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The Dark Parables series is an incredibly beautiful fantasy adventure game series!!  The painted backgrounds and illustrated characters are freaking gooorgeous to look at while enjoying the game.  They are point-and-click adventure games involving solving puzzles and cleverly using items to advance, which is a relaxing genre to play while remaining engaging!

But what’s cool about Dark Parables in particular is that each of the games’ settings are wonderful, magical fairy tale stories!!  There are very cool interpretations of Red Riding Hood (where the “Red Riding Hood Sisters” are a band of rangers in the woods), Cinderella (where “Cinderella” is a title given to legendary girls that exhibit traits such as strength, kindness, diligence, etc.), and others (keep reading and I’ll describe each of them!).  The protagonist is an adventurous detective who investigates the strange and mysterious happenings around the world, wherever these fairy tale-like circumstances pop up.

Some of these are very suspenseful in nature, and watching the cool cinematics (where the art work is animated very awesomely) can get pretty intense!

As with the Awakening series, I had a really hard time navigating my way through the series to play them in order, so I made this list!  There are small continuities and nods between the games, but you are absolutely allowed to play them in whatever order you wish without any real context penalties if you decide to skip around.

Dark Parables: Curse of Briar Rose

The first in the Dark Parables storyline explores Sleeping Beauty.
It takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland!

1000 years ago, Sleeping Beauty was kissed by a prince,
which removed a terrible curse from the kingdom.
The rampant briars were held at bay, but the poor princess was left in her slumber…

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Dark Parables: The Exiled Prince

The story of the Frog Prince, set in the Black Forest in Germany.

Many centuries ago, a princess kissed a frog
and transformed him into a handsome prince.  Unlike the fable, they never ended
happily ever after.  It is rumored that the Frog Prince
is still alive and now roams the deserted path in the Black Forest,
capturing unsuspecting visitors. When the chancellor’s daughter goes missing,
you are sent to investigate her disappearance.

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Dark Parables: Rise of the Snow Queen

A combination of The Snow Queen and Snow White.
Takes place in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland.

From the ashes of the snow, the legendary Snow Queen
rises and terrorizes nearby villages with her supernatural powers.
Rescue the missing children and stop the fabled Snow Queen
before her sorrow brings upon the destruction of the world…

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Dark Parables: The Red Riding Hood Sisters

An adventurous interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood
in the Vosges Mountains of France.

Centuries ago, the first Red Riding Hood defeated the wolf
and established the Order of Red Riding Hood Sisters. Recently,
the nefarious Wolf Queen entrapped the sisters and planned
to unleash legions of ravaging wolves onto our world…

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Dark Parables: The Final Cinderella

A variable mix of tales including Cinderella and Pinoccio as well as
elements from Donkeyskin and Kongji and Patzzi, taking place
in the Matese Mountains of Italy.

For decades, a mysterious witch, known as the evil Godmother,
has been hunting maidens in search of the legendary “Cinderella.”
Rescue the Final Cinderella from the evil Godmother’s clutches,
and stop her evil plans to conquer the world!

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Dark Parables: Jack and the Sky Kingdom

Um… is it just me, or is Jack REALLY handsome…?
Jack and the Beanstalk, Robin Hood, and Rumpelstiltskin combine
for this game set in Alblasserwaard, South Holland.

The legendary Sky Kingdom suddenly appears
and a destructive barrage is unleashed upon an unsuspecting town.
Embark on an investigation to rescue the townspeople.
In this quest, you will meet Jack –
an infamous treasure hunter who shares a secret past with the Kingdom –
and discover the tragic history behind the chaos.

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Dark Parables: Ballad of Rapunzel

An especially pastel, floral-centric take on Rapunzel,
set on Mount Sněžka in the Czech Republic.

You’ve been called to the kingdom of Floralia to track down the source
of a mysterious pollen spreading throughout the world.
Rumor has it that Princess Rapunzel is somehow involved –
the haunting melody she sings appears to summon the pollen…
But how did the once-loved princess come to control such a deadly force?
And who is the mysterious, shadowy figure always by her side?
The secrets you uncover may be darker than you imagined.

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Dark Parables: The Little Mermaid and the Purple Tide

The coloration and setting of this game in particular are strikingly beautiful
with all of that blue and purple!!  This story is clearly the Little Mermaid,
and it takes place on the Greek island of Crete.

