New devlog today!

I'm surprisingly devoted to this project and am trying to work on it everyday if only just a little lol

Probably helps that this story resonates so much with me, from the way Inui is an androgynous gentleman whose queerplatonic bond with Hiroya is legit so fascinating to dissect to how Hikari's existence as a morally gray arrogant asshole of a female character makes me so happy (i love gal characters like her SO MUCH and yet they're so rare to find UGH).

Also, also, also!!! My take on season 1 so far is progressing a lot differently than I suspected. I’m still only up to episode 10 (more accurately: I’m between episodes 9 and 10 chronologically) but it’s so interesting to see what random BS I come up with to try and add more of my own spin on the characters involved.

I.e. I’m fleshing out the idea and layout of the Numbers Association, the reason why the Numbers are AFK for most of S1’s plot, giving depth to Hikari’s thoughts and feelings towards Inui pre-S2, as well as adding in fun little details like how the Inui figurine Hiroya holds in episode 1 now holds plot importance here or how, in this AU, Hikari and Inui’s bond is established right from the get-go (whereas in canon they have suspiciously NEVER properly interacted thus far). And this is all under the banner of being as canon-adherent as possible.

Anyways!

Progress Stuff:

I’m slowly making progress on this fangame to shape it into a playable state.

So far, I am at 74k words total (75k if you round up), and am between episodes 9 and 10 chronologically. In terms of my fangame this puts me at the equivalent of chapter 5 (although technically it’s only chapter 4 since I don’t count my interludes as actual chronological chapters).

There are currently 30 other episodes to catch up on annnnnd judging by my current chapter set-up plans, that means I have about 9 chapters in my fangame to catch up to (not including the interlude chapters which take place between the events of canon/during its timeskips).

A look at my table of contents. I am currently up to Interlude I. And if you’ve read the manga, it should be pretty obvious which chapters cover which parts of the manga’s storyline just based on the chapter names alone~

Fun fact too: Interludes II and III are technically separated into parts. As I have not gotten there yet in the writing, it's impossible to know how many parts each will have. Unfortunately for me, I just know they'll both be very long to reach the correct effect of emphasis I want to put on the respective happenings that occur canonically during the timeskips.

I hope to release my fangame at chapter 13 in terms of the manga and at chapter 5 in my fangame. Which by then I imagine will be about 100k words total (no I’m not exaggerating).

From there I might release chapters as I finish them, which means I’ll likely pick back up at interlude 2 (i.e the part where I get to knowingly shoehorn in my OCs as the “American rankers” Hiroya ostensibly meets) and then from there continue on to ramp up to where the manga is currently (which I’m still a loooong ways away from reaching).

And while the writing is the most tedious part (especially because I mean it when I say I love fleshing characters out), the coding/art/music is less of a bottleneck (…when I actually work on it).

A look at my writing ft. Hikari and Inui. It’s very, very, VERY fun to try and capture how these two might interact, especially under the guidelines of this AU wherein they fanonically have history (whereas in canon it is somehow still unknown what their actual relationship is like).
If you read between the lines carefully, there is a lot more going on here than what is put onto paper. It probably requires additional context to identify. But gee golly does Inui sure scare me :))))))

Coding-wise I’ve already got my GUI established, the various staple menus (Save/Load/etc) tailored properly to that GUI, I’ve implemented all of my writing up to chapter 3 (including choice menus, as obnoxious as they are to code), and really outside of adding the rest of what I have written, setting up a lorebook/glossary, a couple of screens that require having art to make, and obviously coding the sprites themselves, there’s not much more I have to make here in the way progress (boooo I like coding Renpy stuff).

Art-wise I’m very slow because I don’t have much time per day to draw art (and also hate myself by wanting to have unnecessarily fully-colored CGs added in) but I have a sprite system in place that should allow for a nice trade-off of less art workload in return for a lot of kinetic motion that fits the battle-heavy moments of this fangame.

It’s not perfect, and it still requires me to sit down and draw a lot of art on a limited budget of time, but my hope is that I can still engage with the visual aspect of this work while also circumventing my weaknesses in art.

