Hello!
My name is Usman but call me Lotte. I've been lurking about these forums off and on since 2010 and I'm finally going to bring my first visual novel to fruition.
Characters
Ivy
Ivy is the protagonist of Mojo Pin. She was a former drug addict and high school dropout. She offers a series of increasingly racist, sexist, misanthropic and nihilistic treatises on people, art, popular culture, politics, etc that give most people who interact with her pause. Coming up from decadent surroundings hasn’t helped her case of life’s unfairness any though as the story unfolds, she begins opening up and questioning her own faith in the world's ills.
Micheal
Ivy's “best friend” or the one who is the only one that could deal with her negativity. He has known her since childhood, growing up in the same sordid environment yet more successful, and is the only one, as she claims, to see through her and set her straight. Micheal has stood by Ivy through thick and thin and secretly is the object of her affections. He is an avid chess player and volunteers with the elderly and the homeless in addition to attending college. He doesn’t speak much and is described by Ivy to “talk softly and carry a big stick”. "The more you talk, the less they listen.” is his maxim.
Dot
A seemingly homeless amnesiac girl who is usually seen at the metro station, wearing a dog tag with the initials: D.O.T. She is clueless about everything that defines her as a person and how the world works. She carries nothing to identify her; nothing an IKEA reference kit that describes abstract notions of language, culture, social interaction, human consciousness, philosophy and religion in overly simplified, sensationalist aphorisms, dense, absurdist non-sequiturs or overly complicated academic graphs and equations. She speaks in a sweet, superficial radio-friendly tone that a telephone operator has or a child psychologist. Dot is essentially a clean slate for Ivy and the first new interaction she makes outside of rehab. She is an impressionable person Ivy can mold into whatever she wants, but something pure that she doesn’t want to corrupt with her bitterness. You can either choose to leave her be or help her to unlock a personalized ending.
The Woman in Black
An ethereal spectre of a woman that always watches from the periphery and appears in Ivy's dreams. Not much is known about the enigma save for her cold, startling beauty. She tends to be an elusive and antagonizing figure in her own sensuously aloof manner but does present some advice and care at times - though this might only be for her own purposes. She seems to know all about Ivy, including her thoughts and past and will provide comment on the previous decisions you have made for Ivy at the beginning of each chapter.
Helen
Ivy's estranged mother. She raised Ivy as a single mother and often did "questionable practices" to provide for her child. Ivy hasn't spoken to her since she had left her home at the age of 17 after a falling out. That doesn't prevent her from attempting to reach out to her daughter and provide wisdom as best she can to keep her from making the same mistakes.
Inspirations
My inspirations for this visual novel would be the lives of two of my friends: one who lost friends to heroin addiction and an ex friend who suffers from heroin addiction. My own thoughts and attitudes as well as the attitudes of current day America are under scrutiny through Ivy's distorted perception. Silent Hill, Until Dawn, Heavy Rain, and the movies of David Lynch were all influences on the concept and execution of the story and its themes.
Planning: 75% done.
Writing: 0% done
Art: 5% done
I plan to hopefully have this project voice acted and it may be commercial based on how a demo of the VN is received. Everything from writing, planning, programming, music and art will be done by myself until further notice.
Any thoughts appreciated.
