A Tale of Heroes (WIP) - 224k words. Updated 29/01/2025!

[Jjcb]

@AdmiralLynx89

they may as well be with how odd they can be sometimes, but usually in an adorkable way.

You think Aki’s odd? :'c

@Christopher_Bull

we don’t need someone who could solo a entire country on the loose

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Who knows what the future brings?

Perhaps things will get so dire that you’ll want yourself armed with enough to bring a solar system to a screeching halt.

@Azthyme

For one, Aki and Forlorn are not your ‘typical’ Cretan, who (because the Byzantines failed to conquer the Emirate of Crete due to the Hero-Monarchs’ intervention) are more Andalusian and Arab in ancestry, generally speaking.

This is true. The vast majority of Crete’s 5~ million people are of color. Though there are white people, as there’d be in any country that sees immigration, it’s still a comparatively low number. A hundred, maybe two hundred thousand total- and a very large number of them condensed within places like Rhodes and the other minor Dodecanese islands that Crete got at the end of WW2.

@Vicky_ThePanda

Am i the only one who is overwhelmed by the lore like damn i just can’t keep up

Haha, don’t worry. I talk and share a lot of stuff out of universe, but you don’t really need to keep up with all of that to enjoy the game. The plot is 100% contained within the book and well-explained in there. Any twists or revelations you might see will be fully rationalized within the story itself.

---

On a bit of a separate note, I just want to give a bit of a rundown for what to expect this weekend.

I spent a little time thinking things through, and came to the conclusion that there’s… not that much, narrative-wise, demanding that the contents of Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 be divided, beyond me simply deciding it had to be. The material in them is all connected, and splitting them into two chapters would just make them very short ones, comparatively.

So I’m not gonna do that. I’m going to fix my… well, the word is escaping me, but the structure, basically. Chapter 6 will now include Chapter 7’s content, and the ‘new’ Chapter 7 will be about the fallout of certain things, as well as the oft-mentioned Ignis Birthday Bash.

What that means, to explain things in a simpler manner, is that you’ll get an update on sunday which is about half of Chapter 6- covering the results of Chapter 5, significant lore, and scenes with part of the cast (Lat, Nova, Mars), and the next update will cover Forlorn/Aki, and a relevant Coltello event you’ll find yourself dragged into.

I suck at deadlines, so I won’t promise much on when the second half of Chapter 6 is coming out, but my winter holidays are coming up (my last exam is next thursday), and January is a very… light month here in the Dominican Republic (we have essentially a week’s worth of holidays, more or less), so I’ll try to go at it and see if I can drop that next month, too.

TL;DR: 25k~ words update this sunday, and hopefully, another 25k~ words one next month!

[JBento]

@Jjcb

You think Aki’s odd? :'c

I think we all do. “Odd” doesn’t mean bad, though. The number one is odd. Aki’s one of a kind. Unique.

[Jjcb]

Things got a little hectic on my end with some trouble, so it’s not as complete as I’d want it. The Mars scene is not finished, I’ll be putting that one up sometime this upcoming week, and… well, you’ll see where else I left you off chomping at the bit, I think.

Still, for now…

Chapter 6: Part One, is now out.

It’s 21,018 words long, bringing the grand total to 218k words including code. The next update should be around the same size at least, so… there go my original expectations of this book being only 300,000 words long.

Anyway! Here’s a short run-down of what you can expect in this chapter:

• The United States’ reach exceeds its grasp.
• God. Damn. Papparazi!
• A dinner with a chance for escape.
• Lore for you! Lore for the world! Lore for the buildings you live in!
• Are we meant to be the baddies ft. Latooni Kitamura.
• Seeker likes passing out there, guys… ft Latooni Kitamura.
• Mama, going to kill a man…
• Also, pay attention in Chapter 2, and you’ll see something neat!
• Also, also, there’s a neat new choice if you go with Nova and Mars at the start of Chapter 4!
• Also, also, also, if you play a trans or enby MC, there’s a little extra in chargen that I would like feedback on, if possible.

As always, remember I have a Discord you can join if you’d like to talk somewhere else: A Tale of Heroes

A Tumblr blog you can go if you want to drop any questions: http://juantheashura.tumblr.com/

And, if you’re willing and capable, I do have a ko-fi which helps support my writing, so if you’re ever in a position in which you can spare a few bucks: https://ko-fi.com/juancuevas0168

Now, with all that out of the way, here’s the link!

Please, have fun!

https://moody.ink/play/jjcb/a-tale-of-heroes/mygame/

[Azthyme]

Following up on what I did for Chapter 5:

@Azthyme

Bonus teasers to highlight some other parts of the chapter I enjoyed:

• “If you don’t stop that, I’m gonna break your nico nico kneecaps”
• We should make this a regular thing (ft. Latooni Kitamura)
• So that’s what untamed lightning looks like…
• Seeker gives us the good stuff
• Mars likes ducks. They get the best of three worlds!

