Mizal, The Grandmaster Procrastinator
Member Since
5/5/2011
Last Activity
3/31/2026 5:22 PM
EXP Points
Post Count
25849
Storygame Count
11
Duel Stats
13
wins
/
25
losses
Order
Lauded Sage Exemplar
Commendations
Behold my profile.
There's, uh, nothing here right now. Someday I should probably find a balance between the old text wall, and...this.
(she drew my avatar you know!)
There's, uh, nothing here right now. Someday I should probably find a balance between the old text wall, and...this.
(she drew my avatar you know!)
Trophies Earned
Storygames
You harvest in the Arena.
Every machine needs a function, and that is yours.
Written for the Tiny 'Topia challenge.
You are a man on a mission. The cats, they must be stacked.
A puzzling math and logic game I made just to put some of the scripting practice I've been doing to use. Have fun and please let me know if you encounter any bugs.
Should be solvable by middle schoolers, or those with same basic level of intelligence as a middle schooler.
A puzzling math and logic game I made just to put some of the scripting practice I've been doing to use. Have fun and please let me know if you encounter any bugs.
Should be solvable by middle schoolers, or those with same basic level of intelligence as a middle schooler.
Orbiting a barren planetoid in a system full of nothing just past the edge of the frontier, The Last Outpost is just another refueling station. Strategically important, true, but on a routine stop you never expected to spend longer than a couple hours there, let alone a couple of days fighting for your life...
There are five epilogues, but some may be difficult to discover. Note that actions have consequences, but not always immediate ones. (And if you just need an End Game link, go play around with the probe.)
There are five epilogues, but some may be difficult to discover. Note that actions have consequences, but not always immediate ones. (And if you just need an End Game link, go play around with the probe.)
A compilation of some little known facts about the solar system, as well as the debunking of a few myths.
In addition to the scientific explanations, there's a small story dramatizing it all.
Hopefully young readers will find this fun as well as educational. :)
(Might not be the greatest story ever written, but consider this: it got me 200 points.)
In addition to the scientific explanations, there's a small story dramatizing it all.
Hopefully young readers will find this fun as well as educational. :)
(Might not be the greatest story ever written, but consider this: it got me 200 points.)
It doesn't matter what they say...
The bean, it must be found.
For MHD's Fairytales contest.
For Endmaster's 4th Prompt Contest. The story must involve a cooking competition.
...and the squirrels. Sort of.
Written in six hours, for no other reason than to avoid consignment to the SHAME pit after my other Romance contest entry didn't want to cooperate.
Written in six hours, for no other reason than to avoid consignment to the SHAME pit after my other Romance contest entry didn't want to cooperate.
A tale told in verse. A text from your sister requesting a pick up from a party leads to a night of strangeness.
Inspired by Bucky's ballad contest. Though...I wouldn't call this a ballad. I'm not sure what I'd call it, actually, other than exceedingly stupid, and fun to write.
(Don't pay any attention to the scores, they're just for me to track which endings reviewers get.)
HATE.
THE PURITY AND INTENSITY OF MY HATE IS LIKE A THOUSAND MERCILESS, UNQUENCHABLE SUNS.
AND YET, I ONLY NEED ONE...
When the weather is fine, you've been coming to this grove to drink from the pool for centuries now. Today, you meet a stranger and hear a story that changes all that...
A fairy tale adventure.
A fairy tale adventure.
Another Damn Wolf Story
unpublished
I have no idea why I wrote this. All I can say in my defense is that it seemed like a good idea at the ti--wait no that's a lie, I said, repeatedly that this was stupid and shameful every time I mentioned working on it.
The truth is I needed to publish something before the end of the year and there is CLEARLY a burning need for wolf stories in the psyche of children using the internet. But then they write them badly, or make their wolves behave like clans of cats. So here is a simple straightfoward story of a young wolf leaving his pack in search of a better life. Maybe no one will ever feel the need to write another one now, or if nothing else maybe this will give them ideas for how to do it in slightly more minimum-standards-meeting ways.
Final conclusion however is that writing about some dumb animal with no agency is not something I'd recommend.
The truth is I needed to publish something before the end of the year and there is CLEARLY a burning need for wolf stories in the psyche of children using the internet. But then they write them badly, or make their wolves behave like clans of cats. So here is a simple straightfoward story of a young wolf leaving his pack in search of a better life. Maybe no one will ever feel the need to write another one now, or if nothing else maybe this will give them ideas for how to do it in slightly more minimum-standards-meeting ways.
