Painting: Dawn Of Hope By Daniel F. Gerhartz

painting: Dawn of Hope by Daniel F. Gerhartz

A New Interactive Novel

Links :

✧ Play the game

Playable Content: Prologue, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2

Total word count: approx. 63.2k

Average Word Count per playthrough: approx. 39k

Last Updated: 28th May of 2023

✧ Ko-Fi

✧ Patreon

✧ Discord

✧ Report a Bug

✧ Ask Guidelines

✧ FAQ

✧ Character Descriptions

✧ Pinterest References

Crown of Ashes and Flames is a fantasy interactive fiction game, free to play from start to finish, on pc and mobile. You play as the only remaining member of the royal family of Vesphire; living in the home of the king that took away everything from you.

It is currently in development and each chapter will be released as they are finished.

The war had taken everything from you.

King Luceris had taken everything from you.

You were just nine years old when all of this happened. One moment you were in your room sleeping and the next you were walking through smoke and ash trying to find your parents.

Love, he said, was the reason he started the war. Ironically, you lost everything you loved but you also lost yourself when he let you survive and dragged you away to his home.

In a new Kingdom with no one on your side what choices will you make to survive? Who will you become?

Inside of you, there’s something burning for revenge and there’s only one thing I want to tell you. Let it out.

Content Warning: This game is rated MA-17. Depictions of violence, injuries and blood, and death; trauma, depictions of mental health challenges, child marriage, psychological horror, animal cruelty, and optional sexual content. Player discretion is advised.

The story starts in the Kingdom of Vesphire, a fictional kingdom within a fantasy universe, but it truly begins in the Kingdom of Rosea.

The two kingdoms are situated in a world that was blessed by the gods, the lands were filled with magic and beasts of wonder. For unknown reasons the gods abandoned the realm taking everything they had brought with them while the beasts moved to forests and the sea. Anywhere that was far from civilization.

You were born and raised in Vesphire until tragedy struck and you were taken away to Rosea. Contrary to the snowy lands of Vesphire, Rosea was tropical in the north and temperate in the south with mountains surrounding the lane.

The Kingdom is a colorful land with green scenery contrasts to its large white buildings. The streets are always busy from early mornings to the late nights, and filled with calls from the shopkeepers from their wooden stalls with sun-faded striped fabric or blue tarps above it. It is truly a lively place.

The ruler of this kingdom is none other than Luceris De Rosea. He is the man who led destruction right onto your home, he is the one whom all of Rosea admire. The land is immensely beautiful but many of it's people harbor great hatred towards you due to you being the last royal of Vesphire.

✧ Play as the royal of your own making:

Name [including nicknames]

Gender [male, female and nonbinary options]

Pronouns [choose a preset or set your own]

Personality [develop personality traits that will influence event sequences and the behavior of other characters towards you]

Appearance [including scars and tattoos]

✧ Develop deeper relationships with the characters, each with their own themes and stories, and find romance.

✧ Build rapport with characters from all over the continent, aid them with their problems or use them as a pawn in your story.

✧ Build a codex as you explore the world that surrounds you; encounter people, places, history and magic.

✧ Encounter important timed choices with alternative results if time runs out or you choose to abstain.

The characters in this list are those with whom you can form a deeper relationship, whether it be platonic or romantic. While all characters are available to everyone, only Hunter is gender selectable. It is important to note that these characters are not the only ones of significance.

Fadiya Akter - The Royal Mage’s daughter, and one of the only people that doesn’t have something against you. She has waist-length curly ruby red hair along with amber eyes and dark brown complexion. She’s cheerful, talkative and kind - like a fairy. Fiercely loyal to you, to the point that she gets into trouble just to defend you even in court. She is a powerful mage just like her mother. She is one year younger than you.

Helios De Rosea - The Crown Prince of Rosea, and the child of the man that destroyed your home. He has straight white hair that reaches past his shoulders, pale blue eyes and golden brown complexion. He has a radiating smile that instantly brightens up the room, like sunshine itself. He is the hero of all fairytales, the boy with a golden spirit full of light and hope. He keeps his distance from you, after all you are the last royal of Vesphire. He is one year older than you.

