VN Ren'Py Completed Leap of Faith [Ch. 8 v1.0.3] [DriftyGames]

[bloombee]

Likewise, and I think we all have a different love interest in each of the characters in the game, depending on our own personal criteria and experiences, so it's normal to feel a little aggrieved when choosing an LI other than Cece or Lexi. The storyline was actually written around the character of Cece, because it is through this game that Drifty tells us part of his own story.
Cece is therefore the first central character of this story, the second being Lexi around which all the other friends of the mc gravitate, and the Mc here becomes the common thread that connects them all.

But what if all the characters had the same importance, if they were all the focal points of the story? Would that still make sense? Let's imagine a movie where all the actors are lead actors...
I think for when you put something or someone in the spotlight, you inevitably subtract value from those around her/him/it.

But rather than making a long speech, I would simply say that when you hold one of the best confectioneries in the world, you always want it to be endless.
♀

Spot on with your comment really. I mean I totally agree with you on every step of the way... except maybe the characters having the same importance one. My argument is that the game relies way too heavily on the "destiny" formula, which makes most of the other characters "less impactful" or less thought-out compared to Cece. The script and the characters' "backgrounds" let's say, are built upon a single character, maybe even slightly two. Before I talk about the "two" and without confusing you, let me give you a few examples... So Chris invites you to a cafe and tries to hook you up with a girl + comes up with a ticket to a VIP concert... and we later learn that Cece was actually listening in on MC and Chris's conversation, even though it was very brief. So MC meets with Robin, Lexi etc... encounters his ex and eventually finds his way to the bus stop. Things happen... Ohh, what do you know, the girl that you saved turned out to be friends with one of your old friends Linda. You travel to LA and have some fun... Ohh, what do you know, Lexi is friends with a girl that is also super close to your ex. Which was the character I was referring to when I said the game is built upon a single character(Cece), maybe even slightly two(Steph). If you didn't encounter Stepth, you wouldn't be there to save Cece, you wouldn't encounter Linda, and you wouldn't travel to LA with any of the characters. So the reason you know or get to interact with the characters is mainly due to Cece and Steph. I mean the game acknowledges that when you speak with Cece in the hospital, but like you can't deny that the game is making you feel you belong to Cece, or rather choose her compared to others. Even if you're having fun with Kira, Robin, Linda, Holly, and Lexi, the scene where Cece takes on the bus makes you feel like a piece of shit. Because she's the main reason you're living your life as is. Anyway, I feel like I'm stretching a bit much here, what I wanted to say is that the characters don't really have as impactful backgrounds as she has. The encounter with your father, the talk with your step-sister, the conversation with the old man in the park... they are all there to teach or show the player a lesson. A lesson that everything happens for a reason and every single thing is connected to one another. So Cece IS the bridge between life and death, hope and despair. Damn... enough already. I'm just gonna go and cry a bit more...

 

[Elhemeer]

Likewise, and I think we all have a different love interest in each of the characters in the game, depending on our own personal criteria and experiences, so it's normal to feel a little aggrieved when choosing an LI other than Cece or Lexi. The storyline was actually written around the character of Cece, because it is through this game that Drifty tells us part of his own story.
Cece is therefore the first central character of this story, the second being Lexi around which all the other friends of the mc gravitate, and the Mc here becomes the common thread that connects them all.

But what if all the characters had the same importance, if they were all the focal points of the story? Would that still make sense? Let's imagine a movie where all the actors are lead actors...
I think for when you put something or someone in the spotlight, you inevitably subtract value from those around her/him/it.

But rather than making a long speech, I would simply say that when you hold one of the best confectioneries in the world, you always want it to be endless.
♀

How have I already maxed out my reactions?!? I’ve been without power all day! (I’m on my damn phone cause we’re still out and I had to leave to make this silly post!)

