writingthingshelpingpeople

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.”

— Nora Roberts

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

im so shocked?? you know so many ifs youre like the first self insert writer on tumblr ik who also read ifs🥺

i've played a lot of ifs. the problem is i can't remember a lot of them lmao.

what i remember playing is:

Samurai of Hyuga 1-5 (guess who my favorite is: Jun)

Fallen Hero Rebirth & Retribution (Split between Lady Argent and Herald)

Fernweh Saga (R and J 😇)

Choice of the Vampire (Silas broke my goddamn heart. LOVE THAT BOY. And Clotho... god don't get me started)

The Wayhaven Chronicles 1-3 (M is just. Hands down. THE BEST.)

Arcadie Second Born

The Exile (Freedom can take my heart even if they don't want it. It is legally their property now)

Infamous (It's either Valenreign poly or Blake Winter for me fellas!)

Larkin

The One Chosen (OOOOH. OOOO THIS WAS SO GOOD GUYS. literally obsessed with this one)

Unsupervised (I love the premise. I love the powers. I love Blair.)

Vampire: Night Road.

Werewolf Haven Duology.

these were just among the many that i have played. i can't remember all of them, because honestly i play too many for my own good.

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

and because i, too, am DEEP in the int fic trenches, I will list some of my favourites (I'm not gonna list the big two because I think most people know about those and I am neck deep in my own chargestep and wayhaven fics atp (if you don't know, then please read fallen hero and wayhaven chronicles)):

infamous (orion quinn my beloved) @/infamous-if

just about everything by @/hpowellsmith (royal affairs in particular is my favourite (dominique. head in my hands.))

apartment 502 @/apt502-if

an affair of the heart @/doriana-gray-games

arcadie second born @/sofia-d-asb

college tennis origin story @/collegetennisoriginstory

so yeah! check those ones out too, they're some of my favourites!

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

*when Daniel isn't around to make sure they behave*

That was, wow. The heated arguments between these two are always fun, though Ortega 🥺

And Sidestep being like:

I can't help but wonder how would Ortega react here if they knew Sidestep was a villain. Guess they wouldn't be that calm.

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

Cog.ink Demo

Hello everyone-- Just letting you all know the old COG Demo is back up now! I was beefing with what I can only assume was some cache/file updating problem for a while but now it should work.

Enjoy! Also good news should be coming in the next two weeks :)

NOTE: The symbols (ex. hearts to signal flirting) are corrupted, but that's because I simply do not have the time to go through and edit that when the game's being rehauled anyway :P

COG DEMO (Chapters 1-5)

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

please date sweet men. please date men who respect you in anger. please date men who are soft spoken. please date men who are patient with you. please date men who respect their own bodies. please date men that are kind to your soul. please date men who have self-control.

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

tulips season 🌷💐

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

Thicker Than - Full Moon Update

Demo Link

Happy full moon everyone! I’m still just doing my thing, slowly but surely nudging this game towards the finish line. I know it’s taking forever, but I know I’ll get there in the end. I’m a completionist. It’s a blessing and a curse.

In terms of new stuff, I’ve added some new stuff to chapter 12, finished chapter 13, and added but not finished chapters 14 and 15. The players who get the most new content right now are players who want to talk to or kill the king and/or those who’ve romanced Nathan. However, there is some new connective tissue text that all players will see.

The demo has a few holes in it right now. I’ve been skipping over the romantic scenes so I can get a bigger, clearer picture of how the endgame is going to look and how it’s going to play out. Once that’s locked in, I think it’ll be easier to interweave the auxiliary stuff (which includes most of the kissing). In the meantime, I’m so excited to write these last three endings. I’m so close I can taste 'em.

Oh! And, before I forget, I haven’t had time to made new chapter titles (I made them way back when I started writing this game and only made up to chapter 13) so those headers aren’t going to look pretty yet, but hopefully that’s okay.

Update Details +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As of the 13th of February 2025

Chapter 13 is finished

I've added Chapters 14 and 15 (both incomplete)

Additional Words: 18,929 (excluding commands)

Total Word Count: 497,962 (excluding commands)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

P.S.

If you want, you can become a member on Kofi to see my weekly progress for $5 AUD (which is like $3.13 USD) a month. Full disclose, I'm not writing very fast right now. I've got several projects I need to balance and also real life stuff (like earning a living) to worry about. However, I'm really trying to update every Friday and I'm very grateful for anyone who does contribute. Just that little bit of extra income at the end of the month has made what would've been some very stressful times last year manageable and I cannot thank you all enough.

Also included: random unscheduled blog posts.

P.S (squared)

I have a book coming out!

Spaceship vs Dracula. It's very silly, it's very strange. It's the thing that got me through 2022.

Also, because it's full moon here's a gif. Remember when I used to open all of these update posts with a random moon gif? Yeah. Me neither.

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

“When we reveal ourselves to our partner and find that this brings healing rather than harm, we make an important discovery - that intimate relationship can provide a sanctuary from the world of facades, a sacred space where we can be ourselves, as we are…  This kind of unmasking - speaking our truth, sharing our inner struggles, and revealing our raw edges - is sacred activity, which allows two souls to meet and touch more deeply.”  - John Welwood in all about love by bell hooks

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

Nate with his hair down (and kiss curls.. uwu)

(Photo ref)

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

I NEED SPICE TOP FAVES OF YOURS GIMME!

Ask and you shall receive!!!! 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Below the cut.)

Obviously any of @when-life-gives-you-lemons-if C.C.'s work, Pillow Talk, The Wedding, if you want a VN vibe. Then you have Lemon (Green and Monroe <3), Laws of Passion, Spices of The Heart. (I keep thinking of MC and the Sous Chef making an oyster dish for Valentines Day. iykyk.)

