Ascendant

currently working on: Ascendant

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ASCENDANT

Is there anything more profoundly human than to cry?

Orphaned from a young age, you do what you must to survive. But what happens when something sinister disrupts the mundanity of your everyday life?

You begin as a child born to a native mother and a colonist father. Although you are shaped by both cultures, neither has always been eager to claim you.

Amidst war and an ongoing colonisation, you must find your place within the Kingdom of Yawa, or die trying.

Ascendant is an Epic-Fantasy inspired by the ancient Kingdom of Majapahit. This interactive fiction also draws inspiration from ancient manuscripts (such as Pararaton and Negarakertagama,) colonisation and local Southeast Asian folklore, but is otherwise entirely fictional in nature, and therefore, does not contain 100% historical accuracy.

Features:

- play out your backstory

- play as female, male, or nonbinary

- decide the fate of those around you

- face the consequences of your own actions

- play as one of the mythological races based on Southeast Asian folklore

- romance your companions

- or have short (and long) flings

- delve into the magical Kingdom of Yawa and discover its secrets

- uncover your family's secrets

TW: Heavy, mature themes and discussions, such as body horror, war crimes, sexual themes and discussions, cults, religious trauma, colonisation impact, banning of native languages, child abuse, and other potentially triggering materials

DEMO - soon | Playlist

Note: As the local law bans NSFW content, I will adhere to it by making future sex scenes non explicit (i.e. not mentioning any body parts and focusing more on the intimacy rather than the sex itself,) as otherwise, I'd have to do 12 years in prison. 😭🫶

Romance Options

The Knight, Arya Civa (M)

"Hell could not claim him,

yet he yearned for its still and icy embrace."

As the miracle son of the Mahapatih (prime minister,) Civa is raised to be a great warrior and to someday lead the Yawan army to glory.

However, you see cracks forming underneath his composed elegance as he bears the expectations of those around him.

Playlist | Moodboard

The Serpent Spy, Laoly Gülo (F)

"There she stood,

venom drips from her tongue as she stayed blindly devoted to a lost cause."

Born into a family of Naga performers, it didn't take much for her to fall in love with the art of Ronggeng dancing, captivating her audience wherever she goes.

Yet you realise early that her charms conceals an ulterior motive.

Playlist | Moodboard

The Winged Scholar, D. Solisa (F/M/NB)

"So sang the winged creature,

its voice heavy with longing as it casts its gaze unto the void."

D's future is as bright as their mind, set to be one of the best poet Yawa has ever seen, they shouldn't have to hide their real identity.

But with everyone carrying their own prejudice beliefs about the winged people of Wandan island, it was easier said than done.

Playlist | Moodboard

???

"Faithless, pathless, kinless.

How cruel had the world treated you...

and yet, you persist."

You won't be meeting this character for a while, don't worry about them :))

Playlist

And many more minor romances and flings!

All visuals are made using canva :)

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Okayyyy so, I'm almost done with everything, I think I'll finally be able to post the first half of chapter 1 by the end of the week (like saturday/sunday depending on timezones) and if according to plan, update it within the month. Here's hoping everything goes well 😭🤞

I'm also currently working two jobs, and the only time I'm able to work on this IF is at midnight. So I apologise if it's taking a while 🫶

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Heya, just popping in to say that the first half of chapter 1 will be coming out next week, so I won't be answering any asks for now, I think I'll resume answering them once the demo is out.

Right now, I'm focusing on editing the IF, developmental and grammatical wise. It definitely won't be perfect, though as I'm not an editor. I'll also be playtesting it just to make sure that there won't be any game breaking bugs.

Also, is it weird to admit that I've been listening to trixie and katya morning, day, and night? I literally brainstorm the entirety of act 1 with the bald and the beautiful podcast playing in the background 😭 it's come to the point where I can't sleep without listening to them as though they are white noise.

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Quick question are the ROs gonna have problems with the MC being half coloniser at least at the beginning?

When you meet them, the colonisation is still p subtle as they started out as missionaries spreading the word of god and stuff, as well as imperial merchants trading for spices (while occasionally sprinkling some divide et impera,) but there's going to be initially some sort of wariness, as in like, "what do you know about this and this and this?"

However, since you'll meet the ROs in the capital city, which practically by now is like a huge trading hub, they won't have any BIG problems with mc being mixed as they've seen people from all sorts of background in the city. Everyone else, though, is a different story.

I will say that where your loyalties lie as the colonisation progresses will have an impact to your relationship with the ROs, though.

Also spoilers below:

I will also say that with ???, it's diferent, as in they will DESPISE you for being born with the blood of their oppressor. Like, actively loathe you and it will take a while for them to soften up.

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Some facts about MC's parents?

MC's dad is a sailor of the coloniser's fleet, he is also a devout believer of the God whom the colonisers worships. You'll learn more about him as the story progresses as bits and pieces of informations about MC's parents are scattered across Act 1. I don't want to spoil much about MC's parents as they are a major plot point in this IF.

