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Albie

@gamesbyalbie / gamesbyalbie.tumblr.com

Hello! I'm Albie. | they/them | writer of Zorlok, Mousetrap, Hades' Kitchen, and System Processing
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Games by Albie

Hello there! ☺️ I'm Albie (they/xe). I'm a passionate writer and self-taught coder. Creating interactive fiction is my hobby right now but someday I hope to work in the game industry. (carrd)

These are some of my personal projects:

Zorlok - a bizarre, dark comedy about monsters, found family, personal identity, and the nature of good & evil

About Zorlok | Play Zorlok

Mousetrap - a surreal survival horror story where theme park employees are forced to compete in a deadly game

About Mousetrap | Play Mousetrap

System Processing - a short solarpunk story about Ov, a digital caretaker rapidly approaching retirement

About System Processing | Play System Processing

Hades' Kitchen - a cooking competition where dead chefs attempt to defy fate and join the ranks of the gods

About Hades' Kitchen

And a few others mentioned here.

Coding/writing resources:

A Quick Guide to Character Pages - a short, quick guide to creating simple character pages using Twine Sugarcube (with a short silly story) - Download Here
#games by albie#albie's corner#update#hades kitchen#mousetrap#zorlok
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vaynglories

every time i type five or more exclamation marks i think of this quote. it's my equivalent to that damn bbc sherlock line about scratch marks around the phone charging port. i can never escape the spectre of terry pratchett judging my punctuation habits

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barbwritesstuff

I may not be sane, but at least I am loud.

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wywrds
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intersectionalpraxis
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ANALYSIS | Now that bird flu is spreading among cows, scientists worry where H5N1 will jump next | CBC News
Bird flu outbreaks among U.S. cattle are a new twist in a growing global crisis. And it could be a harbinger of more species-jumps to come,
CBC
"If a pig catches both a human influenza A virus and an avian influenza A virus at the same time, it can spark a process known as viral reassortment — a genetic exchange in which flu viruses swap gene segments." "Those swaps can introduce dramatic changes, producing a new virus with certain properties of a non-human strain coupled with the capacity to infect and spread between people." "The death rate in humans may be upwards of 50 per cent, World Health Organization data suggests, though it's possible that milder infections are getting missed, skewing the case fatality ratio. Still, in a population that's never been exposed, the global impacts could be dire." "More human cases could also be happening under the radar among farm workers who've moved to the U.S. from abroad, don't speak English as their first language, and may be hesitant to seek medical help, he added." "So I think there's probably underreporting on both sides," Armstrong said." "If [H5N1] gets into a population where there's constantly animals going in and out … it might not ever leave."

I've been watching this develop for the past several days, and apart from being terrified most people will not take this seriously (I've seen a handful of people already shout conspiracy on social media and it's alarming to see, as always). What I wanted to point out is that pandemics are going to continue to be our 'normal.' I watched a great video on YouTube a while ago (I believe it was by Vice?) that touched base on how this is going to become our new reality because of multiple factors (such as our proximity to animals, and environments/etc). It was when Covid hit and they did a piece debunking some of the misinformation floating on the internet. If I can find it I will post it here because it was informative and relevant to pretty much any world crisis we will see around any virus that spreads among a human population.

This post isn't trying to fear monger anyone, I just hope more people are aware of what is happening because this is important to talk about. There are already cases (of cows getting this bird flu) in the US, and I won't be surprised if there will be instances in more countries around the world. As usual, keep washing your hands/keeping good hygiene practices, masking up (and if you aren't I hope you consider it), and taking precautions if you do happen to visit/work or go near a pig or poultry farm too:

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Experts Warn H5N1 Pandemic WIll Be '100 Times Worse Than COVID': Understanding Bird Flu Spread And Prevention
Therersquo;s a potential threat of an H5N1 bird flu pandemic with experts comparing its severity to COVID-19 Heres how you can prevent it
Onlymyhealth

I'll keep track of this here of course, but please stay informed folks. And also FU to any governments who will try to minimize this or try to diminish the severity until it's too late and community spread happens like Covid because their actions are influenced by capitalistic interests.

