the-gilded

[the-gilded]

I just started my new job a few weeks ago, and I'm still getting settled in Portland, BUT!

Here's @barbwritesstuff on the Powell's Picks table, right in front of the entrance at the largest independent bookstore in the world! 💜 I've been bragging to all my coworkers that "I know that author!!" I'll be writing a shelf talker for it in the speculative fiction section after it comes off the Picks display, so it can be special all the time. 💜

[the-gilded]

Demo (TBA) | 18+

WARNINGS: Violence, gore and mature language, general struggling, realism.

Genre: Apocalyptic grimdark horror.

“AND THEN THE WORLD ENDED. Everything came crashing down for my already screwed up life when those... creatures came, infected. Trapping me into another cage that we now call life. Running, fighting, scavenging, hiding… is on repeat constantly. Just a never-ending cycle of fighting for your life. Living is so.... exhausting. Not even living, just surviving.” I cleared my throat.

“I discovered secrets that I still cannot wrap my head around. Secrets that would have ruined everything. I'm sinking into it all.”

“Despite the chaos, there was a shining light in my corner. A group.” I smiled.

“We worked together and fought people, the world, as best as we could with our little but growing knowledge. Being a team was a little rocky in the beginning, but we knew making it through this mess would be easier if we had each other. Or at least by a little.

“But...” I took a long pause. Heaviness filled the air, like there was a pressure drop. It was almost as if we both knew what it meant without words. My eyes fixated on the floor as I felt my eyes watering, just a bit.

“Good things don’t always last. If I learned anything, it was that. And now, I’m here, alone.” A heavy sigh escaped my mouth, and my shoulders weren’t tense for the first time in what feels like forever.

“I should’ve been there....”

My hand reached for his, tight but gentle. “It’s okay. There was so much going on, anyway. What matters is that we’re together now.”

He smiled for a moment before his eyes descended into thought. “But what... really happened? I mean, that was so vague.”

My mind flashed through the events since the outbreak. Faces, sounds, smells, places. All kinds of feelings, even ones I can’t describe, weighed on my chest; so much in only a few seconds. “Well, what do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

The apocalypse engulfed you, and along with the rest of the surviving population, no one knows what’s happening. Or so you think. Infected overran the world, leaving most of the population dead. Streets are quiet, and houses are empty. Sometimes you just want to go home, but then you remember, there is no home to go to. Anyone would go insane, losing everything all at once.

Supplies linger, but they have run thin in the chaos as you survive in conditions you never would’ve expected; leaving behind the expected comforts of what you knew. Everything you wanted you could get with ease, but now you scavenge for food in a world where everyone and everything is out to get you.

People changed after the apocalypse, and that is ever so clear as you fight, not only infected but raiders who will do anything to get what they want. But not everyone you come across will have such nefarious intentions. There are also the compassionate, helpful people, but there are also people who sit in the middle, balancing their morality.

The road of survival will test you mentally and emotionally. Leaving you wondering if trying is really all that worth it. Many more questions linger in your mind, even dark ones that hide in the far corners of your head, gathering and waiting for you to break. But you won’t break, because you’re a fighter; you’ve always been. When an infected comes charging at you, you’ll stand your ground. Why?

‘Cause that’s just what you do.

Scavenging rabbit hole to gain supplies.

Customize your character's name, gender, pronouns, sexuality, eyes, hair, and more.

Personality and skill stats.

Romance one or two of the four characters in the next section, or just be friends.

Survive against raiders and infected.

FYI your parent's names are Elena and Pedro, if you don't want the same names as them.

| Caleb ??? | 23 | He/Him

Gender: Cis man

Sexuality: Bisexual

Race: African American

Appearance: Dark brown buzz cut, dark green eyes, and dark brown skin tone. Has a heart tattoo with the letter C on the inside of his wrist.

Body Type: Muscular, little to no definition, mass.

Height: 6'0

A brooding leader who leads with rationale and determination. He keeps his heart closed to anyone, fearing his past would come back and haunt him once again. His loner and cold nature holds him back from truly connecting with those around him. At the end of the day, his leadership is strong, keeping his group together like he knows he has to.

| Sudiro | 22 | He/Him

Gender: Cis man

Sexuality: Bisexual

Race: Javanese (Indonesian)

Appearance: Black, slightly wavy neck-length hair, dark brown eyes, and tan skin/honey skin tone. Back tattoo, nose and ear piercings.

