Speaker
**This game has been rewritten and recoded from the start! Any saves prior to 7/26/22 will not work properly!**
Last Update: 5/7/24
Speaker is a modern fantasy character-driven interactive novel focusing on the relationships (romantic, familial, or otherwise) formed within your rag-tag group of misfits. It will be the first book in a series.
- Build a relationship with your twin sister as well as 5 romanceable characters (one male, one female, one nonbinary, and 2 whose gender you choose). Choose one of seven routes - one for each RO, a polyam romance with Li and Sebastian, or eschew romance entirely!
- Have a shadow dog. He's a good boy.
- Go on road trips with your new friends and try to save people from a prophesied fate.
- Learn more about your family’s curse and what it means to be a Speaker.
I make weekly progress updates on my tumblr blog.
If you'd like to support Speaker's development, I have a ko-fi and a patreon!
Warnings: descriptions of blood, gore, and violence. Mentions of death. Nightmares. Being watched. A fair amount of swearing. I will update this list if anything applicable arises.
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The Story
Your family is cursed.
The firstborn child in each generation is born a Seer, haunted by visions of the future they can neither stop nor control. For thirteen generations, they’ve suffered in silence, seeing death and disaster before it comes but unable to prevent it or even give it voice.
You are the second born.
Born only a few minutes after your twin sister, you avoided your family’s curse - by either luck or providence. As the twin sibling to your generation’s Seer, however, you have a rare and amazing gift. You are a Speaker, able to understand her visions and translate them in a way other people can understand.
The two of you have made a living hunting down and trying to stop them at the source, plucking people from the clutches of death. You aren’t always successful, and the pay is pretty much nonexistent, but it gives you a sense of purpose and hey, it’s still better than working retail.
The visions are becoming more frequent lately, and their contents more violent. Is there a thread connecting them that you aren’t able to see? Or is this just a sign of the times?
Either way, one thing is for sure: it’s too much for just the two of you. You’re going to need help.
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Characters
The Speaker
This is you, the player character. The twin sibling of a Seer, you narrowly avoided being the Chosen One pretty much just by the flip of a coin. Part caretaker, part private investigator, part vigilante, you travel the country trying to prevent your sister’s terrible visions from coming true. Your name, appearance, gender, pronouns, and personality are all customizable.
The Seer
Your twin sister. Older than you by four minutes, she suffers from the curse you avoided, plagued by visions of pain and death that she can only speak of to you. Stubbornly optimistic in spite of her powers, she is rarely seen without a smile. On bad days, she has trouble telling what’s real and what’s a vision, but that doesn’t stop her from trying to live her best life. Her appearance is determined by the Speaker’s, and her name is chosen by you.
The Dog
A Black Dog that has imprinted himself on you and your sister. He is about the size of an Irish Wolfhound, though he can increase or shrink his size depending on canine whim. Likes to go on car rides. Begs for food scraps even though he can’t eat them. Goodest boy. Name is decided by the player.
The Dryad-Next-Door - Azalea Mirin
Azalea has lived next door to you for as long as you can remember, and your families are long-time friends. Gentle, soft-spoken, and unassuming, she can often be found working in her garden, and she regularly brings you pies or muffins she’s made using the things she grows. Az is very much a homebody, and has very adamantly refused to travel with you in all the years you’ve known her, though she doesn’t mind housesitting if you ask nicely.
Azalea is a romanceable character.
The Austere Detective - Sebastian Wynric
A private detective that you hired to help with your sister's latest vision. He doesn’t talk much and can sometimes be a little sharp-tongued, but he seems ultimately harmless - or, at the very least, he means you and your sister no harm. You’re pretty sure he isn’t fully human, but he’s never said anything about it and you’re not sure if it would be rude to ask.
Sebastian is a romanceable character.
The Quiet Witch - Liam/Lily/Li Cowles
A healer, and potentially an old friend. Your family and theirs have been familiar with each other for generations, but you haven’t seen them since you were children. You remember them being quiet and shy, but surprisingly mischievous, and it seems that has carried into adulthood. They lean really heavily into the “spooky” angle of witchcraft, but you’re not sure how much of that is just for appearances.
