has been stagnating badly, with only $15 donated in the past 2 DAYS.
She has told me how she has been despairing at this state of things, and this fundraiser is her only hope in taking care of her children. Please don't let dina and her children noor (7 years), omar (5 years) and baby farah be forgotten- please donate anything you can spare to her fundraiser and help this family survive.
[Verified]
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Spotlight
(added second ver.)
#tsp#the stanley parable#tspud#art#stanley parable ultra deluxe#tsp fanart#stanley tsp#tsp stanley#spotlight#the bucket#he no happy boi#:(#he angy#how tf do i suddenly know how to render
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Spotlight: Tom Ellis & Sasheer Zamata
Tom Ellis and Sasheer Zamata, stars of @netflix's Exploding Kittens, sat down with Tumblr person @overchers to share confessions, discuss getting tattoos of each other, and talk about cats.
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The Haunted Mansion Map by Windsock
Windsock's custom rendition of the Argynvostholt from Curse of Strahd, built with 2MT assets and a wagon-load of skill – yours to download!
→ Download it here!
#ttrpg#tabletop#dungeons and dragons#dnd#dungeons & dragons#d&d#d&d5e#pathfinder#gurps#rpg#top-down#battle map#map#cartography#encounter#geomorph#ghost#halloween#haunting#horror#house#manor#ruins#spooky#spotlight
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