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[partiallystarsif]

Might I ask what the difference between Social and Insight are? (Feel free to talk about Physical too, if you would like!)

sure, I can do that! 😁 putting this under a read-more as well, for folks that don't want (minor) spoilers:

so there's four main "skills" in Partially Stars, which represent how your character prefers to approach situations and overcome obstacles. Physical, Mental, Social, and Insight.

Physical is pretty self-explanatory. this is strength, dexterity, constitution. choosing a hands-on approach to solving problems. when faced with a locked door, someone with a high score in Physical would try to kick down the door or climb in a window. Sun and Smith both prefer Physical choices to solve their problems.

Mental is also pretty self-explanatory. this is logic, strategy, and intelligence. you prefer to think before you act. you're the person with the plan. when faced with a locked door, someone with a high Mental score would try to pick the lock, or to find a key. Mack and CJ generally try Mental methods first.

Social is interpersonal skills and charisma. it's being able to charm other people into helping you, or at least talk them into looking the other way. someone with high Social skill would talk someone else to open the locked door for them, either as a favor or by convincing others that they were supposed to be there the whole time. Ahmed and Harper are both Social engineers, and use charm (or intimidation) as their first option.

Insight is intuition, perception, and going with your gut. it's looking for a less obvious, and often easier, solution. noticing details that others don't. when faced with that locked door, a person with high Insight might look for another entrance to the building, or they might inspect the door and find that one of the hinge pins is loose enough to remove it from the frame entirely. Captain Akina and Q are both very Insightful, and are aware of a lot more than they let on.

over time, as you start to build up different skills, there will be differences in what you notice in certain situations, depending on what you tend to lean toward, but just because you have a preference for one skill or another doesn't mean you can't choose one of the others once in a while 😉 maybe a physically-skilled stowaway wants to try a more subtle approach and try picking the lock this time. maybe an insightful character looks for a different entrance, then decides they'd prefer to kick down the door anyway. nothing has to be set in stone

[partiallystarsif]

hello! do you have a link to your patreon you could post?

of course! it's right here 😁

[partiallystarsif]

im a patreon-user who just played the demo recently and just ahhhhhh, i fucking love Sun lmao thank you for their creation, their sharky grin keeps making my toes curl like Right, Right, Right, I Forget I Have A Type Sometimes lmao rip

(which btw, ive gotten into bfe (boyfriend energy) videos recently, and this one made me think of male!Sun with how ive experienced him in-game with also how you said Sun in general is clingy and very pda when romanced, and this felt very Sun��My Specific MC to me from what ive imagined from that ♡)

also, a bit unrelated, but i wanted to ask in regards to the backgrounds bc i have dsycalculia and chronic memory loss, i couldnt seem to parse through via the summaries (bc dyscalculia makes me avoid stat stuff usually) which option is high Intelligence + Charisma at the cost of Physicality? the best i could process was the Extranet Background or maybe the Professor?? but i cant be sure without processing the stats i have been avoiding (and even then, i process numbers unreliably and misprocess values all the time, so i doubly would want to confirm even if i did confront the stats and then try to write shit down so i didnt have to remember them mentally while comparing) bc a charismatic snd smart but physically weak MC would best fit the personality id want to play that is still malleable enough that i havent decided on much else to be set in stone (like. yknow. a background occupation lmao)

thanks so much for the help and the fun ♡♡♡

hi, I'm glad you're enjoying Sun! 🥰 They're a delight to write, very cuddly but in a dangerous way. like a grizzly bear. with a gun

I'll go ahead and make the notes in the game for each background more specific about what stats they increase to hopefully make that less confusing for you and anyone else who has the same issue, but I can go ahead and list them here too!

SPOILER WARNING under the cut for those who want to avoid them:

Farmer: +2 Physical, +2 Insight

Criminal: +2 Physical, +2 Insight

Professor: +2 Mental, +2 Social

Carapace Racer: +2 Physical, +2 Mental

Extranet Personality: +2 Social, +2 Insight

Mercenary: +2 Physical, +2 Insight

Doctor: +2 Mental, +2 Insight

Rock Star: +2 Physical, +2 Social

Retail Worker: +1 to each stat

so if you're looking for intelligence and charisma, that would be the Professor!