Hunter Oakes - Crown Prince’s shield and Sir Lancelot’s ward. They have short straight black hair, deep blue eyes, and a tawny complexion. Easygoing and reckless; their serene smile puts everyone at ease. They’re loyal to the hand that feeds them but understand what you went through was an injustice. They are four years older than you.

Soarine De Norazaan - Eldest daughter of the King of Norazaan, and an envoy to Rosea. She has waist-length wavy light green hair with mint eyes and a rosy complexion. Her smile is charming and practiced, she has a vixen-like personality. Soarine wishes to take the throne and better her kingdom, her desire for the throne is underlined by a thirst for revenge against the people in her kingdom who have forgotten their own history. She is one year older than you.

Vincent Annora - Ikram Annora’s son, and is the next General of the Imperial Army. He has wavy brown hair that is shorter at the front but longer at the back, green eyes and an olive complexion. The perfect example of what a knight should be. He is very guarded and passionately protective of the people he cares about, he may seem rough around the edges but has a gentler side to him at times. He dislikes you due to his mother’s own hatred towards you and your late family. He is two years older than you.

Thank you for reading!

"What the fuck…" she says, and you sit up on the floor, watching the blackened sheets of skin slide off your arms, revealing fresh, bloody skin underneath, glistening with a thick, viscous fluid. The ruined, discarded sheds of skin start to shrivel up right before your eyes, coiling tight atop the carpet until it dissolves into nothing but ash. "What the fuck are you?" Clear whispers. You look up at her, licking your lips. "I'm a vampire," you say, and then you laugh. There's no way to say it without sounding ridiculous.

In Blood Choke, you play as a reawakened vampire, with no memory of who you are or what you did to result in your entombment. Fumble your way through your first few days after waking up in a strange, overwhelming future-- meet new friends and reunite with an old flame.

Navigate this new world and try to piece your past back together before it can catch up to you-- and decide your future, before it's too late.

Features:

Play as a genderlocked lesbian main character. This game focuses heavily on the main character's gender, presentation, and sexuality.

Pursue one (or all..?) of three romance options: Clear Rivers, Hana Lee, and your former lover, Valentina.

Choices that will alter your relationships with the cast as well as the narrative moving forward. How do you want to approach the woman you barely remember? What future do you want for this new city you've found yourself in? How will you choose to handle the hunger?

Blood Choke is an 18+ dark romance horror game. It is intended for a mature audience. Be sure to check the content warning on the game page before reading.

Currently the prologue and first two chapters are available to play.

Play it here!

They say every vampire has a choice when they're reborn. You did not.

DEMO TBA ꒷꒦

Snatched up by a hunter on the day you were turned, you've known nothing of unlife but the torment of Facility 4.

Your first drops of blood suckled from a syringe, cold and clinical; the sweetness of unsterilized air stolen in panicked gasps in the starkness of the Sun Cells; the strangled curses of your cellmate, a slab of meat on a gurney with eyes of fire. For fifteen long years, you've known nothing else. But when a shift in management takes place, you seize your opportunity and escape.

There's no place for vampires in the city in the sky. The Empire District, or Higher Manhattan, is a sprawling mass of chrome and excess. Platinum-plated necks are all the rage, and attempts to separate the blue-blooded elite from their entourage could amount to a death sentence—even for an immortal.

No. Lower Manhattan is the safe haven of your kind, the city beneath the city.

Maybe you grew up there, know the streets and their secrets. Maybe it was nothing but a scary story told to you by your family's android butler. Whatever the case may have been, you smuggle yourself onto a SkyRunner and enter the Shadow Circuit, a district of perpetual shadows and rampant poverty.

You think you've escaped them. You think you're free.

You are not.

Choose from 3 origin stories that alter your knowledge and past associations with characters.

Customise your MC. Play as male, female, or non-binary; straight, gay, bi, or ace; cis or trans. Give yourself cybernetics, or stay natural. The choice is yours.

Decide your motivations. Is this a fight for survival or a grab at power? Are you a reluctant vampire or eager to embrace the euphoria of a kill?

Develop your appetites. Young or Old? Rich or Poor? Human, witch...or vampire?

Pick an RO from 6 potentials...or don't.

Pick a BFF who'll be there for you in your times of need.

