#kalcal rtb

[norbezjones]

Today is Kalcal's birthday! He faces off against his fiercest enemy yet: a birthday cake. 🎂

Video is by me, and Kalcal is voiced by the talented Emylie Johnson!

If you want to get to know Kalcal, he's a love interest in my game Romance The Backrooms. Here's his current intro; I'm still working on the new version of it.

The demo of RtB is being revamped, but you can play the current version here: https://norbez.itch.io/romance-the-backrooms

[norbezjones]

Saw all of the Miiverse "Yeah" art going around (since Twitter disabled public likes), and decided to do some versions with the Romance The Backrooms characters!

Which one is your favorite? Let me know!

[norbezjones]

70th day of the 365 Days Of Character Development writing game!  Basically how it works is that each day, we use (with permission, of course) a question from my friend's book on character development to get our creative juices flowing!  If you like this game, I recommend buying the book to support an independent creator!

Also, I apologize for not posting prompts consistently—it’s been difficult for me to post a prompt every day.  I can’t promise daily prompts, but I will try to do at least 1 per week from now on.  I hope that’s understandable.

Here's today's question:

I'll be answering for the main characters of my liminal space otome game Romance The Backrooms.  I’d love to hear the answer to the prompt for your characters—reply, reblog, and/or make your own post (and give me the link, because I’d love to see it!).

Carla (the main character) bursts into tears and sobs.  She isolates herself from others, not answering calls or texts from people concerned about her.  She spends most of her time in the “depression” phase of grief.

Kalcal becomes angry and sad.  He laughs in response to intense emotions, including sadness, so he’ll laugh a lot and go looking for ways to relieve his stress and let out his energy.  Once his energy is drained, he’ll curl up into a ball and cry.  Poor guy. . . He spends most of his time in the “anger” & “depression” phases of grief.

Glarence buries his feelings and tries to move forward as normal.  Unfortunately, this results in him releasing those emotions when he doesn’t mean to, lashing out towards people he cares about.  It’s very rare for him to cry in front of people—not many have seen him do so.  He spends the most time in the “anger” phase of grief.

Uri feels numb & sad, and blames himself.  Even if he logically knows nothing he could’ve done would’ve changed things, emotionally, he feels at fault and like he should have done more.  He spends the most time in the “depression” phase of grief.

Zenobos becomes in denial, then tries to figure out a way to undo what’s happened, find a way to fix it.  Once it becomes clear it can’t be fixed, he breaks down.  He spends the most time in the “denial” & “bargaining” phases of grief.

Adiel becomes sad, but knows that death is to be expected in the backrooms—it was bound to happen eventually.  He spends most of his time in the “acceptance” phase of grief, but that doesn’t mean he’s not mad, sad, or depressed.

[norbezjones]

I'm making a dating sim that takes place in the backrooms!

The demo comes out next month for the Otome Jam, and I'm so excited to share this passion project of mine with the world. I've been hyperfixated on it since October of last year lol.

You play as this lovely lady right here:

More on Carla

And here's more information on the 5 love interests!

More on Kalcal

More on Glarence

More on Uri

More on Zenobos

More on Adiel

I tag everything related to the game with #romancethebackrooms , and I've made a few posts on Twitter if you want to check that out! Most recently, our talented voice cast was announced--I'm so humbled to be working with such talented people!

Lmk your thoughts on this idea. I'll be uploading more stuff about the game on this blog!

Thanks for reading!

[norbezjones]

I found out that creativepromptsforwriting is doing another prompt week and it’s Valentine’s Day themed and HOW DID I MISS THIS???  Regardless, now I gotta write something for the prompts! C:

As usual, the stories are for the characters in my game Romance The Backrooms, a liminal space otome with 5 main love interests.

There were too many good prompts to choose form, so I ended up writing multiple stories.  They will be splt into 2 parts; I’ll link Part 2 when it’s up.  Enjoy!

These may or may not be canon.

Today’s Overall Prompt: Accidental Love Confessions

__________

Story 1’s Prompts: Confessing in the middle of a stupid fight; During a very stressful situation, one screams "I care about you, can't you see that I love you?"

Characters: Glarence & Carla (the main character)

Other Info: Inspired by my BPD.

“I push everyone I care about away,” Glarence snapped.  “I’m unstable—everyone around me can see that.  So why the FUCK don’t you?!”

“Because I care about you, and I’m not letting you just shove me into a corner like some forgotten toy!” Carla shouted, clenching her fists.

Glarence scoffed.  “You don’t care about me.”

“Of course I do!” Carla exclaimed.  Anger & passion ran through her in equal measure, and she shouted. “Can you see that I love you?!”