Follow the clues as they take you to an underwater kingdom!
You’ve been called to investigate a strange purple tide.
And that’s when the mermaid shows up…

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Dark Parables: Queen of Sands

This setting draws from the mythical figure of the Sandman
and also borrows a bit from Beauty & the Beast.
It takes place in Provence, France.

Townspeople are disappearing in the provincial city of Montafleur
as its streets are overrun by nightmarish creatures that vanish into a purple mist.
The Red Riding Hood Sisters were called in to investigate,
but they’ve got their hands full chasing a ferocious beast
last seen along the outskirts of town. Explore the lush French countryside
as you team up with Ruth and Brianne to uncover the dark secrets
behind Montafleur’s world-famous perfumes. Unmask the true villain,
before their nightmares spread to the entire world.

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Dark Parables: Goldilocks and the Fallen Star

The fairy tales involved this time are Goldilocks & The Three Bears
with flavorings of King Midas.

The Kingdom of Barsia has been invaded by mechanical beasts
that are attacking its citizens. You’ve been called in
to investigate these attacks and discover the origins of a mysterious artifact.
Can this artifact save the kingdom… or will lead them down an even darker path?
Only you can help Queen Valla discover the answers.

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Dark Parables: The Swan Princess and the Dire Tree

Strange cracks are covering Dire Island, home of the Swan Kingdom,
but then an unknown thief steals the magical seed
that holds the key to keeping all of nature in balance!
Can you catch the culprit and save the kingdom before it crumbles?

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Dark Parables: The Thief and the Tinderbox

It’s the eve of Gerda and Gwyn’s wedding, but a rogue arsonist
is setting the Mountain Kingdom’s forests on fire!
Your investigation will take you deep within the forest
where a dangerous artifact will be unearthed, one that could spell doom
for the whole world! An old friend will surface and his deepest desires
will determine the fate of the Mountain Kingdom.
Be careful what you wish for!!

–

Dark Parables: Requiem for the Forgotten Shadow

The people of Anaben are falling ill from a strange illness –
one that makes them become shadows of their former selves!
Your investigation takes a mystical turn as you uncover evidence
proving a darker magic at work. Can you restore the people
before it’s too late, or will you succumb to shadows as well?

–

Dark Parables: Return of the Salt Princess

Okay, I like this one because the princess is named Brigid,
making this the third game I’ve encountered recently
with a character that has a variation of the name “Bridget” (my name 😋).
The others are Brighid in Xenoblade Chronicles 2,
and Brigitte and Overwatch~

Together, we shall form a mighty League of Bridgets. 💪

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Haha oh my gosh check out these cool socks!!  Loliloli Shop for Lolita Princess just added them, and I knew immediately that they were going to be my next feature. n_n

Elegant Princess Rhinestone Charm Embellished Socks

This pair comes in a huge variety of soft colors~
The details are small, dainty rhinestones and charms!

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Pom Pom + Ribbon Bow Embellished Socks

Pom pom puffs always look cute and Wintery to me!
With the right coord and color combination,
you can make these really cute!!

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Pom Pom Stuffed Bear Embellished Socks

These SOCKS have SMALL BEARS on them!!
Definitely workable for a cuter coord –
and they’re in a ton of colors!

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Pretty 3D Flower Embellished Ankle Socks

These are sooo pretty!
Now we are reaching the more elegant selections
for these novelty socks.  I think having bunches of flowers on things
makes them instantly garden fairy-like and beautiful!

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3D Embellished Ankle Socks and Knee Socks/Legwarmers

The ones on the right actually have no toe to them
and so they can actually be worn like legwarmers!!
THAT’S AWESOME!!
The shorter ones on the left come in a huge variety of different color combinations!

Hello friends!! ヾ(＠°▽°＠)ﾉ  Today I will share how I made a very cute and pastel Hello Kitty skirt for fairy-kei!!  It is very ruffly and cute!!  I made some changes to it while I worked, so you will also see how I fix things on the fly so that I like them better~

There aren’t any pattern pieces needed for this – the pieces are all rectangles!

Here are my fabric choices –
some cute coordinating fabrics with Hello Kitty designs in pastel colors!
The pink gingham will be our ‘main’ fabric choice
while the squares will be contrast pieces

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I’m measuring and marking the main fabric
about 14 inches down, making my marks on the wrong side
so that I do not ruin the pretty pattern~

This kind of skirt is incredibly simple.
Cotton fabric like this opens up to about 45″ across when unfolded,
so all I’m doing is cutting an entire piece of that 45″ length
that is 14″ wide.

