#original reader

We actually CAN have a non-straight romance with Domeni, right? Cause if we pick for the OR to be a different gender than Arami, and if OR still identifies as their original gender (or if OR was always trans and Arami's body is the same sex as their original body), that makes the "new Arami" trans... That means it'll be a gay/lesbian romance with Domeni! But it's basically a "trans-locked" romance if we don't want it to be straight.

Unless Domeni's gender is based on MC's gender no matter what, but with the transphobia and all, I'm assuming it's based on sex instead.

I mean, I'm into Mari anyway so I don't have personal stakes in anything Domeni related, but I just remember people asking for them not to be "straight-locked" at some point.

Oh yes! I hadn't been considering that at the time since I have a bad habit of compartmentalizing variables until writing/second run, but yeah, a non-straight romance is possible with Domeni if players are willing to go through certain routes to achieve it.

And for the most part, I haven't really had too many hard sexuality canons to restrict characters (though gender does play a role in how each romance unfolds, considering the society they live in and all that), so now I get to flesh out some more possible romance routes I'd only had floating in the back of my mind, how exciting!

1. What did the bird scene represent? Was it connected to the MC’s trauma from dying, or was there some other force influencing their actions? I found it a bit confusing.

2. About the gender mechanics: I really like that the MC can end up stuck in another gender and potentially experience dysphoria. But is there any middle ground—like being nonbinary or simply changing the MC’s pronouns?

3. Where can I play Remember You Will Die?

4. Is it possible to romance the protagonist? And if so, how does society view same-sex couples, considering that our fiancé is always assigned as the opposite gender?

5. Will we get to meet our fiancé as a child?

If you want, I can also help you format it as a Tumblr ask or as a forum post!

6. Could you share all the Houses and their rank/title/role within the story’s world?

7. Without spoilers, could you tell us a bit about what romance dynamics or tropes each RO route focuses on?

Hello! Sorry for taking so long to answer this--at first it was because I was waiting to make the RYWD announcement, and then when that finally happened, I just got so intimidated by the list. If any of you ever have multiple not-as-related questions, feel free to send them in separate asks to have a better chance of getting them answered faster and help with archival purposes! Anyways, let's get cracking 💪💦

I won't be too upfront about what the bird scene represents, both for reasons of it being explored more in the story as a pivotal moment for multiple arcs, as well as wanting to encourage individual interpretations and discussions. No fun in me going through the exact explanation! I do think that the dream that this current demo ends with, as well as some events in the update I'm preparing to drop do help with distinguishing just how much of a "choice" there was for the player. Something tricky is at play here!

For players that chose to have an identity that does not match their Arami, there will be some choice in the extent to which they experience and act upon gender dysphoria, whether it be discovering something about themself, or trying to express their original identity in Arami's body. I can't speak to the broader flexibility of how this will go, such as for example, an amab OR in Araminta's body finding that they identify as nonbinary, etc. as that is very much a "needs to be decided as it is written and programmed" but I do intend to make this a fleshed out path for those interested in exploring this. I will say though, that I must warn that vlng tackles subject matter that involves bigotry, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, etc, so any external identification the OR wants to change as Arami will be a very particular and fraught subject subject in the game when the time comes.

You can currently wishlist Remember, You Will Die on Steam! It will also have a release on Itch.io, but this is the first big-league game I've put out (meaning I had to fork up a hundred bucks) so I'd definitely appreciate interacting with it on Steam! As it currently stands, the demo is set to release in around a month, as some delays came up with the backgrounds and music tracks--such is the way of student-originated projects... finals are no joke!

Yes, Mari is listed as an RO in the intro post! The society of Palcosia is very much staunchly traditional and homophobic, so I'll let you mull on what any same-sex romances you choose to pursue may entail! Gender also plays a role as well because of sexism too, so gay vs lesbian romances may have slight differences as well. [Melts into a puddle at the thought of writing all the variations]

Yes, I'm actually writing those scenes this week!

