Say It In Red

!WARNING! HEAT ADVISORY
The veil of summer has fallen across the Northern Hemisphere and with it, smothering warmth besieges us each day. With the sun casting its spectral disdain through our atmosphere, we can only caution you, dear listener, to seek shelter within the safety of indoor spaces during these sweltering days. Fortunately, the indoors have a great deal to offer us especially during Pride month and once again, we're here to tell you about Indie Visual Novels that you can, and should, play and enjoy while you sip a cool beverage and shelter yourself from the ultraviolent ultraviolets beaming down from space. 
In these Indie Game Compilation Track episodes we want to highlight some of the incredible indie VNs we've played recently and get people excited about the things happening in Indie Visual Novel development spaces. We want to not only showcase the amazing breadth of work coming from Indie developers but also talk about some of our favorite games, many of which touch on subjects, characters, and experiences we rarely get the chance to see in games from larger studios. You can find a list of each game we played below and we encourage you to play along with us, and go searching for other Indie visual novels as well!    
Most of these games are free and if not, fairly cheap (though please tip the creators if you are able), and you can read most of them inside of an hour or two. In fact, we want YOU, dear listener, to pick at least one of these games to play after you listen, and then tell us about it! You can also check our Patreon, where listeners and patrons can submit either a short audio clip or a few sentences telling us about an Indie VN you've played and enjoyed recently! We may even include your submission on our next Indie VN Compilation Track episode (only if you want, that is). We also mentioned the Power of Pride bundle in this episode, which contains a lot of the games we discuss here as well as dozens of other amazing indie games by queer creators! Check it out, grab some amazing indie games, support queer creators, and tell us about what you've played!
Indie games featured in this episode
Speak Easy [00:04:50]: http://captainturnip.itch.io/speakeasy by captainturnip 
Skate & Date [00:09:22]: https://gensuta.itch.io/skate-and-date by gensuta
Northanger Abbey Rewritten[00:14:40]: https://spiralatlas.itch.io/northanger-abbey-remastered Northanger by Spiral Atlas   
Crushed[00:22:56]: https://hummingbird-games.itch.io/crushed by Hummingbird Games
it sucks to be us[00:31:48]: https://tofurocks.itch.io/it-sucks-to-be-us it sucks to be us by tofurocks 
this game will end in 205 clicks[00:40:30]: https://insertdisc5.itch.io/this-game-will-end-in-205-clicks by insertdisc5
she danced in the wind like a holographic dream before the world died[00:44:55]: https://alienmelon.itch.io/flower by Nathalie Lawhead
Texting the Awkward Ace Guy You've Had a Crush on Since High School[00:51:23]: https://justacarrot.itch.io/texting-the-awkward-ace-guy-youve-had-a-crush-on-since-high-school by Carrot
My Vampire Boyfriend Smokes Lucky Strikes[00:57:03]: https://justacarrot.itch.io/my-vampire-boyfriend-smokes-lucky-strikes by Carrot
Bite the Hand[01:07:03]: https://superbiasedcat.itch.io/bite-the-hand by Cat
Olga Doesn't Die[01:20:15]: https://4noki.itch.io/olga-doesnt-die by Shino 
Full Service Shop[01:36:42]: https://alexisroyce.itch.io/full-service-shop
There Will Be Beauty[01:47:41]: https://voidblob-coop.itch.io/there-will-be-beauty by Void Blob Co-Op 
And a special mention of likely future main episode subject, National Park Girls [at 01:53:50] published by Studio Elan.

A warm summer breeze ruffles the papers on your desk and nearly scatters them to the floor. They remain, however, and you slouch in relief... if you had to reach out and stop your notes from flying through that open window, you might pass out from the effort. The humid air and the faint buzz of insects withers your strength, though not so much as your teacher's repeated explanations of geometric proofs. Suddenly the teacher stops, slams their chalk against the wall, and announces a pop quiz – 'Since you all seem so bored with this material, I assume you must be experts already!' What a cruel thing to say to a class full of overheated, weary teenagers. Your savior arrives, however, as the Westminster chimes sound off and signal the end of class, the end of the school day, and the end of this nightmare you've had each and every night since you graduated.
This month, Sara and Runa talk about both volumes of 07th Expansions Higanbana no Saku Yoru Ni (2011). As an anthology of school horror and ghost stories, Higanbana doesn't follow a single narrative arc throughout each volume so much as it introduces us to characters and concepts that the game explores through each of its chapters. School bullying, the physical and sexual abuse of students, suicidal ideation, stalking, animal cruelty, and grief are among Higanbana's main concerns and in general, all of these subjects are treated with a great deal of care and nuance. 
In a truly massive school filled with ghost stories, gossip, and legends, a group of powerful youkai hold court and hunt the souls of the humans who pass through their halls. The game begins with the story of Marie Moriya and follows the brutal abuse she suffers at the hands of a teacher, leading to her eventual death and then rebirth as the new youkai, mesomeso-san. She soon encounters Higanbana, the youkai of the school's infirmary, and throughout the rest of the game the two of them clash with other youkai (as well as one another) and witness the struggles of the students around them. Sometimes a comedic ghost story, sometimes an anti-bullying PSA, and sometimes a supernatural battle action series, Higanbana is, above all else, a story about the existential uncertainty and turmoil of being a Teen.
As always, if you enjoy our show please consider writing us a review on your podcast platform of choice! You can always support us directly on Patreon at patreon.com/sayitinred where you will get access to all of our bonus episodes past and present, including our most recent bonus episode in which Sara and Runa talk about the Gnosia anime adaptation!

