That’s quite admirable. Your hard work will surely pay off. Keep up the good work 
Fields of Asphodel [A Greek Mythology WIP] [Updated 30 November 2023 - Now Editing for Publication!]
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Yes, the most important part of the story for me. No one can tell my MC, the greatest gardener of all time, that they can’t grow anything anywhere! Be it in Hades or the darkest pits of Tartarus itself, let there be plants
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Amen to that
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Hello everyone! Jess here, to let you know that the Chapter Three alpha is live!
In this chapter, the PC settles into the Underworld, potentially getting to know some of its residents and learning about the way the realm functions. Features include:
- Choose how to spend your time and who to spend it with.
- Build yourself a little garden!
- Settle in and start developing some skills.
- More myth references!
- The multiple-pronoun system should be fixed now, I think.
- Also there’s like a mystery hook at the end I guess.
- Give a good dog some treats!
Content Note: The scene where the PC is invited to go see a judgement contains references to the myths of Oedipus and Antigone, which themselves include incest and suicide. Nothing at all graphic, but if you would prefer to avoid all mention of those things, you can choose not to attend the judgement. This will not penalize any stats or deny you the opportunity to increase friendships, so feel free!
Chapter Three itself is 77,635 words long, bringing the game’s total to 202,999. I was very tempted to stick an extra word somewhere for the round 203k, but that felt cheaty. I have no idea how long the average playthrough is, honestly, but hopefully it’s starting to feel pretty substantial!
The next chapter will include some sleuthing, possibly an official position in the Underworld, a letter from Olympus, and some more chances to hang out with people.
I hope you enjoy. Cheers. 
98 Likes
- See the update and immediately sit to read it.
- Internally scream like a seagull at all the bold flirting options with Hades.
- Sigh and actually pick options more in character with the MC I’ve created.
- Resign to make an entirely different demideity just to be able to hit on our husband like a pick-up artist wannabe (and see if he gets it).
Thank you) It is a delightful update, I love it
UPD: Oh, and all the edible plant options for the garden! I’ll be arranging a proper feeding patch for the inner circle to graze upon… so to speak.
I wonder. The MC won’t probably be able to eat from it if they don’t want to remain in the Underworld forever. Right?
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Tell me why I gasped out loud when Eurydice introduced herself 
it felt like I had a celebrity sighting at my favorite cafe or something lmaooo
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Oh, the update is lovely. I really enjoyed going on a walk with my husband and I’m very interested in the larger plot that seems to be picking up. I’m impressed by how much new content there is! I’ll have to replay several more times to try different things.
If you can, you may want to update the title? I was very pleasantly surprised that there was an update when I checked the new posts.
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Hades! AH. At last I get to reunite with this wary and awkward Lord again. I’ve been looking forward to this update and it hasn’t disappointed in the least. It’s bloody huge! Giving the doggy’s treats? Ugh. Toooo cute dude.
I would write more, but I’m diving back in to play another personality. Thanks you guys for this one.
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I’m sort of toying with this. I think maybe at high enough deific power, the PC might be able to grow things that have no chthonic ‘tinge’ to them, but I’m not totally sure about that yet. There is something appealing about the myth being resolved in such a way that what a PC eventually eats to bind themself to the underworld being something they grew though, isn’t there?
Hahaha, that’s excellent! I do have a lot of fun like… weaving in other myths.
Thank you! I completely forgot!
Bonus content for Kerberos fans is always good fun to write. 
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The walk with Hades leading to the fields of asphodels…that’s just epic. The soft blooming asphodels swaying lightly in the breeze spanning over the fields …it’s so poetic. Like Makaria said, it makes my MC question whether they have truly found themselves a place they can call ‘home’.
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What an awesome update! It was nice to finally be able to do some gardening, even though I still feel bad about not being able to do the orchard path before 
Also, the scenes with Hades were so wonderful!
But now I’m sad because there is not a lot of “shy flirt” option with him (was there even one aside from the very start of the game, now that I think of it? 
), so it’ll be an extreme slow-burn. Not that this is bad, mind it! I’m just eager for romance related scenes, since it makes me so curious!
I loved learning a bit more about Makaria too - I love her!
Few issues or doubts:
- Kerberos:
I had reported it before, but since I still see the issue I’ll do it again just in case you forgot. If you simply didn’t have the opportunity to change it yet, then that’s fine! Better safe than sory, that’s it!
