#check back soo for an excerpt from the novel!

[fellamarsh]

Both Sides of the Moon: Character Intros!

Aaaaaay it’s my mom’s favorite trans gay author, back again with a shiny new post for yall!

If you’re familiar with the premise of BSOTM, you know it’s a fantasy romance featuring comical levels of gay stupidity and gay evil - but who are these gays? Why are they so stupid? And what, exactly, is a vampire elf?

Well buckle up buttercup, cuz we’re about to find out!

Roannon Huaywa Mahankila, aka Roa: Nearing his thirties, Roa is content with his life; he loves his mother and his sister, his best friend Ha’Kahn, and the role he plays in his community - the Licanmos Clan, a society of werewolves that has called their desert home for millennia. He feels a close connection to his deity, the Moon, one of the principal Goddesses who created the cosmos and the planet that he calls home. Roa works with his hands, keeping his family’s ranch in good repair and tending to the clan’s herd with his fellow cowboys. He is also the clan Shepherd, a role that in ancient times would designate him the leader of the clan, but in Roa’s time is important only for ceremonial and religious reasons (and is only occasionally a source of embarrassment for him). A sweet man with an appreciation for nature and the beauty found within it, he is the more serious, contemplative foil to his prankster sister and best friend. Roa accepted years ago that romance would not be a part of his life, and is unprepared to find it unexpectedly knocking at his door...

Fun fact: Roa (secretly) has a wonderful singing voice.

[TRUE NAME REDACTED], aka Fae*: Fae wakes up in the Mahankila home with no memory of how he got there, and very little memory of anything else - including his own name. One thing he will never forget: he is a vampire, and so not to be trusted. One thing he cannot ignore: the profound grief lingering in his body, and the shell of stale terror surrounding it. Taking the name ‘Fae’ for himself after Roa’s mother claims his was the arrival of a talented fae foretold to her in a dream, the vampire swears that he will only stay with the kind werewolf family until he can regain his strength, and if possible, his memories... knowing that the longer he stays, the more likely he is to lose control of himself, or worse - because the mysterious and dangerous force pursuing him might show itself at any moment. But how is he supposed to leave the safety of the ranch with an undead body conditioned to survive at all costs, and a growing attachment to the werewolves, especially the gruff but shy Roa?

Fun fact: Fae tells the absolute worst jokes (but everyone is really nice to him about it.) He is also an elf, despite what this picrew might indicate!

*The reason it took me so long to post this is because, honestly, the options to make someone who is both masculine and ethnic enough to make Fae similar to how he actually looks/is described in the novel was impossible. Thankfully it was a bit easier with everyone else (especially the ladies)... but still! Come on! I do really appreciate the artists whose picrews I eventually used - they’re all beautiful, even if they don’t fit how my particular characters look, and they gave me the option to even make this post at all.

Now imagine, if you will, the above Fae but with a much more prominent nose and cheekbones; skin a warmer, darker shade of brown with the same sandy undertones; fuller eyebrows and lips; and then his ‘fantasy’ characteristics, like long pointed ears; a light, iridescent sheen to his skin under the sun; larger fangs; and a bite mark on his neck.

Secondary characters (plus a peek at our villain ;3) under the cut!

Suhi Condor Mahankila (left): Roa’s younger sister, also girlfriends with Ha’Kahn, Roa’s childhood best friend. Outgoing and friendly, Suhi quickly befriends her family’s vampire guest. Clever, observant, and with no tolerance for bullshit, she often knows more about what’s happening than she lets on, and occasionally uses this knowledge to set up elaborate pranks (often with the help of Ha’Kahn, and usually to Roa’s detriment). The reluctant heir to her mother’s powers, Suhi may work hard, but in general she’s rather laid back - ask her about her horses, though, and you’ll see how excitable she can be.

Fun fact: she has a nickname only Roa uses - HiCo.

Lucia Valaine (right): Fae’s best friend, and his vampire ‘sibling’ whose past shares many things in common with his own. She cares for Fae - and anyone else deemed important to her - very deeply, and, as such, holds them to a high standard. A fashionable dresser barely taller than five feet and sporting a soft, curvy physique, one might not know at first glance that Lucia is a fierce, highly skilled fighter, ready to fight tooth and nail for herself and her loved ones.

Fun fact: Before she was turned, Lucia was a well-known dancer.

