MATTHIAS BACKGROUND STORY CAME OUT TIME TO BE INSANE ABOUT HIM.

Pls rant about non romance cole…he’s my favorite character in anything, ever and it feels so sad that we never got to have a deeper relationship w him. Like the mechanics/possible lore of having a romance with a spirit are so tantalizingly interesting but no…also doubting we will see him in veil guard which leaves me so so broken …

*looks at their pile of unpacked feelings about cole*

so ૮( ◡̀_◡́)ა where to start....................

first of all uh! im not good at talking! that's why i draw phphp but i'll try my best to resurrect my memories from 2014 and share it with you!! sorry if it will sound weird, english is not my native language! 

well WELL from the begining then. i remember spending hours  more like days hhhh thinking about how weird and cool the recruiting scene with cole is? later when he is already with the inquisition, our party is either on guard around him or kinda treats him like he is helpless and needs special attention or guidance or something like that? demonising someone like him or framing them as in need of help are like textbook behavior ofc and im not here to be a hater, i just noticed it? moments with solas and varric fighting over him like a divorced couple are super cute for sure!!

but i remember being confused because excuse me, out of all of them, this guy??, this feral bat that is chilling on the ceiling like it's a lounge-zone inside Lucius' head, created especially for him?

he is confident. also a little bit nervous, a bunch mysterious and just ghostly cool. but also confident. (im not saying this confidence is not misplaced sometimes btw x) he even tells you that if you'll leave your head you'll die! what a jokester (҂ ꒦ິヮ꒦ິ)

and the whole quest with templars and envy are soooo horror coded, i love it!! it looked a bit silly, sure

(even after so many years im not able to get rid of the image in my brain phphphp) 

but it's still a very interesting quest!! dorian is ✨the bestie✨ but i'm always picking templars bc the implications of the story are just so good

1. its placed at the beginning of the game and your character is probably confused and anxious and dont yet worked out the routine of how to deal with their new title\powers + not every inquisitor character would want to be in the spotlight.

imagine you suddenly got yourself into position where a lot of people looking up to you, listening to what you saying, placing their hopes on you or waiting for you to fail? this is terrible! id 1000% just jumped out of a cliff!!! a small one, but still 

2. you meeting the guy who basically came from a place you now have unlimited access to.

he is: a) almost as confused as you are b) possibly came to this world without knowing consequences of that decision c) along the way he is figuring out how to be himself in the environment that is nothing like where he used to live. wow thats just like forced immigration *nervous laugh*

3. and let's not forget that you are meeting him inside your head and you can say to him "you look familiar".

dont know about you but apparently i dont need much to start screaming ¯(ツ)/¯

also can i just spend the moment to say that this is three (3) identical dialogue options??????????

the screenshot is from here btw

how awesome would it be to be able to figure out stuff together? to find comfort in someone, with someone who barely experienced it this way? to build on your strong sides? like "hope" for cole and i guess "unhingedness" for the inquisitor? i bet they would ground each other easily as well: cole distracting inq by being unintentionally mischievous and inq would have a notepad with cole's "firsts ____" or they would just read together. oh im such a sucker for hurt\comfort\some things cant be healed stuff uaaaaaaaaa

ALSO THE "FORGET" THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the drama the horror the tension!!!!!!!! you can fight me over this but heres the thought:

cole being so stressed that he is erasing\being on the edge of erasing the inquisitor's memories??????

i got the feeling that cole's confidence in the concept of "help" is, among other things, makes him being able to zoom in on something borderline obsessively? or vise versa - dismissively, not noticing "it hurts, its not for the better"? he thanks you when you promise to kill him, he cries when you do not. i swear this man (─ ‿ ─)

+quick addition bc im not entirely sure: so if i got it right, the anchor makes the inquisitor "too bright" to read? so among all the people we know about inq is the one that cole can't truly empathise on this lvl? on spiritual lvl you might say lsdkjflksdjflkj sorry!!!!! but jokes aside,this is like the perfect ground to build both comforting stories 

"someone from the party notices that cole is hanging near inq before inq do, and when asked he explains it by saying something like "dry warm skin. the air is stilled with quiet, easy to breathe. i followed the shining whispers and then i was followed no more" with the most plain face possible? "

and "today for lunch i have glass" kind of stories, like "the inquisitor is cornered and possibly bleeding and probably on the verge of passing out and they know that situation is bad and no one should follow/find them, "it's better to wait it out and deal with it on my own" kind of clown behavior. so they laugh tiredly at how pathetic they are, maybe remembering something similar from their childhood, remarks from their sibling for ex., and just trying their best to not think about how they need cole's help, cole's presence. the sense of safety that comes when he is around" 

uh!!! that wasnt neither quick or painless so i'll go make a tea wait a second please

im back!! so since i talked about the forget thing i must confess - i dont really like cole's personal quest???? again, im not complaining or anything but i remember feeling kinda empty while playing it? like deep inside me, there was something sad, but it was so far away,i coudn't even feel it properly?