Music-wise and sound effect-wise I’m intentionally lagging behind because it’s the last thing I want to add since listening to music tracks / sound effects on loop is not ideal when fixing coding issues and other stuff stuff lol. But I am having fun in Logic Pro testing its various instruments for various atmospheres I’ll need so there’s that for funsies!!

Also!!! Look at my funny backgrounds I've been designing for my project!! They're really cool!!!

2nd one is a WIP of course. Also TFW you used a placeholder image for the TV screen but now it just looks too damn fitting for the scene to remove it

I love my skyscraper cubes!! Sure they look lowpoly (and technically are I think?) but if they get the idea of the setting across, then I think I'm good with that! Especially because I keep forgetting that this is purely a self-indulgent fangame and the only one who has any expectations for it is me lol

Also, I completely understand now why you see mobs in stories in a gradient color in works of all sorts (animatics, visual novels, manga, etc). It's soooooo much easier to just slap a gradient over mob characters to give the illusion of a crowd and such.

Look at him he looks so goshdarn cool. Almost makes me afraid to finish this because I don't want to ruin his coolness here!!!

Also!!! Have a WIP of a Infinite Awakening OC I have who will only show up for like 1 second in my fangame so far because He Exists TM but I won't really be able to make use of him outside of whenever I decide to reference Inui's generation of Numbers (or at least my headcanons on them).

His name is Banri Maeda. Or Maeda Banri if you wanna go by last name first name.

This is my first iteration of him! From like...four months prior I think??? The anatomy is much less impressive but I'm still learning as you can see and CSP's 3D models really REALLY help with figuring out where/how to place heads and shoulders omg

My hope is to try and get this fangame into a playable state relatively shortly!! I will likely go up to the first interlude to start off with, though ideally I’d like to reach up to the end of episode 13 as I think that’s where the canon story truly starts to pop off in regards to the mystery of Inui.

S2 Musings/Fangame Writing Thoughts:

The more of season 2 I read the more excited I get for when I catch up to it so I can write my own interpretation of its events.

I think so far imho Infinite Awakening season 2 flaunts a lot of interesting ideas. But it's heavy focus on the battle aspect of its story is actually dragging it down instead of making it pop off the way it did in season 1 (ironic to say of a battle manga yes I know).

There are still some really neat moments though! Episode 40 in particular saw a lot of interesting ideas I can actually make use of for this fangame (hi new Calamity, hi Ahen's trial area STILL showing in the viewing bubble, hi Kei being funny af by telling Hiroya to stop reacting to every little thing) but I s2g I cannot WAIT for the tower arc as a whole to be over with so the plot can go back to being character-centric lol.

My personal take on season 2 will ditch a lot of the canon story while still staying in line with it. Especially because, while I like A LOT of the ideas showcased in season 2, I just wish they were utilized more than they are.

I yapped about it a bit up above but my interpretation of S2 will focus more on the characters themselves instead of the battles they’re involved in. Especially because, while I’m genuinely enjoying parts of S2, I miss the way season 1 took every single character and made them ALL easy to adore whereas the current season isn’t investing that same energy into its cast of foes despite having all the trappings of making them emotionally worth investing in.

Take Ahen for example. I.e. the Calamity faced by Hikari and Hiroya who also represents the sin of “Sloth”.

He’s misanthropic. He is disgusted by humans and doesn’t want to touch them or deal with them, even going so far as to warn Hikari that he doesn’t know how to respond to her forwardness and later holds her in contempt by calling her simple-minded.

He’s also introduced in a room full of kids toys, juxtaposing the adult body he wears to a childish room that looks akin to a kindergarten classroom. And considering what his powers are, it’s possible to assume Ahen faces some sort of fascination with children’s toys in particular considering he’s interacted with all the toys in his room.

Also, it seems not only does Ahen loathe humanity, but he also seems to be disgusted by his own kin too, hinting several times about wanting to isolate himself from everyone else and that, while he buys into the idea of creating a paradise, he only does so because it means he doesn’t have to engage in social interactions anymore.

Furthermore, when his name finally gets revealed, it’s suggested that not only has Ahen been bullied by his kind (considering the twin Calamities condescend him as a weakling and sneer about his defeat), but there’s also implications by proxy that the reason why Ahen’s room is full of kid’s toys is because he’s the Calamity equivalent of a child.