As for MC's mom, her parents disagrees with her choice of partner (MC's dad), and she's basically become sort of an outcast in her community. She moved to another village with MC's dad after having MC. And that village is the setting for chapter 1.

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hii, are youu planning to give your ROs face claims? anw... can't wait to see ur updatee :D

Ooohh, this is going to sound a bit weird, but I actually don't like to do face claims 😭

Not bcs I'm completely against it, I'm just not comfortable with imagining them as irl ppl. Personally, it sort of ventures on uncanny valley territory whenever I try to imagine them looking like realistic ppl. I am currently commissioning my sister to draw them, so if she ever finishes, I'll be sure to post it on this blog. But I do have some old artworks that I made of them. This was like months ago, and I've made some changes on their appearances.

This is an old art of D, I've decided to change their hair to shoulder length and their body decorated with Pa'atei, or Tattoo markings. I also want to change the markings on their face, as I was just messing around with their design back then, I'd def have to consult a mollucan artist who understands Pa'atei, though, as I don't want to disrespect the culture. I'm also still unsure if I want them to have horns, I think I'll have to scrap it from their design. But lmk if I should keep it.

D has medium brown skin, curly hair, jagged, sharp teeth, huge bat wings, black hands, as in their skin gradually fades to black from the knuckles to the tip of their fingers, they are 5'8 regardless of gender.

This is a somewhat newer art of Civa, I don't think I want to change his design.

Civa has short straight hair, olive skin tone, he has a more muscular build thanks to years of military training, he is 6'1, has strong jawlines, chiseled face, high cheekbones, he has a lot of small moles dotted around his body.

I am personally unsatisfied with my art here, my sister would def do a better work and do his design justice tho😭

This is Laoly, don't mind her hime haircut, I was messing around with her hair when I lost the mf file and couldn't go back to change it 😭 I'm planning to redo her eyes so it could be more snake like, also wanted to add snake scales to her skin, but then I remembered that Nagas could take on a human Façade, so I'm thinking this is her with her disguise, the only thing she wouldn't be able to change would be her snake-like tongue.

In disguise, she'd be 5'6, she has dark brown skin regardless, I'm planning to make her hair long and curly. When she's not in disguise, she'd be around 8'0 due to her having a snake's body, she'd also have scales all over.

The content below might contain spoilers!!!

This is ???, or Gani/Gari, they are the final major love interest that I'm planning to introduce during the start of ACT II. Their gender is selectable.

They are a kinnara/kinnari, which are creatures from Hindu-buddhist mythology with the upper body of a human while their lower body is very reminiscent to that of a swan's. In this IF though, Kinnara and Kinnari have huge swan-like wings and swan like legs only. In Gani/Gari's case, their wings had been cut off, you'll see why on act ii.

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You know this had to be the first IF I encountered where the MC is a child of two worlds yet accepted by neither and I’m very curious to see where this goes

Ah, it came from my insecurities as a mixed person, lol.

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woah, im really excited to see how this'll turn out! growing up, the ancient empires was one of my favorite subjects to learn about in history class (my favorite was Singhasari though haha) and realizing that most people nowadays kind of dgaf about them makes me a little sad to think about. so to find an IF based on one of them is more than wonderful to me... i honestly freaked out a little when i saw the post banner with wayang! semoga selalu sukses kak, much luck to you!

Omg thank youuuu, I love Singhasari too <333

Although, my favourite has always been Sriwijaya due to the mystery surrounding it. My reasoning as to why I chose Majapahit was bcs I was reading about Mpu Prapanca (our local Van Gogh 😭💔) and I fell into a rabbit hole filled with sm information about Majapahit that made me wonder what would it have been like if the colonisation happens during the Majapahit era, instead, when there was a strong belief that everyone could wield magic, if they have the discipline to learn it, that is.

And I agree that it's so sad that we are starting to forget a lot of the culture that we inherit from our ancestors. Like, even though Aksara Jawa is taught at school, no one ever really pays attention to it. At least, no one in my class did, including me. And I deeply regret not paying attention to it.

And sukses selalu for you too, friend ❤️❤️

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EXCUSE ME??? southeast asian folklore n a playlist that's mostly indon songs n javanese gamelan??? OHH I'M SAT. I'M SO EXCITED😭🧎‍♀️

Hehee, thank you sm 🫶

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What races?

Sooo the current races that I have in this IF are based on the myths that I grew up with,

Cindaku, the Cindaku are people who can transform into tigers, they were once a group of humans who fosters good relations with tigers. Cindaku is not so much of a race but more like a group of people with ability, knowledge or spells that are passed down from generation to generation to maintain boundaries and the relationship between humans and tigers

Naga, the nagas are based on hindu - buddhist mythology, the upper part of their body is human but the lower parts of their body are all snake, they came from the underworld and sometimes, they took on a human façade to blend in. Female nagas are called Nagini. Their sworn enemies are the Garudas.

