Maybe it's just because I haven't finished yet, but I think I'm unclear on some things, and it's making me not sure how I want to progress. Am I myself, Gali, or both? Am I some kind of magical superhuman who just pretends to be a normal teen? Do people actually have magic in this world? Is Gali my alternate identity, my actual identity, or someone else entirely? Are these events actually occurring, or is someone just writing it? Am *I* the writer?
Viewing post in A Paradox Between Worlds: IFComp Edition comments
Gali isn't necessarily a self-insert; they're just the main character of the story that the PC is writing. They can be portrayed in different ways, whether it's the PC's self-insert or just as a vehicle to explore the plot. You don't have to interpret Gali as either "your" self-insert or the in-game PC's self-insert.
Yeah, I don't have to, but if I don't, then I'm kinda just... not at all invested in any choices relating to her. I don't think that's anything against the game, I'm just not very interested in that style of game. (Also -- they? I thought Gali canonically used she/her pronouns. Maybe I misinterpreted.)
Okay, um... I'm going to try to explain the game a little here.
There are three layers to the game: Online, which is where the blogging takes place and is the bulk of the game; Universe - Canon, which is the "canon" Chronicles of the Shadow Nebula written by GTM (it's a story-within-a-story without choices since it's already written), and Universe - Noncanon, which is where all of the fanfiction goes (which is a different story-within-a-story, with choices). Magic exists in the Chronicles of the Shadow Nebula; both the Canon and Noncanon universes include magic and stuff, as the Noncanon universe is built off the Canon universe.
In the Canon Universe, Gali is a (presumably cis) boy and is the main character of the story. In the Noncanon Universe, Gali can be any gender. The first fanfic shown, Luna's fanfic, has Gali as a trans girl. The PC's fanfic doesn't have to follow any of those. In the PC's fanfic, Gali is just a perspective character; they don't necessarily have a set personality. I'm going to be working on this for the post-comp release, which will hopefully have more options for defining Gali's (and everyone else's) personalities in the Universe - Noncanon.
Also, the Universe - Noncanon parts of the story are less important overall than the Online segments, and they can be skipped later on.
Sorry, is this too complicated?
Oh. Ok. I didn't realize there were multiple stories being written here, and I took what is apparently Luna's fanfic to be both 1) the canon and 2) what I'm apparently writing.
So in the game, I'm writing a fanfic.
That definitely clarifies what's going on, and also tells me I have zero interest because I don't want to write a fanfic, of anything, at all, ever, in real life or in a game.