Blog for the interactive fiction From the Depths, written by Robin (he/they). Created in Twine using Sugarcube, in development. 18+. Asks are open and welcomed.
Your whole life, all you've known is life with your pod. Scavenging, hunting, crafting and guarding alongside your family. You'd heard of the surface dwellers, of course, but they were barely more real to you than you were to them.
Until one day that changed.
Ripped away from your pod you find yourself in a world you don't understand, held hostage by a strange man with intentions you couldn't hope to grasp. He wants your magic - but all you know is that he's a threat to your family.
Find your place between both worlds, or risk losing everything.
From the Depths is an 18+ interactive fiction novel created in Twine using Sugarcube. Content warnings will include blood and gore, animal death in a historical context (looking at around chapter 3 - skippable), death and murder (including of those responsible for said animal death) and sexual content (skippable). List will be updated in the future.
Play as a male, female or nonbinary MC - cis or trans. Customise your appearance and personality, and choose how to navigate your new role in the human world.
Choose from two gender-selectable romance options - the determined guardian of your pod, or the idealistic princep. Or don't choose. Neither or both are also options.
Choose from five options to customise your pod - with two unique traits to aid you on your journey.
Learn the human language - or force them to adapt to you.
Learn the truth about why you were taken from your family, and find your way back to them - or build a new life for yourself on the shore.
Llyr - gender-selectable he/him, she/her or xe/xem | RO
Llyr joined your pod a year ago after xir own pod was scattered. Since them, xe has taken xir role as one of your pod's guardians to heart. Maybe at the end of that year you're still indifferent to xem. Maybe you're friends - or maybe there's something deeper. All you know is xe won't take kindly to what happened to you.
Nakia - gender-selectable he/they or she/they | RO
Nakia is the crown princep in the human country you've found yourself in. Idealistic, hopeful and curious about the world, they immediately set out to learn about your strange ways and get past your barriers. You can't tell them the truth about who you are - but maybe, just maybe, you can let yourself trust them. Note: regardless of which gender you choose, Nakia is always transgender.
Note: This is a side project with my main IF being 'Immortal', purely because I already know exactly where that storyline is going while I'm still fleshing this one out. I will be working on From the Depths alongside it, but it won't be my priority.
Fantastic article!! The guys looking for it were fish researchers who saw it one time, knew instantly it was an undescribed species, and then tried for nearly 20 years to find and document it!
It's a type of ghost pipefish, related to seahorses, and it floats around coral reefs looking like a piece of algae and hunting unsuspecting prey
They are, of course, named after Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street!
Later on it the project, they got citizen science involved, and people across the Pacific started reporting sightings of snuffy fish from all over!
Hooray for science and hooray for S. snuffleupagus !
<— to answer these tags on main, since it’s a fun question, our guide lowered a hydrophone and so my phone is leaning on the railing right next to the hydrophone
The crowds of people who had recently descended on the palace pressed in around you as you tried to push your way through, purposefully ignoring every unflattering look they cast your way. Nakia had warned you people would be coming, that it would get crowded, but you'd had no way of conceptualising just how many people would be there. You'd never imagined humans could convene in such large pods.
And now you'd lost Llyr. Xe had been right there with you, not daring to let you out of xir sight - but there had been a small group of women who had converged on xem, pawing at xir locs and xir scars and xir vitiligo patches. You'd been distracted by people with shrill voices crowding you, all so eager to meet the child of Lord Solomon's sister, and the momentary reprieve you'd found in the circle of personal space people had left around the king had been lost when he'd been called away to handle something, offering you his apologies as he'd departed.
A hand jerking you back by the (arm/back of your wheelchair) drew you abruptly from your search, and you turned your head to stare wide-eyed at the man who had grasped at you.
"You simply must come and join us over here," he told you, having no qualms in dragging you with him, "there are so many people you need to meet."
(Before you could even find your voice to argue/before you could even raise your hands in the desperate hope he might understand your signs) a clawed hand clamped down on the man's wrist, dragging you both to a sudden halt. You turned to see Llyr stepping into the man's personal space, glaring at him from xir position of half his height. Xe hissed at him, clacking sharp teeth in what would have been a challenge among your pod, but the man stared at xem uncomprehendingly, face contorting in disgust.
"Unhand me, you brute!"
Llyr did so, shoving him back for good measure with a warning hiss before turning to face you. Xir glare softened into concern, and they (gently took your wrist, examining your skin for any harm that might have been done/knelt in front of your chair, cupping your cheek as xe searched for any sign of distress in your expression).
'Are you all right?' xe signed, and you managed to mumble/sign back something reassuring, though all you could hear beyond the rushing in your ears was the man from before, speaking loudly enough that many heads had turned to observe.
"Look at the state of my shirt!" He pronounced, raising his arm and turning so that all could see the tears where Llyr's claws had cut into the fabric. Considering the state of xir mood at the time and what you knew xe had been wanting to do, you thought xe had been rather restrained in how they had dealt with things. "What is His Majesty thinking, keeping such a /brute/ at court?"
Llyr flinched, shoulders raising defensively as xe refused to meet your eye until you cupped xir cheek, offering a reassuring smile when xe met your gaze. Your thumb brushed over the deep scar that had just narrowly missed xir left eye, and you leaned in at the same time xe did.
You didn't care about the gasps or the titters that erupted around you as your lips met xir chapped ones. The kiss was soft and warm and chaste, and maybe part of starting it had been to make a point to your onlookers - but now what was most important to you was reassuring /xem/.
