Cult of Corruption won! (Patreon)

Well, I gave everyone a voice, and I noticed about half of you refrained from voting, which I understand means you are good with anything!  However, those that cast their lot decided that a squicky, yet, supernatural tale would best be in order!  Cult of Corruption won!  So, we shall be hopping over to the 6th novel chronologically.  I have emailed Nikeils to get the ball rolling on the music (any extra infusion you can send me will help, it costs me $200/title, a steal, because of his talents, and a deal, because we are friends!).  Now, why don't we discuss this next title here, and, while I shall make this post public, my patrons, you should really be vocal about your thoughts on this title- you are paying me, and while I have an artistic vision and I cannot promise I will do anything or everything folks would enjoy, I like feedback and seldom receive it!  So, reach out to me in this post or on the official Hypnopics thread!

All of my titles that remain, CoC included, shall be somewhere around the size of S&B, though they always have the potential to grow as large as CotCO.  So, my personal expectation is between 150k words/700 scenes and 200k/900 scenes.  These are estimates and until I delve into the story they may change, but it shan't be a short story (like Phantom was- recall that it was meant only as a Halloween treat originally and was meant to appear with other writer's work like Tabico).

So, Bo Wyatt... he is a good natured man, indeed, the fellow won't even step on ants or swat flies.  He hates pain, death and killing.  And, he has a passionate, yet deep love for Karen.  His doting mother has always supported him, even though he only recently, in his late twenties, gained some ambition, and his father loved him too, though his dad always understood and supported his older brother, Howard.  That's because Howard was the athlete and Bo was the nerd, gamer, and lazy.  However, he has gained the Codex Gigas, the very book that Dagan used to communicate with Aka Manah!  Ray, the unofficial leader of his friends, manipulated Bo (who has an innate and powerful arcane magical ability), to try to gain power for himself.  As Ray's insatiable desire grew, he became more reckless, until he stumbled upon Nergal.  Ray hates the world.  He was no different than Bo growing up, and the kids ridiculed him as well.  The difference is that Ray DOES like stomping on ants.  Ray pulls the wings off flies.  Whereas Bo cannot help but forgive and forget, Ray can only seethe with a desire to get revenge on everyone that wronged him, including Karen herself!  When Ray happened upon Nergal in the tome, his dark mind concocted a dark plan.

Knowing the influence he holds over Bo, Ray intends to summon Nergal, and spread a dimensional/spiritual virus that causes the death of morality within the host, while their souls suffer an inflammation of evil.  A sickness of sin that corrupts and twists the individual within.  Though Ray thinks he can control Bo, even if Bo becomes the vessel of Nergal himself, Ray is mistaken.  His plans fall apart as Bo races away, leaving an infected Karen behind.  Now Bo carries the virus within, and though only a miniscule amount infected him, he is already spreading it.  The more souls it taints, the more powerful it becomes, and the greater Nergal's influence grows over the hapless host!

So, what to look forward to?  Expect great music and sound effects.  Expect voice acting and character development.  Specifically, Bo, his mother, and Ray, though some of his closest friends shall devolve too as the virus spreads around Dallas, Texas, infecting and corrupting the populace.  If you notice, all my works are metaphors for real life, and often hold more than one meaning.  So, for example. on S&B, it is Justine's journey to discover if she can really say no to a fetish that had always been imaginary.  If aliens really invaded, could someone like me really not WANT to join them, or at least masturbate to the concept of betraying humanity?  Yet, there were many other hidden levels and meanings.  The Erebus building (financial services founded only as a screen to immoral activity), for example.  Did you notice how she found the slugs in the sewers at the very bottom, then the builders on the first floor, then the heartless spiders, and finally the vain and powerful minders at the top- yet all are beholden to a power beyond them all that they each help grow only stronger- the OverMaster.  Corporate America, anyone?  All my stories and even the small stories within those stories have levels to them, that I am sure the most keen of you have uncovered.

I expect there to be 50 character unlocks or more, though I may make 70 always the maximum.  I am toying with other ideas, like Bo's innate magic abilities coming into play.  I expect there to be twenty or more Bad Ends, and there will be squick in this title (as you know each one has different fetishes).  This will take possession, like Phantom, spiritual and ether, but mix it with slimy, squick, like Slugs and Bugs, biological and physical.  If my dark mind is correct, it should make for some interesting possible ends.  I also research before any project, so again, those of you knowledgeable in certain fields may have noticed how accurate things are in my novels (though I often give it a twist).  So, in CoC, even in the introduction, you will see the spell to summon Nergal.  Believe it or not, that is one of very few remaining spells of actual, historical Babylon.  I took it almost word for word, though a few words had no real English equivalent.  So, while my stories all are fiction, I would estimate that I put anywhere between 40 to 60 hours in just studying everything from architecture, to history, to science and more, on every title to get it as close to real as possible while still making the work fiction.  My character names, often, also have hidden meanings, as many of you know.  For example, Dagan Erebus.  Dagan is a fertility god, Semitic if I recall, thus his power lies in sex, and Erebus?  It was a primordial god for darkness.  Thus Dagan is a dark, sexual man.  The Erebus building too would be a "building of darkness".  See?  I have hundreds if not thousands of secrets hidden in my projects!  CoC will be no different!  Let me know what your thoughts are, please, and I shall begin work on this new project posthaste!