Larkin Has Been Updated With New Routes!

The public-access demo has been updated to include Chapter Four!

Play the game HERE. Please RESTART the game as old saves will not work.

New to this update:

Edited version of Part One - around 20K words of extra content in Part One;

Chapter Four;

Dealing with the aftermath of Virion's arrival;

Making plans to secure your safety;

Saying goodbye to your family;

Boarding a ship;

Dealing with conflict;

More conflict?;

Spending time with your chosen RO or friend;

Lock in your romance with Prince Irus;

Smooch your chosen RO;

Discover the Nomad Tribe;

Escape a sinking ship;

Reunite with your old friends.

Chapter Four Word Count: 46 909 words. Total Word Count: 246 442 words.

Other things of note:

New, fancy chapter header font and accompanying adornments;

Removed the passive/aggressive stat;

The game will be extended to twelve chapters - instead of three parts, there will now be four parts of three chapters each;

There is an apk version of the game available for android users;

Chapter Four is very bare bones at the moment. I will be going back to add extra content when I start edits.

Thank you for being so patient and I hope you enjoy the game!

Remember to report bugs to me via the bug form in the game or you can report them to me here on Tumblr.

Book Three Sneak Peek Snippet #1...

I ease myself up, grunting as pain ricochets down my spine. “Why…why did you come back for me?”

Farah/Felix leans closer, brushing her/his thumb across my dirt-marred cheek, and holds my eye. “Because you’re always my priority, babe. You always will be.”

are you in college?

i am in pain

The Exile - Chapter Five, Part One

She's here... and she's a big one. This is easily the biggest chapter I've ever written in terms of variety, and honestly most of it is thanks to the fight scene alone.

I would highly recommend playing through a few times with some different commanders (if you have more than one)! There are some big secrets to be found this chapter >:3

Note to Code Divers.

We're at the point where the plot is beginning to thicken up and a lot of interweaving stories are going to be introduced.

By code diving you'll spoil the game to yourself (obviously). And, obviously, the game is meant to be played through blind. While I can't control what you choose to look at or spoil for yourself, I do ask that you keep yourself from spoiling the story for others.

This means do not share "sensitive/spoilery" code with others and do not use the code for your public theories. Because at that point it's not really a theory-- it's just spoiling the game.

Thank you!

Avg. Play length: 90k -> 114k Total Wordcount: 530k -> 818k

Read Below!

Trigger Warnings - There are no new trigger warnings. However, Chapter 5 starts with an incredibly graphic and emotionally intense scene.

Note: You'll have to play from the beginning. Your save files may still be there, but there's a high chance they won't work with the new chapter. Start from the beginning. Save yourself the pain. 😔

Play Chapter 5!

(Send bugs to my tumblr inbox or report them in the discord #bug-report channel. Either one works! And yes, there will be a lot of them 🙃)

8 Different Types of Love

Eros- sexual passion and desire, generally considered as a loss of control, i.e., Cupid’s arrow with Troy and Helen causing the Trojan war. It’s an intense kind of love that is romantic and passionate, but not necessarily stable. In mature individuals as describe by Socrates it recalls youth, but when misguided it can be abused and indulged in. This love is centered around the body and our more selfish desires, and needs one of the other types of love to survive.

Philia- affectionate love, friendship, Plato felt love didn’t always need physical affection to be felt, hence the word platonic. Philia is what you feel between that friend you’ve had through hardships. It’s about the mind and loyalty rather than physical pleasure like eros.

Storge- familiar love, generally used to describe kinship, a love you feel for family, or those you view as family. It’s bound in our memories, and though storge is generally considering good, it can hold you back if members of you family have views that differ from yours in harmful ways.

Ludus- playful love. It’s what you feel in the honeymoon stage, or when you first start dating someone. The flirting, teasing, fun banter, and giddiness of love. It’s the emotional side of love that is unfortunately often neglected later in life.

Mania- this is when one lover becomes obsessive with the other, either due to insecurity or possessiveness. People who go through mania need love and are desperate to keep it and become jealous and controlling. This leads to unhealthy relationship with codependency issues.

Pragma-this love is enduring. It’s in couples who have been together for decades or friendships that have lasted just as long. Pragma is not the result of a search for love, but rather the effort of maintaining it. Pragma is for partners who have put in effort for each other, found resolutions that are best for each other, have invested in one another.

Philautia - loving yourself, the greeks defined this one under two categories a positive and a negative. It’s fantastic to love yourself to be confident in who you are, to have compassion for your being. This is not the self love described by narcissus which is vanity obsessed and greedy. This is a love for the person you are and who you will become.

Agape- this is love in its purest form, a kind of love that accepts and forgives and hopes for our success. It’s the kind of person you meet who has a never ending supply of empathy and compassion, and your always comfortable around. They are  agape with love.

why don’t you read a poem about the sunrise written 5 centuries ago and contemplate the fact that we have been writing about the same sun for centuries upon centuries and then maybe you’ll calm down

Hello! Long time no see! I haven't been active in a meaningful way since early January. A lot of Not-So-Good things have happened (as well as good things) in my life and Emberwood kind of got lost in the mess.

