Skin & Scales: Chapter One Is NOW AVAILABLE

Larkin has been updated with chapter three routes a+b! There is new content all across the game, including new ui by @nyehilismwriting and art by bree gilliam, plus around 50k words worth of new content.

This update has been a long labor of love and I'm excited for finally others to look at it.

You can play the update here! I hope you enjoy <3

Motivation for "Harvard students" or all students basically

1. If you fall asleep now, you will dream. If you study now, you will live your dream.

2. When you think it’s too late, the truth is, it’s still early.

3. The pain of studying is only temporary. But the pain of not knowing—ignorance—is forever.

4. Studying is not about time. It’s about effort.

5. Life is not all about studying. But if you can’t even conquer this little part of life, then what else can you possibly do?

6. Enjoy the inexorable pain.

7. It’s those who are earlier than the others, those who put in more effort, who can enjoy the feelings of success.

8. Not everyone can truely succeed in everything. But success only comes with self-management and determination.

9. Time is flying.

10. The saliva that flow now will become the tears of tomorrow.

11. Dogs are learning, ambassadors are playing.

12. If you don’t walk today, you’ll have to run tomorrow.

13. People who invest in the future are realists.

14. The level of education is in direct correlation with your salary.

15. When today is over, it will never come back.

My attempt to draw Alessa from The Golden Rose, by @anathemafiction 

Larkin Has Been Updated with New Routes!

Hoohoo! Happy Larkin Update Day Folks! The game has been updated today with a total of about 50k words on my end and about 12k on yours! Bringing our grand total up to 407k words! <3

In this update visit Nash for Lunch, (with Rose or not), argue with an old lady at the casino, make some decisions about your character's past and get a little Ace lore.

As a note, the update is available for all players but expands with the most content to those who have either visited Nash or Rose and Wyatt on their second night in Larkin. (For a detailed map on how to get the most of the new content, I'll drop it under a read more.)

I've done some bug fixes as well, and cleaned up some typos in previous chapters, thank you to all who've reported!

Happy Playing!

How to get the most of today's content update

Visit Nash on your first free night

Have a conversation with him, don't interrogate him about the mine

Head to the Emerald, and tag along with Rose

Tell her about the Happenings!

Move to include Nash in your investigation

this whole situation is very funny

credit to @cryptvokeeper for the idea!

I was walking through the toy aisle at Target when I found this thing and had a VIOLENT AND IMMEDIATE FLASHBACK to when JP first came out and they had a bunch of REALLY COOL T Rex toys that I would have sold one of my scrawny small-child limbs for but my mother wouldn’t get me one because they were “too violent and also ate people” :(

List of Romance Options for the series:

Hadrian

Alessa

Alain

Ysabella

The Pirate King

Neia

Lance

Rafael

If Baiae is underwater then pour one out for Apulia and Venice I guess 😔🙏

Baiae is a real place, an ancient Roman settlement currently underwater, so worry not, both Venice and Apulia are alright in the Rose's world.

Baiae was known to be one of the most opulent resorts of the old empire. Here are some of its ruins. A pity we'll never see it in its former glory.

What are your favourite ifs/WiPs?

So this got out of hand. And then my internet crashed and my Tumblr crashed and I had to rewrite this all… I might have missed something and I could rec more, but I need to keep this readable length.

The first one I ever read: Zombie Exodus: Safe Heaven. This was before I followed any creators on the forums/Tumblr. Liked it and played multiple times the first few chapters but I have not kept up with it. Of the published I’ve read or started a lot of them but nowadays WIPs are flying high above most of them in terms of quality. My taste has also evolved, you could say.

The big, long, angsty ones:

A Mage Reborn by @mage-parivir

Long, good story in high fantasy world with anime influenced vibes. Good RO choices and other NPCs. Some stat balancing and actually reading stuff to get the results I wanted required, which is why I needed to start it a few times before I got over my hang-ups and got really into it.

Shepherds of Haven by @shepherds-of-haven

Epic high fantasy story in a deep and thoroughly thought-out world. LOTS of Ros (Trouble is my <3) and NPCs. Also involves keeping track of your stats and thinking before choices. Long one. I mean, really long. In tone, to me, a bit darker than A Mage Reborn even with the BBQ. I have at times wondered how well this could turn into an video game.

