Twine WIP author and illustrator (they/them). You can call me Fen. Currently writing Stygian Sun: Total Eclipse, a dark fantasy interactive story. Patreon https://www.patreon.com/FenofCattails
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/fennyth
Check out my art blog @fennythofcattails-ifs https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fennythofcattails-ifs and my website at https://cattailsart.carrd.co/
Nsfw blog @stygian-sun-if-after-dark
After the deaths of your four oldest siblings, taken from you by war, your older sibling, Nour, once fifth in line for the Solar Imperial throne, is now the heir.
This day never should have happened.
As recompense for the ravages your kingdom’s war has inflicted upon the Lunar kingdom of Celestyl, and as assurance it will not happen again, your sibling is to be sent to Celestyl to marry the Lunar King’s heir. An arranged marriage, meant to unite the kingdoms. Or, at least that’s how everyone prefers to phrase it. But you all recognize this for what it really is: a guise. Your sibling will be a political hostage.
And—Theia, grant you guidance—you have had a premonition this is not the worst to come. Should your sibling go to Celestyl, they will not survive.
So you will take their place.
Stygian Sun: Total Eclipse is a dark fantasy interactive fictional story where you play as the sixth child in the proud and grandiose Solar Imperial Dynasty and leave your homeland for a foreign country, where you will take your sibling’s place in an arranged marriage to the heir to the Lunar Kingdom. But something sinister simmers on the horizon—you have felt it in your premonitions; apprehension crawls beneath your skin, foreboding pricks at the back of your neck, dread sinks low and heavy in your stomach. Theia is warning you—of what, you know not, but you have seen the way the Lunar King looks at you. His stare, the dagger, and you, the sacrificial lamb on the altar.
Beware the wolf, little lamb.
Content Warnings: "Stygian Sun: Total Eclipse" contains many upsetting themes, such as arranged marriage, child abuse, child neglect, child death, death, murder, violence, gore, sexually suggestive scenes, optional sexual content, suicidal themes and ideations, and more. "Stygian Sun: Total Eclipse" is intended for mature audiences 18+. Viewer discretion is advised.
Customize your MC's name, gender, pronouns, appearance, personality, and sexuality. Play as straight, gay, lesbian, bi, poly, and/or asexual. MC intro post here.
Shape your personality through your choices and see how it affects dialogue with other characters.
Navigate through the difficulties of court life in a foreign country.
Develop your magic—powers bestowed upon you through your divine bloodline.
Romance one or more of five romantic options, including your betrothed, the Lunar heir; your charming and overly flirtatious retainer; your acolyte, a priestess in training; a kind yet darkly mysterious Celestylian noble; or a peculiar and chaotic mage.
Develop deep and lasting friendships or make enemies. Platonic relationships will be just as deep as romantic ones.
Uncover a sinister plot that threatens everything you hold dear—and decide what you will risk to protect it.
Nour Al’Teia, your older sibling. (Gender dependent on MC’s.) Non-RO Once fifth in line for the Solar Imperial throne, Nour was perfectly content to play a supportive role to Parim, first in line, and the rest of their siblings. Now first in line for the throne, Nour is doing their best to step into a role they were never prepared to fill. Despite their best attempts to reassure you, you can tell this weighs more heavily on them than they let on.
