#this podcast makes me feel so many things

[interact-if]

Our second edition of the Black History Month Author Spotlight series features beloved author, C.C. Hill (@when-life-gives-you-lemons-if)!

(CC is an absolute institution. What better way to celebrate Valentine’s than by doing a feature of the slice-of-life romance queen herself? CC is one the most inspiring, supportive IF writers out there, and it was a great honor to pick her brain! Read on for pandemic-setting feel good stories and Creole-based spells!)

Author: C.C. Hill

I'm from Haiti, born and raised. I love red wine, ice cream, and I'm obsessed with true crime podcasts.

Games: When Life Gives You Lemons (Slice-of-Life)

Synopsis: You play as an MC starting a new life in a small town called Lemon. It’s a story about self-discovery, love, and parenthood—a comfort story where the love interests want to sweep you off your feet.

Games: The Midnight Saga (Horror)

Synopsis: After finding yourself trapped in another dimension, you and your friends must fight for survival and defeat the monsters that lurk in the shadows. Make sure to grab a weapon as your quiet Halloween night turns into an out-of-this-world adventure!

Quote from the interview:

What mostly inspired Lemon in particular was the need for a feel-good story—a story where the character just needs a break. No magic, no monsters, just going through life and having the romance options fall in love with them no matter what. It was just the need for comfort, for feel-good moments, for romance, and a little bit of drama.

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'm from Haiti, born and raised. I love red wine, ice cream, and I'm obsessed with true crime podcasts.

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?

I'm working on so many things it should be illegal for my brain to operate this way. But mainly, When Life Gives You Lemons. My plan is to focus on the final part in March, do some beta testing, and submit it to Hosted Games in April for my birthday month.

I'm also under contract with Heart’s Choice, writing Spices of the Heart, with hopes of completing it this year. On top of that, I’m working on publishing my first visual novel, The Wedding. It’s close to completion, and I have the third quarter of 2025 planned for publication.

I only started writing interactive fiction in 2020. When the pandemic hit, I needed something to keep my brain occupied, and five years later, I’ve published three games and still have a ton of projects in progress.What mostly inspired Lemon in particular was the need for a feel-good story—a story where the character just needs a break. No magic, no monsters, just going through life and having the romance options fall in love with them no matter what. It was just the need for comfort, for feel-good moments, for romance, and a little bit of drama.

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 first game, The Midnight Saga, was heavily inspired by my background and where I'm from. The story itself is based on an old Haitian folklore about not staying outside after midnight—if you do, the Keeper of Midnight will eat you. I took that idea and built the characters around it.

I even managed to include some spells written in Haitian Creole. It was a lot of fun to write, and even though Book 2 is currently on hiatus, this story has a special place in my heart because it was my first game. The characters are a representation of my people and the struggles they’ve gone through. I’m really happy that it was my debut story.

What are some of the most rewarding or challenging aspects of writing Interactive Fiction for you?

For me, it’s branching and being able to write an MC and other characters in a way that readers can truly connect with. Lately, I’ve been writing a lot of feel-good romance and slice-of-life stories, and I’m starting to feel like this is my comfort zone—and I want to stay here forever.

I never want to create a romance option that is inherently bad or purposely deceitful. My biggest challenge is writing characters who are flawed and complex—where readers can love them or hate them—but making sure they aren’t just villains for the sake of it. They’re simply existing in the world they were created in.

What does your writing process look like? Any rituals or habits? Any tips, tricks, philosophies or approaches that have worked very well for you?

My writing process is a mess. My brain gets pulled in so many directions. When I get an idea, I have to code it, shape it, and give it life—otherwise, it’s going to bug me forever. That’s why I end up with so many WIPs. I need to see them through, at least to a short demo, to see if they make sense.

My desk is also full of notes, and I basically write on anything—pieces of napkins, tissue boxes, whatever is nearby. One weird habit I have is that some of the best changes I’ve made to my games, those "spark" moments, happen when I’m in the shower. It’s weird and strange, but it works.

What’re you excited to tackle/implement/work on next? Or anything you’re looking forward to in the year ahead?

Keep writing romance and feel-good slice-of-life stories. Get When Life Gives You Lemons published this year. Focus on doing this full-time. Publish my visual novel.