OMG it's like, incredible to see you here! Who would have thought we'd be stuck on the same spaceship fleeing that catastrophic infestation LOL like I know I always say it but that's like. Literally? Literally a Cosmic coincidence? Astronomical even? Get it because, you know, like the stars lmao. Anyway, so, there's this 'Contamination Protocol' we're supposed to follow and I'm soooooo scared of everybody else here? They've been giving such rancid vibes, I'm really worried about what's gonna happen! But you've got my back, right? I can rely on you? Nice ^_^ That's such a relief. Hurry up and die for me, ok? <3
This month, Sara and Runa pursue knowledge and make non-binary besties in Gnosia(2019). Often called "Anime Among Us", Gnosia plunges the player headfirst into the tense atmosphere of a Werewolf game, pitting the human passengers of a starship against Gnosia infectees. You very quickly enter both the central time loop and a recurring, sometimes deadly discussion with your fellow passengers. Who is infected with Gnosia? Who can we trust? Who do we put into Cold Sleep? As you loop through the game alongside Setsu, another passenger whose fate is tightly bound to your own, you learn about the other people on board this ship and the nature of Gnosia itself. You'll die a lot, and probably get thrown in the fridge even more, but after each failure you'll grow stronger and wiser. That last part in particular is vital – Knowledge will save us, after all. 
As always, if you enjoy our show please consider writing us a review on your podcast platform of choice! You can always support us directly on Patreon at patreon.com/sayitinred where you will get access to all of our bonus episodes past and present, including our most recent bonus episode in which Sara and Runa revisit the subject of our very first episode, Eliza!
Fans of the show may also be interested in a recently released Victorian Murder Mystery Otome game, Crimson Waves on the Emerald Sea: Amaranthine Moon. Runa was the lead writer on the project, and you can find it now on Steam and itch.io!

Polygonal shapes. Where do they come from? What do they want from us? Is there any way to escape their tyranny, the rigid strictures of those euclidean forms? I've heard, though only in rumor, that you can easily defeat some shapes by collapsing them in on themselves... I'm not sure exactly how to do that, but there is one thing I'm certain of: Arcueid and Ciel really should complete the final line of this love triangle and kiss each other.
This month, Sara and Runa finish our journey through Tsukihime (for now) as they read through the Ciel route in the original version of the game. As with our Arcueid route coverage, this episode focuses on contrasting each version of Ciel's route,  examining the character and plot changes between them, and considering each major choice in the adaptation and remake process. How different does the original Ciel route feel without Noel and the other characters added in the remake? Does Arcueid feel as compelling in the original Ciel route as she did in the remake Ciel route? How do Ciel's relationships and connections feel in the original compared to the remake? And also, perhaps most importantly, how many cool fight scenes does she get?
This episode will feature extensive spoilers for both the Ciel route and Arcueid routes in both version of the game, so please take care when listening. If you haven't checked out our previous Tsukihime episodes yet, you should do that first so that you can follow along (and to hear us flail with joy as we read the remake Ciel route). 
 As always, if you enjoy our show please consider writing us a review on your podcast platform of choice! You can always support us directly on Patreon at patreon.com/sayitinred where you will get access to all of our bonus episodes past and present, including our most recent bonus episode in which Sara shows Runa the joys and struggles of the 90's PC adventure game, Mixed-up Fairy Tales!

Dear Listeners,
Do you remember the start of this year? Remember the crisp winter air, the bustling feet of travelers, the smell of oil and electricity that greeted us as we stepped onto the train together? It was such a great coincidence to see you there! Even though we've been classmates all this time, that morning on the train was the very first time you've ever spoken to me. That first conversation was such a tremendous, fate-defining moment for us both, it's hard to imagine that it was just a dream. We are still late for that test we didn't study for, though, so we'd better hurry.
This month, Sara and Runa return to the Tsukihime Remake and discuss the Ciel Route, focusing on the game's other heroine and generally having a raucous good time. Unlike the Arcueid Route, which had a notable absence of Ciel through most of its runtime, the Ciel Route features both heroines prominently and also brings in more of the side characters we really enjoyed from the Arcueid Route as well. While this route diverges at the point after Shiki first kills Arcueid, the tone of the route shifts even earlier as the game has already primed readers to work through the Ciel Route and try different things this time around. The result is an incredible experience that makes some significant improvements on the Arcueid route's shortcomings while also delivering some exceptional character arcs and romance dynamics. As Shiki gets closer to Ciel, we learn just how tightly his own fate, Arcueid's old wounds, and Ciel's past trauma are all entertwined. Also, Arach rules.
 As always, if you enjoy our show please consider writing us a review on your podcast platform of choice! You can always support us directly on Patreon at patreon.com/sayitinred where you will get access to all of our bonus episodes past and present, including our most recent bonus episode in which Runa tells Sara all about Storytelling and Narrative design in Trading Card Games!