Hello! My name's Juan, and I created this blog for my current choose-your-own-adventure WIP story called "A Tale of Heroes".

It's a cape story, about a group of superpowered beings who must defend Giga City against villains, crooked politicians, natural disasters, and the most dangerous enemy of all...

Their past.

If this has caught your attention, please check out the demo here: https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/a-tale-of-heroes-wip/93292

If there's anything else you would like to know (or feedback you'd like to share), please send me an ask or message! I love talking! :D

Don't worry- I feel relatively the same on the poly aspect of it. I'm very likely not adding a third route in Book 1 for romancing both, I think (at least, not anything directly), but my idea has always been that it'd be a poly dependent on romancing Aki in Book 1, that'd be the only way to be able to get Lat in a relationship as well. Aki needs a little experience with things first, before she starts considering if she wants something more.

I appreciate hearing your thoughts though! I've... definitely never been in a (well, consensually, anyway) polyamorous relationship myself, so I'd be flying relatively by the seat of my pants and what I manage to read about the dynamics. I am definitely thankful for knowing how people with more experience than me feel or think about these things.

As for your second question, it's... a bit more complicated than that, but I'll try to make it a little short:

The Broken King and the Blitz Queen both started off stronger than the MC- as in, their base powers before training were of a higher 'tier' than the MC. That already establishes a gap, but then you have the fact that the two of them had each other to train with as well, meaning that they had a direct challenger through which to better themselves, something the MC doesn't at the moment.

Then you come to the matter of experience. The Blitz Queen, compared to the (current, at least) MC lived in a more unsettled time, which I think we can all agree on. She had to fight more often, and had her powers for longer than the MC (she got them as a toddler, basically), which means she started growing stronger than the MC from earlier.

Then add to that the fact that she had 50~ years to further grow in strength.

Now, consider all that for the King as well, but add the fact he's been using his powers every single day since the Queen died.

All this combined means: Catching up within a decade or two is most likely impossible because the starting gap is oh so huge. You might become someone the Queen or King would have considered a worthwhile companion, but you're definitely more the... say, Piccolo to the King's Goku, or the Sanji to the Queen's Luffy.

Hello! Sorry it took me so long to answer, I've been... occupied, to say the least, this past month. And don't ever apologize about long asks! Those are my favorites, I love both talking about the cast/setting and that anyone might be so interested in them to dedicate their time to sending them in. :')

1st: Yes, Lat always has a crush on the MC. This is canon. It's not crazy "I've been in love with you forever, MC" tier or anything, but she is pining for them. I had plans for her to act on it if you're romancing Ignis, since, as you can see in her confession scene, she can tell Ignis isn't good for the MC, but it's been... a little tiring trying to get through that convo. That said, if the MC gets involved with anyone else, she's willing to take the loss. The MC's happy, and she does think the rest of the cast would be good for them.

One thing I am considering is adding a poly route for Aki x Lat x MC in Book 2 (or at the end of Book 1), but I haven't decided on it yet. It would be pretty cute though, the three of them are tied very closely together.

2nd: I've always had plans for a non-Ignismancer to have at least some choices to prod Ignis and Seeker about their obvious relationship. You kind of get this already with Chapter 4, as you've mentioned, where you can ask what's going on with them. The biggest point where you'll get to do something like that is Chapter 8, which is about Ignis's birthday party. Seeker organizes it basically on his own, and the MC will definitely be allowed to have thoughts™️ on that!

3rd: I've not worked out the very specifics of the MC and Forlorn's relationship in Book 2 (and beyond) yet, so I can't confirm one way or the other whether I'll have a crush happen. That said, Book 2 is going to have a lot more Forlorn content, and a lot of it will give the MC the chance to be the very obvious support pillar that the PTSD-riddled, half broken man needs. So even if you don't get to smooch (or think about smooching!) him, your relationship will definitely offer a chance to become much deeper, deeper than any he has at this moment.

4th: No, you don't have to worry about Other MC's thoughts on the League's strength tiers to matter in your relationships. As far as they're concerned, "salvation is individual", so Mars's (or Nova, or Aki's, or anyone's) personal strength doesn't matter to them- their only concern is your own. They may do some one snarky one liners once or twice, but if anything, the fact that the MC also has a personal reason to listen to them to get strong is something they're happy about.

