#the thief and the tinderbox

[katlimeart]

Made in 2017

If you’ve seen this anywhere else, I posted it back on my deviantArt when it was made.

Mario girls cosplaying as characters from the Dark Parables franchise

1 - 3. Gerda - requested by moon-shadow-1985

4 + 5. Odile - requested by moon-shadow-1985

6 - 10. Snow White - requested by moon-shadow-1985

[astral-express-family]

HOLY SHOOT!!!!! A DARK PARABLES FAN?!! & SELFSHIPPER TOO?!!! MAD RESPECT, HATS OFF TO YOU

A FELLOW DARK PARABLES FAN IN THE WILD? HELL YEAH!!!!

But yeah Kai my beloved Gerda my beloved Gwyn my beloved they're all so 🥰

I'm curious, though, which games/characters are your favorite?

[helenapsent]

Okay bitch, you got your people here

What's your fav hidden object game?

omg ok, the favorites are: "Vampire Castle" (it was the very first game in the genre, and it had really creepy music and loud dubbing)

"Weird Park. Broken Tune" (it was 24/7, and we had a coaxing jester assistant, and there was also a tricky part about playing but the music that was on the record, ugh)

"Dark Arcana. The Carnival" (In this game, I was intimidated by the screamers, when they throw a note right in your face through the mirror and a bird skeleton screams in your ears. It was also very tiring to move from a parallel world to the real one, but the locations and tasks kept me from thinking of quitting the game and doing something else)

"The Book of Desires" (flying phantom burning skulls in the library and a cracked floor that led to hell in the same place - that was the most exciting. Oh, and the meeting with the angel of death, that was a blast (and when you play as a little girl, that's a separate conversation))

"Stray Souls" (a two-part game where the first tells the full story and the second tells the backstory of the main events and the mission of the main character's assistant, a voodoo doll (I think she was a family heirloom, if memory serves me correctly). Especially the fact that the main antagonist there was some mystical clown - a scientist who turns all people into dolls - made me laugh) /And yes, the design of our assistant has changed a lot

"Nearwood" (And in this game my mind was stirred by the story and the visuals. There were so many places to go and lots of interesting characters to talk to. Also, this game to me is considered the height of the fantasy genre aesthetic because, gosh, those backdrops are so cool!!!! They've served as inspiration to me more than once)

"Dark Parables: The Thief and the Tinderbox" (the story of how a brother and his sister had a fight before her wedding, then he ran away to the woods, met a bum, he taught him some gypsy tricks, and he said, "lol I will make you king, and I will help you in your reign, just release me brotherly, manly, I don't want to be the genie in the lamp". The boy had heard enough, went to make a fuss at his sister's wedding, released the sorcerer, and he cheated him ugly and walled up in the lamp (and he was the brother of sister's husband), now we had to clean it all up with sister, her aunt, and her husband, in short, the whole family had to clean up the mess that brother had made. It's a crossover of several fairy tales, but compared to that, Santa Barbara is a distant memory)

And I think I'll call it a day...

[goggles-mcgee]

Oh my gosh, Goggles is a fan of Dark Parables?! Sweet! Does that mean you've played Cursery as well? (Found you from scrolling the DP Tag on here.)

If you could change like one or two major things from them what would it be and Why?

Thanks so much for reading and I Truly hope that you have a wonderful day Goggles! :)

Haha yeah! I love the game series and honestly would love more!

I have played the whole main series (more than once) and Cursery (also more than once).

One major thing I would change is how they handle continuity in the main series. Characters we know and have known in later games all of a sudden don't recognize you or you don't recognize them as the detective and that just always made the whole experience of playing through the games feel off in a way. I get that its for if a player is playing that game first and has never played a Dark Parable game before that but it honestly doesn't work in a series like Dark Parables. The only continuity we get with characters amusingly enough is with Jack. I'm not complaining because I love Jack and had like the biggest crush on him first play through of the game.

But the biggest thing I would change is just that the continuity. Another example is Snow Queen/Snow White and how they reverted her appearance back to the Snow Queen look rather than the Snow White look she reverted back to in The Thief and The Tinderbox and that really bothered me.

