#story master post

[jenuinely-speaking]

A Family Tail Master Post

Behind the scenes, I have so many AUs and stories planned and in the works it's not even funny. I do plan on posting about them because they're all heavy with information, not just what I'm going to post on A03. At this point, my friends and I are convinced I'll be writing beyond the grave lol BUT! Focusing now on a fluff related AU, on that is on-going as I write it as a buffer while writing my AHON AU. It all started with a random thought one late summer afternoon during work: Why is there a lack in Splinter love stories? The guy deserves it. Having gone through a life-changing mutation, raising four boys that also went through the same life-altering changes, and ensuring not only theirs but his own survival and safety? Bruh. Having a friend that is going through single parenthood with 2 boys in life, Splinter deserves medals, spa days for the rest of his years, and love. Being a single parent to four boys, let alone mutant boys, is no easy task. But that's just me and my thoughts. This AU, however? It's not just a love-letter to the best Mutant Dad, but to four brothers and a small family that has gone through hell and back in order to find their peace and loving found-family. Which amped up the original thought to the following: What if the brothers had grown up with a mother/mother-figure? One that not only accepted and loved them, but accepted and loved their dad?

Enter Genevieve "Gene" - A head nurse for an exotic animal clinic, on-call for the local area zoos, and volunteers her time at the reptile sanctuary the clinic runs for rescues and surrenders.

In story, Gene "meets" (more like catches sight of) Splinter first when he sneaks into the clinic to 'borrow' some medicine for his sick, young sons (we're talking toddler ages here). After she left a note with her number and willingness for extending help, some time passes, and she receives a call from him requesting that aide. She does not physically meet him until a few months later, their conversations strictly having been by phone calls. He arrived at night when she's leaving the clinic, to properly thank her for saving his sons. After a tense conversation, they begin a shaky friendship/acquaintanceship, but neither push for regular in-touch basis (though Gene does make regular weekly calls to check up on the boys', and subsequently Splinter's health). She doesn't meet the boys until sometime afterward, but it doesn't take long after the meet that Gene becomes a regular in their lives--providing healthy groceries, presents, furniture and utility updates, and even providing a teaching of some modern hobbies the boys obtained that Splinter was open for them to learn, but lost on providing that type of teaching for his boys. Needless to say, she becomes a staple within their lives that it becomes difficult for all involved to imagine life without her, and vice versa for her towards this small mutant family. Some notes on this AU:

There is no set universe for this story; most likely will be an amalgamation with different cameos and easter eggs, just for the funsies.

An out-of-sync chapter story (attention span is too short due to other projects to figure out a proper timeline); some chapters will be shorter than others, and some will be marked as parts if I decide there is an arc to them.

Splinter in this AU will be a Human-turned-Mutant, Hamato Yoshi, because of plans.

The lair is 100% based on the '87/'90/'03 animation lair design(s) with how big, vast, and multi-room use it is, but with the grittiness of the 14/16 movie set designs.

The boys still learn the art of Ninjutsu -- they wouldn't be Ninja Turtles without it, after all. Gene also learns an impressive amount of self-defense combat, training under Splinter separate from the boys.

By the time the boys are teenagers, Gene is in her late 30s and Splinter is in his late 40s and they are in a solid relationship by that point

How the boys meet April + Casey will be different compared to the other iterations (that's honestly becoming a theme in my AUs, now that I think about it...What is wrong with me?)--April's meet is figured out, but still working on Casey's.

Even though majority of this will be Contemporary Life type genre, there are action scenes planned with Oroku Saki/Shredder and the Foot Clan (kinda hard to stay away from that).

I will be completely upfront: I don't normally write anything fluff related. But my brain has been craving this while I write scary angsty stories. Thus, having me fall to the dangling fruit that is contemporary 'what if's for these guys (including this, I have 4 planned stories within that genre), and I couldn't shy away from thinking up scenarios with turtle tots involved.

