For as long as you can remember, no one you've loved has ever lasted very long.
The moment you come to love someone,Ā 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?
Or click here if the image link doesn't work.
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.
HI EVERYONE things have been kinda wild irl but this is still in the works. Rather than simply adding the next chapter with the transferred template as originally planned, though, the next update is going to be a bit broader in scope than originally intended. Working on chapter three has brought many things to light that need to be tweaked. So, here's just a few of the things to expect in the update, though I can't give a timeline for its release: (please note that this list is subject to change depending on how things go and whether I decide to post the update with some of this stuff while still working on others)
New template for the game
New macros which will notify you of stat changes in-game
An overhaul of the original personality system
Attached to the personality system overhaul, the choices available and their impact on your character are also being revised.
Note: The changes to the personality system and your available choices are not meant to limit your gameplay. It should keep the existing aspects, just refined in a way that's easier to code and write on my end while being easier to track and navigate as a player.
Thank you all for your patience while I work on this ā”
Elevator anon- I sent that ask while playing chapter 1 for the first time and getting the choices to avoid taking the elevator while Uffi was showing the MC around. I DID NOT REALIZE THE EVIL OF ELEVATORS HAD ALREADY STRUCK IN THIS UNIVERSE
I NEED YOU TO KNOW HOW HARD THIS ASK MADE ME LAUGH im so sorry I thought I put in the warnings that there would be Bad Times in an Elevator, I hope it didn't cause you any genuine distress ā„ If it did then I rescind my evil cackling.
who would dance in the rain with me and who would drag me inside the minute i got soaked?
Would Dance In The Rain: Abby, Marina, Shiloh
Would Watch Fondly: Kaida
Could be persuaded for a short time but would eventually start fretting about MC catching a cold: Vicente, Thea
I am, have been and always will be obsessed with your writing. I am soo inlove with Abby but exceptionally excited to meet Kaida. I am always drawn to the crude standoffish characters call me a masochist š¤£ā„ļø i would love to know how the RO's would react if MC got into a minor accident ending up in the ER and had them as an emergency contact. (If it's not too much trouble)
Also wanted to share my appreciation and say i hope you are doing well. I know writing can be stressful and alot of pressure. Take care of yourself. š
This is such a sweet ask thank you for your kind words and well wishes ā„ I promise I'm taking care of myself as best I can. I appreciate you reading and sending this in ā„
Vicente wouldn't think twice about the fact that you put him down as your emergency contact. He's used to it. He's Abby's as well, and Kaida's, and Thea's (Thea is Marina's, Kaida is Shiloh's.) He'd be a fretful mess but once he finds out it's minor he'd lose the frantic edge and just generally be fretting about making sure you're comfortable and have everything you need. Expect to be spoiled, he worries too much and finds the act of care-taking to be soothing.
Abby's reaction to "MC put you as their emergency contact" is "oh yeah I can totally provide emergencies!" Once it is explained what an emergency contact actually is (someone else filled out his form) his reaction is an attempt to be responsible. Trying to keep himself on task to get there and do what he's supposed to do. He'll bring someone with him to help him navigate, literally any of the others except Shiloh would do, and their job is basically to act as intermediary between Abby and Human Society until they can get MC home... and to grab him when he starts wandering off. He's very flattered you put down his name, but he really doesn't think he's the person you want them to call in an emergency. He'll just make things worse, he thinks.
Marina would play up how irritated she is to be bothered but really she's just miffed that she's so worried. When she finds out it's nothing serious she's a lot more chill about it, pokes fun at you for whatever happened since it didn't cause any lasting harm, says she better not get a call like that again but notably doesn't say to remove her as the emergency contact.
Thea would seem very put-together on the outside but on the inside she's melting down until she can confirm with her own eyes that MC is okay. There will be a lot of "are you sure you're alright? You're sure that you're sure? Okay but are you s-" She's very attentive and is actually very relieved to be MC's emergency contact so she can personally be sure that all is well.
Kaida, similar to Thea, is glad he's the emergency contact. If someone he cares about is going to be in a bad spot, he wants to be the one called about it so he can make sure they're properly taken care of. He's efficient, meticulous, and gets MC out of the hospital in record time. It isn't that he doesn't worry, but when Kaida gets worried it's usually because a situation needs to be Addressed, so he shuts down his emotional responses until he can afford to deal with them. So, his initial panic when called is pushed down to make room for logic.
Shiloh wouldn't know what to do. Not the same way as Abby, it knows what an emergency contact is, it just doesn't know what to do because it has no official identity. It doesn't technically exist, and it can't just walk into a human hospital and sign release forms or anything like that. It would definitely need someone else to go in, and it would sort of... travel with them, in a way I can't explain without spoilers, and that person would need to speak for it and essentially pretend to be it. It would be very worried, and very confused, and afterwards it will be very clingy because even if the issue was minor, you gave it quite the fight.
so i can be stupid, and i accidentally pur cleaning supply powder in my coffee thinking its the coffee powder i use (i used the tub for it) and its possibly toxic?? but im not d3ad so... reactions?
Oh my god???????? Please don't try this at home kids, I'm glad you didn't die but holy shit.
They'd all be varying degrees of worried, though for Abby someone would need to explain to him why that's a bad thing first.
Vicente shows his worry through fretting and fluttering about, desperately encouraging MC to go to a hospital but won't force it. He will be keeping a vigil in case they take a turn for the worse. He would likely also seek help from Kaida, as he's very skilled in making remedies.