@prettyinkgames College Craze. (very 🌶️) Like so much. (I'm a Gabe/Jace/Jay simp... okay also the professor, the dean...)

@twincovesgame Twin Coves (currently just a demo, but I adore this. definite fav, and I'm ready to devour it upon release.)

@infinitestarsdev It's so good! Mass Effect vibes if you're into it.

@tosahobi-if (Yul has my heart)

@lilac-den The Sole Reminiscence and The Voice Of Silverking (Ally knows I simp.)

@tricitymonsters Tricity Monsters. (i'm weak for mori and his shrimp tattoo. and akello and amir, and rath oh god. and...ok obviously i'm weak for all of them ignore me.) OMFG new Akello chapter excuse me while I go for my man.

@steamberrystudio Gilded Shadows. (This is easily one of my favorite's. It's so well done. Also, keep an eye out on their upcoming VN, When Stars Collide. You can try the demo out on itch.)

@fir-fireweed Viatica! (I love Heron)

@doubledeadstudio Reanimated Heart. (Another fav)

@redspringstudio Touchstarved !!! (I'm feral for this one.)

@gbpatchupdates Our Life (This is my go to when I'm in my feels, Cove is <3)

Tailor Tales (I've followed Celianna since Tailor Tales started out as an rpg xp game, now it's VN, and there are a variety of characters.)

@openlategames Speakeasy (Milo <3)

@merrycrisis-if (Qiu my love my life!)

@bacchanal-if (thomas <3. I clearly have an enemies - to - lovers, friends - to - lovers thing)

@collegetennisoriginstory (sam!!!!!)

In Her Own Hands (itch.io) It is something else. Like this is... graphic okay, if that isn't your cup of tea. Don't touch it. (There is a dilf in it that I just... I mean I play it for him)

I'm typing this up medicated so I know there are some I've forgotten ( and some that are much darker that aren't everyones vibe so I've not listed those. )

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

Mind Blind, Now With Twenty Percent More Bruschetta

The cover art has been ordered. The Patreon demo updated. The public beta planned for this March, because it's been five years and this is ridiculous.

Oh, and the game is finished. For realsies. The code doesn't even accidentally send you to the nineth level of hell anymore (that's my next work).

Public demo has also been updated and moved. As thanks to everyone who notified me, it now includes up to Chapter 12. Enjoy the party:

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

Kevin the Kitten and Satan the Cat 🖤 Artist: 📸@vanessastockard

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

I think a lot about how we as a culture have turned “forever” into the only acceptable definition of success.

Like… if you open a coffee shop and run it for a while and it makes you happy but then stuff gets too expensive and stressful and you want to do something else so you close it, it’s a “failed” business. If you write a book or two, then decide that you don’t actually want to keep doing that, you’re a “failed” writer. If you marry someone, and that marriage is good for a while, and then stops working and you get divorced, it’s a “failed” marriage.

The only acceptable “win condition” is “you keep doing that thing forever”. A friendship that lasts for a few years but then its time is done and you move on is considered less valuable or not a “real” friendship. A hobby that you do for a while and then are done with is a “phase” - or, alternatively, a “pity” that you don’t do that thing any more. A fandom is “dying” because people have had a lot of fun with it but are now moving on to other things.

I just think that something can be good, and also end, and that thing was still good. And it’s okay to be sad that it ended, too. But the idea that anything that ends is automatically less than this hypothetical eternal state of success… I don’t think that’s doing us any good at all.

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

@spnhiatuscreations | week two | favourite quote ►we’re making it up as we go

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

January 1985.

You are a high schooler, taking your final steps towards adulthood. Your peers generously attribute your strangeness to you being raised on a farm in the sticks and not being around people a lot. Your only remote acquaintance is the kid you take the bus to town with each morning.

Yet, despite your reclusiveness, you appear to have acquired a stalker.

Scissor Ears is a short, 18+ horror interactive fiction made in Twine. The finished game will be around 30k words long and most likely be released in full once it's complete.

play as a male or female teenager in the 80s

evade your stalker and investigate their motivations

keep the kid who's crushing on you at arm's length

survive

Note that this IF has only one optional (pseudo-)romance route. As the RO and PC are minors, there will be no explicit scenes between them. Also note that this is the author's trial project to get into working with Twine, hence the short length.

Trigger Warnings: Mentions and depictions of extreme bullying, drug/alcohol abuse, domestic abuse, child neglect, graphic violence and gore.

If you're interested, consider reblogging! It helps immensely.

dividers found on @saradika-graphics <3

main project: @pressplay-if

[writingthingshelpingpeople]

Hey, take it from someone creeping towards 40:

Ignore the fun police.

If you like it, order your steak well done. Get your bagel toasted with jam and butter. Put ice in your scotch and ketchup on your hotdog. Get red wine with fish and white with steak. Who cares?

If you want to, listen to pop music. Watch blockbuster popcorn flicks. Read dime store novels. Enjoy them.

Dye your hair or cut it off. Paint your fingernails blue. Wear whatever the fuck you want on your own time (ie, when not at a job or school or whatever where you can get penalized for breaking rules) as long as you aren’t like welding or shoveling snow.

Anyone who tries to tell you you’re wrong? Say “okay” and go back to what you were doing. You’re not hurting them by enjoying yourself or having things the way you like them.

There are no caveats or addendums to this. No “but what about x?” Nah. You’re allowed the things you like. You don’t have to justify your taste or apologize for it if it’s not hurting anyone.

And likewise, let other people live their lives. We’re all dead in the long run, so tend your own garden before you become fertilizer in it.