Overall, just stay busy and be productive.

If you were to say one thing to your readers, other authors, and/or the interactive fiction community: what would it be?

To the readers—us authors don’t have all the answers. Sometimes, we start writing a story and end up forgetting certain plots or characters, which is easy to do when writing interactive fiction. So yes, we often write ourselves into a corner and just put a period there so the story can progress.

To the authors—write stories you love, something you would want to read. It makes it easier to keep going because if it’s a story you love, you’ll want to see how it ends, and that will push you to persevere.

This-or-that segment: (red = CC's pick)

Coffee or tea?

Early mornings or late nights?

Angsty or Cozy romances?  

Steady progress or frenzied binge-writing followed by periods of calm?

Introvert or extrovert?

Plotter or pantser?

[lais-a-ramos]

ohhh, that's a very interesting take!!!!!

i tend to disagree with the idea that laura lee would be, like, a fierce opponent of wilderness cult

but that's mostly because i tend to see laura lee as having two main personality traits that could make her lean into worshipping something different or mixing up her won religion with the wilderness cult, which are being very impulsive -- like jane widdop has described her in the yellowjackets buzz podcast -- and also being in desperate need for a purpose

and that's why i accept many headcanons that involve laura lee and wilderness cult

but i personally tend to think that laura lee would actually become some type of bridge between the two sides, because she had this curiosity for spirituality, but also a strong moral compass

so, the idea of laura lee trying to embark on this journey with lottie, but also questioning when things might go too far, like the hunt in season 2, that's something that feels true to the character, if that makes sense

because, while very impulsive, laura lee doesn't seem like the type to be full of hatred, so i can't see her taking the direction of combating fiercely the others as the people who flanderize her as just a bible thumper seem to believe

i think she would try to keep the peace, just like in the scene of the girls fighting during kegger party on pilot episode

ok, the laura lee in the wilderness part ended up longer than i planned, sorry 😅

but, i agree 100% with everything else

i really believe lottie wants to keep laura lee's memory protected from the horrors of the wilderness

and, YES, the way lottie doesn't mentions laura lee seems very intentional, especially considering how it was technically confirmed that the heliotrope in lottie's compound comes from laura lee's dress lottie wears in 1x10 by the season 1 costume designer marie schley in an interview for the yellowjackets hive podcast (link here )

plus, of course, how she still saw laura lee's ghost 25 years later

and that's what i think makes the scene that lottie is talking to a very high-on-hallucinogenic-shrooms travis that "grieving is not a competition", and the same goes for her silence about laura lee in her eulogy about the others who died, so interesting

because, as you said so well, it's like as if lottie is trying to protect laura lee from that mess and that brutality of the wilderness in a way

the eulogy scene on season 3 is also a huge contrast to doomcoming, in which lottie made sure to mention laura lee as if she was asking ppl to remember laura lee along with her, to grieve laura lee along with her

and that makes me think that lottie not mentioning laura lee, besides an attempt to keep laura lee's memory "pure" and a refusal to believe that laura lee would end up stuck in the wilderness afterlife, was also a way for lottie to push her own personal feelings aside for the good of the group

which makes her line to travis about grief even more significant

grieving might not be a competition, but that is an advice lottie will give others but not follow herself, probably bc she feels like she has to put the group first even if she is not the leader anymore

i'm not, like, disagreeing with you or anything, pls, don't get me wrong 😅

i just think the way that lottie deals with her own emotions is so fucking complex, she is a very fascinating character to discuss

also not to bring up laura lee into everything but you all knew that i would so. here's some thoughts

even though i'm a big fan of thinking that laura lee would've been into the wilderness religion and even made it worse even if just to sanctify lottie. objectively speaking it is more probable that in canon it would've been the opposite, that they did kill her off thinking it was best for her to not even see them turn into this. and! most importantly, that the other characters, that lottie believes that too

that's why i believe it is so interesting and significant that laura lee was so absent from that ceremony, lottie's prayer, and that there's not even something symbolic for her in their little cemetery. because we know for a fact that lottie never forgets about her, that 25 years later the memory of laura lee still haunts her. so if she doesn't mention laura lee it is fully intentional