If eating with the group at the first opportunity, the flavor text should be different if Kerberos likes the MC (relationship of more than 1), but there was no opportunity to raise his affinity prior to that point (shouldn’t petting him raise it?), so it’s impossible to get that variation. - Favorite color:
A bit of the same situation as before, only reminding just in case since I already talked about it, but it would be nice to have some custom dialogue if MC’s favorite color is green, since it’s the same as Hades, and that would be cute. - MC’s garden:
I see having the book about plants or having talked to the keepers of the orchard makes tending for it easier (as in, there is different text for that), but wouldn’t it make sense to also have something different written here (and for it to be easier) if MC has decent magic? Like 20 or 25 or something? - Also, for the last spot when oragnizing the garden, if I select the vegetable patch, it doesn’t describe MC’s plans or reasoning for it - it just goes to “Satisfied with your plan, you set about making it a reality.” directly.
I think that’s it? I didn’t really pay mind to typos or things like that since I really wanted to purely enjoy the story! Maybe next time!
Honestly, I’m really grateful for the vaste array of choices in this game, and for the ability for MC to change their mind. For example, my MC was scared out of his mind at the idea of going to the Underworld, then surprised by how beautiful the place was and how nice the people were, and after that he started having doubts about going back. And during the following month or so, he realized just how much happier he is in the Underworld, and now he dreads the possibility of going back. I feel like he’s going to have a panic attack if someone tries to force him. 
I also really like how MC can think of themself as not being a god, but that is entirely facultative (during the scene at the flower fields). I can’t imagine my MC as not seeing himself as a god just because he’s technically a demigod. Obviously he realizes he’s weaker than full blooded gods, but that’s it. He was very surprised and amazed at his effect on the Underworld though! 
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I swear when the emergency meeting was called I was like “Orpheus? Is Orpheus here already???”
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It would be cool if one of the magnum opus for a gardening MC is that they created a new type of fruit, the pomegranate, and presents it as either an olive branch to Olympus from Hades so they could stay there or as a ticket to go back to Olympus.
The pomegranate is also said to be a symbol of fertility which is one of the domains of Demeter so it could also be used to make Demeter chill out a bit (pun intended) with the frozen season stuff like “Hey mom, I know you’re worried about me and mad at Zeus or whatever but I’m doing fine, I even made a tree fruit in your honour down here so calm down”.
It would also be fun to see a reinterpretation of the whole Adonis-pomegranate origins. Maybe Adonis wasn’t all about his looks, maybe he had a gardener side of him that was overlooked because of how good-looking he was. Adonis wasn’t depicted as self-absorbed like Narcissus was so he might’ve preferred the Cthonic gods because they let him be who he wanted to be.
I love this update and how you depict Makaria and Hades is soooooo good. I can’t wait to have more interactions with her. I haven’t tried the other paths of the MC yet but my naive and kind-hearted Persephone path is so wholesome. The cast of characters are so kind and nice that I can’t even bring myself to try the cold and darker interpretation of Despoina.
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I wonder what the chthonic version of our powers would be? Growing poisonous plants? Or instead of healing it’s disease. Idk but im exited too find out! If my character could eat food of the underworld too be bound there, he definitely would! 
He’s gotta stay there with dear Charon. Plus his life is already way more exciting than it was on Olympus. I totally feel like he’d sneak off too go eat the food of the underworld and be like “oops, guess I’m stuck here….what a shame” 
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I thought this update was incredibly sweet (and by sweet I mean the walk with Hades)! I think what I enjoyed the most was getting answers, being able to explore the Underworld and having the opportunity to partake in the different happenings there. Will we have the chance to take up more responsibilities in the future? And we finally have a garden! 
Having creative control really hammered the mythology home in a great way. Also that cliffhanger! Am I wrong in thinking the plot is really kicking off now?
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Omg Hades noticed we changed clothes for the walk! 
I’m supposed to be playing a reluctant Persephone but I couldn’t resist flirting back a little after that… And the bit in the fields was just so beautiful 
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I kind of thought they would remain the same - but probably more attuned to the Underworld and thus less effective in Olympus… I’m curious now
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My MC was supposed to hate that place and the locals but Hades makes everything difficult XD
Too bad he didn’t turn out to be flirty asshole as I imagined him to be…
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Perhaps it will remain the same, I just remember it saying “ Anyone who casts draws on a mixture of their own deific energy and some primal source to cast it. The primal source of magic here contains elements like death and entropy—chaos.” too me anyways it could just mean the plants we grow will be more underworldy. Or that it changes some of or powers too something more death related. 
Really enjoyed the update, love the characters and the looking forward to what’s happening next.
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