Just a lot of little things like that tend to throw mw off when I'm doing another play through, I don't know if it bothers anyone else but it is something that kind of gets to me.

I hope you have a wonderful day/afternoon/night Anon!

[polyamorouscultureis]

Polyamorous culture is getting irrationally angry about a game that takes a reasonable character and turns him into a jealous monster in a love triangle

(Dark Parables The Thief and the Tinderbox my beloathed)

Time to turn to the fanfics again :(

[caisjunlis]

once again, @lilicohirukoma and I started rewriting media

the victim: Dark Parables: The Thief and the Tinderbox

[mb-blue-roses]

I hate The Thief and the Tinderbox for a shitton of other reasons, but I also think Hansel and Gerda should've met. It would've been really funny

I think I'm gonna do that in my TTatT replacement. Hansel being the exasperated but still supportive elder figure to Gerda, along with Gerda going O-o when she realizes that the Original Golden Child (her ancestor) is still alive

[basquerville]

The Circle of Needle & Thread as Radiohead songs

Inspiration has struck! I am obsessed with Candela Chapter 2 and also really like Radiohead so I kinda just had to. Dunno if this is for anyone but it fits so well!

1. The whole circle:

Pyramid Song

I jumped in the river and what did I see? Black-eyed angels swam with me

This one fits on vibes alone but also bc of the river in the last ep and the black-eyed angels could be the creatures if you squint.

The Gloaming

Murderers, you're murderers We are not the same as you When the walls bend with your breathing They will suck you down to the other side To the shadows blue and red.

We are not the same as you? I mean c'mon! The walls bending at the Fourth Pharos, They will suck you down to the other side, blue and red light! It just fits!

Spectre

I'm lost, I'm a ghost Dispossessed, taken host My hunger burns a bullet hole A spectre of my mortal soul

Because of the 'host-thing' and the romance themes, this feels like it leans more towards Marion. But it kinda is too dark for his hopeful personality. We also got lines like "anger is a poison" which feels very fitting for Sean. Sidenote: I still get so angry thinking about how they rejected this song for the Bond-movie wtf?

4 Minute Warning

This is just a nightmare Soon I'm gonna wake up Someone's gonna bring me 'round Running from the bombers

It's PTSD innit?

2. Jean "Jinnah" Basar:

Everything In Its Right Place

Everything in its right place Yesterday, I woke up sucking a lemon

This one is a given! Not much to say except that it speaks to Jean's exact and analytic nature.

House of Cards

I don't want to be your friend I just want to be your lover No matter how it ends No matter how it starts

Jean's balancing of Candela and EONS being like a house of cards. Her initial denial of her own guilt and relationship to magick. Her feelings towards Marion.

3. Marion Collodi:

Daydreaming

Dreamers, they never learn Beyond the point of no return

Also a given! This was honestly what inspired me to make this post in the first place. Both the vibe and the lyrics fit very well!

Desert Island Disk

Born of a light, born of a light The wind rushing 'round my open heart An open ravine with my spirit wide Totally alive and my spirit light

Marion and his soul, especially the speech in ep 3 where he says he feels whole without one.

4. Sean Finnerty:

2+2=5

It's the devil's way now There is no way out You can scream and you can shout It is too late now Because you have not been paying attention

Gaahh I am unable to be normal about Sean Finnerty! Can I appropriate a song written about George W. Bush to be about Dr. Oliver Nero? You betcha! To me this song speaks to the lies told by authority figures and how they have destroyed Seans life.

Ful Stop

You really messed up everything If you could take it all back again Strike up the tinderbox Why should I be good if your're not?

Why should I be good if you're not! Very much giving Sean in ep 3!

5. Beatrix "Auntie Bea" Monroe

No Surprises

Such a pretty house and such a pretty garden

Bring down the government, they don't speak for us! The rest is self-explanatory.

Give Up the Ghost

Gather up the lost and their souls into your arms Gather up the pitiful into your arms

Auntie Bea and all those she takes under her wing.

