New Twine Project!

Because I pretty much always need to be doing a few things at once, and because the RPG system I'm working on isn't going to show much in the way of results for a while yet, I wanted to get a jump on something that's been nagging at me, and start working on a few new twine projects I've had rolling around in my head for a while. The first one is a bit larger, but is meant to stretch some of my skills with the language and engine. It's (currently) called "Healthy Rivalry," and takes a few little cues from a few dating sims I've played, though this is definitely not a dating sim (that project is down the road a bit!). Rather, this is the story of you and Jack, your fiancée, who wants you both to lose some weight before the wedding. Conveniently, you find a gay personal trainer who has a special for couples--he finds that a little healthy rivalry can maximize results. What you don't know, is that the trainer is going to be pitting you and Jack against each other over the next four weeks, and he's the prize. The loser, well, he gets cucked. 

I haven't built a twine game with stats before, and I also want to incorporate some randomized events and challenges along the way, ala the game "Monster Prom," if you've played that. If people like it, I hope to construct it in such a way that I can add more events and content down the road. I'll be posting chunks here on occasion as the game gets filled out, and will probably be asking folks over in the discord for event ideas, and things like that. In any case, here's a little teaser, an early draft of the opening of the game!

***

You and Jack had been dating for a couple of years now, and things had been going wonderfully. From the first date, in fact, you’d known that this fellow was going to be a friend for years, and when the sex didn’t suck either, well, that pretty much sealed the deal. Just last month, he’d taken you out for a nice dinner, and surprised you afterward with an engagement ring. Getting married! You’d never even really thought about it, to be honest, but he was beaming, and you were so happy, and you said yes, and as they say, that was going to be that.

However, as you were planning the wedding, Jack’s mood soured a bit anytime the topic of renting a photographer came up. When you finally managed to pin down what the problem was, he confessed that he was having trouble with some of the weight he’d gained since the two of you had started dating. Not to say it was necessarily your fault--after all, you hadn’t forced him to eat any of your cooking, but he had a point. You were a fairly sizable fellow, and since you’d been doing most of the cooking in the house, Jack had grown to match you pretty close, both of you sitting at around 250 pounds.

You tried to assure him that it didn’t bother you, but that didn’t really help much. He started insisting that unless he lost weight, he wouldn’t even want there to be a wedding. When you suggested that might be a bit petulant, he doubled down, and insisted that you needed to lose weight too.

You and diets had never gotten along great, and you’d always felt good at your size. It was clear, though, that Jack was going to insist on this point, and the one thing about him that never seemed to change was his stubborn streak. So, a few days later, he came up with an ad he’d seen online, a local personal trainer who offered a discount for couples. The price was decent, and Jack was excited, so you gave in and agreed. You didn’t really care if you lost weight or not, but you could stand to boost your physical activity, you supposed. If it helped Jack feel better about himself, a few pounds seemed like a reasonable concession for a wedding. Besides, you’d just put it back on you both down the road, more likely than not!

So Jack called and scheduled a consult with the trainer, named Mike, and then dragged you out to buy some gym clothes. He insisted on buying things that were too small on you--he insisted that it would encourage you both to lose weight, so you’d fit into them better. More and more, you were feeling a bit uneasy about the whole thing, but it was too late to back out now. Hopefully, once all of this was behind them, they’d be able to laugh about it, but it was becoming more and more clear that this was a side to Jack that you hadn’t seen. It was a bit late for red flags you supposed, but you didn’t want it to cause any additional strain either. It was with a bit of apprehension that you arrived for the consultation, wearing your too tight clothes, and feeling silly as hell.

The trainer worked out of his house, which was a bit odd, but the pictures you’d seen online showed he had a substantial gym down in his basement. Jack knocked on the door, and you realized you hadn’t seen a picture of the guy yet--you had no idea who you were going to be working with. The ad had mentioned that he was gay friendly, but that didn’t mean he was gay himself. The door opened, and a towering muscle bear was standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of pink shorts and a tanktop with a rainbow across it. You supposed that answered that question then.

“You must be the soon-to-be-weds!” he said. “Come on in.”

You followed Jack in, and noticed that he was staring a bit...intently at the trainer...and did he just lick his lips? The two of you had an open relationship, but still, that was a bit much, even for you. Then again, he was, well, handsome as fuck, you could say. Between the salt and pepper beard, the pecs you could bounce a coin off of, and the substantial piece of meat filling out the front of those shorts...when you looked over at Jack, he was glaring at you as well. You had to chuckle a bit, and the two of you joined Mike in the kitchen.

“I’m so happy you two decided to do this together, I promise you, that in four weeks, both of you won’t even recognize yourselves,” he said with a grin. “I’ve found that the couples that get fit together do better than ones that don’t--a little healthy rivalry can help us stay focused on the goal, right? So when’s the date?”

The three of you discussed the wedding for a bit, and then got down to business. The couple’s package included three sessions a week with him. One couples session, and one individual session for each. Other than that, they were encouraged to go to the gym on their own at least two other days. Mike would help with nutrition planning as well during the couple’s sessions. “Beyond that, the only limit is your own determination,” he said. “Now, to get a better sense of where the two of you are at, in terms of your goals and prior experiences at the gym, I have a couple of questionnaires for you to answer. Don’t worry, there are no wrong answers--I promise, you’ll be happy with the results no matter what you put down there.”