Edit: *hugs*

 

[♂Brout&Minou♀]

Spot on with your comment really. I mean I totally agree with you on every step of the way... except maybe the characters having the same importance one. My argument is that the game relies way too heavily on the "destiny" formula, which makes most of the other characters "less impactful" or less thought-out compared to Cece. The script and the characters' "backgrounds" let's say, are built upon a single character, maybe even slightly two. Before I talk about the "two" and without confusing you, let me give you a few examples... So Chris invites you to a cafe and tries to hook you up with a girl + comes up with a ticket to a VIP concert... and we later learn that Cece was actually listening in on MC and Chris's conversation, even though it was very brief. So MC meets with Robin, Lexi etc... encounters his ex and eventually finds his way to the bus stop. Things happen... Ohh, what do you know, the girl that you saved turned out to be friends with one of your old friends Linda. You travel to LA and have some fun... Ohh, what do you know, Lexi is friends with a girl that is also super close to your ex. Which was the character I was referring to when I said the game is built upon a single character(Cece), maybe even slightly two(Steph). If you didn't encounter Stepth, you wouldn't be there to save Cece, you wouldn't encounter Linda, and you wouldn't travel to LA with any of the characters. So the reason you know or get to interact with the characters is mainly due to Cece and Steph. I mean the game acknowledges that when you speak with Cece in the hospital, but like you can't deny that the game is making you feel you belong to Cece, or rather choose her compared to others. Even if you're having fun with Kira, Robin, Linda, Holly, and Lexi, the scene where Cece takes on the bus makes you feel like a piece of shit. Because she's the main reason you're living your life as is. Anyway, I feel like I'm stretching a bit much here, what I wanted to say is that the characters don't really have as impactful backgrounds as she has. The encounter with your father, the talk with your step-sister, the conversation with the old man in the park... they are all there to teach or show the player a lesson. A lesson that everything happens for a reason and every single thing is connected to one another. So Cece IS the bridge between life and death, hope and despair. Damn... enough already. I'm just gonna go and cry a bit more...

I see that you have made a fairly deep analysis and that this game, this story has led you to think even further. It's always pleasant to read intelligent reflections, and without developing further, this is what I appreciate in particular on this thread, unlike many others where the intellectual level does not exceed the height of the belt.
Your feeling is very clear, and I understand that from an outside point of view, the sight of all these events and people who bind to each other through the destiny of one, or two antagonists, can seem a little far fetched in a certain way. But again, I think that this perception depends a lot on everyone's experience, and especially whether or not we are aware of the links between each thing, event, person. Obviously in the game, these links are put forward by the developer, who wants to tell us a particular story intertwined with fiction, (although the word fiction seems exaggerated to me because some truths are much more incredible than the most eccentric fictions), and he lengthens all of this wonderfully well over a very short period of time, the time of a summer, highlighting details that come to sting us where it hurts.

But I will also explain why I say that. Let's start there. The username (♂Brout&Minou♀) I am Minou(the woman♀) and my "partner" is Brout(the man♂)

The way our "fates" intertwined years ago is a chain of events, some of which are tragic. Brout had just lost his little sister who suffered from the same pathology as Cece in the game. He was in very bad shape and decided to come to the USA to continue his studies. There he met my big sister and they became good friends. She introduced us, because he was passionate about photography, and I wanted to try modeling. I was his first model, and he was my first photographer, and we became very close, friendly speaking (or so we thought at the time). Later, his studies being finished, he had to go back to his country, and we started our lives on our own. Years later, after we both being married and divorced, while Iattended the funeral of a friend and her daughter who died in a car accident, to my surprise, he was there too. I learned that day that he had a relationship with my late friend and was the father of her daughter. My friend who was a fashion designer with whom I had often worked as a model, and with whom he had often worked as a photographer, and her daughter, or rather their daughter, whom I had welcomed into my home on several occasions without knowing it, and who had been my daughter's nanny for two summers.
Since that day we reconnected never left again.
Destiny is a odd thing and can even be dreadful sometimes.

But getting back to the topic of the game, I think the way the events unfold and the characters relate is more utopian, because everything is condensed in a very short a period of time.
♀

 

[♂Brout&Minou♀]

How have I already maxed out my reactions?!? I’ve been without power all day! (I’m on my damn phone cause we’re still out and I had to leave to make this silly post!)

Edit: *hugs*

You mean like this?
So you're the one who blew up the power plant?

♂

 

[Elhemeer]

You mean like this?
So you're the one who blew up the power plant?