Body Type: Lean and defined.

Height: 5'7

Loves to live life on the edge and have fun. Jokes are his protection. His dream was to see the world, but it was abruptly crushed. Despite his adventurous nature, he is extremely pessimistic, always thinking of the worst. He can be snarky and rude, but deep down, he is caring and compassionate. Will those walls come down? Either way, he won't be listening to you anytime soon.

(Javanese people don't have last names.)

| Rue Benson | 21 | She/Her

Gender: Cis woman

Sexuality: Lesbian

Race: African American

Appearance: Dark brown shoulder-length dreads, eyes, and skin tone. Double sleeves.

Body Type: Muscular/Ripped, in between definition and bulk, straight waist.

Height: 5'8

A kind-hearted soul who goes out of her way to help others. She knows how to handle herself but prefers to avoid confrontation. Gentle but strong. Her life before the apocalypse was a mess, and that mess only became worse. The world around her collapsed into moral ambiguity, but she stayed true to herself. But sometimes people can be too good.

Dana Léon | 21 | She/Her

Gender: Transgender woman

Sexuality: Bisexual

Race: White

Appearance: Light blonde armpit-length hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Freckles. Earlobe piercings.

Body Type: Toned and slender.

Height: 5'3

Can be mischievous from time to time and is very self-assured. A little flirtatious, too. Doesn't think she needs anyone else and can survive on her own. But doesn't actively push others away, just stays alone as a first choice. Idealism keeps her going as she always tries to see the positive. She tells herself that the world will go back to the way it was all the time, even if she knows it's not true.

~ Playlist ~

NOTES:

If you have any suggestions, corrections, or criticism, feel free to tell me, unless it's something I already cleared up or went over, but I will not accept hatred. I want to grow, not to be put down.

I'll update this post if there are changes regarding anything that is considered a warning.

Anon is off because I will not be dealing with harassment. If you have a funny name or profile, I don't care; it's okay. People get too brave, and I don't have the energy to deal with that nonsense. I have to set boundaries. Sorry to any future askers.

I used AI somewhat for my code. Until recently, I didn't realize how bad that was. My future projects will be free from any AI, and this project will be as well as it progresses. If you want to stay, I appreciate it, but if you don't, I understand. It's something I'm not proud of, to be clear.

@interact-if

[the-gilded]

Happy National Library Week!! A great time to ask everyone you know if they have a library card.

[the-gilded]

Good afternoon, fateful friends! We have a fun update that's now live on Steam and Itch — just in time for our new sale with the Otome Games Celebration event! ;)

While you wait for the next content drop we have cooking — i.e., an 11k-word side story coming out on June 21 — we decided to release our Map Exploration feature for you to try out!

After you click on the World Map button in our main menu, you will be taken to a map of Tír na nÓg. Originally, this was all the World Map did, but now you will have the ability to click on various landmarks and explore the world yourself!

Navigate between environments with the arrows, and as you poke around, you'll likely run into some familiar faces! If you click on them, they'll interact with you, and we plan on adding more short scenes/interactions as time goes on. We'll add more spots to visit as well! Along with a healthy handful of horsing around, if you catch my meaning.

That's all for now! We hope you enjoy! And don't worry: We're hard at work getting Maeve and Shae's 2nd halves ready to play. We'll have more information on their release dates when the side story comes out!

Slán go foill!

- Clotho

[the-gilded]

Recent IF updates (because if writes have fed us well lately)

Blood of the living (chapter 4) - fields of asphodels book 2

College tennis origin story (chapter 7) - in love

The Eternal Library (chapter 4)

Adoriel's Tears (part of chapter 2) - delicious

Love after death (chapter 3) - I am not ok

Apartment 502 (chapter 2)

The Bastard of camelot (chapter 4 + part of chapter 5)

Press play (chapter 3)

The soulforge order (chapter 2 part 1)

Stygian sun: total Eclypse (chapter 1 part 3) - I am not ok again. Don't touch my sibling

When Twilight strikes (chapter 12)

Burning Academia (chapter 3)

The trials and tribulations of Edward Harcourt (completed game) - criminal that I still have to play it, a bit afraid of the bad endings

Where they wait (VN, completed game)

The Woods Hungers (chapter 3)

Moonlight (chapter 1 part 2)

The Night Market book 2 (chapter 7)

Cantata (chapter 2) - there is lots of food because the author also has another completed if: Viatica

The Sovereign's Ring (new content)

[the-gilded]

Hi all, I've got a little update on my life and a little art to drop today. 💜

My friend and I are working on a little art base collab, and I decided to draw a character that appears later in The Gilded for one of my parts!

