Insatiable Hearts 0.24.0 + where have I been!?

Hi hi! Been a while,, hehe. Apologies for the quiet, life has been a whirlwind lately and im finally back at things. So! Here's a bit of an update! I'll go over the bit I've got done and then I'll go into why its been so long and how much i appreciate y'all for sticking with my work despite my inconsistent nature ~

So! Update! Its been a while, surely its a big one! No,,,
sorry haha. I moved states, I've been a busy stay at home mom, lots of interference so to speak. But, finally settled in and I'm making progress again. I deeply apologize for my lack of communication, I've been crisscrossed between a number of focal points and my ability to communicate with the community fell way behind.

Now. To the point. Whats the update? Its a few things. I've updated the dialog options for a few characters, fixed a number of issues and added a handful of new art and encounters as well as a new character with a whole set of interactions. The new character can be found in the caldera region at random. A demon who can be entered into a contract with that'll cause it to grow ever larger unless the player allows it to feed its flesh to them when summoned~

as before the full changelog can be found below

but, broadly, I just wanted to say thank you
thank you so much for your support, even in despite of my silence and struggles. Things have been really chaotic as of late and im kind of blown away by how many of you have stuck around. This feeble update can never meet the expectations this gap period has generated, but i hope this small bit is at least a fraction of recompense for the all the kindness that has been shown to me. We moved states for my queer family's safety. It's been a lot. I am still out of a job and have been a stay at home mom as of late. I cannot explain how much more intense it is being a stay at home mom to a toddler than it was to an infant, but its a lot. We can't afford child care right now, so, as it was before, my primary time consumer is being a mom while doing my best to apply for jobs and I doing what I can. To say the least, Insatiable Hearts fell to the way side ~

Anyways
For those looking for good news on my behalf. The move, despite all its set backs has been so good. I am loving this city and the people ive been making friends and love with ~
I feel so much more free here than i did in the middle of no where i used to live.

Going forward i am hoping to have a more regular update schedule as I continue to settle in here. I'm still going to be busy being a mom until I can get a job and afford child care, so, its kind of in this weird limbo and I can't make nay guarantees about consistency. In the meanwhile I'm going to continue to chip away at my work and add things when it strikes me. I have so much I want to get done but as the past few months have proved - don't count too much on me.

I totally understand if this changes folks interest in supporting me, but I hope to continue to reward the supportive ive been given when I can ~

For now. Here's this small update ~

Version 0.24.0 - (10/14/25)

Additions
+ Blair can now enter a semi-lucid state when shown the old photograph acquired from Gracie. There are a number of dialog options the player can then pursue, however her appetite can quickly return
+ While Blair is lucid she can be given the black ambrosia just as she can in the feral state, however it leads to a variation on the same scene
+ Added a new art asset for Fyrfli
+ Bethanie can now be asked a few basic dialog options
+ Added a simple encounter to the Grand Cauldron where a glob of living butter will fall on the player and they'll have to fight or eat their way out
+ Added a simple encounter to the grand cauldron where a bubbling cloud will immediately force the player to digest whatever is in their stomach into fat
+ Added a new character encounter to the caldera region, a dumpling demon, Oishi can be met. It can be talked to, it can give you a food item made from its body or it can be entered into a contract with to make you its owner
+ Added an ornate bell item received from the demon Oishi - used to summon it on command
+ Added a few scenes and interactions with Oishi. When the demon is contracted to the player its body will grow larger over time. It can feed bits of its food based body to the player. Allowing Oishi to go too long uneaten will result in it under going a bursting scene.
+ Oishi now has a main art piece and 4 additional art pieces for its weight ranges, however the last 4 are works in progress

Changes
~ lowered how often Nico's shack appears while exploring the rainy town
~ Some of Flyrfli's scenes now display images
~ Added a new background for the grand cauldron and Oishi's interactions
~ A few other little things - sorry its been a while and I don't quite recall (went through moving states and returning to full time mom mode with my toddler since I don't have child care right now lmao)

Fixes
x Fixed Gracie's starting scene replaying due to a malformed flag (for real this time)
x Fixed the broodbeast oocyte item's art not displaying properly
x Fixed ringing the bell on the crystal island in the astral scene leading to a blank scene
x Fixed Delphi's quest event still showing up even after being completed
x Time now passes in the monastery as it was meant to
x Fixed some broken options when talking to Renard the hunter in the harbor
x Fixed two missing dialog options when talking to Nadeline the tailor
x Additional typos and minor fixes spotted by the help of the community

Patch 1 - (10/18/25)
~ Added a couple links to my personal and development bluesky on the starting page in case anyone wants to follow updates or me being a messy weird girl online lmao
x Fixed oishi's starting encounter repeating even after entering a contract with it.
x Fixed a flag issue that caused the eating scenes with oishi to not reset properly
x Fixed oishi's bad end outcome not effecting the player's fullness and calories

Patch 2 - (10/28/25)

+ Added a Calorie Synthesis tracker to the calories tool tip to better display how mutations like photosythetic skin cause calorie gains
+ Added a simple set of crowd interactions while walking through the harbor. On occasion the player can ask the crowd about rumors, about the harbor or if the player has blair's photo quest item, ask about blair
+ Added an item icon for Oishi's summoning bell
+ Added new background art to Nadline's tailor shop
~ Autocalorie rate can now be increased and decreased from the debug menu
x Fixed a flagging issue that would cause autocal generation from photosythetic mutations to not always generate calories
x Fixed a mistyped path causes Fyrfli's images to not display properly
x Fixed some malformed flag assignments in oishi's interactions
x Fixed some malformed flag assignments in Balir's new photo related dialog
x Fixed Oishi calling the wrong species type of player "kin of my kin", this should only occur now for neph and insatia types