2/4/2026

3/12/2026 12:25 AM

24

0

0 wins / 0 losses

Sage

The Cat Must Be Fed

unpublished

Won't somebody feed the poor, desperate, starving cat?

Loosely based on a true story.

Written for The 24 Hour Storygame Comp.

While Pirate Freedom isn't his strongest book, it's still good and I feel is a nice entry point to his style. But it's also not sci-fi, unfortunately! And yes, I started with the New Sun series also. That's a tough read at 14; I was older when I first read it. I'll admit I haven't gotten to the rest of the Solar Cycle books. I haven't had as much time as I prefer for reading these days, as I tend to be juggling a lot IRL, and most everyone I know does gaming. So I get pinged quite a bit during my off hours for that. I enjoy it, but I'm trying to take more time to read (and write) again on the side.

Glad to see a fellow Gene Wolfe fan here! He uses a first-person narrative approach in a lot of his works, which may also be a good inspiration for people here, since it would translate well to a CYOA-style storygame. He approaches a lot of them as more of a letter/memoir/journal. Combined with using an unreliable narrator, it makes for a lot of reading between the lines to get the full picture. His writing style is very unique! It's hard to say what the best starting point is since a lot of his writing is admittedly dense as you mentioned. I think The Fifth Head of Cerberus is a good recommendation. While not sci-fi, Soldier of the Mist might be another good choice. Or for something lighter and more offbeat from his usual works, maybe Pirate Freedom.

Considering I made an XCOM joke while playing Baldur's Gate 3 with a friend the other day, I'll just say I always enjoy having combat systems, nuanced or otherwise. And it's a double win if there's a good story to go with it. Whoever that is has a steaming hot take from my point of view.

Well, there's a certain smiley one I've seen that does look like fun to aim for!

That's good to know! Even if I'm not personally too worried about points and such, I don't really want to feed into anyone's apathy either. That's part of why I dove into a few different writing activities when I joined. And maybe the fact I posted in this thread at all means I don't mind throwing myself out there a bit for fun. Anyway, it's nice to see the Wardens stirring things up. Looking forward to seeing some of you working to reach the top! I get pretty busy some weeks, but don't hesitate to poke me via DM if you (or anyone here) needs a proofread or anything on a WIP storygame.

This is a really interesting take! You could consider me somewhat of an "audio artist" since I write music. When writing a story, there are certain things I struggle to put into words because I can more easily express that feeling or moment as sound. Long-term, it would be fun to figure out a storygame that can leverage that a bit. I think not worrying too much about public perception is a healthy way to approach anything artistic, writing or otherwise. Some level of concern can be fine, especially if you're writing to an audience. Ultimately, someone could write a true masterpiece, and there would still be critics who would not only dislike it, but could write 5K words outlining specifically why it's the worst thing they've ever read. That's one of the natures of art and life; it's subjective and you can't make everyone happy. With that said, most of my writing is meant to entertain myself and others who vibe with my humor, so I try not to get too lost in concern. I have fun reading old stuff I've written, no matter how long it's been. The hardest part is finding time to do it, so I often would rather spend that time on reading or writing something new! Like you though, I don't really like to edit anything too much beyond what it's intended to be within that point in time.

I've peeked in at this thread a few times. To me at least, points and commendations are just numbers. I write for myself and to amuse others, and that's where I get my satisfaction from. That being said, I know it can be a fun way for people to have harmless competition and poke fun at each other. Anything that gets more people to write is a good thing! And while it may be frustrating for someone to occasionally get overlooked for what they've done, people should try not to overthink it too much. The whims definitely give the site and the forums a more easygoing vibe. A lot of places feel too structured and rule-bound that people can't creatively express themselves. With that in mind, while I consider myself pretty dull when I post, it's been fun to loop by and see the latest ramblings. As far as the last point goes, I noticed I'm a Sage, so it seems I might have to put in some effort writing with all these active Wardens lurking about.

I appreciate the recommendations! I actually reached out to MadHattersDaughter the other day, so we're working something out right now. I'll definitely have to check out the other artists too! If I'm around long enough, I might commission a featured image for each of my storygames. Even if I feel my writing is pretty mediocre to justify something like that, ultimately this is all for fun, and I'll hopefully entertain a few people along the way.

I'm working on it! I looked around a bit the past two weeks and couldn't quite find anything that matched what I wanted, plus writing has been the bigger priority. DeviantArt used to be my go-to for art commissions, but it seems like 90% of the stuff on there is AI-generated nonsense. It's surprisingly hard to find real artists these days!

I was planning to sit this out, but if you bump it to April, there's a good chance I'll participate as long as nothing unexpected comes up on my end.