I'm also realizing as I look at it like this that I have 3 of them with Physical/Insight, so I may rebalance that and change mercenary to Physical/Social instead 🤔

I hope this helps! and like I said, I'll adjust the wording in game for the next update to make that clearer as well

[partiallystarsif]

I’ve been quiet here a long time, huh.

I apologize for that, and thank you all for your patience. For those who don’t follow my other blogs, I got sick at the beginning of the year and have been fighting my way back to something that feels normal ever since. I think I’m close to it again finally, and have been trying to get back to work on both Speaker and Partially Stars.

As a peace offering and a gift for waiting so long for me, I present: a playlist. 26 songs, featuring 2 for each crewmember plus a few others!

(Here on Spotify)

The game should be along before much longer as well. Just a bit more coding to do 🖤

Track list below the cut:

01. Satellite Call - Sara Bareilles You may find yourself in the dead of night / Lost somewhere up there in the great big beautiful sky

02. No Plan - Hozier There's no plan, there's no race to be run / The harder the pain, honey, the sweeter the sun

03. [Akina] I'll Be Good - Jaymes Young I'll be good, I'll be good / And I'll love the world, like I should / Yeah, I'll be good, I'll be good / For all of the times that I never could

04. [Akina] Different Kind of Knight - Christian Kane See I'm a different kind of knight / You're gonna find your fairy tales are lies / I don't have a white horse / But you can come along for the ride.

05. [Ahmed] Fake Happy - Paramore See I'm gonna draw my lipstick wider than my mouth / And if the lights are low they'll never see me frown

06. [Ahmed] Fistfight - The Ballroom Thieves The day I finally met you like I knew I would / You raised me from the wreck of my doubt / You were smiling to yourself as if we both understood / The silent language of the anguish of a heart that sings but doesn't make a sound

07. [Q] Outside Of This Town - Christone "Kingfish" Ingram I'm so tired of doing the same old thing / Shooting for the highest star / Want people to remember my name

08. [Q] Something Just Like This - The Chainsmokers & Coldplay Where d'you wanna go? / How much you wanna risk? / I'm not looking for somebody / With some superhuman gifts

09. [Sun] On To The Next - Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown I got nothing to lose / Nothing to hide, nothing to prove / Put your money in your mouth, roll the dice, make a bet / Stack up your chips, watch me push 'em off the edge

10. [Sun] Start a Fire - Ryan Star Here we go / Just lose control and let your body give in / To the beat / Of your heart as my hand touches your skin / Is this love / Or just sexual desire / We're gonna start a fire

11. [Mack] Still Breathing - Green Day As I walked out on the ledge / Are you scared to death to live? / And I've been running all my life / Just to find a home that's for the restless / And the truth that's in the message / Making my way away, away

12. [Mack] Love Sneakin' Up On You - Bonnie Raitt I gotta know, do you feel the same? / Do you just light up at the mention of my name? / Don't worry baby, it ain't nothin new / That's just love sneakin up on you

13. [CJ] Watch Me While I Bloom - Hayley Williams If you feel like you're never gonna reach the sky / 'Til you pull up your roots, leave your dirt behind / Mmh, baby you got a lot of shit to learn

14. [CJ] In Your Eyes - Gavriel All I know is I can't get you off my mind / I'm still unsure if uncertainty is certain doom / Then it goes right back to you / And I can't remember being blue

15. [Smith] Heaven's Got A Back Door - Dead Sara I'm through feeling sorry / For the things that I can't choose / If I made it this far being who I am / Maybe heaven's got a back door too

16. [Smith] One Woman Man - John Legend From the moment that I met you / Knew that I would never let you / Slip away, it's okay / You can make me / A one woman man

17. [Harper] All I Really Want - Alanis Morissette And all I really want is some patience / A way to calm the angry voice / And all I really want is deliverance

18. [Harper] Like Real People Do - Hozier I will not ask you where you came from / I will not ask you and neither would you / Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips / We should just kiss like real people do

