#this is brought to you by me finishing watching a playthrough while i do drafts (i have a few more i'm working through XD)

[ofpolitics]

now that i've finished watching b.g3, i think ast.arion and kar.lach might be my favorite characters.

[loafthecat]

Now I don’t have any drawing or anything planned for the anniversary-

But I do wanna express how much this game means to me personally-

Honestly, I don’t even remember what drew me into ctm, lol- I just remembered the series from some old play throughs and thought to give it a watch but- something about the game just made my brain want more of it-

So- I watched more playthroughs and comic dubs and animation memes, (even vine comps too-) I just- loved it- and from there it’s led me a lot of places-

Thsc was how I joined discord and met some of my best friends and some of greatest people I know! All my mutuals are really creative and nice- idk what I’d be doing without @emperorcandy or @rubianarosevine or @toxsradioactivelocks and ESPECIALLY without @randomgasleak because Leaky is one of the bestest, nicest friends I have- and I would seriously miss out on every fun lil conversation and infodump we have with eachother, getting to share my ocs with him is some of the most FUN I’ve had in my life- and i am seriously thankful to EVRYONE in Tox’s server for just- existing lol-

Also no I didn’t forget about- @kean-thebean or @savagepotat or @cybercypress24 or @lynplaque or stormy love yall too-))

Thsc led to me learning about more lgbtq+ identities that I didn’t even know of- in fact it helped me figure out my own identity and realise I was AroAce! So thanks for that-!

Thsc also helped and inspired me to improve my art!!!! Seeing the talent in this fandom made me wanna improve and develop an art style I truly love to draw with- and well- I did it!!!! I finally have an art style I LOVE to use and which actually looks good!!!! I can finally draw necks!!!! And no that was not something I could do before thsc- hm, funny because sticks don’t have necks technically so who would’ve thought-???

Continuing on from that, thsc is directly responsible for the creation of some of my FAVOURITE ocs!!!! Ollie, mitzy, mavy, Kapper, Tulip etc. heck- even ocs that while they ain’t sticcs or direct thsc ocs were INSPIRED by and influenced BY the game!!! (Lookin at you, Opal and Angus-) I especially have to gush about Ollie because I just LOVE him so much- who would’ve thought a BACKGROUND oc for a rp would become one of my main ocs today-? Not me that’s for sure-, I especially didn’t expect that I’d cry over how invested I am in him lol- I just love my lil gae sticc so much!!!!! He’s brought me so much joy, he’s helped me to vent out my problems- I just- I just- LOVE Ollie- lol- and I’m sure I’ll continue to do so even in future-

Thsc also introduced me to Dave panpa’s existence so everything is 100% worth it. I would die for this man, I want to platonically hug him and him and Rupert kiss kiss, I should know- I am the loaf of bread on their countertop!

And I guess last of all- I wouldn’t be on tumblr if it wasn’t for thsc. Thsc gave me the confidence to branch out and actually start using over websites aside from YouTube- it’s also how I joined discord and as I’ve said meet all my closest friends- sure- tumblr hasn’t always been the best at times but- I enjoy being here and while yes I’m not the most popular person here or even of note to some people- I’m still here right-? And I gotta thank thsc for that-

So in conclusion-

It is 23:24 pm at night- and my WiFi really didn’t like me finishing this- (it f^cked up THREE drafts of this that I had like wtf WiFi-????)

Now. Is this normal-? No, it probably isn’t normal to have a extreme obsession over a silli game about a sticc figure stealing shi- but shush I’m weird- and autistic it’s fine-

So yeah. Thanks thsc, and thank you puff for making the game.

You changed my life- for worse or for better take your pick-

[solottrpgchronicles]

1a. Nothing But Saltwater - The Last Tea Shop

Shop name: The Vagrant Tea Leaf

Supplies: sea salt, quartz crystal, ginkgo leaf

Days: 4

Visitor: an old sailor

At the border between the land of the living and the realm of the departed, a trail of mist leads the weary souls to a towering cliff overlooking the ocean.

