#tba / aesthetics

[antisocialxconstruct]

oof as much as I'd love to start drama by asking what IFs you have beef with..... I have to go with the less targeted question of 'what are some IF tropes you think are overdone'. personally if I have to see the same four ROs recycled into another game one more time I'll scream

LOL probably a safer question for me to answer too...

ROs are a big sticking point for me as well. Seeing the same archetypes over and over, feeling like someone came up with ROs first and is now desperately trying to finesse a story that can justify all of them being date-able*, someone having an actually interesting and compelling story to tell but bending themself into pretzels to fit in six romance arcs that may not even serve the plot just because that's an expected convention... Also in general I never lose interest in a new project faster than when I see artbreeder RO portraits. Not even because it's """AI art""" but because it's always the same empty eyed model-perfect 20something in different colors.

(*NOT the same as a story primarily designed to be a dating sim. I generally think that's fine as a genre, and some of these people would have an easier time if they were willing to admit that's what they were writing and not some sweeping grand narrative.)

My other biggest issue with a lot of amateur IF is like... excessive and overly ambitious customization? I think a lot of authors don't know where the line is on what they can just allow the reader to imagine without there being a variable for it, as well as what they should frankly just... be willing to decide for the reader when it best serves the story. As far as MC customization, I think this really stems from a lot of people in the community getting their first introduction to IF through CoG and then drawing the conclusion that if some character customization is good, more customization must be better! But if it's not going to come up in-text and be directly relevant to the plot or how the MC is characterized*... it doesn't need to be canonized.

(*by which I mean, like... making your character a specific religion, or disabled, or something like that. Things that actually impact how they engage with the world.)

Branching off of that, I think maybe my most potentially controversial take is... not every IF needs to have a customizable MC at all. It's entirely possible to write a story with a set, static protagonist, and still allow the player to make decisions that allow them to shape that character and the broader plot in a way that still feels personal and like they're an active participant. VNs tend to go this way, or else they have a faceless MC who still tends to have a more set personality, and I think sometimes I read IF demos and I really get the feeling they wish they could be writing someone specific, and they're getting hamstrung by the idea that they need to sand off enough defining features to let the MC be anyone.

[leagueofdccm]

LIKED FOR AN EDIT BETWEEN OUR MUSES : @wiredcapability

MAGGIE RHEE & NEGAN SMITH EDIT : Clarity by Zedd & Foxes

High dive into frozen waves Where the past comes back to life Fight fear for the selfish pain It was worth it every time

Hold still right before we crash 'Cause we both know how this ends A clock ticks till it breaks your glass And I drown in you again

'Cause you are the piece of me I wish I didn't need Chasing relentlessly Still fight and I don't know why

If our love is tragedy, why are you my remedy? If our love's insanity, why are you my clarity?

If our love is tragedy, why are you my remedy? If our love's insanity, why are you my clarity?

Walk on through a red parade And refuse to make amends It cuts deep through our ground And makes us forget all common sense

Don't speak as I try to leave 'Cause we both know what we'll choose If you pull, then I'll push too deep And I'll fall right back to you

[coeluvr]

Are there any tips you'd give to newbie IF writers?

I'm probably the last person to go to for advice 😥 I would say before you post your IF's intro and such, please make sure it's pleasing to look at!

People eat with their eyes first!

I'm certain one of the reasons I got a ton of followers as soon as I posted the intro was because it looked nice. It makes you look a tad bit more professional (I need the boost because I act really chill lol) and it makes people actually read it.

Also, I would say have banners and such in between text so it doesn't look like a block of text to people. People are more likely to read small bits of text rather than huge ones!

[mamoritxi]

💞 REVOLVING HEARTS — for tatsuya & kaede !

» ―― [  moodboard    and    aesthetics    game.  ] ❈

[knightinsourarmor]

Kuchel Ackerman (& Ethel Cain)

You're such a strange girl

I think you come from another world

[disturbnot]

[muhtal]

BASIM IBN ISHAQ AESTHETIC. ( do not reblog. personals do not touch. )

[impurc-moved]

@devilsanddarlings Alyssa and Hope aesthetic

[doomxdriven]

— of people and thoughts, mind controlling (drawn by panart_08!!)

[hyaciinthxs]

tag dump.

TBA:

➴ ; ARLO.☼

➴ ; MICAH.☼

[leagueofdccm]

LIKED FOR AN EDIT BETWEEN OUR MUSES : @twiicetheheart

SOLDIER BOY & MICHELLE EDIT : Pieces by Rob Thomas

Run away, run away if you can't speak Turn a page on a world that you don't need Wide awake and you're scared that you won't come down now

Didn't I tell you you were gonna break down Didn't I warn you, didn't I warn you Better take it easy, try to find a way out Better start believing in yourself

We build it up, we tear it down We leave our pieces on the ground We see no end, we don't know how We are lost and we're falling Hold onto me You're all I have, all I have Hold onto me You're all I have, all I have

Now and then there's a light in the darkness Feel around 'til you find where your heart went There's a weight in the air but you can't see why, why

Didn't I tell you you were gonna break down Didn't I want you, everybody wants you Tell me what you're needing, give into your bleeding Never any feeling for yourself

We build it up, we tear it down We leave our pieces on the ground We see no end, we don't know how We are lost and we're falling Hold onto me You're all I have, all I have Hold onto me You're all I have, all I have

[emcads]

- Esmeralda’s cabin, once her grandfather’s cabin, was large and richly furnished - Ayisha stepped inside the cabin, and looked around in wonder. It was much different from Jack’s cabin. For one thing, the colors were tasteful, not garish. Beautiful rugs lay on the deck, and several tapestries hung on the walls. The furniture was antique, ornate, and polished to a mellow glow. - Later, much later, Jack lay on his back in the big bed, listening to Esmeralda’s breathing as she slept, curled against him.

[mamoritxi]

💞 REVOLVING HEARTS for Kaito

» ―― [  moodboard    and    aesthetics    game.  ] ❈

[knightinsourarmor]

blessed be the Daughters of Cain

bound to suffering eternal through the sins of their fathers committed long before their conception

blessed be their whore mothers

tired and angry, waiting with bated breath in a ferry that will never move again

blessed be the children

each and every one come to know their god through some senseless act of violence

blessed be you, girl

promised to me by a man who can only feel hatred and contempt towards you

I am no good nor evil, simply I am

and I have come to take what is mine

I was there in the dark when you spilled your first blood

I am here now, as you run from me still

run then, child

you can't hide from me forever

[sarccphagus]

CYRIL MOLDBOARD. 133 TASK 002.

"I was very young when I was cracked open. Some things you should let go of, others you shouldn't. Views differ as to which. I keep hold of everything, just in case." — Emily Berry