♂

Won’t be fixed until Thursday (although cell is working again, so that’s something)

 

[bloombee]

I see that you have made a fairly deep analysis and that this game, this story has led you to think even further. It's always pleasant to read intelligent reflections, and without developing further, this is what I appreciate in particular on this thread, unlike many others where the intellectual level does not exceed the height of the belt.
Your feeling is very clear, and I understand that from an outside point of view, the sight of all these events and people who bind to each other through the destiny of one, or two antagonists, can seem a little far fetched in a certain way. But again, I think that this perception depends a lot on everyone's experience, and especially whether or not we are aware of the links between each thing, event, person. Obviously in the game, these links are put forward by the developer, who wants to tell us a particular story intertwined with fiction, (although the word fiction seems exaggerated to me because some truths are much more incredible than the most eccentric fictions), and he lengthens all of this wonderfully well over a very short period of time, the time of a summer, highlighting details that come to sting us where it hurts.

But I will also explain why I say that. Let's start there. The username (♂Brout&Minou♀) I am Minou(the woman♀) and my "partner" is Brout(the man♂)

The way our "fates" intertwined years ago is a chain of events, some of which are tragic. Brout had just lost his little sister who suffered from the same pathology as Cece in the game. He was in very bad shape and decided to come to the USA to continue his studies. There he met my big sister and they became good friends. She introduced us, because he was passionate about photography, and I wanted to try modeling. I was his first model, and he was my first photographer, and we became very close, friendly speaking (or so we thought at the time). Later, his studies being finished, he had to go back to his country, and we started our lives on our own. Years later, after we both being married and divorced, while Iattended the funeral of a friend and her daughter who died in a car accident, to my surprise, he was there too. I learned that day that he had a relationship with my late friend and was the father of her daughter. My friend who was a fashion designer with whom I had often worked as a model, and with whom he had often worked as a photographer, and her daughter, or rather their daughter, whom I had welcomed into my home on several occasions without knowing it, and who had been my daughter's nanny for two summers.
Since that day we reconnected never left again.
Destiny is a odd thing and can even be dreadful sometimes.

But getting back to the topic of the game, I think the way the events unfold and the characters relate is more utopian, because everything is condensed in a very short a period of time.
♀

Thank you... Thank you soo much for your beautiful story and comment. I have a lot more to tell myself but I wouldn't want to put another wall of text here to possibly bother everyone else. I will say this, experience is definitely a key factor in how we view and analyze things... just like you said. I myself am a 27-year-old man whose big passion was writing a story. It could've been a game, book or even a movie. But some things stay only as your passion due to not having the ability to make them happen. Studied graphic design in high school... never actually learnt coding or graphic designing, studied English literature in university... never actually had the chance to have a legitimate job, studying and doing my master's on communication sciences... don't really know where it'll go. You never know how things will unfold. And this is me, simplifying things. Again, thank you so much for your comment.

 

[♂Brout&Minou♀]

So... no harem pregnancy end?

As you can see from the op, there is no "harem" tag, and while some here would like it to be, I don't think Drifty would go that route. But, maybe I'm wrong, who knows for sure?. We'll see when his next game comes out. Anyway, not in LoF. It wouldn't fit in such a game, or so I think. Only a few MFFs are possible. There's pregnancy too, but I won't spoil the fun of finding out with who

♂

 

[hampsure]

Your feeling is very clear, and I understand that from an outside point of view, the sight of all these events and people who bind to each other through the destiny of one, or two antagonists, can seem a little far fetched in a certain way. But again, I think that this perception depends a lot on everyone's experience, and especially whether or not we are aware of the links between each thing, event, person.

To step back a bit, I do just want to note that it's quite standard to have a couple (or at least very small amount) of central characters that either drive a story forward or are the glue that holds things together and that those character are obviously more fleshed out. This is pretty common in most story telling mediums and I feel actually resonates well with how real life events unfold. When I think back, there have been portions of my own life where myself and another person served as the glue that brought a group of people together and drove forward a lot of the events that happened. At the same time I'm well aware that other stories from my life I was one of the less fleshed out characters in events largely driven by others. All of it has meaning though, even when we are just "drowning in the pools of other lives" to quote a

You must be registered to see the links

.