so what does lottie say during that speech? "three souls that have slipped into the darkness that lasts forever" do you think she wants to think of laura lee in perpetual darkness? no, she wants to think of laura lee's soul in heaven. in peace. happy. "rejoice at the knowledge that they're still with us" she wouldn't want laura lee still there with them, she would want her to move on. "we can still hear them. we can still feel them. they haven't gone" it doesn't matter how much it pains her, she would rather lose laura lee completely than have her still stuck in that place with the rest of them. "javi/jackie/the child, now with the wilderness" laura lee is not with the wilderness. by omitting her name, lottie is saying that laura lee not. with. the. wilderness! real or not, most importantly, it's what lottie believes. she does not want to believe that laura lee is with the wilderness!

[moonshynecybin]

i dont think vale realises how much he's exposing his own feelings. like, this whole rant just proves he cares, directly or indirectly, about marc SO MUCH. so much. to this day he thinks about every smile, every expression. he cared and still cares about marc so much. which lowkey kinda makes marc's. uhmmm. i don't want to say surface level projected indifference but it kinda IS. when you think about the whole opposite of love thing etc. with vale engaging with anything marc related so clearly PASSIONATELY with so much intensity and feeling. and marc just going :) not up to me :) ah yes valentino said so. ah well :) hmm yes valentino is better than lorenzo. with his neutral tone and polite pr smile. he appears at least to be Disengaged. and i wonder if it stings vale. on many levels

i think it DOES hurt that marc doesnt engage and its got the added fucked up dimension of vale thinking. oh okay so i never mattered to him and he NEVER cared (while marc is like. altering large amounts of his public behavior adn being fundamentally altered as a person bc it hurt him so bad lmao) and thats why marc's face is perfectly smooth and empty like polished glass and thats why he never actually engaged whenever i tried to verbally fight him off track. because he is to literally quote valentino on podcast appearance numero uno "indifferent."

like idk bc vale also seems very displeased when marc DOES engage w the historiography of the rivalry (all one singular time... and thats probably the impetus for the first podcast appearance anyways, where he NEEDS to assert that marc WASNT hurt, he was DETACHED...) but in a lot of ways the specific way marc handled sepang (publicly mostly silent EXCEPT for the insane gone girl generational hate-ride in the race) confirmed all of his worse biases and assumptions that he had already made post-phillip island: that marc hated him, that marc didnt want him to win, and that marc didnt care if vale lost or how deeply that would hurt him as long as he had a smaller number of titles to win in order to match vale's total. like vale thinks hes the victim not just bc marc got involved in the title fight, but specifically bc marc had a cold-blooded selfishly motivated little agenda where vale's feelings could get just run through the fucking shredder and he wouldnt blink. and THATS why i think that marc's continued sort of. public blandness on the issue really would piss him off lol

[akpinkprincesss]

I'm catching up on woe begone and it just got me thinking about some of the characters, like really thinking about them and damn it hurts.

i was thinking about lieutenant and it made me realize that he was a victim. what he went through was worse then anyone could ever imagine and he had to adapt to survive. Of course that doesn't excuse his actions but he isn't a horrible person doing things our of malice, he is a victim who did horrible things his abuser (the man who brainwashed him into obeying his every word) told him to.

and its not like ANY of the other mikes have it easier, michaels especially. Like i think the reason they (michaels) all hate lieutenant is because they have all been through horrible pain and suffering. They all have lost edgar and i think most (if not all) of the ones who are alive right now were held in the compound and also tortured, they just werent brainwashed.

