#Letters from the ashes

[lettersfromtheashesgame]

LFTA July Update

Well. This month has been interesting.

Some quick numbers:

Total Letters in July: 39

Most Sent by one person: 10 (Mills Golden)

Most Received by one person: 7 (Rust Falls)

Starting with July I sent all the players a summary letter in character as the founder of the Inter-Regional Courier System, mostly as a way to entertain myself, since as the GM I actually don't interact with much of the game, I'm here more as an adjudicator. But I had a player reach out asking if I could include a flyer they had designed in the mail drop. This is the first in a string of interesting ways players have been interacting with the game so far.

A couple of people sent positive responses. I have no idea if the Rust Falls player is planning to mail actual cassettes, links to a Spotify playlist, or what, but I know they're planning to send something.

The next really interesting development happened when a player sent a letter directly to the IRCS! I hadn't expected this at all. I invented the IRCS mostly as a means to frame the monthly resource drops and to summarize events. I was delighted to receive a letter that I could respond to!

Naturally, the IRCS responded, explaining the founder's backstory that I totally didn't just make up on the spot. And I also awarded that player a new achievement that I had to make up on the spot as well.

Otherwise, players are also starting to decorate the resource slips! I had been looking forward to this sort of thing from the beginning, so it makes me really happy to see this happening now. Some are really simple, but some are more elaborate.

I'm loving these so much. It's so good.

As far as events, Kyarn Meeting has formally defeated Meadows, and due to a combination of events, knocked Meadows out of the game. That player can of course come back whenever they want with a new community, but Meadows as we know it is gone. I expected something like this to happen eventually, but not this early.

Otherwise, it seems like a lot of the communities are reaching an equilibrium, and we're really in the "finding out about each other" phase of the game. Secrets are bound to come out soon! I'm really excited to see where this goes in August.

[rugsrat]

Debating starting a series where I talk about the letter-writing game I just started for some friends. It's called Letters From The Ashes and it's set in a vague post-apocalypse where communities are pretty isolated so they have to communicate via courier system (aka the usps).

Is this something people would be interested in hearing about?

Might do it anyway, regardless of if people read it.

[docces]

　　　 ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ˚　　 ▒ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ₊ㅤ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Ⳋ᧙ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ⁺

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ•̛)ྀ◞ 1999 ৢ Father, tell Me if you can

ㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤ�� ͚֯ ི Please let Me bring Him ့ ◌๋ ▒ ˚

　　　 ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ˚　　 ▒ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ₊ㅤ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Ⳋ᧙ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ⁺

[autisticgayplushie]

all nine of the stretch goal designs for this campaign - I am not sure how many goals we will be able to reach but there will come a point where I won't be able to do any more goals unless I get fulfillment help, so we'll see if it gets to that point and if I can get help! below the cut are the names, info, and artist statements for each plushie! I may end up changing the names as I am still not sure about ash, sandy, kelly, and luca, but let me know if you like them!

Tristan The Depression Raccoon: Tristan’s plushie will come with a removable hoodie accessory! He loves cozy video games like animal crossing and stardew valley. There are not many widely used symbols for depression that I could find, so I chose Tristan's colors based on how my depression makes me feel, bruised and cold.

Ash the Anxiety Bunny Moth: Ash’s plushie will have fluffy moth antennae and removable magnetic wings similar to Bug’s plush! They love to visit the home depot lights section when their friends are with them! I chose gray and yellow for the main body colors because my anxiety personally deals with uncertainty and things out of my control. The green comes from one of the anxiety flags created by Beyond MOGAI. To add moth features was a suggestion I got that I thought fit very well!! 

Sandy the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Kitty: Sandy is an artist and loves to draw and paint landscapes! Her wings will be attached via magnet, similar to Bug’s wings. The colors of her design are based on the OCD flag created by lucellion, with spirals in her paws to represent repetitive thought processes.

Melon the Sensory Processing Disorder Opossum: Melon is a silly opossum who has bat wings! Melon’s wings will be attached via magnet, similar to Bug’s wings. Melon’s colors are inspired by the SPD pride flag created by Beyond MOGAI.

Jazz the Borderline Personality Disorder Kitty: Jazz is a tortoiseshell kitty that loves to read!! Jazz’s plush will come with a pvc charm of the hand of Eris symbol for you to put on xer collar if you choose! The colors are loosely based on the BPD flag created with community input by ptsdsafe on tumblr.