The links between us all and fate itself are indeed a funny thing. I know I've spent my fair share of time thinking about them in the context of my own life. Time and memory are also odd that way in that thinking back it can feel like small portions of our lives, such as a special summer (like in this game - or for me, one or two I had in college), lasted longer than other much longer actual time periods in our lives - particularly as we get older. This is why I felt a short period of time worked well in the context of this story but may not do as well in others.

Whether these things work well in an AVN format is really down to execution and I've still only completed Cece's route thus far so I don't have an opinion on how well it does here... admittedly though for me I'm personally fine with the rest being filling in the holes (no pun intended, I swear... I have no idea why I wrote holes instead of blanks but now it's staying) rather than completely different stories based on the path chosen. The fact that this has a really strong story is really head and shoulders above a lot of other games I've played multiple routes on where the overall story largely plays out the same way and often my favorite character isn't as integral to the plot as others but it doesn't feel like it's as big of a deal because the story itself isn't meaningful enough for that distinction to be impactful. Having any canonical ending is bound to ruffle some feathers, but at least it's better than not having other romantic paths/endings at all which can be really frustrating in other story telling mediums.

Okay, now if everyone could refrain from having interesting discussions that I don't have time to participate in properly (but really want to) during my work week, that'd be great.

 

[♂Brout&Minou♀]

Thank you... Thank you soo much for your beautiful story and comment. I have a lot more to tell myself but I wouldn't want to put another wall of text here to possibly bother everyone else. I will say this, experience is definitely a key factor in how we view and analyze things... just like you said. I myself am a 27-year-old man whose big passion was writing a story. It could've been a game, book or even a movie. But some things stay only as your passion due to not having the ability to make them happen. Studied graphic design in high school... never actually learnt coding or graphic designing, studied English literature in university... never actually had the chance to have a legitimate job, studying and doing my master's on communication sciences... don't really know where it'll go. You never know how things will unfold. And this is me, simplifying things. Again, thank you so much for your comment.

Hi. Well I see that Minou took the lead in responding to your post. I couldn't say better than what she wrote.
I see that you are still studying and in a very complicated subject, like psychology, which Minou and I studied together at university.
And again, about destiny, I had chosen this path after studying technological sciences, after the loss of my little sister, which led me to the United States and to meeting Minou. It is more than certainly for this reason that this game, LoF, we liked and marked so much.
I think Drifty really wanted to highlight all those links that connect each "thing" and that we don't pay attention to most of the time, either by not wanting to see them, or simply because we can only connect the nodes more late in the futur, when you sit down for a moment and ask yourself "how did this all happen?".
like you say, we never know where things will go. All we can control is to move forward trying to make the choices that feel right and appropriate. Whether we did the good or the bad choices, only time can tell. Who could have said that by going from technological studies to study psychology, I would end up becoming a photographer? It was certainly a passion, but I have many others... Or even, that I would debate psychology and communication around a "heroic" game, me in France getting ready to leave to do my work in the usa, with a guy who lives in Turkey?
Have a nice day

♂

 

[♂Brout&Minou♀]

To step back a bit, I do just want to note that it's quite standard to have a couple (or at least very small amount) of central characters that either drive a story forward or are the glue that holds things together and that those character are obviously more fleshed out. This is pretty common in most story telling mediums and I feel actually resonates well with how real life events unfold. When I think back, there have been portions of my own life where myself and another person served as the glue that brought a group of people together and drove forward a lot of the events that happened. At the same time I'm well aware that other stories from my life I was one of the less fleshed out characters in events largely driven by others. All of it has meaning though, even when we are just "drowning in the pools of other lives" to quote a

You must be registered to see the links

.

The links between us all and fate itself are indeed a funny thing. I know I've spent my fair share of time thinking about them in the context of my own life. Time and memory are also odd that way in that thinking back it can feel like small portions of our lives, such as a special summer (like in this game - or for me, one or two I had in college), lasted longer than other much longer actual time periods in our lives - particularly as we get older. This is why I felt a short period of time worked well in the context of this story but may not do as well in others.

