AUTHOR NOTES:
Happy 2022! I’m back on my bullshit!
Seriously though, it’s good to be back. The mystery begins on page one. The clues are everywhere you look, and everyone is a suspect, so keep your eyes peeled. I hope you enjoy your fave BBD characters on a new adventure in an alternate universe (and I hope you like the new additions to the cast, too).
TW: Blood, gore, violence, and dysfunctional family stuff (this is the primary TW for the whole story, but I’ll also post for any chapter where it seems truly egregious)
Somewhere off the coast of Sulani, 1882…
Brindleton Bay, 1882
Goth Household
“Grandfather!” Samuel ran up the carriage turnaround. “Grandfather! It sank!”
He fell through the front door, shoving past the household staff.
“Sir,” the butler began, “Your grandfather asked that—”
Samuel kept running. “Grandfather, the ship! It—”
“Sank, yes, do be quiet, boy, and sit down.” Gunther Goth turned his attention back to the men gathered in the music room. Though he didn’t say it out loud, it was apparent to everyone that he believed his grandson was an idiot.
“You were describing the expedition,” one man prompted.
“Yes, yes.” Gunther cleared his throat, “As I was saying, we hired a crew of foreigners to bring our goods back to a business partner in Selvadorada. By grace, I was inspired to insure the ship.” He gave Samuel a solemn look that might have meant “let us reflect on our narrow escape from financial ruin,” or “keep your mouth shut, dimwit.”
“Well, it’s not a complete loss,” Mr. Bobridge said. He owned a salvage company that scoured the shorelines after a wreck. “My boys picked up an old trunk out of the wreckage in Sulani. You have a rare find on your hands. Inside was The Ultimate Vampire Tome. Are you familiar?”
“Not really,” Gunther replied, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“The Ultimate Vampire Tome is a mythical work, part of Goodley Mather’s Encyclopedia Vampirica collection. A wise man, Mr. Mather. He used vampires as an allegory for the sins of sims.” Mr. Bobridge paused, stuffing another pastry tart into his mouth. “Our weaknesses, as it pertains to copulation and the intromittent apparatus, not to mention violence, are detailed quite thoroughly. He represents the path back to innate goodness in the recipe for the Ultimate Vampire Cure. In contrast, he expresses the path of further depravity via the directions for ascending to Grand Master Vampire.”
Mr. Bobridge continued to lecture, his knowledge cribbed from a recent talk at the Brindleton Men’s Club of Knowing and Knowledge. Neither Samuel nor Gunther were listening, and both wore pinched expressions.
Gunther recovered first. The men tarried while he extracted promises for delivery of the trunk and made vague noises about splitting proceeds should he sell the book.
Samuel, however, remained seated—eyes darting around, a series of odd noises coming from his throat.
As soon as the butler guided the men to their carriages, the younger Goth rounded on his grandfather. “With the payout from the policy coming, I think it only makes sense that Cordelia and I be allowed to marry.”
Gunther’s laugh was as cruel as it was loud. “Marry? You fool of a boy. That payout is hardly enough to undo your years of financial mismanagement.”
“I love her!”
“She is unsuitable.”
Cordelia bowed her head and clasped her hands together. She knew from experience that speaking would only make things worse.
“But we are going to the theater!” Samuel stamped his foot like a toddler who’d run out of patience.
Gunther’s lip curled, “Take your whore to see the show, and when you return, know that you will find a wife of suitable disposition with a dowry to match.”
“I don’t agree with this!” Samuel declared.
“You weren’t asked,” Gunther replied. He swept from the room, Samuel hot on his heels.
“But the book,” the younger Goth hissed, “The vampires will—”
“Nothing. They will do nothing. From here on out, we never heard of vampires, and we certainly never heard of any book.”
Woo prologue!
