Ella and Kieran.
The Cursed Heart is one of many stories under the Choices: Stories You Play app. The book is released for VIP players on April 27, 2022 and for all players on June 8, 2022. Book 2 was released on November 15, 2023 on VIP early access, and was released to all players on December 27, 2023 and is the first VIP early access sequel.
In this book, a young villager ventures into the Fae Kingdom and is claimed by the ruler of the Moon Court. The series ended on February 28, 2024 for VIP and on April 10, 2024 for everyone.
The Cursed Heart includes examples of:
- A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: The frolic is the kind of party where fae let loose and... satisfy their desires after the refreshments.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: The royals of the Sun court who, despite the truce between the two courts, killed off members of Kieran’s family over the years and now want to destroy them to take over.
- Badass Normal: Despite having no powers, your character manages to fend off fae cats and hold their own in the hunt should you choose the right options.
- Big Bad:
- Book 1 has Blaze and Brightness. At first, it seems to be Radiance, who seems to have the main character's best interests at heart, even offering them a place to stay when they are attacked by Kieran's Winged Beast form. But in Chapter 12, Radiance reveals their true nature; they only wanted the main character away from Kieran so they could complete their plot to dispose of the Moon Court. However, Blaze and Brighness are their superiors.
- Book 2 has Jack, a vengeful changeling who wants to eradicate the Fae Courts by any means necessary. He is later backstabbed by Opulence, a wealthy fae merchant who wishes to have complete dominion over the Fae.
- Breaking Old Trends: With the reveal in August 2023's Choices Insiders, this is the first Early Access book in which its sequel is ''also'' Early Access.
- Big "WHAT?!": Kieran's reaction to Ella/Ellis suggesting that they flirt with Opulence in order to distract them in Book 2, Chapter 10.
- Can Not Tell A Lie: The Fae are incapable of lying are are bound to the laws of the realm.
- Character Customization: Along with designing your character's looks, you can assign their pronouns (he/she/they).
- Cold Iron: Book 1 establishes that the Fae are weak against iron. This becomes a big deal when in Book 2 , Chapter 2, the Big Bad, Jack, has his army attack the Fae with iron weapons, leaving several of them with injuries that cannot be patched up with magic. This becomes a grave problem when Jack stabs Sir Montgomery Snow with an iron sword; only magic could heal such a wound in time, but because the wound was inflicted with a weapon of iron, Sir Monty dies from it.
- Color-Coded Patrician: Members of the Sun and Moon courts are identified by their clothing, with the Sun favoring gold and light blue and the Moon in black and dark blue.
- Content Warnings:
- At the start of the book, the game warns players that it involves scenes of rough dom/sub play that aren't in line with safe, real-life BDSM. Choices containing those scenes are marked with a flame icon.
- Book 2 Chapter 14 warns about flashing lights.
- Cool Crown: The Sun and Moon courts trade leadership, and whoever is the current ruler wears one.
- Dawn of an Era: Book 2 being released for VIP marks the beginning of the "all VIP era", when all books, new and sequels, will go through a VIP phase.
- Dark Is Not Evil: The Moon court, which welcomes outcasts and strays, being home to the benevolent Longclaw and Sir Montgomery despite its dark aesthetic.
- Death by Origin Story: Kieran’s mother, former ruler, who is implied to have been killed off by the Sun court.
- Decadent Court: The Sun court turns out to be this, with the royals nurturing cruelty in their young in a plot against Kieran.
- Double Standard: Rape, Divine on Mortal: Played with. Like in Surrender, there are choices that allow for a dom/sub relationship between the main character and love interest, but unlike said book, the choices do not necessarily align with real-world consensual BDSM (by Pixelberry's own admission). This is seemingly excused by the fact that, while the main character is human, Kieran is a fae. Though Kieran has an Entitled to Have You attitude toward the main character (even in Book 2), the choices of this trope's nature are marked with a flame icon and are completely optional.
- Enchanted Forest: The Fae Woods are blocked off by an iron wall to keep the villagers from going too far out for fear of a winged demon who feeds on people. Over the years, the stories about what repels Fae creatures have been lost to time. For example, whether it's carrying iron, wearing stockings inside-out, or throwing salt.
- The Evil Prince: Radiance turns out to be this. When the firstborn Gleam won’t comply with the uncles’ ambitions to destroy the Moon Court, they take Gleam’s place as heir by tricking their sister into a curse with berries.
- Entitled to Have You: How Kieran acts at first to your character, invoking that they saved your life in the first chapter as reasoning to claim you.
- Faerie Court: Two, the Sun and Moon. Sun controls spring, summer, and day while Moon controls fall, winter, and night.
- Fish out of Water: Your character as a naive human in the mysterious Fae Realm.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: As with all Choices games, you can name your character. The default name is Ella for Body Type 1, and Ellis for Body Type 2.
- Hidden Elf Village: The Fae Woods hides the Fae Kingdoms, with Radiance being the Prince(ss) of Day and Kieran being Prince(ss) of Night.
