The Corvid Curio

This blog has been moved to thecorvidcurio-if - Please follow that blog as this one will be disconnected but kept as an archive of sorts - Current WIP: Cursed Ambrosia | Icon by iconixar

[thecorvidcurio]

Sorry for any inconvenience, but I'm migrating to a new blog.

I'll keep posting game updates on this blog for a little while, but eventually I'll only be updating the new blog and this current one will be left up as an archive.

Thank you for reading and for your patience. ♥

[thecorvidcurio]

Im seeing some new followers here so gentle reminder that my new main blog for this is thecorvidcurio-if ♡

[thecorvidcurio-if]

For as long as you can remember, no one you've loved has ever lasted very long.

The moment you come to love someone, no matter the type of love, tragedy befalls you both. In a desperate attempt to escape this cycle you've been moving from place to place, uprooting any time you start getting too close. This new city shouldn't be any different. It wouldn't be any different, if not for your new neighbours.

The more time you spend around these bizarre people, the more obvious it becomes that there's a layer of reality you've previously been unaware of. As you discover more of what was previously hidden from you, though, it begs the question:

Is there something more to your tragic circumstances than an unfortunate run of bad luck? Could it be the result of some power you don't understand? If so, does that mean there's a way out of it?

Does that mean there's someone to blame for your suffering?

PLEASE NOTE: This game is in very early development. Only the first two chapters are posted, the writing will be continuously revised as I write, and there may be bugs or glitches. If you run into any issues, please let me know.

Cursed Ambrosia is an interactive fiction novel that deals with topics of death, loss, and love. It's a supernatural fantasy with a focus on interpersonal connections. There are six relationship routes, two women, two men, and two non-binary options. All romance options will have a platonic route as well. More info on them under the cut.

Note: Though these characters are romanceable, you do not need to romance them to play out their routes. On the platonic route, you still get the same plot content, just minus the romantic bits.

Vicente - An exceedingly polite and seemingly put together man who values kindness and compassion, but struggles to accept those things himself. He's keen to look after others and encourage them to accept help, yet insists on handling his own troubles alone.

Abby - An overwhelmingly enthusiastic and eccentric "person" who values curiosity and freedom, but struggles with moderation. He has more energy than he or anyone else knows what to do with. He's got a talent for mischief and is incapable of going very long without causing trouble, intentionally or not.

Kaida - A bitterly jaded and taciturn fellow who values knowledge and secrecy, but struggles to trust others. He's always many steps ahead of everyone else, and always knows more than he lets on. He's someone very useful to know... Or, he would be, if anyone could get a straight answer from him about anything.

Marina - An unapologetically loud and rambunctious woman who values rebellion and individuality, but struggles to let her guard down. She's brilliant, but easily bored. If you tell her she can't or shouldn't do something, it's just about guaranteed she'll be doing that thing in the near future.

Thea - A theatrically elegant and captivating woman who values loyalty and honesty above all else. On the job she's glamorous and confident, captivating any who hear her hypnotic voice. Off the job, though, she's something much different, and hopes to find someone who can appreciate both sides of her.

Shiloh - A cripplingly shy and skittish entity of uncertain origin who values privacy and comfort, but struggles to leave the safety of what it knows. Shiloh enjoys observing others interacting, and lives vicariously through witnessing the connections other people form with each other. It is quite sure that it will never manage to make such connections itself.

[thecorvidcurio-if]

Hello, hi. I hope you're all having a lovely start to your week. Let's go over what's happened this past week and what you can expect in future, shall we?

The chapter two revision update was finished and uploaded this past Friday, which I hope you all enjoy. Still not a final version by any means but I won't be focusing on that portion again until the story has progressed much, much more. Now that that's done, my focus will be writing and coding chapter three. It's well underway, but I can't promise a time by which it will be done.

If the chapter is written as I originally planned, you should get it in the next few weeks. If I end up expanding it or coming up with new things to include, it may take longer. I'll do my best to prioritize and get a playable version of it out promptly. As with chapters one and two, the first version will be the unedited bare bones of what chapter three will actually end up being.