Jimena Condor Mahankila (left): Mother to Roa and Suhi, and honorary mother to Ha’Kahn, Jimena is not only a clan Elder, but the clan Messenger - a prophetess whose sacred role is to receive and pass on wisdom sent directly from the Goddess, the Moon herself. She predicted Fae’s arrival, but claims to know nothing more about the purpose behind his presence on the ranch. Warm, intelligent, and firm, Jimena uses her magical prowess and wisdom to heal and guide those around her, and to uphold the teachings and traditions of her clan.

Fun fact: Jimena has a close (read: gay) relationship with Ha’Kahn’s mentor, Tze.

Ha’Kahn Allca Callañaupa: Roa’s childhood best friend and Suhi’s girlfriend. Ha’Kahn is a non-binary ADHD-having short king; they are high energy, fiercely loyal, easily distracted, and much-loved by the rest of the clan despite (or because of) their unrelenting clownishness. Brave to the point of stupidity, Ha’Kahn is infinitely more emotionally mature than they first appear, and is the first person Roa turns to when he needs advice and support. They also play an important role in the clan - Ha’Kahn is clan Spire, endowed with incredible strength and the ability to transform into a wolf at will, with a sworn duty to protect the clan and advocate for the alienated. Just don’t remind them that they’re still an apprentice, unless you want to be subject to some highly overdramatic pouting.

Fun fact: Ha’Kahn’s greatest wish is to jump off of a waterfall and live to tell the tale; Roa and their two dads have successfully talked them out of this on several separate occasions.

Alaric: An Evil Gay Eccentric whose hobbies include dark magic and murder. B loooves to hate this motherfucker - but if you want to find out why, you’ll have to read the book ;)

Fun fact: He owns at least two full size pianos.

[viralhottopics]

27 Nonfiction Books By Women Everyone Should Read This Year

New year, new books. At least, thatswhat we wrote back in December, when we were just starting to add titles to our 2017 reading lists.

Now that were nine days into the new year, our to-read list has only grown. And while our first book preview was filled with all the fiction you could handle, we wanted to take a moment to talk about the incredible wave of nonfiction were expecting this year, too.

Particularly, were talking about nonfiction from women authors because a single year that includes memoir and essay collection releases from the likes of Roxane Gay,Patricia Lockwood, Joan Didion, Yiyun Li, Mary Gaitskill,Samantha Irbyand Camille Paglia is worth celebrating.

Behold: 27 nonfiction books by womeneveryone should read this year.

JANUARY

Scribner

Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation by Kyo Maclear

For many of us working full time in urban environments, the prospect of studying mushrooms or catching fireflies seems like a faraway fantasy. In 2012, writer Kyo Maclear was inspired by a musician she met who had fallen in love with birds one of those rare natural spectacles readily available in cityscapes. The author spent the year devoted to the winged things, observing them and documenting the changes she underwent along the way. Birds Art Life chronicles her journey, exploring the many shapes passion can take, and the many spaces natural beauty can occupy. Priscilla Frank

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreJan. 3.

Simon Schuster

Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living by Manjula Martin

Earlier this year, Merritt Tierce, author of critically acclaimed 2011 novel Love Me Back,surprised readers with an essay detailing what shes been up to since the buzz about her book quieted. I promptly went broke, she stated in Marie Claire. Now, shes delivering mail. Its not a tragic anomaly, but a new reality for writers including those who have achieved some sort of objective success is confronting laughably low pay. So, whats a writer to do? Manjula Martin, founder of WhoPaysWriters.com, edited a collection of essays by the likes of Jonathan Franzen, Emily Gould and Alexander Chee, doling out practical advice. Maddie Crum

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreJan. 3.

St Martins Press

The Meaning of Michelle: 16 Writers on the Iconic First Lady by Veronica Chambers

Whenever I think about Michelle Obama, I think, When I grow up, I want to be just like her. I want to be that intelligent, confident and comfortable in my own skin, author Roxane Gay, one of the 16 writers included in this timely homage to forever first lady Michelle Obama, proclaims. With a preface from Ava DuVernay and more essays from people like Phillipa Soo of Hamilton, this is a good book to help ease your way through the end of the Obama presidency. Katherine Brooks

Available onAmazon or at your local bookstoreJan. 10.

Simon Schuster

How to Murder Your Life: A Memoir by Cat Marnell

In an oddly perfect bit of timing, Cat Marnell whose singular, manic style of beauty writing on the womens site xoJane led to a certain brand of internet infamy returns for public judgment with her long-awaited memoir just as that same site rings its death knell. Marnell wrote openly about her high-flying New York lifestyle, addiction and rehab stays, subject matter that attracted both fans and critics alike. Her memoir promises more relentless excavating of her lifes darker parts and glossy magazine juiciness. Jillian Capewell

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreJan. 31.