Glarence’s eyes widened in surprise.  “You do?” he asked, utterly dumbfounded for perhaps the first time in his life.

Carla looked into his eyes and nodde.  “I do,” she replied.  “I love you, Glarence.”

_____

Story 2’s Prompts: Saying "you're lucky I love you" and realizing too late what they said

Characters: Kalcal & Zenobos

Other Info: I write a lot of Kalcal x Zenobos stories, this is the latest one of the bunch.

Zenobos gave Kalcal a plate of food, looking embarrassed.  “I kind of burned the Hound meat,” the green entity said sadly.  “I’m sorry if it tastes bad. . .”

“Hey, your food always tastes amazing!” Kalcal replied, taking the food and ruffling Zenobos’ hair playfully.

Zenobos giggles.  “And if it does taste bad?” he asks.

Kalcal laughed.  “Then consider yourself lucky that I love you, buddy!”

Zenobos blinked, and stared at his friend.  “You. . . You love me?” he squeaked.

“Of course I do, buddy!” Kalcal exclaimed.  He leaned down and kissed Zenobos on the forehead.  “You’re the person I’m closest to in the world.  I love you more than anyone.” Zenobos blushed.  “Thank you, Kalcal.”

@creativepromptfills

[norbezjones]

24 Days of Gift-Giving: Four Flour Fails (Baking Prompts)

Happy December, everyone!

So, @creativepromptsforwriting is doing a writing thing called “24 Days of Gift-Giving” where each day of December has a prompt, so I figured it would be fun to write something up for each prompt!  Feel free to participate too, if you’d like!  It could be a fun writing game!

Like usual, I will be doing these for the characters of my story Romance The Backrooms, a liminal space otome with 5 main love interests. 

Today’s Prompt: Four Flour Fails; They are both amateur bakers ending up in a baking competition and all the baking disasters they endure binds them together.

Characters: Kalcal & Zenobos 

Other Info: No story today, just bullet points.

__________

Human AU, Cooking Contest AU

Kalcal makes simple meals where meat is a core ingredient.  He likes to experiment a lot with spices, textures, etc, and usually people don’t like what he makes.  He tends to make his dishes sweet-tasting and rarely makes spicy food.  He learned how to properly cook simply to survive in everyday life, but now it’s a hobby he loves.

Zenobos makes complex meals of a variety of dishes.  His favorite thing to make is soup, because it’s simple on its face but can be done very differently depending on the recipe.  Zenobos has been cooking since he was a kid; he was taught by a mentor figure, who passed on his recipes and his cookbook.

Both of them enter the Cooking Contest (which I’m thinking is something like Master Chef). 

Kalcal is flamboyant and embraces the spotlight.  He’s brought onto the show mainly because of how “weird” his dishes are—the judges don’t want him, but the producers think the audience would find his cooking & tastes funny, so he gets in. 

Zenobos is the opposite—he’s camera shy and not a big fan of the spotlight, so the producers don’t like him too much.  But his dishes are amazing in presentation & flavor, so the judges insist on having him on the show.

On the first episode of the show, the judges team two chefs up together, and they team up Zenobos & Kalcal.  The two are supposed to make beef tacos & rice.  Kalcal rambles off his recipe to Zenobos, who thinks it won’t turn out very tasty, so he tries to politely suggest some changes.  Kalcal suggests that the first part of the recipe (the tacos) they do Zenobos’s way, and the second half, they do his way.  Zenobos agrees.

Along the way, their appliances malfunction multiple times, which would normally make Zenobos panic.  But Kalcal cheers him up by making him laugh and telling him everything is going to be ok.

In the end, they present to the judges: beef soft tacos with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, and cheese, along with “zesty ranch” rice, Kalcal’s own recipe.

The two parts of the dish actually end up going very well together—Zenobos’s even-tempered dish matches well with Kalcal’s crazy recipe.  The judges praise the dish highly.

@creativepromptfills

[norbezjones]

More @juneofdoom ! This is Day 24: "Let’s get you cleaned up." I did incorporate some of of the keywords (stitches & bandages).

Takes place: before Romance The Backrooms occurs

Contains: injured & bleeding Kalcal, scene where Zenobos has to stitch up the wound

Other things to know: this story takes place in the backrooms. Before Kalcal & Zenobos met the other 3 main characters (Glarence, Adiel, & Uri), the two of them were traveling together.  I wrote a story about how they met and started doing that here.

___________

“Ahahahaha!” Kalcal exclaimed, dancing next to the body of the hound he had slain.  “Another victory for me!”

“Um, K-Kalcal?” Zenobos stammered from behind him.  “You’re bleeding. . .”