Whether these things work well in an AVN format is really down to execution and I've still only completed Cece's route thus far so I don't have an opinion on how well it does here... admittedly though for me I'm personally fine with the rest being filling in the holes (no pun intended, I swear... I have no idea why I wrote holes instead of blanks but now it's staying) rather than completely different stories based on the path chosen. The fact that this has a really strong story is really head and shoulders above a lot of other games I've played multiple routes on where the overall story largely plays out the same way and often my favorite character isn't as integral to the plot as others but it doesn't feel like it's as big of a deal because the story itself isn't meaningful enough for that distinction to be impactful. Having any canonical ending is bound to ruffle some feathers, but at least it's better than not having other romantic paths/endings at all which can be really frustrating in other story telling mediums.

Okay, now if everyone could refrain from having interesting discussions that I don't have time to participate in properly (but really want to) during my work week, that'd be great.

As you can imagine, there are two of us, me and my little wife, having a hard time restricting ourselves to making small comments. I can't speak for the others with certainty, but I don't think we're the only ones, as far as I can read on this thread.
Maybe we should open an independent thread to have a blast in our debates

♂

 

[hampsure]

As you can imagine, there are two of us, me and my little wife, having a hard time restricting ourselves to making small comments. I can't speak for the others with certainty, but I don't think we're the only ones, as far as I can read on this thread.
Maybe we should open an independent thread to have a blast in our debates

Hehe, I was just kidding, I love the discussions that go on in this thread in whether they're related to the game or complete tangents (and whether I have time to join in or not) so by all means keep the good stuff coming. That said, if you two ever do create your own thread to lead more general discussions in, then you better let us know because I and likely a good number of others would want to be following that as well.

 

[bloombee]

Hi. Well I see that Minou took the lead in responding to your post. I couldn't say better than what she wrote.
I see that you are still studying and in a very complicated subject, like psychology, which Minou and I studied together at university.
And again, about destiny, I had chosen this path after studying technological sciences, after the loss of my little sister, which led me to the United States and to meeting Minou. It is more than certainly for this reason that this game, LoF, we liked and marked so much.
I think Drifty really wanted to highlight all those links that connect each "thing" and that we don't pay attention to most of the time, either by not wanting to see them, or simply because we can only connect the nodes more late in the futur, when you sit down for a moment and ask yourself "how did this all happen?".
like you say, we never know where things will go. All we can control is to move forward trying to make the choices that feel right and appropriate. Whether we did the good or the bad choices, only time can tell. Who could have said that by going from technological studies to study psychology, I would end up becoming a photographer? It was certainly a passion, but I have many others... Or even, that I would debate psychology and communication around a "heroic" game, me in France getting ready to leave to do my work in the usa, with a guy who lives in Turkey?
Have a nice day

♂

You guys seem like a perfect couple and I love how even I can detect the passionate chemistry between both of you. You've experienced harsh conditions and experiences and yet you managed to bound together. I love that. And may it last forever. I'm not the most optimistic guy when it comes to hoping for a better future but I would like to share a memory of mine that might help some people if they aren't the optimist type as well.

