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With "Snatching the (Fake) Informant"  , "Sniffing the Couples' Trail" and "Second-Hand Recollections" , I temporarily stop this branch with a bunch of potential options to follow. A couple of days ago, I was indecisive where to take this. The story naturally progressed to the point where David had to write the "free choice" article, and I found this to be a good way to explore the school and his school life. David being part of the school newspaper comes from a mention in "Use the pen on Mayor Chan" , which could easily be interpreted as a bluff to catch mayor Chen. Just as I used this chapter as inspiration for how mayor Chen acted as a dealer of "Costume Sets" in "(Skin-)Deep Interrogation" , I used that to set David as part of the (semi-official) school newspaper, taking inspiration from "Meet the Cheerleaders" to set up some of the others. A good thing of this branch is that it offers a lot of new people to play with, and establishes some old favorites - the cheerleaders, for example, with Lindsey and Kelly more fleshed out, the latter being one of Jessica's friends, but also some of the jocks and usual cheerleader dates (like student president Ryan Chalmers), and even one-shot characters like Drew Collins (as one of Jimmy's other friends) and obscure crushes such as Scott Kilmeade and Allen Tennison. Can't say if it's 1-to-1, but there's also a bunch of new people, such as Mackenzie Flannigan as the school's party host, as well as Ashton Kennedy and Allison Tennyson. That said - I wasn't sure which option to follow, and I spent the past three days working the three different outcomes. And as I wrote to see which one to follow, I found I liked all three. So I'm once again unsure which one to follow, and because of this, I'm asking you. Which path should I follow? You may give your answer in this survey: "Skins - Where To Go?" I'll leave it running until the week before I return to this branch, which might be around a month. That should give you enough time to answer. (Please help!) (Minor tangent: You may notice some confusing repetitions. For example, there are two Ashleys, one who triggered this whole incident with the pens and the other being the school newspaper's editor. Usually, writers avoid doing this to prevent said confusion, but when dealing with a potentially large cast, avoiding repetitions becomes hard and verisimilitude breaks - after all, how many people you've met with similar names? They can also be storytelling tools when used correctly.) |
| With "Barbie Roleplays as Mom" , I'm pausing this branch for a while. Last time I stopped it, David and his mom were cornered by Tessa Wright and some of her goons. Now, she's defeated, and things have changed. With that out of the way, they have access to most of the different pens created within the series, and a plethora of skins to play with. But of course, even though this feels like the perfect setup for most readers, reality will undoubtedly slide in. Having Marie become Ashley permanently has allowed me to explore a negative theme - identity theft - in a new light. Make no mistake - what Marie is doing to Ashley is wrong, but how tempting can it be to explore life as someone else? Most stories with this theme often explore the grim outcome - ruining the new identity's life out of sheer hedonism - but this explores a more positive, if still gray, side - where the thief actually plans to live their new life as the other person intended. There is a dark mirror with Ross, the (now former) owner of Barbara, who was doing something similar but still subtly ruining her life by making her a source of criminal activity. Marie isn't planning this - she just wants to have a job, a salary and a new lease at life - but her actions still involve denying someone their free will. Do you support her, or not? And of course, this involves family issues. We all know Tina's not gonna like this, but what will Claire and Nick say? Especially when it involves bringing Ashley's sisters to the house? Rest assured I will return to this branch in a few weeks, to see how this story evolves. (And also: did David choose skins for himself? Which ones?) As you can see, the way all these stories have developed reveal a lot more of the Wrights' backstory, but ultimately branched into different paths. The branch with Silva has made David an accomplice of the nefarious Organization, and now he's unsure if she's to be trusted. This branch has Marie change her life, but at a great cost - which her family will most likely pay. And of course, there are two more branches to deal with. Tomorrow, I'll continue the story left hanging in "Two Plans Come Into Collision" , where David must make a choice. Will he stop Jimmy's plan, or will he follow through with his girlfriend's? (If you saw this note earlier, you might know the choice. Oops!) As a final note: while I appreciate the tips, I also appreciate correspondence. Feel free to say what you feel about these stories - no tipping required! |
