So, I participated in voting in Let's Go! Music Festival on behalf of one of the NG members, and received a discount code for it. Since I obviously will not be visiting, I can as well give it as present. So, If someone is willing to visit it with a discount, comment below in next three days (till 17.03.2024 24:00 GMT+3) and then I will let randomness decide the winner.

So, I somehow totally forgot about the Storytime collab. I am stupid, I know. But I made a short story for it. If someone is willing to become a narrator for it, It'd be cool. I understand there isn't much time left and the story is unpolished, like most of my things are, but I'm still posting it.

A boy who dreamed of fighting the dragon

A long time ago, in a distant kingdom lived a boy named Daniel. His father was the most renowned and bravest knight in the entire kingdom. His deeds were great and many - he warded off the vicious goblins horde, stopped the cunning Necromancer from unleashing the undead army at the kingdom, but greatest of all, he defeated a ferocious Dragon that threatened to scorch all the lands with its fiery breath.

Daniel always dreamed that one day he would become a famous hero, like his father. He spent days practicing with sword or reading about dreadful creatures and ways of fighting them. Daniel enjoyed listening to the stories and rumors that merchants and travelers brought to their hometown, hoping that if not a dragon, then at least a manticore or a minotaur appeared in nearby forest and attacked a passing caravan.

However, as months and years passed, nothing troubled the kingdom. Goblins never dared to set their foot in the kingdom again, evil wizards stayed away from its borders, and not even a single monster threatened the peace and quiet of the land. Yet Daniel never lost hope, and the reason for that was his father’s sword. The God-Blacksmith himself forged this sword and made a prophecy, claiming, “Nothing will break this sword until it faces the most terrifying flame”. Daniel knew that this sword remained intact during his father’s battle with a dragon, and he believed this means that even stronger monster will appear, and, surely, Daniel will be the one to stand against this threat.

One day, Daniel’s family visited his father’s friend in another town. During their visit, Daniel took part in practice fights that the castle guards had, and surprised everyone with his skill at such a young age. At dinner, he sat next to Elisa, the town ruler’s daughter, a girl his age. She complimented his performance too. “Thank you.” Daniel responded. “But I still need to train more, if I am to be like my father and fulfill the prophecy of his sword”.

Elisa frowned. “The prophecy? This sounds mysterious! What prophecy?”

“Let’s sneak away and I will show you”.

They both asked the permission to leave the table, and Daniel entered the room given to his father. He took his father’s sword and showed it to Elisa.

“See this inscription? Only the most terrible fire can break this sword. And my father slayed a dragon with it! That means that some even worse monster will appear, and I will fight it!”

“So, are you going to go hunt monsters all over the world?” Elisa asked

“No, of course not!” Daniel felt offended. “I will be a knight, not a monster hunter.”

“Are you going to just wait then? Always training and waiting for that dragon or something to appear? That’s boring!”

Elisa giggled and ran away, not interested in her new friend’s dreams.

“Silly girl! She understands nothing!” Annoyed and angry, Daniel decided against returning to the dining room and instead went to his own room, placed his father’s sword next to his bed, laid down and soon fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, loud sounds woke him up. Daniel heard people running and screaming, he grabbed his father’s sword and ran out of his room. He assumed the castle was under attack, and he was anticipating to finally demonstrating his skills in a real battle. As he stepped out, a wave of heat hit him, and clouds of smoke covered his eyes. He coughed, covering his mouth and nose. Silhouettes were running back and forth in the smoke, but they were no bandits or monsters – only servants, some with buckets of water, some carrying children or items of value. Daniel ran with them to the big castle hall.

“Has anyone seen Lady Elisa?!” Somebody shouted. “She was not in her room!”

“Oh no! She often plays in the library, and southern wing is all caught in fire!”

Daniel looked at the southern corridor. The smoke there was especially heavy. Clutching his father’s sword, he sprinted into the corridor. As he ran forward, one of the side doors fell in front of him, letting out tongues of flame and flying sparks. Daniel jumped, and pointed his sword towards the room, but there weren’t anyone there – only fire dancing on walls and floor. The ceiling over the boy’s head started creaking from the heat and fire crawling somewhere above. Daniel gulped and coughed, his throat was sore from the smoke and ashes floating around. His legs shook, but he went on further in the southern wing.

The library door was open, and the inside was roaring flame. “Elisa! You here?!” Daniel shouted. He had to shout twice before he heard a faint voice. He stepped inside, and had to cover his face from the heat. He found Elisa barely conscious, lying under a fallen bookshelf that already began smoking. He tried to lift the shelf, but it was too heavy for him. Daniel felt fear and despair rising inside him, and tears rising to his eyes. He looked at the sword in his trembling hands. He expected to find a dragon trying to steal Elisa, like in the stories. But there was neither dragon nor any other creature to strike with the sword, only mindless fire crawling closer and closer, threatening to take away their lives for no reason. All his training meant nothing. He could not save Elisa. “Useless thing!” He whispered angrily, to the sword or maybe to himself. And then he remembered that this sword was supposed to be unbreakable! He pushed it under the shelf and tried lifting it with all his strength. The shelf moved ever so slightly. The sword held it. “Elisa, crawl out, fast!” The girl obeyed and managed to pull herself from under the shelf. The next moment Daniel let the shelf fall and pulled the sword out. But all that was left in his hands was a small part of the broken blade above the handle.