FEBRUARY

Grand Central Publishing

All The Lives I Want by Alana Massey

The title of Alana Masseys essay collection comes from a Sylvia Plath quote that reads, in part, I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. Masseys meditation on our cultural fascination with the iconic, prematurely deceased writer is a standout of her upcoming collection, in which she probes the lives of famous and infamous women and incorporates her own experiences to arrive at sharp insights on celebrity fascination and personal examination. JC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreFeb. 7.

Farrar Straus and Giroux

This Close to Happy: A Reckoning with Depression by Daphne Merkin

It is an affliction that often starts young and goes unheeded, younger than would seem possible, as if in exiting the womb I was enveloped in a gray and itchy wool blanket instead of a soft, pastel-colored bunting, Daphne Merkin wrote in a 2009 piece for The New York Times Magazine. Merkin brings her longstanding affliction depression to life through her remarkably honest and visceral descriptions of the mental health condition that still remains largely cloaked in silence. In the essay collection, Merkin revisits childhood memories, therapist visits, hospitalizations and more, yielding an intimate portrait of life as a woman and a writer living with depression. PF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreFeb. 7.

Random House

Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life by Yiyun Li

Novelist Yiyun Li turns to nonfiction in 2017 with this literary autobiography. A love letter to her authorial influences, a memoir of her youth in China and her writing career in America, Dear Friend explores how language and literature help us shape who we are and what we hope to be. If youre not convinced, check out the excerpt recently published in The New Yorker, which poignantly unravels her relationships to Chinese and English and why she chose to renounce one for the other. Claire Fallon

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreFeb. 21.

Bloomsbury USA

Abandon Me by Melissa Febos

The best memoirs, like the best novels, dont lean on a fantastical life story but on the unforgettable prose of a born storyteller. Abandon Me is the second memoir of Melissa Febos; her first, Whip Smart, shed light on her experiences as a professional dominatrix. In her latest, Febos excavates the legacy left by her birth father, whom she didnt know, and her close bonds with her mother and her adoptive father, a sea captain. Intermingled with this reexamination of her childhood and ancestry is a love story the aching, erotic saga of her affair with a married woman. Searing and eye-opening at every turn, this memoir will be a must-read. CF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreFeb. 21.

Farrar Straus and Giroux

Flneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and Londonby Lauren Elkin

A flneur is defined as one who wanders aimlessly. However, for most of cultural history, this someone was presumed to be male. Cultural critic Lauren Elkin challenges this assumption by celebrating the women throughout history who have dared to move throughout urban spaces on foot. Elgin explores the personal and political implications of a woman moving through a city alone: who she looks at, who looks at her, and what happens when she makes her primary place outside the home. Elkin intersperses her own personal experiences wandering through Paris with the many flneuses who came before and the types of self-transformations that can only occur on foot. PF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreFeb. 28.

MARCH

Abrams ComicArts

The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui

In The Best We Could Do, Thi Bui tells the story of her familys departure from South Vietnam to the United States in the 1970s, providing a Vietnamese perspective on a war that rocked the cultures of both countries.Pulitzer Prizewinning author Viet Thanh Nguyen described it as a book to break your heart and heal it. Bonus: The entire memoir is illustrated. KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreMarch 7.

Knopf

South and West by Joan Didion

Joan Didion, the great author of books like Slouching Towards Bethlehem andThe Year of Magical Thinking, is a lifelong notebook addict. She uses them to record overheard conversations between strangers and her own banal observations, to jot thoughts about interviews and potential new works. This collection of never-before-seen bits from her notebooks includes musings on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976, a road trip with her late husband, a ladies brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters Convention, a meeting with Walker Percy, and much more. As HuffPost writer Maddie Crum wrote last year, If youd like to keep on nodding terms with the person Didion used to be, you can read South and West. KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreMarch 7.

Random House

The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy

Right now, you could summon almost any material good youd like 50 delicious tacos, a new book, a yearly supply of cat food and have it at your door within seconds. You can even secure a potential hookup while sitting alone in your apartment. We take these comforts for granted, and sometimes forget that not everything in life is conveniently bendable to our whims. Thats the premise of New Yorker writer Ariel Levys new memoir, which posits that we cant have it all. We still cant have children past a certain age; its still tricky to maintain a healthy relationship while still seeing other people. What you can have is this book thats both personal and urgent. MC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreMarch 14.