| With "A Betrayal from Within" , I'm stopping this delve in a massive cliffhanger. This branch explores the ideas started very early in "Spy Game" of a mysterious organization using the pens for undisclosed, mysterious missions. The writers in this branch took the story in two different directions, one in which David unwittingly joins the Organization and becomes one of their agents, and another where he's running from them as they take over his entire family. Both branches show two different faces of the Organization, but most importantly, they keep their intentions under wraps. When David joins, the missions are your standard spy fare but without a clear goal; when they hunt him, however, they're implacable yet fallible. No clear good intentions, but no evil either. Though "The Tip of the Iceberg" acts as a good ending to that part of the branch, I wanted to explore Silva a bit more - her motivations, her reasons for bringing David into the fold, what she does in the FBI, her standing with the Organization - and thus decided to have David explore it in her stead. Though there are some hijinks ensured (especially in "Gaming the System" with the Digital Forensics guys), I knew that, if I was to handle the Organization properly, it had to take a dark turn. And thus, it ends up like this - with David's only ally showing different colors, and a potential tie to his old life. Will he run away, hunted by an old friend and without a life to return, armed only with one of the pens? Or will he confront Silva, wondering what are her intentions? Tomorrow, I'll return to the branch having Marie become Ashley. "Opening Up to Disaster" has them facing Tessa, only to have them being captured. What will David do? What will Marie do? What will happen when two mothers face each other? ...Or, well, two parents. Because I started the year by planting (in "Becoming a Very Real Fake Agent" ) and then revealing the mystery behind Tessa Wright. Was it well-presented? Would you read a story on how she got into power? And maybe what would happen if David wasn't involved in all this, as an agent of change? In any case, expect more content in the following weeks - this isn't over yet. There's lot of paths to explore. I believe the stories have evolved to a point where they are their own stories, and I hope I can keep it that way. (Also, as a shout-out - Seuzz  has returned with new "The Book of Masks" content. Go check him out!) |
| With "Slipping a New Book into an Old Cover" , I temporarily stop this delve into a new glimpse in David's life. Though the theme might be a bit similar to the others (criminals taking over someone else's lives), I decided to twist things around. Leslie and Meredith aren't good people, but they're not bad either - they have dreams and ambitions, but chose to follow a life of crime to do so. I purposefully made them so that they would be sympathetic, but still have enough reasons to hate them. Meredith being a distant cousin to Marie wasn't planned but was a fleeting idea that emerged and evolved on its own. This is also an examination on the concept of identity theft vs. identity death. The first is when someone, through magical, supernatural or highly advanced technological means, takes over someone else's life. The second is tied to the first, but specifically involves ruining that person's life out of perverse satisfaction. Both are ultimately negative concepts, as one involves denying said individual's freedom, while the other is far worse as it destroys their integrity and good standing. Usually, the two concepts come tied with corruption of the thief, specifically loss of morals, as the act of taking over someone's life is arguably reprehensible. Yet, both can be given a rare positive spin. Identity theft is the easiest, when someone downtrodden is given the life of someone better because that someone dies or otherwise is unable to continue with their existence. Identity death can be used as karmic retribution for a villain, though the hero of the story will usually desist after a moment of realization. Almost always, those positive spins are meant as lessons and rarely as rewards, the latter concept often either a comedic, karmic punishment to a very vile villain. This branch explores a more grounded aspect of both. What if a criminal must use someone else's life to hide, but actually intends to go through with a better life? I feel that's a rare and unexplored spin, especially when the characters themselves aren't exactly intending to turn over a new leaf or become completely upstanding citizens. And then there's David. He also fell victim to that corruption. Where will Claudia's life lead him? Tomorrow, I'll most likely return to one of the previous branches. Still unsure of which one, though. |
| Perhaps my favorite story category. Regarding Identity theft / death. I would say I’m mostly in agreement with you. I also consider stories where a person essentially disappears because they have assumed another identity as falling into the latter category. Either via theft or simply by taking on a newly created one. |