There, overgrown grass sways violently in the wind; the sun is perpetually hidden behind heavy clouds, creating an illusion of impending rain that never actually arrives.

At the very top of the cliff is a somewhat precarious two-story structure made of brick and wood: a tea shop.

Worn wooden panels in a faded forest green shade frame the windows and the door. The sign says "The Vagrant Tea Leaf".

Inside, a few lights punctuate the penumbra, showing shelves upon shelves laden with an assortment of teapots, mugs, and jars holding all sorts of teas; however, strangely enough, there's only one round table accompanied by two chairs, ready for visitors.

Random phrases are scattered everywhere – on chalkboards, scraps of paper pinned to the wall, and even etched onto the furniture. Some of the messages say "Watch your step," "Savour the flavour of your memories," and "There's always time for one last cup."

---------------------

A sailor walks in, takes off his cap, and looks around confused. It's time to start brewing my special Draft of Recall tea.

I tell him to sit down at the table, while I throw my first question at him. "Hey there, traveller. What's the last thing you remember?"

He gives me a wide-eyed look, like he didn't expect such a serious question right off the bat. But we've only got time for a cup of tea, and I'm not gonna waste it.

"Uhm…" He starts, messing with the cap in his hands. "I'm not really sure about all the details, you know? It all happened so fast… got lifted in the air, then bam, fell hard into the water. I think I sank like a sack of potatoes. But how's that possible? I spent my life at sea, and I wasn't even a good swimmer? Was I wounded? And then, no one came to help, maybe they couldn't. I hope they realized I was gone, at least."

He pauses, his voice shaky; "My life was nothing but sailing, seeing lots and lots of saltwater everyday, with wind and sun and rain on my face. I followed the captain's orders, and it suited me; I never liked making decisions. But, I was always on the sidelines, never the main character, even in my own story.

Do the crew even miss me, or anyone for that matter? I hope so. But they'll probably just say a prayer for me and move on."

The tea is ready, I bring it to him and sit down, giving a friendly smile. "What are you proud of?" I ask, after he takes a few sips.

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, even though there are napkins around. "I wasn't the brightest," he begins, taking a moment to think; "but I was a hard worker, and extremely loyal. The captain... Captain Farday, that's right. I knew his father before him, he was the one who first hired me when I was a young lad. I watched his son grow up. When he took charge of the ship, most people in the crew doubted him, but not me - I knew he had the heart and the brains to be an excellent captain, and I would have followed him to the ends of the Earth. Turns out, I was right - our journeys brought us a lot of fortune, and he never refused help to anyone, no matter who needed it.

Guess that's the one smart choice I made - I could've taken orders from anyone, but I picked a good one. I saw his potential, and I'm proud to have served under him.

I hope my service was at least half as good as all the life lessons I learned from him."

I let him finish his tea in silence.

When he's done, the sailor puts his cap on and heads out. Standing at the cliff's edge, he looks peaceful, as he spreads his arms and takes in the smell of the ocean, before the mists carry him away.

---------------------

This is a playthrough of a solo TTRPG called The Last Tea Shop, by Spring Villager.

You can check it out on itch.io: https://springvillager.itch.io/last-tea-shop

[strangerays]

Nothing in Particular Update #2

It’s the Nothing and Particular and Everything update part two: the electric booglaloo. This one is long, so strap in.

It’s been a while since I wrote an update for this story. To be honest, this one gave me a lot of stress, but here I am! Writing this story feels like it is going very slow. I keep telling myself I’ve made a lot of progress (which is true, I have) but for some reason it doesn’t feel like I have? This is likely just my own insecurity. To be frank, I can’t believe I’m still writing this story. If you had told me in February that I’d still be writing this when the weather got warm, I would have laughed.

