Welcome to Solera

Hey! Thank for asking<33

Happy Turkey Day to those of us in the U.S. that celebrate it, and happier Native American Heritage Month. I’ve already made a post like this, but I’d like to make another post of donation links! This time to help food scarcity on Native reservations and in Native communities.

NORTH AMERICAN TRADITIONAL INDIGENOUS FOOD SYSTEMS

ONE SPIRIT LAKOTA

NATIVE FOOD ALLIANCE

CHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT

Here’s a list of organizations promoting Indigenous food sovereignty around the world!

We’ve made it to 50k per playthrough!! [link to the demo]

Word count w/command lines: 171,311

Word count w/o command lines: 153,325

Words per playthrough: ~51k

CHANGELOG:

Heterochromia option now available in character creation!

Fixed some stats page issues

Continuing personality balancing – most options should be fairly equal by now*

Friendship and amiability v. rivalry balancing

We learn more about the goings on at the museum!

And learn a little more about both Isla and Fatima’s backstories.

*Note: When I’m personality balancing, I don’t include any traits that only happen in flirt scenes, species specific scenes, or other unique identifiers that prevent other players from achieving them. So things should be more balanced now in general.

Right now the only RO scene fleshed out even remotely is Isla and Fatima’s poly scene (as in, you talk to the both of them at once, these scenes by no means lock you in to any romances and are meant to develop your character’s relationship with the others, whether that be romance, friendship, or enemies)

This is the last update of the year!

It’s definitely not where I wanted to be but as I was writing the museum scene it just became more and more complex (which is a good thing!) so I suspect most of my time is going to be fleshing out all those scenes over the holidays to give y’all a big update in January.

Changes for 2021:

The first update will be January 15th, 2021. All future updates from then on will be on the 15th of that month.

Public updates are moving to once every two months.

Patreon updates are moving to once a month

Patreon rewards and tiers are going to be seeing some changes once I get things organized–good changes, ofc

feel free to change pronouns as you’d like; no need for credit.

“Why…why did you just take off your shirt?“ 

“Please don’t scare me like that ever again.” 

“I couldn’t live without you.” 

“As long as you’re breathing, standing here with me, nothing else matters.” 

“You see, this is the part where you tell me you’re proud of me.” 

“Why’d you run away?”

“Do you need anything else?” 

“Say something. Are you hurt?” 

"God, I’m so angry I could just hit someone.”

“I’m yours, in every way possible.” 

“I don’t need anything more from you.” 

“He has his heart set on it, trust me." 

"You…do not look happy." 

"If you truly believe you can get me out of bed before ten a.m. then you’re delusional." 

"You’re all drugged up. You don’t know what you’re saying." 

"Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

“Funny. And by funny, I mean not funny at all." 

"God, why couldn’t I have taken more weight lifting classes.”

“He’s always done his best to keep your hands clean, keep that innocence intact." 

"You’re not making it easy on me right now.”

“Sometimes I think you have a deathwish." 

"Your idea of torture is withholding dessert after dinner." 

"I’m kidding, sheesh." 

"Well done, you." 

"You have until the count of three to remove your arms from my person, or so help me…!" 

"Yeah, like I haven’t heard that one before." 

"I know where you sleep.” 

"You keep him on his toes." 

"Hello, nice to meet you…sort of." 

"That’s unnervingly on point." 

"You two are the closest thing I have to a television." 

"Stop! Please, stop! You’re going to kill her!" 

"I’d be safer facing off a pack of wolves." 

"If you’re going, I’m going.”

“Whoa. Easy, easy. I’ve got you.”

“When I say run, that means keep running." 

"You got me, and I’m not so bad, right?" 

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” 

"Come back here. Don’t do this… Come back here right now! Come back…" 

"Thought I told you to stay by my side, eh?" 

"It’s like watching a chihuahua provoke a rottweiler." 

"She has the heart of a lion." 

"Come on, it’s me. I’m good at this sort of stuff, remember?" 

"That is my choice! My decision to make, not yours! Not anyone else’s! Mine!" 

"Now, before you get upset, I didn’t lie to you. I just…failed to mention it." 

"You are out of your mind.”

“Tell me what you want me to do." 

"And even if you don’t feel the same, that’s okay - I’m always going to be here for you." 

"And before you say anything, a ‘no’ would be a very poor answer.”

“God, I love you.”  

“What? You want my heart? My soul? Go head, take them. Take everything I have.” 

“Does my being half-naked bother you?” 

“I wasn’t going to do anything until you wanted me to.” 

“Wh – what? [Name], this is serious!" 

"Hush, now. He is a nice boy, but a boy he still is." 

“I can’t willingly or unwillingly ever bear to leave your side.” 

“You’re trying to distract me.” 

“Well, this moment certainly got away from me.” 

“You can’t do that to me.” 

"You move, he moves.”

“You can have it, because I don’t want it without you." 

"Take it, it’s fine.”

“If you need it, you take it. What’s mine is yours.”

“I am very young, very foolish, and very in love with you.” 

“Of course you’re tired, you haven’t slept in two days.” 

“And when I come back there better not be so much as a scratch on her body and a hair out of place.” 

“Speak for me again, and I’ll punch you in the throat.” 

“You have me right in the palm of your hand and you know it.”

“You and I are not finished.”

“You know what? Never-mind, you’ll know I’m lying to you anyway.” 

“How’s the weather down there, babe?” 

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop wanting to learn things about you.” 

“All my best parts come from you.” 

"You make me brave.”

