Cyn Writes.

Chained up, locked away. Tortured and forgotten. At least that is how it has been for as long as you remember. Suddenly you are freed. Your mind is shredded, all memories lost to the overwhelming agony that you endured. The very people that imprisoned you demand for you to assist in preventing a looming threat, one that has the entire world at stake. Just who are you? Why were you imprisoned? What about those you knew? Remember it all and cope with the tattered remains of your psyche. Maybe even save the world. Or not, what has the world ever given you?

Corruptant is a 320,000 (so far) word dark fantasy interactive fiction game (book?) that sees you play a cursed amnesiac coping with the situation they find themselves in.

-Play as Male, Female or Non-Binary. -Deal with the lingering effects of your imprisonment. -Give into 6 different extremes. -Romance one (or more!) of 5 (6?) characters that find themselves on your team. -Save the world and earn your freedom. -Or maybe burn it all down as revenge.

Romance Options:

The Binder: [M/F]

They are the first person you really interact with upon being freed. Gentle, timid and soft spoken, at least around you, they are going to be a constant in your life for now. Finding themselves bound to you, they try to do everything in their power to make sure you are comfortable. Can you forgive them for working for your captors? Can you get over the power imbalance that lies between you two? Male: 5’9 with short styled brown hair. He has warm brown eyes and is clean shaven. Female: 5’6 with medium length brown hair, often worn in a ponytail. She has gentle, inviting brown eyes.

The Second Born. [M/F] The second born child of the reigning monarch, they find themself placed on the team that you are on. They seem to take things easy, flaunting rules and wearing a lazy smile. They seem to treat you like a friend (or more), easily chatting and joking with you despite your curse. Can anything come from these interactions? Male: 5’11 with messy chin length blonde hair. His face is framed on the left side by strands of his hair being a dark blue. His bold violet eyes and stylish beard add to the look. Female: 5’7 with spiky short blonde hair and smoky violet eyes. Her bangs are highlighted by strands of dark blue.

The Best Friend. [M/F] Your best friend from childhood. You remember them as a person filled with wonder and optimism, genuinely caring about you and always lifting you up. Are they still the same person from your fragmented memories? You recall HE had short ginger hair and bright green eyes. You recall SHE had short ginger hair and bright green eyes.

The Scholar [F] An obsessive and eccentric scholar that specializes in your curse among other things. She has been assigned to your team and seems to be captivated by you. Can you get over the scholarly eye she has for you? And what about her not even being human? She has glimmering silver eyes and medium length hair matching her eyes. She is 5’5.

The Cultist [M] A captured member of a cult that is attempting to bring about the end of the world. He seems to fanatically revere you as some sort of savior. He is placed on the team to lead you to your targets. Will the fact you two are both outsiders draw you two together? He has short black hair and a beard, his blue eyes are etched with tiny black runes around the iris.

Note on Game Mechanics:

This IF is geared towards storytelling, and while the personality stats and skills will have impacts on the narration as well as the outcomes of certain scenes, they are not the focus. No personality stat checks will bar you from content should you choose a certain personality, so feel free to explore around. The personality stats are there for flavoring (mainly).

Note on Content:

This story is on the darker side of things. Featuring some pretty mature topics and depictions. Below is a list of some things encountered in the book. Please be advised.

-Cannibalism. -Torture. -Loss of bodily control -Allusions to, and mentions of, Suicide -Coercion to perform jobs. (NOT ANYTHING SEXUAL) -Blood and gore. -Extreme Violence. -Death. -Abuse.

Here’s the link and hope you enjoy it!

My MC: I like Maverick, he's the sanest person here and it's says a lot about our company that the literal cultist is our moral backbone and the voice of reason.

I love Mav honestly. He's a pretty unusual individual lol, he doesn't fit the cultist archetype at all and it's such a breath of fresh air

I’m so glad to see people interested in and liking characters like Maverick and Quinn! They’ve not had nearly the same level of exposure as the other characters in the story so far, and it thrills me to see people connecting with them all the same.

Well Maverick might’ve been born out of a “cultist” character trope, much like the other characters, I’ve done my best to inject them with personality, experiences and trauma that are more then just the trope they were born as.

Ha! That’s actually something I never truly considered! But I do think you’re right in that it’s easier for the MC to “open up to” Ruben, rather then Sam, and Sam’s own apathy certainly does them no favours in trying to reach the old MC.

As I’ve said before, I’ve really tried to give all the characters their own opinions and traumas, to the extent that I think any of the characters could probably work as a “main” character (in the sense that there is a story to tell from their perspective filled with similar levels of detail and complexity as the MC). And so yeah, Sam gets to sit there and continue suffering!

