Chapter 9, Part 2 (and Writer's Blog!)

Demo Length: 275k

Average Playthrough: 67k

Things To Be Aware Of: 

Chapter length varies pretty drastically based on whether you talk with Hope and if Sally is staying at the house. I might eventually add alternate scenes, but for now the scenes without characters are simply shorter (a natural consequence of avoiding people, although I still want to add some flavor bits about what Button does alone so there's at least some roleplay value). Hope's "haven't seen in years" scene is still missing. 

Also, K's first romance lock is very much a WIP until I go back and redo all the "crush" stats because it turns out coding by the seat of my pants isn't sustainable and it's coming back to nip me.

Finally, Chapter 9 is the last opportunity to encourage Nick and Sally's romance (but only if Sally is staying with Button). If you choose not to support their relationship, then the variable doesn't activate and it's never again mentioned in-game. 

Demo Link: https://dashingdon.com/play/wildelight/project-dingo/mygame/

Additional (Slightly Spoilerific) Musings:

I read everyone’s comments from Monday’s polling of ROs, and really appreciate all the feedback! Your response gave me some valuable insight into why people pursue or avoid certain routes. The good news (for me, at least) is that many of your comments confirmed that the characters come across as I intended: Glitch as fast, K as soft, Gray as nice (possibly toonice), and Rosy as, well, Rosy (mature and self-confident, but also an ass). I’m going to repeat my ever-standard disclaimer here: do not woo your teacher in real life, and maybe think twice about pursuing that jerk (whom I adore, but is still a jerk) in Mind Blind.

Another takeaway for me is that any matchmaking plots in future IFs won’t involve any of the ROs. Bonus: this reinforces my decision to cut down on the overall number of love interests in Delivery for the Damned, because I was decidedly not prepared for all the work that goes into writing five(ish) main romance paths.

Romance are tricky for me to write, especially since my goal is to make each route feel completely different. If people are able to find even one character whose romantic plotline they’re interested in pursuing, then I’m happy! Variety is the spice of life (although Nick would probably claim it’s fennel or something). It’s why the ROs all vary in personality, age, and, perhaps most importantly, narrative pacing.

K’s romance is a particularly interesting case of pacing, because it alternates between “fast” and “slow.” On the one hand, Button and K can develop mutual crushes on each other as early as Chapter 1. On the other, K’s having feelings doesn’t make them any better at being vulnerable and opening up (it might even make them worse, to be honest), so their romance will be one of the last to fully activate (vs. Glitch and Sally already being started, and Gray’s just waiting for Nick to exit the room). I was happy to be able to show more of K’s actor side in this last chapter, as readers knowing just how good K is at hiding their emotions can make rereading prior chapters more interesting (or at least, that’s part of my goal for K’s development).

There is a “Kromance” variable that currently gauges the sincerity of your interest (in a very primitively-implemented way that will be redone), but that’s more to cut off certain other pathways than to lock you in to a future lip-lock with Nox. And although Chapter 9 can technically mark your first “date” with Kenzie dearest, there are extenuating factors. The selections you make during the date aren’t about bonding, they’re about how convincing you come across to Vengeance (who very much is watching you like the super-creeps that they are, so your performance at Sofia’s will impact later chapters). If Button forgets the purpose of the dinner, they do so at their future peril.

And finally, a hot tip: If it feels like certain information is being repeated again and again (aka "this is how you and K met"), then it might bode well for you to remember it.