Haymarket Books

The Mother of All Questions by Rebecca Solnit

Writer, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit is the mind behindMen Explain Things to Me, hailed as the antidote to mansplaining.The Mother of All Questions has been ambiguously described as the formers follow-up, involving as you might have guessed new essays on feminism. All we can say at this point is that Solnit knows how to write an intriguing book title. KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreMarch 14.

Pantheon

Free Women Free Men by Camille Paglia

Since the 1989 release of her first essay collection, Sexual Personae, CamillePaglia has continued to confound categorizations as a feminist who thinks womens studies is a comfy, chummy morass of unchallenged groupthink, an art historian who thinks Star Wars is the best artwork of all time, and a lesbian who doesnt get along with lesbians. Free Women Free Men is a compilation of Paglias best, and most incendiary, previously published essays, guiding readers through her singular perspectives on culture, sex and femininity. At times infuriating, at times glittering, Paglias prose is always biting and relentless. Its more effective, however, when praising Madonnas sexuality than defending date rape. PF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreMarch 14.

Ballantine Books

How to be a Bawse by Lilly Singh

Lilly Singh produces a popular YouTube channel, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before the actress and comedian wrote a book. Described as the definitive guide to being a bawse: a person who exudes confidence, reaches goals, gets hurt efficiently, and smiles genuinely because he or she has fought through it all and made it out the other side, the book will likely reflect aspects of Singhs#GirlLove initiative. KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreMarch 28.

APRIL

Pantheon

Somebody With a Little Hammer by Mary Gaitskill

The author of Bad Behavior, Veronica, and Two Girls Fat, and Thin made a name with herself with her stories that explore power dynamics between men and women. She writes, also, about beauty standards, performance and the pressure women feel to compete with one another. Occasionally, shes applied these thoughts to nonfiction essays, on everything from Bjork to Gillian Flynn. Finally, theyve been collected, and fan girls everywhere are squee-ing. MC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreApril 4.

Harper Perennial

Sunshine State by Sarah Gerard

Sarah Gerard was a shining voice in fiction with her experimental, reeling debut Binary Star, about a teaching student struggling with anorexia and her toxic boyfriend while on a road trip. Now, readers are treated to Gerards insight and emotional probing into nonfiction matters in an essay collection focusing on the place where she was raised Floridas Gulf coast. JC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreApril 11.

FSG Originals

Too Much and Not the Mood: Essays by Durga Chew-Bose

The title of Durga Chew-Boses upcoming essay collection Too Much and Not the Moodcomes from one of Virginia Woolfs journals, referring to the endless editing and tweaking writers self-inflict to make their voices pleasing and meaningful to readers. For young women, who, as Chew-Bose has written, are used to self-editing from the day were little girls, the task appears especially eternal. In her essay collection, partly inspired by Maggie Nelsons balance of the personal and the theoretical, Chew-Bose explores what it means to be a writer as a young woman of color today. PF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreApril 11.

Pantheon

Imagine Wanting Only This by Kristen Radtke

In her debut book, Kristen Radtke undulates between public and deeply personal observations. Her story begins when she attends her uncles funeral near a dilapidated mining town; from there, she sets out to explore abandoned places while contemplating a heart disease many members of her family have suffered from. Loss echoes throughout its illustrated pages, threading disparate corners of the globe together into a touching narrative. MC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreApril 18.

Farrar Straus and Giroux

American Originality: Essays by Louise Glck

Louise Glck is known as a brilliant poet, but in the course of her long and storied career, shes also turned her hand to prose. Her first collection of essays, published in the early 90s, won a PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction so theres every reason to expect good things from her upcoming essays on contemporary poetry. CF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreApril 18.

Farrar Straus and Giroux

A Grace Paley Reader: Stories, Essays, and Poetry edited by Kevin Bowen and Nora Paley

There probably isnt a better teaser for this book than the short and succinct statement that appears on Amazon the summary describes it as an essential book for all Grace Paley fans. The late Paley, born in 1922, is known widely for her short stories, essays and poetry, so for those interested in acquainting themselves with a literary legend, this is the reader for you. And it doesnt hurt that it kicks off with a introduction by George Saunders. KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreApril 18.