Reply| With "A Taste of Gloria" , I'm leaving this side of the branch in suspense. Five lives to claim - which one will David choose for his own? You may have noticed that I was forced to stop for a brief moment on updating because of an unfortunate incident. The plan was to release one vignette of David wearing each one of the "Five", a set of skins of five sexy and voluptuous women, and something he did with each of them. The plan is to set in motion ideas as to what David could do if he assumed each of their identities, culminating on a global choice where said stories could be advanced. Unfortunately, by Wednesday morning, I was forced to stop because of an incident I won't talk about. I still worked on the vignettes, so as to not keep my hands idle, while working for a resolution that happily happened yesterday. That led to all the other vignettes being released, as well as a little detour into what's happening with the Andersons - because, when you deal with evil, evil things happen. What next? Something entirely different, not happening on the Ashley Wright branch. (Shocker!) I won't go into details, save that it'll involve a deeper delve into a new character with a very peculiar quirk. I will return to the branch after this deviation, maybe switching between it and this new branch. That said - while I already have the sequel to this paused branch chosen, if you're interested in seeing how any of the others develop, feel free to say so. I want to explore each of the possibilities, since each hook can lead the story into wild ways. (And I apologize for that interruption - it may not have been entirely my fault, but maybe someone wanted to advance that storyline and felt frustrated that there was no option to. I felt making the vignettes sequential, ending up in a big choice, was the appropriate move - though one where I could end up locking myself out of.) |
| With "A Change of Face, a Change of Routine" and "Two Plans Come Into Collision" , I'm stopping this branch for a while... Hold on. TWO chapters!? Yes. The first chapter developed in such a way that it grew beyond the scope of where I wanted to stop it - I tried to be brief with the interaction between David (as Mike) and the Reyes, but I feel I had to showcase him, as well as the difficulties of not having memories to play with. By the time I introduced Mackenzie's party, I was reaching the chapter limit and was forced to continue. And that leads to a very crummy stop, so I went for another. That last one was a bit hard to work, since it had to cover for David's conversation with Lindsey, while still not having any of his memories. If it feels complicated and maybe even forced, it's for a good reason - David knows very little about Mike, and even Kelly's help could only push it so far. It was fun trying to make Lindsey something beyond your typical hot cheerleader. However, I had to stop briefly to figure out the cliffhanger to stop this branch in a way it'd satisfy you readers, and before I went to sleep, I figured a magnificent idea, which I allowed a rested brain to develop. Obviously, since it had been pre-established, Jimmy would find a way to wreck Mackenzie's party. But how? And more importantly, why would stopping that be more important than being with Lindsey? (And yet, why would letting them pull their prank and going through with Lindsey would be just as relevant?) That was a challenge, but I feel I pulled it off and I'm pretty proud of it. You may notice I'm taking more details from around the interactive and weaving it with new ones. Edgefield as David's town was an idea I wanted to claim from a former member, and from there (and a bit of bleeding from "The Book of Masks" ) came Tynemouth College and St. Lenore Academy, to contrast with the local state campus and Edgefield High. Furthermore, for long-time readers, some of those names may be familiar. I feel that, if I make a lot of references to those writers' jobs, it'll give them a lot of relevance - and their chapters are some of the best written in the interactive, in fact. Not just that, some of them have been expanded as well! So, what's next? A return to the branch ending on "The Devil Wears Gossamer" , and a big change in David's life. After that, I might deviate into a different branch to work on an idea I've had as I developed this one. Hopefully you support these chapters and the ones to come. |
| Apologies for posting "Opening Up to Disaster" later than expected, but it's here. I'll stop this branch for now on a rather odd cliffhanger. This is a good moment to discuss how plans get derailed when writing. Originally, I had this branch stop on a different, much further point, but upon reaching "Discoveries and Conspiracies" , I ended up with a perfect opportunity to allow a wide variety of options - after all, everyone but David was away, which means anyone could appear at any moment. (Originally, I had Tina also be there, but it's a Saturday and she's a college student; she's got many excuses.) Even if Tina was there (and turned into a skinsuit), there could be the chance any of the other Anderson children could appear and see the disaster. My instinct, of course, was to follow up with Tina, since up to this point she was the only one opposed to the idea. That eventually led to a conflict that forced the creation of "Braving the