- Interspecies Romance: Between your character, a human, and Kieran, the fae leader of the Moon court.
- Land of Faerie: The Fae Woods which your character stumbles into.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Arthur, a customer at the bar who makes unsolicited advances toward your character and chases them with a knife after seeing a gem. He is killed by a winged beast.
- The Magpie, originally a vain entitled Sun court noble with a penchant for stealing beautiful jewels, is cursed into a monstrous creature with insatiable greed.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the penultimate chapter, Ella/Ellis tells Kieran that "All stories end, even ours. But that's what makes them beautiful". Taken out of context, this can be interpreted as a message from Pixelberry to the fans that the series is coming to an end, but it was still a good experience while it lasted.
- Light Is Not Good: Hinted with the Sun Court, as one of its members, Lustre, destroyed Kieran's heart after seducing them. Even more so with Radiance, who was scheming to eliminate the Moon Court.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Your character removes the necklace Kieran placed on them at the Sun court, losing Kieran’s protection and allowing Radiance to control them.
- Princesses Rule: If the female love interest is chosen, Kieran and Radiance qualify.
- Queer Establishing Moment: Two of them in conjunction with each other. A premium scene in Chapter 4 has Kieran mention that their first love was a man, while Chapter 9 reveals that their previous partner (prior to Ella/Ellis) was female. These two moments confirm that Kieran is canonically bisexual.
- Redemption Equals Death: In Book 2, Chapter 13, Radiance sacrifices themself to save Longclaw from Jack's forces.
- The Reveal:
- At the end of Chapter 4, it's revealed that Kieran is the Winged Beast.
- In Chapter 9, it's revealed that Radiance's cousin Lustre was Kieran's lover who cursed their heart.
- At the end of Chapter 12, Radiance is revealed to be a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, who only wanted to use Ella/Ellis to further their scheme to get rid of the Moon Court once and for all.
- Ring of Power: A bramble ring that Kieran offers to your character, which will trap the enemy in thorns three times. You can choose the diamond option to accept it.
- Sequel Hook: Book 1 ends with an ominious message being left for the couple: "The eclipse comes. And both courts shall burn."
- Seven Deadly Sins: The two major antagonists of Book 2, Jack and Opulence, display all of them at some point or another.
- Wrath: Jack's desire for revenge against the Fae has consumed him, resulting in him becoming bloodthirsty and killing innocents.
- Envy: Jack's resentfulness towards Kieran for being able to live a normal life while he was cast out for being a changling drives much of his desire for revenge. He also seeks to find and destroy the Sources, believing that the Fae don't deserve them.
- Greed: Jack subverts this; he seeks the Sources, believing that he deserves them while the Fae don't, then it's revealed that he just wanted them to cure his dying father. Opulence, on the other hand, plays it completely straight, wanting the same power held by the Courts, no matter what.
- Gluttony: Despite already being the child of a wealthy family, it's not enough for Opulence, who wants more, eventually leading to them stealing all magic for themself. They also seem to have an affinity for berries, many of which are grown in their garden. Fittingly, their last name is Plenty.
- Lust: Opulence has openly courted Kieran in the past and continues to do so in the present, despite them not being interested. A later chapter reveals that they also lusted after Radiance and Lustre, and neither of them were interested, either.
- Sloth: Opulence forged an alliance with Jack, content to let him do all the dirty work for them while they sat out of the action. They have also used underhanded means (such as attempting to marry into power and coercion, as well as the aforementioned alliance) to gain a title, as opposed to working for it themself.
- Pride: Opluence embodies this sin the most by far. They're narcissistic and power-hungry, feeling entitled to more power in spite of their privileged lifestyle, resulting in them stealing everyone's magic and forcing people to bow down to them if they want any hope of getting it back (despite Fae being dependent on magic to live) . They also feel entitled to Kieran's affections, continuing to pursue them well after the point that Kieran made it clear that they weren't interested.
- Small Name, Big Ego: A more positive example. Leaf, a tiny bird who thinks of herself as a great and powerful ruler, but is nearly killed in an attack by a cat.
- Theme Naming: The names of the Sun Court members all have something to do with light or heat.
- Wham Episode: Book 2, Chapter 8. By the end of the chapter, Jack, who is revealed to be Kieran's half brother, has stolen the Sun Source and obliterated the Sun Palace, Blaze and Brightness are both dead, Lustre and Radiance have been cursed into mice, and Longclaw is now an ordinary bear.
- Wham Shot: Throughout most of Book 2, Chapter 8, Longclaw is missing, and Jack has succeeded in stealing the Sun Source, which he could only do if everyone in line to the throne was removed from succession somehow. After Ella/Ellis has been fearing the worst, the chapter ends on a shot of Longclaw... as an ordinary bear.
- White Sheep: Gleam/Longclaw, originally a kind and gentle maiden who was trapped into a curse to be a bear by her own family.