Abby will do what he always does during a crisis: Ask Vicente what he should do. He does get distracted from the situation easily though and forgets to worry, then remembers and gets worried again.
Marina is the type who gets worried-angry. She comes off super harsh and pissed off, but she's not actually angry at MC so much as she's angry that MC did something that could hurt/kill them, and she's angry that she has to worry about someone. She won't force the MC to go to a hospital, but she'll make her opinion very very known if MC doesn't go.
Thea would be a disaster, loading MC into the car and flooring it, she's not taking chances. She's not angry the way Marina is, but she chatters anxiously the entire time. She wouldn't think to go ask Kaida about it, she'd be too rushed and wouldn't remember that option until she already is at the hospital.
Kaida would very calmly go and brew something to negate whatever substance was consumed. He isn't worried because he's confident in his ability to resolve the situation, but he is willing to offer reassurance as he works.
Shiloh would go get Kaida the way that Abby would go get Vicente, but unlike Abby would not be distracted but instead lazer-focused and fixated on the situation, unable to think about or talk about anything else until the danger has passed.
iām actually so exited for the next update <3! do you have a date for the release? no pressure ofc i love making mc as seemingly stoic as i can :)
I'm glad you're excited, I wish I had a release date for you but right now that's hard to estimate. I've discovered a glitch with the template I was using that makes a part of the game inaccessible on mobile, so I need to transfer it all to a new template on top of the regular work of it as well. I'm also hesitant to name a date because deadlines tend to lead to me procrastinating, which wouldn't be very conductive to getting this done. I'll definitely let you all know when it's coming up, though!
Random thought that came to mind while i was working. But what do the ROs think of the MC "Stealing" their clothes? Like the boyfriend hoodie thing but for really any clothing of the ROs?
Sorry for the delay, Tumblr didn't have any sort of notifier by my inbox so I have a bunch of asks I didn't know about.
Vicente and Thea would both be torn on the matter. They think it's so cute and romantic but also they're so particular about their clothes. They might have to designate specific things they're okay with their partner wearing.
Marina and Abby are the sort to steal MC's clothes as well, and no Abby does not care if it doesn't fit.
Kaida would love love love it if his partner wore his clothes, the sort of creature he is can be territorial.
Shiloh's clothes aren't actual clothes but if it thought such things would make its partner happy, it would procure a sweater or something similar specifically for its partner to steal.
Oh wow there are a lot of new followers on this blog! Welcome, thank you for checking out my game. :) I hope you enjoy it and please don't hesitate to send in asks if you'd like to ā„
I'm also popping in with less an update on game progress and more an update on How Hectic Life Is progress: My actual job has fully calmed down and things with my move seem to be falling into place. I may even be able to move sooner than expected, which means I'll have time for bigger updates sooner than expected. I thank you all again for your patience and hope you have a lovely day.
Hi, hello, I hope you all have a lovely weekend. :)
Good News: Work has slowed down and I'm getting to work more on the game, so progress updates should resume, though they'll likely include less progress than previous ones until at least October, as I'm going to be moving on Oct 1st and so I'll be spending much of September packing and planning and such.
I did get more writing done this past week, mainly fleshing out all the branches and options in Vicente's scene, and somewhat in Abby's as well. I hope you all have a lovely week.
Hello, hi. Dropping in to let you all know this coming Monday will also likely not have an update. This game is not going on hiatus, I am still working on it, but things at my job have been completely off the walls this past week and we're expecting it to be even more busy and hectic next week. As such, I haven't had much time or energy to dedicate to writing and programming. I'm chipping away at the game, still, but the progress being made right now isn't significant enough to justify a full progress update. The hope is that things will calm down as certain changes at my job level out, so this shouldn't be the way of things for long.
If I get really lucky and things calm down somewhat before this coming Monday, maybe I'll be proven wrong and I'll have something worthy of a progress update. I donāt want to push it while I'm already running on empty, though. Both because I don't want to sour this project for myself and because I want to be sure you're all receiving something of quality and not a half-dazed mess churned out in a stressed-out rush.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. Again, this isn't a hiatus, the game is still being worked on. The only thing pausing for the coming week is the weekly progress update.
Hi, hello, I hope your week is off to pleasant start. Apologies for the lack of formatting in this progress update, I'm away from my computer right now.
Most of my work this past week was focused in learning new aspects of Sugarcube coding so I can achieve certain things in this chapter. I'm learning coding as I work on this project, so when I hit something like this where I'm not sure how to make something work, it slows things down a bit. I have it figured out now though and that bit's been coded into the game, so things are moving swiftly onward.
There may not be a progress update this coming Monday as I'll be taking a bit of a break to avoid burning out on this. I'd rather it not become a chore that I have to force myself to trudge through. I'll still be working on it when the mood strikes but I won't be trying to adhere to the strict schedule I've been trying to keep, as I think it's starting to wear on me a bit. Thank you all for reading, as well as for your patience and understanding.
As an extra thanks and an apology for the lack of progress update next week, here's a sneak preview of Vicente's scene in chapter 3:
Note: This snippet is from an unedited first draft
Hi, hello. I hope your week is off to a pleasant start. Here's the progress update from the past week.
Chapter three is coming along nicely. The scenes of your first proper interactions with your neighbours are taking the most time, but progress is being made and the writing for the MC's first shift at work is just about done. I've got a new look for the game as well, and just need to migrate the content over to that new template. You'll be seeing that with the chapter three update. I'm unsure how long that migration will take, so I'm hesitant to give an exact date for when the demo will be updated. It shouldn't be long at this point.
As always, thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely day.
