hey, you can call me xav. he/him, 20, bi gay greyrose (sexuality is Complicated), contributor to @thecursedheartproject. i like & follow from @xavigav, this is one of my 3 billion sideblogs
my favorite series, roughly in order:
the cursed heart
crimes of passion
blades of light and shadow
perfect match
immortal desires
high school story (og)
it lives (esp. ilitw)
the elementalists
if you want to navigate my blog look at my featured tags!
fic masterlist | mc masterlist | favorite LIs | shining nikki x choices
any dividers on my posts are from @cafekitsune <3
in light of recent events in my personal life: if i ever stop posting/interacting completely for an extended period of time (~2 months+) it is likely that i am dead rather than just busy - potentially seriously injured or in a coma or something, but more likely simply dead.
iāve always had a fear of dying and no one i know online knowing what happened, so this is likeā¦a psa i guess. to be clear i have no plans of dying but you can never predict accidents orā¦other events.
We got an ask today about potentially open-sourcing the code and I tried to answer it but Tumblr failed to post and then just. Deleted the entire ask?? So I donāt have a screenshot woops sorry anon š
But I (zmyl) definitely plan to share the Renāpy code, as well as make some guides on how to use + edit it! Replicating some parts of the Choices UI was pretty frustrating for me, so Iād like to save other people the struggle haha
Hello everyone! I (@zhoumeyourlove) haven't updated the blog in a bit since I've been very busy the past month, but also because the basic 'framework' of the game is in a good place (which we're very happy about of course!). As a result, my work is currently focused on sprite assets rather than Ren'Py, and I don't want to spoil anything (at least, not too far in advance ;D)!
Buttttt I figured some people might be interested the stylized menu screens and autoplay button, even if they're not as 'major' as the other updates!
Thankfully things are settling down more in my life, so my progress will hopefully pick up again ^-^
This is the official blog for the appreciation week for the amazing Aiden Zhou, from the High School Story trilogy on Choices: Stories You Play! And soon we will be hosting our second annual event!
Hosts: @cadybear420 + @lover-also-fighter-also
Also tagging: @choicescommunityevents + @hss-appreciation-events
This year's event will be taking place over October 9, 2025 - October 15, 2025. But we will continue accepting submissions for the 2025 Prompts until when the 2026 event prompts are announced (which will be approximately in July or early August).
Aiden Zhou Appreication Week 2025: Prompts List
Day 1 (October 9): Music Man Aiden + Aiden's Other Interests
Day 4 (October 12): Free Day/Prompt! (also the day I headcanon as Aidenās birthday)
Day 5 (October 13): Pride + Colors + Elements
Day 6 (October 14): Relationships: Romance, Friendships, Family
Day 7 (October 15): AU + Crossover + What-If
Feel free to suggest your own possible prompt ideas for future yearsā events, btw!
See below for the submission guidelines and (eventually) previous years' masterlists!
General Guidelines for Submission:
TO SUBMIT: A) mention this blog and B) specify which prompt or prompts youāre submitting for.
Submissions should lean into being Emma-appreciative/positive.
The tags #AidenZhouAppreciationWeek, #AZAW, #AZAW2025, are highly recommended, but not necessary.
If your post is very long in length (eg. if itās a long fic, has images that take up a lot of length), we highly recommend putting a āRead Moreā button in your post.
Any submissions that lean into NSFW or suggestive territory, and/or feature sensitive topics should be tagged accordingly.
You donāt have to create for each prompt or each day. Create for as many prompts and days as you like.
You donāt have to create for a prompt on its respective assigned day. Eg. You can create for a Day 1 prompt on Day 4.
You donāt have to create only one piece per prompt. If you have multiple pieces you want to create for a certain prompt, then by all means, go for it.
You donāt have to use only a specific dayās prompts together Eg. You can have a piece that uses a Day 1 prompt and a Day 4 prompt together.
We will still accept submissions even after the event dates have passed. You will have until the next yearās August 1 to submit posts/creations for the current prompts, meaning August 1, 2026!
What IS welcome:
Any medium of human creation. Art, fanfic, poetry, edits, animation, picrews/meikers* moodboards/stimboards/gifboards, icons, memes/shitposts, gifs, AMVs, playlists, headcanons, character recreation in another game (eg. The Sims), etc!
Meta posts. Eg. screenshots of favorite scenes/moments from the Choices game itself, essay/analytical writing, even just simply gushing/rambling over Aiden nonstop!
Pieces or posts that you made prior to this event and/or initially not for this event, but you've decided you want to submit them!
WIP/unfinished pieces.
Submissions can be works that you have made yourself, or works that you have commissioned from someone else.
*If youāre submitting a picrew or meiker piece or anything similar, please link to the template in your post!
What is NOT welcome:
Bigotry of any kind. Posts of a nature that is sexist, racist (especially Sinophobic), queerphobic, ableist, xenophobic, etc. are obviously not allowed.