Funnily enough, I think for Sam’s that never truly reconnect or open up to the MC, Ruben potentially ‘replacing’ them doesn’t have nearly the same impact on them as a Sam that is close to the MC again.

Ahh, I do not have any specific references.

I always feel like physical descriptions of the characters are something that I suck at, so I try to keep things very simple and “up to the imagination” quite a lot.

I try to focus in on the characters mannerisms, personality and vibes more then what they actually look like.

I tend to “boil” their appearance down to the core tropes that they usually represent as well as their defining characteristics. Potentially using characters I view as similar from other works of fiction as a loose sort of guide.

For Sam, the scar itself is something that I’ve imagined being similar to facial scars from popular characters. Ones like Zuko (Avatar) or Hester (Mortal Engines), a character whose face is defined entirely by the scar itself, especially to others as it’s impossible to ignore. Yet it’s Sam’s apathy that ensures they remain in affected by the physical scar itself, able to ignore it completely.

Similarly, Hayes has the defining characteristic of their strange coloured eyes and partially blue hair, showing their stand out nature. Maverick has the runes in his eyes that have always coloured the way he has seen the world. Quinn’s non-human appearance is rather symbolic of her disconnect from others. These “vibes” are what I try to convey through the descriptions of the characters.

Holy shit, me actually committing to something within a given time? It's a miracle.

I'm back to give a quick little update of my progress throughout April! It was a very busy month, with nearly all of my university deadlines coming around at the same time and having to move back home for the summer. But through all that I did manage to get a bit of writing done!

My brain has been focused on Hayes and Sam's path for the most part. I've decided a general structure that most of the character options will have as well. That being learning what that character is doing and deciding to join them (potentially having them invite you along or asking) or not. In the case of the "or nots" depending on the relationship variables you have with them they may want to see you after then finish the thing you didn't join them for. After completing whatever they were/wanted to do, there'll be the more deeper "talking" section that will feature being able to press them about their opinions, share the MCs trauma, spend quality time together and all the confrontations, catharsis and stuff that comes from that.

In super simplified terms, you can join (main) characters for an outing then spend time with them afterwards. If you chose to not go on their "event" you'll still get to have the deeper "conversation" part of the choice. (You'll just miss out on all the changes and content from their "event.")

With the context out of the way, I've written nearly all of Sam's "event" (which is joining them for a mission) and I've written probably 40% of Hayes' "event." I've got a solid idea for Quinn's "event" and loose ideas for Everix and Maverick.

Alongside the character events, I've also started on writing some of the "world events" - which happen depending on certain triggers, the one I've started is a visit from Lord Ducant assuming you've killed his son.

The alternative choices (such as getting stronger, practicing, or visiting other characters) are more then likely going to be a lot shorter and smaller then the larger character "events" but will still have opportunities for interactions with various characters. For example, trying to learn magic will more then likely involve Quinn, training certain skills might involve certain characters that are good at said skills and so on. But we'll see exactly the shape of those scenes once I start writing some of them.

I've also reached 80% complete on the prologue and chapter one of my cyberpunk episodic "detective" story! So that might "be released" sometime soon.

As always, I don't want to promise dates, because I know I suck at keeping them. But I do thank all of you for your interest in the story and welcome any questions or feedback.

Current Word Counts:

Corruptant: 342k + 18k

Secret Project 1 (Sci-Fi Military): 110k + 0

Deserves to live with the pain of what she has done, of the consequences of her selfishness, to bleed out and never be allowed to heal just like us.

If we did not get to die she does not get to either 😈

Funnily enough, this is exactly how Morganna already feels, so you won't need to do much if this is how you want to get back at her!

Hmm, that's actually something that I haven't really considered! I might have to add some parts of it going forward because it is a really interesting motivation.

As for reactions:

Unsurprisingly, Maverick and Quinn would both support the MC leaning towards 'embracing' their Corruptant status/forgetting their past. Quinn might slightly more concerned then Maverick, depending on how deep the relationship with the MC has gotten, but she'd still have no real qualms with an MC saying these things.

Surprisingly, Hayes would be rather supportive of the MC in this case as well, assuming they haven't devolved into a murder maniac. Hayes would not focus on it from the perspective of 'refusing what made the MC weak' but more on a 'you should do things the you of today wants to do.' But either way, they'd be fairly supportive and okay with an MC shunning their past behavior/hobbies/actions/etc.