“Come on! Let’s get out!” Elisa tagged his sleeve, coughing and breathing heavily, and he followed her. In the corridor, they ran into grown-ups, who immediately covered them with wet blankets and carried them to their parents, outside of the castle.

“I’m sorry, father.” Daniel apologized. “I… broke your sword. I… Thought there was some monster or something, and then I had to pull Elisa out, and it… it just broke. I’m sorry… I only wanted to defeat a monster, to be a hero, like you.”

“My son.” His father held him tightly. “Fighting someone is not necessary to be a hero.” He looked at Elisa, crying in her mother’s arms. “Giving all you’ve got to protect and save others – this is what makes you a true hero.” 

So, I am now participating in sort of a group writing project and from tim to time I will need cover arts for small stories. Nothing really fancy, not for hardcover books, just as pictures for announcenent in social media. I could use AI art for this, but I don't like this idea and I am willing to pay someone for those. There is no current deadline so far, I will just send a description of what I generally expect to see whenever the writing process begins. It usually takes a few weeks to finish, so it should not be tight time wise.

The trick is, I live in Russia and I can't pay anyone outside it or using PayPal, Patreon etc. So I guess you need to also be in Russia to receive payment.

I doubted wether I should spill these thoughts here or not. However, I considered that keeping them only to myself is kind of going against my rules, so here they are.

Once again, sensitive topic ahead. You've been warned.

I couldn't help but noticed that this year Pixel Day announcement is different from the previous ones. Some of you probably guessed what this is going to be about, and if you don't want to keep reading, I totally understand. I also understand the reason behind the aforementioned difference.

However, I think that making it look like the person in question never existed is wrong. Erasing the bad events from the history is the easiest way to repeat them. There is no completely black and completely white. Each person is complex. And turning a blind eye to the good side of a person is wrong.

I think that, at least for my own self, and in my memory records, I will try to keep track of both sides - good and bad.

So I'm going to say it loud. Big thanks to @ThatJohnnyGuy for originally suggesting Pixel Day as an event. He made great music and big mistakes. But I am thankful for the good things he did anyway.

I wanted to make a long post of complaints, but decided that I just say I have a tiny hope that 2024 will be better than 2023. Pretty please.

First dream of New Year

“Hey, honey, what’s wrong?” Tony hugged his sobbing wife. “It’s okay, everything’s fine. I’m right here. It’s okay”

It took some amount of head pats and whispers to calm her down.

“I saw a nightmare. A terrible, terrible nightmare.”

“Come on, Mayu, sweetheart, it’s just a dream” Tony smiled, pulling her closer.

“Don’t you know the dreams on the first night of New Year are prophetic? That’s what we believe in Japan.”

“Is that so? Well, we aren’t in Japan anymore, aren’t we? This will not work then.”

Mayu looked up at him, her reddened eyes glistening with tears in the darkness of the bedroom.

“Are you sure? Are you totally totally sure?”

Tony laughed and hugged her once again.

“Of course I’m sure, silly. Are you feeling better now?”

Mayu nodded and cuddled in husband’s hand. “May I stay like this for some more?”

“Of course, honey. Of course.”

…

As Mayu left the bathroom, she heard her husband talking to someone on the phone.

“Yes, I’ll come as fast as I can. Okay, bye.”

“Is everything okay? Who was it?” Wiping her long black hair with a towel, she came closer and gave Tony a passionate kiss.

“Derek. He’s got a problem with equipment again. He needs a helping hand.”

“He seems to need them a lot. Is it urgent?”

“I made mistakes when I was a newbie too. He will learn.”

“Will you be back soon?” Mayu pouted – smiling, to show that she isn’t really angry. Tony smiled and brushed her cheek with his lips softly.

“I hope so. But I don’t know how serious the problem is. I’ll text you, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll be waiting for you”.

…

Humming some silly tune she heard in a youtube video, Mayu entered her husband’s study, carrying a small carefully wrapped box adorned with a bow-tied ribbon. It was there anniversary tomorrow and Mayu imagined how pleased Tony will be when he finds a present in his table drawer. Smiling to these thoughts, she pulled open the drawer, and the tune fled her mind in an instant. Inside, she saw something she never expected to find among her beloved husband’s belongings – heavy looking, dark, glossy and ominous object. She gulped, her hand darted towards it, as if to make sure it’s not an illusion, but stopped in just an inch above. Born and raised in Japan, Mayu could not get used to how common firearms were in US and she was afraid of them. Her husband never mentioned owning one. Then again, it was nothing special here, so he had no reason to tell her. But still… why didn’t he tell? With trembling hand, she closed the drawer and left the study on shaking legs.

…

“What’s that? A present? Oh…”

Tony’s eyes darted away as he realized he did something wrong. Mayu’s eyes were filling with tears.

