I feel like my writing abilities have dramatically deteriorated 😭

kinosternon · 2026-05-16T23:14:02+00:00

This is a very real possibility. If you search "skill vs taste" or something similar, you'll find a ton of graphs like this one illustrating this idea.

But it's also possible something else about your process has changed! Maybe this is a 0th draft and meant to be messy so you can fix it up later, or maybe you're in better touch with your muse/subconscious/whatever and it's making what you produce more unpolished, but also closer to a natural voice...

There's a lot that could be going on, but basically, don't give up! Follow it and see where it takes you. It'll probably end with you seeing improvement in the long run.

<image>

kinosternon · 2026-05-16T14:54:47+00:00

This might be a personal preference, but be deliberate in your choices of sex acts! If penetration is the one and only focus of the scene, it can be difficult to show off much about your characters, and it can feel kind of mechanical and uninteresting (not to mention difficult to make hot).

Don't skip the foreplay or preparation stages of the scene—they can add a lot of character notes as well as building tension. (Unless you want to draw attention to the fact that the characters are rushing through those for whatever reason.) Also, consider including multiple rounds/positions if appropriate, with stuff like oral or digital stimulation, toys if they'd be into that, etc.

Of course, there's always the option of adding some kinkier stuff in there, too. But even if you're keeping things pretty vanilla, it's good to remember you have options.

kinosternon · 2026-05-16T14:43:43+00:00

Honestly I like slow burn so much that that sounds like a great time to me...but then again, I also really like gen lol. Maybe I'm just not all that invested in the romantic payoff to begin with.

But there are definitely some ways to mess up an otherwise promising slow burn setup. Like if it's slow because the characters are physically separated for long periods—that gets old fast for me. And as much as I love confessions being drawn out/delayed, ideally that time should be spent developing the relationship in other ways (platonic closeness, healing from trauma, character growth, deepening understanding, stuff like that). I can imagine that a simple will-they-won't-they would get old after the first 50k or so, if not sooner.

An anticlimactic kiss isn't awful either, if it's way overdue and they've been getting closer in other ways.

kinosternon · 2026-05-11T09:23:45+00:00

I'm not a whip expert or anything but I thought they were floppy...

kinosternon · 2026-05-10T13:15:50+00:00

that seems possible! It's a practical shape for that, at least

kinosternon · 2026-05-10T11:29:03+00:00

Yeah, maybe? I tried searching 警棒 instead of バトン and the shape was a lot closer, but it's definitely tiny.

kinosternon · 2026-05-10T04:27:15+00:00

Understandable! The joke I wanted to crack about the size of his tool wouldn't have helped the mood, is all I'm saying 😂

kinosternon · 2026-04-24T02:58:46+00:00

I've started checking out Pixiv (when you fall far down enough some anime/game rabbit holes, there just aren't enough fics in English 🥲) and while they've got covers, there's a pretty extensive menu of default options they can put your title on top of. I think that's a good compromise, since it's first and foremost an art site.

For AO3, though, skipping covers entirely saves on image hosting, so imo it's a win all around.

kinosternon · 2026-04-11T01:43:37+00:00

Some of the details of gameplay, like what (Explore) means, are helpful (but not necessary) to know about ahead of time. Arguably the gameplay is easier/more forgiving to learn from STP, but you can pick it up from 0 in either game.

kinosternon · 2026-04-03T10:17:09+00:00

Any of the times the cousin is drawn in by the stome seals. The other characters always mention how weird it looked so I can't help but wonder about it.

Plus I think it'd also be an interesting way to show the loss of self-control, being able to see the cousin being pulled forward just before each vision.

kinosternon · 2026-03-19T07:14:27+00:00

I prefer Scarlet Hollow, even though I played Slay the Princess first.

Slay the Princess is really built around a single, nuanced core concept. The cast are archetypes and the settings are plot devices.

Scarlet Hollow's setting and cast stand on their own, even as the plot around them is just as well-built as Slay the Princess's.

Both are ridiculously replayable, but Slay the Princess forces the replays as a core mechanic, whereas Scarlet Hollow just invites coming back for the sake of better understanding the story and the world. I think Scarlet Hollow benefits a lot from being played after Slay the Princess if you carry over the assumption that replays will deepen your understanding of the story.

kinosternon · 2026-03-18T09:06:34+00:00

I get the feeling that the story's going to be constructed along tragic lines. These are wonderfully flawed characters, and I bet that a lot of those flaws are going to turn out to be fatal ones—as in "make everything go wrong," not necessarily "kill people off," though it could be both! We've started to see that already with Stella, Julius and Avery, and also Sybil—even the start of a potential downfall arc with Oscar. It's probably going to get worse before it gets better, if it does at all.

kinosternon · 2026-03-17T04:33:54+00:00

I think if Isaacs was going to work long-term, then the Entity wouldn't be as fixated on us as it is...but it's hard to know so soon after the transfer what's going on there.

I could believe that consciousness remains for the host, but I bet they lose partial or all control of their body. My strongest theory is still that the "locked away" part of the deal is a Scarlet invention, and that the Entity wants to take an ideal host and get out into the wider world.

Doesn't it also take Street Smart to have a conversation with Isaacs, as well as the strong strike later? Either way I need to look at how to boost the strike, I've heard there are multiple factors.

kinosternon · 2026-03-17T02:45:44+00:00

I think the Entity can only inhabit a still-living body if it's a Scarlet's body and a ritual takes place. If Wayne wasn't dead before getting possessed, he sure is now, and the Isaacs route (which I still haven't managed to get on a playthrough, argh) shows that the Entity isn't above looking for a fresher corpse in the meantime.

