Notes:
-This is a saddish story as it deals with Annie and Cass’s final sendoff. (That being said, I gave them eighteen years, which is a lot for shih tzus!).
-Kenzie is the least likely Mind Blind RO to want children. That being said, I really wanted to do a series of all the ROs interacting with theoretical offspring. If you romance Kenzie and want to imagine your Button as childfree, though, that works out perfectly as well!
-I...
2024-02-24 04:24:18 +0000 UTC
View Post
Note: This story is the K-romance breakup scene in Chapter 17 as told from Kenzie's perspective. There are minor spoilers, so you may want to play through Chapter 17 of the Vengeance Route before reading further.
“Kenna, I—”
Something about the way Ellery looks at me makes me afraid. Fear isn’t something that I’m used to feeling. Most things stopped seeming intimidating after my mom died.
“El—” My voice breaks before ...
2024-02-01 02:07:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Note: This story is the K-romance breakup scene in Chapter 17 as told from Kenzie's perspective. There are minor spoilers, so you may want to play through Chapter 17 of the Vengeance Route before reading further.
“Kent, I—”
Something about the way Ellery looks at me makes me afraid. Fear isn’t something that I’m used to feeling. Most things stopped seeming intimidating after my mom died.
“El—” My voice breaks be...
2024-02-01 02:02:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
. . . I need to finish and move onto a new project before I write Tobias's name on my city ballot.
2024-01-31 10:01:27 +0000 UTC
View Post
Scroll to very bottom for demo link (it's the same).
If you’ve played the demo this month, you might have noticed that all of Chapter 17 was quietly added to the Vengeance Route. Chapter 18V (the final chapter to the Vengeance Route) is still fractured with “under construction” signs, though, because of a character who literally speaks in circles. More explanation on that below.
Sigh. Given how often I’ve failed to deliver the last chapter, a...
2024-01-31 09:20:45 +0000 UTC
View Post
2024-01-01 08:22:31 +0000 UTC
View Post
Cryptic title aside, my goal is to have everything (yes, EVERYTHING) posted by New Year's Eve tomorrow. Should be possible. I'm trying to make it possible, and have spent the last twelve hours in front of my computer today making it possible. My mom has been slipping encouragement cards beneath the door into my office, which has been super sweet and motivating <3
Until tomorrow, however, have an epilogue (spoilers abound for Vengeance route, so be forewarned reading from this point o...
2023-12-31 06:25:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
Bear with me, y'all. The endings are coming.
Not as fast as I expected, but definitely before the end of this calendar year.
All versions of Chapters 16 and 17 will be released in a few days as well as Chapter 18 (concluding chapter for the Vengeance-Ending). There was too much jumping between files for me to post them separately. Link will remain the same for this next update, much to Caleb's displeasure. Will post a longer post once mega update is out.
Until then, he...
2023-12-01 00:12:19 +0000 UTC
View Post
I don’t want to be here.
The thought occurs as a man bumps into you, spilling neon green liquid down your shirt that smells at once acrid and sickly sweet.
“No worries,” the man slurs, eyes glazed and mind already elsewhere. He shoves past you, more alcohol sloshing over the rim of his plastic cup and onto your sleeve as he throws his hands in the air and does what might’ve passed, were he sober and more coordinated, as an old-school hand jive. Other bodies writhe...
2023-11-30 23:43:36 +0000 UTC
View Post
I don’t want to be here.
The thought occurs as a man bumps into you, spilling neon green liquid down your shirt that smells at once acrid and sickly sweet.
“No worries,” the man slurs, eyes glazed and mind already elsewhere. He shoves past you, more alcohol sloshing over the rim of his plastic cup and onto your sleeve as he throws his hands in the air and does what might’ve passed, were he sober and more coordinated, as an old-school hand jive. Other bodies writhe...
2023-11-30 23:41:47 +0000 UTC
View Post
(For Halloween, based off that one illustrated how-to guide that always pops up on social media every October 31st.)
THAB EMPLOYEE GUIDE, PG 65:
What To Do Should You Find Yourself Buried Alive (For Non-Coffin Burials, see pg. 68)
Premature burial isn’t a common happenstance on the job, but a THAB employee knows to be ready for anything! Should you find yourself buried alive, THAB recommends the following steps:
2023-10-31 22:50:44 +0000 UTC
View Post
(Scroll to bottom for demo link. It’s the same as before even though Caleb is now guiltless. Sorry, Caleb.)