I am SO excited that I will finally be able to focus on writing now that I’m out of school. I’m afraid to speak the rough deadline that I’ve given myself for this story (the end of August-early September) but now that I’ve spoken it into existence, I hope I can finish! (I hope I can stop watching dumb videogame playthroughs and listening to The Magnus Archives and get something done)

Here is a link to the story introduction and previous update!

TAGLIST (ask to be +/-); @wannabeauthorzofija @a-completely-normal-writer @baguettethebooklover​ @corkytheguar @writeherewaiting

STORY CHANGES/THOUGHTS/IDEAS: 

Here is a big one: I’ve been trying to write this story for myself. I started writing Ray’s story from a place that was personal to me, but I feel like, as that part of myself has begun to heal, I’ve started to think about what a reader would want out of the story. I’m realizing that this is my story so it has to be what I want. Drafts are drafts for a reason, so I’m going to try to get better at letting myself explore what is fun to me.

I always thought I was a discovery writer (I still sort of think I am) but as I’ve finished small sections of the story, I am finding that it’s very helpful to do a rough outline of scenes in upcoming chapters. (I also recommend turning to this if something doesn’t work and you need to retrace your steps!) Just helps me feel more organized!

Jude’s character has got to be one of the most difficult personalities I’ve ever written. Putting her beside Ray just makes it harder. Where Ray is secretive and keeps to herself, Jude is ready to unpack her entire life’s story to anyone. I find that I really have to slow down when writing their interactions. I know this is going to be nowhere near perfect in the first draft, but I think it is a main contributor to my slow writing.

I really like this little narrative I’ve created in the background of the main plot with Ray and Lonan. I love writing these scenes because it’s a way for me to use Lonan when he’s not actively with Ray and to show why Ray is predetermined about things at certain points. Also I love their friendship so much <3

CONGRATULATIONS TO ME on starting to read again because I forgot how much of a help reading other people’s stories can be when you’re struggling with your own oml

I now have a set timeline for the story! Takes place ~4-5 months.

I did that thing where you write a letter from the characters’ perspectives and that was kind of fun

Also just for fun I thought I’d add in that I spent an hour and a half last week filling up a page in my sketchbook with diagrams of the plot. It feels good to be a mad scientist

EXCERPTS UNDER THE CUT!

*At this point, I’m only sharing writing that I am really proud of in order not to spoil the story! This is because I am unsure whether I want to publish this story someday. With that said, that does NOT give you permission to steal my ideas!

CHAPTER: NIGHT CRIES

#1

In the last week of summer, I did everything I could to avoid post-vacation blues. I rode my bike along the gravel roads with no destination, wore my dark sunglasses to people-watch, and fed salami to the minnows that floated on the cusps of boulders. Usually, I sat still for so long that my elbows turned a deep shade of red and the blood in my toes buzzed.

New pockets seemed to open up in Point Blink every day. And with them, came new people. Most of them were older – a middle aged woman who caked her lipstick on, an uncle estranged from his brother, a couple who had miscarried. I hadn’t forgotten about the kids at Mothouse. It was impossible not to think about them. It wasn’t just that I’d never seen them before.

#2

The girl’s limp cigarette bled a trail of smoke that seeped into my Vans. My shirt folded like skin over my bed post. Haunted the room – foiled my mauve sheets and teased my locks. Swept the curtains apart and heated the oak floor. Beams of moonlight leapt to my bookcases; highlighted the posters from various podcasts and bands that I listened to. Wind whistled when I was too still. She forced me to look outside, onto the dark cul-de-sac lit by the reflections of forming rain puddles. No matter whether I sat at my desk or burrowed under my sheets, I felt out of place. She made my bedroom louder. She made my bedroom quieter.

I decided it would probably be best if I never saw her again.

To be honest, I don’t remember much about writing this chapter because it was over a month ago (sorry) but I’m still quite happy with the prose! This comes in after Ray sees Jude for the first time at Mothouse. Based on a first impression, decides that she might want be friends with Jude.