19. [Walker] I'm With You - Avril Lavigne I'm looking for a place / I'm searching for a face / Is anybody here I know / 'Cause nothing's going right / And everything's a mess / And no one likes to be alone

20. [Walker] Wicked Game - Chris Isaak What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way / What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you

21. [REDACTED] My Way - PVRIS I don't ever fight, just blow a kiss / And I got two fists but I'm a pacifist / I'd rather stay high and just take, take, take the hit

22. [REDACTED] As Long As You Love Me - The Backstreet Boys And how you got me blind is still a mystery / I can't get you out of my head / Don't care what is written in your history / As long as you're here with me

23. [Stowaway] Man In The Box - Alice In Chains I'm the man in the box / Buried in my shit / Won't you come and save me? / Save me

24. [Stowaway] Sweet Surrender - Sarah McLachlan It doesn't mean much / It doesn't mean anything at all / The life I've left behind me is a cold room / I've crossed the last line / From where I can't return / Where every step I took in faith betrayed me / And led me from my home

BONUS 25. Firefly Main Title - Sonny Rhodes

26. The Real Folk Blues - Mai Yamane

[partiallystarsif]

I’ve been quiet here a long time, huh.

I apologize for that, and thank you all for your patience. For those who don’t follow my other blogs, I got sick at the beginning of the year and have been fighting my way back to something that feels normal ever since. I think I’m close to it again finally, and have been trying to get back to work on both Speaker and Partially Stars.

As a peace offering and a gift for waiting so long for me, I present: a playlist. 26 songs, featuring 2 for each crewmember plus a few others!

(Here on Spotify)

The game should be along before much longer as well. Just a bit more coding to do 🖤

Track list below the cut:

01. Satellite Call - Sara Bareilles You may find yourself in the dead of night / Lost somewhere up there in the great big beautiful sky

02. No Plan - Hozier There's no plan, there's no race to be run / The harder the pain, honey, the sweeter the sun

03. [Akina] I'll Be Good - Jaymes Young I'll be good, I'll be good / And I'll love the world, like I should / Yeah, I'll be good, I'll be good / For all of the times that I never could

04. [Akina] Different Kind of Knight - Christian Kane See I'm a different kind of knight / You're gonna find your fairy tales are lies / I don't have a white horse / But you can come along for the ride.

05. [Ahmed] Fake Happy - Paramore See I'm gonna draw my lipstick wider than my mouth / And if the lights are low they'll never see me frown

06. [Ahmed] Fistfight - The Ballroom Thieves The day I finally met you like I knew I would / You raised me from the wreck of my doubt / You were smiling to yourself as if we both understood / The silent language of the anguish of a heart that sings but doesn't make a sound

07. [Q] Outside Of This Town - Christone "Kingfish" Ingram I'm so tired of doing the same old thing / Shooting for the highest star / Want people to remember my name

08. [Q] Something Just Like This - The Chainsmokers & Coldplay Where d'you wanna go? / How much you wanna risk? / I'm not looking for somebody / With some superhuman gifts

09. [Sun] On To The Next - Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown I got nothing to lose / Nothing to hide, nothing to prove / Put your money in your mouth, roll the dice, make a bet / Stack up your chips, watch me push 'em off the edge

10. [Sun] Start a Fire - Ryan Star Here we go / Just lose control and let your body give in / To the beat / Of your heart as my hand touches your skin / Is this love / Or just sexual desire / We're gonna start a fire

11. [Mack] Still Breathing - Green Day As I walked out on the ledge / Are you scared to death to live? / And I've been running all my life / Just to find a home that's for the restless / And the truth that's in the message / Making my way away, away

12. [Mack] Love Sneakin' Up On You - Bonnie Raitt I gotta know, do you feel the same? / Do you just light up at the mention of my name? / Don't worry baby, it ain't nothin new / That's just love sneakin up on you

13. [CJ] Watch Me While I Bloom - Hayley Williams If you feel like you're never gonna reach the sky / 'Til you pull up your roots, leave your dirt behind / Mmh, baby you got a lot of shit to learn

