#that festival in yotai

[starryflyingplatypus]

*THIS ART AND THE DESCRIPTION AND EVERYTHING ELSE HAS SWEET, SWEET SPOILERS*

This is a rough portrayal of how I imagined the Yotai Festival scene played in my run of the demo.

Damn, I was NOT expecting the mage to find Saine there. And they have to interact with each other without knowing they are reunited, uuuuurhrhrjragrhgh, my heart </3

The game is an interactive fiction: A Mage Reborn by @mage-parivir.

[my-plastic-life]

Japanese Summer Festival, part 1

(PART 1 due to a limit on number of photos per post)

Wow, more than a month since my last post! I'm slacking! But I have a good excuse - I was working on a HUGE project. This is my biggest scene to date. It's so large it won't fit in my usual diorama cube box. This was on my coffee table, and for an example of scale, that table measures 48" wide by 26" deep. And it was all covered LOL

It's still technically summer, and in Japan, summer festivals are a very popular pastime. I've wanted to create an actual festival scene for a while, and I finally took the plunge this year. My husband used his Glow Forge to create the little food stalls, and I created the rest. The awnings, booth covers, prices, signs, posters, floor, walls, etc. are all made by me. I also painted the silver on the booths. They're technically still a bit under scale compared to real life stalls, but I was basing my measurements off actual props I had, most of which are Re-Ment. There are even a few Re-Ment festival sets, so I had to use those! And next year I plan to add even more stalls - but I'll have to alternate what's on display since I think I'm at my limit of what will fit on that table LOL.

So here we go, a 1/6 scale Japanese summer festival! We've got lots of food street stalls (yotai) and a few popular games, and all the girls are wearing kimonos (a popular tradition).

Looking down the street toward the stairs leading to more fun (through a real torii gate!):

Overview:

Looking down the street toward the shrine:

Cold drinks are important to beat the heat!

Miwa is watching Kiku try her hand at yo-yo fishing:

Kiku is yo-yo fishing. In this game, you're meant to use a hook attached to a paper rope to pick up a water balloon. The balloons are filled with air and water, and they're called yo-yos because of the bouncing effect they have. This game can be difficult due to the rope being made of paper and the balloons are in the water.

Miwa has a popular snack - a tornado potato - along with the popular Ramune drink:

She got one! Any balloons that you successfully pick up with the hook can be kept.

Goldfish scooping. This game requires you to use a small wand called a poi to try to catch goldfish. The poi's net is made of paper, which makes the game tricky because of the water. The game is over once the paper in the poi breaks. However, people will often get to take one of each fish home after trying even if they don't actually catch them.

Aika is watching the goldfish scooping game, carrying a bag of cotton candy:

Superball fishing. This game is like the goldfish scooping game, only the prize is super balls. I made these little tubs myself. The Re-Ment sets had the yo-yo fishing and goldfish scooping, but no superballs. So I took the measurements of those tubs, used TinkerCAD to create two boxes made to the same size, and 3D printed them. I then used some of the Miniverse resin (the recalled stuff, lol) to fill the tubs in layers, and I used beads without holes (they exist!) to make the super balls. I'm very pleased with how they turned out!

Takoyaki stand. Takoyaki is a bite-sized, ball-shaped dumpling made from batter and grilled, then filled with octopus, tempura, pickled ginger, and green onion:

A definite favorite in the summer - the shaved ice stand (kakigori). Similar to shaved ice in the U.S., with the Japanese variant, blocks of ice are shaved into fine flakes using special machines, then topped with flavorings like strawberry or melon syrup, sweet matcha (strong green tea) sauce, sweetened beans, or condensed milk.

Fuka got a variety of flavors on her kakigori! Yum! Meanwhile, Lycee is preparing to make some more - she'll use the little machine to grind that block of ice to shave it down into edible pieces:

Look closely at the lady below in the blue kimono and you'll see that she's tucked in a traditional uchiwa (hand fan) into the obi (belt) of her kimono. These fans are a must for summer festivals to help beat the heat, as well as add a more traditional look to the yukata (kimono).

Choco banana and candy apple stand. These treats are also popular - they're your traditional candy apple on a stick, and also chocolate-covered bananas on a stick covered in sprinkles.

Cotton candy stand. Another popular treat for festival-goers of all ages. The container on the counter features fortune sticks inside, and you're meant to reach in and pull one out. You then tell the miko (shrine priestess) what fortune you got on the stick, and she will give you a paper that explains your fortune.

Japanese cotton candy bags frequently feature popular anime or pop culture characters on them. I made these bags by using small jewelry bags, cutting off the Ziploc sealer, placing cotton balls inside (almost all festival cotton candy I've seen has been white), then sized down pictures of characters, printed them out on clear sticker paper, and stuck them on the bags. I'm very pleased with how they turned out!