Kalcal frowned, looking at his arms and trying to find the injury.  Sure enough, there was a gash on his shoulder, and cyan-colored blood was pouring out of it.  Had the hound scratched him with its claws?  He hadn’t even noticed.

Zenobos was turning pale, and he took off his backpack.  “I-I have medical supplies,” he told Kalcal.  “B-But I can’t stand the sight of b-blood. . . You’ll have to tend to the wound yourself, o-ok?”

“Okey-doke!” Kalcal said with a shrug.

Zenobos sat down on the floor, and Kalcal went next to him.  Zenobos took a few items out of his bag: a needle, thick thread, wet wipes, and wrap-around bandages.  “Here, use these to sew up the wound and tend to it,” Zenobos said, holding the items out but looking away as much as possible.

“Thanks, buddy!” Kalcal exclaimed, taking the items.  “I’ve never sewn up my own flesh before—this is gonna be fun!”

Zenobos put a hand over his mouth, looking sick.  “D-Don’t say that. . . I feel like I’m going to puke.”

“Oh, sorry buddy,” Kalcal said.  “I’ll just focus on this then, ok?”

Zenobos nodded.  “Y-Yeah."

Kalcal threaded the needle and looked down at his shoulder.  He tried to get a good angle, but soon found a problem.  “Hey Z,” he said, “I kinda can’t see what I’m doing here. . .”

Zenobos gulped.  “A-Are you asking me to do it then?”

“If that’s ok.  Sorry, I just don’t want to mess this up.”

Zenobos sighed and swallowed hard.  After a moment of silence, he said, “O-Ok then.  Give me the needle.”

Kalcal did so.  Zenobos turned to look at the wound, bringing his hands over to the gash.  “I-I’m going to start now, ok?” he said, trying not to get sick.

“Yep!” Kalcal replied.

Zenobos swallowed hard, and then, he brought the needle into Kalcal’s skin.  Kalcal screamed, and Zenobos winced—hold on, wait a minute.  Was that a scream, or a laugh?

“Are you ok?” he asked Kalcal.

“I’m fine, it just tickles!” Kalcal exclaimed, laughing again.  “Go ahead.”

Zenobos sighed and turned back to the wound.  Trying not to think too hard about the gruesome task before him, he started stitching up the wound.

Kalcal’s laughter throughout the process actually made it easier, not harder.  It made Zenobos pretend to himself that he was doing something fun & innocent, something nice. . . He could dream at least.

It was over faster than he expected, thankfully.  He soon found himself cutting the thread, cleaning the wound, and wrapping it.  “Phew,” Zenobos said, letting out a sigh of relief.  “I-I’m glad that’s done with. . .”

“Thanks, buddy!” Kalcal exclaimed, giving Zenobos a great big hug, startling the scared little entity.  “You’re the best!”

Zenobos smiled and patted Kalcal’s arm.  “N-No worries.”

Kalcal let him go and asked, “How’d you know how to do that, anyways?”

The question brought back a flood of memories.  There was a lot Zenobos could say in that moment, but he simply responded, “A human I met taught me.”

“A human, huh?” Kalcal echoed, grinning.  “That’s nice!”

Zenobos nodded, then changed the subject.  “Let’s stay here for a while,” he said.  “After a fight like that, you need rest.”

Kalcal nodded.  “Whatever you say, doc!”

[norbezjones]

24 Days of Gift-Giving: Fourteen Fun Adventures

(Didn’t post this yesterday because I was at the ER!)

Happy December, everyone!

So, @creativepromptsforwriting is doing a writing thing called “24 Days of Gift-Giving” where each day of December has a prompt, so I figured it would be fun to write something up for each prompt!  Feel free to participate too, if you’d like!  It could be a fun writing game!

Like usual, I will be doing these for the characters of my story Romance The Backrooms, a liminal space otome with 5 main love interests. 

Today’s Prompt: Fourteen Fun Adventures; Surprisingly getting a few days off without any plans yet, they decide to let fate and a train ride decide on a new place to visit and explore.

Characters: Carla (the main character) & Kalcal

Other Info: takes place post-RtB, after the game’s timeline

__________

Kalcal was an adventurous person, and he couldn’t stay in one place for very long.  So after the rain made his & Carla’s camping trip a bust, he suggested they pack up their things and spend the rest of their vacation exploring the area.  Carla was hesitant at first, but after thinking it over, she agreed.

So, they went on the train to the next down over.  “When we get there, we’ll look at Google Maps and see what we can find!” Kalcal said cheerfully.  “It’ll be a blast!” Carla smiled and put her head on Kalcal’s shoulder.  With him, every day was a daring adventure, one she never would have gone on without him.  And she was grateful for that.

@creativepromptfills