both human and spirit versions of his ending made me feel like the distance between you and him lengthened, and maybe you could do something about it before but now? this "something" is missing and you're lost and can't even tell for sure if theres was a chance to do something in the first place? and cole just moved on? its super logical considering he is not a romance option but phphph so, i rarely romance someone in games, partly bc rpg tends to be a little horny and im that kind of ace who is not interested in this, partly bc i tend to pay attention to non-romanceable characters, so when i started to explore last da:i dlc and i saw cole having gf i was like "well ouch".

imagine your inq has a crush on cole but they never were able to say it clearly?

mb it was a melancholic slowburn, and your character was going through too much and felt like burdening cole with their problems would be unfair?

maybe they tried but the timing was wrong, the words felt stupid, and their hands felt too dirty, too guilty?

oh anon its been ten years and its still huuuuuurts!!!! if you following me for a while you know that im an edge lord in poor disguise so its not surprising for neither you or me that i ended up rumbling about inexplicable sadness and crushing existential guilt, but sorry for that anyway!! if anyone would want me to talk about something specific, or to draw something - im here, staring at the wall, listening to cole's banter :') thank you for the wonderful question tho, it was more than just nice to return back to this ship. im so agreeing with you about cole being the fave character from everything, but i also understand that this could mean being very unsatisfied with the way he was portrayed at some points or just with the fact that characters like him are rare so im sending you warm and tight hugs and a little sketch!! <3 

let's collectively accept the fact that dav gonna be a beautiful mess, we gonna love it (passionately), we gonna be hurt by it (not surprisingly) and COLE FOREVER WILL BE THE BEST DA CHARACTER EVER IM NOT GONNA CHANGE MY MIND FIGHT ME

a little personal response / tribute to "here's the life i've always longed for" by Anna Haifisch. the original means so much to me, and even though it's hard, I feel like every day i'm making more steps toward finally being on the other side of that fence <:)

Monster / Epic the Musical

What's New In IF? Issue 1 (2024)

By Erika, Marjorie, Alex, Zach and Noi

Now Available!

Itch.io - Google Drive - Keep Reading below

EDITORIAL

We were always just lurkers… But no more! We were always just lurkers… But no more!

We had been talking for a while about the Interactive Fiction community, and wondering what we could to do… you know, do our part to help it become its best self.

And out of all the things available out there, between the directories and the group chats, the forums and the discord servers… it can get pretty overwhelming to be part of it all, to keep track of everything. And we realised there wasn't really a newsletter for IF. Something that tracks of what is happening…

RIGHT NOW!

So why not just… make it happen?

Like a lot of things, What's New in IF started on a whim. But we hope we can turn it into something great. Something that can help the community keep track of what's happening.

And we hope that you will join us too!

PS: we did cheat a bit on some dates for this edition :{

ERIKA, MARJORIE, AXEL, ZACH, AND NOI

EVENTS

~ CONFERENCE ~

You can now register for the Narrascope! It is happening June 21-23, in hybrid. They've also released the schedule of talks!

The Interactive Narrative Exhibition is looking for IF pieces to be displayed in a Museum in Poland!

~ ONGOING (VOTING) ~

Until mid-May, the Spring Thing is welcoming players to check out the entries vote for the “Best in Show”!

Do you speak German? The annual Grand Prix has released its submissions and is looking for voters!

~ ONGOING (SUBMITTING) ~

The Dialogue Jam by the @neointeractives group is open for submission until the end of the month. Only Dialogue is allowed!

In less than two weeks, the window to submit for the Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2024 will end. The goal is to make a parser for beginner players.

Also ending at the end of the month is the Amare Games Festival 2024, which is all about love!

On the Choice of Game Forum, the Diversity Jam is running. They accept any CScript game… as long at is not in ENGLISH!

~ ENDED ~

After months of hiatus, the 79th edition of the Bitsy Jam finished recently. The theme was: long distances.

The Second Edition of @seedcomp-if recently released its results. Congratulations to the winners!

~ OTHER ~

The Interactive Fiction Showcase is running throughout the whole year, where you can submit and/or play IF games from a wide variety of authors. It is happening on itch!

GAMES

New Releases

The Dice (Twine) is a psychological horror short game. (@stanwixbuster)

Summoned at 2 (HTML) is a short game where you must complete a summoning circle.

Giving Yourself Away (HTML) is the newest release of the Domino Club.

The Wretched Bitsy (Bitsy) is short adaptation of The Trail of the Wretched in bitsy.

How Do You Like Pain (RenP’y) is a visual novel about pain, death, and maybe nothing. Also part of the ‘Art Without Blood’ universe. (@catskets)

New Releases (WIP)

Corruptant (CScript) is a dark fantasy game, where you play as an amnesiac coping with their situation. (@cyn-if)

No Peace (CScript) is a ONE PIECE inspired pirate project.