She's called Lienore or "Lie" (like Leah), and she's a High Fae like Ayre. She'll appear later (around Chapter 4/5), and features more heavily in Ayre's route. She has the animal characteristics of an albino lop-eared rabbit, and has reduced vision and light sensitivity due to her albinism. I really like her as a character, and maybe she'll even get more time in the spotlight in the future. 💜

The base is by Dorem631 (originally on Twitter but it appears their page is deactivated!).

As far as life updates go:

I'll be moving in just four weeks! It feels like the time is already coming up so quickly. I have about two weeks to finish packing before I have to ship all my stuff to Oregon and then it'll just be me, my pets, and my laptop until it's time to drive.

I just secured a new job that I'm really excited about, and I'll maybe chat a bit more about it after I've finished all the paperwork. I'll be working at one of the biggest bookstores in the world! I'm told it's nearly impossible to get a job there, so I'm feeling really fortunate about landing the job, and it almost seems like things are actually working out for me for once in my life, even if all of this is only arising out of the greatest tragedy of my life so far.

I got a lovely house with my friends, with plenty of space for all of us and a big yard for my precious puppy, and I've been obsessively planning how we're going to decorate. Here's Fay wearing the little adoption day flower collar I made for her (4 years ago haha):

I'm hopeful that things will work out, or at least in denial about how bad things are right now. I'm looking forward to doing more drawing and writing, and sharing more with you all as I get my life in order. I have a lot of stuff planned and prepared already for the Patreon feed I mentioned in my previous update, and I'll get more done after all my stuff has shipped. Thank you for reading and for sticking around, it means the world to me. 💜

[the-gilded]

If you consume fanfic on ao3 and are 18+ and American I need you to lock in and call your senators saying you oppose a federal porn ban. This would effectively ban ao3 and being queer in public, among many other things, due to the intentionally vague language of the bill. I’m counting on queer tumblr and fandom tumblr to help me get the word out that you have to call your senators

[the-gilded]

Hi all, I've got a little update on my life and a little art to drop today. 💜

My friend and I are working on a little art base collab, and I decided to draw a character that appears later in The Gilded for one of my parts!

She's called Lienore or "Lie" (like Leah), and she's a High Fae like Ayre. She'll appear later (around Chapter 4/5), and features more heavily in Ayre's route. She has the animal characteristics of an albino lop-eared rabbit, and has reduced vision and light sensitivity due to her albinism. I really like her as a character, and maybe she'll even get more time in the spotlight in the future. 💜

The base is by Dorem631 (originally on Twitter but it appears their page is deactivated!).

As far as life updates go:

I'll be moving in just four weeks! It feels like the time is already coming up so quickly. I have about two weeks to finish packing before I have to ship all my stuff to Oregon and then it'll just be me, my pets, and my laptop until it's time to drive.

I just secured a new job that I'm really excited about, and I'll maybe chat a bit more about it after I've finished all the paperwork. I'll be working at one of the biggest bookstores in the world! I'm told it's nearly impossible to get a job there, so I'm feeling really fortunate about landing the job, and it almost seems like things are actually working out for me for once in my life, even if all of this is only arising out of the greatest tragedy of my life so far.