Li's gender is chosen by the player. They are a romanceable character.
The Mysterious Musician - Kana
Kana is a traveling musician who you keep bumping into. They found themself in the wrong place at the right time and have been dragged into your adventures, though they seem willing enough to go along with it... for now. They keep their cards close to their chest, and you aren't sure how much of what they tell you about themself is true - you aren't even sure Kana is their real name - but they seem to genuinely want to help.
Kana is a romanceable character.
The Merry Wanderer - Roderick/Aurora “Rory” Kane
The victim in your sister’s latest vision. You manage to save their life, but at what cost? Friendly, outgoing, and perhaps a little too trusting, their resemblance to a golden retriever is almost uncanny. Never one to stay in one place for long, Rory has decided to travel with you for now... both for your safety, and their own.
Rory's gender is chosen by the player. They are a romanceable character.
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Credits
Thank you to my mom for being my first and biggest fan. I always promised I'd do this if I became a published author: HI MAMA!
Thank you to my beta readers for keeping this story legible.
Itch.io page background image by Michael Mouritz on Unsplash
Development log
- Game Update - 5/7/24May 07, 2024
- Update - 8/25/22Aug 25, 2022
- Update - 7/26/22Jul 26, 2022
- Update - 5/18/22May 18, 2022
- Update - 1/4/22Jan 04, 2022
- Update - 11/29/21Nov 29, 2021
- Update - 11/1/21Nov 01, 2021
- Update - 9/29/21Sep 29, 2021
Comments
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Hope youre doing ok and getting better! (๑•ᴗ•๑)♡
Until then, keep taking as much time as you need!
I didn't expect to like Li this much. It's genuinely too much.
Other than xim, the story is both easy to understand/follow and interesting. Every character is unique, the interactions feel natural, the character costumization is detailed not only appearance wise but also you can build your own personality. The game overall gives the player a lot of creative freedom which I love. Looking forward for more. :)
I MISS LI.
SAME
Show post...
hi
As many others, I genuinely come back every few months and play again, and every few weeks I check for updates, and hopefully, we'll get more, but also, take your time, author.
Edit: I found out the author has recently updated the Tumblr, as of the 25th of December, 2024. I suggest you read the update, and wish the author well health, and fortuitus luck.
PS. I personally am a major fan of Azalea Mirin's character, and am excited to see more of it.
With admiration of your work, Jacob.
I'm so excited for more of this game!!!
i've been having a whole lot of fun playing this (and romancing every single romanceable character)! i really enjoy the premise is, how cool the world is and also how close the mc is with the twin sister. thanks for creating this <3
Them being fond of Li and Sebby yet here I am, head over heels of Mirin🫶😘
I am SO happy I decided to check tumblr for once lol. happy new year! I am very excited for the next update, whenever that may be. I have dearly missed your writing and all of your wonderful characters, so I'm very eager to see what's in store!
This is my first IF and holy shit I love it I can't wait to see more.
Genuinely amazing, the story has me gripped like you wouldn't believe.
i'm so obsessed with this story and i'm so in love with lily, oh my god. i'm barely on chapter 3 but i can't wait for the next update! 😫
update: just finished reading all the chapters. i really hope there's a new update soon because i'm so intrigued, i need to know what happens! such a really good story, it's the best thing i've read all year and i'm not even exaggerating.
I love it. Can't wait for the next chapter.
Li and Sebastian have my entire heart and soul I'm so glad to be able to poly relationship them -- this is one of my favorite stories I've read and I desperately want more
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for the poly romance!!! As a bi poly woman i usually cannot choose love interests in games like these but this made it so much easier :) amazing game, thank you so much!!!
omg I love it sooo much！profile’s the best part
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Amazing game 😩🫶 I like how close MC and her twin is and the plot is quite interesting! Can't wait for more bcoz I already got my eye on romancing Sebastian haha need to kiss him fr
Omg this is sooooo good! I hope it gets update soon enough, but do please take it easy. Keep up the good work, it's a masterpiece! see ya on the next chapter!
