By Tiina Menzel

Cozy academia

different viewpoints

I appreciate the behind-the-scenes we get into your worldbuilding. It's fun getting to learn random history trivia that must've come from hours of research and Wikipedia rabbit holing, and you seem to be enjoying yourself. Thanks for all the work you put into the game, it really shows!

Awww! Thank you so much!

To be honest, a daily occurrence I have with my friends and family is me bouncing into a room and starting with the line:

'Pub quiz fact for you, did you know...'

The nice thing now is that I have a whole bunch of folks other than my long-suffering nearest and dearest to plague with random bits of antiquated trivia!

For example:

In a textual sources sense it is believed by some that the Werewolf is a largely French originating creature. They had some rather terrifying problems with wolf attacks throughout their history, and this is reflected in their folklore. See the Beast of Gévaudan for a good example.

It's stated in the Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore that:

'Although Gervase of Tilbury wrote in 1211 that werewolves were common throughout England, the examples he then gave are all French'.

However, while I was off looking up two entirely different creatures, namely one 'Raw Head' and one 'Bloody Bones', I came across this extract from around 1550:

Or put a difference betwene their Grādmothers tale of Bloudy bone, Raw head, Bloudelesse and Ware woulf, and the Churches Doctrine of Hell and the Deuill.

John Rastell - A treatise intitled, Beware of M.Iewel. Vol 3

I definitely want to find out more about Bloodless whatever they may be, and interesting that Rastell uses the Werewolf in a similar context of Grandmother's tales as very English figures of Raw Head and Bloody Bones. Does imply, though certainly not in any way prove, that there might be more of a werewolf tradition here than previously suspected.

College Tennis: Origin Story

Will the once-great Cargill Coyotes succeed in reclaiming the NCAA Div I championship title for the first time since the 90s? Will you succeed in making a name for yourself, both on and off the tennis court? And perhaps more importantly…how much are you willing to sacrifice in pursuit of these dreams?

Start at the bottom as a newly-recruited freshman at Cargill university, and claw your way to the championships. Forge lifelong friendships, pursue budding romances, attend classes, and rush term papers -or party- till the sun comes up.

Fifth update (16 Oct) is here!

Demo | Separate Tumblr [New] | Cast of characters (images)

Play as female, male, or non-binary — with options to be straight, gay, or bisexual.

Experience the ups and downs of college life alongside an ensemble of colorful side characters.

Play nail-biting singles and doubles matches (both home and away) throughout the fall and spring seasons - that is, if you make the cut.

Romance the gruff, hot-headed no. 1 seed, an enigmatic, broody international student on your floor, the warm, unflappable team captain, or your nerdy and spirited high-school best friend.

Build (or neglect) your relationships with your teammates, hallmates, coaches, family and friends back home.

Rayyan Afiq | Gender of your team* | 20

No. 1 seed, vice captain of the tennis team

Nationality: Egyptian-American

*Follows your gender/gender of your team

Description: 5′7 (f) or 5′10 (m). Muscular, athletic build. Dark, wavy curls, and thick sweeping eyebrows over piercing dark-olive eyes. Tawny, honey-brown skin.

Surly, intense, proud, and intensely focused. One of the most talented players in the American college system currently, and will stop at nothing to win. Will you ever get past their stony exterior, and get to know more than just the machine that they are on-court? 

Tobin Harris | Gender of your team* | 21

Captain of the tennis team

Nationality: American

*Follows your gender/gender of your team

Description: 5′10 (f) or 6′1 (m). Tall, lean build. Short black hair, warm, brown eyes and a calm, assured demeanour. Dark bronze skin.

Kind, laid-back, selfless, sociable and gentle to a fault. They go out of their way to make everyone feel welcome, and light up every room they’re in. But they also have a bad habit of putting other people’s emotions in front of their own, and stuffing down their own feelings until it’s too late. 

Sam O’Connelly | M or F | 18

Nationality: American

Childhood best friend, plays for the UCLA Bruins

Description: 5′5 (f) or 5′8 (m). Trim build, with a small frame. Slightly curly russet hair. Mischievous light blue eyes.

Adaptable, excitable, scattered, and fun-loving. A competent tennis player, but has too many other interests to concentrate on any one of them. Has a vague fear of commitment, but secretly wants to find something worth holding on to. Will they finally admit their feelings for you, or will they eventually fade with time and distance? 

