DEMO RELEASE DAY

When writing a character struggling with shame

Shame isn’t guilt. Guilt says I did something bad. Shame says I am something bad. It’s corrosive. It rewrites self-worth. And most of the time, it whispers, not screams.

✧ Start with silence. Characters carrying shame don’t confess it on page one. They avoid. They deflect. They joke. They become perfect. Shame thrives in secrets. Let it fester before it speaks.

✧ Show the disconnect. They don’t feel lovable, even when they are. Compliments bounce off them. Praise feels like a setup. They think kindness is a trick. Show them flinching at affection.

✧ Give it a backstory. Shame doesn’t appear from nowhere. Maybe they were told they were too much. Not enough. A mistake. Shame is always planted by someone else, then internalized. Find that origin moment and make it hurt.

✧ Let them sabotage good things. They get a healthy relationship? They run. They succeed? They downplay it. They get seen? They shut down. Shame convinces people they don’t deserve good things and they’ll act accordingly.

✧ Body language matters. Hunched shoulders. Arms crossed. Averted eyes. Shrinking into themselves. Shame has a physical posture. Write it.

✧ Watch their inner voice. Shame doesn’t sound like “I’m the worst.” It sounds like “Why would they care about me?”or “Of course I messed it up.” It’s casual. Constant. Cruel.

✧ Make healing slow and clumsy. Shame doesn’t vanish after one pep talk. It takes safe spaces. Relearning. A lot of awkward baby steps. Let your character accept one small good thing and then panic about it later.

✧ Let them rewrite their own story. Eventually, they’ll have to look at who they were and say, “Even then, I was trying. Even then, I deserved love.” Let them get there. Let it be earned. Let it feel impossible and then let it happen anyway.

*high school gossip voice* well i heard that the sun is never going to rise again

A Moon so Cruel - Upcoming IF

DEMO - Last updated on September 11th, 2023 Prologue + 1/3 of Chapter 1

A Moon so Cruel is a 17+ slice-of-life, paranormal mystery (with optional romance) interactive fiction book written in Twine- where you, a college student, suddenly find yourself with a spirit attached to your side.

This game is still in early stages of development, and will undergo significant changes as I develop my own writing and new ideas come to mind.

It was meant to be an ordinary college party. Dozens of kids drink until they puke their guts out, couples grinding on the dance floor, and the only smell in the air is that of drugs. Your intention was a brief two-hour stay, merely for a couple of drinks before finding a ride back to your apartment. You stuck to the plan, making sure to never go above your alcohol tolerance.

However, everything took a dramatic turn when the lights began to flicker, and the ground started trembling. Suddenly, every step you took felt as though you were walking through a torrent of frigid air.

Now, you find yourself compelled to confront the hand fate has dealt you. You must seek innovative solutions to strange challenges, all while grappling with the demands of a hectic college life.

Unless...

Completely customize your MC, in appearance, majors, beliefs, and more!

Adhere to college life! Go to parties, work after school,

Form platonic and (optional) romantic relationships with the cast of characters! All of who will react differently according to what you say, do and believe in.

Tons of flavor texts, and some things you won’t notice change until a second time around.

Learn how to deal with the trials and tribulations of having a ghost be stuck to you like glue, a ghost of that was born in a completely different generation.

Solve the mystery of a lifetime, and maybe even help a simple spirit move on.

Interludes in-between chapters to give you and MC a break from all the havoc *Please note that the MC is semi-set in the form that they will care about their studies regardless of what you say and headcanon. It can be some care or a lot of care, but they are in college for a reason!

THE GHOST: Felix/Edith Mongrove

The spirit that seems to be haunting you. They told you they weren’t here to harm you, that they had a deep sense of empathy and kindness. You’ve yet to test it out.

You can only assume they’re above 6’0, they don’t walk around like normal humans - The Ghost likes to float instead. They’re stuck in a grey hue, the only identifying features being hair that falls to their shoulders and the out-of-fashion academic style.