Here are the chapter summaries for two of those very scenes (centering around Mikey, because I've been very hard on the guy in my other story):

When the boys are around 7-8 years old: During the time when Gene is making it a good habit to visit the Hamato family during her down time, she is caught painting her toenails in the lair. Mikey gets inquisitive and asks her questions about the process and the 'why's. She is patient and lighthearted with her answers, but stalls when he ends up asking if she'd paint his nails. Instead of answering, she looks up to Splinter, who had been drinking his tea in the kitchenette; he had already been watching the exchange and after a moment, he gives his nod of approval. With the silent permission, Gene tells Mikey that she will prettify his nails, and while she finishes up and lets her toes dry, he can pick out a color, or colors that he'd like to have. When he grabs a handful of colors and asks if she could do a rainbow, they start to plan on how to do this project without making a whole lot of mess. Mikey ends up stealing borrowing a role of tape and paper from Don's rooms so they could tear small strips to make stripe patterns to test out. When Mikey finds one he likes, it's another hour or so of the two of them spending time together of her painting his nails (hands and feet) in striped rainbow. When Don comes out to see what's going on with his 'borrowed' materials, he asks if he can have his done too, but in shades of purple. The lair smelt of nail polish for at least a day after that afternoon/evening.

Sometime after Gene and Splinter begin their relationship: Michelangelo is having nightmares, and normally he'd go to one of his older brothers to pile up on, however he finds that he is wanting the comfort of Gene; her hugs are the best, and her extra squeezes and flop of her body makes him feel loved and safe. On one night she decides to sleep at the lair (it's a rare treat for her to sleep over that's slowly becoming more common), Mikey wakes up from another nightmare and immediately goes to seek out Gene. Only he doesn't see her on the couch or cot in the living room space she normally sleeps in--he hunts her down, doing his best to see it as a game of hide-and-seek to keep his panic down, and finally finds her in dad's room. The two are snuggling in slumber on his mat, with Gene having her back to Splinter and arms splayed before her, while Splinter has one draped over Gene's side and the other cradled under her neck. Mikey almost doesn't want to disturb them (in the back of his mind, he remembers that his brothers owe him their pot of treats), but only almost. He ends up going in the room and when he tries to figure out how to only wake up Gene, she startles awake from feeling his stare on her. He tells her about his nightmares and before he asks if he could have one of her hugs, she smiles and opens her arms for him. When he snuggles into her arms, they both feel Splinter wrap his arms closer against the both of them as they fall back in slumber; Mikey doesn't have nightmares after that (and crows at the breakfast table that his brothers owe him the winning pot of treats).

[blluespirit]

there are so many amazing and powerful benders in atla but what i love about zuko is that whether or not he can use his bending in that moment has zero (0) bearing on how much he’s going to absolutely kick your ass. no bending? that’s fine - he’s got swords. no swords or bending? that’s fine - he’s literally just going to beat you up. if you’re REALLY unlucky then you get all three. as a treat.

[mimiyewaffles]

SUCCESS STORIES ON REVISING DEATH!

[Part one]

Since a lot of people came to me, asking for help about revising death, I thought why not share everything here?! So here are these. More parts are available ♡

Parts: 1,2,3

[runawaycarouselhorse]

What made both her sacrifice for her team mates’ happiness in Pocket Monsters (2019)/Pokemon Journeys episode 95 and the fact that she thought this would be her end more poignant for me is that being completely alone is what Musashi hates the most. She lost her (single) mother as a child and was never adopted, going from foster home to foster home... ;_;

After many failures (like being unable to graduate from a school meant to train literal Pokemon Nurses, because she couldn’t do what Chansey do, despite studying hard and being adept at skills like bandaging…) and having her heart broken and being disappointed (she let a boy she loved go alone so she can pursue idol dreams with some friends, who all made it… without her, so she lost a possible love for an impossible dream)…

