Alright, so, with the Morostide plot now officially concluded, I wanted to suggest something I've been thinking about since I finished that story, a kind of "follow-up" plot for Jaxon and Ian to end this year out. This was co-written by my sweet boy .

My idea stems from the following thought: Jaxon Skelly, up until the end of the last plot, has been confined to manifesting only during the Morostide event and was basically locked to his family estate and the pumpkin patch. It was hinted that he had some vague form of connection to the world in the interim, but for the most part, he's spent an unknown (but presumably pretty long) time stuck in one place. But now that he's got a physical body and is free from his curse, he can, for the very first time in... Decades? Centuries perhaps? Actually experience something other than Morostide. Which is a really sweet thing! Heck, just thinking about it gives me one of those warm, fuzzy feelings inside. But what it also means is that Jaxon will finally get to experience Luminare with the rest of us!

More importantly, he's going to experience it with his lover; Ian!

So... After everything Ian has done to give Jaxon the gift of freedom and life again, it makes sense that Jaxon would want to make the first Luminare of his new life something really, really special, right?

And perhaps, just perhaps... We could help him with it...?

Please?

I mean, think about it. The poor guy has basically had no life experience for the past several (Dozen? Hundred!?) years outside of guiding people through the pumpkin patch on Morostide and being a broody ghost boy. Even if he does remember what Luminare is like from his childhood, I'd wager the holiday has changed somewhat since then. And, judging by what little we learned of his backstory during the Morostide plot, I have a feeling that his previous Luminares weren't exactly that happy...

These two things combined could give Jaxon a problem: He'd undoubtedly want to do something super special for Ian on their first Luminare together, but he also likely has no idea where to even start.

And that's where we could come in!

Perhaps Jaxon could, in secret, contact us before Luminare seeking our help. Together, we could help him organise the Luminare to outshine all Luminares! With possible plot activities being things like helping him decorate the usually dreary Skelly Manor, picking out gift(s) for Ian and perhaps even some other people, all while keeping Jaxon's plan a secret from Ian so that he can surprise his boyfriend. Ideally it would be a very lighthearted and gentle "breather" plot after the great but somewhat harrowing storyline that the Morostide plot gave us: No major drama, no terrifying, anxiety-inducing decisions, and no slider puzzles. (Don't get me wrong, staff, y'all did a great job making those games, I just personally suck at slider puzzles.)

I know it's a big ask to get another plot so soon after such a major and involved one just last month, but I can't help it! I love Jaxon and Ian as characters so much and I'd love to see a kind of epilogue to their story. They're great characters and the fantastic plot we had with them has left me hungry for more!

Eager to hear anybody's thoughts and suggestions on this.

Thanks!

I really like this, and honestly it doesn't have to be a big, elaborate, "plot" plot, or anything to be really touching and a nice edition to Jaxons new life.

It could be as little as Jaxon gives you a call, or text (what a modern marvel!), asking for more information on this luminarie. Perhaps we talk to Alexander and get a book after talking to him to give ti Jaxon. A box of ornaments from Melody, hot chocolate from Jade. Santa hat from someone, help him find a tree, etc etc.

Just a little time passer, lore building, that users can look back to in five years and laugh about.

Like, Jaxon was confused by buying a chopped down tree to drag indoors, insisted in proof of such nonsense otherwise he'd buy a nice potted tree (these palm trees seem pleasant) to hang glass from.

I think this is a lovely idea.

I'd also like a visit to the Dungarde to give him a Morostide gift.

I have the feeling there might not be enough time to implement something like this (at least this year), as adorable as it sounds.

But what about summer? We routinely don't have much plot-based stuff scheduled during summer, except for various one-offs like the cruise and battle of the bands, etc. I think it could be really fun to have some interstitial "Jaxon's first trip to the beach", or "First time trying to navigate Centropolis", plus it would give staff/artists time to plot!

You may be right, but that's partly why I suggested this plot should be very "gentle", not just in a story sense but in a "doing things" sense, too. Morostide had us navigating mazes, doing complex puzzles and visiting multiple areas, and for my suggestion it'd be much more easy going. The reason I suggested Luminare as being the plot follow up, though, is because it's the season for giving gifts. Ian's already given Jaxon a gift unlike any other - the gift of life, and freedom. So it made sense to me that Jaxon would want to do something big in return.

Of course, we could just get a little "epilogue" style story beat, checking in on them sort of thing. But I personally like the idea of Jaxon not really knowing how to do Luminare for obvious reasons, which would give us a chance to goof around with the characters a bit more and see how they're getting on.