THE JOCK: Max/Laurie Tanner

Someone you see occasionally throughout your school, surprisingly, you tend to have a portion of your classes with them. However, they’re always on the move- whether it be physically with sports or mentally with fast paces in the library. Their vitality is contagious, and they often try to drag others in their ideas with a strong self-assurance. The Jock likes to take charge but put a little spin on the dramatics, often making a 5-minute-long presentation to last 15 minutes.

Max and Laurie both stand at 5’7, one of the smallest jocks around campus. They both have pink buzzcuts, originally taking it as a dare freshman year of college- which ended up being their main hair color. Freckles adorn their skin, but usually covered up by streetwear attire.

THE GUITARIST: Kade/Jade Salvatore

The person who rings up your weekly coffee order, and also plays as a guitarist for the local band in the background. They’re a challenging one, that is. They thrive on pushing boundaries and questioning the status quo, fear rarely holds them back. The Guitarist is known to chart their own course, often using their sheltered independence as a way to fuel their creative pursuits. Oh, and they also have a wicked motorcycle.

Kade stands at a good 6’4 with brown eyes and long eyelashes. Jade is tall for a woman, exactly 5’8 on the dot. They both have a long, shaggy mullet that fades from blonde to black- it pops out against their olive complexion and Italian heritage. The Guitarist is often seen wearing a style that mixes between y2k and grunge.

The Heart of the Heir

DEMO // CHARACTER INTROS // BLOG INFO

status: currently writing & coding

To the Members of the Ton,

It is so nice to be able to come to you for another social season. I can already hear the air buzzing with anticipation on the new couples and the everlasting ties that they will bring to our strong community. People are already parading around like gallivant horses to impress the masses as well as the royal family. It is truly a sight to behold. However this year, my fellow Ton, the tides have changed. This year, instead of the members of high society fighting out in the field for love and marriage opportunities, the King and Queen are announcing their child, the new heir to the throne, to be the one whose hand is up for marriage.

This comes as a bittersweet surprise. After the recent and devastating passing of the King and Queen's first child, the high society’s dazzling Emerald, it would have seemed that the line to the Crown was at stake. To lose a precious jewel is a true defeat. But with every wondrous heir, there will be a spare to fill in the shoes of our perfect Crowned Royal. Our Emerald’s younger sibling will finally have a place to shine in the Sun.

This is a change that no one expected. The Royal Family doesn’t deal with the social season to this caliber. Instead of watching from the sidelines, they will be front and center. It will be interesting to watch and see if our new heir is the right pick for the Crown and the high society that we have all built. Will this new heir be our diamond in the rough or will this be an example of a stone with none of the shimmer and shine that is needed to sit in the throne?

Throughout the season, there will be thoughts and gossip to gather, and I will be your humble servant in the collection and distribution of any and all information I can get. My darling members of the Ton, everything I know, you will know. That’s a promise. Enjoy this season, and to the heir, remember to shine like the gemstones of the past, or you will sink like a pebble in the Thames.

Until we meet again,

The Royal Record Holder

Inspired by Bridgerton and The Pride and Prejudice, the interactive story The Heart of the Heir, is a historical romance that takes place in the Regency Era. You, a young royal and the second and younger child of the King and Queen, unexpectedly become the next in line for the throne when your older sibling passes away. Without the knowledge your elder sibling has gotten, you are trusted into the world of high society and must navigate through the social season. Besides the expectations of being a future ruler, you are expected to find a suitor by the end of the season to lead by your side. You, the heir, must balance the future responsibilities of your nation while staying true to your heart. Will you be what the kingdom expects of you or will you lead by example and break away from tradition that was planned for you?

The Heart of the Heir is an +18 interactive fiction that includes topics of death and grief, substance use (drugs and alcohol), and skippable sexually explicit scenes. This is a romance book, romance will be the focal point. If that isn’t your cup of tea, you have been warned!

A customizable main character including gender, pronouns, sexuality, physical appearance, a skill fit for a royal, your sibling’s gender, family dynamics, and basic morals for your character to start on.

Decide on what type of ruler you want to be: do you lead with compassion and the knowledge that your kingdom comes first? Do you march to the beat of your own drum? Do you wish that you didn’t want the responsibility of the crown?

Navigate the tight community that comes with the Ton. Don’t lose yourself in the hushed secrets that hide behind cups of tea, the art of conversing via fan, and the walk around the lake.

