Name’s Mortimer, and I have been a passive reader of the forum for several years now (and still counting), it has been quite a time already that I have been personally tempted to throw my hand at this whole new ordeal. The CYOA entourage that is. Thus I bring forth today a small collection of wanderous thoughts, those are “inner universes” (as I like to call them at times) which I have been working on for a long time (some are a bit more fresh, so the ideas are less clear, but I have a general direction), meaning that the finer details and the majority of information revolving around them, have more or less been established, but are very much so prone to change, if anything were to happen.
My apologies beforehand for any prevalent mistakes that might occur during your reading, English is not my mothertongue, hence there will plausibly be mistakes lurking around and over.
Any further queries, commentaries and such are very much welcome, being as I am always open for discussion.
Aforementioned elements:
→Story- and character-driven, emphasising the universe around the reader and the bonds they can build by interacting with the outside world. Giving a sufficient amount of time and space for character development and self-growth/self-reflection. The relationships you form will evolve accordingly in response to your deeds and words: not everyone will like you, I aim to make believable personalities who will feel real enough in the eyes of the players.
→This might be an iffy for some, but I’ll be frank: you might not even be the protagonist/antagonist of the story, like at all (I might give an option for that, if really necessary, but it is not my main focus). As much as I love a MC who can kick everyone’s arse to Mars and back, sometimes, — just sometimes stories can be about the ones who support the “Great Hero/Villain”, helping them to achieve the end result. And knowing myself, the Main Character might not even be the "Chosen One"™ or the "Big Bad"™, though the field is open on that, depending a lot on the subject I will end up writing.
→Lots of choices. Options that matter. Consequences to your actions, reactions to your sayings. I wish to offer as much liberty and versatility to the readers, even if that means writing a variable amount of branching paths for one conversation, I will do it. Because I sure do love a good challenge.
→There will be romance, but it is optional. And though it might not be on the front, every single possibilities will be as detailed as it can be, whether you bond romantically or platonically. There will be a lot to explore (hopefully), so those relationships will only be one part of the rest.
→ Character portraits (for everyone else but you, alas), I’ll be doing all the art that I’d include into the story myself, be it map or character portraits, anything that might come to mind, might make it to the final cut. But yes, there will be illustrations in it. Though again, I will offer an option to make it optional if you don’t want to see any of it, for better immersion or whatnot.
I might have forgotten something, which is more than likely. But yes, those are pretty much what I have in mind. It sounds daunting, and perhaps like a lot of work, but I am prepared to fully commit myself to this project and to accept it as a challenge.
…
→ details: low fantasy, MC will definitely not be the main protagonist/antagonist on this one, they will however be a strong secondary character through who’s lenses the reader will experience the story. You are but a simple gravedigger, always thought your life had begun with a tiny shovel in your small hand, and would obviously end with a shovel in your other hand buried five feet deep underground, pushing daisies as your next of kin would carry on the legacy. You have known nothing else but the stone and the dead, a family business carried on from generation to generation. 'til one day, there is noise in one of the mausoleums: odd, sounds like moaning – better check it out.
SAMPLE made gauchely:
Dank and misty, a hardship to the lungs, yet pertinacity prays on its knees at every weighted, laboured breathes, and blooms ever-so slowly in the field of citron helianthuses: imploring a beacon of light to befall them in hushed tones.
D e e p b r e a t h .
A gasp of air and a flash of light. There are colourful stars in your eyes, they twinkle blindingly, in slow-motion, they float. Up and down, up and down, akin a ghostly apparition lazily standing before you, all smiles and no claws.
You can see: a cascade of alabaster, with small tints of otherworldly shades inhabiting the corner of your eyes. Things crawl, crawl the wall of white, crawl all-over. They are everywhere, in the air, on the smooth surface upon which you lie, in your hair, on your body – in your eyes. Insect-like, – filth.
Movement ensues, with a steely mind, there comes focus.
Sharp like a sword cutting through thin breeze, a year-long practised motion: the colours die away, fading into nothingness, forgotten forever. And ever.
And suddenly. You see nothing.
Nothing but the whiteness of your surroundings.
It is clean once more.
→ details: fantasy most likely, might be urban fantasy, - less likely, but could work too. You play a “Purifier”, an entity blinded by its own beliefs, who bows to no one but the purest of lights, purifying in your wake everything and everyone. But no matter how much you try, you feel dirty and the whole world feels even dirtier than it did a moment ago. So you do what you know best. You cleanse these lands. Even if that means you have to burn it down to the very ground.
→ you will start as an antagonistic MC, not necessarily pure evil, but your over-zealousness towards purity takes the cake over everything else, and not many are fond of that.
→ small homage to [OFF] by Mortis Ghost.
…
→ details: saucy telenovella comedy in Backwoods City - not really. You are a psychologist-therapist, but not about just any psychologist: your speciality lying on less sailed subjects, you just have the nerves for that for some reasons. Which also explains why your clientele is most unusual - one of a kind even: Villains and sometimes even, Heroes. Sit down for long hours listening to Superhumans rambling to you about their thoughts, dreams, hopes and regrets. Surely, you won’t fall asleep any time soon.
…
→ details: futuristic science-fiction. Spaceship drama and cosmic sardonicism, darkly satirical humour mixed with a touch of alien lovin’. You. A mere human of the Milky Way. Wayfarer of galaxies, explorer of time and space, are part of a small tag-along ragtag spaceship (mercenary) crew: mainly consisted of extraterrestrial lifeforms, you being one of the sole humans midst the group. Chaos ensues and things happen. On occasion, to keep yourself sane, you record your thoughts on a recording device.
→ small homage to some podcasts: EOS 10, Marscorp, Wolf 359, Mission to Zyxx, Kakos Industries, Welcome to Night Vale, Ray Gunn and StarBurst and Glittership. And some series like X-files and Invader Zim. Games such as Mass Effect, Alone With You and Borderlands. Might have forgotten some on the way, but those are the ones at least that came to mind.
…
→ details: sci-fi noir pulp with a Lovecraftian touch. Adventures of a space P.E. and a cosmic Arcanist chasing after Outer Gods and hellraising all-around.
→ small homage to some podcasts: Edict Zero - FIS, the Penumbra Podcast, Welcome to Night Vale, Kakos Industries, TANIS, NOCTURNAL TRANSMISSIONS and Neon Nights. As usual might have forgotten some.
Unfortunately I’m not offering samples for every themes, but maybe during the week, if inspiration hits me for a little while, I might jumble together some phrases to let you see what it might feel like.
I might add some new ideas, if anything comes to mind, thus updating if needed.
- Out in the Woods
- Sacrosanct Ichor
- Deer in the Limelight
- Ruin a Life Contest
- They Shine