This makes a skirt that is ‘miniskirt’-like, as the finished photos show.
When I want to make a very full skirt such as for Lolita,
I would do TWO full 45″ pieces that are cut to the length that I want the skirt to be.

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The contrast piece gets several marks made down it,
but it is opened up to 45″ and the whole width is being used,
just like the other piece.
Since this will be the ruffles along the bottom and it needs to be fuller
than the main skirt piece, I cut two rows of it.
And then, a third row that will serve as the skirt’s waistband.
(I end up abandoning the idea for a waistband later and removing it,
so you do not see a waistband in the finished photo at the top of the page.)

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Here is my single piece of 45″ x 14″ main fabric,
and three strips of 45″ x 4″ or 5″ contrast
(the width of the ruffles is up to your preference for how long you’d like them to be!).

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Now I’m pinning one strip of the contrast along the top of the main fabric
to serve as the waistband.  It looks like I have my pins on the incorrect side
by putting them on the right side of the fabric, but this is my preference
because I French seam everything so that they are neat and finished on the inside.

Anyway, in the end I removed this waistband,
so even after putting the time & effort into pinning and sewing it,
you’re going to see me take it apart again several steps from now. ・°・(ノД｀)・°・

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The waistband and main fabric are French seamed,
and you can see my pins along the side
which will be the vertical seam at the back of the skirt!

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Moving on to the next pieces,
the two strips that will form the ruffles get pinned together at both ends,
so that they make one loooooong strip.

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Here are the ends of the strip sewn together.

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Then, the time-consuming part is folding over both sides of those loooong edges
and hemming them so that they are neat.

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I was lucky to get a ruffle foot with my machine,
so here I am running a ruffling stitch 1″ down from the top of the strip.

Alternatively, you can do this by hand by running a hand needle over and under
and gathering as you go, or by making a straight seam by machine
and slowly pushing the fabric under the needle to gather it.

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The ruffled strip gets pinned along the bottom hem of the main skirt
(btw the main skirt gets a hem along the bottom…).

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As you pin you will probably have to keep gathering by hand
and pinning evenly, overlapping the ruffles when needed
to get them down to size for the skirt.

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Even if it ends up using a LOT of pins, it’s worth it!

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Now I’m sewing the gathered ruffles along the bottom of the skirt for real.

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Pretty neat!!

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Now, the top of the waistband gets folded over to make a channel for
elastic to go through.  It needs to be wide enough to fit the elastic
and rolled under slightly for a neat finish.
Sew riiight along the very edge of the folded-under part.

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Elastic is easy to push through if you attach a safety pin on one end.
This is how super neat the waistband and its elastic looks when done!

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This skirt is finished!
It’s technically wearable right now,
but I decided at this point that I didn’t like the shape of it.
If I’d used twice as much width for the main pink fabric,
then it would look cute because it would flare out,
but with the waistband and main fabric being the same width,
it just looks weirdly shapeless.

–

I slept on it before doing so, but finally decided that the waistband had to go.

–

I pulled the elastic out of it too, and folded over the top of the main piece
to make a new elastic channel, and recycled the same piece of elastic.

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There we go – this shape is much cuter!!

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Now to add details!!
Get out all of your favorite ribbon and trimmings and lay stuff out,
deciding what would look nice and where.

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Pin your preferred details in place and sew them down.

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I even sewed down ribbin bows in a T-shape across their center.
Clear nail polish is awesome for dabbing on the ends of cut ribbon
to keep it from fraying.

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Here are all of the details done!!
The skirt is finished!!

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The blue bow at the top is cute and visible if your top raises enough to show it…

…but it looks cute with a top that hangs below the waistband, too!!

I am happy with this project even through the mistakes I made with it!
I needed to make those mistakes with this skirt in order to learn from them.
I learned that 1 length of 45″ wide fabric is fine for this miniskirt-like look,
but that I should use twice that much if I want a full, ruffly skirt.

Thankfully, even this style of skirt is fine for Fairy-kei,
because its rules are so lenient!

I am still able to enjoy this adorable skirt, and I LOVE its ruffles and bows!!