"The Influence Of A Mother In The Lives Of Her Children Is Beyond Calculation."

"The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation."

- James E. Faust

Presenting: That's My Boy

Ever since he was young, Riley knew that he wasn't normal. Psychiatrists tried to give him every diagnosis under the sun, peers looked at him with fear and disgust, and his mother literally hung herself in his bedroom. Mothers of normal kids don't do that.

But as a young adult, Riley's beginning to turn a new leaf for himself. His best friend Amber is the most cheerful person on the planet, his coworker Ollie is pretty cool, and he even has an apartment! That means something in this economy.

But one day at work, Riley finds himself with a strange book; It calls out to him, alters his perception of reality, and it looks brand new despite the contents being at least a few hundred years old.

Riley has found himself one of the few copies of what's known as The Doctrine, a book filled with demonic secrets, satanic rituals, and most importantly the secret to resurrecting the dead, and he plans to use it for his mother.

It's exactly what she deserves.

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That's My Boy is a visual novel, but doesn't center on romance. The main story is a tale of horrific traumas and a victim's gruesome outlets.

That being said, there are two potential love interests in the game: Faust, a flesh and soul-eating demon with a demented sense of humor, and Amber, Riley's bubbly best friend with a brain as big as her personality who also has a few secrets of her own...

The game largely falls under the slasher genre, with elements of demonic, supernatural, and analog horror.

Grab onto your axes, friends, and get ready to enter a bloodbath, because Riley won't stop until he has what he wants, and Faust is hungry...

(Find it on itch.io right here)

Development Status: Pre-Production/Pre-Alpha (Unreleased)

My theory of adhd management is that in order to focus there are 4 things that need to be sufficiently occupied:

Eyes

Ears

Hands (or body)

Brain

And if you aren’t occupying them enough or there’s too many things demanding the use of one, it’ll start to wreck havoc on your ability to do things.

So for example, listening to a podcast. This occupies your ears and brain as you focus on both listening and processing what you hear, but it leaves your hands and eyes completely without anything to do. If you tried to sit down and just listen to a podcast by itself you’d probably get unbearably bored and stop doing it.

But if you pair that activity with something that uses your hands and eyes, like a craft, household chore, or commute, suddenly you’re fully plugged in and can in fact focus better on both tasks than you could if you tried doing them separately.

It’s also why you can’t listen to a podcast while doing homework; you’re trying to use your brain for two different tasks. To occupy your ears while doing homework (which is already using eyes, brain, and hands) you need something for your ears that doesn’t require your brain: music. Specifically music that doesn’t use too much brain power, which is why some people prefer instrumentals or songs in other languages.

Hyperfixation and sensory overload change this by moving the threshold for how much sensory input you need to be able to function. If I’m extremely focused on a craft project (eyes, hands, brain) I might not even need something for my ears; my interest in the project makes up for it. If i’ve had a very overwhelming day, trying to listen to an audiobook while I do some stretches could be too much to process. My brain needs a break.

Video games, which pretty much universally occupy all 4 areas, are basically instant, easy focus wrapped up in a neat little bow. No wonder adhd-havers tend to love them.

If you’re struggling with a task, try looking at which areas it occupies and which are left unattended. Then try to find something enjoyable to fill those gaps, and see if that helps.

"We need more weird queers!" Y'all can't even handle a trans man going on an axe-murdering spree and topping a demon.

Out here missing the neanderthals. Might make a game about it

I'm close to done with the first "chapter" of That's My Boy, but I'm getting a little burned out and uninspired at the moment which makes sense cuz I've been working on it for like a month straight.

So of course my adhd brain decided that not doing something was highly illegal, so now I'm working on another horror game. ;-;

(DON'T CLICK KEEP READING UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE MADE YOUR CHOICE!!!)

So you've picked your character. Do you really like them? Do you wanna know more? If the answer is yes, then I encourage you to keep an eye out for my slasher visual novel That's My Boy

It follows Riley, the third option in the poll above, as he dabbles in the occult and summons a demon to help him summon his dead mother. There's murder-y homoeroticism, dark humor, a polyamorous romance option, original music composed by me, and BLOOD!!!! :D

You can follow me here and also find me on itch.io if you wanna stay updated and be among the first to play the game when I release the first chapter.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments or my inbox if you have questions (I won't reveal any spoilers though)