Get courted by one of the four romance options: your royal match, your childhood best friend, the mysterious newcomer, or the lover who lost it all?

Romance Options:

The Royal (Duke/Duchess Edward/Edwina Drake of Exeter): In the eyes of your parents and the Ton, they are the picture perfect suitor for your hand. E was born and bred to be a royal, your partner. Extremely smart, poise, dedicated to their country, E fits the bill and still has amazing qualities. They’re perfect through the rose tinted glasses. But just like you, they have baggage. The expectations to be the best and to prove themselves worthy of their title and their name. The phrase heavy is the head that wears the crown rings true for both of you. The level of perfection that weighs on both of you, could break and destroy the hardest of stones, and to leave them in a disarray. But if you both were there to burden the stress and build each other up, it wouldn’t be all that bad. If you two crumble, at least it will be together.

Trope: Marriage by Convenience.

The Widow (Victor/Violet Clarke): The one that lost a love too. Planned to marry your older sibling, you’ve always seen V as someone respectable and honest. You’ve watched how their and your sibling’s love has blossomed and how their mutual love and understanding for each other stood rival to only your parents. So when someone you both loved died, pieces of your sibling, and their love, died with them. No one can understand the loss like you do. To lose your best friend, your sibling, or your better half, your lover is a level of pain no one should endure. Navigating the hardships of death and grief can be a lonely time, but thankfully you have each other. A budding companionship is on the horizon, or is there a tie of romance that bounds these two mourning souls?

Trope: Second Chance at Love.

The Knight (Helena/Henry Barnes): From birth, it always seemed like you and H were destined to be with each other in some way. H’s father served under yours, and now H serves under you as your right hand, protector and best friend. They’re the most active person in your life, besides your parents. H has always been supportive and protective of you, both as a requirement to the Crown and because no one knows them the way you know them. H knows your next move, your witty comments, and all the minute details even your parents couldn’t pick up. When you look at them, you see yourself in someone like you: dedicated to the role they were given. When they look at you, there’s a great level of fondness, respect and admiration. But is that all, or is there something deeper behind the gazes they give you?

Trope: Childhood Friends to Lovers.

The Outsider (Sayyid/Safiya): A sponsorship. Since the Viscount and Viscountess Beaumont have no heirs to their name, they decided to send word to an old friend to sponsor for the season. As the new arrival to the Ton, S made a name for themselves as the new and allusive candidate for your hand in marriage. The only issue is, you don’t like S. They don’t follow the customs you’re used to, and have no need to fit in. Their forward thinking and bold personality clashes with you, and you’d be damned to have someone mess up your new reputation. S always itches at your patience, and seems to get a rise out of you. It’s infuriating, annoying. They’re like a gnat. Then why do they challenge you to the point where they swarm your mind? Is the level of combativeness something you seek? Is this what you want?

Trope: One-sided Enemies/Rivals to Lovers.

You are the first child of the Florinius family, your birth had predestined you to become the next ruler of H'afeara. But it has been ten long years since the war between the Empire of Aea had declared war upon your home. Ten years fighting to keep your kingdom’s independence- for your chance to rule- only for it to ripped away from you. And it’s your own fault.

You had one more charge to lead against Aean forces, and you had lost that battle. Losing was no stranger to you, but none had been thorough and devastating. This loss had ended with you being taken as a prisoner of war, and the end of the war soon followed.

Now you are “free”, a welcomed “guest” in the Aean court.  Being executed would have been a fairer fate.

[court intrigue, romance, mystery, slice of life elments ]

…

This side project is still in the planning stage, and things will be slow to come.