14. [CJ] In Your Eyes - Gavriel All I know is I can't get you off my mind / I'm still unsure if uncertainty is certain doom / Then it goes right back to you / And I can't remember being blue

15. [Smith] Heaven's Got A Back Door - Dead Sara I'm through feeling sorry / For the things that I can't choose / If I made it this far being who I am / Maybe heaven's got a back door too

16. [Smith] One Woman Man - John Legend From the moment that I met you / Knew that I would never let you / Slip away, it's okay / You can make me / A one woman man

17. [Harper] All I Really Want - Alanis Morissette And all I really want is some patience / A way to calm the angry voice / And all I really want is deliverance

18. [Harper] Like Real People Do - Hozier I will not ask you where you came from / I will not ask you and neither would you / Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips / We should just kiss like real people do

19. [Walker] I'm With You - Avril Lavigne I'm looking for a place / I'm searching for a face / Is anybody here I know / 'Cause nothing's going right / And everything's a mess / And no one likes to be alone

20. [Walker] Wicked Game - Chris Isaak What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way / What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you

21. [REDACTED] My Way - PVRIS I don't ever fight, just blow a kiss / And I got two fists but I'm a pacifist / I'd rather stay high and just take, take, take the hit

22. [REDACTED] As Long As You Love Me - The Backstreet Boys And how you got me blind is still a mystery / I can't get you out of my head / Don't care what is written in your history / As long as you're here with me

23. [Stowaway] Man In The Box - Alice In Chains I'm the man in the box / Buried in my shit / Won't you come and save me? / Save me

24. [Stowaway] Sweet Surrender - Sarah McLachlan It doesn't mean much / It doesn't mean anything at all / The life I've left behind me is a cold room / I've crossed the last line / From where I can't return / Where every step I took in faith betrayed me / And led me from my home

BONUS 25. Firefly Main Title - Sonny Rhodes

26. The Real Folk Blues - Mai Yamane

[partiallystarsif]

Who's the nerdiest of the crew? I just think they're all kinda nerdy and so am I, so I'm curious

you're right in that they're all kinda nerdy in their own ways, but if I had to give someone the title of Biggest Nerd on Adiona, it would probably be CJ, both in the "most academic" sense of the word and "very passionate about their interests" way

in particular, CJ is a big nerd about carapace racing, which is a type of racing where pilots build their own ships to race in different environments/atmospheric conditions. there's a lot of technical expertise that has to go into the designs and CJ follows the sport religiously

Ahmed runs a when-we're-in-town dnd-type game for Sun's younger siblings (and the crew, when they want to join in). Smith is very fond of the theater. Walker and Akina have a running competitive board game at all times (the game itself changes once in a while. sometimes chess, sometimes mahjong, sometimes go or backgammon). Q likes horror and true crime podcasts. Sun knits. Mack does old-fashioned film photography. Everyone's nerdy in their own ways

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for the ROs, who is the most to least cuddly in bed, and do each of them have a favorite cuddling position?

most cuddly are definitely Sun and Ahmed. they can both be positively clingy if given the opportunity. Walker can also be fairly cuddly, but less in a “human octopus” way like Sun and Taj/Taara and more like “I’m gonna get the most out of this while I can, since we might not see each other again for a while”. 

Least cuddly (besides Harper) is probably CJ. They love cuddles, but can’t actually sleep while cuddling, so when it’s time to sleep they need to have a bit of room

favorite cuddling positions (taking the names of them from elsewhere on the internet, for the sake of clarity):

Sun and Akina are both big fans of spooning. Sun wraps themself around you like a big, muscular blanket. Akina is fine with being big or little spoon.

Ahmed and Mack like a “honeymoon hug”. Face to face cuddles. Ahmed in particular will sleep like that every night if you let them. Mack can and will continue to pet your hair even after they’ve fallen asleep.

Smith, Q, and Walker like a “sweetheart cradle”. Walker because they like the weight of your head on their chest (or the sound of your heartbeat in their ear, either one). Smith because they like to have an arm free to grab a weapon if needed. Q just wants to bury their face in your neck and stay there forever.

