AOI CATCHALL

[holeful]

(Insert a joke about putting things in holes)

Comments

[holeful]

Are you worried about being able to fit in?

[He's pretty sure this is a lot of characters for any visual novel.]

[gamerbrain]

Aoi is always going to be strange.

[ she doesn't mind that part. but she pauses for a moment. ]

... And if there isn't room for Aoi, Aoi will just fade out of the story. That's what happens to background characters, once they aren't relevant anymore.

[holeful]

[He hesitates for a long moment, before reaching out to take her hand, pausing, giving her a chance to pull away, before threading his fingers with hers. He's seen people do this sort of thing in movies.]

Maybe it doesn't mean much, since I'm strange too. But if I can help it, I won't let you fade, Aoi.

[gamerbrain]

Characters have to be at least a little bit strange to be interesting.

[ ... no comment on that second part, though. hm. okay. ]

[holeful]

Haha, I suppose that's true. No one would watch a show or play a game where all the characters were completely average people with no problems.

[Even if the characters are average, they will have something strange to deal with.]

Thank you, by the way.

[gamerbrain]

Boop boop?

[ thank you for... what... ]

[holeful]

Ah, for not telling me it was wrong of me to put a hole in my head. Even if you don't understand, you accepted it.

[He supposes he could thank her for the sex as well but something about that feels a bit weird for several reasons.]

[gamerbrain]

Self expression is important.

[ o...kay... ]

[holeful]

[WELL he didn't exactly do it for that reason but that's fine he supposes.]

Is that why you're so upfront with people?
[About being a video game character and sex.]

[gamerbrain]

[ huh. ]

Never thought about it.

But it's sad when people are too scared to ask for what they want.

[holeful]

[Ah....]

So if someone were to want something from you, you'd prefer they ask you directly?

[gamerbrain]

Yep! Aoi would rather know what people want than have to guess.

[holeful]

Then, could I kiss you?

[Partly just because it feels like the thing to do, but also....]

[gamerbrain]

Of course.

[ wow, sometimes a kissing cg is separate from a sex cg. what a good day. ]

[holeful]

[New cool pick up line: Hey baby can I help you fill in your CG gallery?

Anyway Fukuda leans over, putting his hand on the side of Aoi's head to tilt it up slightly before planting a kiss on her lips. It's a little clumsy, as all of his actions have been, like he hasn't had a lot of practice. Which is because he hasn't and is just copying things he's seen on tv. It's fine.]

Ah, isn't this out of order?
[Realizing, belatedly. Cool things to say after you kiss a girl.]

[gamerbrain]

[ aoi is definitely not a critic. she exists to take pleasure in what she does with people, so everything he's done has seemed just fine to her. she returns the kiss, matching it at what it is without pushing for more or drawing away. ]

It's surprisingly common.

[holeful]

[All of this is completely normal as far as Fukuda is aware!!!]

Really? I suppose you would know better than me.
[Being a romance game character.]

[gamerbrain]

Every game is different. And every cast, too.

But sex before feelings is common, and using a kiss to represent real love later on happens a lot.

[holeful]

[He considers this for a long moment.]

... I suppose that makes sense. Sex is an animal act, after all, even if it can bring people together in other ways.
[Sometimes you just brain chemicals.]

[gamerbrain]

Some stories just put sex in to sell, when it could just as easily be removed.

Aoi is usually in stories where the sex is a necessary part of the story. It makes characters change, or represents that they already have. But even in that kind of story, if the sex doesn't come until the very end of the story, readers will get impatient.

[holeful]

[As someone who reads a lot of books and watches a lot of tv this is actually pretty interesting to him, the genre construction and conventions of a medium he's not especially familiar with.]

I see. It's a matter of balancing titillation for reader retention, and maintaining some sort of character arc? In a way, that makes it not that different from detective fiction.
[Sir?]

[gamerbrain]

Aoi doesn't know anything about detective fiction.

[ and, not that she sounds it, but? she is interested? ]

[holeful]

[Whether she's interested or not, he's going to talk about it.]

Well, with anything, really, you need to keep the reader interested, I suppose. But with detective fiction, an mysteries in general, you need to give the reader enough information that they can come up with their own theories and thus desire to read further, but not so much that it becomes obvious to them, and they become frustrated with the detective for not having solved the case already. Conversely, if there aren't enough clues, and the detective simply solves the case due to being an incredible genius, or by producing information the reader didn't have, the reader might grow confused or bored, or then irritated at a twist that wasn't properly set up. The detective should be just about one or two steps ahead of the reader at any time, so the reader can follow behind but not catch up to them.
[What does this have to do with sex.]

[gamerbrain]

That sounds like a difficult genre to write.

... Romance is easier. It's a lot more flexible.

[holeful]

[Hmmmm.]

Sometimes flexibility is helpful. But if you're completely at a loss, there might be some appeal in having something with a pre-established structure and convention the way many mysteries do.