CHAPTER: SORRY

#1 

If you spend any long amount of time with someone, you’ll become a thief to their behaviors. If I stared long enough, trees began to replace all of the people we’d ever seen. Oaks had roots that serpentined the ground like children splashing in the bay, pines with needles like spindly old hands, maples with hollows like watchful eyes – all things Lonan had taught me to observe.

CHAPTER: GHOSTS

Then there was the sea – violent and knowing as it romped within bays and alcoves. She had eaten me many times before, both my father and Lonan too. Gulped them as if they were shining plastic wrappings left behind after a meal. I spited her for inviting me once again. I reached up again to grapple with the next rung. It twisted and offered a low whistle.

In these two chapters, Ray is on a photography trip with her class. This is the first time she’s been on this annual trip without Lonan. She left that morning with a goal of being independent and learning to get on with one of the only people she has felt close to. I realize now that the Ghost excerpt sort of sounds like her dad and Lonan have drowned?? Which was not my intention??

CHAPTER: A DIVINE INTERVENTION

#1

“Do you believe in ghosts?” A raspy voice teased from behind me. Cigarette smoke tickled the words, like they were stuck together with jelly inside of her. The question wasn’t particularly calming, but it strengthened my grip on reality. As if the foiled leaves, bark, and dandelions had sprung from the ground and begun to float, they came crashing back down.

I was made of stone.

“I’m not a ghost,” Jude said. “If I was, a ladder would be a pretty counteractive way to outrun me. I could just float up there and haunt you.”

“Maybe you’re a ghost,” she asked, her voice distant.

I shifted my grasp up and down the sides of the ladder. “What?”

“Don’t you believe in ghosts?”

I was reading back some of Ray and Jude’s conversation and there are so many snippets of dialogue that make me laugh because I totally forgot I wrote them... but UGhhH I don’t know if I want to share them because I don’t know whether or not I want to try and publish the story someday. Speaking of that, it’s sort of because it’s so personal to me? I don’t know (this is for future me to pursue) Honestly though, reading these back has made me really happy :)

#2

I wanted to shake her by the shoulders. She acted as though Point Blink could breathe – as though corpses in the cemetery might pull the grass away like dead skin, neighbors would draw blades, and blood-salt would stain her clothes rather than that from the sea. “Trust me, they’ll forgive you. But, I’m just saying, most people around here don’t care nearly as much as you think so. Most of them are way older anyways, so they’re tired of us.”

“Is that you complimenting yourself?” Jude asked.

“Not intentionally,” I said, “but I will take it.”

She laughed. “You shouldn’t be so nice to strangers.”

I wasn’t trying to be. I just didn’t think I wanted her to dislike me.

#3

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing or a good thing,” Jude said. “Being good gets you tucked into a thousand different memories. Being good makes you live a lifetime.”

I almost laughed, but then I wondered what I was to her now. “I don’t talk to lots of people.”

“Sometimes there aren’t many people to talk to. But I thought you would have loads of friends.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. “I thought you would too.”

Alarm like grief lit her eyes, but she laughed. I did too.

“You hardly know me,” she said quietly.

Then the girls explore some old newspapers and letters in a fire tower! Spooky fun!

CHAPTER: YOU LET THIS HAPPEN

This isn’t a major spoiler as it’s literally in the blurb I wrote, but Ray and Jude are caught (targeted..??)  in a fire. Ray is brought back to a field where she is questioned.

CHAPTER: NOTHING HAPPENS

He was quiet for several moments while he painted a picture with what little details I had given him, then said, “It’s unfair. I think that’s why it hurts.”

“Because we almost got hurt?”

“No. Because it came true.”

His gentle, ragged voice made me think I could tell him anything. Sometimes, I think that, even then, he knew I left something out.

Ray talks to Lonan after the fire... She’s being a bit dishonest about what actually happened.