She couldn’t bond with her partners and left them to be injured, just to save herself, during her training days at Team Rocket. She’d become selfish and self-preserving… in the Japanese version, the others called her “shinigami Musashi” according to Yamato (Cassidy), likening her to a reaper of souls… but James refused to run away, sick of living a life where he ran away from all his problems. He’d sacrifice himself for her and Meowth’s safety, getting badly injured and nearly missing their final exam, hospitalized. The first time they uttered the beginning of their motto was when she believed she was all alone again, much like in this scene… the Rockets in the Japanese version repeat the last thing someone else says as if to answer a question (the “nanda kanda to kikare tara” = “if you ask us about this or that” is mostly filler that could be substituted with anything else.)

Musashi (Jessie): (dejectedly, as she walks away alone as the final exam begins, even being questioned by Nyasu/Meowth where she’s going): Is this all that there is…?

Kojiro (James): (answering while leaning posed against a tree, covered in bandages, but they were only wrapped over his clothes so he could whip them off dramatically) If you ask us 'if this is all that there is,' our answer will be the universe’s compassion!

She’s so moved, she turns away to wipe her tears. “A team mate who won’t run away…”

I think that’s the first time they ever see her cry.

Jessie desperately wants family, belonging, that’s why she falls in love so quickly, she wants a family more than anything—James had everything material growing up, but not love… Musashi had near to nothing material growing up, BUT she had her mother’s love… until she lost her very, very early. They contrast each other! They’re soul mates, eternal partners, whether you ship them or not. Meowth, too, was orphaned as a kitten, never even named, and an outcast his whole life. He's also always falling in love easily, seeking a home... the trio should never be separated, they are each other’s sought-for home.

I think the falling snow in this scene, where she runs off in tears, after wearing a brave smile and telling James it’s okay to stay with Cassidy, is a very deliberate choice, as Jessie loves snow. One of her few happy memories of her depressing childhood is being made treats made of snow to eat. She unknowingly lost her mother in the snowy Andes mountains, seeking Mew, put into foster care, while Miyamoto tried to make money to give her a better life... glittering snow and sparkling tears…

For Meowth too, she lets him go. She just wants everyone to have their chance at love.

So, her believing she’ll end up dying alone, as she’s always feared, Musashi here laments her luck, but also has a beautiful little dream of her friends saving her.

Once again, similarly to the break-up episode of DP, she was the one who calmly and gently encouraged James to pursue a possible love. She also broke Dustox’s pokeball, in tears, not wanting her to make the same mistake she did, giving up on an attainable love for an unattainable goal (and, indeed, Jessie did not win the Grand Festival, despite her skill at Pokemon Contests… she made the right decision for Dustox’s happiness.)

Jessie loves her friends. Sure, she’s caustic, rude, temperamental, bitter, and self-absorbed, but she prioritizes love and their happiness. She doesn’t want them to be alone and abandoned the way she felt as a kid. She loves them so much so, she’s satisfied to die alone and suffer her worst fear if it meant they get to be happy. That’s self-sacrifice.

She doesn’t resent them one bit, saying it’s a nice dream when she thinks she’s imagined them saving her life… she thought it was her mind comforting her before her death, accepting her fate, rather than realizing it’s effectively a premonition of what will be reality… and when she realizes?! She initially reproaches them, looking mad, because she thought they abandoned their happiness for her! But no, things didn’t work out… this is where they’re meant to be: by each other’s side.

James also knows how much marriage means to her, even though he’s so traumatized by it, the word “fiance” triggers literal flashbacks for him and he climbed up a tree to get away from a teenaged girl who called him that. Yet, in XY episode 63, where she fell for Dr. White...

Kojiro: (with head down, eyes shadowed) If Musashi (Jessie) wants to pursue her happiness as a woman, shouldn't we give her our blessing?

Nyasu also had his misfortunes in love... they sympathize and empathize.

"Let's show her we're men and leave without saying anything..."