Xe leaned xir forehead against yours when it ended, brushing xir nose to yours just briefly before pulling away and you saw the first true smile on xir lips that you had all day.
**
This is my third time writing this and I keep adding to much build up and the kiss itself is tiny I'm so sorry.
There won't be a ball scene in the game I don't think (never say never) so have one here. This is also a glimpse of what my work looks like in its first draft form before being rewritten and stuck in to be coded.
I hope you enjoy, and thank you so much for the ask :)
inspired by the infamous "i want the k" meme by deactivated tumblr user tastcful. send 🎲 to generate a kiss! potential suggestive/nsf.w themes may appear
A kiss on the cheek
A kiss on the nose
A kiss on the forehead
A kiss to the top of the head
A firm kiss
A gentle peck
A romantic kiss
A platonic kiss
A kiss to the eyelid
A kiss along the jawline
A kiss to the neck
A kiss along the collar bone
A kiss on the chest
A kiss to the stomach
A kiss along the hips
A kiss in the rain
An upside-down "Spider-Man" kiss
A kiss while laughing
A kiss underwater
A rough kiss
WILDCARD! Dealer's choice :)
A french kiss/kiss with tongue
A kiss influenced by alcohol/other substances
A sleepy kiss
A kiss that's an accident
A kiss while one or both parties are crying
A kiss in greeting
A kiss in parting
A kiss to the back of the hand
A kiss to the palm of the hand
A kiss to the inner thigh
A kiss while someone watches
A kiss to a scar, birthmark, injury, or other marking
The crescent moon shimmers beyond the veil of clouds, silver light contrasting nicely as the sky begins to darken. It has not risen fully yet, no, its glow has not completely shone. But its fate is clear.
For that little crescent will rise soon enough as the blinding sun has fallen.
±25.000 Words || Prelude, Prologue, and Phase 1 (part 1)
Thank you so sooo much for following Court of Crescent until now! I know it's been such a looongg wait, so I'm incredibly grateful for your patience and continuous support! It's been such a blast to build this little world and share it with you allll 🩶
This video depicts a moment that is nearly impossible to observe: a sperm whale surfacing with a giant squid clenched between its teeth.
These predators hunt at depths exceeding 800 meters, where light does not penetrate, and only biosonar directs the pursuit. Consequently, clear surface images are exceedingly rare.
This is, factually, the first footage of this that we have ever gotten. This has never been observed by a human being before in recorded history. The only reason we knew these whales ate those squids before was the beaks of the squids found in the stomachs of dead whales, and the battle scars on whales consistent with fighting giant squids.
My favorite thing about this clip is that, in the original uncropped footage, you can see her calf is right beside her, ascending from the depths along with her. Whale calves don't dive until they're taught by their mothers. It is very likely that this footage is of a mother whale teaching her calf to hunt on one of its very first dives.
When I saw this footage for the first time, I cried a little tbh.
I remember when Giant Squid were kind of… a thing that had never been seen, only inferred. And then we found dead ones and it was a big exciting moment, but still… Nobody ever got footage of a live one.
It's happening!! Time will tell if this needs its own blog but for now, it'll share this one!
What is IFNoWriMo?
For 25 years, NaNoWriMo was a fun chance for writers to try and do the unhinged and write a novel in one month. Then they allowed AI in, in addition to other issues with their moderators, and now they've shut down.
IFNoWriMo is a small, interactive fiction-focused version of NaNoWriMo! There'll be small check ins, chances for people to share snippets of their work, and the joy of suffering together as we try to write Too Many Words at once. It'll be much less structured than NaNoWriMo but people who make their goals still get a neat certificate at the end!
IFNoWriMo Calendar
Tumblr compression strikes again, sadly.
IFNoWriMo starts at midnight your local time on November 1st!
There'll be a check-in post every three days where people can share progress and vent.
Methods Monday is a chance for people to share cool things they're doing with their code or variables! I feel like interactive fiction is unique in how much coding is required and all the possibilities it unlocks and Methods Monday is a chance to celebrate that!
WIP Wednesday is the same as always, a chance to share snippets of works in progress.
Then IFNoWriMo ends at midnight your local time on November 30th!
What counts? What goal should I have?
That's up to you! You can count code, you can not count code, you can work on side stories or worldbuilding posts, you can focus on the IF itself! Whatever helps you write more counts.
The traditional NaNoWriMo goal is 50k. But you can set your own goal for IFNoWriMo! Think about what is an achievable stretch goal and shoot for that.
Will there be prep events?
Maybe! I'm thinking through what prep events might be useful. The one that I'm sure about is that near the end of October, I'll make a post where people who want to can share their project and word count goals. Then at the end of November they can say if they met them!
Red disk jellies (Poralia rufescens) are found worldwide and grow to about 25 centimeters (nearly 10 inches). They live deep below the sea surface to thousands of meters and are usually seen floating near the seafloor, where prey accumulates as a result of ocean currents. They use those trailing tentacles to catch their next meal, often smaller jellies or arrow worms.
There are lots of gelatinous animals in the ocean, but when you hear the word jellyfish, you probably think of something like this. The so-called "true" jellyfish, a class called the Scyphozoans, are the ones you usually see near the ocean surface. Taxonomically, jellies are far more varied than the handful of examples that are used to represent jellyfish.
From the Depths @from-the-depths-if - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