And whatever you do: don't let them take you again.

Ramón, Your Cellmate (the rumours about him can't be true, can they?)

Male, he/him

Ry, Your Pursuer (he's still mad at you about that thing)

Male, he/him

Dom, the King of the Streets (if information came free he'd be living on them)

Male, he/him

Emery, the Cargo-Slinger (you impressed them, but never do that again)

NB, they/them

Zoia, the Government's Headache (you look like you might want to revolt—here, take a pamphlet)

Female, she/her

Aura, the NetWitch (my god, she hates it here)

Female, she/her

[PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERS FOUND HERE]

18+ for mature audiences only. Seriously.

explicit sexual content.

mentions of sexual assault and harassment

graphic violence

so much blood and gore

torture and abuse

substance abuse and addiction

strong language

More specific content warnings will be displayed at the start of each chapter.

darkness has crept into the cracks of this world for centuries, but it’s never spoken—until now.

it was a mistake how this world came to be.

in the west, a realm is controlled by death. a queen rules with an iron-fist, seeing no mercy as she curls her fingers and crushes a person’s once beating heart in a matter of seconds. every drop of blood spilt is the strengthening of magic, the first kill an awakening of an individual’s unique power.

in the east lies another, a realm overseen by life. killing has been outlawed here, the ruler strict but not unkind. for those who dare to break the rules, every kill adds an extra year of life onto the murderer’s lifespan, a cushion of temporary invulnerability to soften crimson hands.

though they lay side by side, the two kingdoms have not spoken to each other in nearly two centuries, for in-between the realms lies an abyss—a third realm, one that survives in the shadows. it is unknown what lives there, but it’s dangerous enough that most don’t dare cross the border.

you’re one of the few who do.

living a double life, you make a living smuggling items into opposite sides, selling and trading requested items to keep yourself afloat. when you’re caught by the queen, you’re expecting a death sentence. instead, she gives you an ultimatum: steal her a coveted item and she’ll let you live. fail, and you die.

it should be simple enough, but there’s only one problem: what the queen is looking for doesn’t exist.

game (tba)

ro information (tba)

patreon / ko-fi

other works (when twilight strikes)

Keep reading

Apartment 502 is a 18+ slice-of-life romantic drama inspired by shows like New Girl and Friends.

Content warnings include: explicit language, sexual themes, substance use, violence.

Moving from your small home to New York City was supposed to be a dream. You were supposed to start your new life with your long-distance partner and dive headfirst into full-on adulthood. Everything was supposed to be perfect. How can you not love being in your mid-twenties in the Big Apple?

That is until your put-together, white collar partner dumps you the same day you arrive.

Fun.

Essentially homeless and determined to make the life you dreamed of, you take a last-minute offer to move into the spare bedroom in Apartment 502. Now, you're twenty-five and living with three other longtime best friends with their own drama and messy interpersonal relationships. Parties, late-night pizza runs, drama, fights, heartbreak, betrayals...maybe the life you want won't be as easy as you first thought.

Will you find romance in the city that never sleeps?

**Apartment 502 is a romance, angst, and drama-centered story **

design your mc from clothing style to appearance to pronouns, gender identity, name, looks, and more.

choose 1 of 5 jobs that grant you different scenes and different people: (artist/musician, news anchor, writer, teacher, bartender )

curate your MCs personality and how they react to all the hijinks Apt. 502 has to offer, especially the drama that ensues. Style your MC's room and their aesthetic style.

navigate angsty and dark dramas that weave your roommates in a a narrative that can either save their friendship, or break them apart.

engage in a romance with 1 of 6 characters: one of your roommates, your ex, your neighbor or work rival.

Ruin relationships or mend them. Center yourself around the roommates and become part of the core group.

Follow Apartment 502 throughtout MC's first year as a roommate: from holidays, to birthdays, to everything in-between.

Atlas/Athena [f/m] - 1 of 3 roommates. A is the elusive and isolated musician who makes a living writing songs for others and doing gigs down at the local bar. A is quiet, nonchalant, and prefers their isolation. After getting their heart broken by their high school sweetheart, A has swore off love and vowed to focus solely on their career. A has no room for love, and they make it clear.