MAY

Picador

One Day Well All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter: Essays by Scaachi Koul

This is Scaachi Kouls debut essay collection, centered on her experience growing up as the daughter of Indian immigrants and a woman of color in the West. On Twitter, she urged readers to preorder my book and laugh yourself into an early grave. If youre looking for equal doses of humor and outrage in 2017, we suggest you check this out. KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreMay 2.

Riverhead Books

Priestdaddy: A Memoir by Patricia Lockwood

Patricia Lockwoods rule-breaking, creative poetry hints that shell offer a memoir bursting with rule-breaking, creative prose. Priestdaddy, like much of her poetry, tackles issues like religion, gender norms, class and, above all, her relationship with her eccentric, deeply Catholic family. As the title indicates, her father is a Catholic priest skirting the celibacy mandate, it seems, by seeking the priesthood only after marrying and starting a family. Funny and gorgeously written, with scenes so witty and zany they could be lifted from a Broadway show, Priestdaddy will be one of the major prose debuts of the year. CF

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreMay 2.

Vintage

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby

Samantha Irby is the kind of essayist who can make readers cry with laughter and tear up with emotion within pages. It only takes a few moments reading her blog, Bitches Gotta Eat, to understand how compelling her voice is one that earned fans with the 2013 collection Meaty and surely will again with this years offering, which promises both madcap and life-affirming tellings that cover Irbys pitch for herself as the Bachelorette, a trip to Nashville to scatter her estranged fathers ashes, and more. JC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreMay 30.

JUNE

Sarah Crichton Books

Can I Borrow That?: Essays by Jenny Allen

You might know Jenny Allens work from the humorists show I Got Sick Then I Got Better, an emotional and witty one-woman show about grappling with an ovarian cancer diagnosis and subsequent recovery. If not, allow the writers new essay collection to introduce you to her singular voice, which her publisher describes like a female Dave Barry. In the book, Allen touches on middle age, living with a serious illness, and more quotidian experiences like being a houseguest and attempting a craft project. JC

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreJune 6.

Desiree Navarro via Getty Images

Firsts: How My Twenties Helped Me to Redefine Realness by Janet Mock

Author and activist Janet Mock wroteRedefining Realness in 2014, outlining her path from a poor, multiracial, trans kid in Hawaii to one the most influential people on the Internet. We dont even know yet what the book cover looks like, but we do know thatFirsts will focus on Mocks 20-something years, recounting her stint as a stripper, her first-generation college experience, her move to New York, and her start in journalism. KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreJune 6.

Harper

Hunger by Roxane Gay

This is a big year for Bad Feminist author Roxane Gay. Her book Difficult Women, a collection of short stories about women of all origins and aspirations, came out earlier this month. While were poring over that, were also anxiously awaiting Hunger,subtitled A Memoir of (My) Body and described by HarperCollins as a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself.

I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe, she writes. I buried the girl I was because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, somewhere … I was trapped in my body, one that I barely recognized or understood, but at least I was safe. KB

Available on Amazon or at your local bookstoreJune 13.

Every Friday, HuffPosts Culture Shift newsletter helps you figure out which books you should read, art you should check out, movies you should watch and music should listen to. Sign up here.

Read more: http://huff.to/2jAPPUV

from 27 Nonfiction Books By Women Everyone Should Read This Year

[rastagong-tearoom]

Serving of Tea #4: The last stretch

Excerpt from Devilman Crybaby, courtesy of reddit user Tomaiua.

Hello everyone!

I know it's been forever, apologies for this utter lack of updates. I am not dead yet, and I have been working on Sylvan Disappearance all the while.

It has been pretty challenging, though. It's also not over yet. I've had a pretty busy semester school-wise with a certain research project, and working on both a visual novel and my research consistently has been……… pretty difficult. I think I fared well enough, overall? Well, I still have some amount of work ahead of me.

At the same time, part of why this whole VN development thing took so long is because I didn't want to cut too much on sleep, social time, down time. For the most part, I have succeeded in this regard! Yeah for healthy habits!

Besides, I can announce that the scripting process of Sylvan Disappearance is now complete! This is the last stretch, finally.

Here is a brief description of what remains to be done:

Going through a last editing pass

I still haven't read the VN from back to back myself, and I absolutely need to do so! For the sake of editing the text itself to a satisfying level of course, but also to ensure the internal coherence of the story and to polish the general presentation.

I ended up changing a number of core scenes during scripting, and if I do not ensure that the whole narrative is consistent, some parts might feel somewhat strange in the final result.

I might also cut down on the length of certain scenes! The story currently sits at a little over 45 000 words, which is actually quite a lot. I promised myself that I would not hesitate in cutting down where possible, if appropriate. We'll see.