Sam would be quite conflicted, given that they've lived with the memories of the past MC, and to hear/see the MC shun that; it'd hurt them. But they wouldn't let it show, not unless they perceived the MC "falling down the wrong path" (i.e a lot indiscriminate murder) Sam would be more likely to open up, and really question the MC if they are able to regorge a close bond (platonically or romantically). In that case, they might try and convince the MC that their past self was never weak, and that they need to love themselves a little more, but of course, Sam's own rather blunt social skills might make that hard to convey.

Everix would be rather saddened (and potentially appalled, if the MC is acting Evil) at hearing/seeing the MC shun their past. They sympathize with feeling like the past is filled with mistakes, but they'd be rather adamant that the MC ensure they are being careful when discarding their past self. They wouldn't want the MC to become caught up in chasing some impossible strength alone, or to potentially lose wholesome or good traits they may have had. They'd try and encourage the MC that it's okay to be weak, that it wasn't their fault what happened, and that they can rely on others to help them even with what happened to them.

Also pretty sure the demand for corruptant blood infused weapons will still be around after the big quest (bet the king would have no qualms using them to put down normal human insurrections and stuff). How exactly would MC be exempted from being carted off back to prison to bleed forever?

It's not the fact that it's Corruptant blood, but the magical essence within the blood. Which is found in nearly every type of monster in the world. There's an entire industry around harvesting monster parts. The Blackguard supplements the bits of funding it receives from the Crown by processing said monster blood and parts. But it's risky, of course, fighting such things.

The MC being a safe source of rather potent essence infused blood is a valuable asset to be sure, and it certainly impacts many on the Council that will end up deciding their fate. However, it's not the sole source, and could be replaced. There are many other positives that could come from not re-imprisoning the MC as well. (There's also the fact that most Councilmembers do not see the MC as human/mortal, but a monster, and seeing them act like an actual mortal will impact them as well, it's a lot easier to sentence a monster to lifelong torture then a fellow mortal.)

As for other Corruptants, they are extremely rare. At least in the same way that the MC is one. Most "Corruptants'' were not truly corrupted by "It" and were just abnormally powerful mortals abusing unknown/forbidden magic. As I've hopefully shown in the game, there's a lot that even 'the experts' (i.e the Blackguard) do not know, or mythologize about Corruptants. The MC just happens to be the first Corruptant captured alive, it's part of why Quinn is so obsessed with them.

Yes, I was planning on having, as part of a choice to try to learn about yourself, a 'hobby' option. Something like picking up an instrument, coming across old sketches of theirs, knitting supplies, the like. The "final flashback" will also showcase a bit more of the MCs life in the Blackguard, and that will have some mention of a hobby the MC could have as well.

Hmm, there's going to be plenty of choices that are basically the MC taking time to themselves (either to learn something, plan something or try to get stronger among others) but I'm not entirely sure what an event for a 'loner' MC would look like.

Perhaps an interaction with the lovely voice in your head? Maybe a character or two trying to reach out? But I struggle to come up with an event that could be unique for this type of MC.

The exact reasonings that the MC's parents told those around them will come up in the story, particularly when the MC speaks with Ruben himself.

Morganna would be unable to agree, even if she knew exactly what the MC parents did to them. Her own self-loathing wouldn't really allow her to see someone else as worse then her. However, she certainly would get very, very worked up about learning the MC's treatment.

As shown in the scene talking to Morganna in her office in chapter 5, while she knew the MC's last name, and if she really tried to piece together who the MC's family was she'd probably be able too, but she never pressed the MC. But learning about what they went through, and how their parents treated them would infuriate her, most likely sinking the already tense relations the Blackguard have with the Council.

Hah, that's something that I've been wondering myself. My sci-fi military one has been "in production" for almost a year, and the cyberpunk one I started in Feb. I'd say I'm rather open to sharing the general ideas / inspirations, but want to save sharing anything more until I get the prologues / chapter 1's done.

Currently, I'd say the Cyberpunk one is closer to a state I'd share. It's prologue is done, and I'm probably about 65% or so done chapter one. The sci-fi one is a bit more branching with the prologue (9 possible branches and I've written 6), so I've still got to finish a couple of routes in that and then the rest of chapter one, which is probably 50% done?

Mainly, they're there for when my brain gets hooked into a burning desire to write in a different genre with different characters. It's a great way to push through both writers block and ADHD. The Sci-Fi one is heavily inspired by Halo and Mass Effect, with a healthy amount of Star Wars, 40k, and our historical past. It's quite large in scope, probably on par with Corruptant in scale (as in, "save the world galaxy") and the Cyberpunk one is much more "grounded."

I do have tentative titles for both works, as well as a full outline for the sci-fi one. The cyberpunk one is probably going to be much more episodic in nature.

