#itnitd

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choices, choices

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Day 7 of our Pride Month event with Jupiter!

Jupiter, Author of Supernova: Renegade

In the distant future, Humanity has mastered space travel and joined the intergalactic community run by an alliance known as the Galactic Board for Interplanetary Peace. While none of the GBIP species have their own military, there is still a need for a peace-keeping force. Thus, the Arbiters were created.

You have just joined the Arbiter ranks—whether you wanted to or not. This prestigious position comes with a fair amount of perks, including your own ship and crew. However, it’s also the most dangerous job in the galaxy. When a small colony faces an attack from an unknown source, you’re sent to investigate. What you uncover reveals a danger far greater—and far closer to home—than you could have ever expected.

Read more about Supernova: Renegade here.

Play the Demo here (17+).

Jupiter's Ko-fi.

[INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!]

Q1 - Please, introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your project(s)!|

Hey, I’m Jupiter! I’m the author of Supernova: Renegade and In the Night, In the Dark.

Sn:R was birthed when I realized how few space opera/science fiction IF’s there were and I had a moment of “Hey, I can write that!” It’s definitely the largest writing project I’ve attempted both in regards to word count and just sheer worldbuilding. Honestly, it’s been a little overwhelming at times, but I’m having so much fun with it!

ItNItD is a much more recent project and much smaller. I’ve always loved horror, so it’s been a blast delving into that creatively. I think interactive fiction is such a compelling match for the genre and I’m super excited by all the potential it holds.

Q2 - What or who are some of your biggest inspirations?

For Sn:R, I’ve definitely been inspired by Star Trek and Mass Effect. I love stories about ships and their crews and all the adventures they go on! It’s also a scenario that lends itself to found family, which I’m always a sucker for.

ItNItD is mainly inspired by House of Leaves and The Magnus Archives, though I’d say I’ve also been looking at the likes of the “Search and Rescue Officer” series just for pure vibes.

For writing in general, my biggest inspirations are authors such as RF Kuang (Poppy Wars trilogy), Donna Tartt (The Secret History), Iain Reid (I’m Thinking of Ending Things), and Patrick Rothfuss (The Kingkiller Chronicles).  

Q3- What excites you most about IF? What drew you to the medium?

I’m a huge fan of RPG-style video games—the more customization, the better! IF kind of combines that with my other great love, reading. I absolutely adore how much freedom IF provides to both authors and readers and how it lets the two work together to create a story.

I also think enough can’t be said about what it’s doing for representation. The community surrounding IF is incredibly diverse, which is another reason why I was pulled in so effusively! I love that authors across so many different backgrounds can express themselves and their stories, as well as giving readers opportunities to see themselves represented.

Q4 - Are your characters influenced by your identity? How?

Absolutely. I almost never write straight characters haha!!

Honestly, though, I do love filling the worlds I create with queer characters. I was born in 1995, so growing up I didn’t get to see a lot of (good) queer representation. Even just ten years ago, the height of gays on television was, like, Destiel from Supernatural or Sterek from Teen Wolf. Which, if you’re familiar with either of those even a little bit, you’ll know that wasn’t exactly. . . great.

I’m so, so grateful for how far things have come since then. I love that I can walk into a big-name bookstore in my city and see covers with POC and queers displayed “normally.” As in, they’re not part of a special “diversity display,” but rather just there. Normal and normalized.

So, I think I’ll always relish getting to write queer characters, because I can so easily remember a time when it wasn’t normal.

Q5 - What are you most excited about sharing related to your project?

That’s hard to say, honestly. I think I’m really just excited for people to get to play around in the worlds that I’m creating! Both Sn:R and ItNItD have some pretty fun plot twists that I’m definitely looking forward to all of my readers experiencing.

I’m looking forward to hearing about everyone’s MCs and seeing what stories we can create together!

Q6 - What would you like to see more of in LGBT+ fiction/IF community?

Just, more!

The amount of variation in complexity when it comes to queer characters and queer relationships is near-infinite and I love having the opportunity to experience the different stories people want to explore.

Q7- Lastly, what advice would you give to your creators and readers?

One of the most helpful realizations about writing that I’ve had recently is to write what you want. That might sound obvious, but it’s something I really used to struggle with. Be self-indulgent!! Writing creatively should be fun and if you put pressure on yourself to please all of your readers, it’s very quickly going to stop being fun.

While I think it can be good to be open to suggestions in certain situations, you first and foremost should focus on the story and characters that are going to make you happy. If you’re passionate about what you’re writing, it’s going to be obvious to your audience and it’ll be that much more enjoyable for them to read.

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Who will you find in the night?

Who will find you?

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TW: FLASHING LIGHTS

as promised, i didn’t work on ItNItD while porting Sn:R to twine

i sure have been thinking about it though, babey!!

here’s a little trailer that i whipped together. i’m back to working on the prologue, but it’s probably going to be a while before i can release it

i made The House in sims, so below the cut are some screenshots i took if you’re interested in a little taste of what’s ahead ;)

(also, i’ll be reblogging this with still frames from the trailer for those who can’t watch it 💖)

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How long has Margaret been 🤔🤔🤔living and dead? Like how old is she basically 💀

ahhh i’ve missed talking about my ghosty babes

margaret died when she was 24. it might be spoilery to say exactly how long she’s been a ghost, but it’s been 80+ years 💀

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In the Night, In the Dark is an interactive fiction game currently being developed in Twine. Inspired by works such as House of Leaves and The Magnus Archives, ItNItD will focus heavily on horror with elements of romance.