Soo, yeah, the whole thing definitely goes a bit further than a mere editing pass.

Some amount of external testing

It's tempting to skip this step, but I know I shouldn't!

In the field of game developement, it's usually recommended to test early and frequently. This generally holds true for parser- or choice-based interactive fiction.

I am not sure of the applicability of this idea to visual novels, though. Since they tend to be longer, and more linear —in short, more alike to regular novels— iterative testing doesn't seem as helpful. It usually doesn't make much sense to have someone read an incomplete draft, unless the projected length is very high, or specific feedback on a precise aspect is needed. (I'd be curious to hear the thoughts of other writers on the matter!)

At any rate, I'll be kindly asking a few friends for help regarding playtesting, I hope it will work out!

Correctly attributing every free-to-use asset in the story

This one is going to take more time than it appears.

As I explained in the past, I rely extensively on photographic backgrounds with permissive licenses for the story, and it will probably remains so for the foreseeable future. As you can imagine, this practice of reuse extends beyond backgrounds: all sound effects and music in the story are somehow free to use.

Whether or not they use a Creative Commons license (which explicitly requires attribution), the authors of all these resources ask to be credited for their work, as they rightly should be.

I always strive to be precise and exhaustive when attributing specific assets! It's basically the least I can do, and it's even very little in comparison with the real, hard work which went into the production of original music, sounds, photographs.

However, explicit and correct attribution is not that common. It might be because in the mind of creators and final users alike, there's something shameful or cheap in the act of relying in pre-existing work, which all ties into our expectations of high production values regarding digital works. This is of course very understandable, because commercial pressure requires market value. And there is obviously tremendous value in original art.

However, I genuinely believe that assets in the public domain or with permissive reuse licenses should be valued as sources of common wealth too. And this starts with rightly attributing these assets to the creators who kindly offered them to everyone. The Creative Commons non-profit offers us both a succint summary of good attribution and an in-depth look at the best practices for attribution. I highly recommend checking out the latter if you're interested in the topic!

The baseline is that good attribution does take a little time, but not too much. Ideally, the title, the author, the license and a link to the source should be included. There are no hard rules though, it is more of an general ethical recommendation. As stated in the page: “there is no one right way; just make sure your attribution is reasonable and suited to the medium you're working with. That being said, you still have to include attribution requirements somehow, even if it's just a link to an About page that has that info.”

The best practices page also acknowledges that attribution is harder in non-textual media, like games and videos, and suggests different methods of attribution.

I've personally settled with:

A succint summary of all the contributors on the itch.io page that will host the VN. It merely lists names by category.

This summary is also reported in the rolling credits at the end of the game.

An in-depth credits menu inside the game, accessible from the main menu at any time. Each track, sound and background is visible either with a thumbnail, or with an audio player. In all cases, the credits menu explicitly lists the author, the license, background information on the asset and a link to the source.

I won't lie, coding a credits menu takes a little time! I still think it's worth it, and I hope some players enjoy having a look at the assets that went into making the whole VN, and learn a few things about the numerous real-life locations and talents behind it all!

The credits menu itself is mostly coded now, though I still have to add the audio player for sounds and music, and to fill it with all the assets. I've also coded the rolling credits at the very end, and I similarly only need to fill them with the names of all the involved authors.

Attributing each asset with all the required information will take some time, though. It's relatively easy to get lost in the task, to spend hours tracking the source of each asset if it was not cleanly compiled somewhere prior to beginning. I learnt this lesson the hard way in the past.

For Sylvan Disappearance, I prepared myself correctly. I've been using a giant spreadsheet to keep track of each and every asset used in the course of the story, with all the required information easily accessible by column. I even added bookmarked assets that I did not intend to use at first, for easier reference in case they became useful. Here's a sneak peek:

Now all I have to do is reporting each and every line in the credits menu. It will take time, but it is doable!

A potential release date?

When will this VN finally come out? ...I... still can not say for sure.

This month, this much is certain! I am almost done with schoolwork, but I will most likely be busy again in the second half of April anyway. But overall, Sylvan Disappearance should be released by April 26 at the latest!

(Most likely, it will be released right before April 26.)

That is all for today! This should be the very last long-form serving of tea before the release.

I will endeavour to write very short promotional posts. And since I still cannot show anything else from the game itself, I will find something else. I already have a small idea, I think it can prove interesting!

Until then, take care everyone!