Not exactly sure if I'll stick to monthly, or change it to bi-monthly or tri-monthly, but I'd like to try and write down little progress updates for myself (and you all). Hopefully it'll be a good way of keeping me interested in writing and might help whenever I get stuck!

Also not sure what I'll put in these, but it'll be a general recap of what I've been working on, the progress made, words added, etc. As well as whatever thoughts I might have, and maybe I'll share sneak peaks or snippets as well? Who knows.

For March, after launching the update that was nearly two years in the making I took a break from Corruptant for a good two weeks. Really only answering asks and fixing whatever bugs. But, I have worked on it since release. I've written out the "framework" for Chapter six and have actively started writing it. I've written a bit of the wake up go to / not go to your brother part as well as started some of the more specific routes/options that will show up after.

I've written a good portion of Sam's, probably close to 50% of it, and got started on Hayes', probably really only like 10-15% done that (turns out I did write a bit of a smutty scene for them already, with a few more in mind). I've also completely written one of the many "side" routes/choices that aren't related to spending time with a character.

Overall, I wrote 22k words for Corruptant, however, I've also gotten over the coding hump for one of my other projects and ended up writing a lot for that as well. I think I wrote probably 40k for that one.

Word counts as of March are:

Corruptant (320k) + 22k

Secret Project One (Sci-Fi military story) (100k) + 10k

Secret Project Two (Cyberpunk "detective" story) (15k) + 40k

Below is a small spoiler for what the choice branches will look like for chapter 6 of Corruptant, if you were interested in looking at it.

Ha! Glad you like them, I've put a lot of thought into them all.

First one is about MC's relationship with Sam if we assume MC actively tries to bond with Sam again. We see other characters who already know Sam wondering about their relationship (especially if MC and Sam were romantic in the past and the current interactions lean towards that too), but I wonder if it'll be discussed in game? As in, will we have the opportunity to discuss that relationship with other characters who wonder about it? And if this won't be discussed in game, would you be willing to share what are their current thoughts on it? I'm curious because of Sam's reputation and what not, as it makes sense for other characters to be confused and speculate about it.

Second one may be a bit too spoilery, but since you answered an ask about characters' thoughts on a MC who'd just want to be left alone and do nothing, I'm wondering if you'd be willing to share some insight about their thoughts on a MC who still wishes to work for Morganna and clearly thinks it's fulfilling? Obviously the MC can't be that fully commited as of now, but I'm assuming it will be a possible path in the future.

When it comes to the MC and Sam's past relationship, yeah there'll be plenty of chances to discuss it in game. Everix and Quinn will probably have the most "content" when it comes to discussing Sam and the MC, given they both know Sam quite well. Hayes is a serial gossip, so they have ended up learning a lot about Sam, so they're certainly curious enough to ask. Maverick however, most likely will not bring the topic up unless the MC does.

Quinn, is rather hopeful that the MC and Sam reconnecting (romantically or not) will be helpful for both of them. She is rather curious to see how the MC thinks and acts around Sam. Everix, given what they know about Sam and the MC, share the same hopes about reconnection helping both of them. Hayes is more intrigued and amused by the connection. They only know Sam through the rumors they heard and the limited times they've interacted recently, so hearing from the MC or Morganna (or others who remember Sam from before the MCs imprisonment) that Sam used to be fun-loving, optimistic and soft will peek their interest. Maverick would purely be curious from a wanting to know everything about the MC way. But yes, similar to discussing it in the game now with Everix and Hayes, there will be opportunities to discuss it and have scenes around it.

As for a MC wanting to work with the Blackguard and Morganna; most of the characters would be happy. The MC commiting to a "good cause" will be a massive relief to Morganna, Everix, Quinn, Hayes and Sam. Maverick would be less focused on that aspect, but would still accept the MC and trust them. Maverick has had prophetic visions about the MC for a long time, so he has a rather biased opinion of them.

Hayes and Quinn would would find it weird that the MC is willing to work with the Blackguard. It'd go against Quinn's assumption the MC wants to seek violent revenge, and Hayes would find it surprising that the MC could forgive Morganna.

Sam and Morganna would obviously be quite happy with the MC basically returning to doing what they did before everything, even if they are different. Morganna would consider the MC being willing to work with her after everything is over a best case scenario, one she has little faith in actually happening. Sam would be happy to have the MC back with them and not have to change their current life too much.

Everix would be glad with the MC in the Blackguard. They'd endeavor to make sure the MC feels included and would go out of their way to try to make sure other members know the MC is good. There might be some concerned questions along the lines of "are you sure this is what you want?" as Everix wouldn't want the MC to not try and address their trauma, but they'd be happy to help with that as well.