As Kojiro runs away, he sheds tears, wishing her happiness and bidding her farewell, silently. The scenes in these two episodes are clear parallels.

But in the end (including the final episodes, as rushed as that plotline was although I still loved Wobbuffet acting exactly like a troubled child of parents going through a messy divorce), they’ll always realize their happiness is by each other’s side as a trio.

"Sometimes you get good pulls, sometimes you get bad ones. Sometimes they're good, even if you think they're bad. Sometimes they're bad, even if you think they're good."

[s0fter-sin]

codtwt is going off on brainwashed!soap bc of his new warzone skin and it’s making me think of ghost deliberately getting himself captured by makarov bc he knows he’ll be given to his dog to try and break him; knows he won’t be able to resist the irony, the cruelty of being tortured by the teammate he lost

he doesn’t fight; welcomes the chains around his wrists and ankles, welcomes the hands stripping him of his weapons and gear until he's defenceless

he wouldn't use them anyway

when he stalks into the room, the muzzle, the scars, not even the blank hatred or lack of recognition could make him mistake his eyes

that's his johnny

he doesn't flinch as he digs knives into his skin; would never shy away from his kiss even if it's tinged with rusted steel. doesn't swallow his screams; not when he always loved hearing him, when he spent so long coaxing his voice from the grave

frustration joins the anger in johnny's eyes the longer he goes without giving up information

just jokes; dark and puns alike

just advice when he can't get the jumper cables to spark right

ghost's not trying to escape; not trying to barter his return to the 141

he's right where he wants to be

[mossflower]

ppl complaining about the master showing up too much in nuwho are wrong. personally i don’t think they’re around enough. they should be in at least one episode a season doing gay arch nemesis shit and every time they should die in increasingly bizarre and improbable ways and every time the doctor should buy it 100% and be baffled when they show up perfectly alive in the next season

[ghosts-and-glory]

My really stupid idea for a cult of the lamb modern au is instead of gods or anything the Bishops and TOWW are just YouTubers having internet beef.

I literally don’t have time to do anything with this thought but it won’t get out of my head.

Narinder got his channel banned by his siblings mass reporting his ass. Instead of being representative of horsemen of the apocalypse it’s a YouTube genre. Obviously Heket as famine is a mukbang channel. I can’t explain why but with Leshy I know in my heart that chaos equals gaming channel. Kallamar as pestilence feels like a shitty health and wellness channel to promote his mlm. With Shamura as war all my ideas didn’t 100% fit but I feel with their wisdom, five hour video essays. Narinder as death, drama, has to be a drama channel.

Narinder just like hijacks channels to try an ban evade. Keeps “befriending” small YouTubers. Ratau used to have a little channel that was just low quality recordings of him and his buddies gambling. Befriended Narinder who just gives shitty business advice and got his channel banned. Narinder gets The Lamb to make carrier ending take down videos on the bishops.

Leshy def hacked and faked speed runs. Heket was probably just toxic, you know she probably gossips 24/7. I already said it but Kallamar, mlm, and not the gay kind. Shamura, plagiarism and “I made it the fuck up” (if you know you know lmao) The four horseman of YouTube crimes.

[doublxpresso]

『So... This guy's been clingy』

page 65 - 66 (END)

beginning << page 63 - 64

[dopplerdora]

Man the chart from chaper 51 is crazy. The way it foreshadows Marccille being a half elf is crazy. Not only us Marccille in her base form in the elf box the only person who's acting differently showing her not fitting in the box, but it shows the clear difference in Marccille's features and full elves, and human Marccille is almost identical to her normal self with the only real differences being jer ears and her facial expression; with the expression once again being its own indicator. At first glance it's just a cute little bonus page for a fun chapter but in reality it's fucking foreshadowing using the art without saying a word. I'm honestly having trouble putting into words just how amazing this story is.