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seainthestars
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mossbawn

also absolutely hate when people say "this is set a million years from now and there's still racism and homophobia? #problematic" and then you read it and it's a scathing and concise yet meticulous examination of our current views on race and gender and sexuality. you don't understand what the point of science fiction is. escapism is not the pinnacle of the written form that all genre fiction should aspire to. you're annoying me

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mossbawn

the fantastical setting allows for the writer to make our current day issues larger than life and therefore more easily examined and deconstructed. in genre fiction fantasy is often used as a microscope and through it we can try to better understand what's gone so wrong with us in the modern day, we can try to point to the cancer in the cells. it's natural to want to escape sometimes (i love a good romcom for example) but you do need to confront a mirror every once in a while. the solution to your pain is not to bury your head in squeecore. sorry i said squeecore

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rynezion

Here's a long ass bit I copied out from the Introduction to Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness (bolded emphasis all mine):

Science fiction is often described, and even defined, as extrapolative. The science fiction writer is supposed to take a trend or phenomenon of the here-and-now, purify and intensify it for dramatic effect, and extend it into the future. "If this goes on, this is what will happen." A prediction is made. [...]
This book is not extrapolative. If you like you can read it, and a lot of other science fiction, as a thought-experiment. Let's say (says Mary Shelley) that a young doctor creates a human being in his laboratory; let's say (says Philip K. Dick) that the Allies lost the second world war; let's say this or that is such and so, and see what happens… [...]
The purpose of a thought-experiment […] is not to predict the future—indeed Schrodinger's most famous thought-experiment goes to show that the ‘future,’ on the quantum level, cannot be predicted—but to describe reality, the present world.
Science fiction is not predictive; it is descriptive. [...]
The weather bureau will tell you what next Tuesday will be like, and the Rand Corporation will tell you what the twenty-first century will be like. I don't recommend that you turn to the writers of fiction for such information. It's none of their business. All they're trying to do is tell you what they're like, and what you're like—what's going on—what the weather is now, today, this moment, the rain, the sunlight, look! Open your eyes; listen, listen. That is what the novelists say. But they don't tell you what you will see and hear. All they can tell you is what they have seen and heard, in their time in this world, a third of it spent in sleep and dreaming, another third of it spent in telling lies.

Anyway, read Ursula K. Le Guin.

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seainthestars
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lovingrot

hey white leftists

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lovingrot

seeing a lot of white people and i just have to say

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saitamastamaticsoup

I need all white people to read this like 10 times, just because you see yourself as progressive don’t mean you get to talk over people of color and what we side eye

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bunnyshowwhytho

Unlearning racism is like flossing.

Since racism is baked into our culture, we ingest it every day; sometimes it gets stuck in our teeth, and others can see it. When people of color say, "Hey, the thing you just did or said was racist," they're saying, "You got some racism in your teeth, dude."

Do we say, "No no, I flossed last year, there's no racism in my teeth?" "My spouse is a dentist so I don't have anything in my teeth?" No, we say, "oh damn, thank you," shut up and go find some string.

Flossing has to be done again and again. So does unlearning racism.

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The Cursed Journey

PART 9: GENESIS

THREE AND A HALF YEARS AGO

"Min-joon? What's—"

"Shit! Thank fuck you're safe!"

"Yeah, I'm safe? Why did you call me? What are you—"

"Are you writing?"

"No, not righ—"

"Good! Don't write anything! Don't do anything! Please. Okay? Promise me. I'll be there in two minutes."

"Min— Why?" I stopped. My brain wasn't able to compute what he was saying. "What's going on?"

"It's writers, Ody! The WHO just released an emergency update about the strange deaths and that's the only connection they can find. They're all writers!"

"W—what?"

"I don't know. I don't understand it myself, but if that's true, we're in danger." I heard him honk and curse someone out.

It took me several seconds to process his words. "Okay." I mumbled. "But if it's writers... what does this mean?"

"I... I don't know." He paused. All I could hear was his car—driving faster than it was supposed to, faster than it was safe to. "We'll figure it out." He replied, his voice grave and solemn. "Together. No matter what, we'll be there for each other. I'm gonna make sure nothing happens to you."

End of Part 9 of ? • LAST PART • NEXT PART (coming soon)

#writing#fiction#short fiction#cursed journey#draft#dpr ian#don't go insane#part 9#albie writes
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zorlok-if

Anyone want to play some @mousetrap-if ? I've got a couple routes I want some feedback on

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zorlok-if

Hmm—ya know what—I'm gonna go get my laptop, and put it in a channel of the Zorlok discord server, that way people can just play it if they want

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zorlok-if

Okay, there's a channel now in the discord server with the link now! It's called #albie-not-so-secret-secrets

Feel free to play! In particular, I'm looking for feedback/on the endings (spoiler alert? maybe? does that even count for what this is?) where you don't go into the park, you turn the cast members down and leave (and yes, endings). Naturally, please also let me know if you find any bugs, spelling/grammatical mistakes, audio errors, etc.