I got a lovely house with my friends, with plenty of space for all of us and a big yard for my precious puppy, and I've been obsessively planning how we're going to decorate. Here's Fay wearing the little adoption day flower collar I made for her (4 years ago haha):

I'm hopeful that things will work out, or at least in denial about how bad things are right now. I'm looking forward to doing more drawing and writing, and sharing more with you all as I get my life in order. I have a lot of stuff planned and prepared already for the Patreon feed I mentioned in my previous update, and I'll get more done after all my stuff has shipped. Thank you for reading and for sticking around, it means the world to me. 💜

[the-gilded]

Okay, I guess it's official as of today! I'll be moving from Texas to Oregon in two months. I have a lot to do, but I'll be trying to get some content posted when I can. Thank you to everyone being very kind and supportive right now. 💜

Hi everyone, here's a bit of a life/progress update for everyone following. I wish I had more to share right now, but I hope there will be more coming soon.

I've posted several times that Chapter 2 is coming soon, and I really have wanted that to be true, but I haven't quite been able to bring myself to finish it. I did recently manage to finish drawing new official art for each of the ROs, so here's a little preview of that (sorry, I wish I was better at drawing consistently):

Also, if you want to hang out and/or watch me talk about games I love, you can find me live on Twitch sometimes:

http://www.twitch.tv/faedrian_

Further explanation/vent/plans below:

As far as why I haven't managed to finish writing Chapter 2, it's just because my life has been sliding downhill for a pretty long time now, and it's hard to find the motivation to write anything nice when I feel this bad.

I guess I noticed things getting worse last year, after I caught Covid in February. I was sick for about a month, got really depressed, lost a lot of weight, developed new complications with my endometriosis and my eating disorder got a lot worse. Around the same time, I realized that my relationship was beginning to fall apart. I've been with my partner for ten years, and it hasn't always been stable, but I've fought hard to keep us going together even when things got rocky. Last year, they decided that they needed to start cutting stress out of their life. That led to them breaking up with me twice - both times, I begged them to stay and keep working on our relationship. I was terrified by the possibility that they could just end our relationship and take my whole life away from me, forcing me to leave my home and lose everything I've built especially when I was at such a low point already.

A few weeks ago, they decided to break up with me again, and right now it's looking like it's for real this time - they signed a lease with some friends the day after breaking up with me, and decided that they would just leave me to fend for myself so that they wouldn't be burdened with the "responsibility" of caring for me any longer.

So, I'm currently facing down the reality that I will likely have to give up the whole life I've built up over the last seven years of us living together. I don't have anywhere to live here - all my friends and family are hours or even days away by car. I was in the middle of searching for a new job when the breakup happened this time, but now I guess I can't really take a job here if I'm going to have to move away. I can't afford to live on my own even with the new jobs I was applying for, and I wouldn't feel safe by myself either. I've always lived with my family or with my partner. I may be moving across the country in the next two months - going Northwest to live with some friends that offered to find a place together, and my best friend lovingly offered to pay my moving expenses. I have no money in the bank (in fact my account is overdrawn as I type this), so this is all very stressful right now. I'm hopeful that I'll find a way to work things out, to get myself settled, and to find the will to be productive with my games again.

As far as plans go:

I've been making plans to start up a Patreon and Discord once I have at least a couple months of content backlogged - it would include Beta reading access for The Gilded and my other game jam projects, BTS previews of some other, larger projects I'm drafting, monthly SFW and NSFW sketches and short stories as voted by the Patrons, and eventually a tier to get your OC written into The Gilded. If that's of any interest to you, let me know! I think it would be really good for me to see people engaging with my content again, and I could honestly use the motivation.

Thank you for reading this far, and thank you for following as long as you have. I still love and intend to finish this project, I just need to get through this dark place to find the light on the other side. 💜

[the-gilded]

You can fight AI in indie publishing by leaving reviews.

Seriously.

Ai-generated garbage is flooding the self-publishing market. It works as a numbers game- put out ENOUGH fake crap and eventually someone’s aunt will buy them the ebook as an unwanted gift, and you’ll have made two dollars. This tactic works at SCALE, which means real independent titles are now a needle amongst a haystack of slop.

If you have read a book this year that has less than 5 reviews, your rating is an algorithmic spotlight on that needle.

A one sentence review helps. Really. A star rating helps if you really can’t think of anything to say, but if you can muster up even “I laughed at the part about the tabby cat” you are doing indie authors a favor like you cannot believe.