[jenuinely-speaking]

A HAUNT OF NORMALCY MASTER POST

Warning

This series is under the genre Horror/Thriller/Suspense. There are 6 stories in total planned, four stories for Season 1 and two stories for Season 2, and each one contains different genre of horror. With each introduction/summary, there will be tw tags. This series is not for the faint of heart (trust me, I've learned this the hard way by presenting my wips to friends, who have graciously helped me with figuring out the tw). If you wish to proceed, please do so with caution.

If you're the type that loves/enjoys horror, especially the paranormal kind, have fun jumping into the screaming pools.

"How would the TMNTs react to an official, terrifying haunting?"

There is a lot of spiritual stuff that happens in their story, in any iteration. Comics. Movies. Series. Every single one has some type of spiritual element to it. Now, I'm still re-reading a lot of the comics (especially between the original Mirage and IDW), but I don't recall ever seeing the TMNTs being involved with a terrifying haunting. Like, The Haunting in Connecticut or Talk to Me type of haunting.

With that thought, I realized that all of those different hauntings happened within an everyday, normal life. When you very much least expect it. And 9/10 times, it barrels into something chaotic and near uncontrollable.

As one of my friends placed it, "It's like TMNT meshed with Mystery Incorporated." And honestly, I never forgot that apt description to this series. The only difference is that, here, the monsters are real.

As I continued writing and plotting, this fun series of TMNT horror adventures became thick with plot that combined every single story into one giant mass, larger than I initially planned.

Each story now holds a thematic frame of horror; a nod and homage to the genres, as it were, while also providing subplot that ties into each other until the very end.

Now, let me be honest with you on something: Horror is something I usually shy away from. I rarely read it, and I am uncomfortable by the movies (though I do watch some), because they are so intense on my nerves, my imagination makes it seem like it's real. Thats just how my brain works. But with this series? Having been continuously working on it and going at my own pace? I've discovered that I love writing horror and suspense.

Who'd have figured? Certainly not me, that's for sure lol

Again, TWs will be before the following summaries. Grammar mistakes are likely to be present (still in format stage). All stories have a HE (happy ending), unless stated otherwise in the TW-- it's just a real hike up a mountain to get to the happy endings, and sometimes it takes two stories tied into one to get to them.

Links will be provided as the stories are posted and updated on A03.

Universe: Amalgamation of own design (even have a full history backstory, might post later on) Setting: New York City, New York 2012 (boys start at 28-29 yrs) Season: Starts Early Spring - March

CRIMSON MARKS

TW/Tags: Poltergeist Horror, intense haunting, intense possession, child harm, parental fear, homelessness, helplessness, unnatural/metaphysical danger, pain-filled exorcism, if you're a parent please read with caution (my friends that are parents told me they had to hold their kids after reading/discussing this story)

TIME DURATION: 7 NIGHTS During a patrol late one night, Raph comes across a small family of mother and son in a park, Callista and Gabriel Meza. Both look too clean to be homeless, yet very tired and very scared. Going against their family's code, he shows himself to the pair and showcases he means no harm and only wishes to help. Through slow conversing, he finds the pair are being plagued by a terrible haunting that has turned physical and rendered them temporarily homeless. With his brothers' involvement, Raph is determined to help the Meza family reclaim their home and sense of safety. Time is not on their side when the seriousness and all-too-real danger of the situation is laid out in less than a blink; and with the prospects of the Hamato Clan being introduced to even more humans due to the weight of the situation, and his baby brother becoming a possible haunted target, Raph begins questioning himself whether or not he made the right decision on being led by his heart, instead of by his family's code.