Anyway, thanks a lot for all the compliments! I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed Chapter 5- it was honestly one I was very worried about since I have littme experience writing combat. I'm happy you enjoyed Lat's parts (and felt for poor Mars!) as well.

Hello! Thank you for enjoying the story!

I cannot confirm or deny what the fate of the Big Three is going to be, but yes, you'll be catching up to them as they are now sometime later in the series. The MC's powers grow exponentially based on the dangers they're facing, and the MC is going to be facing great dangers indeed. Prepare yourself for Forlorn to deal with you as an equal eventually.

Of course, that's not to say the Big Three won't be growing in strength as well- Forlorn is going to return to his younger days as a soldier, and Ignis is getting the best trainers Earth could ask for.

But the only characters I can confirm the MC will never surpass are the Broken King and the Blitz Queen, since... well, you know. They were born far stronger than the MC, and they've both had a lot more experience and battles to refine themselves than the MC.

Thanks for the ask! :)

It varies a little bit.

Lat knows English and Japanese, or at least, she can *somewhat* understand Japanese- she doesn't get many chances to speak it so she's somewhat rusty with it.

Ignis knows English, French (she's a lawyer, so gotta know your roots and all), as well as some German and the barest minimum of Latin. Her parents also tried to get her to learn Chinese- but their fallout happened early enough that she doesn't know much beyond "How are you?".

Forlorn and Aki know English, Chinese, a little bit of Latin, and that weird mumbo-jumbo they almost break the MC's brain with in Chapter 5.

Nova knows English and Spanish and can begin to understand a few native dialects (from Mexico and Colombia at least). His super genius doesn't extend to immediately figuring out languages, but it does help him learn them faster (so if it'd normally take someone a year or two, he could clear learning a language in two months or so).

Mars only knows English fully, but due to his job, he can do the basics in German, French, Spanish, Chinese, etc. He doesn't know any of them well enough to hit on you, but well, he can probably offer you a cup of coffee.

Seeker knows... basically every modern language, more or less. Maybe he'd run into some trouble in southern Africa, but generally, he can make his way in any of the world's countries. He also knows Latin perfectly, as well as some Koine Greek, Old Nordic, Old Slavic, etc. As Nova can mention in... Chapter 3 or 4, I don't recall, Seeker was the one who helped him add a bunch of languages to the collar translator.

Sorry it took a bit to get to this one!

Technology in AToH isn't much more advanced than that in the real world, at least for the average person. There's some advances in military matters courtesy of the Coltello family, but it's really only incremental changes, nothing that would revolutionize the field of warfare or anything like that.

The greatest inventions are actually Nova's. The phones he made for the League, the collar, his suit and the 'Wing are all very advanced- and impossible to replicate for the rest of the world, at least *so far*.

If you want some specifications though, the 'Wing is a lot faster than modern aircraft, being able to move at Mach 10-Mach 15, and having a lot of stealth equipment that means it can move anywhere it wants without really being detected unless it wants to. No human is going to hack it or anything like that.

It was built in the Coltello factories, but most of its systems are purely inside Nova's brain, so the Coltellos haven't been able to replicate it yet, though Gloria is putting pressure on them to get a few 'Wings for the Air Force.

That aside, you've got the Anti-Powered machines you see in Chapter 5, too. I'm gonna keep a little quiet on what those are all about, but you can probably guess at their capabilities.

And, of course, this is all *for now*. Things are going to change in AToH, and they're going to change very soon. There may be a lot of innovations just around the corner...

It's an actual mystery for historians in-universe why the Hero-Monarchs didn't have kids, yes. The facts all seem to line up to them having a ton- they loved each other, they were both young enough for it (having taken over Crete as literal early 20 yos), and they ought to have had the incentive, being the founders of a new dynasty.

The most common (and sexist on some level, as historiography was for quite a long time) hypothesis is that the Queen was infertile, and couldn't bear children.

I'll keep the real reason for it hidden under my sleeve for now, but I'll just say this: The Queen is quite terrified of being responsible for other people.

(I'll be doing a transcript below for those of you that don't know Spanish below the reply, don't worry!)