Heat (in) the Moment" , which was completely out of my mind. I always say you need to listen to the characters when making scenes, and during all these chapters, Tina was outright brooding for her mother's decision. Being together, her father close, and her mother doubling down on her decision while learning there are new skins and that her littlest brother would use them led to her stealing them. That was the only natural action she would take, and forcing her to accept another alternative for the sake of advancing the story the way I want it to. This is a good technique at worldbuilding and storytelling, because despite you being the writer, a story feels bland when the characters lack their own voices. When writing characters, they should have their own motivations, which sometimes propel them to do things you didn't expect them to. When a writer has to face their characters derailing the structure you develop, and twists it successfully, the reader notices and recognizes those characters are alive, and become more invested in them. And that led to some worldbuilding as well - there's a library I can play with, an abandoned building used by college students, and some branch development. Win-win situation! Anyways, tomorrow I'll continue one of the other branches, but I really want to keep observing this one. I'm really intrigued to see what Marie wants with Ashley - she's grown too attached to her. What are your thoughts? Do you agree with the worldbuilding tip or not? |
| Milestones, even when small, can be meaningful. With "The Tip of the Iceberg" , I've been writing daily chapters for "Skins" for more than a full month now. Not just figuratively (over 31 days writing chapters) but literally (every day of November). This chapter marks a stop to this particular branch for the time being. I wanted to tie in another of the interesting parts of this world - the mysterious organization David gets recruited to in "Surrender" and subsequent - as a way to recognize other writers' contributions. Tomorrow, I'll shift to another of the branches born from "To the David goes the Spoils" . We now know what the brown pens can do - what will this imply for Marie Anderson's new life? Stay tuned. |
| I've been spending these past four weeks doing daily content for the interactive "Skins" (note: graphic content within), trying to breathe some life into it. Being a fan of interactives like "The Book of Masks" and being an on/off contributor, I was eyeing providing some work for it, and I finally got the chance after dealing with some personal projects. I started the contributions with "To the David goes the Spoils" and worked all four options, at the tune of one branch per week. I had a general idea on what to work in, but as I went on, I saw that idea evolve into a very interesting and notorious set of characters. Most of the branches ended slowly introducing them, but running short of revealing the mastermind behind it all - until "Meet the Wrights" , where I introduced Tessa Wright, and the two following chapters showing how she "works". Even I'm surprised by the results, to be honest. I feel this is a good moment to plug it, as well as thank everyone who has tipped and offered words of support. I plan to continue developing these branches and work on some others, since I feel this interactive has some promise. Hopefully this plug-in will allow others to experience the story and maybe even contribute! (And yes, also plugging my own work, because why not? Always looking for people willing to check it.) |
| rugal b. - Keep trying. We could always do a Round Robin (maybe even complete the one we had left in the dust last big crash) to revitalize it, but you can always try to collaborate elsewhere. I've been working on my own personal projects and after achieving a very important milestone, I went straight here while taking copious notes of that other project for continuity purposes. I've been wary about posting anything on BoM for the same reasons as you, but that doesn't mean I can't do other stuff. I even got a sort-of request from someone to continue one of the three stories I have in my portfolio, so there's that as well. (Curiously, I was gonna ask you about weather in your place, and whether that was the reason why you were so silent.) Anyways, I'd like to see more "Student Bodies Redux" , now that you unleashed it. (Sounds better than released, no?) |
Almost three months after, here's the next chapter of my adult erotic story:
This one has our hero Armando fully immersed in the act of wearing a skinsuit, but unlike other stories of its kind where the suit is downright magical and the wearer immediately loves being a woman, there's some resistance. I feel skinsuit stories could use some degree of realism, even though the suit itself is far more advanced than anything we could currently create. I hope I reach that degree of verisimilitude, where you can easily suspend your disbelief and enjoy the story. (And yes, that includes putting the main character into the body of a plain woman with defects rather than a hot woman. But don't worry; at some point, hot women will appear.) |
It's been a while.