ULTRAVIOLET SILLHOUETTES

TW/Tags: Paranormal Horror, build-up haunting, psychological horror, possession, forced isolation, internal battle, exorcism pt 1, ancestral haunting, intense ghost-hunting, tech haunting, exhaustion meter skyrockets, the calm before the storm (the storm is the next story), semi-cliff hanger ending

TIME DURATION: 2.5 MONTHS Following the events of Crimson Marks, Donnie had kept in contact with HONe, the investigative team that worked with them to eliminate the Meza haunting, and even became a valued member of their team by updating and building up their tech. After he finishes his latest haunt hunt tech, a scanner of his own design that picks up the particle wave energy being used by the specters, he and Mikey take it out on its first test run in a delipidated building. Good news: It works. Bad News: It works. The brothers are attacked by an intense haunting taking place in the building, and although they escaped uninjured, they agreed to never test in abandoned buildings again...at least alone. For their part, Leo and Raph agree, especially after watching the evidence video Donnie managed to capture. As Donatello works to complete his latest masterpiece, and one that could make HONe the best paranormal investigators in New York State, the brothers go on test runs together--only to find out too little, too late that they may have brought something home with them.

AZURE CLARITY

TW/Tags: Paranormal Horror, psychological horror, historical thriller, historical prejudice, intense possession, control possession, identity crises, exorcism pt 2, major character near-deaths, blood and injury, somber ending

TIME DURATION: 3 MONTHS Directly after Ultraviolet Silhouette, Leo is adamant the family gets to the bottom of their family history upon learning their discoveries in the haunted apartments HONe called them in to help investigate. Even Master Splinter was both shocked and intrigued at finding their family history in America was older than originally expected. Finding the original settlement in up-state New York where Hamato Yoshi's older relatives had come from, the brothers and their sensei travel to the long-forgotten ghost town and find it to be thoroughly, terrifyingly haunted; both by an avenging spirit and a terrible event that quite literally shut the town down. This time, it's far more personal; not only are their very lives in danger by something that is near-impossible to fight, but their own family honor and self-identities lay in jeopardy.

TANGERINE SUNSETS

TW/Tags: Psychological horror, blood and Injury, major injuries, fighting (not the fun kind), intense stalking, psychological abuse, kidnapping, minor character deaths, sacrificial summoning, struggles in relationships, internal struggle on limitations, mental self-harm, self-isolation patterns, Michelangelo tries so hard to remain a sunshine--but even the sun has to accept overcast and stormy days

TIME DURATION: 6 MONTHS A few weeks after the final ceremonies to ease the past that render the future livable, Mikey was the one that had been the most shaken by discovering the grueling past of his family history. He tries not to show the others how negatively it had affected him, but some days--some nights are harder than most. Especially with his growing spiritual talents. As he's trying to find his new normal once more, Mikey stumbles upon a woman, Alise Beau, or rather she stumbled upon him. She's a cryptozoologist photographer--something Michelangelo had never even thought existed--and found an instant friend in her; his spirit feeling calm and centered for the first time in a long while. He managed to successfully talk his way into joining her current job, photographing the same area surrounding his ancestral ghost-town, if only to escort her when she's alone as most of her shots were commissioned to be done at night. During their growing friendship and adventures, Mikey is reminded that the real-world dangers aren't mysterious monsters, or even the hunting of the unknown. But, in fact, other humans with mysterious and unknown intentions.

PATINA SOULS

TW/Tags: Body horror, psychological horror, full body possession, intense exorcism, minor character deaths, major character death (temporary), eco-destruction, A Whole New World of Trauma(TM), the slowest of burns (literally and figuratively), kinda-sorta zombie warning? eh it's eldritch horror bs

TIME DURATION: 1 YEAR [Description in the works - dealing with an accidently woken nature-encrusted Eldritch Horror hell-bent on finishing a long-forgotten mission that could bring about something far worse than the end of times.]

KERATIN HEARTS

TW/Tags: Past abuse, past manipulative abuse, predatory stalking, self-harm, fighting (not the fun kind), intense masking, intense breaking of masking, struggle in relationships, double-sided healing, identity crises, kidnapping (x2), living with hauntings, the spirit that haunts and taunts

TIME DURATION: 1 YEAR [Description in the works - dealing with a person that's inadvertently been in the turtles' lives for the past 1.5 year who brings in a whole new slew of adventures which forces healing abound]

[theshiningdiamond]

(claps) alright, finally got to finish off this which i started back in January! Definitely one of the more fun animatics I've done with UTMV personalities!