Appearance: Olive, freckled skin. Atlas has shaggy brown hair that falls in front of their eyes in a wolf-cut with bleached white dyed pieces at the bottom. Athena's brown and white hair falls down her back with black, straight-cut blunt bangs. They usually wear all black and have a variety of piercings.

Cal/Calliope [f/m] - 1 of 3 roommates. Cal is the ultra nice, slightly uptight, easily flustered college professor who is currently dating their longtime partner...that everyone seems to hate. Cal seems very in love with them and is oblivious to their best friends' irritation, but is that all a ruse?

Appearance: Cal has golden blonde hair. Cal's hair is curly fluffy while Calliope's falls down in soft ringlets around her face. Pale skin and green eyes. C dresses down, wearing basic clothes like button-downs and plain dresses.

Levi/Lani [f/m] - 1 of 3 roommates. L is boisterous, arrogant, and the comedian of the group. L makes their money as an influencer and uses their abundance of free time to pick up all kinds of people. L doesn't believe anyone can get them to settle down, especially considering they've never been in love..nor believe it exists.

Note: you can only romance L by starting a purely physical relationship first.

Appearance: Russet brown skin and long black hair that falls down their back and tied in a messy bun. L usually wears a white, billowy button down tucked into black slacks with an abundance of rings.

Garrett/Gaia [f/m] - Your neighbor. G is friendly but distant, always looking down at their phone when they see you. They seem disinterested in the happenings of Apartment 502. You can't help but wonder more about them...and their young child.

Appearance: Brown skin and curly black hair. G usually has headphones on, and Garett's hair is cut into a curly undercut while Gaia's is primed in a slick bun. They're usually dressed in a pristine black turtle neck and matching black pants.

Rainn [f/m] - your perfect, financially-stable lawyer ex. You thought what you and Rainn had was special, until they abruptly dump you the same day you were set to move in. The worst part? They live in the same building.

Oddly enough, Rainn doesn't seem to be acting like someone who should be completely moved on...

Appearance: Rain either has a severe black bob or black slicked back hair and usually seen in a pantsuit or business-casual clothes. They have tan skin and bright blue eyes.

Mason/Mona [f/m]- your old academic rival...who is now your co-worker. What are the chances you two ended up in the same place? M seems to have a lot of fun making things harder for you at your new job, especially considering you guys are competing for the affection of your boss. Tch.

Appearance: Long or short dyed white hair and tan skin with bright brown eyes. (M's outfit is dependent on job of choice.)

DEMO | INTROS

DEMO ☯︎ FAQ ☮︎ DIRECTORY ♪

Nate Nicks has disappeared.

Why should you care? Do you?

You probably should, considering he's the face and host of your extremely popular radio show and you've just landed one of the biggest contracts of your careers.

You are a sound tech engineer and a damn good one at that, while Nate was the face you were the sound, usually your work is strictly behind the scenes, except for the odd occasion when you were needed on air. So when Nate goes missing and you're tasked with filling in his shoes you're practically thrown in at the deep end.

It only gets worse after a missing persons case becomes a murder case and the cast and crew of Radio Kathryn and FloNote Ent become the suspect pool...

RADIO KATHRYN is rated 18+ for explicit language, explicit sexual scenes and references, themes of death and blood, use of alcohol and drugs, physical abuse and violence. please check trigger warnings.

The setting of the 70s is purely for aesthetic and technology. Don't expect era—accurate racism or homophobia as it won't be included in this IF.

FEATURES ☯︎ [ Trigger Warnings ]

fully customise your MC! name, gender&pronouns (M/F/NB), appearance, personality

decide your on air persona──can you hack it in the limelight or will you crack under the pressure?

build your relations──do you get along with your fellow teammates? how about your fanbase? or your company?

+your radio teams backstory──how the four of you (Nate, José, Mica and yourself) got along, created the pirated radio show, how you got signed into legality, how everything went to shit... or not?

romance someone (or not)──featuring eight solo routes and two poly routes OR just enjoy the mystery and figure out a murder!

chose paths that affect the game──your choices matter, and the ending you may or may not get is dependent on them.

decide which kathryn is your mother──and your relationship with her. (Catherine, Kate, Cathy, Katherine or Rynnie)

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN ☮︎ [ RO Intros ]

The Man, The Myth, The Legend. [???]