Outside of the writing and coding, there have been some cosmetic changes as well, currently only on the itchio page and the banners I'm using for the blog posts. The game itself likely won't be aesthetically updated for quite some time. It will be a lot of time and effort which currently I'd like to focus on chapter three. It will happen eventually, though. That's the case for the theme of this new blog as well, I'll spruce it up eventually but for now my focus needs to be on progressing the story.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a wonderful week ♥

[thecorvidcurio]

This weeks progress update, please be sure to follow the new blog if you haven't yet. :)

[thecorvidcurio]

Blog Migration

Full disclosure, this was originally made as a sideblog. I realized yesterday that there are limitations to sideblogs that make that less than ideal.

I'm remaking this blog as a totally separate account. I'll still be updating here for a bit while also updating there, so anyone unaware of this change won't miss anything. I'll share the name of the new blog once I'm done setting it up.

[thecorvidcurio]

Later than anticipated, but the chapter two revision update is done. This still isn't a final version, but I'll be moving on to chapter three for the time being.

You can play the updated demo for free here on itch.io.

[thecorvidcurio]

So, I may occasionally throw out little rambles about the process and progress of writing this story. I'll tag these as "[game title] behind the curtain" for any given game it's for, and the bulk will be under a readmore in case anyone isn't into that or wants to avoid such things until after they've gotten to read the content it's about first. This first one is going to be rambles about chapter 2 edits in regards to Abby, tho I have some similar posts to share in time about writing the other characters as well.

Writing Abby is really hard and so much different from any other character I've ever written but not in the way of actually finding the words. The writing itself is easy, but afterward? Ho boy. Part of why the chapter 2 edits have taken this long is that I can't stop overthinking his and Marina's part. I'm just reading it over and over again, caught between the people-pleasing urge to make him more palettable and the knowledge that the very core of his character and the intention when I made him was that he'd be distinctly UNpalettable.

He isn’t supposed to be palettable. If he's perfectly palettable to most readers, then I haven't succeeded in writing him as intended. His very nature is supposed to be so diametrically opposed to humanity that it's clear most humans would have a negative reaction to him. He's supposed to come off like a walking headache. He's supposed to be ill-fitting, he's supposed to Not Belong Among People, he's supposed to be Incompatible With Humanity.

It's hard to break the mindset of writing a character people will like, though. It's hard to shake the feeling that it's a failure that many will dislike him, despite the fact that being dislikable was one of the first traits I started with when designing him. It was baked in from the start. My concept for his character at his inception was "creature who dresses like a rainbow drank straight neon until it got sick and is a personified concentration of chaos and dissonance, way more than even most other supernatural creatures are willing to put up with."

If I make him more appealing, he won't be Abby anymore. But still, the whole time I'm editing his bits there's an urge to scrap the original intent entirely for the sake of making him more broadly appealing.

[thecorvidcurio]

Hello, hi, hope you're all doing well. The chapter 2 revisions are done and proofread. Just playtesting now to make sure there's no broken code and then I'll post the update.

[thecorvidcurio]

In case anyone has concerns or is currently uncomfortable about this: There are Plot Reasons why Ambrosia will be attracted to Thea for a while at the beginning of the story with no way to opt out of it, but that won't be the case for the others and you won't be locked into her romance route.

You will still get the option to end up in a totally platonic and lovely friendship with Thea with absolutely no aspect of attraction. Her situation is outside of the player's control, for now, but there will be ways to resolve it as the story goes and ways to "retcon" the initial period of attraction. (It will still have happened, but not as a natural reaction of your Ambrosia, you'll be able to separate it from the character while it serves its plot purpose.)

Since I advertised in the main post for the game that there will be platonic options, I wanted to be clear about this. Your character will not be forced to partake in a romance route. You will get to choose for each potential love interest whether your Ambrosia is attracted to them and in what ways. That includes Thea.

[thecorvidcurio]

Okay so, art isn't really My Thing but while you're waiting on the rest of the chapter two update (which is coming soon, I promise) here's a quick, meme-y drawing of Abby I did as a joke quite some time ago

[thecorvidcurio]

Hello, hi. I hope you're all having a pleasant day so far. The update I mentioned earlier this week is now partially uploaded. Chapter two's edits are taking more time than expected, but I hope you find the additions to be worth the wait. It won't be a long wait, you'll receive the rest of the update within the week. The delay is due to the fact that things at my job have been busier than expected and that has eaten up the time I usually spend working on this. Things are slowing down again, though. For now, chapter one and the first section of chapter two have been expanded and revamped. As I mentioned in my previous post, the original demo was an unedited skeleton. This update and the following update with the rest of chapter two's revisions will put some meat on those bones.