6. Nathaniel Trapp

Go to Sleep

Someone's son or someone's daughter Over my dead body This is how I end up sucked in Over my dead body

A song about the dehumanizing effects of war. Trapp's guilt over Marion and the Finnerty boys getting sucked into the military.

Glass Eyes

Hey, it's me, I just got off the train A frightening place, the faces are concrete grey In the oh-so-smug glassy eyed light of day

Get it? Because of his eye? And also anxiety... and trains!

Bonus: The Creatures:

We Suck Young Blood

Are you fracturing? Are you torn at the seams? Would you do anything?

The Candela vibes are strong with this one!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief

The ones you light your fires to keep away Is crawling out upon its belly And all you have to do is say yes

Both these songs remind me of the son trying to convince Sean to let him in.

Update! How could I forget:

Suspirium (By Thom Yorke)

When I arrive will you come and find me? Or in a crowd be one of them? Mother wants us back beside her No tomorrows, at peace

An anthem for the son!

[ask-snowfall-kingdom]

Welcome! This is an ask blog centered around the people of Snowfall (Dark Parables)! It is set around the time of The Thief and the Tinderbox, in an AU where TTatT did not happen.

Characters currently available: Gerda, Gwyn, Kai, & Snow

Rules:

Nothing NSFW

Be polite

Just... be respectful, please

I'll add more if this gets big & I need to

Mod Info:

I don't know that anyone actually cares, but oh well. You can call me 🦉 or Cel, and you can just kinda use any pronouns except she/her for me.

Ballad of Rapunzel is my favorite Dark Parables game, and The Thief and the Tinderbox is my least favorite. Kai is my favorite character. I'm a young adult, and I first played Dark Parables when I was really little.

[cuppakasha]

Another lil short story I wrote a while back that came from an odd fusion of prompts! I'd say this made me realize I liked to write and could be okay at it.

-------

The Iron Chef

From the tavern kitchen, Quillrook noticed a dozen nobles emerge from goldhorn-drawn carriages before seating themselves at the central fire pit. It was always amusing to see the posh and pompous step into the dingy Coppershiner and lowering themselves into rickety stools around the metal tabletop. They whispered in disdain of how anything tasteful could come from the commonwealth. They were waiting for some magical performance to floor them.

It was time to get to work.

Quillrook dragged out a leather sack from a high cupboard. He untucked his right arm from his black wool cloak as he pulled his iron hand from the bag. He fastened it with the worn leather straps over his elbow and pulled it down over what remained of his wrist until it was taut, once again part of him. Despite years of use, Quillrook instinctively wanted to flex into the fingers of the gauntlet, to feel the squeak of the metal fingers curl and unfurl. If only he wasn’t such a lackluster thief in his youth; he could feel the splintered kitchen counters with two hands instead of just one.

He double-checked his crate to make sure it had everything before he went out onto the floor: red cabbage, husked queen’s maize, several spotted eggs (intact), two small clay pots of lard and peppercorn sauce, a flagon of Coppershiner’s strongest gin (missing a few swigs), a tinderbox of matches, the tavern’s finest forks (still in need of a good polishing), and his pair of knives (sharpened). Most importantly, there were the cuts of cockatrice that Wyndell brought him that morning. Of course she complained that it took hours to track down, then insulted him as a milquetoast dandy for not doing it himself, but Wyndell’s outlander charms ceased to shock him after Quillrook’s first conversations with her last year. He ground and seasoned the tenderloin earlier, but the head Wyn brought him had been slow roasting all day- the jewel in the crown of tonight’s performance. 

Quillrook greased his greying hair back with his left hand before wiping it on his cloak, shouldering the crate and heading to the pit.

The aristocrats’ faces were clearly underwhelmed by an aging man dropping a crate onto the creaky floor. He set aside his matches, pots, flagon, and knives. Quillrook placed one into his iron palm and used his left to close the fingers around the handle. He lightly flipped another knife into his grip.

“Let’s begin,” Quillrook smiled as he cut a chunk of lard and slung it across the cast iron sheet. 