I was like 8-9 years old, playing football, cards and such. One day couple of guys who were like 3-4 older than me were playing water balloons... basically a street child game. And I saw that they were bullying a girl, throwing a balloon at her. So I stepped in and threw rocks and punches at them. They all ran away crying. I met the girl and learned that she was basically living two steps away. We started visiting our houses, playing some games... you know, child stuff. And one day she asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up. I said I want to visit England, specifically Old Trafford on my 23rd birthday. She was so confused and asked me why I didn't mention any jobs, money or like anything else but this. I said some silly things about how I believe the number 23 means a lot to me and to my life and that the number is basically revolving around my life (I swear this was before the Jim Carrey movie "the number 23" but my thoughts were quite similar to the representation in the movie). Anyway, so she said she would want to be with me even on that day and that she likes me. That's when I had my first kiss. A couple of weeks later, she got into a car with her parents, she was crying and uttered no words. I watched her get inside and wave at me goodbye as the car drove away. I had no idea what happened or where she went. After a couple of months, my family divorced and sent me to my grandmother & grandfather. I lived in a family apartment where my aunts, cousins, and uncles lived. I've been with many people and experienced a lot of things as I grew up but I never managed to forget about her. Plus, I remembered about her was her name, how we met and that little conversation I had with her. Nothing else. So I tried my hardest but couldn't find her and gave up thinking about it when I was around to finish high school. So I started studying English Literature at my university... I was a pretty mediocre student until I was afraid I'd lose my student loans and eventually pressed hard. In my third year, I was doing pretty well and eventually, someone asked me why I haven't given any thought about signing for Erasmus. So I did. The result turned out and I learnt that I was a backup student (Meaning I would have to either pay my own money to go or wait for the possibility of 2 other students forfeiting their position). One of them actually did so I earned the chance to move to England. It was January 19th 2019. 4 days earlier than my birthday. I had some free time to travel around the country before the school was open so I met some friends and took some photos. Uploaded the photos to Instagram with a like handful of tags. On my birthday I travelled to Manchester to see Old Trafford and decided to stay the night there. When I was uploading my photos, I just got a random message from someone, just casually saying hi, asking if I lived where I lived in my childhood. I couldn't get a grasp of it at first but then it suddenly hit me. I stood for like 15 minutes without moving my head and not knowing what to think. The girl I was looking for, the girl I stopped looking for years ago... was also looking for me this whole time. Just like me, she had no idea of how to find me or anyone to reach. She just thought I would manage to achieve my dream and travel to England on my 23rd birthday. She looked through thousands of tags and saw someone named İlkay among them. She told me her whole story, how she grew up getting beaten by her father, attempting to suicide a couple of times, leaving her home and finally jumping from a bridge... Someone saw and persuaded her not to jump. Years later they got married and have a kid. She named her daughter İlkay, which is my name(unisex name). Reading all these... reading it from her... I honestly have no way of describing it even right now. She said that her husband wasn't treating her properly anymore. Saying he's not the same man as before and that he has been beating her for years. She said she wanted to suicide again but thought about me... the hope of finding me kept her alive she says. For me, it was a lot to take in. So we spoke a later or a two after. She showed me her daughter, which believes it or not, looks 100% like me. She claims the same. I have never seen anyone that could look like me that much. I was devastated... and thrilled at the same time. Eventually... she asked if we could have a future together. She could move away from everyone, take her child and go anywhere with me. I didn't know what to say. She was still married to a guy that basically saved her life... but now torturing her. I... I said I didn't want to give any false hopes to her and that my life sucks. I had no financial incentive, nor anything to look for. She just asked me for a small chance, in other words, a "leap of faith" that one day we might be together. I couldn't give her any hope. I myself wasn't in perfect condition. Describing it right kinda feels like I was a piece of shit... but seriously, I didn't know what to do. After 3 days I got a phone call from my cousin at 6 AM that my grandmother had died. That was it. It had been 3 years since my grandfather died at the time and now this. I had no idea what to do when I got back. I returned after 7 months and all I found was an empty house. After 1 year passed and I graduated, a girl that I liked in England decided to visit me in Turkey. She stayed with me for 10 days. We had all the chemistry and love together. Before she returned to the Czech Republic, she said she wanted to get married and that she loves me so much... I wanted her as well. I really did. But I had no way of getting an EU visa, let alone a work permit. She said she was living with her parents so they wouldn't accept it if we got married in Turkey. Long story short, we bid ourselves farewell at the airport. She bought her ticket and left. 6 months later I got a message from her. It was just "I'm sorry..." and then she blocked me. I checked her Facebook and learned that she got married. And you know the funny thing is... After some time passed and I encountered a man on Instagram... It looked really similar from somewhere... was going through his photos... and I saw that he was working as an airport employee, selling tickets and stuff. I saw that he was the guy who sold the departure ticket to the girl who visited me and one of his photos was liked by a certain someone... It was liked by my childhood girl. He turned out to be his husband. Anyway. I'm really sorry for the huge wall of text but I wanted to share a unique memory of mine. Some perhaps learn something from it. I really don't know.

 

[cxx]

or more divergent paths. You could have multiple endings with the same character too. In fact, we see it with Lexi, Holly, Lexi/Holly or Kira, Robin, Kira/Robin. Thankfully it stops there or we could have been in a throuple with Linda/Chris or Holly/Chris!

true but that could have made game more complex aka early game choice opens path to endings 1-3 to char a but closes other endings. linda might been up for that and holly quite surely.