The Psion (CScript) is a high-fantasy game, where you have Psionic abilities.

The Red and White Knight (Twine) is a Medieval Arthurian inspired project where you play as Lancelot du Lac. (@theredandwhiteknight-if)

Mutually Assured Destruction (Twine) is fantasy thriller about bonds and destruction.

Blackwood Manor (CScript) is mystery romance project.

Shattered Eagle: Fall of an Empire (CScript) is Roman Empire political intrigue.

hic est nihilum (Twine) is post-apocalyptic fantasy story, where you struggle against dieties. (@nightingale-the-lurker)

Speck (CScript) is a Horror/Sci-Fi project inspired by ‘Alien & Spiecies’.

GAMES UPDATES

Agents of Lucifer (CScript) added chapters 4 and 5 to its demo. (@aprismaticodyssey)

Era of the Archdemons (CScript) added chapter 3 to the demo.

The One Chosen (CScript) added more content to their beta. (@parrotwatcher)

Echoes of Kingdom: The Last Stand (CScript) added extra scenes.

Dawn of Heroes (CScript) added chapters 21 and 22 to its demo.

Honor among Thieves (CScript) added extra content. (@leoneliterary)

Dawn of Heroes (Twine) completed its second chapter. (@bladeweaver-if)

Merry Crisis (CScript) has made its last update available to all. (@merrycrisis-if)

Remnants of the Past (Twine) uploaded the final chapter of Act 1 (limited release before sale). (@remnantsofthepast-if)

What lies in the past (Twine) added chapter 1 to the demo. (@maluarty-blog)

Fallen Light (Twine) latest update is available to all. (@fallenlightsif)

OTHER

Limerence (Twine) is back on Tumblr. (@limerenceif)

We apologize in advance if we missed something, and forgot to add projects to this list. Please, let us know if something should have been added to the zine, and we will shout it out next week!

HIGHLIGHT ON...

A couple of games that we thought were cool.

Social Democracy: An Alternate History by Autumn Chen (DendryNexus)

That weird political game that took Twitter by storm, so strongly that there's even a fan subreddit where you can share your stats. It's all about what might have been…

i won't finish this game by Naarel (RenP’y)

An emotional visual novel about being a struggling indie dev game developer and depiction of suicide in narrative games. It is very short and hits hard.

Eat Me by Chandler Groover (Inform)

It was weird, it was gross… It's just genius. There's no way to describe how insane this game is. Maybe the most disturbing escape game ever made. No wonder it's so highly rated and won awards… TG for walkthroughs!

Your favourite game here?

Do you have a favourite game that deserve some highlighting? Tell us about it! A old or recent game that wowed you so much you want to spam it to everyone? Tell us about it!

We'll add it to the page!

FINAL WORD

We... don't really know what we're doing.

Yes, it's true! Not a lot of thought process went into making this. We actually started putting this together at 3-4am after making the Tumblr Blog.

We haven't really made any plan on what should or should not be included in this zine. We just knew we wished we had something like this when we started.

So while it may seem bare right now, we hope, in time, to fill all the pages, and even add more, as we find more projects, and events, and other IF- related stuff to share!

But for that…

We need your help.

Did you find a cool game that was just released? Or a project that shared a demo or update? Did you come across some cool event? Or found a neat article/blog post talking about IF?

Then, shoot us an ask or submit it on our blog!

THANK YOU!!

ERIKA, MARJORIE, AXEL, ZACH, AND NOI

WHAT'S NEW IN IF? 2024-ISSUE 1

it don't come natural to me to think

that you'd want me for me

the line in matthias's skill showcase is so creepy. what do you mean the invitation sender is the only other person who has never expected matthias to be like louis. BRO?

The Mountain Goats, “Heel Turn 2” // Topaz Winters, “battlefield” // Lilith Kerr (me) // The Mountain Goats, “This Year” // e.e. cummings // Tumblr user @girlroach // Angus & Julia Stone, “Make it Out Alive” // Gang of Youths, “Achilles Come Down” // Gloria Gaynor, “I Will Survive” // Mary Oliver // Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” // Richard Siken, “Snow and Dirty Rain” // Lilith Kerr (me) // Lilith Kerr (me), “rebirth” from unloving the knife (2023) // Gwendolyn Brooks, “To the Young Who Want to Die” // Lilith Kerr (me again; sorry, I was running out of material lmao) // Tumblr user @daisies-on-a-cup // The Mountain Goats, “Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1”

“There's all sortsa different people everywhere. You can't say everybody of one place is any one thing. It's no different when you're talking about Fódlan or Almyra or anyplace else. And wherever you go, you see people in power keep the weak ones down.”

JD's new years benediction, 2023

new friends.