“Nate Nicks” Nathan Nicholson──he/him. 28. Radio Kathryn's host and front man, adored by thousands. Complete arsehole but somehow it makes him endearing to others. Cocky son of a bitch that let fame get to his head... or is he? Nevertheless, he's missing now and you may have something to do with it.

think a mix between gauge burek and chris veres in druck (2019)

The Benefactor.

“Mr Robinson” Lionel Robinson──he/him. 42. The man who funded your radio show, the one who got you to where you are. Kind, calm and considerate, especially with Nate. But every one has a line to cross at some point and Mr Robinson is not someone to get angry.

think chad michael murray in sullivan's crossing (2023)

The Fiancé. [RO]

“Eva Vidal” Evangeline Vidal──she/her. 25. The woman who's been there from the beginning, your first listener, your first fan. You used to be closer but Nate sunk his teeth in her and pulled her away. You watched her steadily lose her glow and for someone engaged she seems quite jaded at the news of her missing fiancé.

think penélope cruz in vanilla sky (2001) or vicky christina barcelona (2008)

The Best Friend. [RO]

“Mica Hollens” Michael/a Hollens──he/him, she/her. your age (24─28). Your voice of reason in the chaos of life and Radio Kathryn's manager. Your support system and rock, even if they are a bit quick to jump the bullet in your honour. Mica has strong opinions and Nate has never been in their good books, but surely they wouldn't do anything to jeopardise your job.

think tanaya beatty in through black spruce (2018) or alex meraz in mine games (2012)

The Detective. [RO]

“Detective Han” Han Jimin──he/him or she/her. 30. The detective assigned to Nate's missing persons case. They are meticulous and goal oriented and their current goal is figuring you and your work family out. The more you resist the more they're intrigued and the more you help the more you unravel them.

think lee soohyuk in tomorrow (2022) or lee siyoung in sweet home (2020)

The Rival DJ. [RO]

“José Danger” Jose/phine Jeager──she/her or they/them. 26. Nate calls them the traitor─the defector. They used to be part of your team, a co-host with Nate in your beginning days. The two of them worked like magic until Nate was in demand more and José was kicked to the curb. You wonder if the festering grudge they left with is still there... and if it still extends to you.

think zazie beetz in deadpool 2 (2018) or wounds (2019)

The "Hater". [RO]

“Ji Han” Han Ji Young──he/him. 23. The younger brother of Detective Han. Ji Han is not a fan of Nathaniel Nicholson but he is a fan of the songs he plays─or rather the ones you play when he's absent. He's taken the utmost interest in his siblings case, suspiciously enough to become entangled in it more than anticipated.

think a mix of choi san (2022-23) and lee dohyun in 18 again (2020) or the glory (2022)

The "Fan". [RO]

“Fauve” Faye─Mauve Langham──she/her. 25. Fauve is a bit of a groupie, she can admit. She's not totally obsessed with Radio Kathryn, she reasons, she's just invested in the show and even more so in the people behind it. Fauve become more involved in the case of Nate Nicks than she's wanted, leaving you to wonder just what it is that keeps her going─even to the edge of insanity.

think a mix of imogen poots in need for speed (2014) and hayden panettiere in nashville (2012-18)

The Family Man. [RO]

“Mr Lewis” Jackson Lewis──he/him. 33. The night shift receptionist-slash-building coordinator. He usually brings his daughter to sit in on show recordings, seeing as she's got a bit of a crush on Nate─he's a no-bullshit kind of man but his soft spot is his daughter's puppy dog eyes. He just so happens to be the last person to see Nate before he disappeared and you can't help but get the feeling he's not being truthful in his statement about it.

think brian tyree henry in eternals (2021) or atlanta (2016-22)

The Question Mark. [???]

"Who?" ??? ???──unknown.

it'll be revealed later!

©️ bonnie berry 2023────@moretinyideas

──the polymances are between eva and ??? (eva???) as well as fauve and ji han (fauhan)!

──this is totally inspired by episode 2.8 of sister boniface "dead air" but other than the idea of a radio show called Radio Catherine there are no other similarities!