Hi! Is this game still being updated?
It seems so, it takes a good bit of time to update but since the author mentioned another update I really hope so
I believe it is! but, the writer is a parent so I assume they are quite busy. all we can do is wait patiently :)
Omg polish mentioned :3
(Shakes you like a maraca) ILY I LOVE YOUR WRITING I LOVE YOU I L AHH (seriously though, you're so talented and your storytelling skills are unmatched <3 eagerly awaiting the next update!)
love this sm :3 gonna rate it nicely
just reading the sentence in my mind, as if we're talking to the seer ( abby in my case <3 ) "what do you see" takes my breath away. i love how immersive this is and ive played it like 3 times already andeach time ive dedicated a whole night for it and when it comes to an end, its always so bittersweet. i love this game sm
someone pls tell me this is still being updated 🙏
I'm pretty sure it is! The author seems pretty active on their tumbler and it hasn't been to long since they updated but I can't say for sure.
This was so awesome!!! The writing is great and the choices really feel like they matter. CANNOT wait for the next chapter!!!
this is a wonderful IF and every sebastian flirt scene made me so flustered. might go for liam in my 2nd playthrough since i reached the ever present unfinished for now wall haha
i was enjoying this but i can't in good faith like any game that says "which of these people do you want to call for help in your investigation". like...both? why am i not calling both, there's not even a half-assed handwave reason i wouldn't
Oh my god, I played this IF 2 years ago and then last year, and when I replayed it yet again literally the magic of teh story hasn't changed for me. I still adore it and I love how the story felt even more fleshed out. I was so pumped when we got new content with Sebastian and I'm gonna melt the more I pursue Sebastian and Li's route (literally kicking and giggling like a school girl).
I love the new addition of what Chapter 4 is, feels more in tune with the overall family dynamic of the Cowles. Looking forward to what comes next~! Seriously, amazing job!
really looking forward to the next chapter, i didn't expect to get so into this story but its just so compelling i couldn't stop.
I just felt like I LIVED this story while reading. You guys are awesome!!
might be my favourite of all the IFs I've played, absolutely adore this
so far this is a fun game, personally i like azael...and this game does something not many games do...combines the fae folk and other magical type fantasy folk with human class people....its so cool to see in a game
i love sebastian
This is definitely one of my favorite urban fantasies. The characters are all so good.
YES YES YES YES IM SO HAPPY THIS ISNT DEAD 😭😭😭😭
I absolutely adore the 'myth-taken' Buffy reference, I was already loving this but now that has just cemented this for me. Keep up the amazing work!!
I was kinda interested in Luke route,since none of the other characters appealed to me but i found out there was no romance route for him..💀😭 He has a interesting and charismatic demnour
FOR REAL
This was incredible— specifically the depth of the characters. (Which is Always a biggie for me). All of your writing was engaging, but I particularly was impressed with who my Main was connected to and how the romances progressed. (I’ll also die for my sister. No cap.) A lot of these kind of stories tend to drag out the romance — even if it doesn’t fit the characters. I loved that every time I clicked on a heart - I was actually progressing and pushing somewhere new.
I hope to see this in all its Completed Glory! Thanks so much for sharing it with the world. ❤️
¡I am very happy that you took the time to review games of this style and to see that some of my favorites are being updated! ^^ It was one of my first games in the category: Text based and LGBTQIA, which I started to get hooked on. ¡Keep it up, creator! but don’t forget to also take some well-deserved breaks when needed. It will always be worth it to keep seeing content from this game <3
glad to see an update!
i cant say that this have a special place in my heart BUT! I really love MC and the sister, their bond and that we can have a complicated relationship with our parents. Also i love trope "childhood friends". And most importantly, you've created an interesting setting. I love a good modern fantasy. I love your writing. So best wishes to you and thank you!