In general i think the michales have a hard time empathizing with other characters because they dont want to get close to others in case they die. But any version of mike also have a hard time empathizing with lieutenant because they were also tortured and they didnt react like that. However they forget that trauma victims will do whatever it takes to survive and in this case lieutenant had to become the perfect solider or else he would die, or worse. and the only character who witnessed the torture first hand is either dead, doesnt interact with lieutenant at all or doesnt care which proves my point (i cannot remember what happened to that michael)

and after i had those realizations it sent me on a mini spiral about the W.B "villains" are actually just victims, these are usually iterations of the mikes. Like this nobody guy who just appeared (for me) i dont know what his deal is (and i dont want you to tell me) but the way hes talking it cant be good. The way he could withstand a gunshot for as long as he did doesnt give me good vibes. of course that could be of his own design but i dont know yet and when it comes to mike walters i can hope for the best but expect the worst.

of course not every villain in the story is a victim, like eagle he can taste the carbon of my bat as i slam it full force into his face. but some of them are just victim to circumstance and the horrible events that always follow mike walters.

thanks for reading my long ass rant, ive had feelings that i needed to get out. i might have more to say on the topic later but for now i will leave it. also ignore grammer mistakes im not in the mood to edit right now :/

ive been listening to this podcast on and off for about 2 years now? so there are bound to be mistakes in lore as i forget things and ill go a few months without listening then binge the 10+ episodes so if you have any notes please add them (without spoilers please i am only on episode 154 thanks)

note: do not take this the wrong way i love this show and this is NOT a criticism of the writing :D

[vickozone]

Hey, TMA fandom!

Do you remember Sergey Ushanka?

No?

Well, he’s the guy that got his brain -> 🧠

coded and converted into a computer -> 🖥️

Then, he ate a keyboard -> ⌨️

[Season 2, MAG065 - Binary]

Well, we all know the upcoming Magnus Protocol, correct?

…

Unrelated, do you know that thing going around about how Jon and Martin are mentioned in a line of code?

If you’ve already seen the released episodes because you’re a patron, LEAVE. 👉🚪

helpful visual aid

[weremadeofbadcode]

Malevolent fandom.

Hear me out.

Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen

But it's John and Oscar.

[corviiids]

wben i finally get more than 0.2 microns of energy and make one of the multiple video essays i desperately want to make so i can yap out loud as god (never) intended

[outlying-hyppocrate]

i really, truly, terrifyingly am unaware of who i am as a person. obviously, interests don't make up an entire personality. but what am i without them? the labels i use to describe myself no longer fit me. i have these swathes of names in my head that i don't want to belong to me and they do nonetheless. i am rotting. i am dying on the inside. one day i will fit to my own ideals and i will be happy and healthy and see beautiful sunlight stream through my windows again.

[dyketennant]

oh i can already tell i’m about to have some really unpopular opinions about the edge of sleep tv show

[bluebirdlester]

..

[secret-sageent]

listening to the mistholme museum podcast. please excuse me while i just

[hephaestuscrew]

Audio Drama Sunday 24/11/2023

Here's the new stuff I've listened to in the past week and a bit:

🏠 Unwell Ep3.01-3.07 - I really liked the first couple of seasons of Unwell, and I don't know why my listening fell off midway through Season 3 in 2021. (Honestly it might have partly been that some of the dementia stuff hit too hard. Ep3.05 was A Lot in a masterful way...) But I thought I'd resume it from the beginning of Season 3, and it's been really nice to return to these characters and this world, even if I can't remember all of the context. I'm tutting at Hazel, a librarian actively withholding and distorting information. I'm shaking my head at what Rudy's gotten himself into. I'm very emotional about Wes - the first episode of this season was really moving. And I'm excited to see where things are headed!

🚀 Travelling Light, Ep1-3 - Like Monstrous Agonies, this show has such a lovely reassuring vibe. I'm in awe of H. R. Owen finishing one show and almost immediately releasing another weekly show nearly single-handedly. It reminds me a bit of the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers, because of the exploration of the diversity of cultures across different planets and species, and the way these differences are celebrated. I've also noticed that so far the cultures described tend to be more local and specific than 'every alien of this species has this tradition' - instead it's usually about the people who come from a certain city or region on a planet. Which helps avoid some troubling attitudes that sci-fi which contrasts different species can imply. My favourite archive entry from these episodes so far was the drinking song. It felt convincing as that kind of song and was fun to hear.

🌊 The Silt Verses, Chapter 36 - This was one of those episodes that made me stop in my tracks in the street as I listened. I cared so much about the two characters who were only introduced this episode, and the ending sent shivers up my spine. I often hate listening to flirting but the flirting via memory games was unusual, sweet, and compelling in a way that made me smile in spite of the Horrors around them. Also I think Carpenter should be a bitch about unimportant things like music trivia more often. I loved her and Hayward bickering. She should get to care about things that aren't gods or rituals or matters of life and death.