Guillaume/Geneviève Lavigne | M or F | 20

Nationality: French

Third-year exchange student, hallmate.

Description: 5′6 (f) or 5′10 (m). Toned, supple build. Dark, tousled hair with fair skin. Smoky grey eyes, with a smattering of freckles.

Quiet, with a rich and intensely private inner world. Never lets on what they’re actually thinking or feeling. You know almost nothing about them despite living on the same floor. The sheer number of times you bump into them will start to get ridiculous. Coincidence? Perhaps. Fate? Possibly. On purpose?? Most certainly not?

First Update (15/11/21): 

Prologue - USTA U18 championships match semi-final 

The summer before college 

Move-in day

Second Update (15/12/21): 

Team introductions

First day of training - strength and conditioning test, 5-mile run 

Training snippets, team lunch 

Third update (25/03/22):

Singles challenge match against last season’s No. 5 seed

Hall party before freshman orientation begins

Rooftop scene with G

Fourth update (28/08/22): 

Freshman orientation (icebreakers, amazing race, laser tag) 

Head to the library with Tobin/go on a run with Rayyan/skype with Sam

Sign up for a club at the club and activities fair, pick a major

Fifth update (16/10/22) is here!

Attend your first week of classes, and find out if you’ve done enough preparation not to make a fool of yourself (go through your first surprise test)

More training (get the chance to show off your finesse chops!)

Challenge match with Jacks or Max (This decides if MC will be within the Top 6 in the singles rankings!)

initially it’ll be funny but I guarantee u will all end up in tears missing the good times and thinking wow that was crazy I love u all

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 🙃)

They will sing songs of our legacy, weave tales of the blood we spilled and the hearts we stole. We have carved our names in history, my dove, using the lives of the guilty. And once you are appointed, you too will be marked in legend.

Genre: dark, crime, romance, gangs

Setting: fictional world of Hera, ancient times

You are the Dove, the heir to one of the most powerful crime families in your country. The grip your family--your father--has on their side of the land is tight, and now that you've reached adulthood it's time for you to be fully absorbed into the machinations of gang warfare. That means opium, mercenaries, assassinations. In this ancient world, blood moves people just as much as money does.

But your family is not the only family with a steel-like grip on Hera. The Dimas family have been your rivals for centuries, a blood feud fueling the anger on both sides. You both fight for territories, for money, terrorize innocent civilians and throw them in a fight they never asked to be part of. Eventually it must end...and eventually it will come down to you and the Viper, the rival heir.

But when murders and kidnappings crop up on both sides of families, the blood feud grows larger. Because there is an even bigger threat coming, and a blood war may be the only way to get out of it.

Viper & Dove is a dark romantic interactive fiction that follows two crime families in a blood feud taking place in ancient times. It is rated 18+ for violence, explicit themes, possible sexual content, and gore.

Customize your heir from name, appearance, gender identity, pronouns, demeanor and more. Customize their approach to their position and how they feel about their family and their responsibilities.

Choose a weapon of choice like a sword, throwing knives, and more.

Choose what kind of heir you want to be, and how far you're willing to go to protect your title from your endless siblings...who are various shades of bloodthirsty.

Indulge in romances that go from a doomed Romeo & Juliet narrative to a bully arranged-marriage romance to a bodyguard romance.

more features to come.

Talon/Thea 'The Viper' Dimas (m/f) : the eldest and heir to your rival family, neither of you can live while the other one breathes. Everyone is waiting with baited breath for the day you two come face to face for a fight to the death to finally bring an end to a century long rivalry...in blood. The day seems to be inching closer, and you wonder if you're prepared.

You are forbidden to see them. Forbidden to speak to them. Romancing them grants a punishment in blood.

Romance: enemies to lovers, forbidden lovers, heirs to rival families, Romeo & Juliet-esque

Alastair (m): your father's advisor, his second-hand man. He is serious, distant, and treats you with neutrality, mostly because of who you are. He oversees everything your father does and your father trusts him with his life. Romancing you would mean certain death for him.

Romance: forbidden romance

Shadow (real name unknown) (m/f): the family's head assassin and lapdog for your father, indebted to him like a prisoner. They have killed many, and their deaths pile up in a way that keeps them quiet and isolated. They do not speak, least of all to you, and you rarely see them underneath their assassins garb.