CHAPTER: WHY NOT

I remember how the barest amount of red light glared across Lonan’s entire scalp and washed his boyish curls magenta from the roots out. When Jude leaned back on the counter, she melded into the darkness.

This chapter is just part of the narrative that I created with Ray and Lonan’s friendship. There isn’t much I want to spoil from it, but I liked this paragraph!

CHAPTER: INEVITABLE

“We didn’t do anything,” I said.        

“Someone did. Why won’t you believe me?”

 “I think I would remember whether or not someone was there with us,” I said, “even if we didn’t have the picture.”

This was untrue. I hung lots of photos in my room. A long time would pass before I went to a restaurant again, or a specific coven on one of the beaches, or an outfit that I wore, and I would look into one of my pictures and remember it, and then I would be quite angry with myself that I had almost forgotten that thing forever.

“I don’t think you understand what I mean,” Jude said. I didn’t like the way she’d lowered her voice. She sounded different every time I saw her. She reached out her arm so our photos were side by side and our fingers were almost touching. “I don’t think you want to.”

Ray finds herself alone in the school’s dark room with Jude. Based on the contents of one of her photos, she tries to convince Ray that there is more to the fire than what meets the eye.

CHAPTER: (this one is untitled)

I didn’t mind that he followed me everywhere. Even when he was quiet, I didn’t find it strange to be around him. We sat silently through films and went on walks. Once, he had fallen asleep while watching The Iron Giant in my bed. I didn’t know if I should wake him up once it ended. I tried not to stare at him. He’d rolled onto his side and bundled himself in one of my blankets covered in stars up to his shoulders so only his small face poked out like a baby owl’s. His soft breath messed his dirty gold coils. They were at their longest. Except for the ebbing light from a candle on my desk, my house was asleep – Lonan needed to go home.

For the first time, I wondered if anyone cared where he was.

Another small part of the little friendship narrative! (This really is the part of the story where I get nostalgic for my childhood, isn’t it) Ray starts to discover more about Lonan’s home life in this part of the story, but there’s not much that I think I want to reveal about that for now.

CHAPTER: THE CRUX OF IT

Why did I feel so paranoid? I found myself staring out the window, into the film of blue that the late sun shown onto the grass and trying to remember what summer felt like.

My main problem was that I didn’t know how to talk to Jude unless it was about Sugarfell. I ran from the hush of cigarette smoke behind closing doors and heard her loud voice in conversations. Even though there might have still been a part of me that wanted to be friends with her, I didn’t have much to base that feeling off of. I could have spent hours clicking the little pieces of her that I had together, but the crux of it was that I would never know Jude unless I forced myself to.

For some reason, that really scared me.

I spent all week trying to think of what to say to her. By Friday afternoon, I still had nothing.

I left off writing with Ray actively avoiding Jude’s little investigation into the arsonist. Ray doesn’t want to be involved in this because she feels that it will throw her sense of normalcy off course. She really just wants to learn how to adapt to a life without her best friend. (It doesn’t help that she’s got fresh trauma)

What will Ray decide? I don’t know. We shall see. (just kidding I know)

Sorry this update was longer! I think I would like to start updating more often than once a month just because they would be shorter and those of you reading this won’t forget what happened in the last update. There are thousands and thousands of words that didn’t show up in this update because - like I said - I don’t know whether I want to publish this story ever?? I’ll probably talk more about this in a separate update.

Thank you so much to those of you who read about my story! I hope you enjoy it!

:)

p.s. btw I now have a myWriteClub account! You can check it out here and stalk me as I tragically fail my writing goals!

[windskull]

Hello all the lovely people out there that have been following The Heart of a Hero.

As I promised before, I said that I would write up a bit on how I have approached this adaptation, and likely how I’ll be approaching Majora’s Mask, if I end up doing an adaptation of it down the road.

At the time of writing this, I have finished drafting up through chapter eleven, which takes me through the end of Dodongo’s Cavern. As such, anything referenced directly here will only be up through that portion.