CJ, when sleeping, prefers a “cheek-to-cheek” since they can’t sleep cuddled up, but before sleep they’re especially fond of the position that site refers to as “spoons in a drawer”. They want you laying fully on top of them while they hug you (or vice versa, but they’d be worried about crushing you unless you’re as built as they are)

Harper will eventually love to have you rest your head in her lap so she can play with your hair. It never stops being mind-blowing that that’s just... something she can do whenever she wants.

[partiallystarsif]

will there be poly romance options?

probably, yes

I’m still working out the details on how I’d implement them, since PS isn’t route-based like my other story Speaker, and so romance flags might get complicated, but I love polyam romances and I would like to have them if I can figure out the pesky coding nonsense. But assuming I get it figured out:

I know for sure that you can be in a V with Sun and Smith. They are good friends and will never be romantically or sexually interested in each other, but they are comfortable with you being in a relationship with both of them.

There is also a pair of crewmates that can potentially become involved with each other, if the Stowaway doesn’t express an interest in either of them, and you can start a triad relationship with them if you choose to pursue them both. I don’t want to say who they are, though, because in my experience whenever an author says “these characters get together if you don’t date them” they get hatemail ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

there could potentially be others too, depending on how the relationships among the crew start to develop. Sometimes chemistry happens where you don’t initially expect it

The only characters who I am 100 percent sure are monogamous are Mack and Captain Akina (the Captain will also become unromanceable if you choose to sleep with any of the crew, even if it’s a purely sexual relationship with the crewmate in question)

[partiallystarsif]

Small detail, but I'm very curious the crews' opinions on coffee? Or whatever's replaced it if it doesn't exist in this galaxy bc humans gotta have their caffeine somehow 😂

oooooh, good question 😁 coffee does exist, as you said, humans need their caffeine! it was a high-priority crop in the early days of colonization of the system

Coffee drinkers: Sun, Akina, CJ, Ahmed, Harper

Harper counts here, because even though she doesn't drink any of it, she loves the smell of fresh brewed coffee.

Sun drinks their coffee with too much sugar, but no milk. Prefers to drink it quickly, before it has time to cool off.

Akina drinks theirs black. Needs it to function. Purely in it for the caffeine intake, not the enjoyment of it.

CJ likes flavors, and is always picking up new ones to try anytime they stop in a trading post. Mostly prefers decaf.

Ahmed will drink whatever you put in front of them, with a dash of cream and sugar. Thinks coffee tastes best in the middle of the night, especially from diners or fueling stations.

Tea drinkers: Q, Mack, Walker, Akina again

Akina makes this list because they drink sweet iced tea. Yes, it counts.

Walker is also a sweet tea drinker, but for hot teas they prefer greens. Makes an excellent macha.

Q likes a nice, simple black tea. One cream, two sugars.

Mack mostly drinks herbals and blends. Sometimes makes their own blends - to mixed results.

Neither: Smith

For caffeine intake, Smith prefers energy drinks. They find both tea and coffee too bitter.

[partiallystarsif]

I'm sending a few asks bc I'm already so curious about this game / character, feel free to ignore all or any! But: Which ROs are resistant or susceptible to puppy dog eyes?

Completely immune: Harper, Akina, Q

Thinks they’re immune, but isn’t: Sun, CJ, Smith, Mack

Completely susceptible, gives in immediately: Ahmed, Walker

inversely, from best to worst at doling out puppy dog eyes:

Q - Ahmed - Smith - Walker - Akina - CJ - Mack - Sun

Harper doesn’t count since she kinda doesn’t have eyes 😂 I guess that makes her the worst by default

[partiallystarsif]

I know you just got back, but those Q fun facts were really nice, so maybe you could do some for CJ as well? Thank you 💜💜💜

best cook on the ship by a wide margin. everyone looks forward to CJ’s cooking nights

used to be a fairly well-known race pilot, but retired before joining Adiona’s crew. they realized their favorite part of racing was building the ships, so they wanted a career just doing that.