I really love the way you’ve stuck so well to the period with the clothes, designs of the house etc. You always do really well to convey character and backstory through scenery and it’s great. I never did much with the Goths, but I always liked the fanciness and mystery associated with them. So it seems like the loss of lives on that boat is unsurprisingly meaningless to the rich, but at least they got their book that will give them either riches or more power than they already have.
Whilst the new Sages’ vow to do better with magic sounds good, we all know that leaders say what their followers want them to hear then don’t actually deliver a lot of the time. I’m not convinced at the moment. I’m glad that you’re keeping familiar faces around like Vlad and co and that the overall vibe hasn’t changed too drastically as well.
“It’s only one family, Mischief. I’d hardly call that a war.” Could easily evolve into something bigger though, IMO, but then it’s not in Untamed’s nature to have as much foresight as the other Sages : p Even Mischief knows when to take caution. I honestly love the way you portray the Sages and the different schools of magic.
Interesting to see where all of this is going, and looking forward to the inevitable clash between fangs and wands. I wonder how that’s going to affect William and Morgyn. Ninety-nine year marriage or not, a clash between magic and vampires, I wonder how or if that’ll affect them. I don’t feel they’d turn on each other, but there’s every chance they can get dragged into it all if it makes any sense. If something were going to part them, in my prediction it’d be something out of their control. Then again, Untamed magic won’t bow to anyone so we’ll see.
Love it!
Oh my gosh, the Goths are like the most fancy and the most mystery and I really love them and all their drama! LOL listen, didn’t you see that cobweb in the corner of their giant mansion? They need more money, Snow, how could you deny them!?!?!?!
I am enjoying writing the Sages a political position. Yes, they will use magic for good and they were elected! Are there new elections coming to replace them? Next question please!
I actually got some inspiration from Sun and Her Fire because I felt like you really made the lore of the Magic Realm into something special but it really came out of the game. So much so I was googling like: wait, is this the game lore of the Magic Realm? LOL
Yes, it seems that whoever is in the position of Sage of Untamed Magic can’t help but come in, guns blazing. Oh, I hope a clash between magic and witches doesn’t come between William, Morgyn and the rest of the family ::cue maniacal laughter:: we shall see…
I laughed so much at that XD ‘Won’t somebody PLEASE think of the millionaires?’ : p
I do like the idea of Sages being more political figures as opposed to just teachers, it’s a cool touch. I also really like the flowy magical effects! How did you do them? That makes me happy and means a lot that you were inspired ;-; Hilariously enough, had I known the Magic Realm itself actually had some in-game lore behind it I’d have used it, but all the ideas I had for it were conceived before I knew about the whole ‘realm tearing itself apart’ thing going on in the actual RoM pack.
It’s also funny you mention that since I was just talking to someone today about how the sequel is BBD-inspired in some ways, mainly in that it’s an attempt of mine to manage a larger cast than I normally would, and for me to make it a bit more fun alongside the darker parts.
I can see it happening, but also I feel like Morgyn wouldn’t back down so easy, and I don’t know what you could offer Morgyn to get them on your side. They probably think they’re already powerful enough : p
Aww <3 man big casts are so hard, but also a lot of fun. And I think if there is no comedic relief alongside the darkness, it just gets to be too much (at least for me). Gahhh, I've only gotten a few chapters in on the sequel. I need a big binge soon....
That prologue video was amazing! I’m blown away (pun unintended) especially by them going under the water like that. How did you do that?! Magic!
Oof. Gunther is stone cold to Samuel. Seems like a true shark in a businessworld. I love how historical it all looks – you’ve put a lot of effort in and it shows! 🤩 Oooh, so the woman in the background was Cordelia. Ouch ouch ouch- poor girl, and it doesn’t seem like Samuel is competent enough to have any say in what happens in his life. You see that a lot. When the father is hugely successful, cold, calculating and power-hungry, the son often ends up stunted in his growth even in adulthood and looking incompetent as a result. I wonder if that’s what happened with Gunther and Samuel here.