Kelly the Schizospec Axolotl: kelly is an axolotl who is studying chemistry and loves science! kelly’s design is inspired by the Schizospec flag, created with community input and organized by schizosupport on tumblr. They will have a collar tag once again made of PVC featuring the associated double sided arrow symbol.

Em the Bipolar Disorder Chimera: Em is a chimera kitty who has dragon wings and a snake tail! One side of the snake tail is smiling, the other frowning. This takes inspiration from the :): symbol often associated with Bipolar disorder.

Cy the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Otter: Cy is a happy little otter griffin! They love to sculpt and craft and sew! Cy’s color pallet is based on the assortment of medications I take for my own IBS symptoms.

Luca the Dyslexia Fox: Luca is a dancer and loves to perform! Their design and colors are loosely based on the infinity heart+ moon and star symbol that is often found on dyslexia flags. they will have L and R embroidered on their paws, which was a suggestion I was given.

[traumasurvivorswriting]

I Hope

I hope that, one day, I can wake up and feel happy to be alive.

I hope that I can remember the feeling of laughing so hard my stomach hurts.

I hope that future me will find herself singing and dancing as she gets ready for the day just like she used to.

I hope that I can look back on me right now and be proud of the progress I've made.

I hope to be out with friends, drinking coffee, enjoying life.

Most of all, I hope that one day, what you did to me no longer haunts me.

[mamasplat]

The kalos vs amour au is rotting in my WIPS I only have the motivation to shitpost I’m sorry

Calem will use Serena as a human shield, she can take it- I believe in her-

[gilgamushroom]

There was a sound upon the stairs, and our door was opened to admit as fine a specimen of manhood as ever passed through it. He was a very tall young man, golden-moustached, blue-eyed, with a skin which had been burned by tropical suns, and a springy step which showed that the huge frame was as active as it was strong. 

1) yet another W for Bisexual Watson 2) do you guys think one of the reasons Holmes complains so much about the "fluff" in Watson's stories is because he pulls paragraph-long shit like this in almost every account. Like

Watson in all of his chronicles: and then she was the most beautiful gorgeous woman to ever walk this earth 😍 AND THEN he was the handsomest hottest man my eyes had ever seen 😍 AND THEN-

Holmes, who was also there, reading this:

[i-dont-talk-for-days-on-end]

So Holmes canonical keeps a diary! And while I'm sure it only contains the "hard facts" of his life - like where he went and whom he talked to and maybe his expenses if he didn't keep them separately, and of course his case notes - it is very tempting to think that he maybe also made notes about Watson. The book he looked at for a moment longer than usual so Holmes knows what to get him for Christmas, his preferred composers (probably not the same as Holmes's), maybe a thing he said that struck a chord with Holmes ...

[acourtofquestions]

Rowaelin Chapter 41 Kingdom of Ash:

She'd rebuild it—what she had been.

Perhaps one last time, perhaps only for a little while, but she'd do it. If only for Terrasen.

Rowan swooped from the mast, shifting as he reached her side at the rail. He surveyed the night-black sea beyond them. "You should rest." She slid him a glance. "I'm not tired." Not a lie, not in some regards. "Want to spar?" He frowned. "Training can start tomorrow."

"Or tonight." She held his piercing stare, matched his dominance with her own.

"It can wait a few hours, Aelin."

"Every day counts." Against Erawan, even a day of training would count.

Rowan's jaw tightened. "True," he said at last. "But it can still wait. There are ... there are things we need to discuss." The silent words rose in his animal-bright eyes. About you and me.

Her mouth went dry. But Aelin nodded In silence, they strode into their spacious quarters, its only decoration the wall of windows that overlooked the churning sea behind them. A far cry from a queen's chamber, or any she might have purchased as Adarlan's assassin.

At least the bed built into the wall looked clean enough, the sheets crisp and stainless. But Aelin headed for the oak desk anchored to the floor, and leaned against it while Rowan shut the door.

In the dim lantern light, they stared at each other.

She'd endured Maeve and Cairn; she'd endured Endovier and countless other horrors and losses. She could have this conversation with him. The first step toward rebuilding herself.

Aelin knew Rowan could hear her thundering heart as the space between them went taut. She swallowed once. "Elide and Lorcan told you... told you everything that was said on that beach."