Anyways, have fun—if you want (if you dare) ☺️

#if anyone wants to play lol#have at it ☺️
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gamesbyalbie

The Cursed Journey

The Cursed Journey is a work of short fiction I'm in the process of writing and releasing. Entries are treated as drafts (and thus are subject to change). Below the cut you'll find links to all the entries, release dates, and a list of changes I've made to the story.

The Cursed Journey: A Summary

The Cursed Journey is about a world where writer's block kills. Those who fall victim to the Writer's Curse enter a catatonic state and are kept alive at The Ward—if they can afford the treatment.

Ody Specter is one of the few remaining authors, though they can feel the curse breathing down their neck. They can't write forever, no matter how hard they try.

No one knows what writers experience once they've been seized by the curse. Some remain peaceful. Others twitch and murmur. Most thrash and scream until their bodies give out. But why? What's happening to them?

And what will happen to Ody?

Read the Cursed Journey...

#made big changes to the order of the entries#also four new parts have come out in the last two days#(and another may come out tonight)#(we'll see cause i ran 10 miles today so i'm very tired right now lol)
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The Cursed Journey

PART 7: SUMMIT

FOUR YEARS AGO

There was a time in my life where I thought nothing was worse than afterparties. Being forced to attend a party or ceremony was terrible enough, having to stay afterwards? It was like being given detention.

The night of the Hugo Awards might have been the worst of the worst, simply because I wanted nothing more than to go home and decompress while everyone else there wanted nothing more than to talk to me. I was moments away from doing something my PR team would regret when a bartender slid a tonic with lime in front of me.

"Compliments of the gentleman." They winked and pointed to the other end of the bar.

Min-joon was standing there, leaning against the glowing counter as casually as can be, his face and body awash in pink and blue light. He was wearing a sparkling black suit jacket, an open collared shirt made from sheer lace, and a stunning necklace that dripped down his neck and chest like a stream of frozen tears. It put my basic purple suit to shame. Min-joon wasn't even looking at me. He seemed fully engrossed in his phone, so I smirked and pulled out my own.

#writing#fiction#short fiction#draft#cursed journey#dpr ian#don't go insane#albie writes#part 7
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The Cursed Journey

PART 5: BRAINSTORM

FIVE YEARS AGO

"So, what are you working on?" Min-joon was at the stove. He wasn't using it—he was using the kettle—but I literally didn't have a counter in that apartment. What I had was a sheet of plywood laid across the stove's burners (I think that's what they're called, but that also seems a bit too on the nose).

I didn't cook—still don't—so the kettle lived on that plywood board along with a cup containing two sets of utensils, a pair of chopsticks, and one sharp knife. My mug and tea collection took up one shelf in my "kitchen", but the others had been repurposed for book storage.

I was sitting on my bed, leaning against a mountain of pillows and scribbling in a notebook. "Nothing good." I tried to erase a line so intensely that it ripped the page. "Ugh!" I tore it from the book, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it across the room.

"Dammit," I whispered, because—naturally—it missed the bin by at least half a meter.

#writing#short fiction#draft#cursed journey#dpr ian#don't go insane#albie writes#part 5
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The Cursed Journey

PART 8: MOTIVE

"What does this even mean?" Michael's face scrunches up. "To Kelly with the cool bangs?" 

I snort. "It's exactly what it says."

"But who is Kelly? Is this a reference? Am I missing something? Is there anything—or anyone—you need to tell me about?"

I look away from the hologram and roll my eyes. Hopefully, he still hasn't upgraded his phone and the projection's too blurry for him to tell. "Just print it, Michael. It's non-negotiable."

"Okay." His shoulders appear as he makes an exaggerated shrug. "But you know people are going to talk when we release this. Right?"

"Sure. People will theorize. Let them." I can hear exasperation seeping into my voice. The tremor is back in my hands and I can feel a cluster headache gathering like storm clouds. "My private life is public property. I'm a character as much as I am a writer." I shake a small white pill out of an orange bottle. "You should be happy if people are talking," I grumble before tossing the pill into my mouth, swallowing it dry—a decision I immediately regret. "That's what you want. Isn't it?"

