Lord of Lies Devlog #12

November, 25th

Hey guys it’s Joy and oh man- we are almost a month away from release day aghhhhhhhh!

I have the story done as I had already talked about last week and am in the (mostly fun) process of cleaning up major bugs, ironing out wrinkles, and beefing up scenes that I rushed through. 

All art is done and put into the game itself, the soundtrack is coming together nicely, and I feel extremely confident in getting this game nice and polished come release day (even with my birthday and the holidays).

So let’s talk about a very important part of the creative process.

Choices

Okay, but not choices as like, choices in a visual novel or role playing game. Choices as in the decisions a creator has to make, story wise for right now.

Choices regarding production of said creative project is a whole other discussion, but I am sure there is some major overlap.

Something we don’t really think about (myself included) is how many deliberate choices we must make when we create a character, a setting, a plot! The list goes on and on.

I think one of the most difficult parts of writing, and specifically fantasy (and scifi as well I’m sure) writing is the sheer amount of choices I have to make.

I have always found a sense of comfort in contemporary/modern day stories, slice of life, romance/comedy, etc… cause I have something familiar to fall back on, my own lived experiences or the lived experiences of others.

With fantasy, for an overthinker such as myself, there are too many things to consider, and often I get so overwhelmed because the sky really is the limit, and their are infinite possibilities. 

Something that has helped me is working with others who enjoy fantasy writing (specifically world building) and they have made me gain an entirely new appreciation for it! 

I’d never made a map in my life before this project, and it’s incredible. So shoutout to my friend and fellow writer Alex who is responsible for so much of the game lore, combat, and future writings in the Lord of Lies itself!

With fantasy one of the biggest problems I have is that I could write anything. I could explain away anything, I can keep adding things forever. And I believe for many people this is a relief, but for me, I really create best under restriction. So usually one of my first steps when writing fantasy is to create rules and restrictions that I can’t break. 

I love fantasy, and I love writing fantasy as well, when things work. I love writing in general when I feel in my element, when I am not having to stop to research or look through my lore to connect the dots. It needs to feel like a well oiled machine, that I have constructed all the parts in such a way that they all work off of eachother, and I can just go with the flow.

For this analogy, fantasy just has to many snags, so many specific parts that have to be carefully constructed so the whole thing doesn’t explode. 

I am incredibly hyper aware of plot holes in fiction, and world’s constructed by a single person can be so susceptible to contradictions, and concepts that just don’t make clear logical sense.

I also hate using magic as a ‘get out of jail free card’ or adding in a deus ex machina’s. 

For me fantasy is so hard, because it’s so easy to take shortcuts. 

I can fully understand why this process is fun for others, but for someone like me who hates puzzles it can feel more trouble than it’s worth. It feels like, not only do I have to assemble the puzzle itself, I have to assemble the pieces as well. 

In reality, for modern fiction you have at least most of the pieces. The setting is pre established for one. We have a world history, a country history, we can even zoom in and focus on a single flowershop in a fictional town based in real world rules. We can’t take too many shortcuts, since the reader will have an experience that either directly contradicts or supports your own. This comes with it’s own sense of challenges. But I find it extremely fun to explore the world I find myself in.

For instance, when writing Tattoos and Tulips, I hadn’t known much about flower shops at all. I lived near them all my life but knew nothing of being a florist and what that entailed. So I watched “Day in the life of a Florist” tiktoks to study!

In other ways, I just took from real life experiences with my friends, family, and strangers to detail events in TNT and characters.

Writing slice of life/contemporary style fiction adds beauty to the world I currently live in, instead of trying to escape from it. Trying to embrace the complexities of how ugly it can be and shining a positive light.

I think this is why I’ve always been ever so slightly drawn to dark fantasy over just- high fantasy, or fairy tales.

Dark Fantasy is often the same or worse to reality in so many ways. It raises the questions of, ‘what would humanity/or human race adjacent have to become in order to survive this sort of world?’ also how cool would it be if there was blood magic, dragons, and shooting fireballs?

To me the appeal of Fantasy is to contrast our world in key ways and helps me appreciate my own. Life can really suck, but at least I don’t have anxiety and darkspawn coming out of the depths of the world every 100 or so years to extinguish all sentient life at the behest of an old God. 

So, for Princess Poison- now Lord of Lies, I wanted to incorporate what I love about slice of life/contemporary fiction into a fantasy world.

The characters all have real human issues, human wants, and human dreams.

Sure they can all do cool shit in battle, but does that do anything to help them achieve their dreams of being a poet? Does it repair a poor relationship with their family? Does it get you the girl?

Personally, I feel like the best types of fantasy stories are adventure stories. You get to explore the world with your found family, while also exploring the deep interpersonal connections and growing closer to a greater knowledge and to those around you!

With the risk of coming off as a major corn ball, I think of my life as an adventure (a far less exciting one) but it’s terrifying, thrilling, and everything in between! Writing or rather creating is an adventure, you have a rough idea of what you want to do and it takes so many twists and turns, and by the end, are you truly in the same place you envisioned from the start? 

I made the joke in the first LoL devlog that Lawrence and I are in the same boat. Sure his is way worse lmfaooo, but we are both caught in something bigger than us, and it’s overwhelming as fuck. But, we use the tools we have at our disposal to make the best of it, and prioritize what matters most to us.