[Demo: TBA]

in progress…

- Semi Customizable MC (personality will be semi set)

- Make friends, enemies, maybe lovers? Still deciding who gets to be an RO

- Decide how you navigate life in a foreign court

- under construction

Keep reading

Almost half way through writing the prologue of the crowning north. Might hit halfway if I still have some writing juice in me after dinner :]

Very excited to write the second half

foxglove is an 18 + interactive fiction novel under development that will feature, but is not limited to, the following : in-depth depictions of grief, mental illness, the usage of drugs and alcohol, descriptions of gore, religious undertones, themes of psychological horror, foul language, and explicit sexual content.

reader discretion is advised.

i am a martyr to the sins that i have committed and the vices that pollute the vessel that makes me whole.

and yet, even befallen with that conviction, i mutilate the very flesh of those who claim i cannot overcome the kismet ordained of me.

in the bustling metropolis of virela, an ethereal flourish of opulence and the very core for those ambitious and opportunistic, is built on the legs of their status; of being known as a universal sanctuary. the prospect has captivated many to bend to the confines of the city, a kind of vivid hope gleaming in their eyes for greater horizons. however, it is also no secret either that there are a multitude of disappearances that plague virela.

there are no unambiguous connections to those who disappear. no matter how thoroughly the authorities may search, there is not even a remnant of the person lingering at the very place that they were last seen at.

then, before the authorities may have the chance to conclude one of several cases cold, those who have been missing abruptly return, petrified, and are unable to recall what had happened to them. in lieu, many others return as a corpse — disjointed; mutilated — to be discovered by the eyes of passerby.

you have resided in virela for most of your life.

your grandmother tended to you, raising you from your adolescence onward. she had always been keen on remaining by your side for however long time would allow it.

then, she disappeared on your fifteenth birthday.

now, you are much older, in attendance of her funeral.

in the aftermath of the conclusion, you return to your grandmother's apartment - reminiscing, mourning the memories of the past.

you struggle to sleep that night, but when you finally do, it is late in the tenebrous hours of the morning.

however, whenever your eyes reopen, you are rested on the comfort of bitten pavement in a world that you do not recognize.

FOXGLOVE is set in xinthero, a semi-modern underworld that is overrun by disfigured creatures and those of the supernatural. fear is a lingering narcotic that could attract the unknown. every decision is vital.

will you allow this very world to consume you, or will you be able to escape and overcome it all?

✧ customize your character's pronouns, sexuality, personality, and physical appearance.

✧ choose what makes you unique; how you break out of definite situations.

✧ be cautious. not every situation requires you to be prideful.

✧ romance one out of five potential love interests. ( two female, one male, one non-binary, and one gender-selectable )

✧ survive xinthero, do not let it enrapture you.

ACHILLES — THE BRUTE. { M }

a lunar-struck supernatural, in opposition of the instincts of his very nature, achilles slaughters the multitude of entities that plague this world in an underlying attempt to stave off his indiscriminate hunger. he has been able to rescue you once, but do be wary to not become too comfortable in his presence.

ECHO — THE OCCULTIST. { F / M / NB }

echo is a bundle of nervous energy upon first introduction. they make it a point to affirm that they are only a student of the occult and just a lone wanderer that has been lost within the depths of xinthero for what could be almost a decade. it makes you almost question how they have been able to last as long as they have alone. it is a repetitive question that lingers, however you always end up keeping it to yourself without fail. there are a lot more questions than answers whenever it comes to echo; there seems to be a lot more then meets the eye.

LETHE — THE COURIER. { F }

an almost eternal shepherd for those who are first brought into the confines of xinthero. lethe is a constant that, albeit a woman of not so many words, prioritizes those that are under her care. accompanied by her fae companion, she makes it her responsibility to assist you in escaping this world.

FABLE — THE HAUNTED. { NB }

corrupted with the fragments of a remnant soul within the edges of their mind, fable is a mercenary, a disposable entity to those who are able to compensate them for their services. they are not afraid to make decisions that may be deemed risky. fable is uncaring in others’ well-being, however, if it adds a handful of coins into their pocket they don’t bother to bat an eye.

??? — THE EXECUTIONER. { F }

an enigmatic servant of the crimson veil, an organization infested throughout most of xinthero's terra firma, ??? serves as one of their many exterminators. the both of you seem to continuously encounter each other — to the point it almost doesn't feel like a simple coincidence. it manifests an anomalous kind of curiosity in you; a desire to know a bit more about this mysterious stranger.

DEMO T.B.A. ✧ PLAYLIST

"the 'power of love' trope is such an overused and cliche gimmick" i do not care i will love it always and forever. love prevails and explodes the enemy