Current Rating: 18+, CW list TBD

The housing market sucks, to say the least, so when you stumble across a listing for a ĥ̴̩ô̸̮̒͗̋̅��̻̜u̶̗̦͖̯͈̽ṣ̷̨̞̼̏͛͋͝e̷̝̱͎̮͕͐̈ in the suburbs that's only a few minutes away from your new job and it's not rip-out-your-hair expensive—well, who could blame you for thinking it's kind of a dream come true? 

Sure, it's been on the market for several months despite the absurdly cheap price considering the size and location. And, yeah, the last owner only lived there for two months before listing it. And, fine, okay, it definitely needs a little TLC.

But beggars can't be choosers, and the owner is eager to sell. So, you buy it. 

Unfortunately, the mold growing in the bathroom and the outdated kitchen cabinets are the least of your problems. 

A fully customizable MC - Choose your name, pronouns, appearance, background, personality, etc.

Adopt a cat!

Explore an ever-shifting ḣ̵̯̐o̶̞̜͆ŭ̶̡͉̄͠s̵̹̜̀̅̓e̷̢̼̗̍͐, but be careful—death lurks around every corner.

Meet the entities that you share your h̵̞̜̜͗ǒ̶̼̞͖̐́u̷̧͇̪̐͂s̴̞̒̐e̶̙̻̝͗̈́ with. Ask them to pay rent at your own risk.

Determine who to trust. Choose wisely.

Solve the mystery of your new h̶̟́̐̂̄̂͜o̴͉̗͙̟̰͗̉͠͠ͅm̵̜̙̩̮̙͇̑̔̏̐̚ê̷͎͒͊̓͝!

What resides in the heart, visceral and pulsing? Will you bare yourself—naked, trembling, pitiful—or will you find your teeth and devour that which threatens you?

Margaret Littlewood (F) - Your resident poltergeist. She's fond of wandering the halls in the dead of night, wailing, with little regard for your sleep schedule. She also has a habit of throwing objects at your head when you try to talk to her. Sometimes, though, you catch a glimpse of her gazing out of the windows and think she looks. . . sad. Could it be worth pushing past her prickly exterior to try and get to know the woman she once was?

Bee Liall (NB/F/M - Player Determined) Your neighbor—human, thankfully. They seem surprised when you arrive with the movers, but they're quick to warm up and welcome you to the neighborhood. Considering what awaits you within your new home, you can't help but appreciate their immediate friendship. The longer you know them, however, the more you realize something is slightly off about your neighbor. You can't quite put your finger on it, though. It's probably nothing.

??? (???) - You feel like you're being watched.

DEMO TBA | RO PORTRAITS | KO-FI

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meet the ro's for in the night, in the dark!! they're not 100% perfect obviously, and i'll probably keep fiddling with them, but they're good enough for now lmao

bonus ??? under the cut:

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i’m thinking about all the endings ItNItD is going to have and getting super excited lmao

if everything goes according to plan, there’s going to be a point close to the end of the game where it very drastically branches depending on some key choices you make. to the point that i think i’ll include (optional) markers so you can know when it’s a Big Decision With Drastic Consequences™️

each RO will also have multiple endings to their routes—and, yes, there will be “bad” endings but i think it’ll be pretty obvious when you’re heading that way so you can try and redirect (if you want to)

not that there will be “good” endings, really. maybe like….melancholic? idk this isn’t a happy story lmao 😬

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ItNItD prologue no-context spoilers

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first i brought you "let's hope you're good at taking orders"

now i present to you

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hard at work on itnitd's prologue 😌 great news—you can start making bad decisions almost immediately

i don't think you'll be able to die in the prologue bc that seems kinda shitty, but who knows lmao

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The mystery RO from your new game has me feeling like I’m gonna be a fool romancing my house and end up thanking you for the experience. 😔 I am looking forward to the demo and appreciate you sharing and your hard work.

??? is going to be a really fun character for me to develop and i’m excited for you all to get to know them!! they’re such a creepy little freak lmao

their introductory scene is especially 👀

thank you so much!! i’m hoping it won’t take me 8 million years to write the prologue 😭

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official announcement coming soon...

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in the intro post to itnitd i mention that you have to decide which of the entities in the house to trust and i would like to clarify that the ro’s are not exempt from that

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Cat and haunted house? Oh boy, the entities better be ready to be taken for the cat!

Weird eyes out of the dark? Hiiiii fluffy lil kitty, wanna get cuddled? No? Okay :(

Loud noises? Hecc, what did the cat do this time!

Letting your hand fall off your bed and touching hair? Hahaha, hi lil kitty! Lemme pet you a bit!

Maybe the entities were out cat all along-

damn, you’ve figured out my plot twist 😔

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“6’9 creepy little freak” you say?? 👀

i do say!! they could end up taller, we'll see how good my self-control is

here's a WIP of their character portrait!! 😊