Visual Novel

yes visual novels are a thing now!!! kind of, they're a work in progress.

Ideas

 * 1) A strict playthrough following the book. (More of a kinetic novel?)
 * 2) Carson has a relapse and everyone visits her on her birthday. Carson/Lizzie-centric, part of Online AU.
 * 3) Multiple player characters, each with their own list of romanceable routes:

Lizzie > Carson, Sasha, Mia, Blair, Sadie Carson > Lizzie, Sasha, Mia, Blair, Joshua(?), Sadie(?) Sasha > Carson, Blair, Mia Mia > Sasha, Blair, Carson Ethan > Luke

A love interest's route would play out differently depending on your choice of player character. Different people, different dynamics and different events.
 * 1) A short one about Blair, Mia/Blair-centric. Pre-series, an alternative timeline in which they confess to each other differently than they do in the second book. "Blair doesn't write a poem and perform it on stage for Mia in this idea lol. i want the confession to be more quiet." ("i just want scenes of blair quoting awful dark romantic poetry lol") Blair's bedroom is going to be a prominent setting, the cafe will be the second most important.
 * 2) A short one about Lizzie's life back in Oregon. It revolves around her crush on a girl at her middle school, one of the few people who were nice to her.

Online AU (Carson/Lizzie-centric)
This story is set in an offshoot of the Online AU (an AU of an AU??). The game unfolds over the course of a single day. Accordingly, the script is laid out in hours.

The aesthetic of the game is meant to be mellow and lighthearted (in terms of text and display images)... to contrast the sadness of Carson's situation.

Soundtrack: Tyrone Wells - Let Go (Instrumental): "this song is so perfect for the mood in this game"

Characters
Carson is a teenage inpatient who was admitted for Crohn's disease. She was always athletic as a child and liked basketball and running, and she misses going to the park with her friends. Before she got sick, she had friends in the neighborhood, but they became distant some time after she was admitted to the hospital. She also likes ice cream and bunnies. In her ample spare time, she picked up new hobbies, like crochet.

Carson's screenname is funnybunny146 [what is the significance of the number 146??]. She frequents sports forums, IBD forums, forums for mentally ill people that offer support for those with chronic depression. Carson has always felt different, and her gender issues were always more apparent to her than her sexuality. So, she has been exploring genderqueer spaces before Lizzie connected to the LGBTQ community.

Lizzie's screenname is turtleluvr12. Lizzie frequents all sorts of book forums, knitting and crochet forums. She is a baby queer; she had a crush on another girl in middle school, but she's not one to be vocal about her queer identity.

"Lizzie is so fun to write from the other side. at least knowing that she's familiar with Carson, it allows her to be sillier and less shy. i get to show Lizzie's more lighthearted nature in this au" --Cas, 2019

Lizzie and Carson met in a discussion thread on an LGBTQ forum.

Sasha is another inpatient at the hospital. Luke is a childhood friend of Carson's.
 * duskcastle: Lizzie lurked first. making a topic and Carson responding to it would be easiest, but Lizzie doesn't like making herself known. there would need to be a push. what push would that even be tho orz
 * contentmint: i imagine that Carson would start questioning her sexuality at some point? maybe that?
 * duskcastle: should Sasha be the first girl Carson has crushes on... is that too much,,,
 * contentmint: Cas, that would probably destroy me. where are you going with this.......
 * duskcastle: i shouldn’t be that mean should i lol
 * contentmint: where you even go with that, Cas......
 * duskcastle: nowhere honestly. poor Carson would never have the guts to ask Sasha out in this au. she wouldn’t even know if Sasha liked her or not (Sasha does)
 * contentmint: DDDDDD: whattttt
 * duskcastle: lol :x they are younger in this au!
 * contentmint: sobs

Plot Summary
On the morning of her 1(?)th birthday, Carson wakes up to messages from her online friend, Lizzie, enthusiastically wishing her a happy birthday.Lizzie and Carson have a brief conversation before Carson's parents enter the room to visit their daughter. Her parents are pretty supportive, and she loves them. However, her illness caused tension when she was diagnosed, and she keeps them at a distance. A lot of the time, she still feels quite lonely because of it.

When Carson's parents leave, Luke and Sasha come in.

Sasha gives Carson a heart-shaped locket as a gift. (This is a callback to how in canon, Carson gives Sasha the locket.)

Lizzie notices that Carson has picked up her hobby of crochet.