*Added pronoun choice, so character creation is (mostly) complete! *Introduced two new love interests, Therapho and Saph! *A couple of flirt options! *Minor fixes!

I don’t like to get all lecture-y and stuff and all of my followers have been absolute sweethearts (love y’all!) but I’ve been watching a lot of fellow authors having to deal with anons who are getting a bit rude or presumptuous and I’m tired of it and I know they are too!

Now, this anon may not have meant anything by it, and if that’s the case I’m sorry for using this as an example, but this issue is bigger than a single ask. There have been repeated offenses all throughout different blogs and I’ve had to witness friends deal with it all in real time. With this author’s permission, I’m reblogging this post with my own thoughts, as well as others’ on the matter.

I’ve made a small list of things that you probably shouldn’t say to authors and why. Some of you may see this as a bit much, but trust me when I say this happens WAY too often to be ignored.

Asks that show you clearly haven’t read the important information authors post - Many authors have master posts, links, and introductions for a reason! At most all it takes are a couple of searches or a glimpse at the archive to see posts with important information such as rules, demo status, and general information on the game. This community is centered on games you read, so please take some time to READ the important information provided by authors.

Single-word asks - Most of the time these come off as just blunt and demanding. It’s one thing to have a short simple ask and it’s another thing entirely to have to open your inbox only to see “Demo?” At the very least add some more to it like “I was wondering if the demo was out?” I know that there are many people that do not have English as their first language and that’s completely understandable and you should feel comfortable interacting with us. But please understand that authors can’t tell any of that when receiving an ask and seeing a single-word demand doesn’t make a great impression!

Unsolicited advice - If authors ask for it? Great! Go ham and share your lovely knowledge! I know many of you simply want to help, but a lot of times it just comes across as condescending. We can handle ourselves friends! Coding may be a pain in the butt sometimes, but unless we ask, we really don’t want you copy-pasting the choicescript wiki/etc in our inboxes! A lot of it is also how you approach it because once again, tone is incredibly fickle online and good intentions may seem condescending without you meaning it.

Thirst asks (Depending on the situation) - Please respect authors’ wishes if they say no nsfw. Your magical powers of sexy pressure aren’t going to change our minds. Also, some of y’all are getting a bit too comfy with the ROs and characters... Please remember that we’re actual humans that have to read some of the stuff you send us. If the mood’s fine and the author’s okay with it then go crazy! (but not too crazy...) There’s playful jokes and consensual nsfw and then there’s “I am not an erotica machine” so please take a breath and think about what you’re sending.

Super specific insert prompts - I hope y’all know this but if you send an ask for a sexy situation between a “Five foot two mc with brown hair who is shy and obedient and blushes when a big tall male RO accidentally brushes against her shoulder to grab the salt shaker” we know that it’s getting a little... personal. Same thing goes with super edgy prompts. I’m not here to shame any of you guys because guess what? We love how you add your own characters and perspectives to our work! It’s actually makes it all worth it in the end. But you got to realize that if your prompt writes out half of the story then you’re asking for a commission, not a free answer.

Overly edgy asks - Not to be all “haha edgy gross! Yucky!” but there’s a line between expressing your reactions to a story and just dunking on characters, plots, etc. I can’t speak for every author, but getting an ask saying “I seriously want to beat up [insert character’s name]” when they aren’t made to elicit that reaction just stings. Authors really put their all into stories and a lot of characters are like their children. You can express frustration and have healthy rivalries, but try to take into account how your comments come across to the author. Also please keep in mind that a lot of stories aren’t made to accompany your personal power fantasies...

Asks that may trigger the author - With this it’s immensely important to check the established rules and ask the author first if they’re comfortable with a certain subject. Everyone is different and that’s why communication is important, but I’ve noticed some general triggers. Extreme gore and violence are a hit or miss depending on the author and game mood. Some may love it and others... well, we don’t want to be used as machines to help you live out your murder fantasies. Pregnancy asks and the like also seem to not mesh well with a lot of people so be mindful of that!

Asks pressuring authors - There’s so much to unpack here that I could write a whole post the size of a COG story on it, but I’ll cut it short. Constructive criticism is great and can help improve stories, but in the end, authors have the ultimate say in what they write. You want a different plot? A different mood? Different ROs? Then please, by all means write your own story or find one that’s more to your taste. Don’t guilt authors or try to catch them slipping because neither of those things help your case at all. I’ve seen people get possessive over ROs, challenge their sexualities, pressure for more ROs, want to derail the plot. The list goes on and on. See something problematic or handled in a bad way? Please tell us, we want everyone to be comfortable! But don’t try to mass pressure anyone to make something they don’t want, because then you’ll get a half-assed story and an unmotivated author.

Treat the author like your therapist - We get it, life can be rough and everyone has their own struggles. However, you have to remember that we are simply people that write fun games and stories, not mental health professionals or close confidants. We really do want you to be happy with our work and our hearts go out to any of you who are in a dark place. We care about you! But we are not the people that you should vent to, and projecting these issues onto our games and characters to guilt us into making changes just for you isn’t acceptable. Please, if you’re having troubled thoughts and are going through something, contact someone close to you or one of the many help resources online!

Be a bigot of any sort - This should be the most obvious part of the list and it pains me to know that I have to include it because there’s always someone out there that wants to be an absolute peanut. Whatever you’re sending, make sure you read it first and fix it until you know for sure that it won’t come across as hateful or ignorant. Repeat after me. Don’t be racist. Don’t be sexist. Don’t be homophobic. Don’t be antiSemitic. Don’t be a dick. Period.