(Also if you left a review on one of my books this year I am kissing you so softly on your forehead and I adore you)

[the-gilded]

Im gonna be so real can yall actually talk about ways we can support trans women in the UK instead of giving all the attention to fucking JKR. I already know that Harry Poter sucks, I wanna know how to actually HELP people. Something something you have to love the oppressed more than you hate the oppressor

[the-gilded]

I am begging everyone who has ever bemoaned about Hollywood only making sequels and IP movies to go see Sinners in theaters. It has the creative team behind Black Panther working on it and their talent shines through in the cinematography, music, costuming, EVERYTHING. It's a completely original screenplay written by Ryan Coogler and if you want to support original movies, go see it in theaters.

[the-gilded]

in case people weren't aware, BDS has called for a boycott of microsoft gaming products:

Cancel your Xbox Game Pass subscription.

Boycott Candy Crush, Minecraft and Call of Duty – flagship videogame franchises owned by Microsoft.

Boycott all Microsoft Gaming products, including Xbox-branded consoles, headsets, accessories and all games published by Microsoft-owned publishing labels (such as Xbox Game Studios, Activision, Bethesda and Blizzard).

more info on the boycott and microsoft's collaboration with israel from bds' own website. microsoft is directly partnered with the israeli military, providing cloud services and ai technologies that actively contribute to the genocide of palestinians.

bethesda and blizzard are specifically named, but other companies under xbox game studios include mojang and obsidian entertainment - i'm highlighting obsidian here because (afaik) i haven't seen anyone bring them up specifically. i don't mean this in a condemnatory way, i'm an enjoyer of obsidian games myself, i just want to make sure people are aware.

For those who already own the games or the console, the organizers said, the ideal move would be to stop playing, but the primary ask from organizers is to help deprive Microsoft of revenue. Therefore, players can be compliant with the boycott by avoiding future purchases of games or consoles and by avoiding transactions inside the games.

a cultural boycott has not been called for, but there's no avoiding the fact that fandom is effectively free word-of-mouth advertising. i am not here to tell you what to do or act as your moral arbiter, all i can do is give you information and ask you to be conscientious. please refrain from making any new purchases or from encouraging other people to buy games/products that provide revenue to microsoft - consider donating to a gazan mutual aid fund, such as a campaign run by the sameer project instead

[the-gilded]

Hi everyone, here's a bit of a life/progress update for everyone following. I wish I had more to share right now, but I hope there will be more coming soon.

I've posted several times that Chapter 2 is coming soon, and I really have wanted that to be true, but I haven't quite been able to bring myself to finish it. I did recently manage to finish drawing new official art for each of the ROs, so here's a little preview of that (sorry, I wish I was better at drawing consistently):

Also, if you want to hang out and/or watch me talk about games I love, you can find me live on Twitch sometimes:

http://www.twitch.tv/faedrian_

Further explanation/vent/plans below:

As far as why I haven't managed to finish writing Chapter 2, it's just because my life has been sliding downhill for a pretty long time now, and it's hard to find the motivation to write anything nice when I feel this bad.

I guess I noticed things getting worse last year, after I caught Covid in February. I was sick for about a month, got really depressed, lost a lot of weight, developed new complications with my endometriosis and my eating disorder got a lot worse. Around the same time, I realized that my relationship was beginning to fall apart. I've been with my partner for ten years, and it hasn't always been stable, but I've fought hard to keep us going together even when things got rocky. Last year, they decided that they needed to start cutting stress out of their life. That led to them breaking up with me twice - both times, I begged them to stay and keep working on our relationship. I was terrified by the possibility that they could just end our relationship and take my whole life away from me, forcing me to leave my home and lose everything I've built especially when I was at such a low point already.

A few weeks ago, they decided to break up with me again, and right now it's looking like it's for real this time - they signed a lease with some friends the day after breaking up with me, and decided that they would just leave me to fend for myself so that they wouldn't be burdened with the "responsibility" of caring for me any longer.

So, I'm currently facing down the reality that I will likely have to give up the whole life I've built up over the last seven years of us living together. I don't have anywhere to live here - all my friends and family are hours or even days away by car. I was in the middle of searching for a new job when the breakup happened this time, but now I guess I can't really take a job here if I'm going to have to move away. I can't afford to live on my own even with the new jobs I was applying for, and I wouldn't feel safe by myself either. I've always lived with my family or with my partner. I may be moving across the country in the next two months - going Northwest to live with some friends that offered to find a place together, and my best friend lovingly offered to pay my moving expenses. I have no money in the bank (in fact my account is overdrawn as I type this), so this is all very stressful right now. I'm hopeful that I'll find a way to work things out, to get myself settled, and to find the will to be productive with my games again.

