Flights of Fancy [NaNoRenO2019] [BxB] [GxG] [Psychological]

[ilyilaice]

~ FLIGHTS OF FANCY ~
Submission to NaNoRen02019

SYNOPSIS:
This paranoid fever dream of a story explores
the direct impact and consequences that a person's
choice of fantasies and daydreams can have on real life.

Download it now on Itch.io!

FEATURES:
10,000+ words
2 main "routes"
9 endings

TAGS:
Slice of Life, High School Life, Psychological,
Female Protagonist, LGBT, BxB, GxG, Free

CONTENT WARNINGS:
Mild sexual themes and internalized homophobia, just as one
would expect from the POV of a 14-year-old girl who comes
from a religious and conservative background, and
who must now navigate the murky waters
of her own confusing sexuality.

CHARACTERS:

BEE

The narrator. The player cannot control her compulsion
to daydream, but can control what she dreams about.

Likes: stories, both inside and outside her head.



VIDA

Bee's best friend, who leads her not-so-gently
into the wild world of BxB love.

Likes: smutty fanfiction and the piano.



KARIS

Bee's other best friend, tasked with the unenviable job of
kicking Bee's chair whenever she falls asleep in class.

Likes: video games and villains.



ATE

Bee's elder sister, who is top of her class in nursing school.

Likes: martial arts choreography and her boyfriend.





IMAGINARY FRIEND

A boy who possesses an arsenal of powers, including
shapeshifting, invisibility, and super speed.

Likes: ???

SCREENSHOTS:





THE TEAM:
Writing: ilyilaice
Art: chymesoo
Programming and GUI: Marionette
Music: ejtanmusic
GUI Assets: Birctreel

QUESTIONS:
1. What did you think of Bee as a narrator?
2. What was your favorite ending?
3. Any other questions/feedback?

Thank you so much for playing!

[ilyilaice]

UPDATE (10 April 2019): Hello, everyone! You can read the Postmortem of this project here. Thank you!

[Zelan]

First of all, I cannot believe that no one has commented here yet! I played this back in April and I haven't been able to comment since then, but I enjoyed this VN so, so much and I can still remember that quite well. I was so pleased to see a game tackling a protagonist who is a maladaptive daydreamer. It's not super common to see as an explicitly addressed trait, although there are some characters, like Ralphie in A Christmas Story and Walter in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), but I felt more connected to Bee as a character than I did to either of those two. For one thing, Bee is a girl, and a young adult rather than a young child or a middle-aged person, which right off the bat makes her much more similar to me. But also the way her daydreaming was described and handled was amazing. In the two that I mentioned, the daydreaming is mostly played for laughs and there is very little exploration of the positive and negative effects that it has on the characters' lives. I truly felt like I could see myself in Bee with her inability to pay attention in class, the way that she's able to easily turn to daydreaming to entertain herself, the exploration of her sexuality through daydreaming (this in particular was absolutely essential to figuring myself out - I spent a lot of time thinking about what it would be like to kiss a girl which allowed me to feel more comfortable when the opportunity actually arose), and oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh the person running next to the vehicle thing absolutely floored me because I still do that occasinally if I'm the passenger and I've never seen it ONCE discussed in media.

Just, yeah, I thought it was super well-written, I had fun finding all of the endings, the art (and GUI! wow!) were beautiful, and honestly I just loved the concept from the very beginning. Absolutely amazing job on this and I will definitely be on the lookout for more projects from you! (:

[ilyilaice]

First of all, I cannot believe that no one has commented here yet! I played this back in April and I haven't been able to comment since then, but I enjoyed this VN so, so much and I can still remember that quite well. I was so pleased to see a game tackling a protagonist who is a maladaptive daydreamer. It's not super common to see as an explicitly addressed trait, although there are some characters, like Ralphie in A Christmas Story and Walter in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), but I felt more connected to Bee as a character than I did to either of those two. For one thing, Bee is a girl, and a young adult rather than a young child or a middle-aged person, which right off the bat makes her much more similar to me. But also the way her daydreaming was described and handled was amazing. In the two that I mentioned, the daydreaming is mostly played for laughs and there is very little exploration of the positive and negative effects that it has on the characters' lives. I truly felt like I could see myself in Bee with her inability to pay attention in class, the way that she's able to easily turn to daydreaming to entertain herself, the exploration of her sexuality through daydreaming (this in particular was absolutely essential to figuring myself out - I spent a lot of time thinking about what it would be like to kiss a girl which allowed me to feel more comfortable when the opportunity actually arose), and oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh the person running next to the vehicle thing absolutely floored me because I still do that occasinally if I'm the passenger and I've never seen it ONCE discussed in media.

Just, yeah, I thought it was super well-written, I had fun finding all of the endings, the art (and GUI! wow!) were beautiful, and honestly I just loved the concept from the very beginning. Absolutely amazing job on this and I will definitely be on the lookout for more projects from you! (:

Thank you so much for playing our visual novel, and for taking the time to leave this lovely comment!

I haven't watched A Christmas Story or The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but now I'm curious. I may have to check them out sometime!

I'm extremely pleased that you found Bee's struggles relatable! Self-destructive escapism is something I deal with on a daily basis, so writing this story definitely felt cathartic and therapeutic. From the beginning, my goal has been to make at least one other person feel less alone in this world. Now I can say that I've succeeded! Thank you for that.

Regarding the imaginary parkour next to a moving vehicle, yes, I too have always thought that I was the only one who ever daydreamed that. I think I've watched too many anime opening theme songs involving energetic running? But seeing this Tumblr post proved me so wrong. It never ceases to surprise me how even our most seemingly obscure thoughts and experiences turn out to be universal.

Thanks again, and I hope you're having a wonderful day!