Anyway, I’ve adjusted one of my votes in the previous poll, just because there’s enough weight on the scales to tip things slightly back for me.

[JBento]

Oh, we on moody now? I’ll have to play from the start, then, meaning I won’t have time today. I’ll see if I can check it out tomorrow.

[idonotlikeusernames]

In keeping with the aliens theme for power origins I’m going to go with Aki and Forlorn are from another planet. Said planet could even be in another galaxy but that doesn’t really matter now. It would make sense for off-worlders(human aliens) to learn (or have it provided to them by a hidden translator) perfect English without a hint of a noteworthy accent.

Human looking alien or not Forlorn is still an asshole though, nothing will change that.

[fsix]

Is there no save functionality in this moody.ink place? Kind of sucks if so.

@Jjcb

You just need to make an account, you’ll get the integrated save feature then.

Bleh. Really don’t like places which pull shit like that. But oh well.

[Jjcb]

You just need to make an account, you’ll get the integrated save feature then.

[fsix]

A minor issue with the new demo: On “hero profiles” pages, the portraits for Ignis, Seeker and Aki appear to be missing, getting a broken link icon. The ones added in this build (Forlorn and Nova) work.

[Non_Fat_Pizza]

Right after I finished Chapter 5:

[apple]

@Non_Fat_Pizza

Right after I finished Chapter 5:

Have you left the game open since the update dropped? This was initially an error on the night it dropped (Juan forgot to update the end of Chapter 5 to properly continue to the new content instead of ending the game), but it should be patched by now.

[HarleyQueen]

Can we kill Seeker? He pisses me off.

[Griffin_Boys]

Damn

[Revan_Alek_Shan]

Nah Seeker isn’t near as kill worthy as Stratton is the guy is a bigot and an awful person in general from what we see of him let’s not forget he plays a prank involving a bomb if that’s not idiotic jerk material I don’t know what is. Gloria is smart but he gives me shady mastermind vibes but he ain’t evil or a dangerous idiot at least.

[Non_Fat_Pizza]

I tried replying the whole game but the same 404 message appeared again

[apple]

@Revan_Alek_Shan

Nah Seeker isn’t near as kill worthy as Stratton

Why do you hate the best President America has ever had

Jokes aside, fun fact about Stratton’s bigotry is that, while he is a total racist, he is canonically an LGBT ally, in public and private. We stan.

@JBento

We most certainly do not.

Speak for yourself, I trust Mars. Stratton is good, 4shore.

[JBento]

@Revan_Alek_Shan

Gloria is smart but he gives me shady mastermind vibes but he ain’t evil

Oh, he DEFINITELY is. Gloria’s worse than Stratton, because while Stratton is a piece of shit that nearly blew up a bunch of people because he’s ALSO a moron, Gloria purposefully and knowingly incited a terrorist attack from an organisation of unknown but definitely high power in a highly-populated area of a foreign country for a photo op. I still can’t believe we’re letting this fucker aboard the 'Wing instead of making him wait for Air Force One or whatever the fuck. He can SWIM from Japan to the US if he’s in such a hurry.

@apple

[…]Stratton[…] We stan.

We most certainly do not.

[Dahariel]

Damn what happened, we went from loving Seeker to wanting him dead now.

[Azthyme]

@Non_Fat_Pizza

I tried replying the whole game but the same 404 message appeared again

You may have to refresh your cache. Ctrl-Shift-R, Ctrl-F5, or whatever the equivalent is for your keyboard may be needed here.

@JBento

Gloria’s worse than Stratton, because while Stratton is a piece of shit that nearly blew up a bunch of people because he’s ALSO a moron, Gloria purposefully and knowingly incited a terrorist attack from an organisation of unknown but definitely high power in a highly-populated area of a foreign country for a photo op.

Ah, the classic question. When dealing with positions of power, and thus positions capable of causing immense harm, is stupidity preferable to the competent? At least in ATOH, the United States didn’t have to face this choice — Gloria would’ve been content to play the Cheney for 8 years before seizing the throne for himself. Events have merely… expedited his timetable. Perhaps his timetable for many things.

@Dahariel

Damn what happened, we went from loving Seeker to wanting him dead now.

It’s just a rehash of old drama. Probably best to ignore it. “We” still stan Seeker, or perhaps more precisely — Seeker is an asshole, but he’s our asshole, which plays an important role anatomically.

[Revan_Alek_Shan]

Fair point and like real life this is why I hate politicians because you either get one who is a massive idiot with an ego or someone willing to let people die to forward their plans or cause.