Philosophy #35 - Realism

Philosophy #35 - Realism

When I'm writing scenes and mapping out the plot, the details moving from one point to the next is an organic process. For example, as you've spent more time with Vanessa, she's been more and more willing to spend time with you. When it comes to your relationships with the girls, as you get closer to the each of the girls and they open up to you, they allow you to be more intimate. Some move faster than others. But you've never had a chance to hook-up with a girl without a reason, even if that reason was that she thought you were hot.

But what if that isn't reason enough for you? Well... I don't have anything else. That's all I got.

For writing everything out and looking at the story from a distance, what's most important to me when it comes to the realism are the overall themes. I treat aspects like love, friendship, loyalty, respect, loneliness, happiness, sadness, and all of the other human emotions with the most realism I can. I don't make people cry or smile or happy or sad without a good reason. I do my best to give a reason as to why the characters act the way that they do when it comes to the big picture. And I try to make it a reason that's something you can either empathize or at least sympathize with. Harlow doesn't cry because she ate too many burgers. But maybe she will shed a tear because she's happy to be with you.

After that, the next most important aspect with the realism is how we get to those emotions. Going off of these emotions, I build something that's realistic and something that's relatable or at least understandable. Riley is driven and focused because she wants to do well in school and succeed in her career, so we see her determination when talking about the coffee shop. Erika has a one-track mind because she wants to get out of Old Town, so we see her anger and frustration because of her surroundings. Vanessa is cold and distant because her priority is winning the modeling competition, so we see her indifference to everything else. When you look at what it is they're trying to do (Riley going to school, Erika escaping, Vanessa winning, etc.), I'd like to think these are reasonable and realistic goals.

And after that... Eating competitions. Dance contests. Explosions at the coffee shop. Underground fights. Shady backdoor business deals. Stake outs to catch criminals. And, of course, having the option of banging every girl you come across. I do my best to give you reasons for why all of these things happen and logically add it to the plot. And sometimes it comes off as silly and unbelievable. I give myself leeway though because to be honest with you, I just want to try to make the story fun and have a good time, remembering not to send you to outer space to have sex because that would be too silly for even me. (At least for this story.)

The entire story is fiction. It all came from an idea in my head. If I'm limited only by my imagination, I might as well push it. So, when you see something in the story that makes you scratch your head or rub your chin in confusion, there's a possibility it's in there just because I just though it was funny and I didn't want to take myself too seriously. That's my confession and how I cheat. I'm depending on the relatable human emotions themselves to carry the logic of the story and serve as the foundation of the silliness I put on top of it.

Over the course of the next few episodes a lot of stuff is going to happen. Lots of stuff that's expected. Lots of stuff that's unexpected. I'm doing my best to rein everything in and have it all make sense. It's going to get a bit crazy. For those of you following the story closely, I'm hoping that you appreciate everything that's happened and your willingness to go along this wild ride. I think it's only fair you know that it's going to get a little wilder. I'll do my best to keep everything grounded. But as I've mentioned in a previous Philosophy post, I can't completely avoid the ridiculousness. It's just too much fun not to include.

On Episode 15

I'm at the bigger scenes that I have to render. They're only a few scenes but they're bigger in terms of both render size and the magnitude of what they mean to the story. I'm hoping to get through at least the bulk of one of them through next week. It depends on how easily everything comes together along with the time I have to dedicate to it.

Next week, I'll have a bigger progress update to see where I'm at.

We're approaching the latter half of July. Personally, this month has been flying by for me. I hope you're all doing well and taking care of yourselves. I appreciate you all. Enjoy the weekend. I'll see you again soon.