“First I spent the first day of the New Year alone, now you forgot about our anniversary!”

“Honey, please. I’m really sorry! It’s just… You know I’m in the middle of a big project now. We can make it really big! It’s absorbing all of my attention now, it’s really hard to concentrate on anything else now.”

“I know! After all, it’s the money from selling my late parents house that went into it!”

Mayu threw the present she prepared on the table and stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll do what a good wife is supposed to do. I’ll calm down by washing your clothes

“I’ve already put them in the washing machine.”

Mayu turned around, looking at Tony with suspicion.

“That’s not like you.”

“Mayu! Where are you…”

Tony rushed after his wife and found her rummaging in the washing mashing. She threw a shirt at him.

“They don’t smell like you worked with machines.”

“Honey, please. You don’t think I’ll dive into engines as I am, wearing white shirt and breeches now do you? I have a uniform for that.”

Mayu sat on the floor, her back pressed to the washing machine, streaks of tears running down her cheeks.

“For real? I’m so stupid… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… Please forgive me.”

Tony sat beside her, hugging her head. “It’s okay honey. It’s okay.”

They returned to the kitchen, holding hands. Mayu sat on Tony’s laps and hugged him tight.

“It’s all because of that stupid dream. I can’t get it out of my head.”

“Relax honey, it was just a dream. Nothing to worry about.”

Mayu suddenly went silent, lost deep in thoughts.

“I’m still afraid. I wonder… When you are out for a work, and I’m all alone… If something dangerous happens… It’s legal to have a gun in US, right? Can you teach me how to use it?”

“Wow! I never expected you will ask something like that. I don’t have a gun, but if you want to… Mayu? What’s wrong?”

Mayu leapt up from Tony’s laps.

“You don’t have a gun? Then what was that in your table?! Ah, I know! I saw it! I see everything now! Is this what it comes to? That’s it, Tony? Is this what your love and promises are worth? Were you just pretending so that my family money can be all yours?”

“Mayu, calm down. You got it all wrong. It’s not my gun! It’s my father’s! I don’t know how to use it! Mayu, what are you doing? Put that knife down! Put it down!”

…

The police inspector kneeled in front of Mayu, who sat on the floor, her stare wandering aimlessly around the kitchen and over the members of investigation team.

“Mrs. Barks, can you explain what happened here?”

Her expressionless face turned to him.

“He wanted to kill me.”

“Your husband? Did he attack you?”

“He wanted to kill me. He planned it. I saw it in a dream”

Inspector looked back at his colleagues.

“She lost it.” One of them whispered, coming close. “She keeps repeating the same thing, that she had a dream that her husband was planning to kill her”.

“If she’s faking it…” Inspector shook his head. “She is pretty damn good at it”.

At this moment the phone on the table gave a notification sound. The forensics expert carefully picked it up with a gloved hand.

“New voice message from Derek.” He read. “Should I play it?”

“Go for it.”

The man pushed the screen, and a melodic female voice filled the room.

“Hi darling! The tickets and other papers are ready. As soon as you get rid of the bitch, we will be out of the country in no time. Love you!”

_______________________________________

Some closing thoughts

1. I'm doing some dark themed entry once again. I wonder if it has something to do with my work? Or maybe it's just me being not in the best place and mood right now.
2. I'm not sure if it can be called "festive" since it's a thriller drama, but it's centered around a certain holiday belief that exist in Japan so I consider it fitting enough
3. I came up with beginning and ending on the run, but the middle part was more difficult and I feel I rushed it. Hope it's not too bad.

The judges are done being mean and judging the entries! We have a prize fund of 35$ and this is how it will be split

The 2 2nd places and 10$ each, with equal number of points from judges, are claimed by Abigail by @thxfam and Rapunzel Tower by @Thetageist

And the (almost) unanimous winner with prize of 15$ is Polar Night by @LiamRomK !

Congrats to the winners and HUGE thanks to everyone who participated in this event, whether by writing, judging, or sponsoring.

If you haven't already, go read all the stories, they are awesome!

I would like the winners to send me the addresses to send money to (I guess paypal is best for NG) so I can then send them to Tom Fulp and ask him to distribute the money from our humble fund.

So I had this ort of "inspiration" and decided to turn it into a short kind of script or something that fits the theme of the event. It is' of course, not participating in the contest, but I decided to post in the thread anyway.

https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1528546#bbspost27782638_post_text

The amount of awesome stuff on NG is piling up so I decided to start making some playlists for some things. Like, the stuff that I requested or commissioned. For example, check this cool art of George Ushiromiya by @Serafin-corpse.

Unfortunately, I am almost unable to commission anything for now, but I hope that this playlist will start to grow eventually.

Also, a quick reminder that the Spooktacular writing contest is in progress, and you are most welcome to share your "Bad dream" stories.

https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1528546

Earlier this year I promised to make a short script for @Aalasteir in return for a supporter status gift. It's finally here, brought to life with amazing voice talents of @Jojo, @Durinde and @Aalasteir himself. Give it a listen and share your thoughts