(I also apologize to Juliette, for entirely different reasons.)
(Also, I updated the wrong file earlier for Chapter 16V. The correct version is up now, complete with the reason that I needed to apologize to Juliette. If you haven't encountered Juliette, consider replaying Chapter 10 as Chapter 16V assumes that she and Button have met.)
If you’ve at...
2023-10-31 02:43:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
At this moment, Caleb in Chapter 15 is somehow breaking Chapter 16, but I still wanted to get the link up so everyone subscribed for September has access to this update. I'm working to solve this problem tonight and will add the Chapter 16 and 17 to the link (see bottom of post) as soon as they're playable via Caleb's interrogation pathway. (Should be an hour or so unless another problem pops up. In event of my failure, I'll upload the file onto the Sanctum discord and see if any of you guys ...
2023-10-01 05:30:52 +0000 UTC
View Post
Look, I know that I need to go to bed now. It's past 1am.
But I'm excited and adrenaline-fueled regarding tomorrow's demo update, and if my contacts weren't glued to my eyeballs and turning my vision all blurry then I'd power through the final bug quashes right now to release earlier.
Anyway, here's a teeny glimpse at my personal favorite Chapter 15 interrogation variation, which many of you may not see since the option only happens if your relationship with Sally is over 95 o...
2023-09-30 08:10:43 +0000 UTC
View Post
It's real! It's happening! It's releasing tomorrow!
Drumroll
It's the Vengeance Ending! Which is way overdue, but finally fully cooked.
Also releasing tomorrow is the second half of Chapter 15, which happens if you reject Shard (instead of Chapter 15's heist, Button instead gets put in an interrogation room with either Isaiah or Caleb. The different interrogation scenes alone are over 80 pages of text on Microsoft Word, so y'all have a lot of reading ahead.)
D...
2023-09-30 07:50:54 +0000 UTC
View Post
The weather outside is frightful, but there is nothing delightful about the fireplace which refuses to fulfill its lyrical obligation. Instead of basking you in cozy warmth, the flames sputter weakly and filled the small cabin with smoke that burns your throat and nasal passageways.
Talia stares helplessly down at the poker in her hand. “I think,” she says slowly, “that the chimney might be clogged.”
“Gee, what gave it away?”
Talia winces at your heavy s...
2023-09-30 06:57:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
The weather outside is frightful, but there is nothing delightful about the fireplace which refuses to fulfill its lyrical obligation. Instead of basking you in cozy warmth, the flames sputter weakly and filled the small cabin with smoke that burns your throat and nasal passageways.
Ferro stares helplessly down at the poker in his hand. “I think,” he says slowly, “that the chimney might be clogged.”
“Gee, what gave it away?”
Ferro winces at your heavy sa...
2023-09-30 06:52:27 +0000 UTC
View Post
1538
“Why are you here, Lucien?” Idesbald, Right Reverend Abbot of Waulsort Abbey, spoke in slow French for the sake of the boy standing before him.
Lucien lowered his head, clear blue eyes pinned on the Abbot’s slippers as if the elaborate beading could somehow enlighten him as to the right words. “God guided me to this monastery, Father Abbot,” he said softly. “I only obeyed his will.”
Idesbald suppressed a small sigh. Nervous as a fieldmouse...
2023-08-30 21:42:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
“It’s custom, of course,” Roland Black boasts, pointing proudly to the felted table that dominated his office (his desk having been shoved into the corner to make room for it). “Made by an Italian woodworker—Carozza, one of the artists whom Gray’s mother showcased at the gallery. Engravings are the same as Blaire Hatt’s, only his table is from the late Tudor era and too fragile to play on.” Roland guffaws loudly. “I offered to buy the thing off Hatt—God knows that drafty e...
2023-08-30 07:28:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
After three months, his invention was finally perfect.
Three months of intense emotional and physical labor. Of late nights and early mornings, and of two-minute breaks squeezed between downtime at work. Three months of sneaking out bits and bobs that he’d printed without permission on the 3d printer in the R&D lab. Three months of skipping lunch so he could similarly use Aeon’s resources to take laser renderings of plastic figurines, transferring the scans to a thumb drive that...
2023-08-03 04:33:17 +0000 UTC
View Post
Note:
This is only the first portion of Gray's epilogue, as second part includes a major moment that is a lot more satisfying if played through instead of read as code. That being said, I simplified the text to make it semi-readable, so please keep in mind that the epilogue you get in-game will do a much better job of reflecting your choices. For example, I deleted most options here in favor of only showing the one taken.
