For as long as you knew yourself, you lived as a wandering knight. You rode with your family across the desert, participating in as many tourneys as you could. You searched for a cure for your sister's mysterious ailment as well, visiting sawbones, alchemists and all sorts of odd people along your travels. Your life brought no fame or glory to you, nor did it give you the answers you sought. Wherever you went, very few people cared about you. Such is the life of a wandering knight, after all.
It did not matter much however. Nights passed by around a fire in peace, and mornings always began with laughs and jests. Arguments did always happen, but they faded away as fast as they came. No matter what happened, your family stood strong on its feet.
Yet as they say, no life goes on unbroken.
Today, you ride to Bene Sallo, yet another city where the biggest tourney of the century is being held. It promises more gold than you ever heard in your entire life, more than enough to build your own home and even figure out what is wrong with your sister. You can only hope that it will end well for all of you.
Choose your name, gender, appearance, and how you would like others to call you.
Travel through the desert and the lands beyond, see the world that you never needed to care about before.
Meet a plethora of all sorts of people, from the highest to the lowest. Befriend some, love others, and be wary of the rest.
Decide how you will survive, and what you will become.
Sabah Parashar — Your Dad
A man of seventy-eight years, he is the guidance of your family. He is the one who gave you your life, and you followed his ideals for as long as you spent time with him. In your eyes, he is mightier than you can ever dream to be.
He is gaunt and has a thin body covered with patches of rough hair. He still wields a mighty strength despite his age. His beard is gray and short. His hair falls above his ears in thin strands. His sandy skin is weathered and his face is small. He has a plump nose. His left arm is steel-limb, painted in plain gray. He is 5.6ft tall.
Leyla Parashar — Your Twin
The only person bound to you by blood, she has always been there for all your life. You survived the harshest times together, no small thanks to her ferociousness.
She is the spitting image of you, the same eyes, the same hair, and the same skin. The one thing that separates you from her is the nasty scar at her brow. Her right arm is a steel-limb, painted in pitch-black. She is 6.11ft tall, just like you.
Melis Parashar — Your Sister
She has been the reason of your many travels for the last ten years, ever since she has become a part of your family. Yet no matter how far you traveled, you never regretted a single moment of it.
At the age of ten, she is far weaker than those of her age, wheezing each time she breathes. She suffers from an ailment that you could not find an answer for. Yet she always has a bright smile for those she loves. And despite her weakness, she serves as the finest squire you could ever have. Like her hair that flows past her waist, her eyes are a pair of midnight skies. Her skin is a warm shade of bronze. She is 4.4ft tall.
(Since I'm getting so many messages in my inbox) It's very interesting to me; how this AI thing is going down.
I'm not going to get into some longwinded, impassioned diatribe -- if you want to unfollow or unlike or any other - 'un' because of generated images used, in one place, for earlier stated reasons, that's your prerogative. Die on your hill.
If me using them suddenly puts the quality of my writing into question (because I’m seeing that too - which is also interesting? - -and sad) -- well. There are plenty non-AI IF writers who kill themselves trying to prove they don't use it, yet still have to deal with the AI witch hunt nonsense, regardless. 🤔
What I don't get... what seems truly counterproductive is — why are IF writers being shamed/bullied/threatened/coerced for something as simple as - - wanting to give a visual for their fictional characters? How did we get here? Why are we fighting each other? (How is it that we’re now at a place where - using celebrity faces is now a more valid alternative??)
Be indignant, be upset - be angry, but if I don’t take those 4 little images down, you’ll - what? Rally against me? Put so much effort into fighting a single IF writer vs. - your real enemy?
What is the ultimate goal here?
Me, like so many other talented IF writers -- giving up? Not telling their valid stories—only they can tell— that need to be shared with the world because - one - aspect of their intro doesn't fit your standards?
You want to force me to take down images -- that do nothing to change the issues presented in this story, a story that - isn’t - being currently told -- one I (and - clearly others) think incredibly important to be shared - - or: what?
You can put it in all the self-righteous armor you want — but it’s bullying. And using one evil to fight another — still makes you evil. Certainly no less than what you’re trying to fight.
What’s funny (funny - sad, not ha-ha): The current RO images were always placeholders -- not because anons attacked my inbox; that was always the plan. There’s an artist on my team who is currently drawing all 4 ROs. Still: I wasn’t going to take the generated images down; I was going to move them to an alternative post you could choose to view or not view (not linked to the pinned page — which many popular IF writers have done and is their right).
But now. I'm feeling some kind of way -- I'm feeling attacked; and I'm starting to wonder if this space is truly as pro-creative as it claims ... when its willing to cannibalize another creative just to make a point. Last I checked: I am an Artist too.
I appreciate the anons who at least tried to be decent. Made it more a suggestion than a demand — but here’s my answer:
No.
I’ll die on my hill too.
(A big thank you to all the real ones who decided/decide to stay. I’m sorry this couldn’t be pure; that something so small had to be blown out of proportion for the wrong reasons. Even if there’s only one of you cheering me on at the end of the day - I will write for that one with everything in me. ❤️)
It honestly amazes me just how many typos I spotted in chapter 1 while writing chapter 2, and I had three drafts of the whole thing before releasing it
ASOIAF FANFIC WRITERS, GIVE ME A FEM!JON FIC WHERE SHE JOINS NIGHT'S WATCH, BECOMES LORD COMMANDER AND FIGHTS THE OTHERS WITH DARK SISTER, AND MY LIFE IS YOURS
Will timed choices affect major parts of the story or are they mostly for fun?