#writing#fiction#short fiction#draft#cursed journey#dpr ian#don't go insane#albie writes#part 8
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The Cursed Journey

PART 6: BEDSIDE

The heart monitor beats rhythmically—a slow, measured march that provides a stark contrast to the frenzied clicking of my keyboard. I barely hear any of it. Everything happening around me is white noise to the drama playing out in my head.

The crew has just freed Prometheus. Zo's trying to convince Mel to get in Atalanta's car, but Mel has no idea what's going on. To her it looks like her best friend dragged a bloody body out of Olympus Tower and is telling her to get in an outlawed vehicle with a corpse and a criminal.

The Eagle is hot on the group's trail and Zo keeps seeing images of Mel being stabbed repeatedly in the liver. They're screaming at one another, but Mel can't believe what Zo sees in their visions.

There's only a few seconds left. They can either force Mel to get in the car or stay with her and try to fend off the Eagle. Zo looks to Atalanta for guidan—

He stirs.

My fixation shatters. Fantasy fades to reality.

I leap from the armchair and stand over Min-joon, taking in every centimeter of his face, every inch of his body—searching for any signs of distress or pain. Any kind of response. Any kind of change. Anything at all.

#writing#fiction#short fiction#death mention#draft#cursed journey#dpr ian#don't go insane#albie writes#part 6
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nyehilismwriting
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dve

hi. go buy esims for gaza. do what you can to participate in global strikes against genocide. go preorder a kufiya from hirbawi. buy insulin for palestinian diabetics who need that help. if you live in the states use this to email your reps (this takes maybe 5 seconds to do). check out this massive list of resources where you can educate yourself in a meaningful and actionable way even if you don't have the financial means right now. from the river to the sea palestine will be free. 🇵🇸 🇵🇸 🇵🇸

#free palestine
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lapinlunaire-games
Links...buttons...action!

Pellicule is a minimalist UI template for use with Twine's Sugarcube format, inspired by professional screenplay formatting and analog photography.

Use built-in widgets to format passage text like a script, classic snail mail letters, or take advantage of a crisp, clean layout to comfortably display dense prose. Showcase your writing with bold, sophisticated display themes or create your own with custom colors.

Features:
  • Crisp minimalist design
  • Light/dark display themes
  • Custom plug-and-play widgets to format screenplay and letter essentials
  • Pre-styled template options for choice links and buttons
  • Built-in keybinds to toggle menu & close dialogs
  • Responsive design for desktop, tablets, and mobile devices
  • Annotated passages, stylesheet, and JavaScript for plug-and-play convenience

This template is free to use! Comes with detailed instructions on how to use the built-in widgets and commented code, ready for your story!

Pellicule: A Twine Template by Lapin Lunaire Games
a minimalist sugarcube (twine) template. A browser template made in HTML5
itch.io
#oooh hells yes#this looks sexy as hell#jinx you brilliant devil you ❤️#ti voglio bene#templates#sugarcube
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The Cursed Journey

PART 3: DEMIGHOST

SIX YEARS AGO

"Ody?"

I looked up from my phone. An astoundingly handsome stranger was standing there, smiling at me.

"Uh, yes?"

"Hey." He waved cheekily. "It's Min-joon." Holy shit, I thought. That's Min-joon? "You know," he continued. "Bidisaster."

"No, y—yeah." I stuttered. "Of course it's you. Wow. Hi!"

He took the seat next to mine. "How are you?"

"Good. Tired, but good. You?"

Min-joon took a deep breath, exhaling like someone who'd been holding their breath for several weeks. "I'm great!" He replied, somewhat unconvincingly. "Also tired, but no major complaints." 

There was a moment of silence as we took each other in, but—even back then—it didn't feel awkward. I don't know exactly what he was thinking, but my brain was struggling to connect this physical body to the virtual friend I knew so well. "Feels kind of wild, finally putting a face to the text."

"Yeah," he brushed his hair back out of his face. "Hopefully good though. It looked like I startled you for a second there."

"Oh, no. Not at all."

"What was this then?" He imitated my stunned face.

#writing#fiction#short fiction#draft#cw alcohol#alcohol mention#cursed journey#dpr ian#don't go insane#albie writes#part 3
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