This is the next chapter following "An Unexpected Proposal" , where the eponymous proposal is finally revealed. As you can see, it is more complex than set on the previous chapter, and with an unexpected twist. Furthermore, we finally see our protagonist wearing one of Evelyn's skinsuits. How will it fare? What new experiences will he live as Mathilda? As usual - note that this story is meant for adults, and thus has very vivid depictions. Please show your support if you want to see more. |
I promised I'd work it out during the weekend at my Weekly Goals post ("UPDATE: 2 out of 3 ain't bad, innit? (7/28)" ), and while I finished it today, I started it *during* the weekend. Here's the follow-up to "Escape from Dhagor Keep"
It's less action-based and more focused on world-building, but it also serves to flesh out Hendak and Degor a lot more. It should be obvious by now that Hendak is cunning, but I'd like to explore his viciousness a bit more. I intend to show how he got the cart, because it serves as a good exploration on how a villain can be vicious and ruthless without being comically so. I also want to explore Degor a bit more, as he's setting up to be the "token good teammate". Hopefully the pace isn't too slow - I wanted to give them a bit of respite after their daring escape, hence their lengthy conversation. Rest assured that that their escape wasn't unnoticed, and that it won't be left unchronicled. |
Hey everyone. Here's the follow-up to "The Law of the Luchador"
There's a lot of references to real-life wrestling, but it's set on an alternate universe where most of the major wrestling promotions never existed. There's no WWE, no WCW, no ECW, no New Japan, no Consejo Mundial de la Lucha Libre, etc. It should be obvious who's the RL counterpart to El Caballero de Plata (the cover spoils it), but I wanted a spin for his son. It's a pretty emotional chapter with some humor mixed in. There's also the appearance of a new character - one that'll cause some problems in the future. Next chapter should show a bit of the internals of the Millenium Wrestling Association. What do you think of the story so far? Is it a fair representation of the wrestling culture in the US? Is it fun? |
| When is this set? It just felt odd that in a world where everyone knows the worked nature of Pro Wrestling and where Tessa Blanchard (convincingly) won a men's world heavyweight title, the concern of fighting women is in this. You said this is an alternate world, and yet the Kaufmann stuff happened. I know that was before Vince Jr took over the WWF, but without Vinnie Mac, then Lawler's Memphis territory possibly would have gone national instead, especially on the back of this. The NWA was already coughing up blood; someone was going to go rogue. Apart from that, it reads fine. The concept of skins is interesting; how do they wash themselves? Good luck going forward! |
| Interesting question. I'm starting to develop the idea, so I appreciate you mentioned this. Note, however, that this is still very early, and I wouldn't consider it canon unless it appears in the story as a whole. I can say that it's set at least during the 2010s (probably early in the decade, as Internet becomes more ubiquitous), but there's still a lot of differences. I'm trying to make fights less worked - next chapter or two should show how the MWA handles combats, and subsequently how FAWN handles them, and how they approach "sports entertainment". As for the Kaufman situation - it's a bit complex. Overall, the main changes in this story regarding ours is how wrestling evolved everywhere - US, Mexico, Japan and elsewhere. Again, it's too early to speak about it, but it's reasonable that there was a territory that got crushed by the AAWF in the same way the WWF/E dealt with the NWA, but it's also possible that Kaufman made his appearances in the AAWF itself, being the premier wrestling promotion, or whatever preceded the AAWF, and challenged women wrestlers before getting into a shoot fight with someone. (As a note: Ross LaQuale is a former wrestler, as most color commentators are, and he mixes aspects of Gorilla Monsoon and Jerry "the King" Lawler, so it's possible that "the Boss" was the one that fought Kaufman instead.) As for how Blanchard's victory might influence the perception of intra-gender championships - I can't say much since I've mostly seen WWF/E and local promotions, as well as following a few wrestlers and see a few fights from AAA in Mexico. However, I feel that the story's reflecting the second Women's revolution in wrestling - well past Chyna, Lita, Trish and Mickie James showing a women's division could have interesting fights, but before, say, Beth Phoenix or Natalya or Awesome Kong or Gail Kim. (Definitely not the current trend - though I'm certainly a fan of Asuka and Becky Lynch.) That said, you might've noticed that Vernon's a little misogynistic, though he can see how a strong woman's division can help the business. And Esteban is old-fashioned, so there's that too. As for the washing? That's for later, but I have to keep it 13+, so that'll be a challenge. |
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