O, Your Heavenly Stars!
After a life of general obscurity, in 1937 you come out of hiding to star in the biggest production in Hollywood history. Hopefully, your own demons, those imagined and those very much real don't tear you apart before the closing scene!
Greer Monroe š
Your co-star. With beginnings in comedy, he's trying to be seen as a serious actor. He's everything a person believes a leading man to be. 29 years old.
Preference: he's an actor, of course he's had gay sex men or women.
Magenta Wey š
Your other co-star. After a recent... scandal she's seeking to move past that event with a new role. A classic blonde bombshell. 3Ģ¶0Ģ¶ 25 years old.
Preference: women.
Jack Harlowšļø
A singer. Wishes he could sing his own songs instead of giving the best ones to bigger artists. Handsome in his way, just not as flashy as those on the screen. 27 years old.
Preference: men.
Ashley Booker š½ļø
The director. Hit it out of the park five years before and after a serious of failures, seeks to make a comeback. Everyone says Ash is good-looking, but Ash doesn't like the image in the mirror. 32 years old.
Preference: is partial to women but is curious about men.
Renata (?) š
At all the major parties but no one can say much about her. She comes with a retinue or girls and leaves with them. Apart even within a group, and seems uninterested in the glamour of Hollywood. Whispers say sheās a lady of the night. Looks to be in her early 30s.
Preference: men, cis and trans. Demisexual and touch avoidant.
For inquires and general tom-foolery: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/darkfictionjude
Bug reports can be reported here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxUntmZw5WzLOzsuIgoLCdlodTnhhvDVCz_21DETf8fkXKcw/viewform
Disclaimer: Do not re-upload this work without permission. Do not redistribute, repost, or use this work for the purposes of training AI technologies.
Development log
- Bug squash30 days ago
- Chapter 1 Release31 days ago
Comments
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Ok now this is amazing! I adore it and don't really know what to say about it, wish I didn't play it so I could play it again and again and feel the same as I did right now
Also I love the fact that our character just died and the story is being told by one of our fans (and I would like if there were more intermissions by Fara, it's interesting to see what they think went through our head or why we did certain things)
Interesting so far, though with some bugs and typos (hey its early days, so it's fine). I hope the school romance character rolls around again as a possible RO for the MC. Yes I'm a sucker for that hs sweethearts goodness, but also it makes sense for MCs who choose the 'age gaps are skeezy' option at the party, what with the current ROs being your mom's peers and therefore a lot older than the MC.
So, actually the ROs arent that much older. Greer is 6 years older, magenta is about 7 and Ashley is about 8. Since Mallory is only 12 years older than her child the age gaps arenāt that big
My MC wants to be an actor and told his mother, who forbade him from pursuing the career and stopped supporting him financially — but the 2008 intermission says the opposite.
itās supposed to say the opposite. All MCs want to be actors but the framing device is more to show how history is like telephone and isnāt always accurate
The game is good, but it seems like right now that none of the choices matter. No matter what i choose, my character is an a-hole, and during the intermission it says i don't wanna be an actor, when i chose to be one. But i do like the where the game is at and going.
you character is only an a-hole if you chose rebellious choices. The intermission is simply a framing device to show how history gets distorted. Itās meant to be a lie
omgoodness, I apologize. I didn't think about that being a lie, and it being how things get misconstrued through time, media, ect. I had that thought in the back of my mind that I was missing something. I have insomnia and sometimes I don't grasp things right away, my brain hates me lol, that's why I don't comment much on anything because I know that if I had just paid more attention or looked into it more I would've caught on. Please don't pay any attention to me, I apologize also for having interrupted your day to have to read my comment from earlier. I truly do love your stories, I've read all of the ones of what has been posted, and love them all. You're an amazing writer, and extremely talented. I can't wait to read more. And I promise to pay more attention next time.
itās ok! Please donāt feel bad. I clarified something thatās all :) thank you for the love
Heyy!! Hope you're well. I''m not sure if it's just me but the colors make it a bit hard to read. I usually use dark mode; due to light hurting my eyes, but the dark on this feels more like a tint- if that makes sense- like trying to see through a shade or tinted window. But I think that's just because the color of the font is also a bit more shady or simply because my eyes are trash lmao idk. It's up to you of course(i'll try to read it regardlessš„°) but I was wondering if maybe you can lighten the font on dark mode just a bit? if it's not too much trouble that is.
So I can't lighten it that much because I usually find that most people who use dark mode prefer the grey for their eyes. Changing it completely would mean changing it for everyone. Sorry :(
Wow. Brilliant as usual. So I take it the best friend is not a romance option?
unfortunately, no
I think they are side ros. They may get back with Sky at the ending. They just don't have much plot compared to the other main ros.
Really loved the update, just came across a few errors that others seem to have already reported. Can't wait for more!
I love the game so far, but encountered a bug: 1) my MC can't stay at party and just get drunk (male, involved with Roger, stoic, rebellious) 2) If I get past that scene via other choices, I can't get past the graduation (MC thinks that at least he doesn't have to suffer from his bestie not sitting beside him).
In both cases 'continue' leads to an empty page.