I opened up the chapter 2 file and reread it and decided to just put it out. It's done, and it works, but it can be better so I'll consider it an alpha chapter. My beta testers offered great, great comments and corrections and critiques and so I have made the decision to go back and rewrite and update once I'm more on top of things. I just wanted to share it with you guys because Chapter 2 has been collecting dust in my files a while now and I don't see why I wouldn't post it.

so here it is!

DEMO (PROLOGUE + CHAPTER1 + CHAPTER2// 106,261K words)

I *highly* advise rereading from the beginning for a refresher (it's been a while.)(it might break anyway.) Also, I would say ignore the stats and the stat page as I have plans to overhaul that. There's probably some errors and stuff but there shouldn't be any game breaking errors (aka you should be able to play the entire demo.)

Just to reiterate: Chapter 2 will eventually get overhauled and updated.

If there are any errors, I would rather get reports at emberwoodif@gmail.com since I am not on Tumblr much.

Thank you for your patience, your understanding, your enthusiasm and everything else!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvSEeQWJfeT/

Game-Changing Sites for Writers

A recent search for a specific type of site to help me build new characters led me down a rabbit hole. Normally, that would make me much less productive, but I have found a treasure trove of websites for writers.

Bring Characters/Places to Life

There are a few different places you can use to create a picture of something entirely new. I love this site for making character pictures as references, instead of stock photos or whatever pops up on Google Images.

thispersondoesnotexist: every time you reload the page, this site generates a headshot of someone who doesn't exist. This is great if you're thinking about a character's personality or age and don't have specifics for their facial features yet.

Night Cafe: this is an AI art generator that takes your text prompt and generates an image for it. I tried it for various scenery, like "forest" or "cottage." It takes a minute for your requested photo to load, but no more than maybe five for the program to finish the picture.

Art Breeder: this website has endless images of people, places, and general things. Users can blend photos to create something new and curious visitors can browse/download those images without creating an account. (But if you do want to make an account to create your own, it's free!)

Find Random Places on Earth

You might prefer to set a story in a real-life environment so you can reference that place's weather, seasons, small-town vibe, or whatever you like. If that's the case, try:

MapCrunch: the homepage generates a new location each day and gives the location/GPS info in the top left of the screen. To see more images from previous days, hit "Gallery" in the top left.

Atlas Obscura: hover over or tap the "Places" tab, then hit "Random Place." A new page will load with a randomly generated location on the planet, provide a Google Maps link, and tell you a little bit about the place.

Random World Cities: this site makes randomly selected lists of global cities. Six appear for each search, although you'll have to look them up to find more information about each place. You can also use the site to have it select countries, US cities or US states too.

Vary Your Wording

Thesauruses are great, but these websites have some pretty cool perspectives on finding just the right words for stories.

Describing Words: tell this website which word you want to stop repeating and it will give you tons of alternative words that mean the same thing. It typically has way more options than other sites I use.

Reverse Dictionary: type what you need a word for in Reverse Dictionary's search box and it will give you tons of words that closely match what you want. It also lists the words in order of relevancy, starting with a word that most accurately describes what you typed. (There's also an option to get definitions for search results!)

Tip of My Tongue: this website is phenomenal. It lets you search for that word you can't quite place by a letter in it, the definition, what it sounds like, or even its scrambled letters. A long list of potential options will appear on the right side of the screen for every search.

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Hope this helps when you need a hand during your next writing session 💛

study moods by subject

chemistry: a seat in the first row, diligent note taking, falling asleep in a textbook, color coded sticky notes but with no real system, fingers running across old ink

literature: studying in bed, a cat snoozing on the pillow, orchestral movie soundtracks playing softly, rereading passages that were absentmindedly passed through

math: strong cups of coffee, graph paper planners, crowded lecture halls, a furrowed brow, warm sweaters, that one special spot in the library

history: clicking pens, stacks and stacks of books, annotations in the margins, study sessions spread out on the floor, flickering candles, working in complete silence

biology: colorful illustrations, well worn flashcards, reusable water bottles, always breaking pencil lead, carefully drafting important emails

art: getting lost in readings, pastry and a coffee, receipts repurposed as bookmarks, love for rainy days, in class hand raising anxiety, a whirlwind of a backpack

world languages: early mornings, a deep seated quizlet addiction, studying with friends, practicing presentations aloud in an empty room, fidgeting in chairs, detailed study guides

engineering: hands running through hair, cups of tea either drank while they’re too hot or entirely forgotten, typing quickly, the sound as hallways fill in between classes

music: stretching fingers after long periods of writing, 11:59 submission for a 12:00 deadline, celebrating the completion of a task with something sweet, deep respect for teachers