It melted, the drippings sizzling. Quillrook threw his knife above him, hearing small gasps as he caught it with ease. 

They hadn’t seen anything yet.

Juggling the ears of corn onto the metal sheet, he held them upright and quickly sliced the kernels from the interwoven cobs into a golden pile. Quillrook slid the sausage onto the iron, the smell of fennel and coriander filling the air. He broke up the chunks and mixed it with the corn by flinging them into the air with the flat of his blades. Taking the flagon, Quillrook swirled the gin over the hash. It spiraled down the mound onto the iron, a simmering trail. He pinched a match, and with a flick ignited the gin. 

A flash of fire.

The nobles flinched and laughed. Quillrook felt the heat of the bonfire against his face and hoped he didn’t singe his sideburns again. He smelled the sweetness of the maize roasting and the smoked spiciness of the spirit and fennel. While his audience was distracted, he stole a swig from the flagon.

The blaze faded out while Quillrook twirled his blade around his index finger and handled the cabbage. His left held it down, his right slicing. It was habit after years of fumbling knives and cuts. Thankfully, his iron hand was unaffected when he touched hot metal or sliced into it with a butcher knife. Once the cabbage was in ribbons, he piled it into a nest and flipped the hash before pulling out the eggs. Quillrook carefully bounced the eggs with the flat of his blade into the violet nest. The eggs were snug in the birds nest as he gave each a final toss, cracking them cleanly in two with the edge of his blade. They started to scramble in the cabbage.

He was excited; it was time for the finale.

The nobles whispered excitedly when Quillrook heaved something out of the crate covered in cheesecloth. He dropped it onto the cast iron with a thud, and with a wave he unveiled it: the cockatrice head, plucked and terrifying. He heard gasps around the table. They had not seen such an abomination before.

“Surely you have heard tales about the cockatrice?” Quillrook took the flagon and poured into the pried-open beak, “The hunters at the lodge warn that they become especially deadly if you take or kill their young…” he trailed off, seeing his audience lean forward as he poured some gin on a cold area of the cast iron and lit another match. He saw steam from the cockatrice’s gullet and ignited the puddle. Then, using his metal fingers Quillrook quickly dipped into the blue flame and brought it to the mouth of the bird..

A plume of fire erupted from the beak of the cockatrice, and Quillrook couldn’t help grinning. The nobles were in complete awe, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed other patrons turning around to watch the show. The Coppershiner regulars had seen a lot of his tricks already and were seldom surprised.

He sliced the egg and cabbage nest and pushed it towards the aristocrats along with the forks from the crate. The flame began to sputter out, so Quillrook took out the pot of pepper sauce and poured a third of it into the cockatrice, extinguishing the flame. The red-tinged mixture bubbled out of the beak, and the smell of pepper, cider vinegar and ginger wafted around the table. He emptied the rest of the pot onto the hash, dividing it equally among those at the table before he started carving the cockatrice head. 

He served some slices of meat and everyone began eating.

The show was over.

[fnrrfygmschnish]

So, recently I've found myself watching a lot of YouTube videos of random people talking about various versions of D&D and related games, and though I've never actually played anything it's been pretty interesting.

I ended up ordering this book, and it showed up at the post office this week!

It's essentially the same rules as a version of "basic D&D" (as opposed to Advanced D&D, because for weird legal reasons they had to have two separate D&D product lines back then) that was going around in the early 80s, but with certain names changed to avoid legal trouble (you can't call your floating eyeball monster a Beholder or use the term "Dungeon Master," or they'll sue you.)

After reading through a bit, I decided to poke around with character creation a bit and then did a bit of a "test run" of the combat rules. So here's our party, as represented by random toys I had lying around...

Stomptoitles the cleric, who was so broke that he had to choose between armor and a holy symbol; ended up going with the armor because it was somewhat unclear exactly what the holy symbol was used for and I figured it was only needed for casting spells -- which clerics in this version don't get until level 2!

Wimp Lo the thief. We trained him wrong on purpose, as a joke! He started out broke too, but thankfully the ammo for his sling was just random rocks he found on the ground.