[emeraldgreaves]

tagged by doni @morning-star-joy to find various words in my wips! I do a lot of writing in my notes app, so i just searched the whole thing and grabbed whatever I could find.

heat

You think back. Your birthday party—you were twenty four, and your advisors had brought four women from neighboring kingdoms and told you to pick a bride. You'd felt sick to your stomach, from the heat or the sickly lemonade or the creeping pressure of royal expectation.

from a little bit of noodling around i did for a sleeping beauty au with lady knight moira + @bi-stander's Ezra as the prince.

fear

It was cowardly, doubly so because I fear it's the opposite of what she would have done, only I couldn't bear to find out how many new ways I could fail to live up to the expectation she left behind.

from the shepherds of haven amnesia au :) :) :) :)

admire

He remembers most of the ball commemorating the battle of Calinger. It was really his brother's victory more than his, but Saine had left for Yotai months ago, and Ilya used the crowds of admirers to keep a wide berth between her and him. People kept refilling his cups, and so he continued to sip at a vintage so old it was practically vinegar.

context clues suggest this was me taking a stab at “leon creates a festival commemorating his dead former companion” from a mage reborn.

strong

At one point, he risks extending his senses into the house. It picks up the cool balm of Healing magic, as expected, but also curiously strong hints of Binding scattered throughout.

from that au where moira and red first meet as a country healer and an archmage in desperate need of help.

tagging @queen-scribbles and @thenightdayblogger! your words are: convince, carry, consider, and curious (grabbed these basically at random, sorry if they're terrible!! lmao)

[mage-parivir]

Hi, everyone! The demo for Book 2 (ver 1.0) is now officially live!

This update contains 198k words’ worth of content, which, as expected is more than the currently-published Book 1. It advances the story by somewhere in the ballpark of 25k words compared to the last pre-release update. Importantly, it contains a robust character creator for people new to the series! A ‘randomize a character’ feature is also in the works, but I figured I’d get this out there asap given how long it’s been since the last update.

My personal dashingdon saves were purged due to a local mishap, so I can’t say for sure - but as far as I can tell, old saves should still work! If not, please let me know, and I’ll be sure to adjust this paragraph accordingly.

The update contains everything but the very tail end of the Yotai arc (which is a bit of a cruel cliffhanger, which is part of the reason why it was omitted in this version). This means a completion of all the festival scenes, as well as a very combat-heavy addition, which introduces a plethora of new spells to the game.

Click here to play Demo ver 1.0!

Current wordcount: 198k words.

New story content (+~25k words from the pre-release update, now 198k words).

Completion of the Yotai festival scenes.

All-new spells and combat scenes!

DEMO ver 1.5

Release date: Late August - Early September

Planned features:

Smaller update with around 15-16k words of new content.

As always, thank you for following the development of A Mage Reborn!

[mage-parivir]

Hi, everyone! Demo ver 8.5 is officially live!

Smaller update this time around, at only roughly 12k-13k words of fresh content, (the demo file has a technically higher wordcount due to how much of the scenes are shared between one another). Currently the game completes all paths of the Jiasei Blue Harvest festival, meaning two additional scenes for Eli, one for Yu, and minor additions to F’s second scene. There is also an additional variation to Eli’s first scene depending on whether or not you chose to break away from Arcadia!

Other than that, there have been minor tweaks made to Saine’s scene, namely the letter being brought up if you had chosen to write it to Saine all the way back in Chapter 5.

And I think that about covers everything! A normal-sized update should follow around this time next month, but for now I hope this can somewhat tide you over!

Your old saves should still work! Please remember that if you get a game-breaking error relating to the evar variable, or if Eli is missing their pronouns, you will need to load a Post-Demo 2.5 save!

Click here to play Demo ver 8.5!

Current wordcount: 314k (+19k words).

New story content (+19k words, now 314k words).

Various bug and grammar fixes.

DEMO ver 9.0

Release date: Late February (Patreon) / Mid-March (Public)

Planned features:

Roughly 25k words of new content.

(Hopefully) conclusion of the Yotai arc.

As always, thank you for following the development of A Mage Reborn!

[mage-parivir]

Hi, everyone! Demo ver 8.0 is officially live!

This update contains 26k words’ worth of new content, but the demo file has a technically higher wordcount due to the newly-added feature for Book I: achievements! I had a lot of fun creating them as well as attaching the associated flavor texts, and they should bring a breath of fresh air to replays for those who are so inclined. They are available in both the public and Patreon builds.