🚇☕ Greater Boston / The Amelia Project, Live Crossover Episode - This was an excellently done crossover in terms of blending elements of both shows in a way that I think would work for someone who was only a fan of one or the other. I was pleased to hear Felix Trench's absurd portrayal of Mark Walhberg again, but my favourite parts were Chuck Octagon attempting to sum up the events of Greater Boston (and the Interviewer's reaction to this) and the Narrator narrating the Interviewer's response to his offer with his own exaggerated impression.

[all-thestories-aretrue]

If anyone cares I am STILL thinking about that phone call. He tried to call her back!! TWICE!!!!

And the line about how she keeps thinking about the way his scars felt. 🫠🫠 end me.

Edit: actually im not done. How long has britta been thinking about this??? Since before her loss of willpower??? After??? How did that psychic attack change things?? Would she have said all that if she still had her full willpower?? How did that affect all her other emotions? I'm going to say it intensified them, or at least the shame she feels at wanting something for herself. Now she just doesnt have the control to say no. How often has she denied herself in the past??? What other consequences will we see going forward??? Britta!!!!!

[audhdwitch]

spell log 9.23.2023 money jar

a slightly different version of a spell i've previously used for getting gig-based work, reworked to suit on-hand materials and to pull that part-time job i applied to recently.

materials:

jar

appropriate sigil + tools to write the sigil on the jar's lid

$2 bill

pouch (doesn't need to be fancy. this time i just used a folded up half of a paper towel secured with a rubber band)

rice

"hard work pays off" powder

coins

citrine

(optional) "spun gold"

steps:

gather materials and do whatever you gotta do to get settled and into your headspace. personally, the path to least resistance on this for me is getting high and throwing on my money draw playlist on spotify.

affix your sigil to the lid of the jar. my jar is awesome and has a chalkboard lid, so i just draw it on with chalk. if you don't have an awesome jar you can also just paint it on or draw it on a scrap of paper and affix it to the top with tape or something. set this aside.

fill your pouch with a bit of rice (seriously, you don't need a lot. maybe a few tbsp max) and sprinkle in some "hard work pays off" powder. secure the pouch however you see fit so that nothing falls out. set this aside, too.

optional: spin your gold, if you haven't already, and set that aside as well. (adapted from the lovely @breelandwalker, you can "spin gold" by methodically wrapping golden thread/embroidery floss/similar fiber around a spool or three, and tying it off. i had to look up how to do this and tbh i still am not sure i totally got it right, lol)

time to put stuff in the jar! i do it in a Particular Order to minimize the Bad Sensory sound of coins clinking against glass but honestly stuff can just Go In There. the order i do it in is: $2 bill, rice + powder pouch, pour spare change all in there (i always make a Big Deal of slowly pouring the coins in for the Vibes. the $2 bill and pouch going in first really helps muffle the sound). nestle that citrine in there; i have a lovely palm stone that always fits like a dream. optional: toss in those spun-gold spools now, if you have 'em.

close the jar and seal however you see fit. i wrap a little hand-woven thingy around it left over from the original iteration of this spell. set in a semi-prominent (or at least easily accessible) location and let it work its magic!

notes:

you can charge this spell over time by adding spare change.

when your jar gets full, grab some of those paper coin rolls and start rolling. deposit your full rolls, or use them to buy yourself a little treat. any coins leftover that didn't make a full roll go back in the jar to continue accumulating!

[wolfiemcwolferson]

.

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

Mackerel how involved do I have to be in watching trigun. like how crucial is it to look at the screen (figuring out if i can watch it at work)

HMMMMMMM. i dont think i would suggest it for a work show at least for ur first time seeing it !!!! its very visual a lot of the time (<< parts that are Just Music/Sound Effects for tension, fight scenes that are just a lot of gun sounds and not a whole lot of dialogue etcetc) so i think first time going into it u should definitely pay attention BUT. personally i find trigun98 to be a very enjoyable background noise show :] i have however watched it all the way through like 6 times atp LMAO