 

[♂Brout&Minou♀]

Hehe, I was just kidding, I love the discussions that go on in this thread in whether they're related to the game or complete tangents (and whether I have time to join in or not) so by all means keep the good stuff coming. That said, if you two ever do create your own thread to lead more general discussions in, then you better let us know because I and likely a good number of others would want to be following that as well.

Me, and I'm sure Minou would agree with me, I'd love to do this, but as I've mentioned before in this thread, we're getting ready for a long trip and we don't know how many times we'll have to stay away for our work.
At worst a few months in the USA, at best a lot more in around the world.
First working with fashion celebrities, then also dealing with recruitment campaigns and selection of new models for several clothing brands and other designers.
I know Minou said I tend to freak out a bit when it comes to our trips like these, but I'm not sure it would be right for either of us to mess things up with this kind of people. The last time we had these types of contracts, we barely managed to sleep on planes and trains for 20 months most of the time. It's one of the prizes for the independence of our profession and also the post-covid prize, at least I hope for the last one that there won't be any others.
So perhaps another time for us to create this topic.
But hey, you and the others are free to make it as well. We'll most likely happy to join in some point of free time

 

[cxx]

now he has becomes schizophrenic.

 

[Elhemeer]

Me, and I'm sure Minou would agree with me, I'd love to do this, but as I've mentioned before in this thread, we're getting ready for a long trip and we don't know how many times we'll have to stay away for our work.
At worst a few months in the USA, at best a lot more in around the world.
First working with fashion celebrities, then also dealing with recruitment campaigns and selection of new models for several clothing brands and other designers.
I know Minou said I tend to freak out a bit when it comes to our trips like these, but I'm not sure it would be right for either of us to mess things up with this kind of people. The last time we had these types of contracts, we barely managed to sleep on planes and trains for 20 months most of the time. It's one of the prizes for the independence of our profession and also the post-covid prize, at least I hope for the last one that there won't be any others.
So perhaps another time for us to create this topic.
But hey, you and the others are free to make it as well. We'll most likely happy to join in some point of free time

My only worry is that this wonderful dialogue might get purged ... at least it has a chance to survive here.

 

[♂Brout&Minou♀]

My only worry is that this wonderful dialogue might get purged ... at least it has a chance to survive here.

That's why I suggested a separate topic. Sooner than later, some posts would certainly be deleted I'm afraid

♂

 

[cxx]

That's why I suggested a separate topic. Sooner than later, some posts would certainly be deleted I'm afraid

♂

some? most what has been posted past 100 pages.

 

[♂Brout&Minou♀]

now he has becomes schizophrenic.

Well, I might have what some psychologists call "social disorder," but not this one

♂

 

[♂Brout&Minou♀]

You guys seem like a perfect couple and I love how even I can detect the passionate chemistry between both of you. You've experienced harsh conditions and experiences and yet you managed to bound together. I love that. And may it last forever. I'm not the most optimistic guy when it comes to hoping for a better future but I would like to share a memory of mine that might help some people if they aren't the optimist type as well.