A curt nod, wariness flooding his eyes. "Everything that Maeve said." Another nod.

She braced herself. "That I'm-we're mates."

Understanding and something like relief replaced that wariness. "Yes."

"I'm your mate," she said, needing to voice it. "And you are mine."

Rowan crossed the room, but halted a few feet from the desk on which she leaned. "What of it, Aelin?" His question was low, rough.

"Don't you..." She scrubbed at her face. "You know what she did to you, to ..." She couldn't say her name. Lyria. "Because of it."

"I do know."

"And?"

"And what do you wish me to say?"

She pushed off the desk. "I wish you to tell me how you feel about it. If…"

"If what?"

"If you wish it wasn't so."

His brows narrowed. "Why would I ever wish that?"

She shook her head, unable to answer, and stared over her shoulder toward the sea.

It seemed like he would close the distance between them, but he remained where he was.

"Aelin." His voice turned hoarse. "Aelin."

She looked at him then, at the pain in his words.

"Do you know what I wish?" He exposed his palms, one tattooed, the other unmarked. "I wish that you had told me. When you realized it. I wish you had told me then."

She swallowed against the ache in her throat. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Why would it ever hurt me to know the truth that was already in my heart? The truth I hoped for?"

"I didn't understand it. I didn't understand how it was possible. I thought maybe ... maybe you might be able to have two mates within a lifetime, but even then, I just ….." She blew out a breath. "I didn't want you to be distressed." His eyes softened. "Do I regret that Lyria was dragged into this, that the cost of Maeve's game was her life, and the life of the child we might have had? Yes. I regret that, and I wish it had never happened." He would bear the tattoo to remember it for the rest of his days. "But none of that was your fault. I will always carry some of the burden of it, always know I chose to leave her for war and glory, and that I played right into Maeve's hands."

"Maeve wanted to ensnare you to get to me, though."

"Then it is her choice, not yours."

Aelin ran a hand over the worn wood of the desk. "In those illusions she spun for me, she showed me variations on one more than all the others." The words were strained, but she forced them out. Forced herself to look at him. "She spun me one dreamscape that felt so real I could smell the wind off the Staghorns."

"What did she show you?" A breathless question.

Aelin had to swallow before she could answer. "She showed me what might have been—if there had been no Erawan, if Elena had dealt with him properly and banished him. If there had been no Lyria, none of that pain or despair you endured. She showed me Terrasen as it would have been today, with my father as king, and my childhood happy, and..." Her lips wobbled. "When I turned twenty, you came with a delegation of Fae to Terrasen, to make amends for the rift between my mother and Maeve. And you and I took one look at each other in my father's throne room, and we knew."

She didn't fight the stinging in her eyes. "I wanted to believe that was the true world. That this was the nightmare from which I'd awaken. I wanted to believe that there was a place where you and I had never known this suffering and loss, where we'd take one look at each other and know we were mates. Maeve told me she could make it so. If I gave her the keys, she'd make it all possible." She wiped at her cheek, at the tear that escaped down it. "She spun me realities where you were dead, where you'd been killed by Erawan and only in handing over the keys to her would I be able to avenge you. But those realities made me ... I stopped being useful to her when she told me you were gone. She couldn't get me to talk, to think. Yet in the ones where you and I met, where things were as they should have been ... that was when I came the closest."

His swallow was audible. "What stopped you?"

She wiped at her face again. "The male I fell in love with was you. It was you, who knew pain as I did, and who walked with me through it, back to the light. Maeve didn't understand that. That even if she could create that perfect world, it wouldn't be you with me. And I'd never trade that, trade this. Not for anything." He extended his hand. An offer and invitation.

Aelin laid hers atop his, and his callused fingers squeezed gently. "I wanted it to be you," he breathed, closing his eyes. "For months and months, even in Wendlyn, I wondered why you weren't my mate instead. It tore me up, wondering it, but I still did." He opened his eyes, and they burned like green fire. "All this time, I wanted it to be you."

She lowered her gaze, but he hooked a thumb and forefinger around her chin and lifted her face.

"I know you are tired, Fireheart. I know that the burden on your shoulders is more than anyone should endure." He took their joined hands and laid them on his heart. "But we'll face this together. Erawan, the Lock, all of it.