Please be mindful this still is not a final version by any means. As well, some of the chapter two expansions haven't been fully proofread yet but will be when I upload the rest of this update. Chapter one is entirely proofread.

You can play the updated demo here on itch.io.

Revised and expanded passages significantly

Added strength stat, which will impact both flavour text and later skill checks

More flavour text for early choices

Alterations to choices that were too similar to other available options, making them more distinct without entirely taking them away

Adjusted text according to "eye contact" stat

Added option to like or dislike the building's current decor

Age and timeline adjustment

I hope you all enjoy this update, and I apologize that the rest of it is taking longer than expected.

[thecorvidcurio]

Dropping in with a tiny little mini progress update for you all. I don't expect I'll do these regularly but I'm excited about how things are progressing with the coming update and I wanted to post about it.

I'm on track to have the update to currently available chapters done and posted by this coming Monday. You can expect from that update:

A new defining physical trait for your Ambrosia which will have an effect on both skill checks and flavour text

Revised and expanded passages

More flavour text for early choices

Alterations to choices that were too similar to other available options, making them more distinct without entirely taking them away

And more, which you'll have to wait to see

I'll be focusing on these revisions and proof-reading this weekend with the intent to update the demo on Monday. Just about all of what's currently available to read was originally written with the intention to revise it later, less focused on being discerning so much as just getting something functional written and coded, so please don't worry about these changes taking away aspects of the game you're currently enjoying. I'm just building on and polishing what's already there.

This is what you can expect just about every time I post a new chapter. The initially posted version will be more of a skeleton, similar to the currently available demo, then there will be a later update significantly building on it, and then further tweaks will be rolled out alongside other updates. I'm doing the revisions for the first two chapters together because chapter one is fairly short, but as the chapters are already getting longer I'll likely be keeping these revision updates to one chapter at a time after this.

I hope you'll all enjoy the revised content once it's done.

[thecorvidcurio]

To the person who just sent me a submission:

I don't really know how to reply to submissions, but know that I've read it and thank you so much for your kind words. I'm so glad you're enjoying the game. If grumpy characters are your thing, you'll really enjoy chapter three for various reasons. The characters you've met so far have been very friendly, but the one's still left to meet... You may not find them nearly as personable. Thank you again for your submission here and for your comments on the demo, and I hope you have a lovely day.

[thecorvidcurio]

Hi, hello, I hope everyone's day is going well. This is just a small progress update, with some discussion of what to expect in the near future.

I've been alternating this week between writing new content and refining the content already available. You can expect these changes to be added in two different demo updates soon, hopefully in the next week or two. The update refining the current content will very likely be out first, and then the chapter 3 update will follow shortly after.

The update to current content will mostly just be proof-reading and small tweaks, though some existing scenes will be altered and/or expanded on.

Meet your boss and your singular coworker (good luck, you may need it)

"Work" your first shift

Learn more about the area you've moved to

Ask one of your new acquaintances to walk you home, and get the chance to spend some time talking to them one on one

Encounter a sketchy figure in a dark alleyway

Reflect on the absurdity of the previous 24 hours and decide how you feel about it all (and about the people you've met)

Get some much needed rest, which will surely be genuinely restful and definitely won't result in exposition delivered through nightmares. Nope. No chance of that. Absolutely not.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you'll all enjoy the upcoming content. Have a lovely day ♥

[thecorvidcurio]

ngl meeting thea f*cked me over

this woman gives off authenticity and calm vibes ✨

and im here for it

also love the details in sewer slide (su*cide) part 🤌

Thank you for sending this, it's made my day. I was worried how she'd be seen by readers, so I'm glad you like her so far! You'll be getting to interact with her and the others far more extensively very soon.

I'm also glad you're enjoying that extra layer to your character's arc, I'm planning to eventually give it more influence over the experience of a player who's picked that option, so I hope you'll enjoy that expanded content as well when it comes around :)

[thecorvidcurio]

Now, if you've played the demo, you may be wondering: Is Abby as cringe as he seems? Yes. Yes, he is. Abby loves being cringe. Abby exists to be cringe. The cringe is stored in the Abby. The cringe fuels the Abby. Hope this helps. ♡

[virginiewoolf]

Fortesa Latifi, from The Truth About Grief.