Geez, he even has the evil villain moustache to twirl. I’m loving this already! 😁
Ooooh Liberty is the Sage of Untamed? Interes- oh my gods did Samuel and Cordelia just die to a vampire attack in the theatre? Morgyn and William stopped aging and a death relic is missing? Oooh, and they’re lovers again. Seems like some of your sims are tied together by fate even in the new story. Morgyn is the realm’s most troublesome spellcaster, hm? 😆 I wonder “what” Lilith is. A hybrid?
So there’s Straud and the vampires, Gunther and the Goths, the Sages and the other witches, Lilith who is something in between, and Anastasia… There’s so many snippets and threads and I can’t make heads or tails of most of them. I can probably read this first chapter back in half a year and slap myself for how much was sprinkled in from the beginning, but for now, it’s all one big web of unknowns 😆
Welcome back to the wild ride! Please keep on hands and belongings within the vehicle. Oh man, so many little Easter eggs in this prologue, I can’t wait for you to go back later.
Gunther Goth is a real piece of work! Finally, I had a reason to use that mustache. You are picking up on so many little tidbits, but I won’t say how they fit together just yet (hint, you are not far off on Lilith).
Fate definitely seems to have her little fingers in the mix. And by Fate, I mean me. This is an alternate universe so I’m having a lot of fun putting new twists on some relationships while keeping a few things cannon.
Yay!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this first chapter 🙂
Oh, it’s in your time period! Yayy!! Forget the mystery; I’ll be looking for educational tidbits here and there. And, I mean, you know who else.
Knowing you/BBD, there’s probably something hidden that blows up the whole mystery in the first machinima—and I can’t figure out what it is, yet, except that the woman in the middle does look like she might be related to one of the main characters. Maybe the Martins? I dunno.
So of the sections here, the Goth one stood out to me, and not just because you can’t just follow up a name like Goodly Mathers with ‘intromittent apparatus’ and expect me not to comment on either. (Was ‘intromittent apparatus’ from a scientific document or a stuffy old guy? I genuinely can’t tell from context.) There’s no way Gunther wasn’t involved in the theater attack, and until I see the bodies, I’m assuming both Samuel and Cordelia are alive.
Especially since Cordelia reacted to the vampire book. She’s also staying the minimum recommended distance away from anyone in something called the Brindleton Men’s Club of Knowing and Knowledge. Forget the MIU. This is, by far, the worst club in the story. Being a member of this club is a badge that reads “ATTENTION! This person will try to explain your own field back to you.”
Vlad reading the newspaper made me laugh for a full few minutes. Couldn’t get past the pictures. “Arrrgh! How could this happen to meeeee?!… never mind, got my coat on, yay.”
Other things that could be suspicious… other hidden clues… maybe the two gentlemen either flirting or making some sketchy deal behind Anastasia in the last two photos, and what’s that other guy crying about? We could find out next time, I guess. My god. Those sleeves. Sorry, I can’t put the pieces together with Anastasia’s outfit yelling at me like that.
Wait.
That’s that same dress as that other lady.
Did you set up a story around the outfits AGAIN?!
Great work with the photo and video editing, as always! And the fashion, yikes, that must have taken forever. (Getting out the notepad for Bernard’s chapters.)
Welcome back! Yes, it’s Alternative Universe BBD but outfits still matter! Haha, it wasn’t until I started planning the screenshots for this story that I realized I’d done it again. I think it’s my go-to.
I am also once again TERRIBLE at not getting too excited and giving everything away so I’m going to try and contain myself.
1. You are right that there is something hidden in the machinima that blows the whole thing up. Mums the word on what.
2. Glad you’re looking at the woman on the ship. Though I can confirm she is not related to the Martins.
3. “Intromittent Apparatus” is Victorian for dick. I think it makes that scene 10 times more hilarious and cringe-y. YAY PATRIARCHY. Seriously though, this was a blast to write. I think the Brindleton Bay Men’s Club of Knowing in Knowledge is the best worst thing I’ve ever created and I cannot wait to do a flashback scene at a meeting. Not only will they explain your own field back to you, but they have not asked your name or for your opinion in the first place.