Romance: forbidden romance

Kalis Dimas (f): the twin of your rival. Even though she is a Dimas, you feel she has no interest in the blood feud. She is too kind, too pure. If anyone were to find you speaking to her--especially her very protective twin--the results could be detrimental to you both.

Romance: forbidden romance

Oren/Odessa (m/f): your betrothed. They are mean, rude, and a bully, and yet you are expected to wed them. After all these years of them bullying you, tormenting you, how could it possibly change?

Romance: bully romance, arranged marriage

Kai/ Kara: (m/f): your childhood best friend. Your guard. The one meant to protect you. They were once an orphan, then found and employed by your father to keep you safe. They take their duty seriously, lest they get thrown out again.

Romance: bodyguard romance, forbidden

Raven/Rome: (m/f) your personal maid/butler, hailing from the servant family that has served yours for generations. They don't look you in the eye and don't dare speak. Some might find their overt politeness endearing.

This is my first interactive-fiction story and I hope you like it. Reblogs are always appreciated, thank you! :)

Heart of Battle is out now!

Battle for love as a gladiator in this epic romance of swords and sandals!

Heart of Battle is a 255,000-word interactive gladiator romance by Fay Ikin, where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

As a prisoner of Coritan City, you had two options: rot in a dungeon or battle in the gladiatorial arena. You chose to fight—and as a star gladiator, you have the power to sway public opinion as nobody else does.

The city is divided, ruled by the glittering Illustrious who use their wealth and status to maintain their power over the struggling masses. A lucky few have access to magic as well: it can be used to heal, but it can also be used as a weapon, or to reinforce the bars of prisons.

Below them, rumors of revolution simmer—and nowhere more strongly than among the gladiators. Former soldiers, political prisoners, and prisoners of war now bide their time, plotting to rise up. Some just hope to escape to their own freedom; others want to bring down the entire oppressive system. Yet others seek to work within the hierarchy, currying favor among the Illustrious in the hopes of having their freedom bought by a wealthy patron.

In this treacherous web of alliances that you must navigate, the one certainty is your own heart. Will you find love with a gentle healer, haunted by a tragic past? A wealthy patron who could promise you a life of luxury? Or even one of your fellow gladiators, whose muscles and martial skill you admire through every battle: a fervent ex-revolutionary now condemned to the same servitude as you, or a bold daring warrior who seeks fame and glory.

What skills will you bring to the battlefield: domineering strength, agile cunning or force of personality? Will you accept your fate and build a reputation as a respectable, honorable fighter, relying on the aristocrats to free you? Or will you throw in with the rebels? Victory can mean a better life for you and your beloved—but what will you do if you find yourself on the opposite side of a gladiatorial match from the one you love? Or on the opposite side of a revolution?

Play as male, female, or non-binary; trans or cis; gay, straight, bi, demisexual, asexual, or aromantic.

Romance a gentle healer; a glory-hound gladiator; a wealthy patron; or an ex-revolutionary.

Choose your weapon: fight with sword, mace, bow, daggers, or bladed gauntlet.

Negotiate your way through relationships with your superiors, walk the balance of power between gladiators and guards, and clash with a bitter rival.

Win battles with honor, or scheme and cheat to take down your enemies.

Incite a riot—or even a revolution!

CHAPTER 2 HAS BEEN UPDATED!

This includes:

A nightmare scene with some variations involved

For MCs with Wits as their main skill, an exclusive optional nightmare route (Hint: Follow the voice)

More conversations with Alex, and with Vincent.

Assassins

Some overview on the police department and the Ripper’s relationship with their colleagues. (which is, not very good)

A flashback scene

Nickname option added on Chapter 1, as well the choice to use the Ripper’s mother’s maiden name (Note: The mother canonically has a Filipino heritage).

Mental health stats such as stress and cynicism amongst others are implemented, though they remain hidden from the stats page for now.

Additional 58,475 words excluding codes!

Old saves will not properly work, so apologies for that! I also advise you to keep a save for the start of Chapter 2, since I’ll be putting the next part on the same file, and dashingdon always reverts its saves to the beginning of the chapters whenever an update is made.

DEMO | INTRO POST | KO-FI | DISCORD | FORUM

Do consider donating to my ko-fi if you liked the game and stay tuned to future announcements with regards to a probable Patreon launch soon. Anyway, feedback and reblogs will be deeply appreciated! Let me know about your thoughts and/or theories through asks, on the forum, or on discord.

Premise and additional notes below the cut.

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spending the entire day writing one paragraph