2023-08-01 01:27:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Ambrosia Kim wasn’t accustomed to being bad at things.
Romance ought to be a learnable skill, she deduced. And yet . . .
The first time Ambrosia bought flowers for her beloved, she’d carefully selected a bouquet of hyacinths which the florist informed her had the meaning of “love, happiness, and a sincere desire for forgiveness.” Perfect, Ambrosia had thought, until Wiseman burst into giggles and merrily informed her that ‘Hyacinth’ was the middle name of thei...
2023-07-30 23:12:53 +0000 UTC
View Post
Ambrose Kim wasn’t accustomed to being bad at things.
Romance ought to be a learnable skill, he deduced. And yet . . .
The first time Ambrose bought flowers for his beloved, he’d carefully selected a bouquet of hyacinths which the florist informed him had the meaning of “love, happiness, and a sincere desire for forgiveness.” Perfect, Ambrose had thought, until Wiseman burst into giggles and merrily informed him that ‘Hyacinth’ was the middle name of their imm...
2023-07-30 22:57:16 +0000 UTC
View Post
The only thing canonical about this story is Nick’s name for Kent.
But it was fun to write :)
* * *
“It’s my snack!” The child puffed out her cheeks belligerently, clutching the Tupperware container to her chest. Her defiant brown eyes more closely resembled those of hardened gladiator than a seven-year-old girl. Clearly, she was prepared to defend her property to the death.
“Ambrose said you had to share,” argued a boy of similar...
2023-07-30 21:43:22 +0000 UTC
View Post
You squint into the glare of the almost-but-not-quite sunset, surveying the vacant beach for a flat spot to place down the two collapsible chairs that Kenna is holding. Those chairs must be almost thirty years old by this point (the once neon pink plastic faded to a pale coral) but they’re still comfortable with seats high enough that Kenna’s knees don’t give out when standing back up. Kenna and you have watched sunsets from those chairs ever since you purchased them from an enthusiasti...
2023-07-01 07:49:52 +0000 UTC
View Post
You squint into the glare of the almost-but-not-quite sunset, surveying the vacant beach for a flat spot to place down the two collapsible chairs that Kent is holding. Those chairs must be almost thirty years old by this point (the once neon pink plastic faded to a pale coral) but they’re still comfortable with seats high enough that Kent’s knees don’t give out when standing back up. Kent and you have watched sunsets from those chairs ever since you purchased them from an enthusiastic s...
2023-07-01 07:42:43 +0000 UTC
View Post
Round 1: Family History
Glitch: Dead Dad card!
Kent: . . .
Glitch, pointing to Kent: Dead Mom card!
Kent winces.
Grayson: What is this?
Jo: An argument y’all keep having inside my head, so it’s getting written down. My sincerest apologies to the audience.
Grayson: Inside your head? Excuse me?
Jo: Ro...
2023-07-01 00:24:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
Vengeance Button embodies the worst/best bits of both Reese and Shard.
*label uchooseviolance
The Vancouver bombing targeted newly graduated AMOs at a conference. All it achieved was aligning public sympathies with Unity: so many lives, all so young, lost too soon, etc.
*if (humor > 40) and (morbidity > 30)
Boo-hoo, let's all shed a teardrop emoji.
The Ment who brainwashed you into bombing Aeon is the scum of the earth, but that do...
2023-06-06 02:12:14 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Nooooooooooooooo!”
Glitch’s wail echoes from the living room, her despair resonating off half-painted walls and ricocheting down the empty hallway to greet you at the front door. With an exasperated-but-loving sigh, you take off your shoes so as not to scuff the new floorboards and head in the direction of your girlfriend’s cry. No doubt she heard you enter, which explains the increasing volume of her overdramatic sobs. The unlidded paint bucket in the corner causes you to frow...
2023-05-31 07:47:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Nooooooooooooooo!”
Glitch’s wail echoes from the living room, his despair resonating off half-painted walls and ricocheting down the empty hallway to greet you at the front door. With an exasperated-but-loving sigh, you take off your shoes so as not to scuff the new floorboards and head in the direction of your boyfriend's cry. No doubt he heard you enter, which explains the increasing volume of his overdramatic sobs. The unlidded paint bucket in the corner causes you to frown; f...
2023-05-31 07:36:32 +0000 UTC
View Post