The first thing that i had to do was actually decide to make a adaptation. Originally, Thoah started out as just an au idea, based on something I had seen while looking at stuff related to Hyrule Warriors and the Zelda Encyclopedia. Somewhere, I don’t remember where, I saw a wild theory that, as an alternative to the “Link is dead” theory, that he was in the process of becoming a skull kid because he did not have Navi to guide him.

I did not care for that theory, but the idea of Link being a skull kid intrigued me. So I sat down and started doodling some designs for fun and imagined up an AU.

At the time, I had been planning to draw a Windwaker AU comic involving skull kid existing in the windwaker timeline in the forbidden woods, finding Link, and following him around the ocean for the majority of the rest of the game. (I still may write a little about this after the heart of a hero is done, but not a full fic. I may also release the three pages I drew at some point if I meet a certain view/kudos goal. Maybe 1000 AO3 views or 100 kudos, whichever comes first?)

I ended up enjoying the idea and the idea and design so much that The Heart of a Hero ended up happening.

So now I can actually get into hows of my creation process behind the fic.

It is worth mentioning that I had read one fic adaptation of a game at that point to completion (Sonic Adventure), and another one for Majora’s Mask that I quit reading. At one time I started to write my own Sonic Adventure 2 novelization, and considered writing a novelization of Kirby Planet Robobot in the anime verse, but neither of those ever got very far.

It is also worth mentioning that although I have finished Ocarina of Time (and Majora’s Mask). I have never gone through and done a full completion of either, I’ve never finished every side quest.

So before I ever began writing, I sat down and watched a 100% play-through of OOT. (Specifically, for those curious, I watched Masaeanella’s master quest playthrough.) By doing this, it gave me a chance to go through all the game’s main material and decide what quests I might want to include in the story.

Then I replayed the game myself, taking my time and thinking “What about this would be different if Link was a Skull Kid.” For one of the more obvious things, it makes him significantly more susceptible to fire, as is heavily touched on in the Dodongo’s Cavern arc. But in lesser things, it makes people - especially those outside of the forest - more wary of him, something that is starting to develop into a bit of a character arc for him.

His change in species also has an effect on how he acts around other people, and as a result, changes some of the sidequests that are brought up, such as his run-in at the Happy Mask shop. Because of his mischevious nature, he never goes through that fetch quest, but he still has an interaction, and ends up stealing instead of selling.

Perhaps the most interesting portion that I’m looking forward to writing is the seven year skip, and how being sealed that long is going to be handled, considering he is an eternal child that will never get bigger or grow older. I already have that planned out, and look forward to how people react when I reach it!

But the process doesn’t stop there, because at that point, I have only just finally laid the groundwork and begun writing. But memory is not perfect. So as I’m writing, and as I’m wanting to describe these areas, I am looking at let’s plays and playing through the game again, giving me a chance to look at the areas so I can describe them better. Especially dungeons.

Once I write a batch of chapters, usually half of an arc or a full arc I go back and start editing. I try to write in half or whole arcs so as to hopefully not forget anything.

One of the hardest things of writing is the dungeons. I want to write them so that they’re recognizable (Oh, this is that room) without just writing straight through it and explaining every puzzle. I want to cut out some of the unnecessary fluff that would be a chore to write and read. A good example of this is the part in the Deku Tree, where Link and Skull Kid find the slingshot at the base of the vines (where the dungeon map is in the game) without having to go all the way to a dead end room, only to have to backtrack again.

Some areas, both in and out of dungeons are changed very little. Others are changed a lot. The deku tree is something that did not change much, beyond the reaction of the Deku scrubs to Link and Skull Kid. On the other side, Dodongo’s Cavern is changed up a lot, due to Link’s much more flamable body. There’s going to be a lot of things changed in the adult portion of the timeline. The areas I’m looking forward to the most are the Gerudo hideout and Spirit Temple.

That’s everything I wanted to cover at this point in time. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot them my way and I’ll try to answer.