4. Gunther Goth is also the best worst thing I’ve ever created. Is he involved? Welp, he is a v rich old times dude with no scruples, but who knows?
5. Why yes, Cordelia did react to the vampire book.
6. Are Samuel and Cordelia still alive? I feel you have the answer to that question very shortly.
7. Vlad reading a paper surrounded by the sims he drained and thinking about himself is a whole mood and practically the thesis of BBD lol.
8. Yes, Anastasia does seem to have a penchant for getting other women’s dresses. Glad you noticed.
(also thank you! I’ve been trying to step my video editing game up!)
(Honest to god I will be the wardrobe department for Bernard’s chapters, you just say the word)
I am speechless. Like you don’t play fair, do you? Nevermind how I was blown away last night READING your prologue, but holy Pirates of the Caribbean, that video!!!
………
………..
Like I can’t even imagine the hours that took. It is CRISP!
☠️☠️☠️
Ok I need to compose myself…
Hahaha oh gosh, thank you for supporting my need to spend wayyyyyy too much time on this special interest of mine 😂😂😂 (it’s been fun to teach myself editing through!)
I love how you use sepia tones in your first photos. It transports the reader instantly.
Gunther is a bit of a prick. Regardless of class, he is no gentleman, stating that Cordelia is unsuitable for Samuel with her in earshot. The pure devastation on Cordelia’s face after that revelation is heart wrenching.
I think my weirdo is showing in this comment, but I giggled at Gunther’s bobbling Adam’s apple. All I could think was that he had a neck-boner. Part of me wishes that Cordelia grabbed the Tome and burnt it (if it CAN burn), and tell Gunther to kiss her unsuitable ass.
Curious to see what Gunther has planned… with the vampires. Shit that last photo with his smile is terrifying.
For a moment I was REALLY confused that your story ends with the Goths, b/c when I read this a few nights ago I read SO MUCH MORE. Soooo after investigation, your site has this story as well as the MORE. Is this a fuck up on WP’s end? I honestly wouldn’t have known if I just read this from WP. Anyways, thought I would let you know, but in the same sense I’m wondering if I’m just trippin from lack of sleep and brain cells these days.
Gunther is the kind of character that is almost uncomfortable to write about because he’s such a terrible dude. I can’t say whether he gets his comeuppance but whew, you’re right, he’s the worst. Cordelia does not deserve his ire, but she is suffering it nonetheless.
Does the fact that I laughed at neck-boner make me also a weirdo?
“if it CAN burn”—my what an interesting observation. :: cue evil laughter ::
Yeah, it’s not you. WP reader is the worst and all my stuff is prolly jacked up in it. Just read it from my site lol
Dude, Gunther is cold af and detestable but I’m intrigued…especially since his current bloodline is Mortimer and his family.
Hahahaha. Definitely not! If it does, then we can happily be weirdos together 😀
B/c WP is being janky I’m just gonna separate my comments based on each of your stories in this prologue.
Glimmerbrook: When I first read your story (with the Goth’s intro), I was like, cool, vampire story. I dig. And then … ghosts….witches…. OH. Not just Vampires! I dig that this is a multi-supernatural universe.
idk what it is about your photos, but I just wanna LIVE there. Maybe the unpredictability of supes is more stable than the monsters that thrive in reality.
Haha oh my, Vlad, tut tut, it was the theater, not an all-you-can-eat buffet. I wonder if the press labeled Vlad TROUBLED, as white men are clearly not terrorists in society’s eyes. How convenient that Cordelia and Samuel were theater-bound. Was it… *gasp* planned? Hmmmm.