Jason Wideman the fighter, who was very unlucky with his HP roll (ending up with only 3 HP), but much luckier with his starting money roll (he could afford plate mail *and* a shield on top of various other starting stuff.) He was also terribly unlucky with his to-hit rolls, which I took as his not terribly smart self (int 9 and wis 7) taking a while to realize that sticking a spear between a skeleton's ribs only works if they *have* anything between their ribs.

And Neen Jah the magic-user, who looks like a ninja because it turned out I didn't really have any figurines who looked even vaguely wizard-y. Just for fun, I rolled his starting spell randomly rather than picking Magic Missile or something -- and ended up with "Read Languages" which was, of course, not useful in a fight. So I had him use some of his nicely sized pile of starting gold to buy a tinderbox and a bunch of flasks of oil and "cast" Molotov Cocktail instead.

I had them come across a group of skeletons (some of which look like mummies because it turned out I only had two of these dollar store skeletons and one didn't want to stand up on its own.) I rolled randomly to see how many and got six, which seemed like a bit much -- so I had them show up in two waves. Once they had taken care of three, two more appeared from around a corner!

Poor ol' Stomptoitles forgot he had the power to "Turn Undead," and got killed in one hit (the sword wielding skeleton slashed him for 5 damage, and he only had 4 HP.)

Neen Jah, lacking a usable spell and not wanting to get up close, chucked holy water (which missed) and then a couple flasks of burning oil (one of which hit, and the damage from the lingering fire destroyed that skeleton the next turn), but got unlucky when the last two arrived -- his last oil flask missed, then one ran up and killed him.

Jason fought a group of them up close pretty much the whole time, with his armor ensuring that they almost never hit him -- he only actually got hit twice despite being the focus of 2-3 skeletons pretty much the whole time. Plate mail and a shield together feels *really* strong, which seems appropriate. Eventually he was beaten, thanks to his unfortunately low HP and a lucky roll from one of the last two skeletons, but it took a while and he finished off a couple skeletons pretty much singlehandedly.

Wimp Lo got hit once early on and then immediately ran 50 feet away to snipe at them with sling-stones from a safe distance... but because we trained him wrong on purpose as a joke, he kept rolling 1s and 2s. When he did hit, though, those rocks did the job pretty well! He took out more skeletons than anyone else and in the end was the only survivor.

Some thoughts on things that stood out to me: plate mail and ranged weapons both feel really strong, which seems fitting for the whole medieval fantasy concept. I noticed that I started coming up with more description of what was happening over time -- how when a skeleton rolled a 5 it just missed its target entirely, while an 8 meant the attack bounced off Jason's armor and a 15 was close enough that it had to be actively blocked with his shield. Character HP being a die roll at level 1 leads to very fragile characters so I can definitely see why more recent versions let you go with the max possible HP at level 1 and only rolling dice for it after that. The idea of the wizard throwing Molotov cocktails for lack of an attacking spell was a lot of fun and more than makes up for the fact that you only get a single use of one spell at 1st level.

It was a pretty neat first experience with the game, and basically my first experience with *any* game along these lines. Despite the lack of... y'know... other people to play with. Maybe someday!

[bluedevilsrpg]

the cast as fairytale characters or creatures, pretty pls? 🤩

Much credit to Ever for coming up with all of these!

- god killer: typhon (greek) | the younger son from the story of the youth who went forth to learn what fear was - saint guillotine: chimera (greek) | death from death's messengers - cursed soldier: cŵn annwn (welsh) | jack from jack the giant-killer - king of drought: nalusa falaya (choctaw) | the shadow from the shadow - master of death: nuckelavee (scottish) | the evil one from the stone of the wise men - crooked hound: dybbuk (jewish) | the prince from the wicked prince - razor fist: jersey devil (american) | the prince from the swineherd - demon eater: draugr (scandinavian) | the soldier from the tinderbox - flower of ice: la cegua (nicaraguan) | the princess from the travelling companion - queen of plague: jorōgumo (japanese) | the demon from the painted skin - madame massacre: pontianak (malaysian / indonesian) | helga from the marsh king's daughter - bells of hell: fossegrimen (norweigian) | the cat from the cat and mouse in partnership - little miss red: penanggalan (malaysian) | little red riding hood from little red riding hood - sunken witch: grootslang (south african) | ursula from the little mermaid - child of flames: ördög (hungarian) | peter pan from peter pan - blood thief: ciguapa (dominican republic) | the princess from the three snake-leaves - moon blade: bubak (czech) | the witch from the son of seven queens - angel of terror: bū daryā (qatari) | the bridegroom from the robber bridegroom