Personalities based on original AUS and @seirindono's The Missing Scarf comic(you should totally read it!). Their character Mel joins all the boys at the game table

[arsenicflame]

Some personal headcanons on Izzy's literacy:

Izzy's able to read well enough to get by but he doesnt have an aptitude for it. he can read print letters ok, but stands no chance with cursive, even when people try to tone it down for him.

He especially struggles reading out loud, as he often needs a second to figure out words he doesnt know on sight.

He breezes through his regular log books, knowing the words by their shape alone, but when Stede gives him one of his books to read, he finds it gives him a headache, having so many words he is unfamiliar with.

Hes deeply embarrassed about how he struggles with reading, a fear instilled in him by whoever tried to teach him as a youth, inflicting harsh punishments for any minor mistakes he made

(they were only ever teaching him the basic bookkeeping, but still gave up and declared him "unteachable"- Izzy would later, with sheer stubbornness & spite, learn how to keep ships logs in a way that works for him, for Ed, but he never made it to finding joy in reading)

He tries to use his basic skills to cover up the fact he struggles with the majority of reading (and hides behind a display of distain to avoid situations where he might reveal himself)

He's seen performances of Shakespeare in ports before, and when he sees Stede has copies of the plays on his bookshelf, he decides to give reading another try- maybe its out of embarrassment, feeling inferior to Stede, maybe this new ship has inspired him to believe in himself & try again, whos to say?

[galedekkarios]

screenrant wants to be a tumblrina galeposter soooooo bad like (max mayfield voice) screenrant, you're so behind it's ridiculous

[shepherds-of-haven]

Happy New Year, everyone! I thought it would be fun to do a little retrospective on the game's progress over the last year... Shepherds of Haven has grown so much from the little demo I posted in January 2018, and it continues to steadily build and flourish in so many different and exciting ways! Here's a look at just some of the things we accomplished in 2023!

I added 143,151 words to the game (2.5 main chapters, 8 new character interludes) in 2023: the equivalent of writing the longest Lord of the Rings book in one year! We also broke our huge 1 million word milestone—without including code—meaning Shepherds of Haven is now officially twice as long as War and Peace, and almost as long as the entire 7-book Harry Potter series... and all in a single game!

A lot goes into game creation behind the scenes, including the coordination and creation of visual assets for the game—like character cards, codex entries, maps, portraits, and backgrounds—fun stuff for the fans (like the MC info template we created), and songs for the official soundtrack. As the game creeps slowly and determinedly towards its initial completion, that also means learning new things as a solo developer to prepare for the future, like learning to build an official website, researching business and tax practices, and beginning to think about how to conduct testing, publishing, and marketing down the road. Much of what I enumerate here hasn't been made public yet and will continue to cook in the background for a while, but I'm very proud of the work I've gotten done this year and will be excited to unveil more in the future!

And of course, for even more Shepherds of Haven content, I've added and completed even more stories for our little library on Patreon (which also has sizable word count at this point): The Bridge of Bones (a Trouble and Riel murder mystery), O Happy Dagger (a dark adventure featuring Briony, Chase, and Red), and The Hunt (a wild tale involving Tallys, Halek, Shery, and new kinds of spirits, fey magic, and Elves) were all serial stories completed in 2023, while Some Kind of Virus is a cyberpunk zombie apocalypse AU that will continue to be updated with new chapters monthly.

A full list of the Shepherd short stories and serial novellas (with links) can be viewed here!