As far as plans go:

I've been making plans to start up a Patreon and Discord once I have at least a couple months of content backlogged - it would include Beta reading access for The Gilded and my other game jam projects, BTS previews of some other, larger projects I'm drafting, monthly SFW and NSFW sketches and short stories as voted by the Patrons, and eventually a tier to get your OC written into The Gilded. If that's of any interest to you, let me know! I think it would be really good for me to see people engaging with my content again, and I could honestly use the motivation.

Thank you for reading this far, and thank you for following as long as you have. I still love and intend to finish this project, I just need to get through this dark place to find the light on the other side. 💜

[the-gilded]

Sorry to hear that life hasn't been treating you well and that you're dealing with what sounds like a very awful breakup. Hopefully, things start turning around for you and life starts treating you better. And I feel like I can speak for a lot of the people who have stuck around when I say take as long as you need to get to a better position in life; we'll be waiting. You're only human, not some writing machine that can churn out thousands of words a second without breaking down. So just make sure that you can take care of yourself the best you can and that you have loved ones who can help you out when it gets especially tough to do so, though it sounds like you've already got some people who are and will.

Thank you very much for the kind message 💜 I'm thankful for the friends I have that are willing to step up and help me, even when the person I thought I could depend on doesn't want to be that person any more. Writing or drawing or anything is very difficult at the moment, but also not doing anything is kind of crushing in its own way. I want to keep building my work on this game and my other projects, so I'll be doing what I can to get some new updates out when I'm ready, including the full new art and such.

[the-gilded]

Please make sure to take care of yourself <3 I'm so sorry your having to go through all of this 🫂 your health is the #1 priority please do whats best for you 🫂❤️

Thank you for this and the other messages you've left in the ask box 💜 I think it would feel good for me to be productive, as much as I can right now. It's been a while since I actually finished anything I started.

[the-gilded]

DEMO RELEASE DAY

DEMO LINK | INTRO POST | ROMANCE OPTIONS

The Garden of Bones demo is very much in-progress and it will undergo more edits as the story continues. I also plan to continue upgrading the CSS and aesthetic of the game right alongside everything else! EVERYTHING is subject to change and nothing is final, especially the worldbuilding.

So expect some retconning and even small personality changes for the ROs as the story moves along...

There is at least one known error that I'm working on where you might get a repeating passage, but it won't break the game. Also it's not currently mobile-friendly although I anticipate adding that with the next update, so you'll need to play on a different device for now!

That said, I'm very excited to present the first chapter to anyone who might wish to play it! I've been working on this project since October and it feels great to finally have a shareable version.

I hope you enjoy version 0.1.0!

IN THIS DEMO

Design your character.

Catch the eye or ire of the Younger Twin.

Earn one of three achievements - maybe.

Flirt - or don't.

Be friendly - or resentful.

Unlock a journal page.

Endure involuntary imprisonment.

Try to remember what you've forgotten.

Play approximately 45 minutes of the game.

FEATURES

50,000+ words

a few original background WIPs

journal page under construction

4 in-progress personality variants

one hidden achievement

MUSIC + AUDIO

The soundscape is important to the experience I'm attempting to cultivate for you and my beta readers have really enjoyed it, so my earnest recommendation is that you give the audio at least one chance to win your affections - but if you aren't someone who likes music in your IF games or you have your own playlist, you can always mute the game!

NOTES

Ignore if you don't want any spoilers!

If you're hoping to befriend (or romance) the Younger Twin, don't sweat too many of your decisions in this chapter... within reason. Most of your attempts will be deflected by their natural inclination to hate everything.

That said, you can definitely make them hate you slightly more.

If you were hoping to meet the Elder Twin you'll have to wait a bit longer - but that doesn't mean won't get any information about Z in the first chapter!

This is all early access, my first attempt at coding anything ever, and my very first IF, so please be kind! You can read the intro post HERE or jump straight into the...

DEMO