I, the Forgotten one by Bacondoneright (the work is on Dashingdon but has no Tumblr)

No magic but an eastern European inspired world. This might not be for everyone as it deals heavily with wartimes in ‘realistic’ medieval world. Involving homophobia, misogyny and lots of death and adult themes. I played a male MC to skip some of that. Lots of stat balancing and following, hard choices and angst. So much angst. You will have to be in a certain mood and have hours of time to read through it but if this sounds something that you’d like to try I encourage it. The writing and plot are really good and the overall quality is better than most. But it’s a hard read.

Mind Blind by @mindblindbard

Modern superhero world where you play a nobody in a family of somebodies. Good mystery, lots of angst and awesome ROs and NPCs. (Grayson has my <3) Not so stat heavy than the others. To my knowledge is close to being finished and I can’t wait to throw money at it.

The Exile by @exilethegame

All the angst. Oh my god the angst. A fantasy world with ‘monster hybrid’ people and you’re exiled and suffering and nothing is going to be good again. The last update left me infuriated. If it would be badly written I could stop reading it and be happy again but no. Have to keep going back. 10/10 would recommend.

The Northern Passage by @northern-passage

Even if I’ve never played or watched the show this has Witcher vibes. I’m sure I will die or kill someone accidentally or something else horrible. Lea is what keeps me going back. The asshole. Love it.

The shorter, angsty ones:

Ouroboros by @honeypeabrain

Plants. Lots of plants in a fantasy, slightly apocalyptic world. The world is really intriguing and the plot pulled me in at the start. Loved especially the option to customize one of the possible Ros. Can’t wait for where the story goes and the RO routes that have been teased. (I have not made up my minds who I like the most)

Ripper’s Plague by @ripperplague

One I have recommended before. Steampunk world where you are a ‘mad’ doctor with past full of trauma. The humour is fun and the story is turning up to be intriguing, even though not all the major players have been introduced yet. Love the way everyone just casually hits on the MC. It’s hilarious.

The not so angsty ones:

College Tennis: Origin Story by @allieebobo

Play tennis, go to college, annoy, and charm everyone while succeeding at everything. Or that’s how I play it. Gets really into the actual games and tennis but everything is written by a person who clearly knows what they are doing so it’s all good. Recommend it even if you’re not into tennis. Living like a jock is fun.

Anything written by @leftski-if

Lots of monster romances (werewolves, vampires, orcs etc.) Light hearted stories in more serious worlds. For more mature readers, not because of NSFW but of tone that’s written with more mature readers in mind. (at least to me) You want a good, hard hug from a RO that’s three times your size? These have it.

The adventures of Sherlock Holmes- An affair of the heart by @doriana-gray-games

It’s Sherlock Holmes but make it actually gay (if you want to). The writing equals the originals by sucking the reader in. There’s murders and mysteries and maybe the tone is not especially light but to me Sherlock Holmes and the stories are comfort read and so is this. Can’t wait to meet H of the ROs, but in the mean time Lestrade is and awkward duck who gives me sandwiches.

 Defiled Hearts: The Barbarian by @defiledheartsblog

Look. Listen. Does the story start with your family being murdered and you being sneaky and enlisting to the Roman army? Yes. Do I still consider this more light-hearted one because I’m having too much fun being pain in Marcus’ backside? Yes. I really need to restart another save and be less confrontational and before I get myself murdered at some point when I’m caught. The writer knows a lot of Roman times, and the Picts while taking liberties to introduce inclusivity and fantasy elements.

Ifs with really short demo so I haven’t really got into them yet because of that but the premise sounds awesome:

Absentia by @absentia-if

Having been ten years stuck in a void and then coming back without time passing for you. What could go wrong?

Sinners and Saints by @sinnersandsaints-linwrites

Hah! I’m in danger!

Novaturient by @kalorphic

Smexy agents doing secret agents things. Gimme.

Shoutouts to things I have read but weren’t for me at the time:

Citadel- A medical Romantic Drama by @bouncyballcitadel

Writing and medical knowledge top notch. Unfortunately, I’m still recovering from the last semester and couldn’t focus enough to read with thought and failed at everything. Which caused me to quit, start again next day from the start and then rinse and repeat. Will have to try again at some point when I have more spoons.

Blood Moon by @barbwritesstuff

Modern werewolf story. Awesome writing and lovable characters. Is to my knowledge finished if you don’t count editing, rewrites etc. Have played it about but not the last few updates. Another one I’ll try again when I find my spoons somewhere.

There are lots more that I follow or read but these came to mind. I also acknowledge that I have a problem with remembering names and have a bad habit of skipping paragraphs while reading, so I tend to forget especially shorter ones. I have not included ones without demos because I have gotten my heart broken a few times when the creators disappeared after posting awesome premises but no demos.

This got really long… Hope this was informative?