Ultimately, it is just an idea. It is a pretty big ask to get another plot so soon after Morostide, but that's optimism for you.

True! Maybe it's me hoping for a "Jaxon's First Everything" all throughout the year. Which I would totally be on board for. Vesnali? Yup! Alegarten? Yup! ALL THE THINGS.

Yes please omg! More things with Jaxon and Ian are needed!!!

It wouldn't have to be an elaborate plot with prizes. The Subeta Team gives everyone a few gifts under the tree on the 25th. Maybe, this year, the gifts could be from Jaxon for helping him out.

I think this is good - Staff might have enough time to plan and draw out a couple of items to give out. It could even include a heartfelt card.

I'm just not sure if Staff time to plan out much more than something like this, considering that the artists are probably already busy with new items for the New Years shop and all of the advent calendar stuff.

I just want to see Jax wearing as many layers as humanly possible. Maybe in plushie form, like the Lumi themed pluhies we've gotten before ?

That could be a beanbag for sure. Maybe a line of "Jaxon has learned winter is not that great" items, aaahahahahahahaha

Love, love, love the idea! Honestly, I don't even care if it's big or not - but I would love to see little references to Jaxon living his best life during all the following holidays! I love him so much, and the prospect that, after all those years, he's finally able to spend quality time with his boyfriend fills me with joy!

I understand Luminare might be too close to do anything fancy, but really, I'd be happy with even something small, text-based or whatever. I just want to have the opportunity to check in on them from time to time :)

(Although, I'd like to suggest doing something nice for them for Survival? I'm not so sure if it's too soon or too late to suggest it, or if it's not the right place, but it would be SO SWEET)

co-writing the op makes me smile at all the support, thanks yall

Yes, I suspected getting another full-fledged plot would be a huge ask so soon, so I'm not at all surprised that nothing major is planned. Ideally this idea would be something that mostly consisted of dialogue, with perhaps a few "can you go get me x item?" almost like a conventional quest system...

Hey, actually, there's an idea: Why not make Jaxon a quest-giver for the duration of Luminare, and he can ask for Luminare based items like decorations, clothing, food, ect (all stuff that's already on site or added during Luminare itself) and every now and then we could get a bit of flavour text/dialogue about our two favorite spooky boys? I don't know how much coding that would take, but I assume it would be easier to simply adapt existing systems into a kind of "mini-event" sort of thing than trying to push out another huge story.

Other little ideas like the occasional letter or item referencing them, as well as the classic "Ian and Jaxon leave you some gifts for Luminare" would be nice little touches.

Ultimately, I just really enjoyed the story of the Morostide plot, and I like seeing characters I'm fond of living happy, cute lives together. That's really all I'd want out of a follow-up.

makes a great point, too! Survival is based on Valentines day, and already has a lot of on-site ties to Shadowglen and spooky stuff in general. Why not include the boys in whatever happens for that? Again, it might be far too early for another full on plot, but it's certainly a nice idea.

I'd be happy with just seeing some items with descriptions describing the things they'd be doing, either as Melody gifts or as quest shop items (Or both).

Also, it would be good to add them to the NPC lists, but I'm not sure where they would go, or if you'd need to make the "Other" NPC list that I've heard had been planned but hasn't been added yet.

This would probably be done for next Luminaire. How about a photobook of polaroids taken by Ian of Jaxon's first Luminarie and New Years. Or it could be a year's worth of first holidays and run from this year's Fireside to Morostide 2019.

To be honest, I just really want a snapshot of Jaxon's reaction to Snowflaik wreaking havoc on their Lumineve tree ahaha

One of the things that got bought up earlier was that having a new "plot" system requires a lot of new art and code assets. But that got me thinking; For a "mini" plot, why not just reuse some of the older art with modifications? We already have plenty of perfectly good shots of the Skelly Manor interior, as well as a good amount of "decoration" items. Would it be a huge amount of work to have a plot where we turn the Skelly living room into a Luminare-decorated den?

It's still a big ask, of course. And really I'd be happy just hearing anything about them. I like your idea because it'd not only give the staff more time to work on something more substantial, it'd also allow for lots of "candid shots" of the boys and stories about how Jaxon is slowly adapting to being in a living body again.

So far all the ideas on this thread have been pretty good! If nothing else, I hope we've shown the Subeta staff that more Jaxon and Ian content would not go amiss.