I was like 8-9 years old, playing football, cards and such. One day couple of guys who were like 3-4 older than me were playing water balloons... basically a street child game. And I saw that they were bullying a girl, throwing a balloon at her. So I stepped in and threw rocks and punches at them. They all ran away crying. I met the girl and learned that she was basically living two steps away. We started visiting our houses, playing some games... you know, child stuff. And one day she asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up. I said I want to visit England, specifically Old Trafford on my 23rd birthday. She was so confused and asked me why I didn't mention any jobs, money or like anything else but this. I said some silly things about how I believe the number 23 means a lot to me and to my life and that the number is basically revolving around my life (I swear this was before the Jim Carrey movie "the number 23" but my thoughts were quite similar to the representation in the movie). Anyway, so she said she would want to be with me even on that day and that she likes me. That's when I had my first kiss. A couple of weeks later, she got into a car with her parents, she was crying and uttered no words. I watched her get inside and wave at me goodbye as the car drove away. I had no idea what happened or where she went. After a couple of months, my family divorced and sent me to my grandmother & grandfather. I lived in a family apartment where my aunts, cousins, and uncles lived. I've been with many people and experienced a lot of things as I grew up but I never managed to forget about her. Plus, I remembered about her was her name, how we met and that little conversation I had with her. Nothing else. So I tried my hardest but couldn't find her and gave up thinking about it when I was around to finish high school. So I started studying English Literature at my university... I was a pretty mediocre student until I was afraid I'd lose my student loans and eventually pressed hard. In my third year, I was doing pretty well and eventually, someone asked me why I haven't given any thought about signing for Erasmus. So I did. The result turned out and I learnt that I was a backup student (Meaning I would have to either pay my own money to go or wait for the possibility of 2 other students forfeiting their position). One of them actually did so I earned the chance to move to England. It was January 19th 2019. 4 days earlier than my birthday. I had some free time to travel around the country before the school was open so I met some friends and took some photos. Uploaded the photos to Instagram with a like handful of tags. On my birthday I travelled to Manchester to see Old Trafford and decided to stay the night there. When I was uploading my photos, I just got a random message from someone, just casually saying hi, asking if I lived where I lived in my childhood. I couldn't get a grasp of it at first but then it suddenly hit me. I stood for like 15 minutes without moving my head and not knowing what to think. The girl I was looking for, the girl I stopped looking for years ago... was also looking for me this whole time. Just like me, she had no idea of how to find me or anyone to reach. She just thought I would manage to achieve my dream and travel to England on my 23rd birthday. She looked through thousands of tags and saw someone named İlkay among them. She told me her whole story, how she grew up getting beaten by her father, attempting to suicide a couple of times, leaving her home and finally jumping from a bridge... Someone saw and persuaded her not to jump. Years later they got married and have a kid. She named her daughter İlkay, which is my name(unisex name). Reading all these... reading it from her... I honestly have no way of describing it even right now. She said that her husband wasn't treating her properly anymore. Saying he's not the same man as before and that he has been beating her for years. She said she wanted to suicide again but thought about me... the hope of finding me kept her alive she says. For me, it was a lot to take in. So we spoke a later or a two after. She showed me her daughter, which believes it or not, looks 100% like me. She claims the same. I have never seen anyone that could look like me that much. I was devastated... and thrilled at the same time. Eventually... she asked if we could have a future together. She could move away from everyone, take her child and go anywhere with me. I didn't know what to say. She was still married to a guy that basically saved her life... but now torturing her. I... I said I didn't want to give any false hopes to her and that my life sucks. I had no financial incentive, nor anything to look for. She just asked me for a small chance, in other words, a "leap of faith" that one day we might be together. I couldn't give her any hope. I myself wasn't in perfect condition. Describing it right kinda feels like I was a piece of shit... but seriously, I didn't know what to do. After 3 days I got a phone call from my cousin at 6 AM that my grandmother had died. That was it. It had been 3 years since my grandfather died at the time and now this. I had no idea what to do when I got back. I returned after 7 months and all I found was an empty house. After 1 year passed and I graduated, a girl that I liked in England decided to visit me in Turkey. She stayed with me for 10 days. We had all the chemistry and love together. Before she returned to the Czech Republic, she said she wanted to get married and that she loves me so much... I wanted her as well. I really did. But I had no way of getting an EU visa, let alone a work permit. She said she was living with her parents so they wouldn't accept it if we got married in Turkey. Long story short, we bid ourselves farewell at the airport. She bought her ticket and left. 6 months later I got a message from her. It was just "I'm sorry..." and then she blocked me. I checked her Facebook and learned that she got married. And you know the funny thing is... After some time passed and I encountered a man on Instagram... It looked really similar from somewhere... was going through his photos... and I saw that he was working as an airport employee, selling tickets and stuff. I saw that he was the guy who sold the departure ticket to the girl who visited me and one of his photos was liked by a certain someone... It was liked by my childhood girl. He turned out to be his husband. Anyway. I'm really sorry for the huge wall of text but I wanted to share a unique memory of mine. Some perhaps learn something from it. I really don't know.

Well, I see you already had a pretty full plate. The wheel doesn't spin very fast but it spins

♂