"We'll face it together. And when we are done, when you Settle, we will have a thousand years together. Longer."

A small sound came out of her. "Elena said the Lock requires—"

"We'll face it together," he swore again.

"And if the cost of it truly is you, then we'll pay it together. As one soul in two bodies.

Her heart strained to the point of cleaving. "Terrasen needs a king."

"I have no intention of ruling Terrasen without you. Aedion can have the job."

She scanned his face. He meant every word He brushed the hair from her face, his other hand still clasping hers to his chest, where his heart pounded a steady, unfaltering rhythm.

"Even if I had my choice of any dream-realities, any perfect illusions, I would still choose you, too."

She felt the truth of his words echo into the unbreakable thing that bound their very souls, and tilted her face up toward his. But he made no move beyond it.

She frowned. "Why aren't you kissing me?"

"I thought you might want to be asked first."

"That never stopped you before."

"This first time, I wanted to make sure you were ... ready." After Cairn and Maeve. After months of having no choices whatsoever.

She smiled despite that truth. "I'm ready to be kissed again, Prince."

He let out a dark chuckle and muttered, "Thank the gods," before he lowered his mouth to hers.

"You're my mate." Her words were a breathless rush. "And I am yours."

The world might have been burning around them for all she cared, all he cared, too.

"Together, Aelin," he promised, and she heard the rest of the words in every place their bodies joined. Together they would face this, together they would find a way.

Together we'll find a way, their mingling breaths, the crashing sea, seemed to echo.

Together.

[redstringraven]

26) What flower do you associate your OC with?

<:D ! thank you!

Secret Ask List

26) what flower do you associate your oc with?

• cassia the sunflower comes to mind first, due to its "always facing toward the light" nature and its general association to positive energies and optimism! but i'd also associate her with daffodils, since they're tied to rebirth/new beginnings, creativity and resilience. • nyxram i've kind of answered this for her in the past! but definitely the purple hyacinth, begonias, red dahlia, orange lilies, marigolds, and/or wolfsbane. they all have ties to regret, sorrow, pleas for forgiveness, and also foreshadowed betrayal. • gwyn tbh, i less associate gwyn with flowers and more associate her with trees, in which case i'd choose either birch trees or rowan trees. but for the sake of sticking to more floral things: forget-me-nots, hollyhock, sea thrift or irish moss. both forget-me-nots and hollyhock are said to belong to the good people, making it bad luck to bring into your home. sea thrift is tough and stubborn, and irish moss isn't a true moss, rather a plant that resembles it, which i think speaks to gwyn's social-chameleon habits and the loss/sacrifice of her own identity for the sake of survival. • ash chamomile, foxgloves, yellow iris, white water lilies. chamomile was associated by druids to life-giving forces, foxgloves were believed to belong to the good people, the iris has connections to the goddess brigid, and white water lilies are found in still or slow moving water. i find myself associating ash to water quite often, and these are sometimes called duilleagbhaite bhan (the white leaf of drowning) or ruamalach (beacon or warning).

[mugwot]

what i look like in my friends's (?) dms right now

[lettersfromtheashesgame]

June Launch

Letters from the Ashes launched its first playtest in June of 2024, and there were some interesting things that happened. One of the first things to note is that I was actually late sending out initial Resources to people, which meant that the actual things that made people need to interact arrived late, so letters didn't start being sent out until about halfway through the month.

The second thing is that I noted immediately that there was a lot of "Hey, message me if you want to make contact" in the "Mail Coordination" channel of the discord server, and far fewer people willing to make first contact. I, in hindsight, should have foreseen this. I love my friends dearly, but many of us are introverts, after all. That did not stop me from being frustrated with the slow start, though. I had hoped that there would be a flurry of letters immediately, and for a few standout players there were! Kyarn Meeting (the Mothman Cult) earned a secret achievement for being the first person to send a letter to every single other player within a 3-month span, and he did it in 2. Granted, most of these letters were shitposts, but I found them extremely on brand:

In addition to the wild nonsense being sent out by the Grannies at Kyarn Meeting, they also declared war on two people immediately. Mostly as a way to get feelers out there. One of those players left the game basically immediately afterwards, so I haven't included them in the player listing, but the other is on my list of "Extremely Inactive", and so I've actually had to add a rules hotfix to prevent turtling from being a viable defensive strategy in my rules. We'll see how that goes.