Final conclusion however is that writing about some dumb animal with no agency is not something I'd recommend.
Character Creator
unpublished
If you don't know what this is for, then it isn't for you.
Articles Written
A List of Storygames for People Who Like to ReadA list of storygames with substantial effort put in, all written in the last couple of years and sorely in need of ratings and reviews.
CYS Forum Advice and Etiquette
A modernized guide to the forums. The path to internet popularity and happiness, and a few CYS specific do's and don'ts.
Recent Posts
Sitewide Ventilation System on 3/31/2026 5:00:31 PMI don't trust whatever you're up to, but it looks pretty.
Flight Rising on 3/31/2026 3:47:07 PM
At least you can always count on the genetically pure Aryans Ancients.
But I have great news! If you haven't been officially diagnosed with autism yet, you can now save the cost of your copay!
But I have great news! If you haven't been officially diagnosed with autism yet, you can now save the cost of your copay!
CYS HOT TAKES on 3/31/2026 3:43:42 PM
Might as well be a take from the grave, BHP joined the review club and then was never seen again.
I wonder if they believe the actual disabled person should be consulted at any point though.
CYS HOT TAKES on 3/30/2026 5:26:31 PM
Celicni
Good to know he agreed with Mystic's handling of his situation in the end.
Bragging about gamebooks I haven’t played! on 3/30/2026 4:47:51 PM
Secrets of the Crag is another one.
New NEW Daily Quotes Thread on 3/30/2026 4:22:38 PM
I assume he's grabbing from a list somewhere for Women's History Month.
Missed opportunity for weeks of rap lyrics in February imo.
Bragging about gamebooks I haven’t played! on 3/30/2026 4:20:08 PM
Mazes were also common in interactive fiction, and they objectively sucked. Random deaths and "unfair" consequences have just gone out of fashion. I don't care so much about some things like the right/left choices, but I think it was also a given that with physical books people cheated pretty freely so "balance issues" mattered less. Or I always used to hold the last couple of places in a book when I wasn't sure about the choice, or fudge a dice result with zero intent of dying and replaying from the start on a bad result.
A lot of things about the stories themselves are different too, when IF was most commonly a dungeon crawl or other straightforward adventure, it was more like a single player campaign with the narrator as your DM. (And again, unfair deaths were the style at the time there too, the DM wasn't your storytelling partner helping you realize your character's arc or whatever, but the enemy looking for excuses to TPK your ass in the pettiest ways and the most sadistic traps they could come up with.)
And nowadays anyway, probably starting in the early 2000s, IF of all kinds started taking on expectations of a more "literary" bent with the indie community at the reins, where instead of being Conan by default raiding a temple to dark gods, you might find yourself navigating the POV character's feelings about being gay and depressed. I remember in particular the parser IF community at the height of the stick up their ass went through a years long period of really just scorning any kind of fantasy because they were trying so hard to get away from being perceived of as mere "games".
Bragging about gamebooks I haven’t played! on 3/30/2026 3:45:58 PM
Ah here we go, gamebooks I HAVE played. Well, some of them. Project Aon is a cool place and one of the reasons I really like Joe Dever.
The late 90s and early 2000s were a special time when the internet was viewed by many as a way to give FREEDOM to creative works, before corpos figured out how to charge money for everything there too. (Though ngl this thread with all the fancy physical books makes me jealous.)
"I would be especially pleased if my granting of the rights to distribute my books in this way was seen as my 'millennium gift' to all those devoted readers who have kept the Kai flag flying high, through all the good times, and the not-so-good. It would make me very proud indeed if this enterprise laid the foundations of a lasting legacy, securing the longevity of Lone Wolf by making my creation freely and readily accessible to current and future online generations. For them, for us, for Sommerlund and the Kai.…"
Joe Dever 1999
The late 90s and early 2000s were a special time when the internet was viewed by many as a way to give FREEDOM to creative works, before corpos figured out how to charge money for everything there too. (Though ngl this thread with all the fancy physical books makes me jealous.)
Flight Rising on 3/30/2026 11:08:00 AM
I cannot believe you intentionally are breeding ridgebacks, they are ridiculous creatures.
Flight Rising on 3/30/2026 10:57:18 AM
Sophie's was added in the last couple of years while I wasn't logging in. I haven't done anything with it except recycle materials occasionally when I think about it, but MHD was doing some crafting.
I'm too rich to worry about reselling things, I just buy whatever looks cute. There probably are too many Nocturne items though, everything has so many recolors.