All these details combined makes Ahen a genuinely interesting character.

Ahen being akin to a bullied child whose lack of understanding social cues causes him to lash out at Hikari for not listening to him and which sees him wanting to live alone in a room full of kid’s toys where he doesn’t have to be bothered by humanity or the rest of his kin makes him sympathetic.

Him preying upon the sin of sloth by legitimately trying to tell the protagonists he does not care if they bypass him only for Hikari to piss him off because she acts antithetical to the sin of sloth (I.e. her taking agency in the situation instead of passively agreeing to Ahen’s white flag acquiescence) is actually something I wish the story had played more with, especially if it’s going to introduce characters based on the seven sins in the first place.

This is Ahen's part of a sketch animatic I made specifically for the Sloth arc of Infinite Awakening S2. Take a guess about how much I like this guy based on this lol

In A Memory of Numbers, Ahen is a character I definitely want to capitalize on. I adore the idea of him being a bullied kid who represents the sin of sloth by wanting to isolate himself so he can be left alone. I adore that Hikari’s diligence - how she refuses to take the easy way out and approaches Ahen head-on - results in him brutally retaliating against her. In particular, I also like the implication that Ahen would have let Hikari and Hiroya pass him without a fight but because Hikari is a duty-driven individual she screwed herself out of a great opportunity to move forward scot-free by picking a fight with him (setting up a perfect depiction of sloth vs. diligence wherein Hikari’s diligence is actually depicted as a flaw to overcome and not an advantage she can make use of).

Also in AMON, I plan to add emphasis to Ahen’s teased status as a bullied Calamity child and juxtapose him to Hiroya, who was also once a bullied child (and still is being lowkey bullied by a certain someone), as well as Hikari, who stands in opposition to the sin Ahen represents (to her absolute detriment).

Based on the above (and stuff I haven’t yapped about yet, see: Hikari NOT getting along with Hiroya), I think I can genuinely shape Ahen into a much more fleshed out character than he is in canon while still keeping him recognizable and his role much the same.

That is to say: one of my goals in writing my own take on season 2 is to take the ideas season 2 posits - from Ahen being a bullied Calamity child who challenges Hikari and Hiroya in a trial of sloth to how Hiroya is too chill towards Hikari despite her obvious hostilities - and flesh them out in a way that focuses more on the characters themselves than on the battles they are involved in to make season 2’s events engaging as a whole.

I.e.:

• Ahen has different powers in this AU that allow him to challenge both Hikari and Hiroya to coerce them into engaging with the sin he represents
• Hikari and Hiroya have fundamentally different reactions to Inui’s actions despite being shockingly similar people (leading them to infighting that is NOT helped by Hiroya’s appeasing/defensive nature or Hikari’s aggression towards him)
• Ahen should feel sympathetic while still being made out as an interesting antagonist. So too should the other seven sin Calamities: each of whom will follow a pattern of representing their sins while challenging Hiroya and his comrades by weaponizing those sins (and the Numbers’ inherent rejection of those sins) against them
  • Also they have NOT shown up yet but I’m VERY INTERESTED in seeing what the Calamity who represents Lust will look/act like considering Infinite Awakening dodges romantic implications like the plague. They’re probably my only hope of seeing another gal-coded Calamity who isn’t Eden. But considering Hiroya has 0 love interests (WOO) and the only character with a canonical romance 100% won’t be fighting against this Calamity I’m SO utterly invested in how this manga will choose to showcase the Lust sin in a story that (thankfully) cares not for sexual stuff
    • I have my own speculations on how the manga might choose to make use of this sin’s representative.
    • Ironically, if Hikari has any shot at being relevant again in this season, I think her being tied to the Lust Calamity makes some sense since Hikari is still ostensibly around and would make a perfect host for a gal-coded Calamity (also it would heal her wounds for her by possessing her)
    • Yes I DO hear myself and out of context I’m sure this sounds eyebrow raising but Hikari being parasitized by the Lust Calamity would actually be a really fun plot twist considering not only does it make sense plot-wise to happen but I also 100% trust Infinite Awakening will respect Hikari as a character if she gets possessed (I.e no romance or NSFW stuff only plot stuff that props her up even more as a character)
    • Also I already have my own take on how to interpret the Lust Calamity (spoiler: its not the traditional interpretation of lust bc ick) but I want to see how canon tackles it before I tack on my own take onto it lol
• There exists an interlude between the events of season 1 and 2. I am going to have a massive headache writing it since I WILL need to split it into parts, but it basically accounts for the 1 year timeskip that forms the basis of Hikari’s and Hiroya’s messy relationship and what changed them as people.
  • If you pay careful attention to these interludes, you’ll also be rewarded for your time by gaining foresight into a certain plot twist before it is explicitly stated.
• I disagree narratively that Kei should fight the Wrath/Envy Calamities. I get what canon is going for and I understand the point of him entertaining that fight but thematically it should have been Ukibori and Kiritsu who fought them. I’ll dissect why when I get there but I am still baffled that this manga missed such an obvious shot at an engaging narrative opportunity lol
• Idc what canon says Hikari is Hiroya’s permanent tower climbing buddy in this AU. Which sadly means I’ll be erasing the cute scene of them symbolically kneeling to each other. It also means I won’t exactly get to show Hiroya acting surprisingly soft and submissively loyal towards Hikari in said scene and how he faithfully accepts her orders when it’s mutually agreed upon by the both of them that he is outside her chain of command.
• On the plus side Hikari’s permanence should allow for:
  • A. interesting character-driven drama not unlike that depicted in season 1 that is driven by putting Hikari as this season’s focal point character (much in the same way Inui is season 1’s focal point).
  • B. Hikari getting slowburn character development as Hiroya’s foil and also as someone he has to try and earn the trust/cooperation of (and whom he hosts a complicated relationship with as someone he wants to appease yet who holds him in contempt for unknown reasons)
  • C. More insight into the overarching mystery of Inui and Hiroya’s bond via Hikari as a proxy since in this AU she is heavily tied to Inui’s character and thus can allow for further insight into Inui as a person despite his heavy absence in the main plot
  • No, really, there IS a reason why I’m writing Hikari the way that I am and I promise you she is going to be a goddamn treat of a character if you’re patient towards her because I know exactly how to utilize her to make season 2 pop in a way that is still somehow faithful to the canon story while also letting me have my way with it

Obligatory Hikari fanart. I'm still learning how to draw her but she legitimately is my second favorite character in this story >w<//

I LOVE arrogant gal characters who are mysterious, morally complex, justified in their behavior, and have (probable) ties to the main plot. I don't get to see them often in media (much less shounen media) but Hikari's very very VERY promising as a character (and is treated suuuuper well on top of it all considering she is the leader who replaced INUI (aka the strongest person in-verse) and even the protagonist himself respects her authority despite it being blatantly established he has 0 reasons to)

OC Stuff

Working on AMON has seen my confidence increasing in working on my own original projects. I can't quite piece together why, but perhaps seeing the way I'm able to take Infinite Awakening's cast and kneading them ALL out into deeply interesting characters no matter how paper thin their canon characters may appear (looking at you, Ahen + the seven sin Calamities) gives me some innate perspective about my own works that tells me I'm capable of writing stories as in-depth as A Memory of Numbers is for my own worlds too.

I know I'm capable of creating interesting worlds/characters/plots that are my own original ideas. I'm confident I can create fascinating stories filled with mystery, horror, and characters that are worth investing in and trying to understand (much in the same way Infinite Awakening drives me happily up a wall trying to understand its cast of characters and why they act the way they do). I just need the confidence to spend time with them and post them on a public level. Which is a little hard to do when you're easily discouraged as a person (and get easily discouraged by analytics, hence why I stopped looking at them).

I have a lot of projects I'm working on. Some are on the levels of epics - I'm talking at least 500k words to finish. Others are my "less demanding projects" which I'm trying to curate to be relatively short (~200k words is the goal). AMON is teaching me I have the determination to actually write these projects into existence: that I'm more than capable of doing so. Which is therapeutic in its own way: especially since I've been struggling to understand that for these last couple of years I've been decently afraid of how to progress.