Ay, ¡alguien que los reconoció a simple vista! c': Qué emoción, de verdad esperaba que alguien entendiese la referencia de quiénes son, creo que es una de las partes más importantes de la comisión.

Pero bueno, para responder tu pregunta: Algo que me gusta hacer con las comisiones es agregar detalles que sirven de 'pistas' o 'comentarios' para la trama que concierne al personaje en la pieza. Por ejemplo, nota los aretes que Victoria e Ignis tienen en sus piezas, que Seeker y Victoria llevan literalmente la misma chaqueta (y nota el logo en la cerveza de Seeker y la portada del libro), la *tiara* que Ignis lleva en la suya, el brazalete que Aki tiene (que dice P.A, que es su 'trabajo', al igual que la de Forlorn, que dice M.C. se refiere a su rango- 'Major Commander') y el collar que ella tiene puesto (en especial el color del mismo).

Así que... las cintas VHS con Caonabo y Hatüey, dos Caciques que murieron luchando contra la colonización Española, son una pista de la trama y el backstory que concierne a Forlorn.

Te juro que no le pasó nada malo, okay? 😃

-----------------

Oh, finally, someone who recognized them immediately! c': I'm really happy, I was hoping someone would understand the reference to who they are, I think it's one of the most important parts of the commission.

To answer your question, though:

One thing I like to do with commissions is add details that serve as 'hints' or 'comments' about the plotline concerning the character in the piece. For example, notice the earrings that Victoria and Ignis have on their pieces, that Seeker and Victoria are literally wearing the same jacket (and notice the logo on Seeker's beer and book cover), the *tiara* that Ignis wears on hers, the bracelet that Aki has (which says P.A, which refers to her 'job', just like Forlorn's, which has M.C, referring to his rank- 'Major Commander') and the necklace she is wearing (the shape is important, but its color is the main thing).

So... the VHS tapes with Caonabo and Hatüey, two Caciques who died fighting against the Spanish colonization are a clue to the plot and backstory concerning Forlorn.

I swear nothing bad happened to him, okay? 😃

Official Art! *And* fan-art!

Heyo! So, Chapter 6 is still on the works, and I'm sorry to say I've been slower with it than I intended (you guys ever have to transcribe both an entire Penal Code and half the Constitution in a month? No? Here's some advice: Don't), but luckily for me, I think I'll be getting a lot more free time after the next week or two, which should let me really hammer on the chapter, which from my estimates shouldn't be terribly long (unlike Chapter 9, 10, and 11, which are all equally terrifying. I'm pretty sure the last two will break 100k words each c:). Anyway, um, besides that little progress update, I have some goodies to share with you, and not all of them come from me. First things first, I've been lucky enough to get two more commissions from Erineas done, and unlike most of the previous ones, these aren't of pretty girls.

They're of pretty boys. See under the cut!

Yeah, that's part of the plan. It would be pretty shitty of me to have your girlfriend dump you and then force you into single-life for the rest of the series, wouldn't it? :/

I've mentioned this... on the forum, I think, but you'll be able to get involved with Latooni like, a few hours after the break-up happens. It won't be a full relationship when it happens, obviously, but you'll be set up kind of well by the time of Book 2. Iris is also a romanceable character that'll only join the main cast in Book 2, as well, and if anything, I think going for her after getting burned by Ignis would be a pretty interesting dynamic.

Those two aside, I haven't quite decided about the other ROs in Book 1 yet. I feel like Mars could work in Book 2, but the closer we get to the reveals of Book 1, the more I feel like an Aki relationship needs the emotional 'oomph' of starting in the first book. A lot of what I have planned wouldn't hit nearly as hard imo if you don't go through her scenes in the first book.

Yes, Lat can fly with her telekinesis! She actually does so in Chapter 2, albeit woobily, but as she says in Chapter 4, she's already good enough at it to fly between Giga City and D.C.

I can't say how much more your powers may end up expanding, though. All I can confirm is that Lat also has a 'supermode' of her own, though it's going to be a while before she's forced to activate it.

Also, depending on how you look at it, Other!MC may be a power, too...

As for the extra question: Iris's full name is Iris Bakyr-Lambros. The symbolism in this name is very heavily tilted towards 'light' or 'brightness' (Iris being the personification of rainbow, as well as Bakyr [in Crete, at least] and Lambros both referencing light/radiance).