Luca Lupine, your childhood friend. (Gender Selectable. She/her. He/him.) Non-RO Your childhood friend who, at the age of 13, perished in a fire, consumed so completely you were left with not even a body to mourn. Ever since then, whether as a manifestation of your guilt and grief, through some connection beyond the planes of life and death, or through some other means unbeknownst to you, they appear in your dreams, aiding you in parsing through visions and prophecies. [View: Character Profile]
Kieran Zeleskas, the Lunar Heir. (Gender Selectable. She/her. He/him.) RO The Crown Prince/ss of Celestyl. Though not of noble birth, events put into motion by their father have elevated them to this position, one they seem to have adapted to rather well by all appearances. Stoic and aloof, they seem less than pleased about this arrangement between the two of you. You’re inclined to agree. [View: Character Profile]
Alektis de Celestys, the lone princess. (She/her.) Non-RO The adoptive sister to Kieran. The slaughter of her family during the coup that brought Kieran’s father to power has rendered her irascible and hostile to most everyone. Though she mostly keeps to herself, with only her retainer, Nihm, for company, you often find her tumultuous glare trained on you, a complex look on her face you can’t quite decipher. [View: Character Profile]
Nihm de Circené, the guardian. (They/them.) RO Devoted retainer to Alektis and last surviving member of House Circené. Kind and sociable, Nihm is well-regarded in both noble and commoner social circles alike. However, their warm and affable disposition cannot completely hide the apprehension in their gait, nor the trembling in their hands. Still, they do their best to welcome you in a place where everyone seems dead-set on hating you. [View: Character Profile]
Aurynn Anouar, the retainer. (He/him.) RO Seeming to have appeared from out of nowhere, Aurynn rescued you from a dire situation during your first battle experience, and afterwards was appointed your retainer and has served you as such ever since. Charismatic, laidback, and flirtatious to a fault, Aurynn tends to either charm or annoy everyone he meets. Despite his insistence that he is an open book, sometimes you can’t help but feel the opposite; indeed, everything about him seems shrouded in secrecy. [View: Character Profile]
Samira Nahdiri, the priestess. (She/her.) RO Certain events left her family deeply shamed and nearly destitute until her exceptional accomplishments as a healer elevated her to the renowned position as your acolyte, drawing upon the power of your blood to learn healing magic in her pursuit to become a priestess. Strong, loyal, and compassionate, she is devoted to caring for her family above all else, and she counts you among them. [View: Character Profile]
Lilith/Lucien de Arcanis, the mage. (Gender Selectable. She/they. He/they.) RO The adopted heir to House Arcanis, a line of powerful and highly skilled mages. Wild-eyed with a wolfish grin, their peculiar and eccentric mannerisms tend to unsettle their peers, leaving them rather isolated in social circles—a circumstance which doesn’t seem to bother them one way or the other. For better or worse, it appears they’ve taken a rather intense interest in you. [View: Character Profile]
Poly Options (subject to change): any ROs will be able to be romanced independently or simultaneously.
Sibling Character Art: Farah, Nour, Aurora, Parim, Ember, Castor
Working on my MC from Stygian Sun: Total Eclipse by @stygiansun-totaleclipse. It's hard to design elaborate outfits, I dont know how you do it so brilliantly, Fen. Also, funny how different MC looks wearing sibling's wedding clothes huh 🤔 Finally he is here and now I can make memes. So my first meme is something I figured only finishing the second art
OMG THESE ARE BEAUTIFUL!!! :O 💖✨🌈🐛👀‼️🫵💖 I love your designs for these and your art style omg!! That robe/shroud is gorgeous and I love the armor and MC’s tattoos!! Thanks so much for sharing!!!! 💖✨🐛🌈‼️
Hello, I have a question about the MC's family's appearance. What does their father look like? I think it was mentioned that Parim got his brown hair, but what about his eyes and skin tone? Does MC looks more like their mother?
It’s written in the scene where mc talks to their father—I don’t have my puter with me, but if I recall correctly he has a similar skin/hair tone as Parim and the same eye color as MC. MC takes largely after their mother.
Hello! I've a question about MC's attraction. I noticed that when we pick who is MC usually attracted to it says "this choice will not lock you out of any romances". Does that mean there's a different/extra dialogue for MC's who are romancing someone with a gender they're not usually attracted to?
It will just provide some flavor text. There’s a little bit right now if you kissed Aurynn and there will be more for the other ROs as their routes progress.
Super excited for the new update!! Its Friday for me right now, so I've decided to use this as something to encourage my creative juices to flow for that daro thing I've been working on. Never used this method of hyping myself up before lol, I actually think it will work
Is there a plot reason lady calliope/lord callum is genderlocked to be the same gender as luca. I've only ever chosen girl Luca so I didn't even know before that taht was even an option. Is there plot reasons. Is there Implications. What's going on there🤨🤨😮💨
Nah it’s nothing special—it’s just another annoying girl/guy for mc to opt to ask for help instead to make Luca jealous in the manipulative option. 👍
From most to least how tortureable are the characters. Bonus points if separate rankings for physical and psychological
Aurynn—most tortureable both physically and psychologically. And I do both frequently 👍 Cries the hardest. 😌
Nihm—second most in both categories, tho they have a special trauma ability (and eagerness to please) that makes them “better” (so much worse) in the psychological category :D 👍💖🐛🌈✨
Kieran—can endure a fair amount of pain and their loyalty won’t falter, tho I’d say psychologically they are more susceptible to more subtle forms of abuse and isolation. They are pretty stoic and resilient, but if you know what buttons to press, they can be manipulated.