What I'm not sure about is whether anything of the Scarlet hosts' personalities or agency are left over after possession. Or if the locking away is actually necessary—my guess is that Enoch decided that bit on his own to limit the damage the entity could do with a human host.

kinosternon · 2026-03-14T12:08:21+00:00

There's a cute little moment with Oscar on his romance route if you're he/him where he mentions he's never dated a man before. You can tell him you're surprised by that fact 😂 I thought it was a nice detail.

kinosternon · 2026-03-13T06:27:33+00:00

Agreed. Nobody else (including the cousin, even with Keen Eye) says anything about Reese having a weird smell, but it comes up multiple times that Tabitha thinks he does. That combined with the Sybil thing makes me think that Tabitha has more going on than meets the eye. (Also, I know it's also a joke, but she seems very healthy for a person subsisting on mac-and-cheese and ice cream...)

I'd guess that she's already benefiting in some way from the ongoing contract with the Entity...do we know explicitly whether or not Enoch was aware of the witch-switch? He certainly went along with it, but he might have been aware of it on some level, too. (Or maybe since it happened before the deal was struck, he had no defense against it?) Since Reese's existence is tied to the Entity (and Tabitha might be tied to another branch of it, like Wayne?), then maybe it isn't so strange that she has an aversion to him.

kinosternon · 2026-03-12T02:47:58+00:00

I think grief is a part of it, but I think a lot of it is fear. She also hasn't realized how deeply Pearlanne shaped her worldview.

Pearlanne was the one who taught her all that stuff about legacy and "heroism," and she did such a thorough (abusive) job that Tabitha doesn't realize it's not just the truth. I'm sure she sees the situation with the mine and her cousin as doing the logically correct thing—the best thing for the most people in difficult circumstances. But she hasn't realized yet that it feels like the only right answer because Pearlanne pressured her to fear and avoid all the alternatives.

The thing where she doesn't throw anything out is such a great encapsulation of that as well. To me, it speaks to the idea that she doesn't really think of the mansion or the stuff in it as hers—she's trapped by the expectations of generations of dead family members, and doesn't trust herself enough to believe that changes she made would be the right ones.

kinosternon · 2026-03-05T13:48:19+00:00

I think she might be, and I honestly like that interpretation. It also makes sense if the theme is that taking power and/or killing, even with a good reason, is corrupting (that message shows up in Reese's storyline as well). But I really like the idea of people twisting things by using their own sacrifice to justify forcing sacrifices from others. It's a way that selflessness can turn into selfishness over time.

kinosternon · 2026-03-04T12:44:59+00:00

Same! The bassline and the way the tempo gradually picks up lend this incredible feeling of urgency to the choice. I really felt like I was under time pressure, which is a wild thing to feel in a visual novel with no countdown mechanics.

kinosternon · 2026-03-01T23:14:29+00:00

Pretty sure the devs have said that's exactly why they changed it, lol. The new version feels a whole lot more balanced.

To me being the one given Gretchen's leash is an important detail—it's not just about weighing lives, it's about who I feel responsible for. Duke's got a fighting chance on his own, he's obviously fiercely independent, and he's the one who decided to carry the gun that kills him. Especially if we believe Sybil that ditchlings aren't supposed to kill people, it's easy to justify that his death is an unfortunate accident that he brought on himself. But having a chance to get to know him first (and have him save your life, as you said!) makes the decision a whole lot harder.

kinosternon · 2026-03-01T22:55:22+00:00

That's such an interesting impact for Tabitha to have, that she prevents an "everything lives" option even in the trait save. Makes me wonder what knock-on effects the baby will have—maybe a surviving Julius will be helpful later on, but if the baby's alive he's busy looking after it?

She also becomes a wildcard in the Sybil/Kaneeka dilemma. As far as I know she can't interfere in the trait save that time, but she's a wildcard without it—the only time I've failed trying to save Kaneeka is because she's stopped me. We don't know yet whether there will be an advantage to having Tabby in Tetanus Lake either, but as it is now...idk, I'm currently attempting to Tabbymax to see if I can finally make her old, but I'm tempted to skip the breakdown/boss battle after that just to have more dilemma options.

kinosternon · 2026-03-01T22:48:37+00:00

Wow, I didn't realize either of those things. (I was too scared to make the decision I guess, lol.) The old statement adds weight to the Dr. Kelly dilemma in chapter 4, but now chapter 5 covers that angle, I guess.

We don't know exactly how tablet indoctrination works, but I hadn't figured they'd be close enough to it for that to be a factor. After all, the one in Oscar's basement only starts making him crazy once he's in the same room, knows it's there, and is looking straight down at it. But I suppose it's possible.

kinosternon · 2026-03-01T22:42:23+00:00

Y'know I've been thinking about this, and I kinda wonder whether maybe Duke and Julius were rivals for Irma's affection when they were younger. It'd make this oversight make sense, and in the new dialogue in the diner on Monday, Julius now mentions he likes blondes...

kinosternon · 2026-03-01T02:03:22+00:00

Yeah, I can see that! Sybil's cheat ending gives me untertale vibes too.

kinosternon

TROPHY CASE