[goggles-mcgee]

Just wondering, how would you rank the Dark Parables games from least favorite to most favorite?

Ooooo okay so these are going to be ranked by story, mechanics, designs and just how much I love them!

Least Favorite- Most Favorite

15. The Little Mermaid and the Purple Tide: I feel like this is not a surprise given my rants. Bad story. Bad mechanics.

14. The Thief and the Tinderbox: Again I feel like this isn't a surprise. Bad story. Bad continuity. Bad designs.... but! The mechanics were not bad.

13. Queen of Sands: it felt off in a way. Like it didn't belong in the series. Mechanics okay. Designs/art decent. Bad story.

12. Return of the Salt Princess: nothing wrong with the mechanics or designs or anything. I liked the story somewhat, it just overall isn't a favorite.

11. Portrait of the Stained Princess: it was alright, I liked the art and such. I just felt like it could have been more. Story wise, I mean. I don't know. It didn't engage me as much as others.

10. The Swan Princess and the Dire Tree: it's sad because I'm a sucker for swan princess things whether it be the Swan Lake ballet, the barbie movie or the Don bluth ones (only the first and second ones though) and I was excited for this game but it ultimately hadn't been something I expected but I did enjoy it a bit. Though again, continuity threw me off since there was barely any.

9. The Red Riding Hood Sisters: I do like this one, but not as much as others. I liked the concept, the designs, the mechanics, and the story somewhat. I just wish I could have been more engaged in it.

8. Exiled Prince: Look, I like it a lot, it is arguably one of the most iconic games in the series but the mechanics are what put it here. It had a wonderful story and everything it was just those mechanics that hung me up.

7. Curse of Briar Rose: another one I really love, but those mechanics just hurt. If they remade it it would definitely ranked higher.

6. The Match Girl's Lost Paradise: such a fun story!! It was so interesting and I really liked it and was very engaged!

5. Goldilocks and the Fallen Star: fun game! Engaging! Also, bonus for Jack, just not a top five fav.

4. Rise of the Snow Queen: Snow White is one of my favorite fairy tales, and the fact they merged it with the Snow Queen story had me elated! I loved it! I was so engaged!

3. Jack and the Sky Kingdom: Has some of my favorite characters of the series! Had an engaging storyline! The mechanics were great! And the puzzles were fun.

2. Ballad of Rapunzel: SO fun! So interesting! So much lore given, and I love lore! It was unique with its endings. Overall a very great game!

1. The Final Cinderella: I am biased. Very biased. Cinderella is my favorite fairy tale. I have so many different versions of it. I have watched everything Cinderella or so I'm convinced. The story was so fun and engaging and the art! Oh man the art! And I cared for all the characters!

[vikkirosko]

We were invited to a wedding! Prince Gwyn, the son of Snow White, and Gerda are going to get married. But the wedding is overshadowed by fires that have begun to appear in the forest, near the Mountain Kingdom. Who is the mysterious arsonist? Does he really want to ruin the wedding? Or does his actions have another, hidden motive?

Walkthrough is already on the channel!

[caisjunlis]

you know what's aggravating about how ugly Ross is in The Swan Princess & The Dire Tree ?

is that in The Thief and The Tinderbox,aka the next game in the series, we see an image and a statue of Ross in his Ballad of Rapunzel design

they had it all and they turned him into that

[ollamhproductions]

Are things going to finally work out for Kai? Can he correct his complete goof up or will he just make it that much worse? Today we find out just how this story ends.