Samira—my slow-burn torture baby. She can endure a lot in both categories (I mean cmon girly thinks her tonics taste fine) and her stubborn will is hard to break. Despite her admonishments for the same behavior in others, she is herself rather self-destructive and shoulders things alone. However ☝️ I have already planted the seed of lingering psychological dread in her. Time for slow-roasted torment and paranoia.
Lilith/Lucien—least tortureable in both categories (from an outsider’s perspective) as a product of constant torture, tho they do an excellent job at self-torment—babe just refuses to let anyone have the satisfaction of breaking them. This thang won’t quit until they’ve settled unfinished business. They think they’ve come to terms with things (but they haven’t. They can break down once it’s over (and they will)).
If you choose the option to just stop Aurynn when he goes to pet Farwah, I find it hilarious that mc doesn't actually tell him it was a trap. Aurynn won't tell Sam if he tenderly comforted mc. Mc won't tell Aurynn they're protecting him from cat bites. Dumbasses who love to annoy each other.
Aurynn definitely willingly took those tonics. He wasn't force fed them at all. Why would you even think to accuse MC of that? Maybe that says something about you.
It didn't even cross my mind that Lady Calliope/Lord Callum isn't genderlocked lol. Is there a variable that determines their gender or is it just random?
It matches Luca’s gender. In one of the manipulative choices in their first dream sequence, MC mentions Lord Callum/Lady Calliope.
Do they know? That is not Nour in the ship? I mean Rynn is there and they must know hes mc's retainer? Or do they just think hes coming "home"
Some of this was mentioned in the prev update and will be further explained in subsequent updates. I understand it raises several questions, but I will get to those in the game 👍
Did some of the writing in chapter 1 change with the update, or am I just misremembering it? Like I thought it was Lady Helia who stopped Nour on the way to tea, but replaying it's Lord Callum.
No, it was always Lord Callum/Lady Calliope(?). Lady Helia tries to talk to Farah when she’s hiding in the garden.
Hello! The update was amazing, I was clenching my chest when we talked with Artemsa (and bawling my EYES, you keed doing it every time dhdhffkjhd i love it never stop) and then the chaos up on the Marianne? Both me and my MCs where a bit *pikachu's face* :O ahaha
I will for sure re-read the update when I'm not having a migraine—I need to analyze everything and my brain doesn't want to collaborate with me right now—but it was *chef's kiss*
Sadly both my Charismatic and Manipulative MC and the Gentle and Sincere one are side-eyeing everyone and Aurynn, because mmmmmmmmm >_>
Thank you for the amazing update, as always, both your writing, choice of musics and everything is incredible and I love it ♥
Ps: something that I was forgetting... no one else on the Marianne is suspicious of MC since it's Arynn that is with them and not Zain? I might have lost it in the text because of my migraine, if so I apologize!!
Again thank you! ♥
Thank you—I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! 💖🐛 After all the drama and grief I figured it was time to introduce mc to the clown circus (so I can throw them all into the blender). Hope your migraine goes away quickly!! :)
Also, in the prev update MC raises the question to Aurynn if anyone will be suspicious since the crew knows Aurynn and are expecting someone by the name of Zain, and he tells MC he doubts anyone will confront MC directly on it and if they ask him, he’ll handle it. There will be more context to this later in the game. 👍
Fen, Fen, Fen. I read the update at work and the option to make kieran kiss our hand !?!?? I had to go take a walk around the office cuz i couldn't jump around
Very petty of mc 💅 that option will provide a colder start to MC’s and Kieran’s relationship >:3
i deliver 👍👍 there was another but you can't upload more than one file so i'll put it in a seperate post
chars from sste by @stygiansun-totaleclipse . just some totally normal sammcrynn shenanigans (samxmcxaurynn. its perfect because it can also be read as sam cryin and thats 100% accurate)