Hey thank you for the report! Can I just ask that you put it in the official bug report instead. I hardly check itch.io and itās easier for me to have it all in one place
Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxUntmZw5WzLOzsuIgoLCdlodTnhhvDVCz_21DETf8fkXKcw/viewform
Okie! Sent you two bug reports: one about epxosed code and one about three instances of empty pages.
love it so far
There seems to be a bug. I can proceed with my cis male mc but cannot with my trans man mc after the graduation ceremony.
Thank you for the report. Could you please add it to the official bug report?
Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxUntmZw5WzLOzsuIgoLCdlodTnhhvDVCz_21DETf8fkXKcw/viewform
š
Hi! So is the darkest the skin tone can go is "just a little more brown" ?
Yes. Unfortunately in the setting, a very brown MC would find it hard to be the lead in a major motion picture
Sad, but true. š¤·š¾āāļø On that note - is this why people at the party treated my ālittle more brownā MC as a servant? If so, I thought it was a nice touch given the times.
Adored what's written so far
I LOVE it
Oh!! I was waiting on the first full chap of this one since I played the demo when you first posted it — and Here we Are!! Excited to read whatās new~ Will update with impressions after, but wanted to give congrats š
*Edit* oh my Heavenly Stars! (Now I know why itās called this because latest demo is a Doozy~ First and foremost: Thank you for the authorās note at the beginning describing the difficult (if not outright Terrible) themes in this and how youāre staying true to history. These things HAPPENED and these stories need to continue being told. On that note, I also appreciated the āhistorical factsā page; I imagine quite a few people donāt know about the true horrors that came with this age/industry. Even at the start with MCās momās pregnancy, you get straight into it and I love that.
I think my favorite, but also heartbreaking (you awful, genius writer, you) was with Olivia (the best friend) that you grew up with. I chose the same sex romance — b/c Duh and - sucker for lovers growing up together — and while you *KNEW* how it was going to end, it STILL had me in my Feels. (whyyyy didnāt my MC say she loves HERRRR - waaaaah) You did such an amazing job with just a few scenes, selling that. Well done.
Utterly Adore my starlet and all sheās shaping out to be. Also love that āobedientā doesnāt immediately translate to subservientā in this story. Sheās well rounded and feels like a real human instead of a list of traits. All the characters are so compelling, but the relationship between mom and MC is just - - Oof. I think itās so interesting we not only get into the mind of a movie star at this time — but one who was also the child of a famous one (because we All know that always ends well….).
This was Exactly what I hoped for and you More than delivered. Delighted to read (i.e. be addicted) to another one of your stories!
I have encountered some bugs, misspellings, and after receiving the theatrical excellence award/graduating I am met with a blank screen. No writing or anything. But I am certainly hooked and never would've thought I'd enjoy a historical interactive fiction game this much.
Thank you for taking the time. I would ask if you could send them to the bug report instead? It makes it easier for to have all the bugs in the same place when editing :)
Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxUntmZw5WzLOzsuIgoLCdlodTnhhvDVCz_21DETf8fkXKcw/viewform
Hi. I just wanted to say I love your games. I just finished episode 7 of WWC and now I wanted to play O Heavenly Stars but I can. Something about a patreon If I'm not mistaken. Do I have to pay to access the early stages of the game or what?
For now itās only patreon access. But the public release is coming soon :)
Brilliant, even if it's a bit short. But as with his other two games, I'm looking forward to more.
Jude is a woman š
Oh my apologies. Well then her other two games.
Nuuuuuu it was just getting good dont leave me hanging i was loving the storyline š
Wow either from that short demo it has my attention.
Are you female or male or something else?
The character? You can pick. If you're asking about me I prefer to not answer personal questions on itchio
I mean the mc
you can choose.
There's a note either page 1 or 2 where it says to touch the word "star" or "starlet" for sex, gender comes into play in chapter 2
Is there a way to get out of the character pafe because I'm stuck?
no I havenāt worked on all the kinks since itās just the prologue I will before chapter 1 releases
Loved this Jude. Only issue is the side bar is like not moving out the way. I had to put my phone on desktop mode and my blind ass squinted my life away so I could read it. I loved it tho š
Would love to read it, but there's only one romance I can choose from. Could you possibly make them all bisexual or something? If not that's ok. I know it's a huge request.
I'm straight so I'm only interested in men. I can only romance Greer. Selectable Ros would be nice. If not having both men as bi would actually fix that for me. But I completely understand if the author wouldn't want to do that. It is their story.
That's why I didn't ask to make them gender selectable. That would be great, but I know it would take a lot of coding. Instead I asked if the men could both be bisexual.Which I said before, I know is a lot to ask. If Jude isn't ok with doing that then that's ok. Figured I'd still try and ask.
i mean...when a author makes a RO with a set sexuality is bc there's a reason, maybe their sexuality will come into play or it is something actually important about the character and their development, especially in this case where the game is set in the 30's!
I understand the frustation but making requests like this is usually useless, as authors rarely make changes like that, if that is something that truly bothers you then maybe the game is not for you and the author has others stories with a quite male characters that are open to everyone romance! <3
Wonderful setup! Looking forward to more!
Looking forward to this one since I love the Golden Ageās Tragic Glamour (also interested if racism/sexism/homophobia, etc. will be included depending on your MC). Nice start with the Fara and Callisope interaction - and it being in NYC is always a plus. ā¤ļøš
Keeping my eye on this~
For some reason I donāt get notifications for comments on here but yes those topics will be covered!