Other than that, the update focuses very heavily on arc setup and Yotai worldbuilding, and also on relationships with four members of the core cast. It is impossible to experience the entire update in one go, but the way to get the most bang out of your playthrough would be (mild spoilers!) to go to the festival when offered the choice, and when it ends either watch the fireworks with F or go back to the inn for a special scene.

In the current build, F has the most complete path comparatively at 2/3 scenes, with Yu at 1/3 and Eli at 0/3. The polyamory kick-off scene is also currently pending. The next update will bring Yu and Eli up to 2/3 at the very least, though hopefully there will be more to it than that.

Also in this update: fixes to the long-standing cave collapse bugs in Chapter 3! Hopefully. I’m pretty sure. Crossing my fingers.

Your old saves should still work! Please remember that if you get a game-breaking error relating to the evar variable, or if Eli is missing their pronouns, you will need to load a Post-Demo 2.5 save!

Click here to play Demo ver 8.0!

Current wordcount: 295k (+26k words).

New story content (+26k words, now 295k words).

50-something achievements for the entirety of Book I.

Various bug and grammar fixes.

DEMO ver 8.5

Release date: Late January (Patreon) / Mid-February (Public)

Planned features:

Anywhere between 10k-20k words of new content.

Progress in the Yotai festival scenes for Eli and Yu.

Hopefully more? It’s a bit of a break month, so please don’t expect too much aha.

As always, thank you for following the development of A Mage Reborn!

[mage-parivir]

Hello hello! Thank you very much for your patience--Demo ver 7.0 is now live!

This demo is the largest update we’ve had yet so far, at 53k words all together! Much of that size comes from lateral variety, as there’s four mutually exclusive scenes placed right in the middle of the update that should allow for a good amount of variety in your playthroughs. It also introduces the Tahlia fork of the Arcadian day-off scene!

Other than that, the update also finally takes us to the thus-far-elusive Yotai, and sheds quite a bit of light on Yu’s backstory. There’s also a lot of fixes sprinkled throughout courtesy of AMR’s wonderful beta testers and readers, and so it should make for a smoother experience overall (though I haven’t finished going through the backlog of bugs yet. @_@ bear with me please).

Your old saves should still work! Please remember that if you get a game-breaking error relating to the evar variable, or if Eli is missing their pronouns, you will need to load a Post-Demo 2.5 save!

Click here to play Demo ver 7.0!

Current wordcount: 269k words.

New story content (+53k words, now 269k words).

Completion of Chapter 8 (aka the Aulain arc).

Tahlia’s day off scene.

Updated list of content warnings (please read!)

Various bug and grammar fixes.

DEMO ver 8.0

Release date: Late December (Patreon) / Mid-Late January (Public)

Planned features:

Roughly 25k words of new story content.

Another day off scene (with the backdrop of a Yotai festival). Options will include Yu, F, and Eli.

The kick-off to the Yu-F polyamory route! (just a little bit, though. ehe)

[mage-parivir]

Hello! Congrats on your Book 1 release! I only follow CoG/HG via the CoG mailing list so I hadn't heard of AMR before a few days ago, but seems you've got quite a devoted fandom already :) I checked out the book 2 demo and was just wondering, is all of book 2 going to be Arcadian stuff only with nothing involving Param or its characters? Or is that forthcoming in the finished book 2, or else there's some already in there and I just missed it? I've been RPing as a hardline Param loyalist who takes every opportunity to remind the Arcadians he's enslaved and resentful and just wants to either leave or die, so up to the end of Yotai my character wasn't really able to engage much with the plot or the cast, lol.

Apologies, Book 2 is essentially about Arcadia :( There will definitely be quite a bit of airtime dedicated to the Parami cast, and the so-called 'reunion' will happen in Book 2--regardless, the story's focus will remain on the Arcadian cast and cause for the remainder of the book.

That being said, you can meet Saine in the currently-published demo, though under less than ideal circumstances. For anyone who doesn't yet know how to trigger this scene - simply turn in early during the Yotai festival (that is, do not watch fireworks with anyone) and head up to the inn's roof when the option is presented!

[mage-parivir]

Hiya! I found your work recently and had to applaud myself for discovering a gem in the making! I just love the word building and wanted to know which countries you had in mind when creating the nations of A Mage Reborn? Thank you!

Hello, thank you for enjoying AMR!

I generally don't keep any particular country in mind, as I build the nations from the ground up in my notes before I wrote a single letter about them. If anything, they are based moreso on fantasy tropes--strong war kingdom, rich magical kingdom, mercantile coastal federation, that kind of thing.

The only one this is an exception for is Yotai, which uses phonems, human features, and cultural miscellany (like the festival) based off of the general Far East. However, the central cultural tenet of golden house trees / Yotai lily obviously has no bearing on actual Far East culture, and so I do my best not to conflate the two while writing!