Halloween 2017 I.F. – Instructions

Į̺̩̥̻̠t͉̦̩’̸̭̝̱̲s̸͈ ̲̟̭͍t̨̗̣̖̰̱̣ͅh̩̼̹̩̙̠à͎͖̩͙t̨̲̲ ̝̤ṯ͕͖̞̖͎̖i̤̺̝m̡e͈ ̮̩̀ơ̮̝̙f̭͖̠͈̱ ̬y̘̰͝e̜͈͙̙a̼̙͞r̙͈̳ͅ ҉̺̲̯͓͕͉ḁg̛̪͖̭̱̭̘ͅa͙͖̰̤̥̟i̧͕n̠͓̳̤͓.̢̦͙ ̠̮͕S̶̞̗̖h̖͕a̮͇̼͉͈̰l͏̩̯͙l͈͈̤̻ ͉͇̜͈̰̦w̤̠͈̻̠͖ḙ͉͇̝́ ́p͎͉̪̰̯l͇͇͙̖̫̘͍ą̼͙̱̥͔͙y̢̝̻̝ ̖̻̥a͙̲ ̵̮g͢a̼̘͟m̴̩̮͍̟e̺̖̟̪̹̺̕?̲̦̤̤̬͎

As with last year’s October story, Septimus and Sweet, I thought it’d be fun to celebrate Halloween together with a little bit of fun interactive fiction! This year’s fiction will be a m/m paranormal story about a young man who lives near to a known rift to the world that monsters come from.

Here’s how it works:

Tomorrow (Oct 2) I’ll put up the introduction to a story, describing the situation the character finds himself in. Then, you can click to reply to the post’s comments and leave a suggestion for what the character should do next! Basically, you’re an invisible audience shouting things at the screen–but the things you’re yelling will help influence the character’s actions.

Examples of what suggestions might look like: “Examine the mirror” or “break the vase” or “Don’t give up!! Think about your family!”

Get your comments in by no later than 5pm PST the next day. Then, between 5pm-9pm PST (approximately; on some nights I have other commitments it might be a lil earlier or later), I will put up the next part of the story. A new post will go up every day until Halloween!

If contradictory actions are suggested by different people (“Break the vase” and “take the vase with you”, for example), decisions on which to go with will be based on a) which gets more suggestions and b) which is more in line with the protagonist’s personality as established so far. ‘Think’ actions will usually never be contradictory and can include anything you want him to think about, with the exception of a) things he won’t know or b) if it’s in the middle of an action sequence since he might not want to stop and think about unrelated things right then. But in general, you can suggest whatever you want, even if it isn’t relevant. For example, “what do you look like, though?” could be a suggestion just as much as anything else—you are more than welcome to use your comment to learn more about the character(s) as well as advance the story.

(If you want to see how it works, take a read of the first couple of parts of Septimus and Sweet).

New people are completely welcome to jump in on the most recent post at any time–don’t feel like you have to be there from the start to play! Of course, if you’re jumping in late, I suggest reading the previous parts just so you’re caught up on what’s been done so far.

Ready? If so, feel free to comment to this post with NAME SUGGESTIONS for the protagonist! He’s 20 and lives in a world much like our own, except for the monsters. (I can only use one name, so if people like an already-suggested name, please comment to repeat that name suggestion. However, additional suggested names may be used for other characters throughout the story).

(The small text: I reserve all rights to this work. If I eventually get this published in any form and need to take this down, I will send copies of this online version, with comments people left intact, to everyone who contributed suggestions (if I am reasonably able to get in contact with them).)

Please Suggest a Name

[Completed Parts: Instructions | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | Day 21 | Day 22 | Day 23 | Day 24 | Day 25 | Day 26 | Day 27 | Day 28 | Day 29 | Day 30 | Epilogue | Author’s Notes]