I hope you enjoyed this session of Shepherds of Haven Wrapped! Honestly, this doesn't actually cover everything I've been working on, but some things can't be packaged and listed out neatly, or otherwise won't seem very interesting to anyone else but me! 😂 As we inch through Chapter 9 and get more interludes done (only a few more main chapters to go), I'm hopeful that I'll also be able to find time to work on my next novel, but we'll see if the Shepherds schedule ends up ramping up or settling down as we work steadily towards finishing the main story!

One important thing before wrapping up is to acknowledge your guys' role in this wonderful, wild journey. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you for your invaluable contributions to the development of Shepherds of Haven. Whether you took the time to share links to the game, supported its growth on Discord or Patreon, left encouraging messages or asked interesting questions, reported bugs, or showcased your remarkable works of fanfiction or fanart, I am sincerely thankful for the unwavering support from this amazing community! Your collective efforts have played a pivotal role in shaping the world of the game into what it is today. Words cannot adequately convey my gratitude for your support, and I am truly blessed to have such a passionate community surrounding this project.

As we step into 2024, I am filled with anticipation for the developments awaiting Shepherds of Haven. Big things are on the horizon, and I am so excited to share these experiences with you! Thank you for being an integral part of this journey, and here's to the continued growth of our shared little world. Cheers to 2024—may it be a year filled with creativity, adventure, and joy! 🎊

[gravity-what]

I see portrayals of betrayal

And a brother's final stand

I see you on the brink of death

I see you draw your final breath

I see a man who gets to make it home alive

But it's no longer you

Listening to the Epic Musical and, well “No Longer You” really inspired me so enjoy Chase having to face off against a Sphinx and being forced to confront his future.

Enjoy!

[artemistorm]

Master Sword Pt 2: What half the Chain thinks of the Sword

As I explained in my previous Master Sword post, what Sky thinks of the Master Sword is summed up in this one panel from New Times New Place. But what do the rest of the members of the Chain think of the Master Sword? (FYI, I'm splitting it up and doing Twilight, Legend, and Wild in a separate posts because there's a lot to it.)

Time

In the comic Swords, The Chain is talking about everyone's thoughts on the Master Sword (I'll refer to that comic a lot in this post) and Hyrule, who did not wield it on his adventures, mentions that he is curious about it and Time tells him this:

In Time's case on his adventure he was judged too young too small and the sword changed him to be bigger and older and better able to wield it. Clearly he wasn't a fan of that because in New Time New Place, he says this:

Time recognizes the power and necessity of the Master Sword, but he doesn't agree with it's ways and doesn't want to have anything to do with it anymore because of the trouble its cause him.

Warriors

Maybe I'm missing something, but I've only found one single panel (back in the Swords comic) about Warriors' opinion of the Master Sword when he says this:

Indeed, in his game Hyrule Warriors, that's part of his story arc and the game's plot so I won't say more for game spoiler reasons. But generally, Warriors feels empowered by the sword and there's no indication that he has any negative opinions about it.

Four

In this these panels from Swords...

And these panels from Too Small for the Sword...

We can see that Four has not wielded the Master Sword and does not want to because he knows it is a magical sword and the last magical sword he touched divided him into four pieces in his game, Four Swords Adventures. He doesn't know how the Master Sword would affect him and he doesn't want to know.

Hyrule

Hyrule is another Hero who never wielded the Master Sword because his games predate the Master Sword's invention in A Link to the Past. In Swords, Sky lets him handle the Master Sword and Hyrule is impressed, but he has his own super awesome fire blade and doesn't need the Master Sword.

Wind

There isn't very much about Wind and the Master Sword in LU. He does say this in Swords:

Because in his adventure, when he first drew the Master Sword, it wasn't at full strength and Wind had to find a way to repower it before he could use to fight Ganondorf. Other than that, in Divine Dark Reflections Pt 4, Wind remarks that his primary sword, the Phantom Sword is nothing like the Master Sword, but is useful in it's own way (but he doesn't say whether it's better or worse).

And there you have it folks, half the Chain's opinions in one post. The rest will be coming soon!