Considering her name, her powers couldn't possibly be any more ironic.

Eventually!

The MC's energy powers do work pretty similarly to how they do in Dragon Ball and other 'conventional' animes, so different kind of blasts will be possible.

You don't have enough 'power' in the tank yet, and you're not going to be making complex constructs like Ignis (who could, for example, essentially build herself a whole apartment complex made of energy), but stuff similar to the Kamehameha, the Big Bang Attack, Hellzone Grenade (which is already in the game!!) can all be done as you continue to grow in power.

Also, idk if you've played Chapter 5 yet, but the 'super mode' the MC enters at the end of it is partially inspired by the Kaioken (mainly the 'multipliers too high for you to handle' part), as well as the Possessing Spirit of Kengan Asura.

Kind of. :)

Both the BK and BQ have extensive powers, mostly due to their longevity (the BQ wasn't immortal, but she had her powers essentially since she was born. That's nearly 60 years of experimentation and training). They have found many, many, many different applications to them, so the list of things they can do with them is relatively vast, and some of them may have even shown up in the story so far as set-up for future reveals.

That said, if you're particularly observant, you may be able to catch onto some hints regarding the Broken King's powers if you read the excerpts of his diary I have shared: https://ataleofheroes.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-ramblings-of-king.html and https://ataleofheroes.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-ramblings-of-king-pt-2.html (also, you see that shield at the top? That's the heraldry for the Hero Monarchs's noble house! c:)

Combining these two articles with some of the stuff in the game (preferably the stuff that shows up when the BQ is mentioned c;) should give you a general idea of what his powerset is, though there is still much, much more to discover.

PS: If there's anything you'd like me to write a blog entry about, please suggest it! Those 'lore blogs' I write can be about essentially anything in the setting. There's some about Ignis, some about Crete, others about politics in America (like the formation of Stratton's/Gloria's party), and also one about superheroes from other countries. Basically all topics (except writing about Aki from ages 0-19) are open.

This is a bit complicated, but the short answer is 'Yes-ish'. Let me explain.

Ignis was always meant to be in love with Seeker. This has been the case since the very first draft I posted of the game back in 2021, one of the very first things you learn about her is that she is attracted to him, and he has yet to reciprocate.

And their relationship has always been an integral part of the story. The way Ignis and Seeker trust each other, the way they interact, and, being honest, and the way they both care for each other more than for the rest of the League combined has always been something I intended to be part of the story. Ignis and Seeker have the deepest relationship of the whole cast, they have changed each other, and, in more than one way, they complete each other. Ignis is the first light in Seeker's life since Victoria stopped being around, and Seeker is... probably the only reason Ignis is even around.

At the point the MC joins the team, I don't believe Ignis or Seeker could function without the other. They don't know how to not need each other any more.

There are two big reveals in Book 1 of AToH. One of them has to do with Aki and Forlorn, but the other is Seeker's, and approximately half of it is dedicated purely to Ignis's reaction, to her proving how inexorably the two of them are tied, and to showing that there exists nothing in the universe that will make them ever let go of each other.

And I made a mistake.

Originally, AToH was only going to have three romances: Aki, Latooni, and Nova. A lot has changed since that idea, but those are the three I always knew I wanted to write. I received a bit of backlash because of that, stuff like 'too few options', 'only one male RO?', and even complaints that Aki and Lat were too basic, or... too overused (I have played every game on Jason Hill's platform. There is no character in there like Aki).

I don't begrudge people who made those comments. Criticism is how authors grow, of course, and those comments helped me grow. I ended up creating Iris, expanding Mars' role, and sidelining Dark Star.

But I overcorrected. I began to consider if Ignis and Seeker's relationship couldn't be written platonically- after all, plenty of superhero stories make a big point of the bonds of friendship. Ignis and Seeker didn't have to be a successful Batman and Wonder Woman, they could just be Goku and Bulma, right?

Wrong. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the climax, the reveal, the characters themselves don't work without both being desperately in love. If I don't have Ignis and Kratis declare they love each other at the game's climax, then there is no point to writing the story. It took me a while to understand that, but I did, eventually.