I’m enamored that Liberty humors herself by throwing coins into a fountain. But HOLD THE PHONE… why OH WHY are we passing up on A 3-some or ORGY?! I’m gonna go cry in a corner somewhere….
Ooooooooof Caleb joins the witches???? Whaaaaaaat?!?!
Haha I like the “abandoning ship” pun you throw out at the end of this section.
I am laughing because this supernatural world I’ve created is so bonkers—werewolves, witches, fae, aliens, vampires, gods, skinwalkers, Arachne, dryads, orcs—you name it!
“Maybe the unpredictability of supes is more stable than the monsters that thrive in reality.” – okay you are a very dangerous reader because you have a keen eye and you’re already picking up on my themes.
What do you mean Vlad can’t just slaughter an entire theater of people bc he’s hungry/cranky? LOL Vlad is definitely coasting by on some white dude patriarchy and I cannot wait for him to meet his match and for her to finally call him on it.
I think abandoning a magical threesome is all the proof you need that the Sages are not in their right minds.
lol Caleb is a wayward son, what can I say?
Ooooh wow, you have some supes I haven’t seen or read about for that matter. As if you couldn’t hook me anymore than you already have.
Hahaha I ADORE that you describe me as dangerous, even if it’s as a reader. I like danger, but I prefer trouble 😉
HAHA well of course he can, and did, but you know what I mean :p You can’t do that and get away with it…er…Hmmm. You can’t go unnoticed? OOOO is THAT a spoiler? Vlad’s “match”???!!!! Oooof you TEASE ME so …
Hahahahaha perfectly worded about the sages abandoning a 3some. I’m VERY disappointed. A 3some is one thing, but a MAGICAL 3some. I am now a salty reader :p
William Redding is sexy. He can bite me.
I love how proper Morgyn is. They are the essence of a lady. Morgyn might not be the one spilling the tea, but they are certainly serving, dah-ling.
Oooh, William ordering Morgyn to come to bed b/c he wants dessert got me thirsty for him.
WIlliam is ::blows out a breath:: smoking hot. I don’t think he gets enough stans. Although, Morgyn is very into him and is also unhinged enough to smite any romantic rivals so it’s prolly for the best.
😉 I mean, who doesn’t love dessert?
Unhinged can be…. fun 😀
Hahaha YES!!!! Especially dessert with William. Especially SECOND helpings of dessert.
Vlad is a lot sexier in this story than he is in my game…. looks like I’m gonna have some improper dreams tonight….
The photo with Vlad, hands behind back, staring down at his … human-snack… I’m really drawn to his reflection across from him. It’s not a mirror…. and I suppose maybe not even his reflection, but it’s the same pose/clothes/blood stains. It’s making me a bit batty >.<
Vlad cleans up quite nicely. Like LITERALLY. Oooh, happy travels you hunky vampy.
Lilith is no-nonsense. She doesn't need to be thrown out she can let herself out. She just needs a few snacks for the road. How nice of the witches to supply! I guess that's a severance package? :p
UM YES. I made Vlad sexy for my story (Baking By Death). I think I even did a post where I showed how I got his look. I will not apologize for making Hottie Vlad! We all deserve Hottie Vlad!
Ummm yeah I’ve made so many of my characters attractive. It’s a problem.
Good news, this is a paranormal romance so when you won’t be scared off by all these characters boning each other! HAHAH!
Lilith is a queen and we stan.
NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR HOT VLAD!!!! If anything, apologize for not making hot Vlad’s hot brothers Chad and Brad. The Tempting Trinity of Terror! The Bangable Blood Brothers! Haha okay I’m gonna stop now. But like really Hot Vlad is like the vampire to rule them all!
Hahahaha your hot characters aren’t a problem for me. I just want to live in your world SO MUCH MORE, and the fact that I don’t is the only problem. Ho-hum.
Hahaha Lilith is a total queen! She is class and no-nonsense. I love her already.