I play on my phone and the game opens in horizontal view, sometimes I can barely scroll through all the choices within given time.
I understand your choice and it's actually a very neat idea! I just wanted to know if I have a chance if being quick is not my strength 😅
So far, they don't have any major impact on the story (especially since we're in the very early chapters) They only change a couple of flavor text here and there. I don't plan them to have any major impact on the story (at least at the moment) but who knows
Do you know what's actually insane? Yeah, the soundtrack for Shadows Over Loathing
Like, I played West of Loathing, and the soundtrack was insanely mid there (I still quite love Ryan Ike's work there but like compared to SoL? It's like hypernova vs. a dying ant) so imagine my shock when I open SoL and get hit with the main theme that is insanity embodied as a soundtrack? And it's like the fucking main theme lmao
I already talked about this game once, I may talk about it a bit more (below is the spoiler zone)
It's been like a minute since I finished it, and despite it's ending I'd actually recommend it. Though I have two disappointments about it:
Either it's the path I chose or the game's own fault, but I feel like Terrence was a little wasted near the end. I did choose to just straight up destroy him in a fight in the end so again, that may be it, but I honestly would love to spend more time with him. Out of all the three antagonists, he is by far the most fun and interesting one. His concept is also the closest thing to eldritch horror as opposed to Noel or Bruise (he also benefits from being the exact opposite of your class rather than being the stronger wizard/warrior)
The ending was kinda whatever. WoL had the excuse of having fuck-all in terms of story, but with SoL I feel like they just didn't know how they should've ended the game. Again, maybe it's because of me since I also chose to beat the shit of the eldritch god thingy, but I still would like to have a more interesting endgame overall, regardless of it ending with the way it did for me
Aside from these, it's a 10/10 from me and I'd suggest it to anybody. It has a unique type of humor to it that I can't find in anything else
I'm SO upset that the Scarecrow from the final uncursing (the sickle) went to nowhere! And the same with the old man with the time-y stuff in Murray's shop! Like, I can't even begin to tell how sad I am that these two insanely cool concepts didn't make it into the endgame
Do you know what's actually insane? Yeah, the soundtrack for Shadows Over Loathing
Like, I played West of Loathing, and the soundtrack was insanely mid there (I still quite love Ryan Ike's work there but like compared to SoL? It's like hypernova vs. a dying ant) so imagine my shock when I open SoL and get hit with the main theme that is insanity embodied as a soundtrack? And it's like the fucking main theme lmao
I already talked about this game once, I may talk about it a bit more (below is the spoiler zone)
It's been like a minute since I finished it, and despite it's ending I'd actually recommend it. Though I have two disappointments about it:
Either it's the path I chose or the game's own fault, but I feel like Terrence was a little wasted near the end. I did choose to just straight up destroy him in a fight in the end so again, that may be it, but I honestly would love to spend more time with him. Out of all the three antagonists, he is by far the most fun and interesting one. His concept is also the closest thing to eldritch horror as opposed to Noel or Bruise (he also benefits from being the exact opposite of your class rather than being the stronger wizard/warrior)
The ending was kinda whatever. WoL had the excuse of having fuck-all in terms of story, but with SoL I feel like they just didn't know how they should've ended the game. Again, maybe it's because of me since I also chose to beat the shit of the eldritch god thingy, but I still would like to have a more interesting endgame overall, regardless of it ending with the way it did for me
Aside from these, it's a 10/10 from me and I'd suggest it to anybody. It has a unique type of humor to it that I can't find in anything else
You should fill in character profiles or something similar for each of the ROs and then censor the most revealing information in the style of a classified document. Then you can post the censored version now, and the non censored version when we meet them later.
That honestly could work. It sounds interesting and it's also kind of a mystery on its own
I've honestly been wanting to talk more about the ROs for quite some time now. I'll likely do it with the release of chapter 2 if I do that, but in all honesty, I'm still torn between introducing them this early
Now, my main problem with this is that knowing the ROs will definitely alter your view of the story, as you won't see a romantic option labeled with a heart the moment they appear in the game. On the contrary, your encounters with them will rather be unpleasant, at least for four out of five/six. And the fact there won't be romance for act 1 (where we are, which will be likely 7-8 chapters) also kinda prevents me from talking more about them
So now I'm asking you; how should I do this? On one hand, I do want you to know about them (as I see them a strong part of the game) but on the other hand I'm afraid it will spoil too much stuff. I'm suggested to keep the ROs secret while talking about them as spoiler-free as I can, but I'm open to any other suggestion
I've honestly been wanting to talk more about the ROs for quite some time now. I'll likely do it with the release of chapter 2 if I do that, but in all honesty, I'm still torn between introducing them this early
Now, my main problem with this is that knowing the ROs will definitely alter your view of the story, as you won't see a romantic option labeled with a heart the moment they appear in the game. On the contrary, your encounters with them will rather be unpleasant, at least for four out of five/six. And the fact there won't be romance for act 1 (where we are, which will be likely 7-8 chapters) also kinda prevents me from talking more about them
So now I'm asking you; how should I do this? On one hand, I do want you to know about them (as I see them a strong part of the game) but on the other hand I'm afraid it will spoil too much stuff. I'm suggested to keep the ROs secret while talking about them as spoiler-free as I can, but I'm open to any other suggestion