One very fun thing from the end of June is that Hazelwood Farmstead (the totally normal farm that is definitely not doing Cannibalism) has itself in what is honestly a very fun conflict triangle. Hazelwood and Rust Falls were slotted together as adversaries before the game started to give some immediate tension to the game, (everyone got these rivalries, but they're not super relevant, to be honest). They decided that it would be interesting if, before game start, a person from Rust Falls had gone to Hazelwood Farmstead and been missing since then (you, know because of the definitely not Cannibalism). This has been having some very good back and forths that I'll probably cover in more detail at some point. But the fun part is that off to the side, Mills Golden has been allied with Hazelwood, and Hazelwood sent the Mills some food, which is just food (for now, because the Hazelwood player informs me of every time they send Human Steaks to other players, and I cackle every time), but I'm just waiting for the time when Hazelwood sends Lars Liverwurst to Mills Golden and for Rust falls to find out.

This is a compounded funny situation because at the end of June, I got a monthly update from Mills Golden in character, which included a decree from their leader saying "Cannibalism is now forbidden."

It's gonna be so funny when they all find out. I know the Hazelwood player is extremely excited for there to be consequences to their actions.

[bananielle]

VIVI i had a mental breakdown when i came back to silently stalk people again and i didn't see you anymore with your old url omg 😭😭 so glad to have found you again i hope you've been doing well with everything including life, studies, writing, and more !! 🥰🥰

I’M SORRY I MADE YOU PANIC MY LOVE 💔 i’m also so sorry for not following you first omg :( i can’t believe i forgot (feel free to never live that down and be mad at me forever)

i miss you sooo much! 💓 thank you sm for the sweet words (ﾉ´ з `)ノ 💝💝 giving you a ton of forehead kisses right now!! >.< i hope you’re doing well too, lovely 💘 in every aspect of life!! 🌸

[unimportantweirdo]

i have a bunch of new stuff on etsy!!

we have new bracelets! someone ordered the entire crew of the mechanisms so i decided to make them permanent!

it was ridiculous that i didn't have criminal minds bracelets, so that has been changed and you can now order them! right now! you can also order your favourite ship, your favourite actor, anything your heart desires

also!! most excitingly!! u can get a letter from your favourite character! i will handwrite you a letter from any character, and you can even order a fake polaroid and a necklace with the first letter of their name as extras!

my etsy is BugBeadsBox, maybe go check it out? it's pretty cool and i'm really proud of it?

[wayfinderships]

Greetings!

Actually, no, that just sounds awkward... Here, let me try again. Erm... Hello? Nah, still weird... Um... Hi? Shit, why is this so difficult..? Alright then, maybe salutations aren't that important after all.

Can't help but get all nervous whenever I write to you. Or talk to you. Or think about you. But a good kind of nervous. So I guess I'll just go out and say it, then.

You've been on my mind a lot. Even whenever I'm investigating a case, my mind drifts back to you. When I see a stray cat in town, I think about how radiant your smile is. Whenever Kaito makes a stupid joke, I think about how much your laugh makes me happy.

I know things haven't been easy lately for either of us, but I care about so much... my dear. Shit, now my face feels all warm... Let's go on a date soon, I've been missing that cute face of yours. Does a cat café work? I'm down for an arcade too, they've got cat plushies... Eh, whatever, I'm sure we'll work something out.

Hang in there, alright? You're doing good, I promise. I don't have the words to describe what you mean to me.

Tabo ⚖️

—💚 (insert happy pikachu gif here)

Oh.

👉👈 I'd love to go on a date...my love heck, just saying it is making my face feel all warm. Doesn't matter where we go to as long as I can enjoy your comforting presence by my side 💙 Though I could never say no to seeing cute cats- the real thing or in plush form.

I'll hang in there and you gotta promise to do the same. I know your work can be dangerous sometimes but try your best to stay safe, ok? I. Uh. I love you a lot-

[lgbtqreads]

Happy International Asexuality Day 2023!

Happy International Asexuality Day! Today we’re celebrating books with main characters all along the ace spectrum, so check out these titles and find your perfect next read! As usual, all links are affiliate and earn a percentage of income for the site, so please use them if you can! Please note this roundup only features titles that were not previously featured [with covers] in past…