But as you can obviously see, that didn't mean the MC's relationship with Ignis was scrapped.

And the fandom has a lot of takes about that. Some are subtle, some are not. Some are hostile, some are not. Some are rational pieces, others are impassioned comments.

But the one thing they all have in common is that they're wrong.

I am not writing the path as some sort of punishment, or exercise in hurting the reader. It's certainly not done because I want to scam whoever ends up reading the story, or because I 'don't understand what a RO is'.

I'm writing the Ignis RO because it serves the narrative. It is probably the path I spend the most time thinking about, it has the largest build-up, and it is the path that has the biggest pay-off in narrative weight.

If AToH was to have anything close to a 'canon' path, Ignis would be it.

I hope that answers your question. Thanks for the ask.

Thank you for the compliment, I'm happy to hear you liked it!

As for your question, that should happen... relatively soon. Maybe even in Chapter 6! Lat did say it'd happen the second you got back to the Mansion, after all...

That said, though, don't particularly expect anything too spicy. I'm not the most... comfortable with that sort of content, so it'll be very much a 'fade to black' scene instead of anything explicit. Sorry if that's a bit disappointing. 😅

No...

Well, not exactly, anyway. As I've said before, the powers you're born with are the powers you're stuck with, as far as conventional wisdom goes.

However, it is possible that part of the cast has 'misunderstood' what their powers are, and they're instead using only a subset of them, instead of all they should be capable of (For example, someone may think their power is just being able to breathe underwater, only to eventually find out they can wholesale shapeshift into a shark!).

Likewise, this is still a superhero story, so conventional wisdom may still be told to go shove it. You're in the business of shattering limits, after all! c:

And of course, the possibility remains that someone may be hiding their true powers...

Thank you for the ask!

Anon asks are re-activated!

I didn't forget! I just, uh... I just got a phone call, yeah...

Anyway, anon asks are back on the menu! Feel free to let me know your thoughts without worry, shielded by the unbreakable fog of anonimity.

But please be nice. :c

Chapter 5 is now out!

Chapter 5, “The Raid On Naha”, is now released.

Word-count is now 193k words including code.

A short summary of what to expect:

As always, please bring up any issues you find. I think there aren’t any full on bugs, but I added a few things after the final quicktest so I am not sure. Likewise, I left a few choice bodies for the end of the writing session, so if any one is missing, let me know (except for the ones that say ‘WIP’. Those are on purpose. Play to win, y’all).

Note, the one big thing I want from you (for this chapter, at least) are suggestions on what the MC can say, specifically in the ‘questions’ and ‘reactions’ sections. Could really use more thoughts on those two.

Also, I don’t think I messed with any variables this time, but it’s probably best if you do a full new run now.

Now, without further ado, please have fun, and let me know what you think!

Play here: https://dashingdon.com/play/juan/a-tale-of-heroes/mygame/ 1

And, in case you can spare a few bucks to help me out, here is my Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/juancuevas0168

Oh, and finally, I have a Discord Server! Feel free to pop in, give your thoughts, and have fun: A Tale of Heroes

Thank you for bringing it up! And sorry it took me this long to reply, I've been a bit... absorbed, these past few days.

It'll be fixed in the new update (which, I'm just saaaaaaaying, maybe don't go to sleep too early today!"

Update Info

Soooo, as I said in the previous post, the Chapter 5 update will be coming out in around two weeks. It's a shorter chapter than 4, only around 35k words or so, but when you combine it with the reworked prologue and some of the rewrites in Chapter 4 (nothing too serious), it should still be a fun time.

It's going to be full of fighting scenes and discussions and accusations and yelling and “holy shit you let Gloria's health get HOW low? The press isn’t gonna like that!” that I hope you will all enjoy (Just between us, but I'm starting to think Gloria might be a little sketchy...). In the meantime, I've already posted these on the forums, but I've got a bunch of out of game content that I hope you'll enjoy. In order, there is:

Anyway, check below the cut if you'd like to read that! Oh, and before I forget, I'm planning to have Forlorn's portrait/commission alongside the Chapter 5 update. I'm not sure yet, since it's finals season and all, and Twitter is going through a... situation, to say the least, but even if not, the loneliest being in the whole world will not be too far behind.