AI-generated material of any kind. This includes images or writing made by genAI, ChatGPT/character.AI screenshots, etc. Feel free to let us know if we accidentally promote AI generated material. We support human creators here!
Hello! If you're interested in volunteering for The Cursed Heart Project, please fill out this form so we can know a bit about you and how y
Hello, everyone! We now have a short Google Form for you to fill out if you're interested in volunteering for the project! This helps us know a bit more about you and also keep track of people who'd like to help.
If you join on, there's absolutely no obligation to contribute a certain amount or spend time working on things. This is a passion project, not something stressful! Even if you think you can only contribute a small amount, we'd appreciate having your help at all :D
Hello everyone, @zhoumeyourlove here with a project update!
The Cursed Heart Project now has Choice UI like...well, Choices. There are now choice menus for the dialogue, the narration, items, and scenes/outfits. We now have most of the major stylistic elements of Choices in the game! Up next I'm going to work on some of the more minor elements that you can't see in screenshots, like the text scrolling in and sprites fading between emotions.
Also, characters other than MC and Kieran now have sprites! Have a Jack screenshot as a treat ;D
In light of The Crown and The Flameās newā¦interesting reboot, I feel obligated to inform you all that thereās also a High School Story version of this.
So the ānewā TC&TF art actually comes from an app called 1001, which was a story app available in China, and it took three Choices stories and translated them for the Chinese market: TC&TF, HSS, and TRR. The appās since shut down.
The 1001 version of HSS was called āImmediate Attractionā, and it was mostly the same as HSS, but there are a fewā¦differences.
The most notable being that almost every character who is a PoC has been whitewashed.
I regret to inform you that this is supposed to be Caleb.
And this is Payton and Ezra.
Interestingly, Myra, Principal Hughs, and Nishan still have non-pale skin, but everyone else is whitewashed.
This includes the MC, who can only have pale skin - the three body options per gender only change your eye color and hair.
Also, you are not allowed to be gay. F!MC can only romance Caleb, Michael, and Aiden, and M!MC can only romance Emma and Maria. Mia and Sydney are no longer dating, just friends.
The plot is the same except itās supposed to take place in a university, but all other aspects of the high school setting (like having a principal & prom) are still there.
So uhā¦yeah. Iām curious whether theyāll port over this version of High School Story. Or wellā¦College Story, I suppose. I hope not.
I would like to call to everyoneās attention that even though Andy is the most passionate and hotheaded guy out of all the dudes in the ILITW gang, he canonically gives the most tender kisses of all the guys in the ILITW gang
The HSS Adaptation Fic for Evie's Story has finally begun!!!!!!!
A Breath of Fresh Breeze
Book 1 Chapter 1: The First Day
The great thing about High School Story is that there isnāt only one possible high school story. Your MC, the character who helps unify Berry High and is widely respected for it, can be almost anyone. As Principal Hughs herself says, āThatās the great thing about a fresh start. You can become anybody that you want to beā.
Here's just one possible High School Story. As much as Evie Ayana hates leaving behind whatās familiar, this move to Cedar Cove and a fresh start at the school where āyou will always be accepted, no matter who you areā is exactly what she needs. The question is, can she accept the better, more welcoming school environment? Because when a good chunk of your life has been excessively uncaring towards you, going into a much kinder life may sometimes seem too good to be true.
This is an adaptation of Choicesās OG HSS trilogy (my favorite title on the app & easily among one of the bests to me) where I will be telling the story, choices, and perspective of my female MC Evie Ayana. This adaptation will follow in-game events, dialogue, and routes, with some expanded and additional scenes that tie into Evieās experience of canon, and possibly some interlude scenes for events between the books.
Fandom: High School Story (Original Trilogy)
Relationships: Emma Hawkins & Evie Ayana (female HSS MC), eventual Aiden Zhou x Evie Ayana (female HSS MC)
Characters: Evie Ayana (female HSS MC), Aiden Zhou, Emma Hawkins, Caleb Mitchell, Michael Harrison, Maria Flores, Julian Castillo
Rating: T+
Warnings: A bit heavy swearing on Evie's part
Additional Tags: Adaptation, Canon Compliant, Canon Expansive, Will update tags as I add more chapters
Hello everyone, @zhoumeyourlove here with another project update!
I am incredibly happy to show you all that I've set up the sprites + emotions in the Choices style! Using layered images, several variables, and some emotional turmoil on my part (though thankfully significantly less than the textboxes), MC and Kierans' appearances can now be easily changed, as can their emotions!
As mentioned in the previous update post, I also did the pronouns/general gendered language replacement before making the sprites show up. I think we now have some nice, solid foundations to work from :D
The way Nia has accepted her death twice because she knows sheāll be at peace and no one can hurt her there oh I need to be institutionalized immediately