This is actually talked about in the first and second chapters, but I'll give a little TLDR rn. If you want, I can also answer another ask dedicated to this later, along with the ruling family and other social classes! + House Doloryn - Legacy - Red with gold - Known most for their deep loyalty and ties to the ruling family of Palcosia. The truest blooded nobles of them all, they have witnessed all of history's tragedies. + House Cavalleux - Valor - Blue with Silver - Known for their skilled knights and soldiers. Higher ups oversee the training and deployment of armies and other such groups that deal with outside forces. + House Fiorenselle - Purity - White with green - Known for their scholars and beauty. While Doloryn is pure of blood, Fiorenselle is pure of heart and mind, and has earned the trust of many. + House Nerozierre - Creativity - Yellow with black - Known for their sense of drama and relation to truth. The gift of divine premonitions is often bestowed upon members of this house. + House Serenne - Devotion - Purple with pink - Known for their management of the church and public services. Most born into this nobility either marry out or become public officials. This is the one house that also allows orphans to bear its name in exchange for lifelong servitude.

That aside, I've been quite invested in the content we already had with Arami's brothers, and I'm really hoping we'll be able to improve their relationship with them at least a little bit.

I also have two questions if you don't mind (though if you already answered something similar and I just so happen to not be able to find it, I'd love it if you simply redirected me to it!). So, I'm incredibly split between Mari and Oliviero when it comes to the romance. Both have tropes I love, but different kinds of appeal. With Mari it's the whole idea of Arami and them being supposed to be THE enemies and what not (not to mention it's funny to me that Domeni is bethrothed to one and the actual LI to the other in the novel, but in this case it's the two people they are supposed to be involved with that'd end up together), while with Oliviero it's more about the parallels between his own past and Arami's and so on. And since I'm so conflicted, I was wondering if you'd be willing to tell me at least a little bit about the "tone" or "flavor" of each romance, to help me pick. Now, I'm obviously mostly interested in the two ROs I'm conflicted between, but if you want to give some info about every romance, that's obviously fine by me too. Though if you also don't want to share anything else at all, I fully understand! I'm just asking because asking won't harm, and since I'm a "one canon playthrough" kind of player, chances are very low for me to have one playthrough for Mari and one for Oliviero.

And the other question: does picking Arami's "default" design has any flavor text related to it or does it not matter? I tend to remain "as canon as possible" so I went with it (though I may not imagine the exact hairstyle or facial features as on your design), but I'm curious.

Thanks!

Hello! I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far :)) While I will say that the story I have planned may turn out to be a bit... batshit, I can confirm that the original reader's world is not going to be an end goal ending. For the most part, that ship is sailed. 🚢🪦

Arami's brothers are certainly a couple of interesting characters, of which I do indeed plan to allow players to sort out their relationships with, whether it be attempting some type of improvement, or confidently establishing that the disdain is mutual, heheh.

As for your questions, I'll do my best to answer them, but know that things are subject to change as I continue to write and work with the story!

I answered a very short cliffnotes version of what I was inspired by when planning each romance route in this post, but to get more specifically into Mari and Oliviero, I'd say that the former is a much more melancholic and poetic sort of journey, while the latter has the opportunity to be a bit more dark and intense in tone. Player choices in the routes will definitely affect to what extent these descriptions take effect, as well as there being much more nuance to the different aspects of these relationships, but overall, I'd say Mari is for the narrative freaks and Oliviero is for the freaky freaks LMAO. I'll refrain from going too in-depth since I want the character interactions to speak for themselves versus me making any bold claims before I put pen to paper on the actual game scenes.

There's a few things I did to hopefully effectively avoid this... interesting... trope!

Although we as the audience know that the reader passed away at 18, the player when reincarnated as Arami doesn't have most of any recollection of their previous life, just the fact that there was one and that AToG was in fact a book they read. They fall pretty fast into just being a 12 year old with weirdly fragmented knowledge of the story and don't actually maintain the experiences or maturity of their past life.

For the most part, Arami doesn't meet most ROs until they're older and basically a few years off of the reader's original age. There are some exceptions, but there aren't any weird undertones unless you count the horrors of living in a doomed narrative lol.

I also just don't write it like that! The reader gets foresight, yes, but they're not really acting out of age and are basically merged with the original Arami's body and consciousness and redevelop normally. Also, I'm a major slowburn writer so romance isn't even in my head during early chapter 1 which is where Arami is growing up. The rest of the story, they're all at respectable ages to form relationships with each other :3

Yes it will, and yes there will be angst!

I mean she's probably still doomed but at least she wont hate herself?

Good approach. After all, why come up with reasons to hate yourself when your family already does it so well for you?