Also we are both 25 (I will be in a week ½).

I like to domesticate the fantasy genre by drawing parallels to real life. I believe the best fantasy stories draw from the real world, either to be allegorical or for aesthetic purposes. 

The creators of Dark Souls have been quoted saying that their locations, enemies, and armors, etc… are fantastical spins on things in historical figures, architecture, and mythology. 

Three Major Pieces of Advice for Creatives

One of the biggest pieces of creative advice that has gotten me as far as I am is this- “nothing is truly original, everything takes from everything.” “Tropes exist for a reason, they work! So either do the tropes really well, or subvert what is known in some clever/impactful way.”

In addition, “If what your saying truly comes from a real place, it’ll never be cheesy.”

And last but not least, ‘the rule of cool”

For the first piece of advice, it’s so freeing to get out of that- ‘oh god every idea I have has been done before’ trap, granted I was most susceptible to this as a child writer, every time I’d bring up my stories back then I’d always get the: “Oh you’re story has vampires? So it’s basically Twilight…” etc…

Lord of Lies is simultaneously one of the least and most original works I’ve ever done. Because in broad strokes, it’s the hero’s journey, made into a fairy tale, with a romance that comes together in a very generic way. But originality isn’t in concepts, or synopses. 

It’s in the details, in how you execute those very specific concepts of your story. For example…

Yes, the main character Lawrence is an orphan. But, he doesn’t mind that he’s an orphan, because he’s one of the few who will actually amount to something since he’s so musically inclined, and has his entire future ahead of him, and an entire youth dedicated to learning the piano to a level no full adult will ever match up to.

For the second piece of advice, be genuine in what you’re saying. Why are you writing this story the way you are? I used to think every story needed to have a big thematic message, but I don’t actually believe this is true. What you create can just exist to entertain or experiment, not everything you write has to have a huge purpose behind it. The purpose is you wanted to make it, and you did lol. It’s for your enjoyment or the others. 

However, having said all this, I do believe it helps a lot to have one. But only if it comes naturally. I think a lot of themes come through in our writing without trying to. Usually when we draw from our own experiences of the experiences of others we do this without thinking. 

Tattoos and Tulips was written knowing I wanted the main couple to bond and heal from each other due to their bad breakups. Whereas Crabs & Cocktails was just a fun little story that actually had some really potent messaging that came through while just engaging with the characters.

If you do the work with making your characters feel like fully realized people, often times this will happen separate from you. Also, all my characters have a piece of me in them (some more than others) I have joked that Chrys is a self insert, but he just has one of my main personality traits and that’s -that he is anxious as a result of trauma. Me and Chrys are very different, however, it is so important to have some sort of frame of reference with your characters. 

Lawrence is almost entirely based off of my husband (specifically my husband when I first met him) Lawrence is so real to me for this reason, but there are plenty of differences as well. Basically the best characters are just people who exist but in different fonts. A drawing of a character in a different style, same general makeups, but the real difference is in those little details. 

This brings us to the last piece of advice which is: ‘the rule of cool’ this one I think we all had when we started creating but has slowly died as result of trying to be more serious with our work and being afraid of coming off as cringe/edgy. 

One of my favorite forms of media is fighting games and shounen manga. I love watching people fight, I love flashing lights, cool poses, banger music, hot characters, large casts of very visually distinct characters with catch phrases, special abilities, and ridiculous outfits etc…

I realize, and do what I can to just, create for myself. To be self indulgent, to add things without real rhyme or reason OR better yet, to add something because it’s cool, then GIVE it reason.

Let me say that again.

Add something you like, doesn’t matter why, the why should be that you just want it there. And give it a real reason to exist.

THIS. ^^^ Right here! Is the best advice to give to all my fellow creatives. 

You can have both. 

Lord of Lies, is simultaneously the most and least Joy project that exists. It is made up of genres, aesthetics, and mechanics I struggle with, but have always loved. Characters who are so ridiculous and edgy but are also one of the most realistic casts I’ve ever written for. And the story is so complex and nuanced, while also being so deceptively simple. 

Making choices is a lot easier when the answer is- ‘why not both?’

How can I have what I want, and what I need, all in one?

Will it make your story strange? Will it make it harder to understand? Will it make it too specific?

Perhaps, but it will make it unique, it will make it complex, it will make it you.

Next Week’s Devlog Sneak Peak

For these future devlogs I don’t really have topics planned, it’s more just me updating you with my current progress while also just yapping about whatever catches my interest that week. 

I’ve learned so much while working on LoL, which I hadn’t really expected. I know it’s silly, but I’ve been writing nearly all my life, and I feel like I’ve learned most of it at this point, but I have been humbled and reminded that I have a long ways to go and that there is always room for growth and improvement. I’m glad Lord of Lies could be a huge stepping stone for me in much the same way it’s predecessor Princess Poison had. 

I’ve got a busy week of tidying up the game in preparation for the first round of playthroughs by my playtesters! I am excited and nervous, but I know they will help me get it ready for you guys! 

Thank you again for taking time to read, (especially this weeks as I have basically no visual aids…) 

Goober Prince as an apology 😅until next week!