#dosr

RITC and SS were heavily gameplay led. of course, i took care of backgrounds and goals, but, i actually played and learned my characters as i told their stories.

in DoS i got away from that and it became way more scripted. this is fine. i like what i've written. i enjoy the story and still may share the final scenes when i figure out the format. BUT, i kept finding myself taking long breaks bc a scene just seemed... i don't even know the words, but it didn't feel right.

after some weeks i'd push through and do the scene anyway. but i didn't like this feeling.

finally, i was moved to start a new save for DoS as if sage's shot never happened. this means a ton of changes, but when i tell you it's beautiful, omg.

this feels right.

the characters feel authentic. i almost feel bad for giving them the lives i did before bc this feels so good.

what are the changes?

sami and sage are no more. i'm sorry. if you're familiar with sage's shot early days, then you know that sami and lotus are ex's. there was intense love and passion between them which resulted in a toxic relationship and ultimately their despise.

this gave sami and sage an opportunity. fast forward to DoS... sami and sage almost broke up. if you follow/remember the story, you maybe remember when this was happening. i was deadset on giving sage a single year bc she's a serial relationshipper. she stays in long term relationships and loves love so so much.

i ultimately decided not to break them up and do a time jump instead, which brought me to lotus' rotation which i was having so much fun with.

i wanted to integrate gameplay back into my storytelling more, and i was able to a bit. but i still got the idea for the new save and i went for it.

and y'all...

i've always known this but had no need to share it.

sami and lotus are OBSESSED with each other. it's like they knew the backstory i made for them and committed to that shit with force. no matter the save, no matter the WW update, whatever -t hey were always extremely attracted to each other, although their attraction to others would change. sami has never been extremely attracted to sage, according to WW attractiveness feature - even when i set it to relationships, lotus is number one and they barely have a romance bar anymore. this is part of the reason i keep tension in the story around him and lotus bc there's something there and it's undeniable.

in this new save, it is quite sickening how in sync these two are. sami is always looking at lotus like she's harvestfest dinner, and lotus loves sharing everything with sami.

this also means that, DLL aka lawrence aka sami daddy, was never captured, had a successful boxing career, and two more daughters with lisa, sami's mother.

in DoS and my previous stories, ashley was sami's half-sister. she's now his full sister, in addition to a youngest sister, eniko.

seeing this full-house family dynamic and DLL with no scars is so heartwarming. when i tell you i feel BAD for not starting DoS sans sages shot, i mean it.

i thought about continuing DoS as is and keeping this AU to myself, but once playing made me realize i wasn't doing my characters justice, i had to scratch that idea.

so i present my new gameplay/story to you:

DoS: Reloaded

we'll see a few familiar faces, and some new ones too. it's been fun for me exploring their world in this new way, and beginning sami and lotus' story with the same joy and intention as i did with RITC and SS.

i hope you enjoy it too!

let's talk about lotus' mom, eve.

we only briefly touched on her one time in #OGDoS...

[insert flashback]

[end flashback]

lotus loves her mom, but their relationship is rough. upon finding out she was pregnant, she got the want to talk to her mom. me, as the watcher was like, OMG is this a fresh start for them in #DOSR? i'm here for it!

lotus wants kids, but she wasn't planning for them right now. however, her and sami's relationship is strong, and with him being so excited, she's not as upset as she could be.

more background: i never got to reveal this in #OGDoS, but lotus and sami had gotten pregnant in their relationship before finally calling it quits, but it wasn't the right time. this is one piece that contributed to their tension and attachment. for #DOSR i was honestly inspired to start a new save as if they never broke up and had the baby. and, so far, so good.