they’re currently working on their thesis. none of the crew know that except the Captain (and Harper, but CJ doesn’t know that she knows)

great at impressions. like, scary good at them

[partiallystarsif]

Oh I loved those fun facts about Q, so could I have some fun facts for Mack maybe? Thanks!

proud fashion disaster. the crew used to compete to see who could buy Mack the ugliest shirt, but stopped when they realized they were actually wearing all of them 😂

can and will climb on a chair to properly chew out taller crew members when they get themselves injured. your height will not save you from their wrath

jokes aside, they have a fantastic bedside manner. gentle and patient and kind. they just get annoyed at people who refuse to take care of themselves properly and that’s when the yelling starts.

has a young nephew (Callum) who is the light of their life. they show off pictures of him at every available opportunity.

[partiallystarsif]

Happy to see that you're back!! May I have some fun facts about Q please? Thanks!!

they have the voice of an angel, if you can get them to sing for you

(good luck with that)

while Q doesn't do any of the ship's maintenance, CJ is convinced that they are Adiona's favorite and sometimes asks them to frown disappointedly at whatever's broken so it starts working. (Q thinks it's just superstition, but the ship's still flying, so who knows?)

they don't like cooking. they aren't bad at it, they just hate it. Q has a standing deal with Sun to swap chore rotations. Sun does the cooking, Q does the cleaning, everyone's happier

wardrobe consists mostly of pajama pants. there's no one they need to impress in the cockpit and they don't often go planetside, so why bother dressing up?

[partiallystarsif]

for those of you who don’t follow my main project Speaker, I’ve been on a writing break for the last month, but I’m hard at work on the first episode of Partially Stars and hoping to have it out before Halloween!

I’m back!

hello and happy September!

I hope you all had a great August! I’m back from my self-imposed break and I am very glad I decided to do it 💙 If y'all remember that cold I had in the middle of July, it turned out to be a sinus infection that haunted me for nearly a month, so I wouldn’t have been able to do much for the first couple weeks of the month anyway! After it cleared up, I made myself take it easy. I played a couple video games I’ve been really wanting to check out, and did some writing just for fun, which is something I haven’t done much of in a long time.

All in all, taking a month off has given me back my passion for writing, which was starting to wane over the summer (which it usually does, summer is a hard season for me) and I can’t WAIT to get back to work! 💙

I have some great stuff already brewing for what happens next in Speaker, which will update at the end of the month as usual, and I’m looking forward to getting the first episode of Partially Stars finished and shared too! My goal is to get it out before Halloween, but we’ll have to see how big it ends up being.

Tomorrow also happens to be the one year anniversary of Speaker! I first shared the prologue on September 2nd, 2020 🥰 what an amazing year it’s been! I can’t wait to see what the next year brings!

I’ll be back on Tuesday with my usual progress update, but until then I hope you all have a fantastic week and thank you as always for reading!

[partiallystarsif]

Hi everyone!

As most of you know, we’re doing tons of work here in order to create a space in the interactive fiction and to give a voice both to newcomers and people belonging in plenty of minority groups!

However, even if there’s 5 of us, most of us are in university or got jobs, and on top of that, we’ve got projects we’re devoted to that take plenty of our time! For that reason and many more, we encourage every one of you to support us for the work we do. Even if it’s completely voluntary, the work here does become overwhelming and we have to force each other as mods to take breaks.

It’s been a delight running this blog and meeting/interacting with new creators and readers but it does get a little overwhelming sometimes. Just consider this to be a small motivation to keep us inspired to make these efforts for you! There’s no obligation, of course, but we’d be forever grateful. Thank you for supporting us this far!

If you want to buy the mods a cup of coffee, here’s the link!

[partiallystarsif]

Does MC age in stasis? Like if they were put there at 30 would they be 30 or 32 when taken out?

they didn’t age while in stasis, but they will notice that they look older than they remember 👀👀

[partiallystarsif]

Is everyone (except Harper) human,

yes, everyone except Harper is human! there are non-human sentient species that have been found in some systems, but they aren’t native to the system in which Partially Stars takes place. you’ll meet one or two of them at some point though 😉