Orang Bati, literally translates to people with wings. Not to be confused with the Bati tribe, which are an indigenous tribe located in the Maluku islands. Orang Bati is based on a folklore on Seram island, which is also located in the Maluku region. Based on the folklore, basically, they're huge bats with human like body and they kidnap children and wreak havoc on villages. In this IF, although they have bat like eyes, ears, and wings, they still closely resembles human.

Garuda, also based on hindu-buddhist mythology, they are majestic creatures who came from the heavens and they are vehicles to the god Vishnu. They have huge red wings and golden feathers around their body. I know in the original myth, they're supposed to have human body and legs, but imagining them as anthropomorphic eagles in this IF is very fun. They are also the sworn enemies of Nagas

Ebu Gogo, the Ebu Gogos are based on a myth in Flores, they are creatures that closely resembles human but are small in size (like 1 meter tall.) Also, the literal translation to the word Ebu Gogo is like, the ancestor who eats everything.

And of course, human

I'll definitely come back and make an edit of this post, in case I forgot anything, but these are the races that I included in my IF.

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The Five Genders of the Ancient Bugis People

Orowane - these would be cis men

Makkunrai - these would be cis women, women themselves are highly valued and respected in bugis society,

Calabai - the Calabais are trans women or people who were assigned male at birth but would reaffirm their gender as female later on in life or adopt a feminine role in the society,

Calalai - the Calalai are trans men or people who were assigned female at birth but would reaffirm their gender as male later on in life or adopt a masculine role in the society,

Bissu - these would be nonbinary people and those who are born intersex. The Bugis society believes that the Bissu are vital spiritual figures able to connect humans with gods and are highly respected.

Each of these genders are all essential to provide a balance in the world. It's sad to see that after colonisation, everyone started to shift and this gender diversity is reduced to being a product of "western beliefs" when it was within our culture all along.

In fact, it was western colonialism that had destroyed the diversity of gender cultures from all around the world. The hatred towards queer people was a result of us being westernised during and after colonisation, which for us, had spanned for over three centuries long.

Sources are linked here, here, and here

That being said, happy pride to all who can openly celebrate and to those who can't.

🌈❤️🏳️‍🌈

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Alsooooo I can't believe I forgot to add a disclaimer, but these are very ancient ways of how people try to understand the different identities of those around back then. My point was that we were more accepting back then than we are now 😭

Obviously now we have a broader understanding of things, enough to know not to treat people as "other" or a subclass of a certain gender, which, honestly I think is gross. Trans women are women and trans men are men, nonbinary people are valid, you are who you are and who you want to be 🫶

[insert-witty-user-name-here]

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Holy shit this sounds so fire, I’m on the edge of my seat! So excited to follow this IF’s development!

Omg thank youuu sm <3

I'm aiming to release at least half of ch.1 by the end of the month if not early July.

I've had the entirety of chapter 1 written out, I just need to code in flavour texts as well as reactivity to the player's race (as well as behavioral aspects, etc) from the characters of the game so that it felt more real and lived in, if it makes sense ❤️❤️❤️

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no questions just so happy for the southeast Asian rep in the if community 🥹

Thank youuu <3

I was def inspired by @eyeofthemoongame to start doing my own interactive fiction about my home country.

Also because we have such extensive history and mythologies that made me want to create something based on it. 🥺🫶

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The Five Genders of the Ancient Bugis People

Orowane - these would be cis men

Makkunrai - these would be cis women, women themselves are highly valued and respected in bugis society,

Calabai - the Calabais are trans women or people who were assigned male at birth but would reaffirm their gender as female later on in life or adopt a feminine role in the society,

Calalai - the Calalai are trans men or people who were assigned female at birth but would reaffirm their gender as male later on in life or adopt a masculine role in the society,

Bissu - these would be nonbinary people and those who are born intersex. The Bugis society believes that the Bissu are vital spiritual figures able to connect humans with gods and are highly respected.

Each of these genders are all essential to provide a balance in the world. It's sad to see that after colonisation, everyone started to shift and this gender diversity is reduced to being a product of "western beliefs" when it was within our culture all along.

In fact, it was western colonialism that had destroyed the diversity of gender cultures from all around the world. The hatred towards queer people was a result of us being westernised during and after colonisation, which for us, had spanned for over three centuries long.

Sources are linked here, here, and here

That being said, happy pride to all who can openly celebrate and to those who can't.

🌈❤️🏳️‍🌈

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These are some of the books I've read as references for my IF 🌸

Obviously, we've learned of what happened at school through the lenses of our own people, but I've always been interested to read of what goes on within the colonisers' head.

And sadly, A LOT of the horrible things that had transpired was the direct result of greed and self righteousness. I still feel sick to my stomach knowing that Jan Pieterszoon Coen is still deemed a hero in the Netherlands even though the genocide of Banda Neira was documented and extensively exposed.

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Midway upon the journey of our life

  I found myself within a forest dark,

  For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

— Inferno, Canto I